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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Christmas in Ritual and Tradition,
+Christian and Pagan, by Clement A. Miles
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Christmas in Ritual and Tradition, Christian and Pagan
+
+Author: Clement A. Miles
+
+Release Date: August 21, 2006 [EBook #19098]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRISTMAS IN RITUAL AND ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Starner, Robert Ledger and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+Christmas In Ritual and Tradition, Christian and Pagan
+
+by Clement A. Miles
+
+
+Published by T. Fisher Unwin
+
+1912
+
+
+[Illustration:
+
+THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI (DETAIL).
+
+GENTILE DA FABRIANO
+
+(_Florence: Accademia_)]
+
+|5|
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+In this volume I have tried to show how Christmas is or has been kept in
+various lands and ages, and to trace as far as possible the origin of the
+pagan elements that have mingled with the Church's feast of the Nativity.
+
+In Part I. I have dealt with the festival on its distinctively Christian
+side. The book has, however, been so planned that readers not interested
+in this aspect of Christmas may pass over Chapters II.-V., and proceed at
+once from the Introduction to Part II., which treats of pagan survivals.
+
+The book has been written primarily for the general reader, but I venture
+to hope that, with all its imperfections, it may be of some use to the
+more serious student, as a rough outline map of the field of Christmas
+customs, and as bringing together materials hitherto scattered through a
+multitude of volumes in various languages. There is certainly room for a
+comprehensive English book on Christmas, taking account of the results of
+modern historical and folk-lore research.
+
+The writer of a work of this kind necessarily owes an immense debt to the
+labours of others. In my bibliographical notes I have done my best to
+acknowledge the sources from which I have drawn. It is only right that
+I should express here my special obligation, both for information and for
+suggestions, to Mr. E. K. Chambers's "The Mediaeval Stage," an invaluable
+storehouse of fact, theory, and bibliographical references. I also owe
+much to the important monographs of Dr. A. Tille, "Die Geschichte der
+deutschen Weihnacht" and "Yule and Christmas"; to Dr. Feilberg's Danish
+work, "Jul," the fullest account of Christmas |6| customs yet written;
+and of course, like every student of folk-lore, to Dr. Frazer's "The
+Golden Bough."
+
+References to authorities will be found at the end of the volume, and are
+indicated by small numerals in the text; notes requiring to be read in
+close conjunction with the text are printed at the foot of the pages to
+which they relate, and are indicated by asterisks, &c.
+
+ [Transcriber's Note: The 'small numerals' are represented in this
+ ebook by numbers in {curly braces}. The footnotes appear at the end
+ of the ebook and are indicated by numbers in [square brackets]. Page
+ numbers from the original edition have been retained and appear in
+ the text between |pipe characters|.]
+
+I have to thank Mr. Frank Sidgwick for most kindly reading my proofs and
+portions of my MS., and for some valuable suggestions.
+
+ C. A. M.
+
+|7|
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+ PREFACE 5
+
+ CHAPTER I
+ INTRODUCTION 15
+
+ The Origin and Purpose of Festivals--Ideas suggested by
+ Christmas--Pagan and Christian Elements--The Names of the
+ Festival--Foundation of the Feast of the Nativity--Its
+ Relation to the Epiphany--December 25 and the _Natalis
+ Invicti_--The Kalends of January--Yule and Teutonic
+ Festivals--The Church and Pagan Survivals--Two Conflicting
+ Types of Festival--Their Interaction--Plan of the Book.
+
+
+ PART I--THE CHRISTIAN FEAST
+
+ CHAPTER II
+ CHRISTMAS POETRY (I) 29
+
+ Ancient Latin Hymns, their Dogmatic, Theological
+ Character--Humanizing Influence of Franciscanism--Jacopone da
+ Todi's Vernacular Verse--German Catholic Poetry--Mediaeval
+ English Carols.
+
+ CHAPTER III
+ CHRISTMAS POETRY (II) 53
+
+ The French _Noel_--Latin Hymnody in Eighteenth-century
+ France--Spanish Christmas Verse--Traditional Carols of Many
+ Countries--Christmas Poetry in Protestant
+ Germany--Post-Reformation Verse in England--Modern English
+ Carols. |8|
+
+ CHAPTER IV
+ CHRISTMAS IN LITURGY AND POPULAR DEVOTION 87
+
+ Advent and Christmas Offices of the Roman Church--The Three
+ Masses of Christmas, their Origin and their Celebration in
+ Rome--The Midnight Mass in Many Lands--Protestant Survivals of
+ the Night Services--Christmas in the Greek Church--The Eastern
+ Epiphany and the Blessing of the Waters--The _Presepio_ or
+ Crib, its Supposed Institution by St. Francis--Early Traces of
+ the Crib--The Crib in Germany, Tyrol, &c.--Cradle-rocking in
+ Mediaeval Germany--Christmas Minstrels in Italy and
+ Sicily--The _Presepio_ in Italy--Ceremonies with the _Culla_
+ and the _Bambino_ in Rome--Christmas in Italian London--The
+ Spanish Christmas--Possible Survivals of the Crib in England.
+
+ CHAPTER V
+ CHRISTMAS DRAMA 119
+
+ Origins of the Mediaeval Drama--Dramatic Tendencies in the
+ Liturgy--Latin Liturgical Plays--The Drama becomes
+ Laicized--Characteristics of the Popular Drama--The Nativity
+ in the English Miracle Cycles--Christmas Mysteries in
+ France--Later French Survivals of Christmas Drama--German
+ Christmas Plays--Mediaeval Italian Plays and Pageants--Spanish
+ Nativity Plays--Modern Survivals in Various Countries--The
+ Star Singers, &c.
+
+ POSTSCRIPT 155
+
+
+ PART II--PAGAN SURVIVALS
+
+ CHAPTER VI
+ PRE-CHRISTIAN WINTER FESTIVALS 159
+
+ The Church and Superstition--Nature of Pagan Survivals--Racial
+ Origins--Roman Festivals of the _Saturnalia_ and Kalends--Was
+ there a Teutonic Midwinter Festival?--The Teutonic, Celtic, and
+ Slav New Year--Customs attracted to Christmas or January 1--
+ The Winter Cycle of Festivals--_Rationale_ of Festival Ritual:
+ (_a_) Sacrifice and Sacrament, (_b_) The Cult of the Dead,
+ (_c_) Omens and Charms for the New Year--Compromise in the
+ Later Middle Ages--The Puritans and Christmas--Decay of Old
+ Traditions. |9|
+
+ CHAPTER VII
+ ALL HALLOW TIDE TO MARTINMAS 187
+
+ All Saints' and All Souls' Days, their Relation to a New Year
+ Festival--All Souls' Eve and Tendance of the Departed--Soul
+ Cakes in England and on the Continent--Pagan Parallels of All
+ Souls'--Hallowe'en Charms and Omens--Hallowe'en Fires--Guy
+ Fawkes Day--"Old Hob," the _Schimmelreiter_, and other Animal
+ Masks--Martinmas and its Slaughter--Martinmas Drinking--St.
+ Martin's Fires in Germany--Winter Visitors in the Low
+ Countries and Germany--St. Martin as Gift-bringer--St.
+ Martin's Rod.
+
+ CHAPTER VIII
+ ST. CLEMENT TO ST. THOMAS 209
+
+ St. Clement's Day Quests and Processions--St. Catherine's Day
+ as Spinsters' Festival--St. Andrew's Eve Auguries--The
+ _Kloepfelnaechte_--St. Nicholas's Day, the Saint as
+ Gift-bringer, and his Attendants--Election of the Boy
+ Bishop--St. Nicholas's Day at Bari--St. Lucia's Day in Sweden,
+ Sicily, and Central Europe--St. Thomas's Day as School
+ Festival--Its Uncanny Eve--"Going a-Thomassin'."
+
+ CHAPTER IX
+ CHRISTMAS EVE AND THE TWELVE DAYS 227
+
+ Christkind, Santa Klaus, and Knecht Ruprecht--Talking Animals
+ and other Wonders of Christmas Eve--Scandinavian Beliefs about
+ Trolls and the Return of the Dead--Traditional Christmas Songs
+ in Eastern Europe--The Twelve Days, their Christian Origin and
+ Pagan Superstitions--The Raging Host--Hints of Supernatural
+ Visitors in England--The German _Frauen_--The Greek
+ _Kallikantzaroi_.
+
+ CHAPTER X
+ THE YULE LOG 249
+
+ The Log as Centre of the Domestic Christmas--Customs of the
+ Southern Slavs--The _Polaznik_--Origin of the Yule
+ Log--Probable Connection with Vegetation-cults or
+ Ancestor-worship--The _Souche de Noel_ in France--Italian and
+ German Christmas Logs--English Customs--The Yule Candle in
+ England and Scandinavia. |10|
+
+ CHAPTER XI
+ THE CHRISTMAS-TREE, DECORATIONS, AND GIFTS 261
+
+ The Christmas-tree a German Creation--Charm of the German
+ Christmas--Early Christmas-trees--The Christmas
+ Pyramid--Spread of the Tree in Modern Germany and other
+ Countries--Origin of the Christmas-tree--Beliefs about
+ Flowering Trees at Christmas--Evergreens at the
+ Kalends--Non-German Parallels to the Christmas-tree--Christmas
+ Decorations connected with Ancient Kalends Customs--Sacredness
+ of Holly and Mistletoe--Floors strewn with Straw--Christmas
+ and New Year Gifts, their Connection with the Roman _Strenae_
+ and St. Nicholas--Present-giving in Various
+ Countries--Christmas Cards.
+
+ CHAPTER XII
+ CHRISTMAS FEASTING AND SACRIFICIAL SURVIVALS 281
+
+ Prominence of Eating in the English Christmas--The Boar's
+ Head, the Goose, and other Christmas Fare--Frumenty, Sowens,
+ Yule Cakes, and the Wassail Bowl--Continental Christmas
+ Dishes, their Possible Origins--French and German Cakes--The
+ Animals' Christmas Feast--Cakes in Eastern Europe--Relics of
+ Animal Sacrifice--Hunting the Wren--Various Games of
+ Sacrificial Origin.
+
+ CHAPTER XIII
+ MASKING, THE MUMMERS' PLAY, THE FEAST OF FOOLS, AND THE BOY BISHOP 295
+
+ English Court Masking--"The Lord of Misrule"--The Mummers'
+ Play, the Sword-Dance, and the Morris Dance--Origin of St.
+ George and other Characters--Mumming in Eastern Europe--The
+ Feast of Fools, its History and Suppression--The Boy Bishop,
+ his Functions and Sermons--Modern Survivals of the Boy Bishop.
+
+ CHAPTER XIV
+ ST. STEPHEN'S, ST. JOHN'S, AND HOLY INNOCENTS' DAYS 309
+
+ Horse Customs of St. Stephen's Day--The Swedish St.
+ Stephen--St. John's Wine--Childermas and its Beatings. |11|
+
+ CHAPTER XV
+ NEW YEAR'S DAY 319
+
+ Principle of New Year Customs--The New Year in France,
+ Germany, the United States, and Eastern
+ Europe--"First-footing" in Great Britain--Scottish New Year
+ Practices--Highland Fumigation and "Breast-strip"
+ Customs--Hogmanay and Aguillanneuf--New Year Processions in
+ Macedonia, Roumania, Greece, and Rome--Methods of
+ Augury--Sundry New Year Charms.
+
+ CHAPTER XVI
+ EPIPHANY TO CANDLEMAS 335
+
+ The Twelfth Cake and the "King of the Bean"--French Twelfth
+ Night Customs--St. Basil's Cake in Macedonia--Epiphany and the
+ Expulsion of Evils--The Befana in Italy--The Magi as
+ Present-bringers--Greek Epiphany Customs--Wassailing
+ Fruit-trees--Herefordshire and Irish Twelfth Night
+ Practices--The "Haxey Hood" and Christmas Football--St. Knut's
+ Day in Sweden--Rock Day--Plough Monday--Candlemas, its
+ Ecclesiastical and Folk Ceremonies--Farewells to Christmas.
