CHRISTMAS HOLLY

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIII, Issue 14, 14 December 1932, Page 13

CHRISTMAS HOLLY

dates back to the druids. Perhaps because our Christmas is °/ matter of the open-air than that of the Homeland, the holly plays a far less important role in the celebrations of the festive season. Still * h ,T e , are sticklers for the old custom a-plenty who would consider it no Christmas Day without a pudding, I 1”!, . Pudding without a sprig of holly. Hie mistletoe is quite un-known—-the pohutukawa to some extent takes its place—but the Cliristi 6 ® 18 Huite as important an affair here as in the Old Land, and the decoration of home and cliurch with lycopodium, greenery and flowers is still regarded as the season’s due.

Now, how did this habit start of making the homo a bower? • Tt > ? "jjght'Y hig jump to the origin, but 2000 years ago the ancient pagan Teutonic tribes of Europe and the priests of the early Gauls and Britons, known as Druids, started the custom. They were a superstitious Jot, and a good part of their lives was devoted to ceremony. Many things in JSature were given a super-natural an “ almost Divine significance. Mistletoe, for instance, was regarded as sent from Heaven, and the’tree it was found growing on was held fiacrcd and bocjinio the scene of religious festivals and sacrifices. It figured « v '°. n , i n Scandinavian mythology which says that Baldur, the Sun God’ iv as slain by the blind god Hoder, who hurled a spear of mistletoe. But where its association with kissing originated or, rather, the immediate events leading up to this well-known tradition Jt is difficult to say. ’ Holly is said to stand for strength, for prudence and foresight; and is thus always the opposite to the clinging ivy. It has been the subject of many a song and carol through the centuries such as the well-known soim m “As You Like It.” sing heigh ho! unto the green Most friendship is feigning, most loving more folly. Then heigh ho! the holly! this life is moat jolly. And the medieval carol: Here comes holly that is so gent To please all men is his intent. Allclujah! Whosoever against tho holly do cry In a ropo shall be hung full high. Allclujah! W hosoever against holly do sing He may weep and his hands wring, Allclujah! “GENDER” OF THE HOLLY. Holly figured to no less a degree in the legends of long ago, and many of the tales associated with it are very interesting. We find it mentioned often m poetry of old. The people of those days recognised a “she” and a “lie” holly, the distinction being based on the shape of the leaves, which may vary on the same tree. Those from the top of the tree were smooth and not barbed, and constituted the So-called “she” holly, while the lower leaves, with their sharp points, made the “he” holly. It was supposed that if the “he” holly were first brought into the house ou Christmas Eve 'lie husband would be the master during the coming year, and if the “she” liolly came jn first “the wife will wear the ureeks.” There was a belief, moreover, that tho sprigs should not be put up before Christmas Eve. This was because it was supposed- that the holly in the home offered harbourage to the wood sprites who otherwise would freeze in the woods, and that “without the restraining influence of tho Christ child” the elves and spirits might become mischievous. There developed a host of other legends surrounding the holly, some of them attributing the various powers to the plant in connection with the rearing of cattle and also as a divining rod. But it is significant to-day to note that these same garlands of strictly pagan origin are now used for decorations at the greatest of Cliristion festivals. Indeed, history teaches that it was with considerable opposition that the early Church viewed the continuation of these heathen customs and regarded them as “vain abominations.” The Puritans denounced the use of greens for decorations. But the custom had become so imbedded in the lives of the people that as ages went by the pagan associations gradually dwindled into oblivion and new interpretations were given. The ’glossy brightness of the holly seemed a fit symbol for rejoicing at the birth of the Christ child, its evergreenness bespoke His unfailing and never withering life, the white flowers symbolised His purity, and the -sharp 6pines and blood-red berries betokened the. crown of thorns and bloody passion. Once these new conceptions became rooted in the minds of the people there was little chance of eradicating old traditions. Adherence to them waxed gradually stronger, and the customs Accumulated through the ages have, in some measure at least, been transplanted to these distant shores. A quaint old writer thus spiritualises the use of holly and other Christmas decorations: “So our churches and houses decked with bayes and rosemary, holly and ivy, and other plants which are always green, put us in mind of His Deity, that the child should always be green and flourishing and live for overmore.”

Tho holly must all be cleared away by the end of January or woo betide the owner of the decorated dwelling; a fatality was sure. Clear them away, wrote Herrick: — That so, the superstitious find, No one least branch there lie- behind; For look how many leaves there be, Neglected here, maids trust to me, So many goblins you shall see.