Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1900-11-29
USE OF GREENS
At CHRISTINA,



baltimore American. S
"Plants which are always pres,
winter and summer, signify and nut \ 4
in mind of His deity..-thnt the ChiA 4
that now was born was God, and NAL
who should spring up like a tend SE3
plant, should always be green Az
furnishing and live forevermore. Ia
Such are the pious words of ouai.l
old writer who seems to have had IA
coed deal OF poetry in his compositiolN
lie was speaking OF the custom vi
decking the homes and places Of woI
shop OF his cuuntrymen with evergreetS
at the christmas Henson. This beautl%
ful custom has come down to US fro
the earliest times, and the use Il
e. cen Branches, flowers. 80, In decora
tion to mark any joyful occasion seer
to be intuitive in human nature ThesH
observance of tho ancient Jewish Fad
Of Tabernacles, celebrated In SeptemS
Der, was accompanied by the Lavish
use OF greens and floral decorations. AID
so was the old Roman Saturnalis. M
this pagan festival was the nareut N
our Christmas, SO the custom of trinl
ming houses and churches with grepner|
|
tian celebration.
Church in Eng and began to frown ii
the use Of green's as sayoring to muct
of the heather practices and belie1
which had not been reliu1uished nj
many centuries. Several church cou13
ellis declared against 1t, and finally. HI
1910, it was absolutely forbidden. TIL
church was all powerful in those day,
and for time church and home VII
bars Of greens at Christmas, but ttS
reaction set in, and so strongly th,a
the custom became Incorporated ind
the ceremonial of the church Itself, M
advocates pointed out the fact thu
Christ had sanctioned it when be AL
tered Jerusalem, walking over paIqI
which we're strewn in the 70 id ard M
argument undoubtedly had great all
of weight. 8"p7
The favorite plants for use IN churrt|
we're, and still are. holy, bay, rosem,ry
and laurel. Ivy, popular at one tlnJ
as secular decoration, was frowre|
upon by ecclesiastical rulers because n
was too intimately connected with ih|
! wicked feasts of BaoehGs. and was
! indeed, sacred to that disrsputata
. deity. Cypress was occasionally used
but it was too painfully suggestive 4
! deaths and funerals Mistletoe WI
2 looked upon with horror by the held
4 of the church on account Of the repre-
hensible practice so intimately co.,
! nocted with it. The youths and maidpn
: OF the period, however, defended th
4 mistletoe with great firmness.
Ore old writer says that one Of h,
4 Christmas ceremonies. at YorkCathfdRl
U was to carry a branch If mistletoe 10
$ solemn procession to the high altar
and themes to the city wall; WHERE,
8 general indulgence and pardon Of sin,
o was pronounced. Other writers, how,
ever, think that he was led into thu
error, of installing and describing fOr
genuine church ceremony the antics d
who performed many burlesqus o.
the rites of the church. The high
esteem IN which Christmas greens wen
held in "Merrie England" is evidences
~ the many carols chanted in prai7
OF holly, ivy and mistletoe. and ih
many poems composed in their hon'r
There whore number of supersi
tions connected with them, too.
was the rule that all decorations mri
be removed by February LIST, the eV
of Candlemas. According to one b.
lief, II scrap of green remained
pew in church after that time, the
would be death 10 the family occurl
ing that pew within year. The POI
Herrick warns gentle maids that I
every leaf or berry in the house alt
the time.limit had eeen passed, thl
would see goblin, In Oxfordshira Il
maid servants would ask the mast
for a supply OF greens, and IL he refu''
would steal pair OF his trousers al
nail them to the gate, thus holdl
him up to the scorn o. all men.
other places such negleoU debarred I
ohurlish individual from all the priv
eyes Of the mistletoe.
There is scarcely another memhfr
the vegetable kingdom around win
ne such wealth OF sentiment and trn'
b. tion clusters as the mistletoe, with
10 small yellowish leaves and peal
t. berries This plant is u parasite,
id everyone knows. ard is found cling
IS to the branches of the apple, pei
rs hawthorn and similar trees. Contra
a to the general belief, however. 1t
rarely found on oaks. The name see
O. to have been derived from two Aug
th Saxon words-mistel, gloom ard t
e. a twig--an evidence of the mysterit
be associations connected with it. ltV
1g supposed to possess wonderful VIII
I'D as healing plant, and SO late rs
at 18th century an amulet of the vi
Oh worn around the neck would, it
10. bel;eyed, keep off the witches. AMI
ed Client legend says that from the mist
he toe. at that time tall and sturdy Il
Ill the cross was made, and that u
that time it was condemned to b.
OF parasite, drawing its life from CT
p trees.
%, In old times gathering the miste
O. was favorite occupation on Chr
mas eve, ard no doubt the searcht
es particularly among the young
lst giddy, took advantage Of the OF
tunities that such quest offered i"
alacrity and goodwill. In many pla
fortunes we're tod by the crHckinl
tho leAVes and berries when exposee
Ter fire. Kissing under the mistletCe
come down to us from times 30 ancl
" that its origin is shrouded in mystt
80 that all who followed the pleas
Ter custom may know that they have
ITO best of precedents
I'm Holly, in old days called "holm
y. is the typical Christmas decorat
ys and has been SO ever since the fest
ny was first celebrated in "Merrie l
la land" The name is said to have
ut derived from "holy tree" and
TIC latter may have come from the tr
tion that from Its wood the cross
ge made, or merely from the fact tha
ily was so LARGELY used on Christmas,
ne great holiday, or 'holy day, OF
ow year.
CO. -------
of BESS5c Es mr. sUTUMN,