The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1886-12-25

OF the customs engratted on the season
are the invention of that ancient crea-
ton named the abbot of Unreason' or
Lord of Misrule.' He was enthroned
in the houses of the nobility and his ad
A6stNm province was to provide all the
pastimes, delight the visitors in every
conceivable way, stuff the larder with
meats and fruits and wines, and prepare
the tables for the entertainment of COM
pany. He was more arbitrary than any
king, and SO patronized.t the ovens, that
the Italians made them the basis of their
proverb, He has more business than an
English oven at Christmas The ten
antry were entertained at the Manorial
Hall, and the Lord and Mistress joined
in the customary round of mirth:
"On Christmas eve the bells were rung:
On Christmas eve the mass was sung;
That only night in all the year,
Saw the stoed priest the chalice rear.
Then opened wide the baron's hall,
To vassal, tenant, serf and all;
Power laid his rod of rule aside,
And ceremony dofed his pride.
The heir with roses in his shoes,
That night might village partner choose.
All hailed with uncontrolled delight
And general voice the happy night,
That to the cottage, as the crown
Brought tidings of salvation down.
England was merry England, when
Old Christmas brought his sports again.
Twas Christmas broached his mightiest ale;
Twas Christmas told the merriest tale;
Christmas gambol oft would cheer
A poor mans heart through half year"
The fires of the hearth were made to
| O. . 4 y
.cipal Of which was the yule log which
supposed to burn till Candlemas eve.
This stick, the largest and of the hardest
wood, received its name of yule or ferst
log, from the Saxon wood fnhe, by which
name the feast of the Nativity was called
among them. Among the colleges of
England and the Inns of Court, the first
dish at the Christmas feast was soused
boar's head, in honor of the Oxford stu
dent who, while reading Aristotle in the
forest, was attacked by furious wild
boar, and to save himself, choked the
beast by ramming the volume down its
throat with the exclamation 'Graecnm
est 'it is Greek
The beautiful and tasteful custom of
decorating houses and churches with
evergreenS for the holidays, has come
down to us from ancient Druidic times.
They believed that patron spirits of the
dark groves in which they worshipped,
gathered to the evergreen boughs they
set up on festal occasions, and there re-
mained as protecting genii against nip
ping frosts until the return of the milder
season. In carrying out this pretty con-
ceit, the holly, ivy, rosemary, bay and
mistletoe, were used for wreathes and
trimmings.
The superstition, scarcely yet aban-
doned among the more ignorant classes
of England, that the oxen were to be
seen on their knees in attitude of prayer
on the night before Christmas, was but
another phase of the prevalent medieval
notion that an OK and ass were occupants
of the stable in which our Saviour was
born, and that they assumed suppliant
posture during the period of accouch-
ment.
Shakespeare has converted into poetry
the once popular fancy, that all evil
spirits forsake the world and go unto
their own abode during the hours of
| Christmas night:
| "Eyer 'gainst that season comes within our
| Saviours birth is celebrated
| This bird of dawning singeth all night long;
| And then they say no spirit stirs abroad
| The nights are wholesome no planet strikes;
| No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,
So hallowed and so gracious is the time"
But it were idle to pursue further the
conceits that find spring in Christmas.
Many are extravagant, yet thoroughly
indicative of the times in which they
find an origin. Far more are as pretty
as the tenderest Imagination could un-
fold. Some are grand as the occasion
which gave them birth. All are sugges-
tive, and the vividness of their impress
is manifest in the tenacity with which
we of a newer and higher civilization
cling to them, and the willingness with
which we perpetuate them.
The Puritans of New England and
the Quakers of Pennsylvania were stern
opposers of Christmas solemnities. Their
simple creeds admitted of no ostenta-
tions in keeping with the occasion, and
their pious souls revolted at the idea of
merry making over an event SO solemn
and impressive as the birth of Saviour.
But these severly pietistic notions have
been relaxed to great extent, and hui
manity has been allowed to speak its
soul in voice of its own choosing. The
day has been made statutory holiday
by the States, and may be called such
by custom throughout the United States.
The religious services of the day in many
churches are the most solemn of the
year. 1t is day SO full of sacred
memories, warm affections, pleasing ep-
isodes and, noble charities, that none
will wish its observance to cease.
B@- Sam Jones says: There is some
thing wrong when preacher gets $4oc
and pitcher $1,000 But Sam should
remember that the $4,000 pitcher has q
much better delivery than the $4oc
preacher.
!, s@rMalice drinketh up the greatest
part of its own poison.