CHRISTMAS CUSTOMS.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LII, Issue 8474, 20 December 1923, Page 6

CHRISTMAS CUSTOMS.

“ Burning the Faggot. ”

One of the old Christmas customs which has almost entirely died out* is the burning of the faggot. It is still kept'up in same pails of Somerset. Large ashen faggola bound with thick thongs of wood are placed across the fires of the village taverns, and these ate watched carefully by all present till the bonds burst. Immediately this takes place the customers are at liberty to help themselves its ah served in huge cans, which the landlord supplies. The burning of the Yuletide log is still, cf course, kept up in seme parts With much quaint ceremony a substantial block cf weed is brought in (wove nights; in succession, and reverently placed on the fire, where it is allowed to remain a little while. Then it i s removed and placed in a bo, (here to be kepi until the next Christmas, when it is used to ignite the new Yule log. Pretty Norse Custons. In Christiana and other Norwegian towns your house door, if you are a favourite, may be suddenly thrust open, and there may be pushed into the house a truss of hay or straw-, or a bag of chaff. Examine it, and somewhere in the hay you will find a handsome present. Lovers have been known to send to their betrothed an exceedingly large brown paper parcel. This, when opened, revealed a second parcel, with a hiving motto on the cover of it, and so on, until at last the patient -earoher arrived at the kernel of this huge husk, which kernel proved to be an article of delicate and valuable jewellery. And, again, one of the

prettiest of Christmas customais the practice, in Norway, of giving a Christmas dinner to the. birds. On Christmas morning every gateway, gable or barndoor is decorated with a sheaf of. corn, fixed upon thei top of a tall pole l , from which it is intended: that the birds should make their Christmas dinner 1 . Seasonable Lore and Legend. All over the world one hears of ■curious Christmas customs. In some parts of rural England, when the cock crow's on Christmas morning the agricultural labourer will tell you he is scaring away the evil spirits from the holy day. Many christianised Red Indians believe that on Christmas Eve all animals kneel. In some parts of Germany the belief is held that horses are then able to apeak. In Russia, villagers dress up and imitatle horses, cows, and even pigs. The First of the Carols. The Christmas carol originated, it is thought, in the eleventh century. They were sung between the scenes of the mystery and miracle plays. These plays were the popular form of religious entertainment, and between the scenes it was the custom to introduce songs dealing with the redemption of mankind. These songs naturally became fixed in the popular memory. At the Christma s gatherings later it was customary to call upon each person present to sing a song, and the merry-makers generally sang those which had been handed down by their fathers. So the songs which were sung at plays emerged as Christmas songs, and thus the carol was evolved. During the Commonwealth the Wave of Puritanism overswept Christmas festivities, and merrymaking was abolished. Later, when the Restoration celebrites were resumed, the carols became popular once more.