The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1881-12-24


On Christmas-eye the mass was sung;
That only night in all the year.
Saw the stoled priest the chalice rear;
The damsel dOnned her kirtle sheen;
The hall was dressed with holly green;
Forth to the wood did merry men go,
To gather in the mistletoe.
Then opened wide the baron's hall
To YaSSal, tenant, serf and ALL
Power laid his rod of rule aside,
And Ceremony donned his pride
The heir with roses in his shoes,
That night might village partner choose;
The lord, underogating, share
The vulgar game of post and pair
And hailed, with uncontrolled delight,
And general voice, the happy night,
That to the cottage, as the crown,
Brought tidings of salvation down.
The ''Book of Days says of Christmas
eve: "a beautiful phase in popular su-
perstition, is that which represents
thorough prostration of the powers of dark
ness as taking place at this season, and that
no evil influence can be exerted by them on
mankind The cock is then supposed to
crow all night long, and by his vigilance to
scare away malignant spirits. Says Mar
cellus, in Hamlet
at faded on the Growing of the cock.
Some say that ever gainst that season comes
Wherein our Saviours birth is celebrated
The bird of dawning singeth all night long.
And then, they say, no spirit can walk abroad;
The lights are wholesome; then no planets strike,
So hallowed and gracious is the time.
Like other festivals of the Church,
Christmas was synchronous with ancient
heather observances. In England, at the
period of the winter solstice, great festi-
val was held by the Druids in honor OF
Tutanes, the same as the Phenician Baal,
when, with no little pomp and ceremony,
they went forth to the woods to gather the
sacred mistletoe from the oaks, at which
time they sacrificed two white bulls, bind
ing them to the trees, after adding human
victims. Festivities then followed, and the
mistletoe gathered was hung up by the peo-
ple over their dwellings as sort of propri-
tiation to the sylvan deities. This, then, is
in reality the origin of our Christmas or
| Yule-tide decorations, which have no neces-
sary connection with the Lesson appointed
for Christmas wherein we read, "The glory
of lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir
tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to
beautify the place of my sanctuary" All
this, however, does not reflect, in the slight
est degree, upon Christianity, which takes
institutions, like men, and consecrates them
to high and holy purposes. This is glory,
not shame
As regards the mistletoe, we are told that
it is propagated in its natural state by the
nsiissel-th,ush, which feeds upon its berries
1T was long thought impossible to propa-
gate it artifcially, but this object has been
attained by bruising the berries, and by
means of their viscidity, causing them to
adhere to the bark of fruit trees, where
they readily germinate and take root. The
growth of the mistletoe on the oak is now
of extremely rare occurrence, but in orchards
of west midland counties Of England, such
as the shires of Glocester and Worcester,
the plant fourishes in great frequency and
luxuriance on the apple trees. Large
quantities are cut in the Christmas season
and dispatched to London and other places
where it is extensively used for the decora-
ton of houses and shops. ...
The burning of the yule-log is another
English custom inherited from the old
Northern people, who at the feast of Juul,
at the winter solstice, used to kindle bon
fires in honor of the god Thor. In former
times, the bringing of the great yule-loe
and placing it in the enormous replaces OF
baronial halls, was one of the most joyous
observances of Christmas-eye We are told
that the venerable log, destined to crackle
welcome to all comers, was drawn in
triumph from its resting place at the feet
of it's living brethren of the woods. Each
wayfarer raised his hat as it passed, for
he well knew that it was full of good pro-
misses, and that its fame would burn out
old wrongs and heart-burnings, and cause
the liquor to bubble in the wassailbowl
that was quaffed to the drowning of ancient
feuds and animosities. So the yule-log
was worthily honored, and the ancient bards
welcome it's entrance with their minstrelsy. >
Herric& writes: f.... .
Come bring with noise,
|. NV merry merry boys,
The Christmas log TO the firing. fh
Sometimes the remains of the log were
preserved in the cellar until the following
Christmas-eve, when they were brought out
to help kindle the flames around its success
sor. Sometimes, also, great deal of I'M
portance was attached to this, and it was
thought that the remains of the charred
log would preserve. the house against all
accidents from fire. The accompaniment
of the log was the yule-candle. Brand In
his Antiquities" says that in the buttery
of St. Johns. College, Oxford, an ancient
candle-socket of stone still remains. 1t was
used to hold the Christmas candle, which
for twelve nights was burned on the high
table at supper.
In Devonshire, the yule-log takes the
form of the ashton .fagot, composed OF a
bundle of ash-fagots, nine in number, bound
together, and burned with great merriment.
Il is hardly necessary here to say any
thing of that other Christmas-eve institu-
/ tion, the Christmas-tree, whose branches
now grow from year to year. ltmay, how
ever, be observed that it is connected with
the Icelandic Yggdrasil, the wonderful ash
tree. In the Voluspa, we read: -
.I know an ash standing
Yggdrasil hight,
-a9 q lofty tree, laved Etsa
| +es with limped water;
thence come the dews
into the dales that fan
ever stands it green
over Urd's fountain