Milford chronicle., 1919-12-12

And eeuQ me my true iOfc lohAbhtr
THAT ! may gaze upon his face,
Then him in my fond arms embrace.
After placing a piece of holly under
her inflow, many a girl, In the north Of
England especially. repeats these lines
N herself before retiring to rest on
cbrIstmas eve, according to q writer
j in London Tit-Bits.
Cupid plays an important part In
many of the srperstitiOns and customs
that are still extant at this season.
Another queer custom in the north.
although Il Is not now so prevalent as
n was. Is that Of gathering maidens'
nurses. The money for these purses is
collected some weeks before Christmas
from the inhabitants Of the mining
towns. and they are given as marriage
nortiOns to the poorest among those
Girls who are soon to be married. On
Christmas eve a full purse is quietly
thrown in at the girls window, so that
her feelings shall not be wounded by
an ostentatious distribution.
A Christmas practice among super
stitious girls who wish to dream about
their future lovers is that of abstain
ing from food or drink or speech dur
ing the whole of Christmas eve. Then,
after all the family have retired, they
make cake of flour, salt and water
called a "dumb cake" This they eat
lust before retiring to bed, in the be-
lief that their somewhat indigestible
supper will cause them to dream of
their future husbands.
In the Alps there exist several
charming Yuletide customs of prOpos-
ing marriage by the language of flow
ers. If a girl accepts a bouquet of
edelweiss from a man during the
period from Christmas day to New
Years eve the action denotes that she |
accepts him as her future husband.
Another Christmas custom in Switz- |
erland is for the young man to place |
flower pot containing a single rose, and /
a note on the window sill of the girls |
room when she is absent from home
He then waits for a reply. If the maid
accepts the flower before New Years
eve, then the young man boldly enters
the house to TASK papa" If, on the
other hand, the rose is not touched,
but is allowed to fade away. the pro-
pOsal is rejected without a single word
Of love having been exchanged be-
tween the couple. This is a useful
custom for bashful bachelorsi
In Sardinia Christmas wooing is far
more complicated. If a Sandman fa-
ther has marriageable daughter, the
wOuldbe suitOr applies to him for per-
mission to speak to her by means of
species Of telephone that has been in
use for the purpose for centuries of
Christmases.
1t is a long string with a wooden
knob at each end. The girl drops one
knob out of her window and, the shut
ters being closed, places the other knob
to her ear. Down below her wOuld-be
lover pOurs words of undying devotion
into his knobl
On every New Years day in Rouma-
MIA fair of marriageable girls is
held. The girls are all drawn up in
one line and the men in another, with
he parents of both behind them. If a
rOung man likes the look of any par ,
ocular girl he steps out of his line, ,
,oes up to her and enters into cOnver- ,
ation. If he is favOrably received by s
he girl. his parents and her parents {
Ompare notes as to the marriage set s
lement and similar practical matters. |
Many quaint superstitiOns are assO-
lated with the festive season in vari.
us parts of Britain. In HertfOrdshire
he wearing of new shoes on Christ =
las day is considered to be very un- =
lcky; while in other parts It is T
lought to be inviting III luck to allow f
ny new leather In the house during v
he whole of Christmas week. Some C
DIX say that "a green Christmas ?
lakes a fat churchyard," but In Dew
nshire they say that a green Christ !
las makes a prosperous year.
Superstitious people assert that one !,
hould be careful about the choice Of I,
he holly for the decorations. Part a
hOuld be smooth and part priekly. r
hen, providing both kinds are carried a
i;0 the house at line same time, all 3
'ill be well. But should the prickly
arlety be taken In first, then the hus- .
and will rule the household during :
he coming year; If the smooth is
rOught In first the wife will be "top +,
og." !.