The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1901-12-20


financial coup, but the fun was of
boisterous kind, quite inconsistent with
the crowded way of living these days,
says the Washington Post. If one Of
the old merrymakers could come to
life on Christmas day and celebrate
the festival in the way fashion and
custom demanded in his time, he would
probably find himself in the lookup
charged with rudely disturbing the
peace.
Noise, buster, feasting, drinking and
horseplay were the chief features OF
the old time English Christmas. Gift
making existed as it had for many pre-
vious centuries, but that was merely
an incidental feature and not nearly so
important as the work Of the pompous
butler, upon whom devolved the re-
spOnsibility of carrying into the dining
hall the great boar's head.
The oldtime Christmas began week
before the arrival of the day, just as
the shoppers Of today rush out with fat
purses to lure the holiday bargain. But
purchasing gifts did not bother the
heads or weary the bodies of the old
world folks.
The gathering Of the holly and mis-
tletoe for the decoration of house and
church was their initial task, and it
was performed by the village en- masse,
headed by brave pipers and fiddlers,
who filled the forests with the Joyful
melodies of Christmastide. 1t was the
pagans who first used holly and mistle-
toe for observances, and the practice
was adopted by the early Christian
churches. The Greeks and Romans also
used them in their religious ceremonies,
as did the Druids and the Celtic and
Gothic nations. So the young maid OF
today who stands alluringly under
sprig of mistletoe may find satisfaction
in knowing that she is following the
precedent of centuries.
In Druidical times the simple peas
ants flocked in crowds to join the pro-
cessions, in which the Druidical priests
were the foremost actors. The train
was headed by the bards singing can't
cles and hymns. herald preceded
three Druids, furnished with lmp1e-
ments for the purpose OF cutting
the mystic plant-upright hatchets OF
brass, fixed to slaves. Then follow
ed the prince or chief of the Druids,
accompanied by all his flock and
followers. The chief mounted the
oak, with a golden sickle detach-
ing the mistletoe and presenting 1t
to the priests, who received and bore
the branches away with deep rev
erence On the first day Of the year
the branches, after resting on the
Druidical affairs in the interval, were
distributed among the people as a
sacred and holy plant, the Druids cry
ing, ''The mistletoe for the new year"
Many were the superstitions attach
ing to this plant Among the latter
day charms associated with it, when
suspended in bunch in the servants
hall, was the Evolutionary and favorite
observance Of kissing the maids under
it's branches, the superstition prevail
ing that the maiden who missed being
heartily kissed under her mistletoe at
Christmas would forfeit her chance of
early matrimony and certainly not be
married in the ensuing twelve months.
A medieval observance which al
ways followed the gathering Of holly
and mistletoe was the cutting and
hauling home of the Yule log. The ia
vorite Yule log was a cross grained
block of elm or the rugged root Of
tree of fantastic and 4grotesaue form.
Formerly the members of the family
and guests sat down in turn on the
Yule log, the throne Of the master Of
the revels, sang a Yule song and drank
to merry Christmas and happy new
year AS part of their feast Yule
dough or Yule cakes were consumed.
These bore impressed figures in the
shape Of an image. Sometimes they
were made in the form Of an infant.
Nor was the manger overlooked.