Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-01-03
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Gritten for The Evening Star.

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tCopyrehtedI
Written for The Evening Star.
nF ALL THE MANY FESTAL CUSTOMS Of
Omodern society there are few which can boast
Of greater antiquity, interest and universally
than those which are practiced in the celebrs-
ton Of the first day of the year, or New Year
day, though many Of the observances which
once enjoyed great popularity are now almost
or wholly obsolete.
Among the ancient Romans, from the time
of the Julian reformation Of the calendar. the
first day or the ''Calends" Of January was OBJ
served as public holiday marking the begin
ming Of q new year. They dedicated the day
and the whole ensuing month to the god Janus,
| from whom it derives its name of January. and
whom they represented Is a man with two
faces, one looking backward. the other for
ward. implying that he stood between the old
and the new year with a regard 70 both.
Throughout January they offered sacrifices to
Janus upon twelve affairs, and on the first day
OF that month they were careful to 30 regulate
their conduct that their every word and act
should be happy augury for all the ensuing
days OF the year.
RECONCILIATION OF prFFEREScEs.
Ovid and other Latin writer's Of that age
sHude 10 the suspension of all litigation and
strife, the reconciliation Of differences between
friends, the smoking affairs and the white
robed professions to the capitol upon the LIST
day Of Janus. or New Year day now call
it They also tell of the exchanging Of visits,
the giving and receiving of presents or
"strenae. the masquersding and the feasting
with which in their time the day was celebrated
dude: who puts on his swallow-tailed coat and
his white necktie and sallies forth to visit his
| female friends, will be surprised to learn that
the Roman dude, arrayed in a new shirt and
| toga, went forth upon precisely the same GRAND
more than 00O years ago.
From the very birth Of Christianity. the par
| ticipation by Christians in the festival observ-
| ances Of New Year day was vigorously opposed
| by the church, until about the fifth century,
| the 25th of December had gradually became a
fixed festival commemorative of our Lords ma
| tivity. whereupon the LIST of January assumed a
specially sacred character as the octave of
Christmas day and as the anniversary of Christ 9
circumcision. Az such it still holds place in
| the calendars Of the various branches Of the
eastern and western church, but only as a feast
OF subordinate importance.
CUSTOM OF GIVING GIFTS.
The custom Of giving gifts upon New Year
day, though it has to a great extent been
! superseded in our own time by the giving of
Christmas gifts. is one Of the Oldest as il was
of the occasion. The Persians celebrated the
beginning OF the year by exchanging presents
of eggs. The ancient Druids distributed as
New Year gifts among the early Britons
branches OF mistletoe cut with peculiarly
solemn ceremonies. The early Saxons observed
the festival of New Year with feasts and gifts
Among the ancient Romans the ''st-enae" or
New Year presents, already alluded to- were not
only exchanged between relatives and friends,
but were exacted by the emperors from their
slrh Inda ('oacor No..
| gifts became such a source of profit to the
sovereign and SO onerous a burden to the people
tina. Claudius limited their cost by decree.
QUEEN ELIzABErH.s PRESENTS
Henry Ill of England followed the Roman
precedent in extortinS New Year gifts from
his subjects, the practice being revived in the
reign Ut Henry vi and continuing till the
| reign Of Charles L. But it was during Queen
Eizabeth's reign that this custom of presenting
New fedf gtfts to the sovereign attained its
| greatest and most extravsgant height. These
presents were made by every one in anv wav
| associated with the virgin queen. from the great
| officers of state down to her majesty's dustman,
and included sums OF money. ornaments for
the queens person or apartments, caskets
studded with precious stones. necklaces brace
let's, gowns. mantles, petticoats. fans. mirrors.
silk stockings and great variety of other arti-
cles. Howell states in his 'History of the
World that ''Queen Elizabeth in 1861 was pre-
sented with pair of black silk knit stockings
by her silk woman. Mrs. Montague, and thence
The queens wardrobe is said to have been al
most wholly supplied by these New Year gifts,
in return for which she made presents of gold
and silver plate.
A good story Is told of Archy Armstrong.
| court jester to Charles /. who. on receiving
twenty gold pieces from a nobleman one New
Year morning, complained that they were
too light.
Let me zee them again. then. Archy." said
the donor. land, BY the way. there is one of
them which should be 10th to part with"
Confidently expecting larger gift the Jester
handed the gold pieces back to the nobleman
who put them in his pocket and marched of
saying: Il gave my money to q fool who had
not the wit to keep it,
The custom Of giving New Year presents to
English sovereigns ceased with the establish
ment Of the commonwealth in the DAYS Of
Oliver Cromwell and has never since been
revived.
How PIN MONEY ORIGINATED.
All ladies know what pin money is, but it
may be interesting to them to learn the origin
of the expression and also to know that it is
directly connected with New Year day. Until
the beginning Of the sixteenth century the only
pins used by the poorer classes were made of
wood--in fact they were not pins at all, but
skewers, which for the use of the wealthy were
made Of box wood, bone and silver. At the
period above named the metal pins now in use
were invented and people OF fashion were eager
to possess them. They at once became the
most popular and acceptable New Year gift for
ladies, but il soon became customary to give
instead Of the pins themselves the money with
which to purchase them, and this was called
''pin money" term which gradually came to
be applied to all money given to ladies for the
general purposes Of dress and personal adorn-
ment.
THE wAssAIL BOWL.
Among the Oldest and most interesting of
New Year customs. but all of them are peculiar
to England and never known or practised in
our own country, are those pert aiming to the
wassail bowl Wassail is a compound of hot
ale, spices, sugar, toast and apples, and is be-
lieved to have originated about the time of the
Saxon invasion Of England, its name being de-
rived from the Anglo-Saxon 'Waes-haeI' or
BE in health. Among the early Anglo-Saxons
the phrases WASHABLE and "Drinc-heir' were
the customary ones between friends when
about to drink together. being equivalent to
''Drink hearty" Of our modern American bar
room Thus the phrase "Was-haeI'-soon
corrupted to Washable and finally to wassail-
came TO be applied to the drink above de-
scribed, which was made only between Christ
mas and New Year day, the season of all others
when men overlooked with kindly feelings to-
ward their fellows and heartily wished them
"Was-hael," or good health and all other
| 1t became customary to have bowl Of was
| sail at every New Year feast and for the mas
ter Of the house to take long draught and
then to pass il to the guest sitting at his right