+
+ CONCLUSION 357
+
+ NOTES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 361
+
+ INDEX 389
+
+|12|
+
+[Illustration: MADONNA AND CHILD. _By Albrecht Duerer._]
+
+|13|
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+ THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI (DETAIL) Frontispiece
+ Gentile da Fabriano. (_Florence: Accademia_)
+
+ MADONNA AND CHILD 13
+ Albert Duerer
+
+ MADONNA ENTHRONED WITH SAINTS AND ANGELS 31
+ Pesellino. (_Empoli Gallery_)
+
+ JACOPONE IN ECSTASY BEFORE THE VIRGIN 40
+ From "Laude di Frate Jacopone da Todi" (Florence, 1490)
+
+ THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS 55
+ By Fouquet. (_Musee Conde, Chantilly_)
+
+ THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT: THE REST BY THE WAY 70
+ Master of the Seven Sorrows of Mary. (Also attributed to Joachim
+ Patinir.) (_Vienna: Imperial Gallery_)
+
+ SINGING "VOM HIMMEL HOCH" FROM A CHURCH TOWER AT CHRISTMAS 71
+ By Ludwig Richter
+
+ THE NATIVITY 89
+ From Add. MS. 32454 in the British Museum. (French, 15th Century)
+
+ A NEAPOLITAN _PRESEPIO_ 108
+
+ CALABRIAN SHEPHERDS PLAYING IN ROME AT CHRISTMAS 112
+ After an Etching by D. Allan. From Hone's "Every-day Book"
+ (London, 1826)
+
+ ST. FRANCIS INSTITUTES THE _PRESEPIO_ AT GRECCIO 114
+ By Giotto. (_Upper Church of St. Francis, Assisi_)
+
+|14|
+
+ THE _BAMBINO_ OF ARA COELI 115
+
+ THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS 121
+ From Broadside No. 305 in the Collection of the Society of
+ Antiquaries at Burlington House
+
+ THE SHEPHERDS OF BETHLEHEM 140
+ From "Le grant Kalendrier & compost des Bergiers" (N. le Rouge,
+ Troyes, 1529)
+
+ THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI 154
+ Masaccio. (_Berlin: Kaiser Friedrich Museum_)
+
+ NEW YEAR MUMMERS IN MANCHURIA 161
+ An Asiatic example of animal masks
+
+ CHRISTMAS EVE IN DEVONSHIRE--THE MUMMERS COMING IN 229
+
+ THE GERMAN CHRISTMAS-TREE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 263
+ From an engraving by Joseph Kellner
+
+ CHRISTMAS MORNING IN LOWER AUSTRIA 281
+ By Ferdinand Waldmueller (b. 1793)
+
+ YORKSHIRE SWORD-ACTORS: ST. GEORGE IN COMBAT WITH ST. PETER 297
+ From an article by Mr. T. M. Fallow in _The Antiquary_, May, 1895
+
+ THE EPIPHANY IN FLORENCE 337
+
+|15| |16| |17|
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+ The Origin and Purpose of Festivals--Ideas suggested by
+ Christmas--Pagan and Christian Elements--The Names of the
+ Festival--Foundation of the Feast of the Nativity--Its Relation to
+ the Epiphany--December 25 and the _Natalis Invicti_--The Kalends of
+ January--Yule and Teutonic Festivals--The Church and Pagan
+ Survivals--Two Conflicting Types of Festival--Their Interaction--Plan
+ of the Book.
+
+It has been an instinct in nearly all peoples, savage or civilized, to
+set aside certain days for special ceremonial observances, attended by
+outward rejoicing. This tendency to concentrate on special times answers
+to man's need to lift himself above the commonplace and the everyday, to
+escape from the leaden weight of monotony that oppresses him. "We tend to
+tire of the most eternal splendours, and a mark on our calendar, or a
+crash of bells at midnight maybe, reminds us that we have only recently
+been created."[1]{1} That they wake people up is the great justification
+of festivals, and both man's religious sense and his joy in life have
+generally tended to rise "into peaks and towers and turrets, into
+superhuman exceptions which really prove the rule."{2} It is difficult
+to be religious, impossible to be merry, at every moment of life, and
+festivals are as sunlit peaks, testifying, above dark valleys, to the
+eternal radiance. This is one view of the purpose and value of festivals,
+and their function of cheering people and giving them larger perspectives
+has no doubt been an important reason for their maintenance in the past.
+If we could trace the custom of festival-keeping back to its origins in
+primitive society |18| we should find the same principle of
+specialization involved, though it is probable that the practice came
+into being not for the sake of its moral or emotional effect, but from
+man's desire to lay up, so to speak, a stock of sanctity, magical not
+ethical, for ordinary days.
+
+The first holy-day-makers were probably more concerned with such material
+goods as food than with spiritual ideals, when they marked with sacred
+days the rhythm of the seasons.{3} As man's consciousness developed, the
+subjective aspect of the matter would come increasingly into prominence,
+until in the festivals of the Christian Church the main object is to
+quicken the devotion of the believer by contemplation of the mysteries of
+the faith. Yet attached, as we shall see, to many Christian festivals,
+are old notions of magical sanctity, probably quite as potent in the
+minds of the common people as the more spiritual ideas suggested by the
+Church's feasts.
+
+In modern England we have almost lost the festival habit, but if there is
+one feast that survives among us as a universal tradition it is
+Christmas. We have indeed our Bank Holidays, but they are mere days of
+rest and amusement, and for the mass of the people Easter and Whitsuntide
+have small religious significance--Christmas alone has the character of
+sanctity which marks the true festival. The celebration of Christmas has
+often little or nothing to do with orthodox dogma, yet somehow the sense
+of obligation to keep the feast is very strong, and there are few English
+people, however unconventional, who escape altogether the spell of
+tradition in this matter.
+
+_Christmas_--how many images the word calls up: we think of carol-singers
+and holly-decked churches where people hymn in time-honoured strains the
+Birth of the Divine Child; of frost and snow, and, in contrast, of warm
+hearths and homes bright with light and colour, very fortresses against
+the cold; of feasting and revelry, of greetings and gifts exchanged; and
+lastly of vaguely superstitious customs, relics of long ago, performed
+perhaps out of respect for use and wont, or merely in jest, or with a
+deliberate attempt to throw ourselves back into the past, to re-enter for
+a moment the mental childhood of the race. These are a few of |19| the
+pictures that rise pell-mell in the minds of English folk at the mention
+of Christmas; how many other scenes would come before us if we could
+realize what the festival means to men of other nations. Yet even these
+will suggest what hardly needs saying, that Christmas is something far
+more complex than a Church holy-day alone, that the celebration of the
+Birth of Jesus, deep and touching as is its appeal to those who hold the
+faith of the Incarnation, is but one of many elements that have entered
+into the great winter festival.
+
+In the following pages I shall try to present a picture, sketchy and
+inadequate though it must be, of what Christmas is and has been to the
+peoples of Europe, and to show as far as possible the various elements
+that have gone into its make-up. Most people have a vague impression that
+these are largely pagan, but comparatively few have any idea of the
+process by which the heathen elements have become mingled with that which
+is obviously Christian, and equal obscurity prevails as to the nature and
+meaning of the non-Christian customs. The subject is vast, and has not
+been thoroughly explored as yet, but the labours of historians and
+folk-lorists have made certain conclusions probable, and have produced
+hypotheses of great interest and fascination.
+
+I have spoken of "Christian"[2] and "pagan" elements. The distinction is
+blurred to some extent by the clothing of heathen customs in a
+superficial Christianity, but on the whole it is clear enough to justify
+the division of this book into two parts, one dealing with the Church's
+feast of the Holy Birth, the other with those remains of pagan winter
+festivals which extend from November to January, but cluster especially
+round Christmas and the Twelve Days.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Before we pass to the various aspects of the Church's Christmas, we must
+briefly consider its origins and its relation to certain |20| pagan
+festivals, the customs of which will be dealt with in detail in Part II.
+
+The names given to the feast by different European peoples throw a
+certain amount of light on its history. Let us take five of
+them--_Christmas_, _Weihnacht_, _Noel_, _Calendas_, and _Yule_--and see
+what they suggest.
+
+I. The English _Christmas_ and its Dutch equivalent _Kerstmisse_, plainly
+point to the ecclesiastical side of the festival; the German
+_Weihnacht_{4} (sacred night) is vaguer, and might well be either pagan
+or Christian; in point of fact it seems to be Christian, since it does
+not appear till the year 1000, when the Faith was well established in
+Germany.{5} _Christmas_ and _Weihnacht_, then, may stand for the
+distinctively Christian festival, the history of which we may now briefly
+study.
+
+When and where did the keeping of Christmas begin? Many details of its
+early history remain in uncertainty, but it is fairly clear that the
+earliest celebration of the Birth of Christ on December 25 took place at
+Rome about the middle of the fourth century, and that the observance of
+the day spread from the western to the eastern Church, which had before
+been wont to keep January 6 as a joint commemoration of the Nativity and
+the Baptism of the Redeemer.[3]
+
+The first mention of a Nativity feast on December 25 is found in a Roman
+document known as the Philocalian Calendar, dating from the year 354, but
+embodying an older document evidently belonging to the year 336. It is
+uncertain to which date the Nativity reference belongs;[4] but further
+back than 336 at all events the festival cannot be traced.
+
+From Rome, Christmas spread throughout the West, with the |21| conversion
+of the barbarians. Whether it came to England through the Celtic Church
+is uncertain, but St. Augustine certainly brought it with him, and
+Christmas Day, 598, witnessed a great event, the baptism of more than
+ten thousand English converts.{9} In 567 the Council of Tours had
+declared the Twelve Days, from Christmas to Epiphany, a festal tide;{10}
+the laws of Ethelred (991-1016) ordained it to be a time of peace and
+concord among Christian men, when all strife must cease.{11} In Germany
+Christmas was established by the Synod of Mainz in 813;{12} in Norway by
+King Hakon the Good about the middle of the tenth century.{13}
+
+In the East, as has been seen, the Birth of the Redeemer was at first
+celebrated not on December 25, but on January 6, the feast of the
+Epiphany or manifestation of Christ's glory. The Epiphany can be traced
+as far back as the second century, among the Basilidian heretics, from
+whom it may have spread to the Catholic Church. It was with them
+certainly a feast of the Baptism, and possibly also of the Nativity, of
+Christ. The origins of the Epiphany festival{14} are very obscure, nor
+can we say with certainty what was its meaning at first. It may be that
+it took the place of a heathen rite celebrating the birth of the World or
+AEon from the Virgin on January 6.[5] At all events one of its objects was
+to commemorate the Baptism, the appearance of the Holy Dove, and the
+Voice from heaven, "Thou art my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased"
+(or, as other MSS. read, "This day have I begotten thee").
+
+|22| In some circles of early Christianity the Baptism appears to have
+been looked upon as the true Birth of Christ, the moment when, filled by
+the Spirit, He became Son of God; and the carnal Birth was regarded as of
+comparatively little significance. Hence the Baptism festival may have
+arisen first, and the celebration of the Birth at Bethlehem may have been
+later attached to the same day, partly perhaps because a passage in St.
+Luke's Gospel was supposed to imply that Jesus was baptized on His
+thirtieth birthday. As however the orthodox belief became more sharply
+defined, increasing stress was laid on the Incarnation of God in Christ
+in the Virgin's womb, and it may have been felt that the celebration of
+the Birth and the Baptism on the same day encouraged heretical views.
+Hence very likely the introduction of Christmas on December 25 as a
+festival of the Birth alone. In the East the concelebration of the two
+events continued for some time after Rome had instituted the separate
+feast of Christmas. Gradually, however, the Roman use spread: at
+Constantinople it was introduced about 380 by the great theologian,
+Gregory Nazianzen; at Antioch it appeared in 388, at Alexandria in 432.
+The Church of Jerusalem long stood out, refusing to adopt the new feast
+till the seventh century, it would seem.{18} One important Church, the
+Armenian, knows nothing of December 25, and still celebrates the Nativity
+with the Epiphany on January 6.{19} Epiphany in the eastern Orthodox
+Church has lost its connection with the Nativity and is now chiefly a
+celebration of the Baptism of Christ, while in the West, as every one
+knows, it is primarily a celebration of the Adoration by the Magi, an
+event commemorated by the Greeks on Christmas Day. Epiphany is, however,
+as we shall see, a greater festival in the Greek Church than Christmas.
+
+Such in bare outline is the story of the spread of Christmas as an
+independent festival. Its establishment fitly followed the triumph of the
+Catholic doctrine of the perfect Godhead or Christ at the Council of
+Nicea in 325.
+
+II. The French _Noel_ is a name concerning whose origin there has been
+considerable dispute; there can, however, be little doubt that it is the
+same word as the Provencal _Nadau_ or _Nadal_, |23| the Italian
+_Natale_, and the Welsh _Nadolig_, all obviously derived from the Latin
+_natalis_, and meaning "birthday." One naturally takes this as referring
+to the Birth of Christ, but it may at any rate remind us of another
+birthday celebrated on the same date by the Romans of the Empire, that of
+the unconquered Sun, who on December 25, the winter solstice according to
+the Julian calendar, began to rise to new vigour after his autumnal
+decline.
+
+Why, we may ask, did the Church choose December 25 for the celebration of
+her Founder's Birth? No one now imagines that the date is supported by a
+reliable tradition; it is only one of various guesses of early Christian
+writers. As a learned eighteenth-century Jesuit{20} has pointed out,
+there is not a single month in the year to which the Nativity has not
+been assigned by some writer or other. The real reason for the choice of
+the day most probably was, that upon it fell the pagan festival just
+mentioned.
+
+The _Dies Natalis Invicti_ was probably first celebrated in Rome by order
+of the Emperor Aurelian (270-5), an ardent worshipper of the Syrian
+sun-god Baal.{21} With the _Sol Invictus_ was identified the figure of
+Mithra, that strange eastern god whose cult resembled in so many ways the
+worship of Jesus, and who was at one time a serious rival of the Christ
+in the minds of thoughtful men.[6]{22} It was the sun-god, poetically
+and philosophically conceived, whom the Emperor Julian made the centre of
+his ill-fated revival of paganism, and there is extant a fine prayer of
+his to "King Sun."{23}
+
+What more natural than that the Church should choose this day to
+celebrate the rising of her Sun of Righteousness with healing in His
+wings, that she should strive thus to draw away to His worship some
+adorers of the god whose symbol and representative was the earthly sun!
