Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1891-12-24
Fer The Ellsworth American. |
Christmas.

| At this time 1t would not be out Of place
to give your readers few facts about the
origin and practice of some of the customs
and ceremonies attending the celebration
| of Christmas, which have been observed in
ancient and modern times. The subject is
one Of greater magnitude than can be ex-
| haustively used in an article like this and in
compressing the material at hand within
reasonable limits, much that might be said
must be passed over in silence.
| In the early history of the church, Christ
mas was movable feast, celebrated by
some christians on the 9th of January
at Epiphany, the Feast of Kings by
others on March 29th, the time of the
Jewish Passover; while others observed 1t
on September 29th, at the time of the
Feast of Tabernacles.
| In the lVth century, Pope julius |. or
dered an Investigation to be made con-
cerning the nativity of Christ, which re-
suited in an agreement upon the 25th Of
| December.
| Upon the revision of the calendar in
| 1852. dates of old and new style became
mixed in the minds of men for a long time
and II we believe tradition in that Of brutes
| also, for the former conformed to the new
| order, while the oxen in their stalls refused
t 10 conform and allowed the 25th Of De-
cenber 10 pass without recognition, but
MI Il fa1l ~
| night stroke of the clock on January 9th.
which CORES >ponded to the Christmas thev
| had previously been accustomed to ob-
| serve.
| Whether they became discouraged in
! their endeayorS to maintain the old order
| and gave up their pious practice, tradition
| sayeth not, but we have reason to know
that the cattle of our day have no such
! custom
| The church of Rome holds 10 a tradition
| that Christ was born at midnight aus
| hence the custom in Roman Catholic cnln-
! tries Of ushering in Christmas hy the c,.r-
/ bration of three Masses, At midnight. 4
/ early dawn and in the morning TA..
/ practice has given to Us the name Christ
/ mas, which was derived from the words
( Christ ami mas To investigate THE oil
/ gin Of many Christmas customs ii j. nee
es>ary to wander far back into the DIM
/ historical ages of the past, before JulinS
4 Casar had sst his feet upon the shores Of
Britain. or 81 Augustine had preached
/ christianity 10 our remote English auces-
t tors, 1.-THE men Of Kent
/ In the Old church calendars Christmas
eve is marked. temple eXornsntur adorn
| the temples. We conform to very an
/ cicnt custom where we decorate churches,
( chapels and our houses with beautiful ever
! greens which are festooned upon their
! walls, or are placed over doors anl upon
/ the windows; custom which, let us
/ hope, Will long prevail among Us, to aid in
I hallowing the memories of Christmas,
\ from childhood 70 old aye, and keep green
4 IN our hearts the love and reverence for
Him who came to earth 10 confer untold
blessings upon mankind. And vet, this
custom now 30 dear 10 us, il said 10 have
been derived from the ancient pruidical
practices of Britain In existence long by-
fore Christ was born.
4 The belief i, said to have existed with
the Druid> that by decorating their tenn
plies with eytrgreen- they gave shelter 10
I sylvan spirits which tiocked to them, there
4 to mud warmth to protect them from biting
\ fro,t~, until the return Of a mIlder season,
Our English ancestors perpctuated the
I custom by decorating their churches chap
/ els and houses, and from them it has been
/ handed down TO us
In England these decorations remained
from Christmas to the end of January, but
1 should all be removed before February >,
/ Candlema- day, as superstition rendered 1t
/ fatal presagc if any were left after that
time.
The poet Herrick alludes to this super
-tition in the following words
Down with the rosemary. and
Down ith HE ha-c aud mi-tletOe;
Down with The holly, ilie. aii
" nrres ith We dres, the Christmas hall;
That 80 the >uper.titious iud
No one least branch there left behind;
For look! how many leaves there be
Neglected there, maids, trust To the,
So many goOlins YOU shall see
The mistletoe in the Christmas decora
tions was placed over the door of the
/ house, and all maids that passed under it
were to be kissed by the SWANS. In parts
Of Oxfordshire, England, it was the cu,
tom for the maid servants to ask the man
to bring ivy to decorate the house, aud if
he refused or neglected to furnish the sup
ply, the maids by stealth took pair of his
brteches and nailed them to the gate of
the yard or highway. similar usage
prevailed in other parts of England, where
failure to comply with the request Of
the maids, drbarred the man from the
exercise of the well-known and desired
privileges of the mistletoe.
Another ancient Christmas ceremony
handed down to our English forefathers
from their scandinavian progenitors, was
the burning of the yule-log. They at the
feast of Juul at the winter solstces, kim
died huge bontires in honor of their god
Thor This great log, destined to crackle
a welcome to all corners, was drawn with
ceremonial triumph from the forest. Each
wayfarer raised his hat as it passed, for
he knew 1t was full of good promises and
that its flame would burn out old heart
burnings and cause the liquor in the was
sail bowl, quatied on that occasion, to
bubble and drown old feuds and animos-
ties. SO the yule-log was duly honored,
and the bards welcomed its entrance into
baronial halls with their songs of rejoic-
ing.
Among other revels of Christmas time
in days of yore, were the so-called feasts OF
fools and asses. called also December lii
critics, in which the Lords of Misrule bur
lesqued everything serious, interiors per-
sonated their superiors, great men became
frolicsome, and the order and decencies
of life and society were reversed and ridi-
culed.
But OF all ancient Christmas customs
none are more pleasing than that of the
Christmas carols, which in joyous yet de-
hn