Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1860-12-22
OLYMPIA. WASHINGTON TERRITORY, DECEMBER 22 lS(

to sustain the f,tigucs of the night.
Among the revcls of the Christmas
season were the so-callcd fc;sts of fools
and of asses, grotcsuuc saturnala,
which were sometimes termed "Dcccm
bcr liberties, in which everything seri
ous was burlcsqucd, interiors pcrsoniiy'
ing their supcriOrs, great men bccom'
ing trolicsome, and which illustrate the
proncncss of man to occasionally re.
verse the order of society and ridicnIc
its ,lcccncics. In the Protestant dis
tricts of Germany and the north of Eu-
ropc, Christmas is often called the
clillrens festival" and Christmas
eve is devoted to giving presents. cspc-
cially between parents and children,
and brothers and sisters, by means OF
the so-callcd Christmas tree. n large
yew bough is erected in one of the par
lors, lighted with tapcrs, and hung
with manifold gifts, swcctmeats, apples,
nuts, playthinys, and ornaments. Each
Of these were marked with the name
of the person for whom it is intended,
but not with the name of the donor,
and when the whole family party is
assembled, the presents are distributed
around the room according to their
labels, amid joyful acclamations and
congratulations. a more sober scene
succeeds, for the mother takes this occa-
sion to say privately to the daughters,
and the f;,thcr to the sons, what has
been observed most praiscworthy and
what most faulty in their conduct.
Formerly. and still in some of the
smaller villages of North Germany, the
presents made by all the parents were
sent to some person, who, in high bus
kins, II white robe, Il mask, and an cnor-
nous flax wig, becoming the bugbcar
of children, known as KnccM Rupert,
goes from house to house, is received
by the parents with great pOmp and
reverence, calls for the children, and
bcstows the intended gifts upon them
according to the character which he
hears from the parents after severe i'll
qnirics.
A beautiful poem of ITcbcl. Christ
Bo"n,, celebrates the German ccrcmo-
mics on Christmas eve. 1t is an old
Swedish tradition, preserved in the his
tory of Oalus, archbishop of trsnl,
that ut the festival Of Christmas the
men living in the cold northern parts
are suddenly mctamor'h"scd into
wolves; and that huge multitude OF
them meet together at an appointed
place during the night, and rage so
ticrcely against mankind and other
creatures not fierce hy nature, that the
inhabitants of that country suffer more
from their attacks than ever they do
from natural wolves.
Christmas has always been at once Il
religious, domestic, and mcrry-making
festival in England, equally for every
rank and every age. The rcvcls used
to begin on Christmas eve, and contin-
ucd often till Candlcmas (Fcbruary y,
every day being n holiday till twelfth
night (Jauuary G). In the houses OF
mobiles II "lorl of misrulc." or "abbot
of unrcason," was appointed, whose
office was "tO make the rarcst pastincs,
t" delight the bcholdcr." and whose
f" common 'ast:, 1: from = IAl'-''al'ow eve W.,
}Oc!o"er 81 ,''1 ., Nam'''c'''''s '"'H. ne
'''I'ef , was me" w'th caF"ns, mems 'ir-
Keys geese ""ckS, "er'' n'''''oh' pork;
PICS, P"o"ihsS, ",, NUS p'"a'lS' S"Sar '''"
Money inc it4,'''',s nave ''c l"!'o"-
Ins p'%verD "lie mas more business =.
~, mum nnsI'sn ovens at N"I'st',as; !' ',;
& ny ie''|'' "rc t,''r''''''e" ., III ~: ,.'''
:i''" '''c 'or" o' ''c ''''''"r "'',' ms "'''-
-! encourage" every "'' co''o"c''c 10
''''ftm' Un re-, ,.r,
o" Christmas eve e the s "uss - was wssI sum~ ut
rh,t onl, ,nLt In ali tLn .nor