+There is no direct evidence of deliberate substitution, but at all events
+ecclesiastical writers soon after the foundation of Christmas made good
+use of the idea |24| that the birthday of the Saviour had replaced the
+birthday of the sun.[7]
+
+Little is known of the manner in which the _Natalis Invicti_ was kept; it
+was not a folk-festival, and was probably observed by the classes rather
+than the masses.{24} Its direct influence on Christmas customs has
+probably been little or nothing. It fell, however, just before a Roman
+festival that had immense popularity, is of great importance for our
+subject, and is recalled by another name for Christmas that must now be
+considered.
+
+III. The Provencal _Calendas_ or _Calenos_, the Polish _Kolenda_, the
+Russian _Kolyada_, the Czech _Koleda_ and the Lithuanian _Kalledos_, not
+to speak of the Welsh _Calenig_ for Christmas-box, and the Gaelic
+_Calluinn_ for New Year's Eve, are all derived from the Latin _Kalendae_,
+and suggest the connection of Christmas with the Roman New Year's Day,
+the Kalends or the first day of January, a time celebrated with many
+festive customs. What these were, and how they have affected Christmas we
+shall see in some detail in Part II.; suffice it to say here that the
+festival, which lasted for at least three days, was one of riotous life,
+of banqueting and games and licence. It was preceded, moreover, by the
+_Saturnalia_ (December 17 to 23) which had many like features, and must
+have formed practically one festive season with it. The word _Saturnalia_
+has become so familiar in modern usage as to suggest sufficiently the
+character of the festival for which it stands.
+
+|25| Into the midst of this season of revelry and licence the Church
+introduced her celebration of the beginning of man's redemption from the
+bondage of sin. Who can wonder that Christmas contains incongruous
+elements, for old things, loved by the people, cannot easily be uprooted.
+
+IV. One more name yet remains to be considered, _Yule_ (Danish _Jul_),
+the ordinary word for Christmas in the Scandinavian languages, and not
+extinct among ourselves. Its derivation has been widely discussed, but so
+far no satisfactory explanation of it has been found. Professor Skeat in
+the last edition of his Etymological Dictionary (1910) has to admit that
+its origin is unknown. Whatever its source may be, it is clearly the name
+of a Germanic season--probably a two-month tide covering the second half
+of November, the whole of December, and the first half of January.{26}
+It may well suggest to us the element added to Christmas by the barbarian
+peoples who began to learn Christianity about the time when the festival
+was founded. Modern research has tended to disprove the idea that the old
+Germans held a Yule feast at the winter solstice, and it is probable, as
+we shall see, that the specifically Teutonic Christmas customs come from
+a New Year and beginning-of-winter festival kept about the middle of
+November. These customs transferred to Christmas are to a great extent
+religious or magical rites intended to secure prosperity during the
+coming year, and there is also the familiar Christmas feasting,
+apparently derived in part from the sacrificial banquets that marked the
+beginning of winter.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+We have now taken a general glance at the elements which have combined in
+Christmas. The heathen folk-festivals absorbed by the Nativity feast were
+essentially life-affirming, they expressed the mind of men who said "yes"
+to this life, who valued earthly good things. On the other hand
+Christianity, at all events in its intensest form, the religion of the
+monks, was at bottom pessimistic as regards this earth, and valued it
+only as a place of discipline for the life to come; it was essentially a
+religion of renunciation that said "no" to the world. The |26| Christian
+had here no continuing city, but sought one to come. How could the
+Church make a feast of the secular New Year; what mattered to her the
+world of time? her eye was fixed upon the eternal realities--the great
+drama of Redemption. Not upon the course of the temporal sun through the
+zodiac, but upon the mystical progress of the eternal Sun of
+Righteousness must she base her calendar. Christmas and New Year's
+Day--the two festivals stood originally for the most opposed of
+principles.
+
+Naturally the Church fought bitterly against the observance of the
+Kalends; she condemned repeatedly the unseemly doings of Christians in
+joining in heathenish customs at that season; she tried to make the first
+of January a solemn fast; and from the ascetic point of view she was
+profoundly right, for the old festivals were bound up with a lusty
+attitude towards the world, a seeking for earthly joy and well-being.
+
+The struggle between the ascetic principle of self-mortification,
+world-renunciation, absorption in a transcendent ideal, and the natural
+human striving towards earthly joy and well-being, is, perhaps, the most
+interesting aspect of the history of Christianity; it is certainly shown
+in an absorbingly interesting way in the development of the Christian
+feast of the Nativity. The conflict is keen at first; the Church
+authorities fight tooth and nail against these relics of heathenism,
+these devilish rites; but mankind's instinctive paganism is
+insuppressible, the practices continue as ritual, though losing much of
+their meaning, and the Church, weary of denouncing, comes to wink at
+them, while the pagan joy in earthly life begins to colour her own
+festival.
+
+The Church's Christmas, as the Middle Ages pass on, becomes increasingly
+"merry"--warm and homely, suited to the instincts of ordinary humanity,
+filled with a joy that is of this earth, and not only a mystical rapture
+at a transcendental Redemption. The Incarnate God becomes a real child to
+be fondled and rocked, a child who is the loveliest of infants, whose
+birthday is the supreme type of all human birthdays, and may be kept with
+feasting and dance and song. Such is the Christmas of popular tradition,
+the Nativity as it is reflected in the carols, the cradle-rocking, the
+mystery plays of the later Middle Ages. This |27| Christmas, which
+still lingers, though maimed, in some Catholic regions, is strongly
+life-affirming; the value and delight of earthly, material things is
+keenly felt; sometimes, even, it passes into coarseness and riot. Yet a
+certain mysticism usually penetrates it, with hints that this dear life,
+this fair world, are not all, for the soul has immortal longings in her.
+Nearly always there is the spirit of reverence, of bowing down before the
+Infant God, a visitor from the supernatural world, though bone of man's
+bone, flesh of his flesh. Heaven and earth have met together; the rough
+stable is become the palace of the Great King.
+
+This we might well call the "Catholic" Christmas, the Christmas of the
+age when the Church most nearly answered to the needs of the whole man,
+spiritual and sensuous. The Reformation in England and Germany did not
+totally destroy it; in England the carol-singers kept up for a while the
+old spirit; in Lutheran Germany a highly coloured and surprisingly
+sensuous celebration of the Nativity lingered on into the eighteenth
+century. In the countries that remained Roman Catholic much of the old
+Christmas continued, though the spirit of the Counter-Reformation, faced
+by the challenge of Protestantism, made for greater "respectability," and
+often robbed the Catholic Christmas of its humour, its homeliness, its
+truly popular stamp, substituting pretentiousness for simplicity, sugary
+sentiment for naive and genuine poetry.
+
+Apart from the transformation of the Church's Christmas from something
+austere and metaphysical into something joyous and human, warm and
+kindly, we shall note in our Second Part the survival of much that is
+purely pagan, continuing alongside of the celebration of the Nativity,
+and often little touched by its influence. But first we must consider the
+side of the festival suggested by the English and French names:
+_Christmas_ will stand for the liturgical rites commemorating the wonder
+of the Incarnation--God in man made manifest--_Noel_ or "the Birthday,"
+for the ways in which men have striven to realize the human aspect of the
+great Coming.
+
+How can we reach the inner meaning of the Nativity feast, its
+significance for the faithful? Better, perhaps, by the way of |28|
+poetry than by the way of ritual, for it is poetry that reveals the
+emotions at the back of the outward observances, and we shall understand
+these better when the singers of Christmas have laid bare to us their
+hearts. We may therefore first give attention to the Christmas poetry of
+sundry ages and peoples, and then go on to consider the liturgical and
+popular ritual in which the Church has striven to express her joy at the
+Redeemer's birth. Ceremonial, of course, has always mimetic tendencies,
+and in a further chapter we shall see how these issued in genuine drama;
+how, in the miracle plays, the Christmas story was represented by the
+forms and voices of living men.
+
+|29| |30| |31|
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Part I--The Christian Feast
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+CHRISTMAS POETRY (I)[8]{1}
+
+
+ Ancient Latin Hymns, their Dogmatic, Theological
+ Character--Humanizing Influence of Franciscanism--Jacopone da Todi's
+ Vernacular Verse--German Catholic Poetry--Mediaeval English Carols.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+MADONNA ENTHRONED WITH SAINTS AND ANGELS.
+
+PESELLINO
+
+(_Empoli Gallery_)]
+
+Christmas, as we have seen, had its beginning at the middle of the fourth
+century in Rome. The new feast was not long in finding a hymn-writer to
+embody in immortal Latin the emotions called forth by the memory of the
+Nativity. "Veni, redemptor gentium" is one of the earliest of Latin
+hymns--one of the few that have come down to us from the father of Church
+song, Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan (d. 397). Great as theologian and
+statesman, Ambrose was great also as a poet and systematizer of Church
+music. "Veni, redemptor gentium" is above all things stately and severe,
+in harmony with the austere character of the zealous foe of the Arian
+heretics, the champion of monasticism. It is the theological aspect alone
+of Christmas, the redemption of sinful man by the mystery of the
+Incarnation and the miracle of the Virgin Birth, that we find in St.
+Ambrose's terse and pregnant Latin; there is no feeling for the human
+pathos and poetry of the scene at Bethlehem--
+
+ "Veni, redemptor gentium,
+ Ostende partum virginis;
+ Miretur omne saeculum:
+ Talis decet partus Deum. |32|
+ Non ex virili semine,
+ Sed mystico spiramine,
+ Verbum Dei factum caro,
+ Fructusque ventris floruit."[9]{2}
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Another fine hymn often heard in English churches is of a slightly later
+date. "Corde natus ex Parentis" ("Of the Father's love begotten") is a
+cento from a larger hymn by the Spanish poet Prudentius (_c._ 348-413).
+Prudentius did not write for liturgical purposes, and it was several
+centuries before "Corde natus" was adopted into the cycle of Latin hymns.
+Its elaborate rhetoric is very unlike the severity of "Veni, redemptor
+gentium," but again the note is purely theological; the Incarnation as a
+world-event is its theme. It sings the Birth of Him who is
+
+ "Corde natus ex Parentis
+ Ante mundi exordium,
+ Alpha et O cognominatus,
+ Ipse fons et clausula
+ Omnium quae sunt, fuerunt,
+ Quaeque post futura sunt
+ Saeculorum saeculis."[10]{3}
+
+Other early hymns are "A solis ortus cardine" ("From east to west, from
+shore to shore"), by a certain Coelius Sedulius (d. _c._ 450), still sung
+by the Roman Church at Lauds on Christmas Day, and "Jesu, redemptor
+omnium" (sixth century), the office hymn at Christmas Vespers. Like the
+poems of Ambrose and Prudentius, they are in classical metres, unrhymed,
+and based upon quantity, not accent, and they have the same general
+character, doctrinal rather than humanly tender.
+
+In the ninth and tenth centuries arose a new form of hymnody, the Prose
+or Sequence sung after the Gradual (the anthem between the Epistle and
+Gospel at Mass). The earliest writer of sequences was Notker, a monk of
+the abbey of St. Gall, near |33| the Lake of Constance. Among those
+that are probably his work is the Christmas "Natus ante saecula Dei
+filius." The most famous Nativity sequence, however, is the "Laetabundus,
+exsultet fidelis chorus" of St. Bernard of Clairvaux (d. 1153), once sung
+all over Europe, and especially popular in England and France. Here are
+its opening verses:--
+
+ "Laetabundus,
+ Exsultet fidelis chorus;
+ Alleluia!
+ Regem regum
+ Intactae profudit thorus;
+ Res miranda!
+
+ Angelus consilii
+ Natus est de Virgine,
+ Sol de stella!
+ Sol occasum nesciens,
+ Stella semper rutilans,
+ Semper clara."[11]{4}
+
+The "Laetabundus" is in rhymed stanzas; in this it differs from most
+early proses. The writing of rhymed sequences, however, became common
+through the example of the Parisian monk, Adam of St. Victor, in the
+second half of the twelfth century. He adopted an entirely new style of
+versification and music, derived from popular songs; and he and his
+successors in |34| the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries wrote
+various proses for the Christmas festival.
+
+If we consider the Latin Christmas hymns from the fourth century to the
+thirteenth, we shall find that however much they differ in form, they have
+one common characteristic: they are essentially theological--dwelling on
+the Incarnation and the Nativity as part of the process of man's
+redemption--rather than realistic. There is little attempt to imagine
+the scene in the stable at Bethlehem, little interest in the Child as a
+child, little sense of the human pathos of the Nativity. The explanation
+is, I think, very simple, and it lights up the whole observance of
+Christmas as a Church festival in the centuries we are considering:
+_this poetry is the poetry of monks, or of men imbued with the monastic
+spirit_.
