THE FESTIVE SEASON.

Otago Witness, Issue 3015, 27 December 1911, Page 80

THE FESTIVE SEASON.

SOME OLD CUSTOMS AND CEREMONIES. At the last meeting for the year of the Dunedin Bums Club, Mr W. B. M'Ewan, the president, read the following paper: This is the last meeting of the club for the year 1911. We are now approaching that time of the year known as the festive season, a time of mirth and happiness, for Christmas comes but once a year, And when it comes it brings good cheer. I propose to-night to review some of the old customs and ceremonies connected with Christmas, Hogmanay, and New Year's Day. As I have already said, Christmas is a time of mirth and happiness, of rejoicing, a season of merry-making, abounding in entertainments of all kinds, but it is very much changed from what it used to be in the days of our ancestors, when it was an almost imintermitted round of feasting and jollity, pur modern manner of cele?5 atl °" . 1S a ' P° or thing compared -with the Christmas season of our forefathers. On Christmas Eve the bells were rung, On Christmasi Eve the mass was sung; ' '. England was merry England when Old Christmas brought his sports again. 'Twas Christmas broached the mightiest ale, 'Twipjs Christmas told the merriest tale, A Christmas gambol oft could cheer The *pcor man's heart through half the year. There are two ancient customs belonging to Christmas which have come down to us from pagan times—namely, the hanging up of the mistletoe and the burning of the Yule log. Forth to the wood did merry men go To gather in the mistletoe. After it was gathered the churches, houses, and public places were decorated, and a branch of the mistletoe was suspended from the wall or ceiling of the house. If one of the fair sex passed underneath she incurred the penalty of being kissed by one of the sterner sex, a custom practised in the Old Country today which, no doubt, some of the older members in the audience will remember. Nobody knows, nor ever shall know, What is done under the mistletoe. This is Yuletide! Bring the holly boughs, Deck the old mansion with its berries red; Bring in. the mistletoe, that lovers' vows Be sweetly sealed the while it hangs o'erhead. j And is was said that the maid who was not kissed under the mistletoe at Christmas time would not be married that year. The burning of the Yule log is an ancient ceremony transmitted to us from our Scandinavian ancestors, who at this time of year used to kindle huge bonfires in honour of their god Thor. The bringing of the log from the woods, and the placing of the ponderous block on the hearth, was one of the most joyous of the ceremonies observed on Christmas Eve. Cornie bring with a noise, My mearry, merry boys, The Christmas log to the firing, While my good dame, she Bids ye all be free, And drink to your health s desiring. With the last year's brand! Light the new block, and ' ' For good success in his spending On your psalteries play That sweet luck may Come while the log is burning. Part of the old log, after having served its purpose, was preserved till the next anniversary, when it was used to light the new log. Then the Christmas party gathered round the crackling log, for you must remember the Christmas festivities are celebrated at mid-winter. The fire with well dried logs supplied Went roaring up the~chimney wide. And you would see the master of the family and the servants of the household meet on terms of equality. Then opened wide the baron's hall To vassal, tenant, serf and all; Power laid his rod of rule aside, And Ceremony doffed his pride. The heir, with roses in his shoes, That night might village partner choose. All hailed with uncontrolled delight And general voice the happy night, That to the cottage as the orown Brought tidings of salvation down. The giving of gifts at Christmas time introduces us to one of the most popular characters connected, with the seasonFather Christmas. He comes—the brave old Christmas, His sturdy Steps I hear; We will give him a hearty welcome, For he comes but once a year. And of all our old acquaintance 'Tis he we like the best; There's a jolly old way about him— There's a warm heart in his breast. Father Christmas, comes to the children, aid, oh! what excitement! The hanging up of the stockings must be done, and you will hear little men declare they are nof going to sleep till they see Father Christmas'come down the chimney. For he never forgets the children, They all are dear to him; You'll see that with wonderful presents His pockets are full to the brim. He gives the old men tobacco, And the women a cup of tea, And he takes the little _ children And damces"*them on his knee. There are other festivities connected ■with Christmas, to which had time permitted I should hove made refeTenoe. Such as the singing of carols, the_ Christmas waits, the mummers, or guisers as they are known in Scotland, the pantomime, the Christmas trees, and the many indoor games common to the celebrations ; but I cannot pass from Christmas without making reference to the modem custom of sending Christmas cards, which has been so popular for so many years in the Home Country. The first Christmas ; card was designed' by a Mr J. C. Horsley. | It represented a family party of three ' generations, and all are supposed to be ■ joining in *-h« sentiment, "A Merrjr

Christmas and a Happy New Year to you." It is worthy of notice that this card -was sent to the late Queen Victoria in the year 1846. Since that time millions of cards have been exchanged, and the custom may be said to have reached the height of its popularity between the years 1870 and 1390.

