YULETIDE LORE AND LEGENDS.

Manawatu Times, Volume LXIX, Issue 2562, 20 December 1924, Page 2

YULETIDE LORE AND LEGENDS.

Quaint Origin of Customs, Most of our Christmas customs hav 9 descended to us from the dim time of myths and legends. One of the most interesting, the leg, end of the Magi,, had its origin j„ the simple story of the Scriptures sj told by St. Matthew, every century something being added to the factj until the original story has been al. most mothered in the wealth of do. tail. Eventually the number of Magi tvaj stated to be three. Melchior, Balthazar and Jasper, royalty was atlribut. ed to them, and a complete descrip, lion given of each. According to an old Scandinavian legend, the 'mistletoe bough was rc. sponsible for the death of Balder, ths Apollo of the North. His mother had declared that nothing which had ill root in earth, air, fire or water should hurt him. His treacherous enemy, the God o( Evil, thereupon made an arrow froui the mistletoe bough, and gave it to a blind man to test. The arrow pierced Balder and he was slain. Later, hotv,. ever, he was restored to life. After this the mistletoe was declared harmless, and it became an emblem of love. In certain parts of Great Britain it is still believed that a sunny noontide on Christmas Day moans a plontiful supply of apples during the coming year. The custom of hanging up stockings on Christmas Eve had its origin in a leegnd about St. Nicholas. It used to lie done on December 6. the Eve of St. Nicholas, and in Belgium and one or two other countries this date is still adhered to. The story goes that there was a poor nobleman who had three daughters. He was so badly off that hs could not provide his daughters with a dowry. One night, however, they had a stroke of luck, for St. Nicholas dropped three fat purses of gold down their kitchen chimney. The fashion of olden days was to make purses something like the modern stocking, and this is how the present-day custom came about. In the Yuletide game known as snapdragon wo have an interesting relic of the tiro worship of the Druids, and, possibly, of the practice of I rial by ordeal. A person snspcctcdof a crime had to grip a red hot iron bar or plunge his hand into fire as a test of innocence! It was believed that superhuman intervention would be forthcoming it the person were not guilty. One of the oldest. superstitions prevalent all over Europe is the idea that animals assume the power of speech at Christmas time. How this belief started is not known.

A Boxing Hay Relief. Founded upon this belief is French legend of the old woman, the cat and the dog. This inquisitive old person made plans for listening to the conversation which she felt sure would take place between her usually dumb friends. To her consternation she heard her cat say that burglars were going to break into the house that night! Without stopping to think, she jumped to her feet and ran screaming to her front door, where she was met hy robbers, wbo made short work of her. Boxing Day has always been the festival of St. Stephen, who for some unaccountable reason has for hundreds of years been regarded as the patron saint of horses. In olden days it used to be the custom for all horses to be bled and thoroughly washed. This was supposed to preserve them from harm through the ensuing year