The Democratic advocate., 1874-06-27
Our Oliu.
MIDSUMMER DAY.

IL may be some ininitesmal portion OF
the great system Of compensations and
balances in the universe that, since the
merry superstitions of one side of the year
take Halloween to themselves, so those of
the other side should have their Midsum-
mer night, though why they fastened upon
the vigil of st. John the Baptist nobody
seems to know. 1t is, however, probable
that the whole observance of the day was
a remnant of some heather celebration Of
the same day, allowed to continue its
contemporary habit by reason of its harm
less character aud certain instructions Of
the Latin poets, to the effect that it is the
night on which TO lie on the back, with the
ears stuffed with laurel, aud conjurc the
moon, would fortify that opinion.
The formal solcmnzation Of the day, in.
deed, has now brcome, except in certain
parts of England and ireland, quite obso-
lctc but II was always Of u simple and
rather interesting character, though vary
ing in different districts. Thus, for ex-
ample, in the country around Oxford the
day was observed by procession that
carried the representation of great drag
on about the streets, with dancing and
rcvclry, in honor of famous victory once
obtained in the shire by Cultured, who
captured from the King of Mercia his
standard, surmounted by golden dragon;
and in the first court of Magdalcn College
a sermon was preached, the court being
lined with green branches that the exhor-
tation might the more iorcibly bring to
mind the exhortations of the Baptist in
the wilderness In Scotland, meantime,
the sole relic of the days observance at
the present time is in some peculiarly
| magnificent ceremonies of the Freemasons.
At Melrose, after certain professional
services and dinner, the great body of
Masons form a line two by two, and hold
! ing lighted fambeaux aloft, wearing all
their most superb insignia, and carrying
their heraldic banners, they march three
times round the Cross, and then proceed
to the abbey, through throngs of people,
and with bands of music. Inside the
abbey they three times make the circuit of
the ruins, their torches throwing out all
the mighty and beautiful outlines and
shadows of the Wondering walls and
mullions and gathering at last at the
chanccl, the band strikes up, and they join
in the song Of "Scots wha hae," and
rockets are let off, and blue-lights shed
their glare upon strangely solemn and
splendid scene.
These, however, are exceptional instan-
ces Of the form of ceremonial, the general
observance Of the day in olden times being
of far less elaborate sort, in which
youths and maidcns, children and old men,
participated. The initial step of this
ancient and universal custom was an ex-
cursion into the woods, the merry y-makers
coming home-after having caught with
out touching It the form seed, which, from
its minute size, was supposed to have the
quality of rendering one invisiblc-laden
with green boughs and summer flowers
that they hung above their lintels-under
which lamp burned all that night-till
the door was shaded with green birch,
long fennel, st. Johns wort, roses and
lilies, yervain, trefoil, and rue, all of which
were held to have magical properties, and
the power of averting the thunder-bolt.
This done, they built bonfres in the mid
die Of the strcets--called bonfires or boon.
fires supposedly because every body brought
to them the boon of fagot Some have
sought to give pious explanation to the
origin Of these boniires by saying that
they typi6ed the "bright and shining light"
Of him whose voice was heard CRYING in
the wilderness but as after the people had
thrown into the blaze their garlands of
vervain and yiolcts, believing that so all
their ills were consumed with them, it was
their habit to leap through the blaze
themselves, the whole thing would seem to
be more closely allied to the fires of Moloch
than to any thing else. While the fires
burned, the town was patrolled by awatch,
which every male citizen was expected to
join unless he sent substitute and,
after taking an oath to keep the peace,
this watch strolled up and down, decorated
with wrcaths and ribbons, sometimes with
jewels and all their bravery. Often in
such large places as London this watch on
its parade became sight worth seeing,
numbering as many as a couple of thousand
men, carrying torches onlong poles, bright
with garlands, and gay with songs the
mobiles made practice Of coming out to
sec it, and King Henry brought Catherine
of Angcn and his court to view Il before
he abolished il on account of his fear of
the ultimate dangers Of such an assemblage
Of armed men.
Probably this order Of the monarch's by
putting an end TO the watch, put au end to
the fires naturally, and SO gradually to the
fires naturally, and so gradually to the