Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1898-03-04
THE MlSTl.EToE BOU3H.
singular Notions Concerning Its
Origin and Growth.

singular Notions Concerning Its
Origin and Growth.
The oak long held its place among
the mystic trees, and to iniure one was
considered an act of sacrilege, the last
survival of this being exposed in the
saying that "to cut oakwood is unfor-
tunate." An instance is given as late
as 1857, where the cutting down of an
oak, to which the mystic plant had at
tached itself, whs followed by most dire
consequences. The mistletoe was cut
up and sold to apothecaries in London,
but OF those who cut it one became
lame, two others each lost an eye, while
the man who cut down the tree broke
his leg.
But all legend does not give the oak
as the first home of the mistletoe. There
were those who believed that it was
the forbidden tree in the midst of the
Garden of Eden, the tree of the "knowl-
edge Of good and evil" while still 9th.
ers claimed that II was once a forest
tree, but, the cross having been made
i VI llS NOOtl, IL HAS Slutt lht VI uNlliAiph
been only parasite. Just why 1t has
been enthusiastically accommodated
and excluded from church decorations
1t is difficult to say. There is an in
stance on record of its having once been
taken in procession to the high altar of
York cathedral, but Immediately taken
out again, whereupon general indul-
gence and pardon of sins was given at
the city gates. Another instance Is on
record of Its having once been found
among the decorations of an English
church, but by order of the clergyman
Immediately taken down.
Where and when the custom OF kiss
ing under the mistletoe originated is
also uncertain. Some authorities claim
that the mistletoe was not excluded
from the early church decorations, and
that at a certain part in the service the
people were allowed to embrace and
kiss each other, but that this custom
became so boisterous demonstration
that it was abandoned, the mistletoe,
which seems to have been in some way
connected with 1t, being then and there
communicated We find the present
custom first in the kitchens of great
houses, where the mistletoe was hung
at Christmas, and woe to the maid who
did not get kiss beneath it; for one
thing, she was doomed to remain single
for that year at least. Woe also to the
man who refused or forgot the request
of the maid to furnish holly and Ivy fol
the decorations of the house; he was
debarred from the privileges of The
mistletoe. 1t was long customary, too
to pluck a leaf or berry after every
kiss.
But more picturesque setting to thi;
custom OF kissing under the mistle
toe" is that furnished by the Scandi
navian legend. According TO that, a
the request of the gods and goddesses
Balder, after his death by the mistleto,
arrow, was restored TO life, while the
mistletoe itself was given into the keep
ing of his mother, Frigga, who was th'
Scandinavian Venus, the goddess o
love. But her power over it lasted onl!
as long as it did not touch the earth
Loki's dominion, and she decreed tha
everyone who passed under ii as ii huns
aloft should receive kiss TO prove tina
It was the emblem of love and not o
death. We can see in this also the prob
able origin of the idea that If mistleto
is dropped or placed on the ground mis-
fortune will follow
The song of the "Mistletoe Bough,
familiar to all, has doubtless don
much to keep alive the old custom. A
the present time, however, the mlstle
toe is rarely found on the oak in Eng
land, and Is so scarce that the "kissinl
bunch" bunch of evergreens orna
mented with oranges and ribbons, ha
taken its place. In this country, on tn
contrary, the plant, with its daint
white berries, Is menace to the life o
thousands of oaks used for shade an
ornamental purposes, and hundreds o
dollars are spent yearly for its destruc
tion in order to preserve the life of tn
tree from which it gets its own life am
nourishment. When this is going on i
a southern town, in passing along a
avenue of oaks, one literally walks on
carpet of mistletoe, and as the daint
berries crack under the feet there come
feeling-is it inherited ?-that one
almost committing an act of sacrileg
to thus tread upon the "curer of all ills.
N. Y. Post.