Milford chronicle. [volume] (Milford, Del.) 1878-1974, 1923-12-28
MANY SUSSEX FOLKS
OBSERVE OLD XMAS
January Sixth Is Real Birth Day OF
Christ So They Declare And
They Celebrate The Day.
COWS GET DOWN ON KNEES
According To SuperstitiOns Handed
Down And DaffOdiIs Stick Their
Heads Above Ground.

From Georgetown comes the fol-
lowing story of custom which the
writer says is very largely followed
in the rural districts in some sections
of Sussex county. 1t is interesting in
that it shows how custom and tradi-
ton govern the dOings of residents of
certain parts of our country. The
story follows:
"Old Christmas Day" is what they
call it in Sussex county; Epiphany is
what the church calls it, and Twelfth
Night was what it was called in Eng
land many years ago and is still so
called in some sections of this coun-
try. No matter what it is called many
sections of Sussex county still per-
sists in observing January as Christ
mas, or Little Christmas" as some
name it. Many of the older people de-
clare that it is the real Christmas
Day, the anniversary of the birth of
Christ, and say that when the calen-
dar was changed it changed the real
date of the anniversary.
However, there is not much argu-
ment about it, but considerable festiV-
tiles in this section. It is the day in
Sussex county when the families
gather together in a family reunion,
observed as a reunion day much more
so than Christmas.
There are also many things to be
properly done on that day if the rest
of the year is expected to be fortunate.
For instance, the first person to enter
a house on that day must be man,
for if a woman is the first to enter the
door, than it will be year of bad
luck. People in the country respect
this old custom very carefully, and
there are men who live in the neigh
borhOods who always go around on
Old Christmas Day to make the first
call on the widows of the section, so
that good luck will follow them the
rest of that year. Then the visitor
must also leave by the same door in
which he enters, and that must be
carefully followed.
The night before Old Christmas Day
is also a peculiar one and it is the
proper time for honest people to be
in bed, for it is said, and many of the |
older people and all of the negroes are |
certain, that at midnight the cattle |
kneel in their stalls, the daffOdils ap-
pear through the ground and the hop
vines sprout forth for short hour or
so. There is no gainsaying these facts,
for you can find many who will prove
to you that these things happen,
bringing as witnesses innumerable
people who sat up all night and saw
the cattle kneel. 1t is the night of
fairies, and the little folk are out and
all around. 1t is only the venturesome
who stay up to watch for these mani
festations, the real believers going to
bed, where they are safe from harm
as long as an old broom is set in one
corner of their bedroom. These are
true things, as many in Sussex will
tell you. This year Old Christmas will
be celebrated the same as usual. The
boys and girls will come home to the
farm.
There will be a big turkey dinner
with sweet potato pie, turnip greens
and piece of hogs jowl to set off the
repast. Colored people in the neigh
borhood will flock to the back door
with their crys of christmas Gift"
which means that the farm wife will
have to give them gift or else set
them down to dinner in the kitchen
after the white folks" are through.
1t is a delightful custom, it will never
die out in Sussex county, for everyone
enjoys it and observes it, for it gives
them a distinct advantage over peo-
pie in other parts of the country, for
they can have two Christmas feasts,
and any Sussex countian enjoys hav-
ing good things to eat. Old Christmas
will always be with us.
In the vicinity of Milford this GUS
tom does not prevail.