The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-12-24
Spinning ON Christmas-Day,

They believing that it was nothing less than
>sacrilege to be so engaged. The Calvinistic
preachers, overlooking with anti-Chrstmas pre-
judices, took especial pains to rid their focks of
this idea. Their efforts in that direction are
thus described in Jhone Hamilton's "Facile
Traictise:-
vther halle dawes obseruit be England-cause their
wyfis and servants spin open slcht of the people
coHstralnes their tenants to yoE their pIoIcbs on
4eul Gay, IN contempt of Chrst's Natiuitie, whil&
Wod mSd and brsT their nakS and T eamt ameS rS%
sum p.eugh men as is VIGOROUSLY knawin in sindre
parties OF Scotland"
The Devotion of Cattle.
In the counties of Cornwall and Devon, in
England, it was long believed, and it is proba-
BILE that the notion still fingers there and IN
other out-of-the-way places, that at twelve
O'Clock the cattle in their stalls would fall upon
their knees and make "a cruel moan, like Chris
tian creatures" 1t is also said that these dumb
brutes, knowing naught of the change of style
IN reckoning the year, continued their devo-
dition probably originated in the fact that in
many Of the old pictures of the Nativity the OK
and ass are represented as being upon their
knees IN acknowledgment of the sovereignty of
the newborn babe.
Down with the Evergreens.
We have already stated that according to the
canons OF the ecclesiastics, all the Christmas
decorations of churches and houses must be re.
moved before the second of February. If any
that period, 1t was considered omcn of ill,
as expressed in the following lines by Herrick:
For look, how many leaves there be
SO many goblins you shall see.'
There were likewise many superstiuous no.
tiOns associated with
The Burning of the Yule-Log.
1t was the custom to deposit in some secure
place the CharTed remains of the Yule-lOg, from
which to light its successor on the ensuing
Christmas And it was believed that the preser-
walton of this remnant would unfailingly secure
the house against ire throughout the coming
year.
So, too, if a person who was troubled with a
squint should chance TO enter the hall while the
log was burning, the omen was considered un-
propitious A like idea attended the arrival of
OF person with bare feet, more especially when
that person happened to be flat-tooted woman.
The Stranger in the Crate
was another omen which was variously inter-
preted, according TO the circumstances. As is
well known, the action OF the 1re on the smoke
arising from the Goals causes it to assume fan
tastic forms, from which it is possible for
lively imagination to picture anything that
happens to come in mind The rank of the
fanciful stranger was therefore determined by
the height of the bar to which the flake of
perfections were determined by the outline of
the flake, each jag or rent in which betokened
a corresponding defect. The stranger would
bring Joy or sorrow, according as the fire
burned bright Or low; and should the flames
suddenly start up in a sparkle, it was augured
that hero from the wars was close at hand
If any anxious maiden desires to know Just
when her hero will arrive, she must clap her
hands before the CRATE, and calculate the days
of waiting by the time consumed by the flake of
smoke in falling from its place. Among
Other Omnibus Occurrences,
If a person unluckily snuffed out a candle, his
or her pairing with one of the opposite sex
during the coming year was thing not to be
thought of; unless, indeed q spark should
remain, from which the candle could be re-
kindled by blowing on it. So it was believed
that bread baked on Christmas-eve would never
mould; and when Christmas fell on a Sunday
good luck awaited every one while the reverse
was the case when the festival happened on
SATURDAY.,