Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1881-12-29
CHRISTMAS IN THE OLOtH TIME.


WIS a generation ago, and its observ-
ance Is annually extending. But Il is
not kept even yet. with anything like
the universally much lesst he enthu-
siasm, Of the olden time In England.
Three hundred years ago, Christmas
was. emphatically the great festival
Of the year. It was the one that ap-
pealed, more eloquently than any other,
TO that feeling of common brother
hood In man. which Is the very essence
OF true Christianity. On Christmas day.
rich and poor were drawn together, as
they were at no other time. The men,
dicant was sure Of his aims. no mat
ter nj what gate he knocked. Thel ord
OF the Manor saw that every one, who
took his hire. had joint for dinner. In
the houses OF the wealthy. relatives Of
every degree met, as they meet now at
Thanksgiving In New England: the
son from across tho sea, the married
daughter from another country. the
widow, the orphan, the heir, the re-
pentant prodigal. The chimneys blazed,
the boards groaned. the minstrel piped.
The young danced the long evenings
through. The aged looked on, thought
OF the past, and smiled. While many
n bashful lover, who had sighed in vain
all the year. took courage, when he
caught his sweetheart under the ever
green, and availing himself Of the old
time license, kissed her, and found
tongue 20 speak.
but that which hIlOwed Christmas,
especially, was the sacred memory con-
nected with H. The story of the Babe
In the manger was n story that melted
the hardest hearts 20 love and rever-
ence. IL was kept vividly before the
mind, ON every recurring Christmas
season, 10y the words OK Holy Writ, by
poetry, by legend. by pictorial repre-
sentations even. The lowly stable, the
Wise Men Offering gifts. the actual
Star I'm the East were real to the men
OF that day, I'm sense that can hardly
be understood in this material age.
The times were, essentially imaginative.
People saw the steps OF fairies in the
rings OF blighted grass. The devOut
believed. as Milton believed long after,
I'm spiritual presences MI about them.
What wonder, therefore, that, in the
quiet, starlit night, the carol singers,
wandering homeward, almost fancied
they heard, in the sough of the wind
among the trees, the rush of angels
wings. rs the celestial messenger chant
ed, far up, and out of sight, "Glory TO
God In the Highestr'
"With folded hands, in stOlCs Of white,
On sleeping wings they SAIL"
For Christmas was ushered In in-
variably by carol-singers. The custom
has now disappeared, almost entirely,
even in England. Here we only know
II. as practised in the domestic circle,
when a mother, or elder sister, gathers
the little ones around her, and sings
carols with them. But as evening drew
ON. I'm the old times of which we write,
the picked singers OF the vicinage, both
men and women, came together, and
going from house to house. sang carols
ntillong after midnight. Many of these
carols are still extant, the oldest being
n Norman one fthe thirteenth century,
of which we give the first stanza:
"I.ordlings, listen 20 our lay
We have come from far away,
To seek Christmas.
I'm this mansion we are told
lie his yearly feast doth hold:
'Tis today:
May Joy come from God above,
To all those who Christmas love-"
Sometimes the music was wholly
vocal: sometimes a viOl accompanied
the voices sometimes there were music
al instruments of every variety then
known. But the carol, in the main de-
pended for It's success, on the voices;
and wisely, for vocal music was as
universally cultivated, in England then,
as I'm Germany now. This carol-singing
was n beautiful custom, and might be
revived TO advantage. IL not abused.
Fancy the long prolonged notes, rising
and falling. melOdiously, on the night
air. and dying away, at last, In the dis
tance, as II seraphic choirs echoed them
from heaven. AS Milton, in his "Hymn
to the Nativity" rapturously exclaims
"Sush music tas lis said)
Before was never made,
but when OF old the sons OF Morning sung,
While the Creator great
Ills cOnstellatntiOns set,
Aud the wcltbalanced world on hinges
hung"
While tho carOl-singers were thus
going from house 20 house, the Yule
log. at the Manor House, was being
brought In. Those were the days OF
capacious chimneys, and flre-places
wide enough TO roast an OK. For this
ceremonial, the butt Of some huge tree
was selected: for it was expected TO
act as backlog the week out; and IL
was dragged in by ropes. the whole,
household attending, with shouts, and
often with music. The master, or
mistress. sat by the earth. looking on.
When the mighty y ece Of timber was
fairly In its place. and the lesser logs
swapping and burning. musically. in
front. the servants " ere sent back to
the kitchen, where they kept Christ
mas Eve with song md dance. while
the heads of the family, gathering
around the blaze. with their children,
and grandchildren. and other near
relatives, "held high festival"
But IL bringing in the Yule
iVS WeS hlulsponSaOe on OnrlStmaS
eve. not less was the going to
for morning service, on Christ
mas day. Every one. high or low, was
expected to be present. Woe to him
or her, Goodman Hodge or Goody
Joan, who failed to appear. If not
provided with an excellent excuse,
scant was the dole that would be his,
or hers, when Christmas came around
again. The church, for this festive
lay, was decked out with holly, ivy,
bay, and other evergl eens. The lord
., the Manor was there, prominent in |
ms pew the rest of the congregation
had suitable, but ruder seats.
In tho earlier times to a late breaI<fast
afterwards to dinner. The dinner was
the dinner of the year. Fvervone vas
happy. or tried fo IA, 90 ~ s,s.