CHRISTMAS CUSTOMS.

Evening Star, Issue 15065, 23 December 1912, Page 6

CHRISTMAS CUSTOMS.

TO THE EDITOR. . Sir,—Decorating churches, altars, dwellings, and so on, is from pagan myths having reference generally to the solkices and stau,. At the advent ol Christianity and onwards these customs were continued and centred in the Christmas season. Holly and mistletoe seem to hold the premier place in these decorations. Mistletoe was treasured by the Druidical priests as a mystic plant to place over the entrance to dwellings as a propitiation and shelter to the sylvan deities during the season of frost and snow. When the Early Fathers apostles of expediency, assimilated the custom and spiritualised it, thev left the mistletoe severely alone in the decoration of our Anglican churches. It is now reverenced for the opportunities it nves for ornamentation. If a man neglected or declined to bring in holly or evergreen to garnish the servants' hall, the said servants stole his breeches and nailed them on the porhil gate—a curious piece of vindictiveness Ho was also rightly and rigidly excluded fiom the well-known privileges of the mistletoe, as he fully deserved to be, of course. We only know of one instance where the mistletoe has been permitted inside a church. Tho people of York (England) on Christmas Eve carried mistletoe to the high altar of the minster, and proclaimed " a public and universal liberty, _ pardon, and freedom to all sorts of inferior, and even wicked people, at the gates of the city, towards the four quarters of Heaven."

Holly seems to have enjoyed almost as much homage as the sacred mistletoe of tho barbarians. With "its berries as red as any rose," it appealed strangely to the* simple folic, who were quite ready to accept any symbolism imposed by the ecclesiastics.

Of all that grows by the King's highway I love that tree the best. Tis a bower for the birds upon Christmas Day, The bush of the bleeding breast. O ! the holly with her drops of blood for me, For that is our sweet Aunt Mary's tree. The phrase "Aunt Mary's Tree" is in reference to the old Cornish custom of calling all revered seniors aunt and uncle. Then we have peacock pie, with its bevy of fair maidens carrying holly sprigs, and the boar's head, crested with holly, and heralded by the famous boar's carol. Many of these quaint symbolical customs are becoming obsolete, as we are now understanding the pagan myths of the Middle Ages. If we look up the famous story of C4od's judgment on the wicked Bishop Hatto, once abbot of Fulda, in Germany, we find that ecclesiastical offerings to rat 6 and mice are still prevalent araonc the peasantry in certain parts of Germany! It is said that ghosts appear in Yuletide as mice, and cakes are laid for them. In Bohemia on Christmas Eve the remainder of the supper is given them with the words: "Mice! eat of these crumbs, and leave the wheat.' Rats and mice have generally been considered as sacred animals. Among the Scandinavian and Teutonic peoples they were regarded as the souls of the dead, who slept under their altars. White mice were more sacred than brown, and special mention is made of them in Yuletide.

' The Legend of the Cross ' is both instructive and interesting reading at Christmas time, but consideration for your space must check the desire for' jottino- more about Christmas and its customs.—l am etc, P.M. '■ December 23..