The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1885-10-30
YuIE TIME IN SCOTLAND.
The Extensive Preparations that Are Made
for It-A Day of Feasting and Fun.

y
knew vastly more of the real Yule
! time than those who celebrate the
poets birthday are now wont to
know, writes correspondent to THE
Albany Argus. Then 1t was holy
day of many centuries observance,
and nurses by the cradles of such babes
as William Burns laddie were ac-
customed to Groom of "the festal time
when of the south the fiery sun. wheel
comes" Now, in Scotland, as well as
elsewhere the world over, it is neces-
sary to tell the inquiring child the
ever-new story of the great annual fes-
| tival of the winter solstice, not cele-
brated now with the old time wassail,
but observed still with some measure
of feasting and revelrv.
The ships that arrived on Friday and
Saturday brought the latest Glasgow
mails, and as our American Scotch
men gather to tell of that birth at
aulden Ayr they will have to read many
a home letter and paper telling on the
dearest pages of the Yule just passed
in the loved and far away Scotch land.
The home folk do not speak of Christ
mas as much as they do of Yule, and
the chances are that the auld folk
would never refer to it as synonymous
with the feast of the nativity, though
| it stands the greatest holiday of the
! Scottish year. Yule is not of the 25th
of December, but of the 9th of January;
for in the olden days time was always
reckoned by the sold STYLE" and, from
! fear that it might have Romish
! flavor, tradition preferred to keep
! twelve days behind the rest OF the civil
lied world.
| Certain very important preparations
/ were made for the feast as long ago as
November. Each able family killed,
at the approach of winter, pig. a
yearling, and six or more sheep.
! Everything was utilized, Tripe was
picked, talIow candles were made,
and out of the kitchen oven came pud-
dings, black and white. Each master
went to the market town and laid in
ample store of groceries of all sorts.
And when the dark and dead half of
the year went out, the warm cellar was
well-filled larder, and the air was
pregnant with the coming day that
t was to break in upon the uneventful
! and monotonous routine of the country
side year with it's festivities, its feast
ing, and its fun, The youngsters
j looked forward to it with the most
| eager anticipation, for in our Scotch
! homes there are, besides the mester
and mither, almost always flock of
lads and lassies who enjoy festal-ti time
with zeal which it is difficult for
dwellers in more favored climes and
more stirring localities to understand.
! The Stanch conservative meSter and
| the genial, hospitable mither, true to
their principles and instincts, antici-
! pated and enjoyed the "day of the
sunlight" that had been kept in the
old house from time immemorial with
! the same right royal delight as their
children did, only perhaps in a more
ordinary way.
The boys and girls have their semi
annual suits of clothing for the great
occasion, and another invariable and
! important preparation is the making
of the football, Yule always inaugu-
rating the football season ''across the
border" The lads, with great anxi-
ETY. and study, cut and sew the leather
covering themselves, using a native
tanned horse hide. The girls, mean
while. would write little notes of for
NAL invitation to every household of
cousins to ''come to us on New 'rs-day
and stay till Yule Gen." for, though it
is general to spend the time at home,
! yet such invitations must be ex-
changed.
Yule came, this year, on a ''tisly
Tuesday," called ''tisly'' because that
it is traditional that Yule, coming on
Tuesday, the day is always fine (''tis
lightfully!' contracted to tis'Iy''
property So, of course, it was
lovely day, and thus the letter-writers
say. Feasting began at 9 O'Clock with
very substantial breakfast. No ma
tutinal porridge on Yule morning!
Though only breakfast, the tables
groaned with good things. Few were
SO thriftless but that they could sit
down to such a good board as held
round of cold corned beef, savory saus-
ages, eggs, rolls, scones, oatmeal,
brunnies, marmalade, tea, and cream.
After the meal every sideboard brought
forth large old china punch-bowl,
kept expressly for this purpose, Il sal
yer with large glasses, and cake bas-
ket heaped with rich short breads.
And the bowl 1t contained that
venerable and famous Yule breakfast
/ beverage called "whipcor'-venera-
BILE because that tradition hath it that
it was the favorite drink of the dwell
ers in Valhalla when they first kept
j their Yule festival; and famous, be-
cause there never is, in Scotland,
Yule breakfast without it. We, who
are Yankees, are not acquainted with
! it. 1t is not egg-hip, but its constitu-
! ents are the yelks of dozen eggs
/ whisked half an hour with about one
pound of sugar. added to a pint of old
rum and a quart of sweet cream. A
bumper of this, drank to many happy
returns of the day, always rounds off
Yule breakfast completely.
| Right off after breakfast, football
commenced on many a green. Men
and boys met, and after drinking
drams and eating cake provided by
some generous laird, sets were ar
ranged, goals fixed, and play began.
! The older men looked on with interest,
! and the games went on fast and furi-
! GUS till close up to the dinner hour,-
8 o'clock,-when light failed.
The dinners were as ponderously
substantial as the breakfast. and much
more ample and lavish. The letters