Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1920-12-23

Good 81. Thomas. serve me right
And send me my true love tonight
That l may gaze upon his face.
Then him in my fond arms embrace.
After placing a piece Of holly under
her pillow, many a girl, In the north OF
England especially. repeats these lines
to herself before retiring to rest on
Christmas eve, according to a writer
In London Tit-Bjts.
Cupid plays an important part In
many Of the superstitiOns and customs
that are still extant at this season.
Another queer custom In the north,
although it Is uOt now so prevalent as
II wns, 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 he wounded by
an destinations distribution.
A Christmas practice among super
s~titious girls who wish 10 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 -four, salt and water,
called q dumb cake" This they eat
Just 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 Swift
erland is for the young man to place a
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 bachelors!
In Sardinia Christmas wooing Is far
nor complicated. If n Sandman IA
ther has n m~arriageable daughter, the
would-be sutton 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 n long string with a wooden
knob at each end. The girl drops one
knob out of her window and. the shut
tiers 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 a fair of manageable girls Is
held. The girls are oil drawn up In
one line and the men in another, with
the parents of both behind them. If q
youngsInan likes the look Of any par
ticular girl he steps out Of his line,
goes up to her and enters into CONVEX
satiOn. 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-
ciated with the festive seas0 in varl.
Gus parts of Britain. In H~ertfordshire
the wearing - new shoes on Christ.
mas day is considered to be very I'M
lucky; while in other parts 1t Is
thought to be inviting Ill luck to allow
any new leather in the house during
the whole of Christmas week. Some
folk say that "a green Christmas
makes n fat c~hurchyard," but in Dew
onshire they say that a green Christ.
mas makes n prosperous year.
Superstitious people assert that one
should be 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
tho coming year; II the smooth Is