The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1901-12-25
II.R'!gIln| NOV
NOR H0LIDA.lYl I.
t is Every Year. Becoming Less .
Holy Day.
10 CUSTOMS IN ENGLAND ':il-
acts About How the Occasion Used TO Be
Celebrated in The "..oth.r country,
An Old German
Tradition.
)LD CUSTOMS IN ENGLAND LAND
acts About How the Occasion Used TO Be.


more OF d. holiday and less OF holy
lay More now than ever before per
5ips. is the day ono Of great popular
elepration-a day for sltt-makllss, ZOE
ne 1iring of cannon-CracAefs ana lCI LII LUZ
making i'll general.
The religious feature of the day Is by
10 means obscured Among some de-
nominations church services are held on
hristmas-Day. In nearly all these is
ONE sort Of religious observance, either
~ the preaching of special Christmas
sermons on the Sunday before or after
ne feast. or otherwise
The Baptists and scmc others do not
Say any particular sttertion to the day
self as u religious occasion, on account /,
If the fact that it is q pretty weli-settied
set that Christ was not born on De-
enber 18th. They merely commemorate.
The birth of Christ without any special
reference to the time OF its occurrence.
Il will be seen thus that the religious
part of Christmas is by no means obllt-s
rated and yet. to the minds OF the
srea ESuass of the people, it has been
eel @ ID to something looking much like
n secondary place More and more are
The people at large locking at the festala
SIDE of the day.
How the American people vent them
e!ves in the celebration of this festal
side of Christmas is well known. Pres
ent-giving, Santa Claus, pop-cracker fir
il: md like CGEersions are all incidents
Of the day. There are and mores the
pity, no really old and quaint Christmas
customs here as in some other countries.
One great source Of regret is that there
is no traditional semi-historical America.
Unlike England, Germany, Italy. IN
1c@l hool md ca
sondly: Prom time immemorial we or
our forefathers have done this or that.
AT present when an American wishes
to hunt up traditions or old and time
honored customs he has to claim the
motherhood of England.
CHRISTMAS IN ENGLAND.
And especially in England is Christmas
fraught with peculiar interest. The
celebration of the day there began away
back in the calendar of years. It was
the custom to light large candles on
Christmas Eve, after the usual devotions
were over and to throw on the hearth a
huge log called yule log. A Lord of Misrule
was appointed to superintend the revels
st the court and in the houses Of the
wealthy Until the year 1855, when the
office was abolished by act of. Parliament.
a functonary Of s, similar character was
appointed in Scotland under the title OF
the Abbot of Unreason. The reign OF
the Lord ofsMisrule began on All-Hallow
Eve and lasted until Candlemas Day.
With the Lord. of Misrule presiding
there We're gaming, music, conJurlng,
dipping for nuts and apples, dancing,
fool plough, blind mans bluff, etc. The
favorite dishes for breakfast and supper
at this season were the boar's head,
with an apple or orange in the mouth,
and setsoff with rosemary plum pudding
and mnce pies. The houses and churches
were deckeG with evergreens, especially
with mistletoe, to which & traditionary
sacredness has attached since the days
of tie Druids.
in GERMANY
An old German resident Of this city
tells some interesting things about the
Christmas customs prevailing in his ma
tive land. The religious feature of
Christmas, he says, is paramount there,
or was when he lived in the old coun-
try It is on New Years Day that the
firing Of guns and the fuss-making takes
place. In the small town from Which
he came this gentleman said it was the
custom of a large number of the fam
lilies to have some person deck out IN
the regulation Santa Claus attire and
visit the houses on Christmas Eve. 10
good children he would give nuts and
things and to bad ones he would, give
whipping with a switch he carried. This,
of course, if the children would let him.
The bulk of the presents giving is done
by the godparents on Christmas Day
Solemn religious services are held on
Christmas Day and on New Years:
THE HORSES TALK.
The superstition which gives power Of
speech to animals on Christmas is prev
alent in Gernl1any, and many amusing
legends are told in this connection. 1t
seems TINT the superstition forbids hui
man beings to test the truth of the state
ment that animals have speaking abil-
tiles during the Yuletide season. One
man, however, had the temerity to risk
the consequences. He posted himself
in his stable Christmas-Eve night and
awaited developments. Along, about mid
nighI he heard a most fearful racket.
for his horses didn't have a chance to
talk but once a year. and they were as
bad as two women They chinned and
sniggered in regular modern fashionable
style. Finally one of the beasts gave
a loud guffaw and declared with great
satisfaction that he would soon have the
great pleasure OF carrying his master to
the graveyard The master. who was
crouching in the corn-bin or some other
place listening, got down and out. He
took to his heels and rumor saith that
he is running still.
THE DEVIL GOT. THIS MAN.
Another tradition in Germany is that
on Christmas Eve at midnight the water
all turns to wine. That would be a
comforting thing to the booze artist,
only. as in the case above recited, they
must not go near the water When it is
thus transformed. One man did. He got
at his pump several minutes before mid
night and pumped and pumped until he
nearly pumped his arm off trying to
bring the wine to the surface Maybe
he drank all the water that came up.
too, SO as not to miss any of the real
wine when it came; but that is not GER
tain. Finally along about - O'clock the
water turned red and the man yelled
triumnhantlv: Now it's wine!" But
the devil was close behind that man.
No sooner had he shouted than His Sa-8
tanic Majesty demonstrated his poetic
abilities. remarking dryly: And you
are mine" and nabbed the fellow Just
what happened next is not recorded.
ALL MUST BATTLE.