The Democratic advocate., 1884-12-20
CHRISTMAS PAST.
dom glory.

CHRISTMAS PAST.
Harper's Magazine for December con.
tains an interesting article on the olden
time Christmas, by Charles Dudley War
ner. 1t has seven beautiful illustrations
We make the following extracts:
THE BIRD OF DAwN.-It may be that
the belief in Shakespeare's time, the story
that Hamlet did ''in part believe" that the
cock crows all night long on the eve Of
Christmas, had its origin in the growing of
the cock in that gray dawn when Peter
denied his Lord. The growing was sign
that gracious influences prevailed, with
which the bird was in sympathy. The
ghost in Hamlet "faded on the growing of
the cock, but we are led to think that it
was owing to its connection with this holy
festival that the ''bird of dawning" had its
charm against evil.
Some matter-of-fact writers say that the
cock is deceived by the abundant lights of
the festival, for Christmas is sometimes
called in the Latin Church the Feast of
Lights, so many candles are used. In Bel
gium, from Christmas to Epiphany the
children go about carrying paper stars with
a lighted candle in the centre, commemo-
rating the appearance of the star in Beth
lehem. Whether it is the artificial light OF
sympathy with the season that keeps the
cocks awake all night, their growing at
such unreasonable hours was sometimes re-
garded as an unfavorable omen. The story
is told in country parish in England of a
poor woman, in dang EEjptinsiillness, who was
greatly depressed by this overture of Chan,
ticeer to the dawn, believing that it was a
sign of death. But when the well-known
passage from Hamlet was read to her, and
she was told that it was written by the
cleverest man in England, she frightened
up, and began to recover Immediately. II
was the child-like faith of the Middle Ages
that all created things were in sympathy
with the Nativity; the cocks crew, the bees
in their hives made more melodious noise
and the cattle in their stalls went down on
their knees. In the western part of Dev-
onshire, attwelve o'clock at night on Christ
mas-eve, the oxen in their stalls were always
found on their knees, as in an attitude OF
devotion, and making "a cruel moan like
Christian creatures" And it was remarked
as singular that after the alteration of the
old style to the new they continued to do
this only on the eve of the old Christmas
day, which was proof of the faithfulness of
the OK and his disregard of STYLE,
THE CHRIsTMAs-TR -TREE.-Thec custom of
decoration by green plants and flowers in
all sorts of festivals is as old as history, and
of course the use of evergreens at Christ
mas needs no explanation, nor is the custom
any less Christian because it is of immemo-
rial use among pagan nations. The mistle-
toe, however, had a unique place. The
Celtic peoples and the Druids held it in the
same veneration that the Romans did. 1t
was used by the Romans in religious cere-
monies, and it may have been the "golden
bough" of the internal regions. The Druids
gathered it against the festival of the win
ter solstice with great sOlemnity, the prince
of the Druids cutting it himself with a
golden sickle. 1t was used as charm
against evil spirits, and excellent medical
properties are ascribed to it. 1t was sup
posed to possess the power to preserve from
poison, and the mystic property of giving
fertility. "Kissing under the mistletoe"
may have had reference to this ancient belief
There was tradition that the maid who
was not kissed under bough of mistletoe
at Christmas would not be married during
the following year. There was once no
ton that its heather origin should exclude
it from the Christmas decorations; but this
found no favor with the young people at
any period. On the contrary, they took
good care that it should be hung, and that
it should have plenty of berries, for the
ceremony under it was not duly performed
if berry was not plucked off with each
kiss, and consequently the supply of Der.
ries determined the number of kisses. II
did not need the Roman use of the plant
to recommend such preventive of the
state of old-maidism. Some trace the use
of green bush decoration to the Original
branches of vervain among the Romans
With Romans and Druids the vervain was
panacea for every ill, and they believed
above all, that it "conciliated hearts which
were at variance" e"-another good Office Of
any plant in the Christmas season. The
Druids only venerated the mistletoe that
grew on the oak, but the common mistletoe
Viscus album, with its pearly berries, is
gathered from the hawthorn, the old apple
tree, the lime, and the fir, and from other
trees, OF late years this parasite has been
scarcer than formerly, and efforts have been
made to propagate it. This is done by
cleaning off the bark under any joint of a
young tree with the moistened thumb, and
then pressing the glutinous berry on the
clean ed place till it adheres to the bark; il
will begin to show growth in about fifteen
months. 1t is an obvious suggestion that
in sections of the country where the statis-
tics show falling off in marriages this
plant ought not to be let die out
CHRISTMAS MINcE-PIE.-In the old
time the Christmas season properly began
on the 10th of December described in the
Prayer-book calendar as o Sdpientia), and
ended January 6, with Twelfth-night
When the learned DR.. Parr was asked whai
day in December it was proper to begir
eating mince-pie, he said, "Begin on c
Sapientia; but please to say Chrismas-pie
not mince-pie- -mince-pie is Puritanical.
If there is any merit in eating mince-pie
as this association of it with the holy sea
son seems to imply, then we have certain
| test of the piety of the Pilgrims to New