to place a cluster of oak twigs, with their brown leaves still attached, in whichever location in the home the family feels is appropriate. This cluster is also called the badnjak, and it is usually kept in the home until next Christmas Eve. For the convenience of those living in towns and cities, such little badnjaks can be bought at marketplaces or distributed in churches. In a common arrangement, the cluster of oak twigs is bound together with twigs of European Cornel and several stalks of straw. The laying of a badnjak on the fire was considered the least a Serbian family could do to show their devotion to Serbian tradition. In Njegoš's epic poem The Mountain Wreath, the plot of which takes place in 18th-century Montenegro, Voivode Batrić urges converts to Islam to return to Christianity and Serbdom: "[...] Lay the Serbian Christmas-log [badnjak] on the fire, paint the Easter eggs various colours, observe with care the Lent and Christmas fasts. As for the rest, do what your heart desires!" Petrović-Njegoš describes the holiday atmosphere that surrounds the burning badnjak on Christmas Eve through the words of Abbot Stefan, one of the mains characters of The Mountain Wreath: Public celebration The badnjak ceremony, originally performed only within the family, became a more public celebration. A custom developed before World War I in the Kingdom of Serbia to lay the badnjak on a fire built in military barracks, so that the soldiers stationed there over Christmas could share in the holiday atmosphere. In the succeeding Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the military badnjak ceremony was standardized in army service regulations. On Christmas Eve, under the command of a specially appointed officer, the representatives of military units of a garrison formed a festive procession on horses, accompanied with music. Members of citizens' associations and other civilians of the garrison town usually joined the procession as it proceeded to the nearest wood to collect the badnjak. They felled a set number of trees, dedicated respectively to the Royal Palace, the military command of the town, the respective commands of units of the garrison, its oldest officer, and its officers' assembly house. The procession brought the trees to the barracks, in whose yard an open fire was built. The garrison commander then placed the trees ceremonially on the fire, and gave an appropriate address. More and more state institutions, private firms, organizations, and clubs joined