Popular accounts say the swinging of fire dates to the Iron Age and is meant to purify the air and ward off witches and evil spirits before the new year, or to mimic the sun at the winter solstice or a fallen star said to have brought a good harvest. None of these is supported by early records. The recorded history of the ceremony is about 150 years according to one of those accounts, and Wikipedia cites 1911.
The ceremony has been cancelled in the two world wars and in 2021.
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