Christmas Lore by Miss Anna Hinrichs 1895
Article in The Chautauquan, October 1895
"I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"
THE popular observances of this glad festival are of very ancient origin. All pagan nations of antiquity were worshipers of the sun. This luminous body was a visible demonstration of the Deity. From it radiated light, heat, and life. The object of worship was always the same, although it was recognized by different people under different names. The time of celebration was also universally identical—the time of the winter solstice, about the time of the shortest day of the year. The commemoration was really an expression of joy over the heightened intensity and benefit of the sun, and the near approach of spring and the growing season.
The old Romans called their Christmas Saturnalia. Among this people the festival granted to slave and freeman a special license for enjoyment. The Scandinavians worshiped Woden (Odin), the father of Thor. The burning of the yule log is a ceremony that originated with this people. At their feast of Juul, at the winter solstice, they kindled huge bonfires in honor of their god Thor. The custom of burning the yule log has been transmitted to various parts of the world. During feudal times many a ponderous block of yule has been dragged to the spacious hearth in noble halls. All wayfarers bared their heads in reverence as the great log was triumphantly being carried from the forest. Its entrance was hailed with song:
"Come, bring with a noise,
My merry, merry boys,
The Christmas log to the firing;
While my good dame, she
Bids ye all be free
And drink to your hearts' desiring!"
The yule or Christmas candle lent cheer to this festive occasion. Sometimes after half the log had been burned the remaining half was carefully stored in the cellar as a preventive against fire and misfortune. It was considered an evil omen if a squinting or a barefooted person happened in the room while the log was burning, and the presence of a flat-footed woman foreboded great loss and sorrow.
To the Persians the god of light was Mithras; as Baal or Bel he was known to the Phoenicians. With the ancient Goths he was Yule. Our word wheel is a derivation from the Gothic giul or hiul, meaning wheel. In the old Clog almanacs a wheel marks the turning of the year, Yuletide.
The festival begins with Christmas Eve and closes with Candlemas Day. The pretty custom of decorating the home dates back many centuries. It probably originated with the Saturnalia of the old Romans. They trimmed their temples and dwellings with green boughs. The favorite decorations were holly, rosemary, bay, laurel, and cypress. Holly has continued to remain the favorite Christmas green through the course of ages. In the year 600 its use was forbidden by the church council, because of its paganistic origin. Evidently the decree was neither rigidly enforced nor obeyed, for it is estimated that over a million dollars are spent in Europe and America for Christmas holly.
Until quite recently the enormous quantity of holly consumed in this country was all imported from Europe. Now, however, it is extensively cultivated on this side of the Atlantic, and the demand for it seems to have grown with the supply. It represents a most profitable industry, giving needed employment to hundreds of men at a season when they would otherwise be without work.
American holly is more vigorous and supple than the European. This growth of rich green foliage with its profusion of bright scarlet berries is a universal emblem of Christmas. In floral poesy it signifies foresight—a foresight into the future that reveals the glad tidings, "Spring will soon be here." Then,
"Sing to the holly, the Christmas holly,
That hangs over peasant and king;
While we laugh and carouse 'neath its glittering
boughs,
To the Christmas holly we'll sing!"
In point of antiquity the mistletoe rivals the holly. Its habit is most unique. It never grows in the ground, but flourishes in the branches and forks of the loftiest trees, rough-barked trees like the oak, poplar, elm, and apple. It has no root, but adheres tenaciously to the parent tree into which it seems to have been grafted. Surrounded with mystic associations, it is not strange that the plant was believed to have been propagated in its natural state by a bird, the mistle thrush, which fed on its berries. Its artificial propagation was long considered impossible. Happily, the problem is now solved. The bruised berries are exceedingly glutinous; consequently when crushed they adhere readily to the rough bark, where they germinate, and a luxuriant growth follows. The mistletoe is now rarely found in the oak but it abounds in old orchards. It has but little foliage, merely a few leaves in couples here and there. The stalk is thickly studded with the white waxlike berries, each of which represents possibilities of unutterable bliss to youth and maid. Like holly, the mistletoe was formerly imported from Europe, but at present the native production is abundant. The choicest supplies come from Texas and New Mexico.
The history of this interesting plant is replete with legends and romance. To the Druids it was sacred. With priests clothed in white, the emblem of purity, they went forth to gather the mistletoe. To the oak on which the sacred growth was found was bound their sacrifice of beasts—often, alas! of men. The chief Druid then ascended the tree and cut the plant with a golden sickle. As the pieces were reverently severed, he dropped them one by one into the robe of a fellow priest who stood underneath to catch them. After the tree was stripped the chief Druid descended and the hapless victims were slaughtered. The sacred fruit of this harvest was divided into small portions and for fabulous prices distributed among the people. Sprigs of it were tacked above doorways as an assurance to the Druids of welcome and protection from hunger and cold. Its rare appearance in the oak tree led Druid priests to attribute special powers to the oak mistletoe. A favorite site of their humble temple was under the shadows of its glistening fruit. The ancient Druids of Great Britain worshiped it under the name of "all-heal." When cut by priests it was credited with every possible power and virtue; when gathered by unsanctioned hands it was supposed to bring disease, disaster, and death.