+
+The two centuries following the institution of Christmas saw the break-up
+of the Roman Empire in the west, and the incursions of barbarians
+threatening the very existence of the Christian civilization that had
+conquered classic paganism. It was by her army of monks that the Church
+tamed and Christianized the barbarians, and both religion and culture
+till the middle of the twelfth century were predominantly monastic. "In
+writing of any eminently religious man of this period" [the eleventh
+century], says Dean Church, "it must be taken almost as a matter of
+course that he was a monk."{5} And a monastery was not the place for
+human feeling about Christmas; the monk was--at any rate in ideal--cut
+off from the world; not for him were the joys of parenthood or tender
+feelings for a new-born child. To the monk the world was, at least in
+theory, the vale of misery; birth and generation were, one may almost
+say, tolerated as necessary evils among lay folk unable to rise to the
+heights of abstinence and renunciation; one can hardly imagine a true
+early Benedictine filled with "joy that a man is born into the world."
+The Nativity was an infinitely important event, to be celebrated with a
+chastened, unearthly joy, but not, as it became for the later Middle Ages
+and the Renaissance, a matter upon which human affection might lavish
+itself, which imagination might deck with vivid concrete detail. In the
+later Christmas |35| the pagan and the Christian spirit, or delight in
+earthly things and joy in the invisible, seem to meet and mingle; to the
+true monk of the Dark and Early Middle Ages they were incompatible.
+
+What of the people, the great world outside the monasteries? Can we
+imagine that Christmas, on its Christian side, had a deep meaning for
+them? For the first ten centuries, to quote Dean Church again,
+Christianity "can hardly be said to have leavened society at all.... It
+acted upon it doubtless with enormous power; but it was as an extraneous
+and foreign agent, which destroys and shapes, but does not mingle or
+renew.... Society was a long time unlearning heathenism; it has not done
+so yet; but it had hardly begun, at any rate it was only just beginning,
+to imagine the possibility of such a thing in the eleventh century."{6}
+
+"The practical religion of the illiterate," says another ecclesiastical
+historian, Dr. W. R. W. Stephens, "was in many respects merely a survival
+of the old paganism thinly disguised. There was a prevalent belief in
+witchcraft, magic, sortilegy, spells, charms, talismans, which mixed
+itself up in strange ways with Christian ideas and Christian worship....
+Fear, the note of superstition, rather than love, which is the
+characteristic of a rational faith, was conspicuous in much of the
+popular religion. The world was haunted by demons, hobgoblins, malignant
+spirits of divers kinds, whose baneful influence must be averted by
+charms or offerings."{7}
+
+The writings of ecclesiastics, the decrees of councils and synods, from
+the fourth century to the eleventh, abound in condemnations of pagan
+practices at the turn of the year. It is in these customs, and in secular
+mirth and revelry, not in Christian poetry, that we must seek for the
+expression of early lay feeling about Christmas. It was a feast of
+material good things, a time for the fulfilment of traditional heathen
+usages, rather than a joyous celebration of the Saviour's birth. No doubt
+it was observed by due attendance at church, but the services in a tongue
+not understanded of the people cannot have been very full of meaning to
+them, and we can imagine |36| their Christmas church-going as rather a
+duty inspired by fear than an expression of devout rejoicing. It is
+noteworthy that the earliest of vernacular Christmas carols known to us,
+the early thirteenth-century Anglo-Norman "Seignors, ore entendez a nus,"
+is a song not of religion but of revelry. Its last verse is typical:
+
+ "Seignors, jo vus di par Noel,
+ E par li sires de cest hostel,
+ Car bevez ben;
+ E jo primes beverai le men,
+ E pois aprez chescon le soen,
+ Par mon conseil;
+ Si jo vus di trestoz, 'Wesseyl!'
+ Dehaiz eit qui ne dirra, 'Drincheyl!'"[12]{8}
+
+Not till the close of the thirteenth century do we meet with any
+vernacular Christmas poetry of importance. The verses of the
+_troubadours_ and _trouveres_ of twelfth-century France had little to do
+with Christianity; their songs were mostly of earthly and illicit love.
+The German Minnesingers of the thirteenth century were indeed pious, but
+their devout lays were addressed to the Virgin as Queen of Heaven, the
+ideal of womanhood, holding in glory the Divine Child in her arms, rather
+than to the Babe and His Mother in the great humility of Bethlehem.
+
+The first real outburst of Christmas joy in a popular tongue is found in
+Italy, in the poems of that strange "minstrel of the Lord," the
+Franciscan Jacopone da Todi (b. 1228, d. 1306). _Franciscan_, in that
+name we have an indication of the change in religious feeling that came
+over the western world, and |37| especially Italy, in the thirteenth
+century.{9} For the twenty all-too-short years of St. Francis's
+apostolate have passed, and a new attitude towards God and man and the
+world has become possible. Not that the change was due solely to St.
+Francis; he was rather the supreme embodiment of the ideals and
+tendencies of his day than their actual creator; but he was the spark
+that kindled a mighty flame. In him we reach so important a turning-point
+in the history of Christmas that we must linger awhile at his side.
+
+Early Franciscanism meant above all the democratizing, the humanizing of
+Christianity; with it begins that "carol spirit" which is the most
+winning part of the Christian Christmas, the spirit which, while not
+forgetting the divine side of the Nativity, yet delights in its simple
+humanity, the spirit that links the Incarnation to the common life of the
+people, that brings human tenderness into religion. The faithful no
+longer contemplate merely a theological mystery, they are moved by
+affectionate devotion to the Babe of Bethlehem, realized as an actual
+living child, God indeed, yet feeling the cold of winter, the roughness
+of the manger bed.
+
+St. Francis, it must be remembered, was not a man of high birth, but the
+son of a silk merchant, and his appeal was made chiefly to the traders
+and skilled workmen of the cities, who, in his day, were rising to
+importance, coming, in modern Socialist terms, to class-consciousness.
+The monks, although boys of low birth were sometimes admitted into the
+cloister, were in sympathy one with the upper classes, and monastic
+religion and culture were essentially aristocratic. The rise of the
+Franciscans meant the bringing home of Christianity to masses of
+town-workers, homely people, who needed a religion full of vivid
+humanity, and whom the pathetic story of the Nativity would peculiarly
+touch.
+
+Love to man, the sense of human brotherhood--that was the great thing
+which St. Francis brought home to his age. The message, certainly, was
+not new, but he realized it with infectious intensity. The second great
+commandment, "Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself," had not indeed
+been forgotten by |38| mediaeval Christianity; the common life of
+monasticism was an attempt to fulfil it; yet for the monk love to man was
+often rather a duty than a passion. But to St. Francis love was very
+life; he loved not by duty but by an inner compulsion, and his burning
+love of God and man found its centre in the God-man, Christ Jesus. For no
+saint, perhaps, has the earthly life of Christ been the object of such
+passionate devotion as for St. Francis; the Stigmata were the awful, yet,
+to his contemporaries, glorious fruit of his meditations on the Passion;
+and of the ecstasy with which he kept his Christmas at Greccio we shall
+read when we come to consider the _Presepio_. He had a peculiar affection
+for the festival of the Holy Child; "the Child Jesus," says Thomas of
+Celano, "had been given over to forgetfulness in the hearts of many in
+whom, by the working of His grace, He was raised up again through His
+servant Francis."{10}
+
+To the Early Middle Ages Christ was the awful Judge, the _Rex tremendae
+majestatis_, though also the divine bringer of salvation from sin and
+eternal punishment, and, to the mystic, the Bridegroom of the Soul. To
+Francis He was the little brother of all mankind as well. It was a new
+human joy that came into religion with him. His essentially artistic
+nature was the first to realize the full poetry of Christmas--the coming
+of infinity into extremest limitation, the Highest made the lowliest, the
+King of all kings a poor infant. He had, in a supreme degree, the mingled
+reverence and tenderness that inspire the best carols.
+
+Though no Christmas verses by St. Francis have come down to us, there is
+a beautiful "psalm" for Christmas Day at Vespers, composed by him partly
+from passages of Scripture. A portion of Father Paschal Robinson's
+translation may be quoted:--
+
+ "Rejoice to God our helper.
+ Shout unto God, living and true,
+ With the voice of triumph.
+ For the Lord is high, terrible:
+ A great King over all the earth.
+ For the most holy Father of heaven, |39|
+ Our King, before ages sent His Beloved
+ Son from on high, and He
+ was born of the Blessed Virgin,
+ holy Mary.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ This is the day which the Lord
+ hath made: let us rejoice and be glad in it.
+ For the beloved and most holy
+ Child has been given to us and
+ born for us by the wayside.
+ And laid in a manger because He
+ had no room in the inn.
+ Glory to God in the highest: and
+ on earth peace to men of good will."{11}
+
+[Illustration:
+
+JACOPONE IN ECSTASY BEFORE THE VIRGIN.
+
+From "Laude di Frate Jacopone da Todi"
+
+(Florence, 1490).]
+
+It is in the poetry of Jacopone da Todi, born shortly after the death of
+St. Francis, that the Franciscan Christmas spirit finds its most intense
+expression. A wild, wandering ascetic, an impassioned poet, and a soaring
+mystic, Jacopone is one of the greatest of Christian singers, unpolished
+as his verses are. Noble by birth, he made himself utterly as the common
+people for whom he piped his rustic notes. "Dio fatto piccino" ("God made
+a little thing") is the keynote of his music; the Christ Child is for him
+"our sweet little brother"; with tender affection he rejoices in
+endearing diminutives--"Bambolino," "Piccolino," "Jesulino." He sings of
+the Nativity with extraordinary realism.[13] Here, in words, is a picture
+of the Madonna and her Child that might well have inspired an early
+Tuscan artist:--
+
+ "Veggiamo il suo Bambino
+ Gammettare nel fieno,
+ E le braccia scoperte
+ Porgere ad ella in seno, |40|
+ Ed essa lo ricopre
+ El meglio che puo almeno,
+ Mettendoli la poppa
+ Entro la sua bocchina.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ A la sua man manca,
+ Cullava lo Bambino,
+ E con sante carole
+ Nenciava il suo amor fino....
+ Gli Angioletti d' intorno
+ Se ne gian danzando,
+ Facendo dolci versi
+ E d' amor favellando."[14]{12}
+
+But there is an intense sense of the divine, as well as the human, in the
+Holy Babe; no one has felt more vividly the paradox of the Incarnation:--
+
+ "Ne la degna stalla del dolce Bambino
+ Gli Angeli cantano d' intorno al piccolino;
+ Cantano e gridano gli Angeli diletti,
+ Tutti riverenti timidi e subietti, |41|
+ Al Bambolino principe de gli eletti,
+ Che nudo giace nel pungente spino.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ Il Verbo divino, che e sommo sapiente,
+ In questo di par che non sappia niente,
+ Guardal su' l fieno, che gambetta piangente,
+ Como elli non fusse huomo divino."[15]{13}
+
+Here, again, are some sweet and homely lines about preparation for the
+Infant Saviour:--
+
+ "Andiamo a lavare
+ La casa a nettare,
+ Che non trovi bruttura.
+ Poi el menaremo,
+ Et gli daremo
+ Ben da ber' e mangiare.
+ Un cibo espiato,
+ Et d' or li sia dato
+ Senza alcuna dimura.
+ Lo cor adempito
+ Dagiamoli fornito
+ Senza odio ne rancura."[16]{14}
+
+|42| There have been few more rapturous poets than Jacopone; men deemed
+him mad; but, "if he is mad," says a modern Italian writer, "he is mad as
+the lark"--"Nessun poeta canta a tutta gola come questo frate minore. S'
+e pazzo, e pazzo come l' allodola."
+
+To him is attributed that most poignant of Latin hymns, the "Stabat Mater
+dolorosa"; he wrote also a joyous Christmas pendant to it:--
+
+ "Stabat Mater speciosa,
+ Juxta foenum gaudiosa,
+ Dum jacebat parvulus.
+ Cujus animam gaudentem,
+ Laetabundam ac ferventem,
+ Pertransivit jubilus."[17]{15}
+
+In the fourteenth century we find a blossoming forth of Christmas poetry
+in another land, Germany.{16} There are indeed Christmas and Epiphany
+passages in a poetical Life of Christ by Otfrid of Weissenburg in the
+ninth century, and a twelfth-century poem by Spervogel, "Er ist gewaltic
+unde starc," opens with a mention of Christmas, but these are of little
+importance for us. The fourteenth century shows the first real outburst,
+and that is traceable, in part at least, to the mystical movement in the
+Rhineland caused by the preaching of the great Dominican, Eckhart of
+Strasburg, and his followers. It was a movement towards inward piety as
+distinguished from, though not excluding, external observances, which
+made its way largely by sermons listened to by great congregations in the
+towns. Its impulse came not from the monasteries proper, but from the
+convents of Dominican friars, and it was for Germany in the fourteenth
+century something like what Franciscanism had been for Italy in the
+thirteenth. One of the central doctrines of the school |43| was that of
+the Divine Birth in the soul of the believer; according to Eckhart the
+soul comes into immediate union with God by "bringing forth the Son"
+within itself; the historic Christ is the symbol of the divine humanity
+to which the soul should rise: "when the soul bringeth forth the Son," he
+says, "it is happier than Mary."{17} Several Christmas sermons by
+Eckhart have been preserved; one of them ends with the prayer, "To this
+Birth may that God, who to-day is new born as man, bring us, that we,
+poor children of earth, may be born in Him as God; to this may He bring
+us eternally! Amen."{18} With this profound doctrine of the Divine
+Birth, it was natural that the German mystics should enter deeply into
+the festival of Christmas, and one of the earliest of German Christmas
+carols, "Es komt ein schif geladen," is the work of Eckhart's disciple,
+John Tauler (d. 1361). It is perhaps an adaptation of a secular song:--
+
+ "A ship comes sailing onwards
+ With a precious freight on board;
+ It bears the only Son of God,
+ It bears the Eternal Word."
