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Santa Claus — our own since infancy — Most tangible of all the gods that be! — As first we scampered to thee—now, as then, Take us as children to thy heart again. — Copyright by James Whitcomb Riley THE MARIETTA JOURNAL "Under the Holly Bough" "Ye who have scorned each other, Or injured friend or brother, In this fast fading year; Ye who, by word or deed, Have made a kind heart bleed, Come gather here! "Let sinned against and sinning Forget their strife’s beginning, And join in friendship now, Be links no longer broken, Be sweet forgiveness spoken Under the holly-bough, "Ye who have loved each other, Sister and friend and brother, In this fast fading year; Mother and sire and child, Young man and maiden mild, Come gather here; "And let your heart grow fonder, As memory shall ponder Each past unbroken vow; Old loves and younger wooing Are sweet in their renewing Under the holly-bough." —Charles Mackay. A holiday season recalls quaint ideas and Christmas fancies of old, even back to the ancient days of the Druids—a time when the mistletoe sprig, as a poet, was presented as an omen of good fortune, as a symbol of health, wealth and prosperity, and In those days long ago, the house that reported a branch of mistletoe at Christmas would never be unlucky. It is from the Druids that the custom of decorating our churches and homes with evergreens comes, for they believed that all the sylvan sprites flocked together on these boughs, there to remain until the warm weather came. In midwinter, the Druids sent around sprigs of ivy and mistletoe to remind the people to decorate their dwellings with evergreens, in order to propitiate the sylvan sprites and secure protection from frosts and wintry blasts. Holly berries long have been considered as giving wonderful power when worn in the shape of a wreath, which must be made and worn in imitation of a sacred crown of thorns and of berries, and the wearer of this crown must go alone at midnight on Christmas and sit in the dark, and, in accordance with that ancient tradition, when worn on Christmas eve, the holly wreath will evoke visions of spirit forms coming in the air to sing their Noel songs, and all the beasts will be seen to kneel down in worship. The Yule cake and Yule log, too, have their important part in this ancient Saxon tradition for the Christmas festival season. The cake had the same powers as the bride cake has on Christmas night. The Yule log was used to light the Christmas fire the next year because it preserved the house from fire during the year and subdued the spirit of the flames. Its powers were bestowed in the days of the Druids, when the belting fires were lighted and the brands secured from the fire to light the fire the next year. The ancient Saxons burned the Yule log as a symbol of the turning of The sun toward spring. Even the moon contributed its share to Christmas superstitions, for, as the legend runs, if Christmas comes during the waning of the moon we shall have a very good year, and the nearer to the full moon the better. Holland, perhaps, has the prettiest custom of all nations for the Christmas festival. On the night before Christmas in commemoration of the star of the east, the young men of their towns assemble and carry through the dark streets a large, bright star; all the people go out to greet and give to the bearers of this “star of Bethlehem,” as it is called, alms for the poor. Seven days before their New Year, the Chinese worship the Kitchen God by preparing dishes of candy and various sweets with which they smear his mouth. Later they burn him amid the firing off of crackers, the deity being sent up in a chariot of smoke and fire to a conference with the king of the celestial regions. The idea of smearing his mouth with sweets is that he may not say anything but honeyed words, or that his lips may stick together and so prevent his talking too much. The Kitchen God, according to story, had been ill treated by his brother and sister-in-law, who were very rich and had many servants, but allowed their brother to work with the servants and have dinner with them. Their cruelty developed day after day, until at last they treated him heavenly by seating him in a sedan chair made of paper. The creation of giving gifts at Christmas came, not from presents of gold and silver given to the Christ child, as many believe, but from an old custom of priests putting on board of all outgoing ships a box of alms. This box was opened at Christmas time and masses said for the givers of the alms, and was called “Christ mass” box, and from this has come our custom of Christmas boxeg and gift giving. Origin of Quaint Traditions of the Yuletide O AR RAS 000 Please, Please, Dear, Please, Please, Santa Claus Sok o &c‘}.i ;_ g~ 4 b R % , 38 25 O » X 4 ;‘ L\ N % ¥ A “‘{‘ N\\ T:v'::b b 4 o o 0> S 2 > F Ry : DL {h € R Rt ® P L % SRR B o> 2 o PRERE Aot i : (o & DL -3 & Rl e 0 ST R R Y 25 S A Bt, s ; g N A.}::'M ~ f-',vz“'v 2 * - ¥ i e By / s o s B st o e R e b LR 3 B 1L TN £ o J 3 s(8 :x { Ne. 3. S ?