Many are the quaint legends in regard to the origin of kissing under the mistletoe. In rigid observance of the good old custom, there are but as many kisses allowed as there are berries on the bough suspended. With each kiss exacted as toll from the maid passing underneath, the gallant receiving the fine must pluck off one berry from the branch and give it to the fair victim as an offering of peace. She then casts the berry onto the burning yule, and her luck for the ensuing year is decided by the time it takes in cracking. However, all this formality has been abandoned; only the leading feature remains-—the kiss.
The meaning of the mistletoe, "I surmount difficulties" is strikingly apparent. It is forcibly illustrated in the legend on which the origin of kissing under the mistletoe is based:
A royal prince, handsome and gifted, was hunting with an escort of friends. He became separated from his companions and wandered through the woods all day. At night he reached an old castle; he knocked at the gate, and after giving satisfactory explanation was admitted. The sole occupants of the ruin were a hideous old baron and his young daughter of marvelous beauty. The prince was not warmly welcomed, nevertheless he speedily became enamored of the fair maid. In the morning he ventured to express his infatuation, and the baron ordered him seized and rudely banished from the castle. For days the poor prince wandered disconsolately about in the mazelike forest. All but dead from hunger and fatigue, he met a fairy to whom he related his pitiful tale. She told him to return to the castle armed with a mistletoe bough. With this mystic plant in his possession, she assured him, the stern baron's power would succumb and he could win the fair princess with a touch of his lips. But, she cautioned, the bough must be plucked from a hollow oak growing beside a stream, and on the opposite bank must grow a willow stripped of all but two of its leaves. For weeks the love-sick prince searched for an oak of such bearings. All in vain. Utterly exhausted he fell asleep under an oak tree. He awoke much refreshed and to his amazement beheld a rippling stream at his feet and just across a weeping willow with but two lonely-leaves. Joyfully he climbed the tree, cut a branch from its topmost summit, and, "all difficulties surmounted," hastened to the castle and returned with his lovely Christmas bride. Through ages, ever since that happy morn,
"Under the mistletoe, pearly and green,
Meet the kind lips of the young and the old;
Under the mistletoe, hearts may be seen
Glowing as though they had never been cold;
Under the mistletoe peace and good-will
Mingle the spirits that long have been twain.
Yet, why should this holly and festival mirth
In the reign of old Christmas-tide only be found?
Hail it with joy in our yule-lighted mirth,
But let it not fade with the festival sound;
Hang up love's mistletoe over the earth,
And let us kiss under it all the year round!"
Christmas Lore by Miss Anna Hinrichs 1895
Article in The Chautauquan, October 1895
"I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"
THE popular observances of this glad festival are of very ancient origin. All pagan nations of antiquity were worshipers of the sun. This luminous body was a visible demonstration of the Deity. From it radiated light, heat, and life. The object of worship was always the same, although it was recognized by different people under different names. The time of celebration was also universally identical—the time of the winter solstice, about the time of the shortest day of the year. The commemoration was really an expression of joy over the heightened intensity and benefit of the sun, and the near approach of spring and the growing season.
The old Romans called their Christmas Saturnalia. Among this people the festival granted to slave and freeman a special license for enjoyment. The Scandinavians worshiped Woden (Odin), the father of Thor. The burning of the yule log is a ceremony that originated with this people. At their feast of Juul, at the winter solstice, they kindled huge bonfires in honor of their god Thor. The custom of burning the yule log has been transmitted to various parts of the world. During feudal times many a ponderous block of yule has been dragged to the spacious hearth in noble halls. All wayfarers bared their heads in reverence as the great log was triumphantly being carried from the forest. Its entrance was hailed with song:
"Come, bring with a noise,
My merry, merry boys,
The Christmas log to the firing;
While my good dame, she
Bids ye all be free
And drink to your hearts' desiring!"
The yule or Christmas candle lent cheer to this festive occasion. Sometimes after half the log had been burned the remaining half was carefully stored in the cellar as a preventive against fire and misfortune. It was considered an evil omen if a squinting or a barefooted person happened in the room while the log was burning, and the presence of a flat-footed woman foreboded great loss and sorrow.
To the Persians the god of light was Mithras; as Baal or Bel he was known to the Phoenicians. With the ancient Goths he was Yule. Our word wheel is a derivation from the Gothic giul or hiul, meaning wheel. In the old Clog almanacs a wheel marks the turning of the year, Yuletide.
The festival begins with Christmas Eve and closes with Candlemas Day. The pretty custom of decorating the home dates back many centuries. It probably originated with the Saturnalia of the old Romans. They trimmed their temples and dwellings with green boughs. The favorite decorations were holly, rosemary, bay, laurel, and cypress. Holly has continued to remain the favorite Christmas green through the course of ages. In the year 600 its use was forbidden by the church council, because of its paganistic origin. Evidently the decree was neither rigidly enforced nor obeyed, for it is estimated that over a million dollars are spent in Europe and America for Christmas holly.
