Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-23
M|sTLET0E IN PARIS
Becoming Permanently Fixed
as q Christmas Speciality.
THE MYSTIC BRANCH
DRUIDS SELL IT ON STREETS OF
FRENCH CAPITAL.
Supposed Power Of the Mistletoe
Bough to Preserve Drinkers From
Seeing Pink and Blue Devils.
Special Correspondence Of The Star.

4
Special Correspondence Of The Star
PARIS, December IL, 1905.
Mistletoe has come to stay in Paris. For
the past ten years 1t has been getting
more and more fixed as a Christmas New
Year speciality, until now business men
and clerks and gilded youth and Office
boys and club men bargain with the
Druids on the boulevard and carry home
a mystic branch apiece
! talked with one of the Druids yester-
day In ancient Gaul and Britain they
were formidable priests in flowing white
with long white boards Armed with
golden sickles. chanting gloomy hymns TO
| fierce unknown deities and stalking two
by two in the twilight of their primeval
forests. they sought the rare and mystic
| mistletoe or ''gufbranch" that grows ON
old oaks: and the cult OF the strange
plant even called for human sacrifices.
The Druids OF the Paris boulevard have
only their white boards. The sacred
branch they carry tied in lunches. to each
END of stout pole borne on their shoulder,
Instead Of myrtle crowns. they wear bad
hats. They are cynical old chaps In shabby
clothes; and yet they bear themselves with
fierce and silent dignity. How is It? Does
the mystic 'guf' still draw its ancient
| priest-type to it-even when 1t Is to be
peddled on the boulevard.
II, I watched this Druid before buying of
him; A ruddy-faced Office boy, laughing.
husky "gamin de Paris" picked out one Of
his best branches, full Of siiver-green 6er-
a Giss; ns Tsn sous sous saia he Druid Rut
on ske hi t sad the p sss the ns office boy
a fussy: stout. wide whiskered business
man. How much for the iot?' he asked.
pIM.1y' indicating one end of the stick.
ha rilty +. francs" replied the Druid cold and
business man began The Druid never an
sWered. And In the end the business man
paid francisco cents-for rusty Yellow
ISM Dranch with few scattered berriesl
Peddled in the Streets.
Au guiP' It is the Breton word for
mistletoe. They peddle it In the streets.
They sell 1t in the markets. It has become
the petted guest Of Paris-"the darling lit
tie branch. forever green, with its iris-hued
berries like pearls. enameling with their
milky glints all the unchanging jade-tints
that surround I'll" Thus spoke the Druid
Oh the boulevard; and you must admit he
used uncommon language.
1t is. after all, the English who paw best
for 1t" he admitted. '.And If you were at
this minute at st. Malo or Harfleur Won
would md the ports of those antique cities
Iairiy covered with mountains Of their miss
iu Dr. % thus he pronounced it,
ne continued. Two, three or four steam
srs load with 1t for England daily. One
reason rs that England has not enough
reason Is that-the French product. sroyy
Ing as 1T does. not on oak trees, but on
apple pear and poplar trees. is by far the
most beautiful VARIETY"
There is this difference between the Eng
l1sh and the Parisians," he concluded BIT
terly, It seemed to me; "the English have
the cult and import the plant: while the
Parisians have the plant and import the
cultP'
There is certainly any quantity of 1t
growing all around Paris The trees Of the
Bois de Boulogne are full of It. On the
high, slender poplar trees the punches look
like crows nests; while the apple and pear
trees by the river seem actually choked
by the parasite. and In general It is re-
garded as the farmers pest.
Even the Druid tried to pronounce its
English name-such 10 the force Of Eng
lish fashion, and last evening my French
neighbors spent good hour in disputing
before It occurred to them to ask my adj
vice. They compose an ideal French
nage''-householdI without children
selves, were 1t not for their uncanny sobri-
ETY. in money matters. She was "demoi-
selle" and he Is a Ellis de fanille" C'son Of
a family'). and they live with delicious
economy on the steady income OF certain
dreams of working to increase his wtfe's
pin money; nevertheless he brought her
afternoon.
Pronunciation Under Discussion.
'Miss-luh-toa-ayi" he said peremptoriIy.
ana for one knew better than to CONTRA
dot him. Every week he has seven days
free for such wrangles.
"Miss-luh-toe-ay!" spoke up firmly a
1yo,,rC rhySipfap vvI1 had 1,fcf Hrop,~ed
accompanied by his wife and her sister. ]
The two Parisians giared at each other
myself had known a duel to come out OF
smaller beginnings. The pretty sister has
We are of Brittany. Berthe, and T." she
said, ''and GUT will do for us"
''oh. hlles ct gars de Bretagne.
Voici le Jour
D'aller ceuillir par la Champagne,
lie gui d'amourw
1.-THE gut is valuable for three things
she explained. ut Is a talisman against
the spells Of witches. and 1t brings good
luck"
'That makes two.' slyly insisted the
son-ef-a-family. But the mademoiselle hes
itated. ut affords young girls an oppor-
tunity to be. well kissed without the slight
That's the third user' laughed the SON.
of-a-family. "A few days before Christmas
and until after New Year the young
girls and O. p4 9y those VINO sready
lock. go out In company to seek the May
of the cold season. It IL In the old oak for
ests that 1t must be sought-the only kind
of gut possessing mystic virtues"
"And they wander through the depths of
the mysterious poetic forests of Armorica,"
said the young girl, where once white
bearded Druids whispered"
ITO the little Druidesses," interposed the
son.of-a~family.
'sBut no. viii you stop now, let her tell
about her niss-luh- toa-ayf.
Pardon, mAss-luh-toe-uhps
s'Miss-luh-toa-ayl"
..Miss-luh-toe-uhi
''The boy who discovers the first bunch
high up In an oak-tree - made king of the
FEAST" continued the girl. hastily. They
carry him In triumph with his branch OF