Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1911-12-21
XMAS. MYTHS & TRADITIONS
communicated.

cast the Wltcnefy OF 1IS Speu upon
them. Highly imaginative people may
discourse about them in the most fas-
cinating way. Yet the cold fact re-
mains that a Christmas, so called, UNI
der the direction of the early time
Lord of Misrule," was a season of
gluttony and drunkenness, revelry
and carnality. The present writer
deals with its early myths and tradi-
tions in a spirit of almost indignant
protest. If Christmas be not spirit
ual it is nothing. If it is not indeed
the foundation of all spiritual thought
principal and confession, then is not
the Incarnation the fundamental doc
trine of the Christian faith; neither
is the Divine Humanity the pattern Of
all human living. To speak in this
way is not mere churlishness. 1t is
hard, even in this highly civilized
age, to rescue the great Christ
Feast from the clutches of the world
the flesh and the devil 1t is easy to
trace the revelries of the depraved
and the respectable worldliness of the
higher classes to the early abuse and
misuse of most holy feast Christ
mas is spiritual or it is nothing. The
gifts exchanged; the decoration of
church or dwelling house; the trans
planting of the Christmas tree for its
strange and varied fruit-bearing; the
enkindling of Christmas lights: the
uplifting of Christmas songs; even
the exchange of good will and cheer;
all make a great Christmas parable
of truth and power. All their mean
ing is ultimately spiritual And sure
ly in the enjoyment of these things
which modern civilization and de-
veloped Christianity have secured to
us, we need not regret the fantastic
revelries and vulgar superstition of
earlier days.
But the writer wishes simply to re-
count or describe some of the Christ
mas myths and traditions of old times,
rather than dwell upon the principles
underlying the Christ Feast itself.
In doing so he wishes to avoid either
a dull encyclopedia enumeration or a
mere quotation of the words of others.
Many are familiar with the beautiful
pen-pictures of Washington Irving's
Sketch Book" While making allow
ance for the authors romantic no.
tions, and the glamour of the dis
tance at which an American writer
viewed English customs, we must ac-
knowledge the charm Of his descrip-
tion of Christmas at Bracebridge
Hail. Yet even among those quaint
and dignified surroundings, the
Church service seems to have been a
dismal attempt; the parson himself
took too much wine at dinner; the
men told vulgar stories after the re-
tirement of the ladies; the dinner
was made incomparably the most i'm
portant feature of the day; and in
the servants hall carousing went be-
yond all bounds.
That the idea of Christmas observ-
ance was of heather origin is only
another instance, like the Platonisms
of Saint Johns version of the Gospel
of the power of Christianity to inn
press anything and everything into
its service. The Roman Saturnalia
and the Druidical rites of early Brit
ain doubtless. furnish the model for
Christmas observance; and we need
not wonder so much at the early
English Christmas, when we remem-
Der Roman, Druidic, Scandinavian
and German influence. The mistle-
toe first. acquired It's significance in
Scandinavian mythology, and for this
reason is not used in the decoration
of churches, although at many fes-
tivity it has been the traditional ex-
cuse for kissing an unwary or per-
haps secretly willing maiden. There
is a beautiful legend Of the mistletoe
which space forbids us to relate.
The yule log is also of Scandinavian
origin from the burning of great fires
to the god Thor on the feast of JUL.
One can sympathize with the frolick-
ing Christmas Eve ceremony of drag
ging in the yule log, and also of light
ing the yule or Christmas candle.
Fortunate was the house in which the
yule log kept alight until Christmas
dawn It was an evil omen If, during
the burning, there came to the house
a bare-footed person, fiat-footed wo-
man. or person with a squint.
Rather pretty traditions of Christ
mas Eve are that the cocks crow all
night, the bees sing in their hives,
and bread then made will never be-
come mouldy.
The Christmas tree was undoubted-
ly of German and not very early ORR
gin; and like everything foreign, was
slow to find favor in England It's
survival amid the loss of SO many
earlier Christmas customs, is unques-
tionably due to its beautiful symbolic
meaning. It's green speakes of Gods
eternity; it's gifts of the great Gift;
it's candles Of Christ, the Light of the
World.
Christmas mummers or maskers
were among the rudest of all the
dramatis personae Of early Christmas,
and year after year the time honored
legend of Saint George and the Drag
on was the subject Of their masquer-
ade.
Christmas waits are now under-
stood to be those who go about sing
ing carols, often with more zeal than
voice; but it is not known whether
originally the term was applied to
the persons themselves or to the mu-
sica3 instruments they used It is