Star boys' singing procession

The Star boys' singing procession has children and young people walking about with a movable star on a rod. The singing procession and the folk drama had its roots in an old medieval ecclesiastical play, centred on the Three Magi of the Christmas story in the Gospel of Matthew (2,1-28), appropriate to Epiphany.
The liturgical drama developed from the 16th century on, as it was performed by cathedral schoolboys, to become a more secular mystery drama, containing also some ordinary Christmas songs and carols.
The singing procession and play was usually observed each year during the period between December 27 and January 6 (the feast of the Epiphany).
== History ==
After the reformation in the 16th century, pupils of the cathedral schools in Protestant nations conducted these processions to raise funds to replace the church support that had disappeared. The traditional practice developed differently in the north and the south of Europe.
Since then the Star boys' singing procession was become common in many parts of Europe (both in Catholic and Protestant areas) and in Russia.
The importance of the Twelfth Day and the feat of the Epiphany grew with the introduction of the Gregorian calendar as the day, according to the earlier Julian calendar,is also is the Old Christmas Day. The custom passed further on to the general populace as a kind of narrative folk drama, but seems to have declined in its original form since the late 19th century.
== Traditions of the Epiphany ==
=== Epiphany singing ===
The Star boys walk about from house to house "singing at the doors, with a star on a pole".Laurits Bødker 1965, p. 288. The dramatic part is introduced by one of the Wise Men knocking on someone's door asking: "May the star come in?" If the offer is accepted, they are all invited inside. Then the whole procession will enter the home singing a spcial Christmas carol. Then the play begins.
In the performance, the Three Wise Men, Gaspar, Melchior and Balthazar, are first confronted by Joseph, who tries to protect the newborn baby Jesus (a doll) and his wife Mary against the intruders with a wooden axe. The three magi are however most welcome after saying that they have brought with them presents for the child. The Wise Men also have to mislead King Herod, who is also trying to find the new born 'prince' in the stable. Both Gaspar and Melchior fight the king and his men with swords, together with Joseph who uses his broad axe, while Mary is nurses her son and Balthazar is takes care of the shining star.
After the performance Judas comes to collect money or other gifts from the audience in a large bag. The young boys are usually treated to strong drinks and cakes afterwards. Then the Star boys leave the house for their next visit to somewhere in the neighbourhood, singing a song containing a farewell and many thanks for the received gifts.
=== Costumes ===
The teams of Star boys, aged about ten to fifteen, are dressed in long white shirts and pointed brown or white paper hats, in imitation of a well-known picture of the Biblical Magi as Babilonians. Balthazar carries the star and Gaspar and Melchior are armed with wooden swords. The other characters usually do not disguise themselves but also dress in long shirts, often in brown, green or grey colours and conical hats. Joseph has got a cylindrical paper hat and a wooden timber or broad axe. King Herod wears a crown and he and his soldiers carry wooden swords.Neither the star play nor the costumes have however anything to do with the Plough Monday mummers in England as suggested by Kathleen Stokker 2000, p. 109. In the crowd there may also be shepherds with long shirts and sticks and some angels with white shirts and wings.
=== Star on a pole ===
The star itself is made anew each year, using tranparent paper on a constructed frame built of wooden lists and with one to three candles placed inside. The star on the rod has to be movable and turned around all the time, so that the paper does not become overheated and does not go up in flame.
== England and Scotland ==
At a synod in Konstanz in Switzerland at Christmas 1417 the British clergies performed the Star boy drama for the rest of the participants at the meeting. They wore expensive costumes and had a large shining star.Alv S. Hvidbergskaar: May the star come in? [Manuscript from a speech in the Norwgian Radio NRK on 3. January 1953], p. 6-7, op. cit. in Edvardsen 1993, p. 109. The performance was a huge success at the church conference and could have been one of the main reasons for growing popularity of the drama in post-medieval Europe.
The Star boys' singing procession in England seems later to have been mixed together with several other kinds of carol singers at Christmas. They do not go from house to house, but visit two or three local pubs to receive free beer. Nowadays they do not carry shining star anymore, but just a quadrangular paraffin wax on a long stick or even a candle lamp with an ordinary handle.Edvardsen 1993, p. 109-110. Refers to oral information collected from British theatre director Nadine Baylis, in Haddenham (Buckinghamshire), and from Tove Gaarder, who grew up in the mining town Sunderland, Tyne and Wear.
Whereas religious folk plays are the norm in the rest of Europe, the British folk drama is absolutely secular, even if it is usually perforemd on Christian festival days.
== "Stjernespill" in Scandinavia and Finland ==
In the Nordic countries the Star boys' singing procession is known all along the coast, though not often in inland communities. At the end of the 1880s many objected to this Catholic form of organized begging, and officials began forbidding the practice. By the 1900s it had largely disappeared, and there are now just a few places where the original play of the Star boys can be counted as an unbroken linear tradition, for instance the islands Amager in Denmark, and Haram and Vigra on the west coast of Norway, but the most famous is probably the Star boys' singing procession in the small town of Grimstad on the south coast of Norway. The Grimstad custom is encouraged by local people of influence – journalists, teachers and local historians – who train the new boys and maintain standards. However, the grown ups also prevent changes in the tradition. 
