Evening star., 1935-12-25
bringing in the Boar
And Burning Yule Logs
Were Pagan Ceremonies
Legends About Christmas Tree Are Legion
Custom as We Know 1t First Estab- d,
lished in Sixteenth Century.

was first brought to Paris by the
Duchess Helena of Orleans.
Oficially, the Christmas tree, as we
know it, was accepted in England for
the first time following the marriage
of Queen Victoria to her German
prince. But a Christmas tree of some
sort is recorded to have played a
part in a Christmas pageant given in
honor of King Henry VIII-so that it
would appear that England's use of
the tree in one form or another is
almost as old as that of Europe.
A S A matter of fact, merrie old
- England was the soil in which the
really merrie Christmas took the firm
est root. Even as far back as the
days of Alfred, we hear Of his hold
ing such high revelry in December,
878, that he allowed the Danes to
surprise him, cut his army to ribbons,
and send him forth fugitive! After
the conquest, the court celebrations
increased steadily in splendor, and
throughout the entire country Christ
mas was observed in a wealth of food,
song, drink and good cheer.
The coming of Puritanism put
dramatic stop to all this. For II
years it was against the law of Eng
land to celebrate the three festivals
of Christmas, Easter and Whitsuntide,
and the Puritans in our New England
followed suit. The General Court Of
Massachusetts, fined any one Shill-
ings if found guilty of the offense Of
observing Christmas day in any way.
p ESTORATION of English royalty
~ changed the picture however, and
once more gayety and revelry reigned
on December 25. From these times
have come many of the more modern
customs which We still follow today.
One of these, the Bringing in the
Boar's Head" has its counterpart in
the sucking pig so often seen as the
piece de resistance Of the great feast.
In the old days, the appearance Of this
dish as the initial course, was very
solemn ceremony. The master cook,
preceded by trumpeters, and followed
by huntsmen with boar spears, and
pages carrying mustard, bore the
smoking head aloft on a great platter.
The head was garlanded with rose
mary and laurel, and a lemon was
placed between its grinning chops.
AS a matter of fact, this is another Of
the customs that goes back to pre-
Christian days. The DruidS killed a
boar at the Winter Solstice and offered
its head as sacrifice to Freya, goddess
of peace and plenty. The lemon placed
in the boar's mouth was a Morse SYM
boil of plenty. and rosemary and laurel
were believed by the Druids to hold
magic properties.
The traditional Yule log is also a
custom so ancient that the exact
origin cannot be determined. The
Goths and Saxons gave the name Of
Jul or Yule to the festival Of the
Winter solstice. The burning Of the
log itself was a ceremony among the
Scandinavians who, at their feast Of
Jul, used to kindle huge bonfires in
honor of the god Thor. Many coun-
tries have adopted the bringing In"
and burning of the Yule log in some
form or another, and to this day it
holds a place In the Christmas cele-
brations that cannot be ignored.
There is something awe-inspiring in
the fact that we are not only today
observing the birth of Christ-but We
are repeating once again the rites and
ceremonies that had their beginning
when the world was young and primi-
tive. Surface things change unceas-
ingly-but the fundamental charac-
teristics of mankind are there, deep
down, forever.