+
+The doctrine of the mystics, "Die in order to live," fills the last
+verses:--
+
+ "Whoe'er would hope in gladness
+ To kiss this Holy Child,
+ Must suffer many a pain and woe,
+ Patient like Him and mild;
+
+ Must die with Him to evil
+ And rise to righteousness,
+ That so with Christ he too may share
+ Eternal life and bliss."{19}
+
+To the fourteenth century may perhaps belong an allegorical carol still
+sung in both Catholic and Protestant Germany:--
+
+ "Es ist ein Ros entsprungen
+ Aus einer Wurzel zart, |44|
+ Als uns die Alten sungen,
+ Von Jesse kam die Art,
+ Und hat ein Bluemlein bracht,
+ Mitten im kalten Winter,
+ Wohl zu der halben Nacht.
+ Das Roeslein, das ich meine,
+ Davon Jesajas sagt,
+ Hat uns gebracht alleine
+ Marie, die reine Magd.
+ Aus Gottes ew'gem Rat
+ Hat sie ein Kind geboren
+ Wohl zu der halben Nacht."[18]{20}
+
+In a fourteenth-century Life of the mystic Heinrich Suso it is told how
+one day angels came to him to comfort him in his sufferings, how they
+took him by the hand and led him to dance, while one began a glad song of
+the child Jesus, "In dulci jubilo." To the fourteenth century, then,
+dates back that most delightful of German carols, with its interwoven
+lines of Latin. I may quote the fine Scots translation in the "Godlie and
+Spirituall Sangis" of 1567:--
+
+ "_In dulci Jubilo_, Now lat us sing with myrth and jo
+ Our hartis consolatioun lyis _in praesepio_,
+ And schynis as the Sone, _Matris in gremio_,
+ _Alpha es et O, Alpha es et O._
+ _O Jesu parvule!_ I thrist sore efter the, |45|
+ Confort my hart and mynde, _O puer optime_,
+ God of all grace sa kynde, _et princeps gloriae_
+ _Trahe me post te, Trahe me post te_.
+ _Ubi sunt gaudia_, in ony place bot thair,
+ Quhair that the Angellis sing _Nova cantica_,
+ Bot and the bellis ring _in regis curia_,
+ God gif I war thair, God gif I war thair."{21}
+
+The music of "In dulci jubilo"[19] has, with all its religious feeling,
+something of the nature of a dance, and unites in a strange fashion
+solemnity, playfulness, and ecstatic delight. No other air, perhaps,
+shows so perfectly the reverent gaiety of the carol spirit.
+
+The fifteenth century produced a realistic type of German carol. Here is
+the beginning of one such:--
+
+ "Da Jesu Krist geboren wart,
+ do was es kalt;
+ in ain klaines kripplein
+ er geleget wart.
+ Da stunt ain esel und ain rint,
+ die atmizten ueber das hailig kint
+ gar unverborgen.
+ Der ain raines herze hat, der darf nit sorgen."[20]{22}
+
+It goes on to tell in naive language the story of the wanderings of the
+Holy Family during the Flight into Egypt.
+
+This carol type lasted, and continued to develop, in Austria and the
+Catholic parts of Germany through the sixteenth, seventeenth, and
+eighteenth centuries, and even in the nineteenth. In Carinthia in the
+early nineteenth century, almost every parish had its local poet, who
+added new songs to the old treasury.{23} Particularly popular were the
+_Hirtenlieder_ or shepherd songs, in which the peasant worshippers joined
+themselves to the shepherds of Bethlehem, and sought to share their
+devout |46| emotions. Often these carols are of the most rustic
+character and in the broadest dialect. They breathe forth a great
+kindliness and homeliness, and one could fill pages with quotations. Two
+more short extracts must, however, suffice to show their quality.
+
+How warm and hearty is their feeling for the Child:--
+
+ "Du herzliabste Muater, gib Acht auf does Kind,
+ Es is ja gar frostig, thuas einfatschen gschwind.
+ Und du alter Voda, decks Kindlein schen zua,
+ Sonst hats von der Koelden und Winden kan Ruah.
+ Hiazt nemen mir Urlaub, o gettliches Kind,
+ Thua unser gedenken, verzeich unser Suend.
+ Es freut uns von Herzen dass d'ankomen bist;
+ Es haett uns ja niemand zu helfen gewist."[21]{24}
+
+And what fatherly affection is here:--
+
+ "Das Kind is in der Krippen gloegn,
+ So herzig und so rar!
+ Mei klaner Hansl war nix dgoegn,
+ Wenn a glei schener war.
+ Kolschwarz wie d'Kirchen d'Augen sein,
+ Sunst aber kreidenweiss;
+ Die Haend so huebsch recht zart und fein,
+ I hans angruert mit Fleiss.
+
+ Aft hats auf mi an Schmutza gmacht,
+ An Hoescheza darzue;
+ O warst du mein, hoan i gedacht,
+ Werst wol a munter Bue.
+ Dahoam in meiner Kachelstub
+ Liess i brav hoazen ein,
+ Do in den Stal kimt ueberal
+ Der kalte Wind herein."[22]{25}
+
+|47| We have been following on German ground a mediaeval tradition that
+has continued unbroken down to modern days; but we must now take a leap
+backward in time, and consider the beginnings of the Christmas carol in
+England.
+
+Not till the fifteenth century is there any outburst of Christmas poetry
+in English, though other forms of religious lyrics were produced in
+considerable numbers in the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries.
+When the carols come at last, they appear in the least likely of all
+places, at the end of a versifying of the whole duty of man, by John
+Awdlay, a blind chaplain of Haghmon, in Shropshire. In red letters he
+writes:--
+
+ "I pray you, sirus, boothe moore and lase,
+ Sing these caroles in Cristemas,"
+
+and then follows a collection of twenty-five songs, some of which are
+genuine Christmas carols, as one now understands the word.{26}
+
+A carol, in the modern English sense, may perhaps be defined as a
+religious song, less formal and solemn than the ordinary Church hymn--an
+expression of popular and often naive devotional feeling, a thing
+intended to be sung outside rather than within church walls. There still
+linger about the word some echoes of its original meaning, for "carol"
+had at first a secular or even pagan significance: in twelfth-century
+France it was used to describe the amorous song-dance which hailed the
+coming of spring; in Italian it meant a ring- or song-dance; while by
+English writers from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century it was used
+chiefly of singing joined with dancing, and had no necessary connection
+with religion. Much as the mediaeval Church, with its ascetic tendencies,
+disliked religious dancing, it could not always suppress it; and in
+Germany, as we shall see, there was choral dancing at Christmas round the
+cradle of the Christ Child. Whether Christmas carols were ever danced to
+in England |48| is doubtful; many of the old airs and words have,
+however, a glee and playfulness as of human nature following its natural
+instincts of joy even in the celebration of the most sacred mysteries. It
+is probable that some of the carols are religious parodies of love-songs,
+written for the melodies of the originals, and many seem by their
+structure to be indirectly derived from the choral dances of farm folk, a
+notable feature being their burden or refrain, a survival of the common
+outcry of the dancers as they leaped around.
+
+Awdlay's carols are perhaps meant to be sung by "wassailing neighbours,
+who make their rounds at Christmastide to drink a cup and take a gift,
+and bring good fortune upon the house"{27}--predecessors of those
+carol-singers of rural England in the nineteenth century, whom Mr. Hardy
+depicts so delightfully in "Under the Greenwood Tree." Carol-singing by a
+band of men who go from house to house is probably a Christianization of
+such heathen processions as we shall meet in less altered forms in Part
+II.
+
+It must not be supposed that the carols Awdlay gives are his own work;
+and their exact date it is impossible to determine. Part of his book was
+composed in 1426, but one at least of the carols was probably written in
+the last half of the fourteenth century. They seem indeed to be the later
+blossomings of the great springtime of English literature, the period
+which produced Chaucer and Langland, an innumerable company of minstrels
+and ballad-makers, and the mystical poet, Richard Rolle of Hampole.[23]
+
+Through the fifteenth century and the first half of the sixteenth, the
+flowering continued; and something like two hundred carols of this period
+are known. It is impossible to attempt here anything like representative
+quotation; I can only sketch in |49| roughest outline the main
+characteristics of English carol literature, and refer the reader for
+examples to Miss Edith Rickert's comprehensive collection, "Ancient
+English Carols, MCCCC-MDCC," or to the smaller but fine selection in
+Messrs. E. K. Chambers and F. Sidgwick's "Early English Lyrics." Many may
+have been the work of _goliards_ or wandering scholars, and a common
+feature is the interweaving of Latin with English words.
+
+Some, like the exquisite "I sing of a maiden that is makeles,"{29} are
+rather songs to or about the Virgin than strictly Christmas carols; the
+Annunciation rather than the Nativity is their theme. Others again tell
+the whole story of Christ's life. The feudal idea is strong in such lines
+as these:--
+
+ "Mary is quene of alle thinge,
+ And her sone a lovely kinge.
+ God graunt us alle good endinge!
+ _Regnat dei gracia_."{30}
+
+On the whole, in spite of some mystical exceptions, the mediaeval English
+carol is somewhat external in its religion; there is little deep
+individual feeling; the caroller sings as a member of the human race,
+whose curse is done away, whose nature is exalted by the Incarnation,
+rather than as one whose soul is athirst for God:--
+
+ "Now man is brighter than the sonne;
+ Now man in heven an hie shall wonne;
+ Blessed be God this game is begonne
+ And his moder emperesse of helle."{31}
+
+Salvation is rather an objective external thing than an inward and
+spiritual process. A man has but to pray devoutly to the dear Mother and
+Child, and they will bring him to the heavenly court. It is not so much
+personal sin as an evil influence in humanity, that is cured by the great
+event of Christmas:--
+
+ "It was dark, it was dim,
+ For men that leved in gret sin;
+ Lucifer was all within,
+ Till on the Cristmes day. |50|
+
+ There was weping, there was wo,
+ For every man to hell gan go.
+ It was litel mery tho,
+ Till on the Cristmes day."{32}
+
+But now that Christ is born, and man redeemed, one may be blithe
+indeed:--
+
+ "Jhesus is that childes name,
+ Maide and moder is his dame,
+ And so oure sorow is turned to game.
+ _Gloria tibi domine._
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ Now sitte we downe upon our knee,
+ And pray that child that is so free;
+ And with gode herte now sing we
+ _Gloria tibi domine_."{33}
+
+Sometimes the religious spirit almost vanishes, and the carol becomes
+little more than a gay pastoral song:--
+
+ "The shepard upon a hill he satt;
+ He had on him his tabard and his hat,
+ His tar-box, his pipe, and his flagat;
+ His name was called Joly Joly Wat,
+ For he was a gud herdes boy.
+ Ut hoy!
+ For in his pipe he made so much joy.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ Whan Wat to Bedlem cum was,
+ He swet, he had gone faster than a pace;
+ He found Jesu in a simpell place,
+ Betwen an ox and an asse.
+ Ut hoy!
+ For in his pipe he made so much joy.
+
+ 'Jesu, I offer to thee here my pipe,
+ My skirt, my tar-box, and my scripe;
+ Home to my felowes now will I skipe,
+ And also look unto my shepe.'
+ Ut hoy!
+ For in his pipe he made so much joy."{34}
+
+|51| But to others again, especially the lullabies, the hardness of the
+Nativity, the shadow of the coming Passion, give a deep note of sorrow
+and pathos; there is the thought of the sword that shall pierce Mary's
+bosom:--
+
+ "This endris night I saw a sight,
+ A maid a cradell kepe,
+ And ever she song and seid among
+ 'Lullay, my child, and slepe.'
+
+ 'I may not slepe, but I may wepe,
+ I am so wo begone;
+ Slepe I wold, but I am colde
+ And clothes have I none.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ 'Adam's gilt this man had spilt;
+ That sin greveth me sore.
+ Man, for thee here shall I be
+ Thirty winter and more.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ 'Here shall I be hanged on a tree,
+ And die as it is skill.
+ That I have bought lesse will I nought;
+ It is my fader's will.'"{35}
+
+The lullabies are quite the most delightful, as they are the most human,
+of the carols. Here is an exquisitely musical verse from one of 1530:--
+
+ "In a dream late as I lay,
+ Methought I heard a maiden say
+ And speak these words so mild:
+ 'My little son, with thee I play,
+ And come,' she sang, 'by, lullaby.'
+ Thus rocked she her child.
