The Ontario Argus. (Ontario, Or.) 1???-1947, 1913-12-25
Celebrating the Day
Anciently and Now

Saw the stoled priest the chalice rear.
The damsel donned her kirtle sheen;
The hail was dressed with holly green
Forth to the wood did merry men go
To gather In the mistletoe.
Then opened wide the baron's hall
To vassal. tenant. serf and all
Power laid his rod of rule aside.
And Ceremony doffed his pride.
The heir, with roses In his shoes,
That night might village partner choose.
IOO sang Sir Walter Scott Of the
- glories of Christmas eve and ol
~ Christmas itself. And the worlt
yields to him the palm for the
best practical description of the sea
sons dear delights.
Christmas with us is day Of giving
and receiving, Of good cheer and good
feeling. and essentially II is one Of re
igious significance. Hence II will
sound strange to many to be told tina,
a number Of our Christmas customs
come down to us from pagan times
heather rites are found in England as
well as here, and the cause Of theft
survival lies deeper than theology
When the mother country. so called
was converted to Christianity the
priests found her people welded ia
many old customs. Not all of these
were what they would have had them.
but they had practical work to per.
form and went Mt II I'm practical way.
The more revolving OF these customs
they properly uprooted altogether: the
better OF them they preserved. only In.
grating the rites OF the church upon
them
Thus II came about thnt festivities
which had their origin IN the old Ro
man Saturnulin and had come into
use among the drulds survived In the
grim mythology Of the Saxons and are
portion OF our inheritance today
Conspicuous among these nre the burn.
Ing OF the yule log and the hanging
of the mistlctoe bough.
Among all peoples who celebrate the
day at all II has always been day for
eating and drinking. for singing and
dancing aud merriment OF all kinds. In.
deed. this has been the criticism OF the
church against the manner OF obscrv-
ance-thnt its spiritual meaning was
too often forgotten In the general tide
OF worldly cheer.
In England Its observance is univer.
sal. The chroniclers tell us that In
Cheshire no servants would work on
this day. even though their failure 10
do 80 resulted In their discharge. The
richest families werc compelled either
to do their own cooking on Christmas or
eat what hnd been prepared beforehand.
while dancing and mcrriment reigncd
And the games that were played
number nearly legion. the most OF
them. though. on Christmas eve Run
rHRsrREErs IN MANY PLACES WE'RE FrLLRp
WITH MuhMkNs-
ming In sacks. ducking for apples,
jumping ut cakes suspended by q
string and trying 10 catch them be-
tween the teeth. drinking hard cider
mixed with egg and spices. and
score OF others-these claimed and still
claim In Devonshire the time Of old
and young. the children themselves
being allowed ON this one night 10 sit
up until the midnight bell tolls.
What has been aptly called "a beau
tiful phase In popular superstition" a
very old belief. was that all the pow
ers OF evil lay dormant and harmless
on Christmas day.
The cock crowed through the live.
long night TO drive all evil spirits
away; the bees sang In their winter
hives: the cattle. half human at all
times. became wholly 80 M midnight
and talked like human beings.
Bread that WAS baked the night be-
fore Christmas could not possibly be-
come moldy The streets In many
places were filled with mummers In
fantastic Curb
Indeed. there were mummers In the
days when Saturnalia reigned over
even the Roman emperors. but they
were not necessarily OF the Christmas
time The love for masquerade is al.
most as old as the human race itself.
But as TO the day itself. It was then.
as II Is now. very merry day. with
good fellowship bubbling even from
hearts where theological nonbelief
dwelt-a day sacred TO the family. to
the eating of roast turkey and cram
berry sauce or roast beef and plum
pudding aud walnuts and the drinking
OF beer. ale and wine.
II has changed TO some extent since
the old day. but II is still the happiest
day OF all the year-at least where the
shadow OF misfortune does no. chud
the sky.