Los Angeles daily herald., 1886-12-25
CHRISTMAS.
Origin and Old Customs OF
the Day.
MERRIEsr DAY IN THE YEAR.
Feasts, Plays and Music-The LORD
of Misrule-B0ars' Heads
and Yule Logs.

$50 now ia come our Joyful feast;
Let every man be jolly.
Zach room with ivy leaves Is drest.
And every post with holly.
Though chsiris at our mirth repine.
'Ronnd YOUR foreheads garlands twine;
Drown sorrow in cup OF wine,
And let us all be merry"
Por nearly nineteen centuries Christ.
mas has been the merriest day in the
year to the greater part of the civilized
world. With the refinement of modern
times many of it's most marked features
are rapidly becoming indistinct. A large
portion of Chistendom is forgetting all
about the feast in all its aspects, and
the more religious portion of the world
are restricting the observance OF the day
to purely religious uses. The merry.
making of the day is being passed over
TO the children, whose interest in Christ.
mas is unabated.
Some question might we'll be raised as
to how it came to pass that day at the
core of whose observance lies so sacred
q religious mystery as the incarnation of
tho Diety, should ever have BECOME
mixed up with such boisterous festivi.
ties as those which centered around it in
tho
"Days OF auld lang syne."
The answer to that question will ex.
plain why the feast has SO persistently
defied all efforts to disturb the date of
its observation. All the learning of the
world has been brought to bear to show
that the birth of Christ could not have
been in midwinter. There has been lit.
tie written to prove that it did take
place, 1t is fact that the twenty
fifth of December was kept as Christ
mas day by the christian church from a
very early period. But, thers is an en-
tire absence of proof that this is truly
the natal day of the Deing regarded by
christians as both man ami at the same
time God.
The fact is patent that all races OF the
world have held solemn religious feast
at about this season of the year, from
the very dawn of history. This feast
has been connected everywhere with
feasting, merrymaking, and indeed with
riot the world around. This was the
season sof the Roman "Saturnalia," a
feast of the widest ex.ravagance and
utmost license. The houses were deck
ed with evergreens, presents were made,
games and amusements ruled the hour,
slaves aud masters joined in the same
pastimes. In the north of Europe the
worshipers of Odin and Thor, held high
carnival at this seasoa. Great fires were
made, the wild boars head was roasted,
the wassail cup went round, the sacred
nnistletoe was gathered most solemnly by
the priests who cut it under the efful-
gence of the moon with silver knife.
The same rites were observed by the
Druids of Britain and of other Erse and
Gaelic races. The Yule log blszed up
the chimney, and the boar's head was
turned to roast on the spit, long ages
before the Christian religion was heard
Of in the pews of old England in ths
woods Of Scotland, or in the morasses oi
Ireland.
The event round which this centereo
among races SO far apart, was the begin
ming OF the suns return from his trip tS
the distant south. The sun was the
source of heat and life. When he passed
below the equator the world died. The
flowers dropped on their stems. The
birds fed the inhospitable cold. AL
the productiveness of nature came to &
period. and nearly all the joy of life wal
at halt. The sun was divine object,
mysterious existence to the world, and
as such he was worshiped. His return
ct the first ster, was hailed with tn,
widest joy; with his nearer approach
the birds would come again, the flowers
would bloom, the earth would renew
her productiveness, and life would be
come exuberant.
The converted pagans brought part o
these notions with them when they be
came Christians. The church wisely
preferred to modify, and christianiz
these hereditary feasts rather than to
undertake the difficult task of extirpet
ing them, root and branch. All this will
help to account for the mad Joy, tn,
coarse buffoonery, and all the extrava.
gances and excesses which so long &C.
companied the Christmas feast. 1t viii
help to explain why
"All our neighbors' chimneys smoke.
And Christmas blocks are burning:
Their ovens they with baked meats choke
And all their spis are turning.
without the door sorrows lie;
And If for cold 1t hnps to die,
Wen bury it in Christmas pie,
And ever more be merry"
CHRISTMAS CUSTOMS.
Many customs most interesting to the
student of folklore and supeIstitions are