+
+ _By-by, lullaby, by-by, lullaby,_
+ _Rocked I my child._
+ _By-by, by-by, by-by, lullaby,_
+ _Rocked I my child._"{36}
+
+|52| |53| |54| |55|
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+CHRISTMAS POETRY (II)
+
+
+ The French _Noel_--Latin Hymnody in Eighteenth-century
+ France--Spanish Christmas Verse--Traditional Carols of Many
+ Countries--Christmas Poetry in Protestant Germany--Post-Reformation
+ Verse in England--Modern English Carols.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS.
+
+_By Fouquet._
+
+(Musee Conde, Chantilly.)]
+
+The Reformation marks a change in the character of Christmas poetry in
+England and the larger part of Germany, and, instead of following its
+development under Protestantism, it will be well to break off and turn
+awhile to countries where Catholic tradition remained unbroken. We shall
+come back later to Post-Reformation England and Protestant Germany.
+
+In French{1} there is little or no Christmas poetry, religious in
+character, before the fifteenth century; the earlier carols that have
+come down to us are songs rather of feasting and worldly rejoicing than
+of sacred things. The true _Noel_ begins to appear in fifteenth-century
+manuscripts, but it was not till the following century that it attained
+its fullest vogue and was spread all over the country by the printing
+presses. Such _Noels_ seem to have been written by clerks or recognized
+poets, either for old airs or for specially composed music. "To a great
+extent," says Mr. Gregory Smith, "they anticipate the spirit which
+stimulated the Reformers to turn the popular and often obscene songs into
+good and godly ballads."{2}
+
+Some of the early _Noels_ are not unlike the English carols of the
+period, and are often half in Latin, half in French. Here are a few such
+"macaronic" verses:--
+
+ "Celebrons la naissance
+ _Nostri Salvatoris_, |56|
+ Qui fait la complaisance
+ _Dei sui Patris_.
+ Cet enfant tout aimable,
+ _In nocte media_,
+ Est ne dans une etable,
+ _De casta Maria_.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ Mille esprits angeliques,
+ _Juncti pastoribus_,
+ Chantent dans leur musique,
+ _Puer vobis natus_,
+ Au Dieu par qui nous sommes,
+ _Gloria in excelsis_,
+ Et la paix soit aux hommes
+ _Bonae voluntatis_.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ Qu'on ne soit insensible!
+ _Adeamus omnes_
+ A Dieu rendu passible,
+ _Propter nos mortales_,
+ Et tous, de compagnie,
+ _Deprecemur eum_
+ Qu'a la fin de la vie,
+ _Det regnum beatum_."{3}
+
+The sixteenth century is the most interesting _Noel_ period; we find then
+a conflict of tendencies, a conflict between Gallic realism and broad
+humour and the love of refined language due to the study of the ancient
+classics. There are many anonymous pieces of this time, but three
+important _Noelistes_ stand out by name: Lucas le Moigne, Cure of Saint
+Georges, Puy-la-Garde, near Poitiers; Jean Daniel, called "Maitre Mitou,"
+a priest-organist at Nantes; and Nicholas Denisot of Le Mans, whose
+_Noels_ appeared posthumously under the pseudonym of "Comte d'Alsinoys."
+
+Lucas le Moigne represents the _esprit gaulois_, the spirit that is often
+called "Rabelaisian," though it is only one side of the genius of
+Rabelais. The good Cure was a contemporary of |57| the author of
+"Pantagruel." His "Chansons de Noels nouvaulx" was published in 1520, and
+contains carols in very varied styles, some naive and pious, others
+hardly quotable at the present day. One of his best-known pieces is a
+dialogue between the Virgin and the singers of the carol: Mary is asked
+and answers questions about the wondrous happenings of her life. Here are
+four verses about the Nativity:--
+
+ "Or nous dites, Marie,
+ Les neuf mois accomplis,
+ Naquit le fruit de vie,
+ Comme l'Ange avoit dit?
+ --Oui, sans nulle peine
+ Et sans oppression,
+ Naquit de tout le monde
+ La vraie Redemption.
+
+ Or nous dites, Marie,
+ Du lieu imperial,
+ Fut-ce en chambre paree,
+ Ou en Palais royal?
+ --En une pauvre etable
+ Ouverte a l'environ
+ Ou n'avait feu, ni flambe
+ Ni latte, ni chevron.
+
+ Or nous dites, Marie,
+ Qui vous vint visiter;
+ Les bourgeois de la ville
+ Vous ont-ils confortee?
+ --Oncque, homme ni femme
+ N'en eut compassion,
+ Non plus que d'un esclave
+ D'etrange region.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ Or nous dites, Marie,
+ Des pauvres pastoureaux
+ Qui gardaient es montagnes
+ Leurs brebis & aigneaux. |58|
+ --Ceux-la m'ont visitee
+ Par grande affection;
+ Moult me fut agreable
+ Leur visitation."{4}
+
+The influence of the "Pleiade," with its care for form, its respect for
+classical models, its enrichment of the French tongue with new Latin
+words, is shown by Jean Daniel, who also owes something to the poets of
+the late fifteenth century. Two stanzas may be quoted from him:--
+
+ "C'est ung tres grant mystere
+ Qu'ung roy de si hault pris
+ Vient naistre en lieu austere,
+ En si meschant pourpris:
+ Le Roy de tous les bons espritz,
+ C'est Jesus nostre frere,
+ Le Roy de tous les bons espritz,
+ Duquel sommes apris.
+
+ Saluons le doulx Jesuchrist,
+ Notre Dieu, notre frere,
+ Saluons le doulx Jesuchrist,
+ Chantons Noel d'esprit!
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ En luy faisant priere,
+ Soyons de son party,
+ Qu'en sa haulte emperiere
+ Ayons lieu de party;
+ Comme il nous a droict apparty,
+ Jesus nostre bon frere,
+ Comme il nous a droict apparty
+ Au celeste convy.
+ Saluons, etc.
+ Amen. Noel."{5}
+
+As for Denisot, I may give two charming verses from one of his
+pastorals:--
+
+ "Suz, Bergiez, en campaigne,
+ Laissez la vos troppeaux, |59|
+ Avant qu'on s'accompaigne,
+ Enflez vos chalumeaux.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ Enflez vos cornemuses,
+ Dansez ensemblement,
+ Et vos doucettes muses,
+ Accollez doucement."{6}
+
+One result of the Italian influences which came over France in the
+sixteenth century was a fondness for diminutives. Introduced into carols,
+these have sometimes a very graceful effect:--
+
+ "Entre le boeuf & le bouvet,
+ Noel nouvellet,
+ Voulust Jesus nostre maistre,
+ En un petit hostelet,
+ Noel nouvellet,
+ En ce pauvre monde naistre,
+ O Noel nouvellet!
+
+ Ne couche, ne bercelet,
+ Noel nouvellet,
+ Ne trouverent en cette estre,
+ Fors ung petit drappelet,
+ Noel nouvellet,
+ Pour envelopper le maistre,
+ O Noel nouvellet!"{7}
+
+These diminutives are found again, though fewer, in a particularly
+delightful carol:--
+
+ "Laissez paitre vos bestes
+ Pastoureaux, par monts et par vaux;
+ Laissez paitre vos bestes,
+ Et allons chanter Nau.
+
+ J'ai oui chanter le rossignol,
+ Qui chantoit un chant si nouveau,
+ Si haut, si beau,
+ Si resonneau, |60|
+
+ Il m'y rompoit la tete,
+ Tant il chantoit et flageoloit:
+ Adonc pris ma houlette
+ Pour aller voir Naulet.
+ Laissez paitre, etc."{8}
+
+The singer goes on to tell how he went with his fellow-shepherds and
+shepherdesses to Bethlehem:--
+
+ "Nous dimes tous une chanson
+ Les autres en vinrent au son,
+ Chacun prenant
+ Son compagnon:
+ Je prendrai Guillemette,
+ Margot tu prendras gros Guillot;
+ Qui prendra Peronelle?
+ Ce sera Talebot.
+ Laissez paitre, etc.
+
+ Ne chantons plus, nous tardons trop,
+ Pensons d'aller courir le trot.
+ Viens-tu, Margot?--
+ J'attends Guillot.--
+ J'ai rompu ma courette,
+ Il faut ramancher mon sabot.--
+ Or, tiens cette aiguillette,
+ Elle y servira trop.
+ Laissez paitre, etc.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ Nous courumes de grand' roideur
+ Pour voir notre doux Redempteur
+ Et Createur
+ Et Formateur,
+ Qui etait tendre d'aage
+ Et sans linceux en grand besoin,
+ Il gisait en la creche
+ Sur un botteau de foin.
+ Laissez paitre, etc. |61|
+
+ Sa mere avecque lui etait:
+ Et Joseph si lui eclairait,
+ Point ne semblait
+ Au beau fillet,
+ Il n'etait point son pere;
+ Je l'apercus bien au cameau (_visage_)
+ Il semblait a sa mere,
+ Encore est-il plus beau.
+ Laissez paitre, etc."
+
+This is but one of a large class of French _Noels_ which make the
+Nativity more real, more present, by representing the singer as one of a
+company of worshippers going to adore the Child. Often these are
+shepherds, but sometimes they are simply the inhabitants of a parish, a
+town, a countryside, or a province, bearing presents of their own produce
+to the little Jesus and His parents. Barrels of wine, fish, fowls,
+sucking-pigs, pastry, milk, fruit, firewood, birds in a cage--such are
+their homely gifts. Often there is a strongly satiric note: the
+peculiarities and weaknesses of individuals are hit off; the reputation
+of a place is suggested, a village whose people are famous for their
+stinginess offers cider that is half rain-water; elsewhere the
+inhabitants are so given to law-suits that they can hardly find time to
+go to Bethlehem.
+
+Such _Noels_ with their vivid local colour, are valuable pictures of the
+manners of their time. They are, unfortunately, too long for quotation
+here, but any reader who cares to follow up the subject will find some
+interesting specimens in a little collection of French carols that can be
+bought for ten _centimes_.{9} They are of various dates; some probably
+were written as late as the eighteenth century. In that century, and
+indeed in the seventeenth, the best Christmas verses are those of a
+provincial and rustic character, and especially those in _patois_; the
+more cultivated poets, with their formal classicism, can ill enter into
+the spirit of the festival. Of the learned writers the best is a woman,
+Francoise Paschal, of Lyons (b. about 1610); in spite of her Latinity she
+shows a real feeling for her subjects. Some of her _Noels_ are dialogues
+between the sacred personages; one presents |62| Joseph and Mary as
+weary wayfarers seeking shelter at all the inns of Bethlehem and
+everywhere refused by host or hostess:--
+
+ "_Saint Joseph._
+
+ Voyons la _Rose-Rouge_.
+ Madame de ceans,
+ Auriez-vous quelque bouge
+ Pour de petites gens?
+
+ _L'Hotesse._
+
+ Vous n'avez pas la mine
+ D'avoir de grands tresors;
+ Voyez chez ma voisine,
+ Car, quant a moi, je dors.
+
+ _Saint Joseph._
+
+ Monsieur des _Trois-Couronnes_,
+ Avez-vous logement,
+ Chez vous pour trois personnes,
+ Quelque trou seulement.
+
+ _L'Hote._
+
+ Vous perdez votre peine,
+ Vous venez un peu tard,
+ Ma maison est fort pleine,
+ Allez quelqu'autre part."{10}
+
+The most remarkable of the _patois Noelistes_ of the seventeenth century
+are the Provencal Saboly and the Burgundian La Monnoye, the one kindly
+and tender, the other witty and sarcastic. Here is one of Saboly's
+Provencal _Noels_:--
+
+ "Quand la miejonue sounavo,
+ Ai sauta dou liech au sou;
+ Ai vist un bel ange que cantavo
+ Milo fes pu dous qu'un roussignou.
+
+ Lei mastin dou vesinage
+ Se soun toutes atroupa; |63|
+ N'avien jamai vist aqueu visage
+ Se soun tout-d'un-cop mes a japa.
+
+ Lei pastre dessus la paio
+ Dourmien coume de soucas;
+ Quand an aussi lou bru dei sounaio
+ Au cresegu qu'ero lou souiras.
+
+ S'eron de gent resounable,
+ Vendrien sens estre envita:
+ Trouvarien dins un petit estable
+ La lumiero emai la verita."[24]{11}
+
+As for La Monnoye, here is a translation of one of his satirical
+verses:--"When in the time of frost Jesus Christ came into the world the
+ass and ox warmed Him with their breath in the stable. How many asses and
+oxen I know in this kingdom of Gaul! How many asses and oxen I know who
+would not have done as much!"{12}
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Apart from the rustic _Noels_, the eighteenth century produced little
+French Christmas poetry of any charm. Some of the carols most sung in
+French churches to-day belong, however, to this period, _e.g._, the
+"Venez, divin Messie" of the Abbe Pellegrin.{13}
+
+ * * * * *
+
+One cannot leave the France of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
+without some mention of its Latin hymnody. From a date near 1700,
+apparently, comes the sweet and solemn "Adeste, fideles"; by its music
+and its rhythm, perhaps, rather than by its actual words it has become
+the best beloved of Christmas hymns. The present writer has heard it sung
+with equal reverence and heartiness in English, German, French, and
+Italian churches, and no other hymn seems so full of the spirit of
+Christmas devotion--wonder, |64| awe, and tenderness, and the sense of
+reconciliation between Heaven and earth. Composed probably in France,
+"Adeste, fideles" came to be used in English as well as French Roman
+Catholic churches during the eighteenth century. In 1797 it was sung at
+the chapel of the Portuguese Embassy in London; hence no doubt its once
+common name of "Portuguese hymn." It was first used in an Anglican church
+in 1841, when the Tractarian Oakley translated it for his congregation at
+Margaret Street Chapel, London.
