The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-12-19
Christmas Customs
In Foreign LANDS.

II is a pleasant thought at Chrlstm"
rfue that The celebration OF the seas"
i almost universal aad that Us les
yit,ps extend in one .ogm or ahoth@
anoug most of the nations 81 inc t'i g.
~. Tree and Santa Claus are an lHHV!
Ifance from pagan tunes anu 50 We h''
them cX.S.ng among nations thal nav
never known Chris iamty, but iAeE nav
become so Incorporated into our hodsN
h.,;.i life that we scarcely thlhA Oh queN
siuuiug their origin. 1t IS compafatNe''
recent. however. that the ChllStii'
celebration has assumed its present chaf
acter in the United States. Inc Qua@
ers. regarding one day as holy rs an
Sxher. treated it with indifference, am
I'm New England the Turitans frowne'
unon il. associating the Christmasud%
AM, it's reyelries in old England with tht
pacan mytholog:es and the ancient ST
xurualia and the approximations or th'
church. In the colonial period, IN spite
Of Quaker and Puritan repression, the
popular games and mummings which II
England belonged to the season, cont.n
We'd to he more or less observed. 1t e
related that in the middle Of the last
century, in Boston, maskers came int,
houses, and entered with speech. Inc
performance included a prologue, COM
Dat, cure and questions. All were III
disguise, with swords, etc.
At this time Christmas was not kept
Probably every city in America had
some such usage. Thus in Philadelphia
the Lord of Misrule, with his merry
crowd, went from house to house III
fantastic garb, singing rhymes and ask
ing for dole" The old English masque
II st. George and the Dragon seems IL
Aave been pressed into service during the
Revolutionary period, and some or ,ts
characters. much modified, doubtless long
existed among the annual mummers who
snryiye as our New Year Shooters.
Our Christmas mince pie is an inherit
ancc from English Christmas cookery
BUT the tree is German, and 1t is to the
PENNSYLVANIA Germans that we are in
aebted for it and the stockings hung
IN front of the fireplace. In precisely
the same manner me Germans intr0duc-
ed the Christmas tree into England,
where its translation is attributed 10
Prince aiEert, who always retained his
German tastes and gratihed them at the
court.
In Northern Germany, children receive
their presents by a special messenger
called knecht Rupert, a legendary per-
sonage dressed in buskins, a white robe,
a mask and flowing flax Wig. He goes
his merry round on Weinachtsabend,
Christmas eye. Ii he finds the children
have been good he gives them toys, but
If bad, he leaves a birch rod for their
parents to chastise them. In other parts
knecht Rupert is replaced by Nic0laus.
the patron saint of boys, on whose eve,
the 9Th OF December, g.lded nuts and
sweetmeats are distributed to children.
We get the name kriss kringle, as we
call st. Nicholas,S from the
Dutch, as also Santa Klaus, which is
only another form of Nicholas. knecht
Rupert, or Globes, is an old heather per-
sonage, while st. Nicholas represents his
Christian substitute. kriss Krinkle,
Christ Child" is, of course, n misnOm-
er for the saint that brings him. The
main difference between the celebration
sf Christmas in Protestant and Catholic
is that in the latter it is a
purely religious FESTIVAL, while in Protes-
ant lands it is mainly social.
Spanish children hide their shoes or
clippers in the bushes on Christmas eve
md find them filled with fruit and sugar
,lums on Christmas morning. For weeks
sefore the festival the windows Of the
and pastry cooks are
right with comfts appropriate to the oc-
aston. In Madrid the old Plaza Mayos,
s filed with small booths for some days
'efore Christmas. They h..ee licensed to,
eii VA.f las toys, which they display
!. great variety and of Il kind peculiar
% the country. This fair is indeed a guy
spectacle, rivaling that held early in the
autumn in the Prado. The chief wares
are small terra Gotta toys, painted with
taste and skin, representing not only the
Holy Family and scenes in the life OF
Jesus, but all the adTocatlons Of Span
Ish life, executed with spirit in painted
clay. There are small churches, too, Of
plaster. with colored windows behind
which lights are placed, and a variety
Of noise producing toys, chief Of which
Is an instrument called a Zambomba,
made of a tin can covered with gay coll
ered paper and having a straw fastened
10 parchment or paper stretched across
enc end. When the rozined hand is
Drawn along the straw a noise IS produc-
ed that is simply astounding. The shrieks
cf the zambonba are mingled with the
cries of the vendors, who shout 'Bara-
TO! Rarator' Cheap! Cheap! at the top
Of their lungs or ring bells to attract
attention.
Spanish children have no Christmas
trees, but instead, all those who can
afford it, are provided with a Nacimien-
TO, or representation of the Nativity.
The main feature of this toy, if such it
can be called, is the little child Jesus in
the cradle, with his father and mother,
the animals of the stable and the Magi,
Or the angels, perhaps, made of painted
clay. These are usually eEbowered in
q kind of greenery-sometimes made N
the form of mount, and to them are
sometimes added the animals Of Noah's
Ark and wealth of the clay toys that
adorn the Christmas fair. The Naci'
miento is kept from year to year, re
eeiving additions as time goes by. The
University Museum possesses a curious