In 19th century Sweden the Star boys started to join in horse riding on St. Stephen's Day. Today they are only to be seen bringing up the rear together with bridesmaids and elves as a part of the Lucia procession on December 13. Recently school teachers, nursery nurses and Christian clergymen have tried to revitalize the play for small children,inviting their parents to come to the schools, the kindergartens or the churches to see it performed. However, the popular and more humorous folkloristic elements of the play are often left out.
In Finland, a version of the Star boys' procession originating in the city of Oulu, a musical play known as Tiernapojat, has become established as a cherished Christmas tradition nationwide. The Tiernapojat show is a staple of Christmas festivities in schools, kindergartens, and elsewhere, and it is broadcast every Christmas on radio and television. The Finnish version contains non-Biblical elements such as king Herod vanquishing the "king of the Moors", and a short song of praise to Tsar Alexander II of Russia.
== Central Europe ==
In Germany and Austria the Star boys' singing has developed into a nationwide custom, where the children call on every door and are given sweets and money for charity projects - unsually in aid of poor children in Eastern European and developing countries.http://www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Dec2000/Feature1.asp 
A tradition in most of Central Europe involves writing the initials of the three kings' names above the main door of the home to confer blessings on the occupants for the New Year. For intances if the year is 2012, it would together with the initials CMB be "20 + C + M + B + 12". The initials were in earlier folkloristic literature interpreted as the names of the Three Wise Men, but is probably a Latin phrase; "Christus mansionem benedicat" (= May Christ bless this house). In Catholic parts of Germany and in Austria, this is done by the Star boys. After having sung their songs, recited their poems, and collected donations at a front door they will chalk the initials on the top of the door frame.
==See also==
*Star of Bethlehem
== References ==
 
===Bibliography===
*Manfred Becker-Huberti: Die Heiligen Drei Könige. Geschichten, Legenden und Bräuche. Greven Verlag, Köln. ISBN 3-7743-0356-8.
*Carsten Bregenhøj: Helligtrekongersløb på Agersø: Socialt, statistik og strukturelt.
Dansk Folkemindesamling, Skrifter 3. Copenhagen 1974.
*Laurits Bødker: Folk Literature (Germanic). International Dictionary of Regional European Ethnology and Folklore Volume II. Rosenkilde and Bagger. Copenhagen 1965.
*Hilding Celander: Stjärngossarna. Deres visor och julspel. Nordiska museets Handlingar:38. Stockholm 1950.
*Frederick J. Marker & Lise-Lone Marker: A history of Scandinavian theatre. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge 1996.
*Erik Henning Edvardsen 1993, see Hans Wiers-Jenssen & Haakon Hougen.
*Terry Gunnell: The Origins of Drama in Scandinavia. D.S. Brewer, Woodbridge 1994 (1995).
*B. Hayward (1992) Galoshins: The Scottish Folk Play. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 1992. ISBN 0-7486-0338-7
*Reidar Kjellberg: Helligtrekonger (p. 205-210). At gavne og fornøie. Et utvalg av hans arbeider ved Gordon Hølmebakk. Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, Oslo 1984.
*John Paulsen: En gammeldags julaften. Juleaften. Aktieselsk. Biglers Forlag. Kristiania [1897].
*Iørn Piø: Bogen om julen. Historien om julen og dens traditioner. Sesam. Copenhagen 1998. ISBN 978-87-7258-570-3
*Klara Semb: Julestjerna. For Bygd og By nr. 25-26. Julenummer 1925.
*Kathleen Stokker: Keeping Christmas. Yuletide Traditions in Norway and the New Land. Minnesota Historical Society Press. MS 2000. ISBN 0-87351-390-8.
*Hans Wiers-Jenssen & Haakon Hougen: Stjernespill og stjernesang i Norge. "Norvegia Sacra" 1921 og 1937. [Reprint of earlier periodical articles and an updated investigation of later oral and written sources to the star play, the singing procession and the star boy tradition in Norway and a short description of the custom elsewhere in the world, by Erik Henning Edvardsen, p. V-VII and p. 109- 160.] Norsk Folkeminnelags skrifter nr. 138 / Norsk Folkeminnelag. Oslo 1993. ISBN 82-991811-2-7.
== External links ==
* Website about charities that are helped by Star singers in Germany (in German)
* The Roman-Chatolic Church in Germany: Star song (in German)
* The Three Wise Men in the Catolic Youth Organization in Austria 9in German)
* Historic, Finnish sourches from North Österbotten (Pohjois-Pohjanmaan) Museum (in Finnish)
* Taru Kolehmainen: Julesanger (Joululaulujen) – the expression of tradition (in Finnish)
* Preparation for the star play in Oulun (in Finnish)
Category:Christmas traditions
Category:January observances