A wiener roast is usually held around a bonfire, an outdoor fire fuelled by dead branches, scraps of lumber, and marshmallows. Back in the fifteenth century, however, a community bonfire was held on a specific day—often Midsummer’s night—and was fuelled by the bones of the many sheep and cattle that had been butchered and eaten throughout the year. From this custom, the bonfire, originally bone-fire, took its name.