Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1860-12-22

the valOr of q student, who, while on q
walk reading Aristotle, being fi,riously
attacked by a furious wild boar,
ranmcd the volume into the throat OF
the aggrcssor, crying GrGcum est till he
had fairly chokcd the beast to death.
1t was long observed in the Christmas
festivities of the inns of court, and it
is still retained at Queens College,
where the dish is brought in to the
chant of an old halfLatin ditty:
Caput apri dcfcro
Rcddcns laudcs Domino.
The hore's head in hamdc bring l.
With gur''landcs gay and rosemary,
pray you all syngc merely,
Qui cstis in couviyio.
* The common custom of docking the
houses and churches at Christmas with
cvcrgrccns is derived from ancient
Druid practices. 1t was a,l. old belief
that sylvan spirits might flock to the
cvcr@rccns, and remain unnippcd by
the frost till mildcr season. The
holly, ivy, rosemary, bays, laurel, and
nistlctoc furnished the t;,voritc trim
minyS, which were not removed till
Candlcmas. Chaplcts of these were
also worn about the head, Il practice to
which the phrases to "kiss under the
rose" to "whispcr under the mistlc-
toe" are illusions. In old church cal
cndars Christmas eve is marked; Ttm-
pM crorn0ntT (adom the tcmplcs)
Holly and ivy still remain in England
the most esteemed Christmas ever
greens. though at the two universities
the windows of the college chapcls arc
dcckcd with laurel.
1t was an old English superstition
that on Christmas eve the oxen were
all found on their knees, as in an atti-
tudc of devotion, and that after the
change from old to new style they con-
tinucd to do this only on the eve of old
Christmas day. This was derived
from prevalent medieval notion that
an OK and an ass which were present ut
the nativity fell upon their knees in Il
suppliant posture, as appears from MI
mcrous prints and from the Latin poem
of Sanizarius in the fifteenth century.
1t was an ancient tradition, alluded TO
by Shakespeare, that midnight spirits
torsakc the earth and go to their own
confines at the growing of the cock,
and that
| --Evcr 'gainst that season comes
Wherein our Sa,our's birth is celebrated
| This bird of dtwning sngril all night long;
| And then they say, no spirit stirs abroad;
The Nights are wholesome; then no planet
| strikes;
Nof,iry takes. nor witch hath power to charm,
So hallowcd and 50 gracious is III" time.
X There was Il famous hawthorn in the
churchyarl of Glastonbury Abbey
which always hud.lcd on the 24tll and
blossomed on the 25th of December.
After the change of style it was OBJ
served that it bloSsomcd on January S,
which would have been Christmas day
q. :. 1t is said that slips from this
thorn are preserved which blossom on
january 5 to the present TIME. Near
Raleigh there is u valley said to have
been caused by an earthquake which
swallowed mp Il whole village and q
church. 1t was formerly custom for
people to assemble here on Christmas
moyling, to listen to the ringing Of the
lr1ls of the church beneath thcnI:&Thc
Christmas celebrations in England have
lost their primitive boistcrous charac-
ter, the yambols and carols arc nearly
gone by. and family reunions and ever
green trimmings are nearly all that re-
main of the various rough mcrrimcnts
which used to mark the festival. The
last memorable appointment of lord
of misr,lc was in 1927, when he had
come to he tlcnominatetl ga grand cap
tainc of mischiefe." The poems of
lTcrrick contain many desert rirtions of
old English Christmas celebrations In
the United States, since the Puritans
were at first stern opponents Ot Christ
mas pastimcs, tho day has been less
generally celebrated in New England
than in the Middle and Southern States.
1t has been made Il legal holiday in
some Of the States, and is usually oh
served by Il rcli igious service and making
presents, and not untrcqucntly by trim
houses and churches with evcrgrccns,
and hy initiating the German custom
of Christmas trees. 4
Fey Abcmcthy once said to rich
but dirty patient, who consulted him
about an crupution, 'Ict your servant
bring to YOU three or four pals Of
water, and put it into a wasll-tub; take
off your clothes, get into it. and rub
yourself we'll with soap and a rough
towel, and you'll recover"
"This advice seems very much like
telling nc to wash myself" said the
patient.
"Wcll,' said Abcrncthy, 1T may be