Evening star., 1921-12-25
Bayberry Candles.

rHRISTM.AS would not seem lihe
" Christmas without candles. ami
the bayberry candle is the candle Of
candles. The hayberry candle is a
New England institution. but 1t has
been carried To all parts OF the coun-
try by New England people and is
| burned by them and their descend
! ants in every city under the Anieri-
can flag, and no doubt ii is lighted
in other lands. Bayberry candles
can be bought in shops in Richmond.
Charleston. New Orleans and Key
West 1t is one of the New England
custo oms that have spread to the south.
People of the south have always
! used candles at Christmas, but the
custom is not nearly so generally
followed as it was u generation %"
two ago.
There is a superstition about the
bayberry candle. 1t is burned not
alone for its pungent fragrance, but
also for the good lack that it brings,
for it has been said for two or three
hundred years that "a bayberry can
die burned to the socket brings luck
to the house and wealth to the
pocket" Many New England fami
lies in Washington city and cities
farther to the south persist in the
bayberry candle habit and many 9TH
ers not of New England origin have
adopted the bayberry candle and
make a wish as it burns"
The northeastern Indians soon
learned the value of the bayberry
for making candles, or torches"
after the coming of the whites. IL
has been said that they made wax
from this berry and used it as an il
luminant beEore the coming of the
whites but the evidence is shadowy.
Its light was known in New Eng
land at an early time. At the Abe
MAXI Indian village. on the kennebec
river, the learned Jesuit priest, Pere
Rale Cor Rasles), lighted his chapel
with great numbers of these fragrant
candles. All the early settlers OF
upper New England had molds for
| candles before whale oil became COM
mon and they used to run" the wax
of bayberries into these candle molds.
the "candelberry." A few years ago.
when people were Infatuated with the
| revival of old things, the ancient
| candle molds were brought out and
| wax extracted from bayberries< The
making of bayberry candles /:
now household industry. but is car
ried on by commercial concerns.
The plant from which the bayberry
| wax is obtained is the shrub Myrcia
cerifera Myrtle wild wax). and IT is
common along the sandy coast line Of
! the eastern and central states and on
the sand dunes back of the beach. It
insists on a saltwater neighborhoon.
The wax of the bayberry has been
known in some parts of the country
as 'Merica tallow," myrtle tallow"
and myrtle wax" There are many
varieties of myrtle scattered about
the world. and they all yield wax.
/ The bayberry shrub is not very close
ly related OF the Myrcia acria. or
West India bay bush or bay tree. srom
the leaves of which bay rum u OBJ
tanned by distillation.
, You see, the common name -bay-
! berry" shows that it is a bay. and
! it's botanic name. Myrcia, shows that
it is a myrtle. 1t is a famous plant
| family. In classic times successful
warriors and athletes. poets and
| singers were often crowned with bay,
| and it is sometimes written that they
were crowned with myrtle wreaths.
Botanists believe that these triuirphal
4 wreaths and chaplets were woven
now call Taurus nobilis." oe the
laurel Of the noble.