+
+Another fine Latin hymn of the eighteenth-century French Church is
+Charles Coffin's "Jam desinant suspiria."{14} It appeared in the
+Parisian Breviary in 1736, and is well known in English as "God from on
+high hath heard."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+The Revolution and the decay of Catholicism in France seem to have killed
+the production of popular carols. The later nineteenth century, however,
+saw a revival of interest in the _Noel_ as a literary form. In 1875 the
+bicentenary of Saboly's death was celebrated by a competition for a
+_Noel_ in the Provencal tongue, and something of the same kind has been
+done in Brittany.{15} The _Noel_ has attracted by its aesthetic charm
+even poets who are anything but devout; Theophile Gautier, for instance,
+wrote a graceful Christmas carol, "Le ciel est noir, la terre est
+blanche."
+
+On a general view of the vernacular Christmas poetry of France it must be
+admitted that the devotional note is not very strong; there is indeed a
+formal reverence, a courtly homage, paid to the Infant Saviour, and the
+miraculous in the Gospel story is taken for granted; but there is little
+sense of awe and mystery. In harmony with the realistic instincts of the
+nation, everything is dramatically, very humanly conceived; at times,
+indeed, the personages of the Nativity scenes quite lose their sacred
+character, and the treatment degenerates into grossness. At its best,
+however, the French _Noel_ has a gaiety and a grace, joined to a genuine,
+if not very deep, piety, that are extremely charming. Reading these
+rustic songs, we are carried in imagination to French countrysides; we
+think of the long walk through the snow to the Midnight Mass, the
+cheerful _reveillon_ spread on the |65| return, the family gathered
+round the hearth, feasting on wine and chestnuts and _boudins_, and
+singing in traditional strains the joys of _Noel_.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Across the Pyrenees, in Spain, the late sixteenth and early seventeenth
+centuries saw a great output of Christmas verse. Among the chief writers
+were Juan Lopez de Ubeda, Francisco de Ocana, and Jose de
+Valdivielso.{16} Their _villancicos_ remind one of the paintings of
+Murillo; they have the same facility, the same tender and graceful
+sentiment, without much depth. They lack the homely flavour, the
+quaintness that make the French and German folk-carols so delightful;
+they have not the rustic tang, and yet they charm by their simplicity and
+sweetness.
+
+Here are a few stanzas by Ocana:--
+
+ "Dentro de un pobre pesebre
+ y cobijado con heno
+ yace Jesus Nazareno.
+
+ En el heno yace echado
+ el hijo de Dios eterno,
+ para librar del infierno
+ al hombre que hubo criado,
+ y por matar el pecado
+ el heno tiene por bueno
+ nuestro Jesus Nazareno.
+
+ Esta entre dos animales
+ que le calientan del frio,
+ quien remedia nuestros males
+ con su grande poderio:
+ es su reino y senorio
+ el mundo y el cielo sereno,
+ y agora duerme en el heno.
+
+ Tiene por bueno sufrir
+ el frio y tanta fortuna,
+ sin tener ropa ninguna
+ con que se abrigar ni cubrir, |66|
+ y por darnos el vivir
+ padecio frio en el heno,
+ nuestro Jesus Nazareno."[25]{17}
+
+More of a peasant flavour is found in some snatches of Christmas carols
+given by Fernan Caballero in her sketch, "La Noche de Navidad."
+
+ "Ha nacido en un portal,
+ Llenito de telaranas,
+ Entre la mula y el buey
+ El Redentor de las almas.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ En el portal de Belen
+ Hay estrella, sol y luna:
+ La Virgen y San Jose
+ Y el nino que esta en la cuna.
+
+ En Belen tocan a fuego,
+ Del portal sale la llama,
+ Es una estrella del cielo,
+ Que ha caido entre la paja.
+
+ Yo soy un pobre gitano
+ Que vengo de Egipto aqui,
+ Y al nino de Dios le traigo
+ Un gallo quiquiriqui
+
+ Yo soy un pobre gallego
+ Que vengo de la Galicia,
+ Y al nino de Dios le traigo
+ Lienzo para una camisa. |67|
+
+ Al nino recien nacido
+ Todos le traen un don;
+ Yo soy chico y nada tengo;
+ Le traigo mi corazon."[26]{18}
+
+In nearly every western language one finds traditional Christmas carols.
+Europe is everywhere alive with them; they spring up like wild flowers.
+Some interesting Italian specimens are given by Signor de Gubernatis in
+his "Usi Natalizi." Here are a few stanzas from a Bergamesque cradle-song
+of the Blessed Virgin:--
+
+ "Dormi, dormi, o bel bambin,
+ Re divin.
+ Dormi, dormi, o fantolin.
+ Fa la nanna, o caro figlio,
+ Re del Ciel,
+ Tanto bel, grazioso giglio.
+
+ Chiuedi i luemi, o mio tesor,
+ Dolce amor,
+ Di quest' alma, almo Signor;
+ Fa la nanna, o regio infante,
+ Sopra il fien,
+ Caro ben, celeste amante.
+
+ Perche piangi, o bambinell,
+ Forse il giel
+ Ti da noia, o l'asinell?
+ Fa la nanna, o paradiso
+ Del mio cor,
+ Redentor, ti bacio il viso."[27]{19}
+
+|68| With this lullaby may be compared a singularly lovely and quite
+untranslatable Latin cradle-song of unknown origin:--
+
+ "Dormi, fili, dormi! mater
+ Cantat unigenito:
+ Dormi, puer, dormi! pater,
+ Nato clamat parvulo:
+ Millies tibi laudes canimus
+ Mille, mille, millies.
+
+ Lectum stravi tibi soli,
+ Dormi, nate bellule!
+ Stravi lectum foeno molli:
+ Dormi, mi animule.
+ Millies tibi laudes canimus
+ Mille, mille, millies.
+
+ Ne quid desit, sternam rosis,
+ Sternam foenum violis,
+ Pavimentum hyacinthis
+ Et praesepe liliis.
+ Millies tibi laudes canimus
+ Mille, mille, millies. |69|
+
+ Si vis musicam, pastores
+ Convocabo protinus;
+ Illis nulli sunt priores;
+ Nemo canit castius.
+ Millies tibi laudes canimus
+ Mille, mille, millies."{21}
+
+Curious little poems are found in Latin and other languages, making a
+dialogue of the cries of animals at the news of Christ's birth.{22} The
+following French example is fairly typical:--
+
+ "Comme les bestes autrefois
+ Parloient mieux latin que francois,
+ Le coq, de loin voyant le fait,
+ S'ecria: _Christus natus est._
+ Le boeuf, d'un air tout ebaubi,
+ Demande: _Ubi? Ubi? Ubi?_
+ La chevre, se tordant le groin,
+ Repond que c'est a _Bethleem_.
+ Maistre Baudet, _curiosus_
+ De l'aller voir, dit: _Eamus_;
+ Et, droit sur ses pattes, le veau
+ Beugle deux fois: _Volo, Volo!_"[28]{23}
+
+In Wales, in the early nineteenth century, carol-singing was more
+popular, perhaps, than in England; the carols were sung to the harp, in
+church at the _Plygain_ or early morning service on Christmas Day, in the
+homes of the people, and at the doors of the houses by visitors.{24} In
+Ireland, too, the custom of carol-singing then prevailed.{25} Dr.
+Douglas Hyde, in his "Religious Songs of Connacht," gives and translates
+an interesting Christmas hymn in Irish, from which two verses may be
+quoted. They set forth the great paradox of the Incarnation:--
+
+ "Little babe who art so great,
+ Child so young who art so old, |70|
+ In the manger small his room,
+ Whom not heaven itself could hold.
+
+ Father--not more old than thou?
+ Mother--younger, can it be?
+ Older, younger is the Son,
+ Younger, older, she than he."{27}
+
+Even in dour Scotland, with its hatred of religious festivals, some kind
+of carolling survived here and there among Highland folk, and a
+remarkable and very "Celtic" Christmas song has been translated from the
+Gaelic by Mr. J. A. Campbell. It begins:--
+
+ "Sing hey the Gift, sing ho the Gift,
+ Sing hey the Gift of the Living,
+ Son of the Dawn, Son of the Star,
+ Son of the Planet, Son of the Far [twice],
+ Sing hey the Gift, sing ho the Gift."{28}
+
+[Illustration:
+
+THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT: THE REST BY THE WAY
+
+MASTER OF THE SEVEN SORROWS OF MARY (ALSO ATTRIBUTED TO JOACHIM PATINIR)
+
+(_Vienna: Imperial Gallery_)]
+
+[Illustration:
+
+SINGING "VOM HIMMEL HOCH" FROM A CHURCH TOWER AT CHRISTMAS.
+
+_By Ludwig Richter._]
+
+Before I close this study with a survey of Christmas poetry in England
+after the Reformation, it may be interesting to follow the developments
+in Protestant Germany. The Reformation gave a great impetus to German
+religious song, and we owe to it some of the finest of Christmas hymns.
+It is no doubt largely due to Luther, that passionate lover of music and
+folk-poetry, that hymns have practically become the liturgy of German
+Protestantism; yet he did but give typical expression to the natural
+instincts of his countrymen for song. Luther, though a rebel, was no
+Puritan; we can hardly call him an iconoclast; he had a conservative
+mind, which only gradually became loosened from its old attachments. His
+was an essentially artistic nature: "I would fain," he said, "see all
+arts, especially music, in the service of Him who has given and created
+them," and in the matter of hymnody he continued, in many respects, the
+mediaeval German tradition. Homely, kindly, a lover of children, he had a
+deep feeling for the festival of Christmas; and not only did he translate
+into German "A solis ortus cardine" and "Veni, redemptor |71| gentium,"
+but he wrote for his little son Hans one of the most delightful and
+touching of all Christmas hymns--"Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her."
+
+ "Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her,
+ Ich bring euch gute neue Maer,
+ Der guten Maer bring ich so viel,
+ Davon ich singen und sagen will.
+
+ Euch ist ein Kindlein heut gebor'n
+ Von einer Jungfrau auserkor'n,
+ Ein Kindelein so zart und fein,
+ Das soll eu'r Freud und Wonne sein.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ Merk auf, mein Herz, und sich dort hin:
+ Was liegt doch in dem Kripplein drin?
+ Wess ist das schoene Kindelein?
+ Es ist das liebe Jesulein.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ Ach Herr, du Schoepfer aller Ding,
+ Wie bist du worden so gering,
+ Dass du da liegst auf duerrem Gras,
+ Davon ein Rind und Esel ass?
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ Ach, mein herzliebes Jesulein,
+ Mach dir ein rein sanft Bettelein,
+ Zu ruhen in mein's Herzens Schrein,
+ Dass ich nimmer vergesse dein.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ Davon ich allzeit froehlich sei,
+ Zu springen, singen immer frei
+ Das rechte Lied dem Gottessohn
+ Mit Herzenslust, den suessen Ton."[29]{29}
+
+|72| "Vom Himmel hoch" has qualities of simplicity, directness, and
+warm human feeling which link it to the less ornate forms of carol
+literature. Its first verse is adapted from a secular song; its melody
+may, perhaps, have been composed by Luther himself. There is another
+Christmas hymn of Luther's, too--"Vom Himmel kam der Engel
+Schar"--written for use when "Vom Himmel hoch" was thought too long, and
+he also composed additional verses for the mediaeval "Gelobet seist du,
+Jesu Christ."
+
+ "Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ,
+ Dass du Mensch geboren bist
+ Von einer Jungfrau, das ist wahr,
+ Des freuet sich der Engel Schar.
+ _Kyrieleis!_
+
+ Des ew'gen Vaters einig Kind
+ Jetzt man in der Krippe find't,
+ In unser armes Fleisch und Blut
+ Verkleidet sich das ewig Gut.
+ _Kyrieleis!_ |73|
+
+ Den aller Weltkreis nie beschloss,
+ Der lieget in Marie'n Schoss;
+ Er ist ein Kindlein worden klein,
+ Der alle Ding' erhaelt allein.
+ _Kyrieleis!_"[30]{31}
+
+The first stanza alone is mediaeval, the remaining six of the hymn are
+Luther's.
+
+The Christmas hymns of Paul Gerhardt, the seventeenth-century Berlin
+pastor, stand next to Luther's. They are more subjective, more finished,
+less direct and forcible. Lacking the finest qualities of poetry, they
+are nevertheless impressive by their dignity and heartiness. Made for
+music, the words alone hardly convey the full power of these hymns. They
+should be heard sung to the old chorales, massive, yet sweet, by the
+lusty voices of a German congregation. To English people they are
+probably best known through the verses introduced into the "Christmas
+Oratorio," where the old airs are given new beauty by Bach's marvellous
+harmonies. The tone of devotion, one feels, in Gerhardt and Bach is the
+same, immeasurably greater as is the genius of the composer; in both
+there is a profound joy in the Redemption begun by the Nativity, a robust
+faith joined to a deep sense of the mystery of suffering, and a keen
+sympathy with childhood, a tender fondness for the Infant King.
