Evening star., 1936-12-20
Pagan Customs Found
In Modern Observance
With Sentiment Dating From the Nativity,
Day Combines Ceremonies Which Have
EXPANDED With Aid of All the Arts.

resented as at the side Of the Christ
child, distributing gifts. The present
use of the words Kris Kringle" is said
by some to be derived from an early
corruption of Christ kindel" A COM
mon legend was that st. Nicholas was
accompanied by terrifying figure to
frighten ill-behaved children. Rum
PAM and Klaubauf he was called by
turns. Also. there was Ruprecht or
rather Knecht Ruprecht. heavily
bearded, who rewarded good children.
NUMEROUS customs and legends
now associated with Christmas
are directly linked utth England It
seems esta abllshed that Christianity
entered the isles at the time Of the
Roman invasion in AID. 43. Depar-
ture of the Romans and the coming
of the Angles and SaXons affected adj
versely the festival of Christmas, for
the new invaders we're heathens. 1t
did not perish, however, and Pope
Gregory, when sending Augustine to
the isles, directed him to accommodate
the ceremonies of Christian worship
as much as possible to those of the
pagans He advised him to allow con-
verts to kill and eat at the Christmas
festival great number of oxen to the
glory of God as they formerly had
done in honor of their old gods.
To this may be traced the feasting
and merry-making which long ago
took root in England as the mode of
celebrating the holiday. 1t is well
that this was so, for its very existence
later was threatened. With the rise
of puritanism even the harmless good
cheer of the season was regarded as
heathenish. and Prynne complained
that seemingly England could not
celebrate Christmas without drink
ing, roaring, healthing, dicing, card
ing, dancing, masking and stage-plays
which Turks and infidels would abhor
to practice"
In 1862. the Roundhead Parliament
ordered that no observance shall be
had on the five and twentieth day of
December, commonly called Christmas
day; nor any solemnity, use or exer-
else in churches upon that day in re-
spect thereof" The stern statute pro-
duced disorder in many parts of the
kingdom.
Restoration of pleasure loving Charles
II rescued Christmas from drabness,
but it never wholly recovered the
heartiness which for centuries had
marked it in the British Isles. How
ever. England was not alone in for
bidding by law the celebration of
Christmas. The spirit of puritanism
had been transmitted to the New
World, and particularly in the Massa-
chusetts Bay colony was jollity frowned
upon as inappropriate. In 1859 the
General Court of Massachusetts, en-
acted this law:
"That whosoever shall be found OBJ
serving any such day as Christmas or
the like. either by forbearing Of labor,
feasting or any other way, upon any
such account as aforesaid, shall be
subjected to a fine of S shillings."
For more than 20 years it was un-
lawful in Massachusetts, to have a
merry Christmas, although a similar
law had been repealed In England the
very year it was passed here. The
Massa chusetts blue law was repealed
in 1881, but for many years puritan-
ism kept up protest, and 1t was not
until 1885 that Christmas was made
a legal holiday in the Bay State.
Almost from the first. however, the
little band at jamestown. Va, OBJ
served Christmas with q spirit which
from that time has permeated the
celebration of the feast throughout
Dixie. The Dutch who settled New
York also brought from Holland the
legends of St. Nicholas and many
customs of feasting. gift-giving and
decorations which still persist.
The boar's head, so closely identified
with Christmas in England, is said to
owe its presence in the secular cele-.
bration to the encounter of an oxford
student with one of these ferocious
animals on Christmas day. According
to legend, the student was perusing
Aristotle when the wild boar made for
him and he saved himself by thrust
ing the weighty tome down the beasts
throat and carrying away the boar's
head for dinner. However, the associ-
alton of the boar with Christmas fes-
tivities undoubtedly dates to much
earlier days, for the animal made its
xppeatanos tn mythology vhan one