Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1874-12-24
Christmas Legends.

oio LEGENDS, SO many sweet haliowet
: superstitions, that one is fain, upo,
$ such night, to give fancy full scope
and to listen with believing ears to al
: the weird stories and romances of th,
4 Christmas time.
La this wise, matter-of-fact age. tn,
: old legends are fast losing credence
4 and reason is apt to sneer at the mist,
3 cobwebs of the past. Even the oooc
, st. Nicholas himself is secuted bv The
rising generation-no one pays homage
to his shrine except the merest infants
and it is to be feared that the dear, little
man Will have, ere long, to retire from
the world forever.
But life has enough of hard. stern
: realities surrounding it the whole yea,
round for any harm to come to us
through the sweet myths of this charmed
} eve.
For our part, We are sorry to know
that the good Santa Claus is losing
prestige, for we look back to the time
when we hailed his coming with infinite
delight when we lay awake for hours
upon Christmas Eve to hear the tink-
ling OF bells and the tramp of reindeer
hoofs upon the roof, and fancied we
heard the saint himself, as, dressed
all In fur from his head to his foot" he
came stealthily down the chimney to
fill the expectant stockings.
| We pity the poor child who will grow
up and have no such pleasant visions to
look back upon-no childish ideal to
soften the asperity of life's reality.
10 the midnight hour of Christmas
Eve belong the quaintest, sweetest
legends. At this time the little bees
are said to hum in their cells. and thev
who listen attentively may hear the
tinkling of bells far beneath the earth
down in the subterranean depths
where dwell the Trolls.
The ringing of these bells is believed
by the miners to come from those
caverns which contain the richest ore
where solemn mass is held upon Christ
mas Eve by live, weird beings who
dwell in the depths of the earth. The
service is chanted by invisible sprites,
and the cavern is most brilliantly
illuminated.
There is also legend of bell which
solemnly tolls on Christmas Eve. from
II O'Clock until l, in a pond near Got
tingen, In Germany. The water in this
pond is very deep, and from it was
taken the water of baptism in the
church near by. The legend of the
bell relates that it once swung IN the
high tower of the church, where it had
been placed without having first been
consecrated by baptism, as was the
custom of that time. But when the
Christmas tide came round, and the
bell commenced to ring out the merry
Christmas chimes, it was hurled by |
some supernatural power from its Lofty |
position into the depths of the pond. |
beneath whose waters it sank and was |
seen no more. But always at the SOL |
emn hour of II upon Christmas Eve the |
bell rises to the surface of the water.
tolls away its hour, and then sinks |
again. This legend is still believed in |
devoutly in the vicinity of the pond.
Upon Christmas Eve the cock is said /
to crow all night long, that all evil |
things which infest the air NAV flee |
away.
The nights are wholesome, then no planets |
No fairy takes, witch has power to charm.
So hallowed and so gracious is the time
If all hours could be as free from i'll |
as the solemn hour when Christ was
born! Is it strange, when we remem-
Der that the Holy Babe slept in manger,
that universal belief has long pre-
vailed that upon Christmas Eve the
oxen kneel In their stalls and hold con-
verse like men? The deer, also, in our
vast forests, are believed by the Indians
to adore the Great Spirit on this mystic
night, kneeling and looking upward.
In the good old times, when a belief
in witches disturbed the dreams of our
forefathers, the doors of the houses
were carefully closed and guarded upon
Christmas Eve, lest strange dogs or cats
should enter, who might prove to be
witches in disguise And if a whirr in
the air without was heard, it was be-
lieved to be the rushing of broomstick
over the house, bearing some wicked
witch away to her midnight revels. And
no one dared to peep out, lest they en-
countered the glance of the evil eye.
Even the cattle were not exempt from
the witches power, and sharp scythe
was placed In the fodder as a charm to
keep the wicked ones away.
hCN wiz diO OOIu OA SuTlSUmaS, or
Good Friday, are said to see spirits,
and even to possess the power of COM
them. This may be rather
doubtful blessing, if we may believe
history, which relates that "the Span
iards imputed the haggard and down
cast looks of their Philip the Second to
the disagreeable visions to which this
privilege subjected him."
One of the strangest legends comes
from merry old England, and gravely
tells us that, in the year 1912, upon the
lay before Christmas, a party of fifteen
young women and eighteen young men
we're singing and dancing in the church
yard belonging to the Church of st.
Magnus. Within the church the High
Msss was being celebrated, and the
:evels of these giddy young people so I
disturbed the officiating priest at the I
altar, that, in his wrath, he prayed that
hey might not cease their dancing for
/ year |!
In those times prayers seem to have {
been more efficacious than now, since
he request of the priest was granted,
md the jewellers danced on and on {
the entire year, knowing no