Newark leader. ([Newark, Ohio]) 1917-1946, 1919-12-19

Good st. Thomas, serve me flSnC
And send me my true love tonight,
That | may gaze upon his face,
Then him in my fond arms embrace.
After placing Il piece of holly under
! her pillow many girl, in the north of
! England especially, repeats these lines
tc herself before retiring to rest on
! Christmas eve, according to Il writer
| il, London Tit-Bits
Cupid plays an important part in
many Of the supcrSttiOns and customs
that are still eXtant at this season.
Another queer custom in the north,
although it is not now so prevalent as
! il was, is that of gathering maidens'
| purses. The money for these purses is
! collected some weeks before Christmas
from the inhabitants of the mining
towns, and they are given as marriage
| portions 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 a cake of flour, salt and water,
| called q "dumb cake" This they eat
! just before retiring to bed, in the be-
| lief that their somewhat indigestibe
| x,f
| their future husbands.
In the Alps there exist several
! charming Yuietide customs Of propOs-
! ing marriage by the language of flow
crs. If q girl accepts bouquet of
! edelweiSS from 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-
erIand is for the young man to place
flower pot containing Il single rose, and
note on the window sill of the girls
room when she is absent from home.
He then waits for reply. If the maid
accepts the flower before New Years
1ye, then the young man boldly enters
the house to "ask papa" If, on the
other hand, the rose is not touched,
but is allowed to fade away the pro
posal is rejected without single word
of love having been exchanged be-
tween the couple. This is useful
custom for bashfuI bachelors
In Sardinia Christmas Wooing is far
more complicated. If a Sandman fa-
ther has Il marriageable daughter, the
would-be suitor applies to him for per-
mission to speak to her by means of a
species of telephone that has been in
use for the purpose for centuries of
ChriStmases.
1t is 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 knob!
On every New Years day in ROuma-
MIA q fair of marriageable girls is
held. The girls are all drawn up in
one line and the men in another with
the parents of both behind them. If
young man likes the look of any par
ticular girl he steps out of his line
goes up to her and enters into cOnver-
rati0n If he is favorably received by
the girl his parents and her parents
compare notes as to the marriage set
Element and similar practical matters
Many quaint superStitiOnS are asSO-
cated with the festive season in vari.
Gus parts of Britain. In HertfOrdShire
the wearing of new shoes on Christ
mas day is considered to be very un-
lucky; while in other parts it is
thought to be inviting i'll luck to allow
any new leather in the house during
The whole of Christmas week. Some
folk say that "a green Christmas
makes a fat churchyard," but in Dew
Onshire they say that a green Christ
mas makes q prosperous year.
SuperstitiOus people assert that one
should he careful about the choice of
the holly for the decorations. Part
should be smooth and part prickly.
Then, providing both kinds are carried
into the house at the same time, all
will be well. But should the prickly
variety be taken in first, then the huS-
band will rule the household during
the coming year; if the smooth is
brought in first the wife will be stop
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