New Year's Eve, or as it is styled in Scotland, Hogmanay, together with New Year's Day constitute the great national holiday in Scotland. It is true that in recent years Christmas holidays are observed, although in the country districts Christmas Day is not generally observed as a holiday, and I am old-fashioned enough to hope it will never supersede the Scottish holiday of New Year. There are several ceremonies and customs appropriate to the last day of the year, which I will now bring to your notice. In the first place the term Hogmanay puzzled antiquarians, and no satisfactory explanation of the word has ever been arrived at, but as it is my privilege to describe customs rather than discuss derivations, I will proceed to give some account of the guisers. The doings of the guisers form a conspicuous feature of the New Year proceedings in Scotland. Some of the lads could sing or recite would band themselves together and determine upon acting the guisers. For this purpose they would borrow old shirts, old coats, and, better still, an auld lum hat belonging to their fathers, and then, having blackened their faces, and otherwise disguised themselves, proceed on their singing:— Please to help the guisers, the guisers, the guisers, Please to help the guisers, and we'll sing ye a bonnie song. If you gi'e us a penny, a penny, a penny, If you gi'e us a penny we'll sing you twenlyone. Another favourite rhyme you might hear would be, Get up, guidwife, and shake your feathers, And dinna think that we are beggars; For we ore bairns come out to play, Get up, and gie's our Hogmanay. And still another might be heard, Get up, guidwife, and' binna sweir, And dtea.l your bread to them that's heore; For the time will come when ye'U be dead. And then ye'll neither need ale nor bread. And so proceeding from house to house till their pockets were full of currant bun, shortbread, and not a few pence. To earn their reward some of the little performers would proceed to give the New Year play called "Galatian," which may be described as follows:—The characters include two knights, a talking man, a doctor, and a purse-bearer. Enter Knight No. 1. ' ___ Here oomies in Black Knight, the great king of Mooedon, Who has conquered all the world but Scotland alone. When I oame to Scotland my heart it grew cold To see a little nation so stout and so bold l — stout and so bold, so frank and so free; Call upon Galatian to fight wi' ma The Back Knight and Galatian fight a duel in which poor Galatian is done to death. Then the Black Knight criesIs there a doctor to be found? Enter the Doctor and says— Here comes as good a doctor as ever Scotland bred, And I have been through nations a-learning of my trade, And now I've come to Scotland all fox to cure the dead. Tho Black Knight .asks him, "What can you cure?" I oan cure the rurvy-scurvy, And the rumble-gumption of a man that has been Seven years in his grave or more; I pan make an old woman of sixty look like a girl of sixteen. . "What will you take to cure this man?" After the price of restoration to life is settled, the Doctor, by the magic .touch of his little finger and a sip from his bottle of inker-pmker stirred round with a cat's feather, brings Galatian back to life. Then the whole party dance, and Galatian sings: Oh, onoe I was dead, but now I am alive, And blessed be the doctor that made me reWe'll ail join hands, and never fight more. Well all be good brothers, as we have been before. The Purse-bearer then enters. Here come I, auld Diddletie-doubt, Gi'e me money, or 111 sweep ye a' out. Money I want, .and money I crave; If ye don't gi'e mo money, 111 sweep ye till your grave. Then the whole party sing the final song. Blessed be the master of this house, and the mistress also, • And all the little babies that round the table pockets full of money, the bottles full A mCTry e Christmas guisers, and a happy New "Year. There are other customs connected with Hogmanay, of which one of the beat known and most general is that of sitting up till 12 o'clock on the night of December 31, and then, wher. the eventful hour has struck, proceeding to the house-door, and unbarring it with great formality to let out the old, and let m the New \ ear Then the family gather round the table and wish each other a Happy New Year "May the year that's awa' be the worst of our lives." , „ The merry-makings of New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are of very ancient date both in England and Scotland. It has ever been the custom among the northern nations to see the old year out and the new one in with the highest demonstrations of merriment and conviviality. In Scotland they used to •prepare a drink called the "bet pint, which was composed of sweetened ale, warmed, spiced, and sugared After bringing m the "New Year in the family circle they would proceed to the homes of their neighbours and friends, where the bottle would freely circulate. II they were the

first to enter the house, they were deemed as the first foot, and as. such, it was most important for luck to the family in the coming year that they should make their entry not empty-handed, but with their hands full of cakes and bread and cheese, of which, on the other hand, civility demanded that each individual in the house should partake. This ancient practice of first-footing is still observed in Scotland with a heartiness nowhere surpassed.

The first foot's em tearing step That sudden on the floor is welcome heard, Ere blushing maids have braided up their hair, The laugh, the hearty kiss, the good .New

Year Pronounced with honest warmtn. In village, grange, And borough town, the steaming flagon, borne Prom house to 'house, elates the poor mans heart, , ~ And makes him feel that life has still its joys. But amidst all the merrymaking and the desire to express good wishes to our friends, there comes the reflection that New Year's Day marks another milestone on the path of life. Looking back on the past year and reviewing the failures and mistakes of our daily life we resolve to do better in the New Year. While we remember ourselves, -we think of the families that constitute this world of ours, the families of all the nations of the earth, and we sincerely hope, and devoutly wish, that the days of oppression will soon be swept away, that the old shall give way to the new, and better times for humanity. That m.an may rise on stepping. stones Of their dead selves to higheT things. King out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells across the smow: The year is going—let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true.