«%’m £ NER L S - 3 R?DL sy PR, ! %{l\ ® e<¥ _. ) (\‘ i 4bR l y Vo SR LR L IR .\& £ Rohn e£ 3% VR O SE PR \Q S RN R R b o v 4 B N AR k\\ R GTR ;?w ¢ L " CWRRN AR R R o St N R e "\\ ATRR bl N Foe K N Etd ¢ SR OSSR SRR ¢ e T : B S&3 3 &3 \\ R WP s V“> N ‘é{ i SN }a’ e N W Wit Bl N T e, enl 4 R AR AR R B s ) i - \\ N B T N LAR RIR 3 bR & T RN 1‘:&"»k R NG » e, S e ”% SN SRR B pe R i SP 3 s 2 R : N S. R Pt ¥ 4 ) b b -6'::\, B B wa R B ) 3 R SN o L 8 G % 'S? % (3 2 ‘/’yv red SR L N N ENGLAND, Christmas celebrations of three or four % \ | jollity. The English always = received | remembered everyone from G‘?;”'S their neighbors down to WHIAY | their servants. “In the country, an English gentleman always invited his neighbors and tenants to his great hall at daybreak on Christmas morning. There they were regaled upon toast, sugar, nut meg and good old Cheshire cheese.” The house was decked with ivy and other greens. Under the title of a “Christmas box,” the general English custom, which still prevails to some extent, a small gift of money was given to post men and other delivery men the day after Christmas, which was called “Boxing Day.” In 1100 Henry I granted a charter to London, making it a city and the Christmas celebration, it is recorded, consisted of a feast for rich and poor. The people gathered in the streets around blazing bonfires singing and dancing, after feasting upon oxen, deer, ale, and mead. The wassail howl, spoken of so often in many books describing England at the time of the crusades, was another evidence of the ever-ready hospitality that the English offered to all comers. In Russia on Christmas Eve, everyone dresses—or at least they used to, it is hard to say anything definite about bolshevik Russia—for a gay masquerade. Each one was supposed to represent some animal, the idea being to commemorate the fact that Christ was born in a stable among the humblest of the animals. Peasants among the Bulgarians, Germans, and others have a legend that animals are conscious on Christmas Eve. Some people believe that “at midnight the sheep awake and march in a procession, that the cattle kneel in their arms.” Their stalls while by a holy miracle all the beasts are able to converse together, But it is a mortal sin for a man to attempt to overhear them; a sin punishable with sudden death. Holland has many festivities, prominent among them, a skating or lice carnival. In Switzerland, the ski and toboggan hold sway. An interesting practice takes place in Serbia on Christmas Eve. The younger men and boys of the family early in the morning go to the forest. After crossing themselves three times as is the custom of the Greek church, or saying a prayer, they select a tree, then known as the Baduyl. They greet it, “Happy Baduyl to you." Then one throws a handful of wheat which has been brought for the purpose on it, another chops it down very carefully as the tree must fall toward the east just as the sun god rises. It is then cut into two or three pieces. The first chip that falls is brought home as particularly precious. Then the logs are taken home, one to each side of the door. The mother breaks on the longer log a small wheat cake of unleavened flour, called poga china. The day passes in preparation for the feast the following day. At sunset one of the men, fitted out with new woolen gloves, brings in the log, as he passes the threshold the mother throws at him a handful of wheat from a bowl in which also the chip has been kept all day. Then the log is lighted and immediately the young folks run out and “celebrate” noisily by firing off guns and pistols. It is important to keep the log burning all night. There are many holidays in Secandia navia to which both young and old look forward with so much pleasure as the days of Yule. These days, in your olden times, were also celebrated by the followers of Thor and Odin. Christmas and the days following are legal holidays in the city and there is much merrymaking, but it is not to be compared to what one witnesses in the country. In many districts of Sweden and Norway, among the peasants and farmers, these continue for thirteen days and are called the “treten Yule days” (thirteen days of Yule), it is The day before Christmas, is the afternoon, everything is ready for the big feast. The house has been thoroughly cleaned, and leaves of juniper and fir are strewn on the floor. When the work is finished the family generally go into the bakehouse, which has been made warm, and each member takes a thorough wash from head to foot, or a bath in a large tub. This is the only bath many take during the whole year. In some places old-fashioned ways still exist. Young men often paint or blacken their faces, put queer crowns on their heads or hats, generally carry long wooden swords, a man is furnished with a large the men then visit each farm and solicit contributions for a frolic. Now and then they indulge in great chief and fun. If they “fool” young fellow loves a girl of the Nf The village of Hage, they visit her house and sing to her the old Herode's song. 