Omaha daily bee., 1894-03-25

white cake, having a mingled sweet and
bitter taste. This is evidently a survival
Of the bitter herbs of the Passion Supper.
At Coles Hill, in Warwickshire, il the
young men OF the town can catch a hare
and bring it to the clergyman of the parish
before 10 o'clock on Easter Monday the
good man is bound to give them a calfs
head and 100 eggs for their breakfast, to-
gether with a "groat" In money. Americans
who have visited Greenwich Hill, near
London, at Easter are familiar with the
sight of young men and women rolling
down the hill together, while locked in each
others arms.
This was originally one of the customs
Of May day, but has come to be added to
those of Easter. At Twickenham, England,
1t was long customary to divide two large
cakes among the young people in the parish
church, but in 1645 it was directed by act
of Parliament that thence forward there
should be bought, in lieu of the cakes.
loaves of bread for the parish poor and
from that time it has been customary, as 1t
still continues to be, to throw these loaves
from the church tower, to be
for by the poor children on the Thursday
following Easter.
ANCIENT FOLKLORE.
An old English name for Easter is Gods
Sunday" A quaint old folk-song OF the mid
die ages, almost incomprehensible by reason
of it's obsolete medieval spelling, gives the
following account of the origin of that name:
'"Wen Cryste soc nekid and forlorne,
Had on ye crosse hys goode lymbes torne.
Wen, three dayes after, all men slyde'
'Thys Cryste rysen frome ye dede,
Code sayde 'mye GhyldTe1,, ty Sop mSS e WaSe
In the middle districts of Ireland there is
a superstition that the sun dances In the
heavens on Easter morning. About 8 or y
O'Clock of the previous evening, called Holy
Saturday." the wives of prosperous farmers
place many a fine fat hen and choice piece OF
inio, bacon in the family not. and woe DetlOe
the luckless wight who ventures to taste be-
fore cockcrow. At midnight, among univer-
sal expressions of joy, there are heard loud
cries of out with the Lent" Then after Il
short period of merriment the household re-
tires to rest, rising again by 4 o'clock IN the
morning "to see the sun dance NOR is
this superstition confined to the lower ana
middle classes, for / have been assured by
persons of wealth and culture in Ireland that
they have repeatedly seen the sun dance III
the heavens on Easter morning,
The use of flowers to decorate churches
on Easter morning, like many other Chris
tian usages Of our day, is derived from the
Druids, those heather priests OF the early
Rritons. Those worthless were accustomed 10
make liberal use of flowers and vines in all
their ceremonies, and also employed them
freely to decorate their heather temples
But the use of flowers at Easter mas a
specially appropriate significance, as they may
very aptly be regarded as direct emblems or
the resurrection, they having risen in the
spring from the earth, in which during the
winter they seem to have been buried.
There is a very old superstition that abb
| stinence from meat Easter Sunday will pre-
vent one from contracting a fever during
the ensuing year,
En- Gods Sunday eat no meat,
Fever shall not make You sweat
is an old folk rhyme in many parts Of Eng
land.
In the middle ages troth plighted on Easter
was regarded as peculiarly sacred, and II was
| customary for lovers to then exchange poeti-
cal addresses somewhat after the manner OF
| valentines. The following, rendered into
modern spelling, is by Athelstane Wade, a
| folk poet of the time OF Richard l., and Is
regarded as one of the best specimens Of
its kind:
IT'S Gods Sunday, precious one.
That binds your heart In love to me-
Let us, then, all folly shun,
lie true, my sweet, as / TO thee.
Troth plighted on Christs rising day
is sacred, holy, good and true;
Let come TO me whatever may,
In life or death IN cling to YOU
%GEoFFREY WILLIsTON CHRISTINE.