FATHER CHRISTMAS ABROAD.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17223, 14 December 1923, Page 3 (Supplement)

FATHER CHRISTMAS ABROAD.

CELEBRATING HIS VISIT IN FOREIGN LANDS. The most UeliKlitful land in which | to 'Spend Christmas is .Scandinavia, 1 where the folk of all ages and social distinctions club together to have a | real good time. I One of their quaint Yuletido customs I is to collect all the shoes of every , member of tlie household and stand ' them in a row to typify that lor tlie : next, twelve months the namily will ' be united and at peace. Another curi- ! oils custom is for every man woman ' and child to have a bath on tlie afteri noon of Christmas eve. They may ' have had their usual morning tub. or [ their last bath may have been on the j proceeding Christmas eve : anyhow, * the bath is an established part of ■ the Yuletide ritual. ! On tlie evening of December 24, i candles are placed in all tlie windows j of tlie houses and left burning all night in order that Kristine (Father Christmas) may see where to bring his | gifts. j THE BIRDS’ CHRISTMAS DINNER. ' Of course* there are all kinds of special foods prepared for so great an occasion. The birds have their dinner in the form of a sheaf of wheat, which is tied to a pole in front of the house, and in manv country places it is cus tomary for the housewife to prepare a tray of food aud to place this outside, where any passer-by iu need of refresh- ! ment can take it. j Instead of our carol singing the boys ! and girls dress in white and visit tho ! houses, carrying with them a glass box J containing two dolls dressed to repre- | sent the Virgin and Child. They recite

appropriate poems and naturally receive appirjprtate recompense. house is the order of the days of festival, and the Scandinavian housewife has to Jay in a goodly store of refreshments for her many visitors. WHO INVENTED THF. CHRISTMAS TREE? Almost every country claims Hie honour of having given the Christmas trets to Lho world. France’s claim runs as follows:—In the thirteenth century, a certain hero found a tree whose branches were hung with candles, some upright, some r*»i versed, and on whose topmost bough was a child with a halo round his curly } head. The Rone was asked for an explanation. of this phenomenon. . He I declared that the tree represented . mankind, the child the Saviour, and : the candles the good amd bad people, j Germanv has, of course many legi ends connected with the Ohustmae ! tree. One ,of the oldest makes St I Winifred responsible for the Yuletide tradition that brings joy to so many j lit‘le lives. Jt states tliat the venerable Saint was one day surrounded by a group of his disciples, and he began to hew down a mighty oak, which had once been the object of Druidic worship As lie was in the act of doing to there sprang up a tremendous gaie. which gripped the oak and caused it t<» fall. Out of tho centre sprang a young fir tree, whose branches seemed | to be outlined with shining stars. Whatever the origin of the Christmas tree, it was Queen Victoria who first introduced it into England.