Heigho ! The Holly!

Taranaki Daily News, 17 December 1926, Page 5 (Supplement)

Heigho ! The Holly!

Origins oj Yuletide Decorations.

(.Specially Written for The News.— Copyright.) HEN we deeorato our homes ~'Si | | 7;with holly each ,'a / 'Christmas few ' ( of us realise X ▼ t ' ,at " e nle fo' - R / _ Jo wing in the ' steps, of the early Christians ’-7 s 1 of Rome, who regarded and revered it as the emblem of Christ’s life—the sharp prickles of the leaves, tho bitterness of the bark, and the blood-red of its berries typifying the Saviour’s sufferings. To the Druids, the plant was not only an object of profound veneration; it was supposed to possess such magical healing virtues that it was an antidote for all the ills that flesh is heir to. At the winter solstice, so the story is told, the ancient Britons, with their escort of Druidical priests, sallied forth to the woods with great pomp and rejoicings to gather the “parasite.” When the festal procession reached an oak on which the mystic berries gleamed, two white bulls were bound to the tree; and the chief Druid, arrayed in white, emblematic of purity, cut the sacred plant with a knife of gold. The bulls wort then sacrificed, and a round of festivities followed, at the conclusion of which the mistletoe wa- divided into small portions and distributed among the people, who "hung up the sprays over the entrance to their dwellings as a propitiation to the sylvan deities during the season of frost and cold.”

Curiously enough, the mistletoe, in spite of its ancient symbolism, does not seem to have figured among our Y'tiletide decorations until comparatively modern times. Indeed, as recently as the eighteenth century, it was regarded chiefly, if not solely, as a medicine. Thus in 1719 we find a Sir John Colbatch, an eminent doctor of his day, publishing a pamphlet thus romantically headed:—A Dissertation concerning Mis. tietoe. A Most Wonderful Specific Remedy for the Cure of Convulsive Distempers. Calculated for the Benefit of the Poor as well as the Rich, and heartily recommended for the Common Good of Mankind. There is no suggestion of Christmas or kissing in the pamphlet. And this is his account of how the idea of its medicinal use occurred to him:—“Being one day upon a Journey, 1 saw some Hazel Trees plentifully flocked with Mistletoe. It immediately entered into my Mind that there must be something extraordinary in that uncommon beautiful Plant; that the Almighty had designed it for further and more noble Uses than barely to feed Thrushes, or to be hung up supesstitiously in Houses to drive away Evil Spirits; and that the Mistletoe was capable of being serviceable to Mankind.” How the mistletoe lapsed from its ancient state as an object of deep veneration to its modern use as a pretext for kissing history does not seem to record. The use of holly in England for Christinas decoration has a very tlifl'erent lineage. It was a hoary veteran—probably thousands of years old—when JStowe wrote in his “Survey of London” that “against the feast of Christmas every man’s house, as also their parish churches, were decked with holly, ivy, ba yes, and whatsoever tlio season of the year afforded to be green. The conduits and standards in the streets were likewise garnished.” And again how. “in the year 1444, by tempest of thunder and lightning, towards the morning of Candlemas Day. at the Leadenhall in Cornhill, a stand aid of tree being set up in the midst of I

the pavement fast in the ground. naii> • full of holly and ivy for disport t Christinas to the people, was torn i and cast down by the malignant spir and the stones of the pavement all abo were cast in the streets.” Holly is said to stand for strengt for prudence and foresight; and is th always the opposite to the clinging i\ It has been the subject of many a so and carol through the centuries, such . the well-known st ng in “As You Li> nvI "Heigh l:o! s’.ng heigh ho! unto t green holly; • Most friendship is feigning, most lovii : mere folly. ' Then heigh ho! the holly; this life i most jolly.’’ And the mediae ral carol: — ‘ ‘’Here comes' holly that is so gent To p’case all men is his intent, Allelujah! j “V/4-osoevor against holly do cry J In a rope shall be hung full high. Allelujah ! “Whosoever against holly do sing He mav weep and his hands wring. ‘ Allelujah!” ' -I'lio laurel rightly takes its plat i among Christmas decorations, for it i j said to be “a charm against sorrov j against accidents, misfortune and d ! seasc.” It was the plant of Apollo, ar ’ i from time immemorial has been sacrc |to poets. To quote an old writer: “1 J it fit for halls and stately rooms who*there be a wedding kept or such lik • feast, it will lie sure to take a plac more eminent than the rest.” Laurel and bay—which figured as rewards to the victors in Pagan games were hung up by ancient Christiaus a Yuletide as a reminder of that victorover the powers of darkness which be I gan with the birth of a Conqueror winshould “spring up like a tender plan and always be green and flourishing air live for evermore.” The Christmas tree can boast no such long and romantic history as the holly and mistletoe, laurel and ivy. but it need fear no rivalry with any of them al: It is generally thought to have beetintroduced into gland by Prince Abert, but it can claim a history at leas* a few years longer; for on December 27 J 829, Grcville wrote: “On Christmas Day the Princess Lieven got up a little fete such as is customary all over Ger many. Three trees in great pots wore put upon a long table covered with linen; each trea was illuminated with circular tiers of coloured wax candles—blue, green, red and white. Before each was displayed a quantity of toys, gloves, pocket-handkerchiefs, work-boxes, book'* and various articles, presents made to ; the owner of the tree.” I 11l luck was supposed to attend al! ! who did not have decorations removed from church or house by Candlemas Day. In fact it was said that if a single berry or loaf remained after that date dire misfortune would befall the family who ■ occupied it during the next year. | Herrick, in his “Hesperides,” refers to I another form of the popular idea: I Down with rosemary and so I Down with the baies and mistletoe; I Down with the holly, ivie, al! I Wherewith ye drest tho Christina* Hall, I That so the superstitious find I Not one least branch there left, behind j For look how many leaves there be, i Neglected there, maids trust to me, 1 So many goblins shall you sec!