Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1910-12-22
Christmas In
A Scotch CITY


Scotland. with its well nigh million M
habitanis. eaB be chosen as en- interest.
ing Illustration Of the manner In which
oue-fourth ~ the people ~ the country
spend the holidays Many days before
the store trunts on Argyll strpet-n
tborofgbfare us busy a. ans In the
land-are Eayly aud profusely deco
rated With molly aud svergfeeus Above
nearly every entrance signs Of wei.
come and the compliments Of the sea
son are exhibited In holly leaves On
Christmas eve the stores keep open
late. Either side ~ the thoruughfare
is mass Uf blazing. cheerful light.
and there is q moving mass of human
ity between But when the stores
close they close until boxing day. An
the working people now get their
Christmas holiday.
ON Christmas forenoon the lord pro.
vost or mayor presldcs ut the annual
meeting and breakfast given by the
directors NJ the royal inirmury. Ills
lordshlp makes n speech. after which
there Is distribution OF good things
to all the patients IN the large lustitu.
tion Then he visits sundry other m.
stitutinus for the care OF the sick aud
poor, whore there are Christmas freeing
ana feastiug By the way. Christmas
day Is one Of the lord provosts busiest
days. At . O'Clock. according tu an.
nual custom for years past. be- pre-.
sides ui the annual dinner given to
from jWu tn G.OOD poor men. women
nrd children ia the city ball. Albion
street. Ills lurdship and the rity
magistrates occupy the stage and taEp
dinner with the poor During the re-.
past. which consists of soup. beef. an
entrce. plum pudding. tea or coffee and
fruit. stirriag Scotch airs are PLAYED
on the big organ by the city organise.
At tn" close hls lordship makes a
speech, which IS reported verbatim In
the newspapers. II is usually a mas
terly production.
OulwafdIy the aspect of the city
resembles that OF Sunday Neverthe
loss thousands Of people are moving
about tn" myriad Of rivetcrs I'm the
miles of sEipbuilding yards along the
clyde have come To the city with their
wives and families and are attending
the matinecs or evening pantomime
performances that have already been
running. These pantomimes are fea
ture Of city life In Scotland during
the winter Usually three open at
The big theatrrs in Glasgow Christmas
eve They are rehearsed for weeks
before. The playwright usually chooses
as his theme Il fairy tale. Jack the
Giant Killer" Ali Baba and the For
~ Thieves" and Aladdin and the
Wonderful Lamp" have been favorite
themes. As n rule. the playwright re
talns enough Of the tale 80 that the
( young folks can recognize the char
aCters. but taken altogether the pro
duction becomes really dramatic
I burlesque OF local life and character
interesting. entertaining and even ele
waiting 10 old and young Actors and
actresses OF renOwn take the leading
, parts. while there are dazzling cos
tunes, magnificent scenery and gor
Geous ballet thrown in. No wonder
II is that often until the middle Of
spring the pantomimes enjoy u con
t!nu0us run. Latterly they become
in a sense classics, for their librett
undergo weekly Improvement at the
suggestion Of local wits noted for the
pungency Of their sayings and the
I fund OF dry Scotch humor they pos.
seSS. II Is no exaEgrration TO say that
these pantonimes are visited by some
persons each night all the season
through and by Others fully score o'
times.
| Then there is the usual exodus Of
young men TO the country at Christ
uastide. IL II common saying among
Scotchnen that all roads lead TO Lon
don. This Is changed TO Glasgow in
some cases There is scarcely fum
! lily OF note in the Highlands that has
not son AT the universities of Glas-
gov or Edinburgh studying for the
professions OF law. medicine. the pul-
I pit. the army or the home or foreign
civil service With what hope and
pride the advent OF the young student
is looked for at the little railroad sta
! tion up in the mountains on Christ
mas eve or morning II he lives on
an estate the next day he Is given a
, side by his rustic countrymen In their
annual Christmas day football match
/ The game is usually stoutly contest
! ed one, umpired and refereed by the
| laird and heads OF the estate. At The
| corner of the field is placed cask OF
/ good Scotch ale. from which the play
| ers regale themselves at half time.
| Then the game resumes. and the sec
! ond half is fast and furious Around
! the ropes are the young women OF the
| estate looking on with pleasure and
| discussing their choices in the dance
! list of the evening g.-Brooklyn Eagle.
Santa Claus In the Zoo.