The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1902-01-09
subscrip ti0n so Per Year, In Advance
TRANSIENT RATES.
THURSDAY...JANUARY 8, 1902
Weather forecast for FTed-
ericksburg and Vicinity:
Fair ThUY SdGy.
HAIL TO THE HOLLY,

Reading from the Richmond News
piece on the holly we are reminded
that annually in the little Tidewater
county of Lancaster is celebrated an
occasion commemorative OF this
wood which is peculiarly one OF Tide
water. For severalyears it has been
the custom OF the young people Otthe
Northern Neck to assemble at Nil
marnock, in that county, in what is
known as the Holly Ball or Feast OF
the Holly, the holly having some
years ago been dedicated by them as
the emblem of Tidewater Virginia.
The last Holly Ball took place on
Monday night, during Christmas
week, and was among the finest ever
held, people from all four counties OF
the Neck being present. As Is the
custom, a queen was chosen for the
year 1902, who is hailed throughout
the Northern Neck as the Holly
Queen. This year the honor Tell to
Miss Fife Hathaway, a charming
young lady of White Stone, Lancas-
ter county, and the coronation which
followed her selection ~. mdeeu II
hca..a.iul scene. An orchestra from
Baltimore was secured to furnish the
music, and dancing was continued
until 4 in the morning.
The following beautiful tribute in
the columns of the Richmond News
brought the subject to mind:
The flowers that gladdened the prom
ise OF the spring days have gone long
ago and those that bloOmed and yielded
their incense in the summer air departed
with the warmth and light and gentle
dews that silently wOoed them TO live
and be beautiful The gorgeous and
variegated colorings of the autumn were
swept away by swirling winds and beat
en- into sOdden blackness by pitiless,
peltine rain. The surface OF the earth
looks barren and cherries, chill and
desolate. and where the snow lies upon
il seems dead and still and solemn.
While the winds rush and howl and
bite and freezing rains drive down and
where the fakes fall fastest the holly
stands steady and sturdy. lifting it's fear
less head, it's rich and polished green and
vivid scarlet shining amid the aspect OF
desolation, defying the worst that wind
and weather may do. The silenced birds
find shelter and food and comfort amid
it's tough branches and evergreen leaves
when all other resource has failed, and
The covering rabbit seeks refuge from
storm and enemy beneath it. 1t is every
bodys friend 10 the time of sOrest need and
faithfully does its part wherever 1t may
be put. Ii gives beauty and color in the
lonely forest while the large trees are
denuded and tossing skeletons 1t glows
and cheers set among the lott pillars OF
stately cathedral or at the plain altar OF
the humbest country church Ii carries
the children's giftsin the grandest homes
and the lowliest and is equally welcome
and equally kindly amid the rich, soft
rustling OF silk and satin or the simpler
iinery OF the poor, forgetting poverty in
making merry. Asking no care, it lives
and thrives and beauties after the pam
pered products OF the conservatory
placed beside it have long since withered
and lost their fragrance and died.
And, our biographer might have
added, when the cedar has shed its
berries and all the earth and vegeta-
ton is barren and offers but poor
sustenance to creeping thing or fit
ting bird the holly coos the robin to
it's boughs, making him fat and a
tempting morsel for the gunner, yea
at the same time supplying his sinews
with strength sufficient to fee the
danger that is near. No tribute to
this beautiful evergreen can be too
fulsome, and why some OF the South
Atlantic States have not made 1T
their floral emblem we cannot under
stand