Odd Facts About Christmas

Waikato Times, Volume 118, Issue 19762, 18 December 1935, Page 15 (Supplement)

Odd Facts About Christmas

Did you know that in Britain December 25 was a festival long before the people were converted* to Christianity? A famous historian named Bede records that “the ancient peoples of the Angli began the year on the 25th of December,” and regarded that night as a sacred one. * * * Did you know that the first Mr Christmas was named after the greatest of all annual Christmas feasts? Besides people bearing this uncommon name, there are many named Noel, Nowell, and Yule. * * * Did you know that the turkey, which is an American bird, is short for turkey-cock, a name originally applied to the guinea-fowl, which was often imported into Europe through Turkish territory? * * * Did you know that the term Santa Claus is from the Dutch Sint Klaas, for Saint Nicholas, the saint who first sent Christmas presents when he did not want those who received them to know from whom they came? * * * Did you know that the very early Christmas puddings were probably nothing but haggis, or the entrails of the pig or other animal stuffed with meat that had been minced, flavoured and mixed with oatmeal before being boiled? * * * Did you know that in 1644 the English Puritans forbade any Christmas merriment or religious services by Act of Parliament? The Puritans maintained that Christmas was a heathen festival, and ordered it to be kept as a fast. Charles 11., however, revived the feast during the Restoration.