The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1898-10-20
THE MlSTLETOE eOUGH.
Singular Notions Concerning Its
Origin and Growth.

Origin and Growth.
The oak long held its place among
the mystic trees, and to injure one was
considered an act of sacrilege, the last
survival of this being exposed in the
saying that "to cut lakewood is un1or-
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, was 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 it was once a forest
tree, but, the cross having been made
| of its wood, it has since the crucifixion
been only parasite. Just why it has
| been enthusiastically communicated
and excluded from church decorations
it 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 a 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
| frome4he early church decorations, and
that at certain part in the service the
| people were allowed to embrace and
| kiss each other, but that this custom
became so boisterous demonstration
| that ID was abandoned, the mistIetoe,
| which seems to have been in some way
| connected with it, being then and there
| accommodated. 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
| WHO VI 1OISO6 Vic
of the maid to furnish holly and ivy for
the decorations of the house; he was
debarred from the privileges of the
mistletoe. It was long customary, too
to pluck a leaf or berry after every
| kiss.
But more picturesque setting to this
custom of kissing under the mistle'
toe is that furnished by the Scnndi
navian legend. According to that, al
the request of the gods and go3desses
Bladder, after his death by the mistletot
arrow, was restored to life, while the
nistletoe itself was given into the keep
ing of his mother, Frigga, who was the
Scandinavian Venus, the goddess o.
love. But her power over it lasted only
as long as it did not touch the earth
Loki's dominion, and she decreed tina
| everyone who passed under it as it hung
| aloft should receive a 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 dom
much to keep alive the old custom. A
the present time, however, the mistle
toe is rarely found on the oak in Eng
, land, and is SO scarce that the kissing
, bunch" a bunch OF evergreens orna
mented with oranges and ribbons, ha
taken it's place. In this country, on th'
contrary, the plant, with its daint.
white berries, is menace to the life o
thousands of oaks used for shade ant
ornamental purposes, and hundreds o
dollars are spent yearly for its 6estruc
ton in order to preserve the life of tn
tree from which it gets its own life ant
nourishment. When this is going on il
; southern town, in passing along al
avenue OF oaks, Que literally walks on
carpet of mistletoe, and as the daint,
berries crack under the feet there come
feelings it inherited ?-that one i
almost committing an act of sacrileg
to thus tread upon the "curer Of all ills.
|, N. Y. Post.
Why Inn mfrrn MT N Lam a ed In New u ORR