The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1913-12-25
CFIRISTMAS-TIDE
by GEORGE EAyEs, d. d.

tivity feast was observed In Rome and
later In eastern cities on December rs;
and 1t Is highly probable that the rea-
son for selecting this date was closely
connected with pagan midwinter festt-
walls .alerady widely observed in honor
of the turning of the sun northward
These pagan festivals, deeply rooted in
the usages not only of Rome but OF
northern Europe, of Egypt as well as
| of Asia Minor, offered most impress
| sive opportunity to teach the new re-
| ligion of Christianity by adopting the
old usages. Thus in Egypt there We're
| observed at the winter solstice strange
rites concerning babe and cave and
a cradle. all connected with the worship
of Osiris, a sun deity.
| In Rome the festival of the winter
soistice was the Saturnalia, which ran
from December II to "a. To it we are
Indebted for the merry making of the
modern Christmas. During these days
| schools were closed, no punishments were
| inflicted, the severity of dress was relaxed
and slaves sat at table with their mas
tiers, or We're even waited upon by their
! masters. We read that the tall pointed
| nat, known to a recent generation as
the FOOLS cap, was originally worn only
| by the free citizens of Rome, but at the
Saturnalia slaves were permitted to wear
| it as part of the masquerading and merry
4
| Hence apparently 1t came to be identified
With drollery and clownishness, till 1t
i emerged as ounces headgear
At the Saturnaia presents were given
by the masters TO servants and especially
by parents to children, a common form
beng clay dolls, originally perhaps idols
| or images of the new born gun god Ger
tainly Europe adopted many of these Gus
toms, as it adopted so much else of
Roman culture and civilization.
On the other hand our Christmas spirit
owes much TO Germany. The ancient Teu-
| tonic Yule feast was held i'll connection
With ''hoggunott' or holy night, at the
end of the year, its darkest time, and
therefore on the eve of the new year. A
great sacrifice, called 'julbot." was Of
fered to secure a good year with sue
eessful crops and for peace. A pig was
offered to the god of fertility. the god
Froy In later times 'julgalt' was the
Danish name for pastry baked at
Christmas time, the crumbs Of which were
put with the seed into the earth for the
new crop. So do ancient superstitions
still survive in Christian periods! There
was also a ghost to be fed with porridge
lest he should hurt cattle or crops.
There is moreover series o. demons,
some of them very mischievous and ter
rible. who We're supposed by the Scandi-
navians to haunt the air in these dark,
long winter nights. One was heard in
the wind hunting human souls. "Odin
himself figures as Iu1e demon, called
Jcinir, the Lord of the Yule." Another
monster was a female demon WHO ate men
and had a long tail. Her name was
| Gryla | present this to Representative
Hefiin as his conception of the genius of
the suffragist movement.
| Great preparation was made for the
return of deceased members of the fam
lily so that the reunion might be COM
plete and on Christmas Eve the peas
ants of Scandinavia still believe that
these ghosts come, when the family has
gone to church, to eat at table which
has been specially prepared for them.
The fertility of the soil is still believed
| to depend upon a hospitable reception
of these family ghosts On Christmas
proper the people indulge enormous
appetites
In England the boar's head is a prom
inent dish, possibly connected with the
Troy cult above mentioned. An officer
of games called the Lord of Misrule
| lin Scotland the Abbott of Unreason),
! took charge of festivities on Allhal-
lows Eve and continued till Candle
mas Day Houses and churches were
decked with evergreen, especially mis-
tletoe.. This probably dates back to
Druidical times. but in Scandinavia the
use of evergreen was not known till
the nineteenth century and not even in
Germany till the seventeenth century
The Yule log, always prominent in Eng
lish celebrations connects them clearly
with their Scandinavian and German
origins, though the English Christmas
generally derives more from the Roman
! Saturnalla than from the Teutonic
Yuletide.
l am indebted to the articles on
I"Christmas," christmas Customs" and
| Epiphany" in the great new Hastings
Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics for
much information on this seasonabe
theme. To them / refer anyone inter
ested in more exact and full study
They are from the pens respectively of
Prof. Kirsopp Lake of oxford (the first
and lasD and DR.. Edward Lehman Of
the University of Berlin. 1 conclude by
asking the question which I find myself
unable to answer satisfactorily: What
English or American authors beside
Dickens have made special use of the
Christmas festival in portraying con-
temporary life? Who will answer? An
other question: Whence came the bomb
throwing and crackers that mark the
southern Christmas?