CHRISTMAS B.C.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, 24 December 1910, Page 4 (Supplement)

CHRISTMAS B.C.

YULKIIDE CELEBRATIONS IN HIE DARK AGIN.

You :■' ? j robabl v a onrlei ing hoxv Christmas-which to-day is dedicated so’fly to commemorating the birth of Cir.’-'- ‘an po-sibly have existed before r.ur Saviour was born. But the real Chri-tnia-. dates very much farther bad; than th? year One. Peril-.ps as long ago as a century of couturii? people commenced to take note of the joyful season when the days began to lengthen and the sun stayed a little longer each evening in tho sky, and it w:>s then that they started thos? revelries which nowadays are ascribed piirrlv re th? birth of Cliri.t. They had gri nt orgies, and lit enormous fires, and the Jexvs. on December 2-jth. holt! thrir "Festixml of Lights"- - nhon every tent iilazfti 'with torches and lamps. QI'AFFING TO XMAS.

Tin- N orthmen of Scandinavia, to whom the dark v.int.r days were so terrible that they drank fiercely in order to droix n their oppress-'on, hailed the season of Juul with a curious mixture of joy and superstition, At one moment they wou’d be qu iffing bravely fro:n m eat hoi ns of mead and ale, • dancing, shouting, and clashing their wen cons in tho ruddy glare of pine bonfires, and singing in thick, hoars? voices Bur at ni’othor the word would go round that th” dreaded were-wolvcs wire in their midst--human lieing? changed into monstrous shapes—and then they would drop their weapons anil fife "With the-o wild Northmen the Yidolo? origin.';ted. It was their custom to f 11 litii ” trees, and burn diem in their baronial halls; and while the groat l:m! s ••? ere being cons'.‘vod tliit’mr rverv n-issing wayfarer would raise hrs can. Bi:* re to the house that burnt a Tule-log end harlxiured a souint-eyed indiv;4i> il ;i; one and the same time. Dl-lu-'k was sure to follow. And it usual’s' did to the individual with the s” lib't

Holls and mistletoe found th-eir first inspiration among the ancient Druids. On Christm-is nights the grim temples of Stonehenge wire illuminated by gnii.-h Aim s. while many mysterious rites, im hiding sacrifices l oth human and otherwise---’ncanta.: ions, and cutting of tho mi.'tletoc t< ok place. Mistletoe was their sacred nlunt. Tt stood for deliverance from all the impoverishing effects of winter. It stands to-

day- fur something more pleasant! Tin? custom of decorating at Clirist-mas-tnnp is another relic of bygone t’ge. Ihe ancierC Druid- anti other Celtic nations always hung green branches over their doors at Christmas to pacify the spirits which haunted the woods. THE FIRST PRESENTS' The giving of Christmas presents xvns fir-t introdnc-d bx fl’e early Romans. They exchang'd ”iits freely, but in compliance with a sumptuary laxx they were never illo.xed to give anx thing very e'alo ate. Th- 1 r ceivor of a present which was judged too expensive had to offer it up for ant ion, when it xxas kno -ked down to th? highe.-t bidder. and the i.ionev appropriated by the L'oxd G 'orge of the period. Consoqiuntlv, alth u.;h th' Romans eonlinurd to d'stribure their nrr.seuts in great number-, th'y had to confine their offerings ti such tiifles as jars cf dives, nankins, jollied fishes, boxes of toothpicks. candle-, cloaks, and sxv-ot moot <. Their Christmas dinner would, taken all in all hardly appeal to the modern palitc. It cons ste I of snails and oxste:,s 'jame pies, joints stf’OfX'd in mustard, larks, and dormice broiled upon cnd?ers There wei e absolutely no formalities. no perplexing problems as to who shntikl sit with whom, for everyone selected bis own position by right of fore”, and helped himself unassisted to whatever dishes lay within his reach Another pleasant feature worthy of mention xvas that no course could be rlenretk a.way until every member of the partv had voted that he had had enough of it! When Christianity set in. of course the grosser xx’avs of celebrating Christmas la-came extinct, .and only the hannicr methods xiere retained., to ba handed down and modified for presentda v use.