Until quite recently the enormous quantity of holly consumed in this country was all imported from Europe. Now, however, it is extensively cultivated on this side of the Atlantic, and the demand for it seems to have grown with the supply. It represents a most profitable industry, giving needed employment to hundreds of men at a season when they would otherwise be without work.
American holly is more vigorous and supple than the European. This growth of rich green foliage with its profusion of bright scarlet berries is a universal emblem of Christmas. In floral poesy it signifies foresight—a foresight into the future that reveals the glad tidings, "Spring will soon be here." Then,
"Sing to the holly, the Christmas holly,
That hangs over peasant and king;
While we laugh and carouse 'neath its glittering
boughs,
To the Christmas holly we'll sing!"
In point of antiquity the mistletoe rivals the holly. Its habit is most unique. It never grows in the ground, but flourishes in the branches and forks of the loftiest trees, rough-barked trees like the oak, poplar, elm, and apple. It has no root, but adheres tenaciously to the parent tree into which it seems to have been grafted. Surrounded with mystic associations, it is not strange that the plant was believed to have been propagated in its natural state by a bird, the mistle thrush, which fed on its berries. Its artificial propagation was long considered impossible. Happily, the problem is now solved. The bruised berries are exceedingly glutinous; consequently when crushed they adhere readily to the rough bark, where they germinate, and a luxuriant growth follows. The mistletoe is now rarely found in the oak but it abounds in old orchards. It has but little foliage, merely a few leaves in couples here and there. The stalk is thickly studded with the white waxlike berries, each of which represents possibilities of unutterable bliss to youth and maid. Like holly, the mistletoe was formerly imported from Europe, but at present the native production is abundant. The choicest supplies come from Texas and New Mexico.
The history of this interesting plant is replete with legends and romance. To the Druids it was sacred. With priests clothed in white, the emblem of purity, they went forth to gather the mistletoe. To the oak on which the sacred growth was found was bound their sacrifice of beasts—often, alas! of men. The chief Druid then ascended the tree and cut the plant with a golden sickle. As the pieces were reverently severed, he dropped them one by one into the robe of a fellow priest who stood underneath to catch them. After the tree was stripped the chief Druid descended and the hapless victims were slaughtered. The sacred fruit of this harvest was divided into small portions and for fabulous prices distributed among the people. Sprigs of it were tacked above doorways as an assurance to the Druids of welcome and protection from hunger and cold. Its rare appearance in the oak tree led Druid priests to attribute special powers to the oak mistletoe. A favorite site of their humble temple was under the shadows of its glistening fruit. The ancient Druids of Great Britain worshiped it under the name of "all-heal." When cut by priests it was credited with every possible power and virtue; when gathered by unsanctioned hands it was supposed to bring disease, disaster, and death.
Many are the quaint legends in regard to the origin of kissing under the mistletoe. In rigid observance of the good old custom, there are but as many kisses allowed as there are berries on the bough suspended. With each kiss exacted as toll from the maid passing underneath, the gallant receiving the fine must pluck off one berry from the branch and give it to the fair victim as an offering of peace. She then casts the berry onto the burning yule, and her luck for the ensuing year is decided by the time it takes in cracking. However, all this formality has been abandoned; only the leading feature remains-—the kiss.
The meaning of the mistletoe, "I surmount difficulties" is strikingly apparent. It is forcibly illustrated in the legend on which the origin of kissing under the mistletoe is based:
A royal prince, handsome and gifted, was hunting with an escort of friends. He became separated from his companions and wandered through the woods all day. At night he reached an old castle; he knocked at the gate, and after giving satisfactory explanation was admitted. The sole occupants of the ruin were a hideous old baron and his young daughter of marvelous beauty. The prince was not warmly welcomed, nevertheless he speedily became enamored of the fair maid. In the morning he ventured to express his infatuation, and the baron ordered him seized and rudely banished from the castle. For days the poor prince wandered disconsolately about in the mazelike forest. All but dead from hunger and fatigue, he met a fairy to whom he related his pitiful tale. She told him to return to the castle armed with a mistletoe bough. With this mystic plant in his possession, she assured him, the stern baron's power would succumb and he could win the fair princess with a touch of his lips. But, she cautioned, the bough must be plucked from a hollow oak growing beside a stream, and on the opposite bank must grow a willow stripped of all but two of its leaves. For weeks the love-sick prince searched for an oak of such bearings. All in vain. Utterly exhausted he fell asleep under an oak tree. He awoke much refreshed and to his amazement beheld a rippling stream at his feet and just across a weeping willow with but two lonely-leaves. Joyfully he climbed the tree, cut a branch from its topmost summit, and, "all difficulties surmounted," hastened to the castle and returned with his lovely Christmas bride. Through ages, ever since that happy morn,
"Under the mistletoe, pearly and green,
Meet the kind lips of the young and the old;
Under the mistletoe, hearts may be seen
Glowing as though they had never been cold;
Under the mistletoe peace and good-will
Mingle the spirits that long have been twain.
Yet, why should this holly and festival mirth
In the reign of old Christmas-tide only be found?
Hail it with joy in our yule-lighted mirth,
But let it not fade with the festival sound;
Hang up love's mistletoe over the earth,
And let us kiss under it all the year round!"
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