+
+|74| The finest perhaps of Gerhardt's hymns is the Advent "Wie soll ich
+dich empfangen?" ("How shall I fitly meet Thee?"), which comes early in
+the "Christmas Oratorio." More closely connected with the Nativity,
+however, are the _Weihnachtslieder_, "Wir singen dir, Emanuel," "O Jesu
+Christ, dein Kripplein ist," "Froehlich soll mein Herze springen," "Ich
+steh an deiner Krippen hier," and others. I give a few verses from the
+third:--
+
+ "Froehlich soll mein Herze springen
+ Dieser Zeit,
+ Da fuer Freud
+ Alle Engel singen.
+ Hoert, hoert, wie mit vollen Choren
+ Alle Luft
+ Laute ruft:
+ Christus ist geboren.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ Nun, er liegt in seiner Krippen,
+ Ruft zu sich
+ Mich und dich,
+ Spricht mit suessen Lippen:
+ Lasset fahrn, O lieben Brueder
+ Was euch quaelt,
+ Was euch fehlt;
+ Ich bring alles wieder.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ Suesses Heil, lass dich umfangen;
+ Lass mich dir,
+ Meine Zier,
+ Unverrueckt anhangen.
+ Du bist meines Lebens Leben;
+ Nun kann ich
+ Mich durch dich
+ Wohl zufrieden geben."[31]{33}
+
+|75| One more German Christmas hymn must be mentioned, Gerhard
+Tersteegen's "Jauchzet, ihr Himmel, frohlocket, ihr englischen Choere."
+Tersteegen represents one phase of the mystical and emotional reaction
+against the religious formalism and indifference of the eighteenth
+century. In the Lutheran Church the Pietists, though they never seceded,
+somewhat resembled the English Methodists; the Moravians formed a
+separate community, while from the "Reformed" or Calvinistic Church
+certain circles of spiritually-minded people, who drew inspiration from
+the mediaeval mystics and later writers like Boehme and Madame Guyon,
+gathered into more or less independent groups for religious intercourse.
+Of these last Tersteegen is a representative singer. Here are three
+verses from his best known Christmas hymn:--
+
+ "Jauchzet, ihr Himmel, frohlocket, ihr englischen Choere,
+ Singet dem Herrn, dem Heiland der Menschen, zur Ehre:
+ Sehet doch da!
+ Gott will so freundlich und nah
+ Zu den Verlornen sich kehren. |76|
+
+ Koenig der Ehren, aus Liebe geworden zum Kinde,
+ Dem ich auch wieder mein Herz in der Liebe verbinde;
+ Du sollst es sein,
+ Den ich erwaehle allein,
+ Ewig entsag' ich der Suende.
+
+ Treuer Immanuel, werd' auch in mir neu geboren;
+ Komm doch, mein Heiland, und lass mich nicht laenger verloren;
+ Wohne in mir,
+ Mach mich ganz eines mit dir,
+ Den du zum Leben erkoren."[32]{35}
+
+The note of personal religion, as distinguished from theological
+doctrine, is stronger in German Christmas poetry than in that of any
+other nation--the birth of Christ in the individual soul, not merely the
+redemption of man in general, is a central idea.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+We come back at last to England. The great carol period is, as has
+already been said, the fifteenth, and the first half of the sixteenth,
+century; after the Reformation the English domestic Christmas largely
+loses its religious colouring, and the best carols of the late sixteenth
+and early seventeenth centuries are songs of |77| feasting and pagan
+ceremonies rather than of the Holy Child and His Mother. There is no lack
+of fine Christmas verse in the Elizabethan and early Stuart periods, but
+for the most part it belongs to the oratory and the chamber rather than
+the hall. The Nativity has become a subject for private contemplation,
+for individual devotion, instead of, as in the later Middle Ages, a
+matter for common jubilation, a wonder-story that really happened, in
+which, all alike and all together, the serious and the frivolous could
+rejoice, something that, with all its marvel, could be taken as a matter
+of course, like the return of the seasons or the rising of the sun on the
+just and on the unjust.
+
+English Christmas poetry after the mid-sixteenth century is, then,
+individual rather than communal in its spirit; it is also a thing less of
+the people, more of the refined and cultivated few. The Puritanism which
+so deeply affected English religion was abstract rather than dramatic in
+its conception of Christianity, it was concerned less with the events of
+the Saviour's life than with Redemption as a transaction between God and
+man; St. Paul and the Old Testament rather than the gospels were its
+inspiration. Moreover, the material was viewed not as penetrated by and
+revealing the spiritual, but as sheer impediment blocking out the vision
+of spiritual things. Hence the extremer Puritans were completely out of
+touch with the sensuous poetry of Christmas, a festival which, as we
+shall see, they actually suppressed when they came into power.
+
+The singing of sacred carols by country people continued, indeed, but the
+creative artistic impulse was lost. True carols after the Reformation
+tend to be doggerel, and no doubt many of the traditional pieces printed
+in such collections as Bramley and Stainer's[33]{37} are debased
+survivals from the Middle Ages, or perhaps new words written for old
+tunes. Such carols as "God rest you merry, gentlemen," have unspeakably
+delightful airs, and the words charm us moderns by their quaintness and
+rusticity, but they are far from the exquisite loveliness of the
+mediaeval |78| things. Gleams of great beauty are, however, sometimes
+found amid matter that in the process of transmission has almost ceased
+to be poetry. Here, for instance, are five stanzas from the traditional
+"Cherry-tree Carol":--
+
+ "As Joseph was a-walking,
+ He heard an angel sing:
+ 'This night shall be born
+ Our heavenly King.
+
+ 'He neither shall be born
+ In housen nor in hall,
+ Nor in the place of Paradise,
+ But in an ox's stall.
+
+ 'He neither shall be clothed
+ In purple nor in pall,
+ But all in fair linen
+ As wear babies all.
+
+ 'He neither shall be rocked
+ In silver nor in gold,
+ But in a wooden cradle
+ That rocks on the mould.
+
+ 'He neither shall be christened
+ In white wine nor red,
+ But with fair spring water
+ With which we were christened.'"
+
+The old carols sung by country folk have often not much to do with the
+Nativity; they are sometimes rhymed lives of Christ or legends of the
+Holy Childhood. Of the latter class the strangest is "The Bitter Withy,"
+discovered in Herefordshire by Mr. Frank Sidgwick. It tells how the
+little Jesus asked three lads to play with Him at ball. But they
+refused:--
+
+ "'O we are lords' and ladies' sons,
+ Born in bower or in hall;
+ And you are but a poor maid's child,
+ Born in an oxen's stall.' |79|
+
+ 'If I am but a poor maid's child,
+ Born in an oxen's stall,
+ I will let you know at the very latter end
+ That I am above you all.'
+
+ So he built him a bridge with the beams of the sun,
+ And over the sea went he,
+ And after followed the three jolly jerdins,
+ And drowned they were all three.
+
+ Then Mary mild called home her child,
+ And laid him across her knee,
+ And with a handful of green withy twigs
+ She gave him slashes three.
+
+ 'O the withy, O the withy, O bitter withy
+ That causes me to smart!
+ O the withy shall be the very first tree
+ That perishes at the heart.'"
+
+From these popular ballads, mediaeval memories in the rustic mind, we
+must return to the devotional verse of the late sixteenth and early
+seventeenth centuries. Two of the greatest poets of the Nativity, the
+Roman priests Southwell and Crashaw, are deeply affected by the wave of
+mysticism which passed over Europe in their time. Familiar as is
+Southwell's "The Burning Babe," few will be sorry to find it here:--
+
+ "As I in hoary winter's night
+ Stood shivering in the snow,
+ Surprised I was with sudden heat,
+ Which made my heart to glow;
+ And lifting up a fearful eye
+ To view what fire was near,
+ A pretty Babe all burning bright
+ Did in the air appear;
+ Who, scorched with excessive heat,
+ Such floods of tears did shed,
+ As though His floods should quench His flames
+ Which with His tears were fed. |80|
+ 'Alas!' quoth He, 'but newly born,
+ In fiery heats I fry,
+ Yet none approach to warm their hearts
+ Or feel my fire, but I!
+ My faultless breast the furnace is,
+ The fuel, wounding thorns;
+ Love is the fire, and sighs the smoke,
+ The ashes, shame and scorns;
+ The fuel Justice layeth on,
+ And Mercy blows the coals,
+ The metal in this furnace wrought
+ Are men's defiled souls,
+ For which, as now on fire I am,
+ To work them to their good,
+ So will I melt into a bath,
+ To wash them in my blood.'
+ With this he vanished out of sight,
+ And swiftly shrunk away:
+ And straight I called unto mind
+ That it was Christmas Day."{38}
+
+As for Crashaw,
+
+ "That the great angel-blinding light should shrink
+ His blaze to shine in a poor shepherd's eye,
+ That the unmeasured God so low should sink
+ As Pris'ner in a few poor rags to lie,
+ That from His mother's breast He milk should drink
+ Who feeds with nectar heaven's fair family,
+ That a vile manger His low bed should prove
+ Who in a throne of stars thunders above:
+
+ That He, whom the sun serves, should faintly peep
+ Through clouds of infant flesh; that He the old
+ Eternal Word should be a Child and weep,
+ That He who made the fire should fear the cold:
+ That heaven's high majesty His court should keep
+ In a clay cottage, by each blast controll'd:
+ That glory's self should serve our griefs and fears,
+ And free Eternity submit to years--"{39}
+
+such are the wondrous paradoxes celebrated in his glowing imagery. The
+contrast of the winter snow with the burning |81| heat of Incarnate
+Love, of the blinding light of Divinity with the night's darkness, indeed
+the whole paradox of the Incarnation--Infinity in extremest
+limitation--is nowhere realized with such intensity as by him. Yet,
+magnificent as are his best lines, his verse sometimes becomes too like
+the seventeenth-century Jesuit churches, with walls overladen with
+decoration, with great languorous pictures and air heavy with incense;
+and then we long for the dewy freshness of the early carols.
+
+The representative Anglican poets of the seventeenth century, Herbert and
+Vaughan, scarcely rise to their greatest heights in their treatment of
+Christmas, but with them as with the Romanists it is the mystical note
+that is dominant. Herbert sings:--
+
+ "O Thou, whose glorious, yet contracted, light,
+ Wrapt in night's mantle, stole into a manger;
+ Since my dark soul and brutish is Thy right,
+ To man, of all beasts, be not Thou a stranger.
+
+ Furnish and deck my soul, that thou may'st have
+ A better lodging than a rack or grave."{40}
+
+And Vaughan:--
+
+ "I would I had in my best part
+ Fit rooms for Thee! or that my heart
+ Were so clean as
+ Thy manger was!
+ But I am all filth, and obscene:
+ Yet, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make clean.
+
+ Sweet Jesu! will then. Let no more
+ This leper haunt and soil thy door!
+ Cure him, ease him,
+ O release him!
+ And let once more, by mystic birth,
+ The Lord of life be born in earth."{41}
+
+In Herrick--how different a country parson from Herbert!--we find a sort
+of pagan piety towards the Divine Infant which, |82| though purely
+English in its expression, makes us think of some French _Noeliste_ or
+some present-day Italian worshipper of the _Bambino_:--
+
+ "Instead of neat enclosures
+ Of interwoven osiers,
+ Instead of fragrant posies
+ Of daffodils and roses,
+ Thy cradle, kingly Stranger,
+ As gospel tells,
+ Was nothing else
+ But here a homely manger.
+
+ But we with silks not crewels,
+ With sundry precious jewels,
+ And lily work will dress Thee;
+ And, as we dispossess Thee
+ Of clouts, we'll make a chamber,
+ Sweet Babe, for Thee,
+ Of ivory,
+ And plaster'd round with amber."{42}
+
+Poems such as Herrick's to the Babe of Bethlehem reveal in their writers
+a certain childlikeness, an _insouciance_ without irreverence, the spirit
+indeed of a child which turns to its God quite simply and naturally,
+which makes Him after its own child-image, and sees Him as a friend who
+can be pleased with trifles--almost, in fact, as a glorious playmate.
+Such a nature has no intense feeling of sin, but can ask for forgiveness
+and then forget; religion for it is rather an outward ritual to be duly
+and gracefully performed than an inward transforming power. Herrick is a
+strange exception among the Anglican singers of Christmas.
+
+Milton's great Nativity hymn, with its wondrous blending of pastoral
+simplicity and classical conceits, is too familiar for quotation here; it
+may be suggested, however, that this work of the poet's youth is far more
+Anglican than Puritan in its spirit.
+
+Sweet and solemn Spenserian echoes are these verses from Giles Fletcher's
+"Christ's Victory in Heaven":-- |83|
+
+ "Who can forget--never to be forgot--
+ The time, that all the world in slumber lies,
+ When, like the stars, the singing angels shot
+ To earth, and heaven awaked all his eyes
+ To see another sun at midnight rise
+ On earth? Was never sight of pareil fame,
+ For God before man like Himself did frame,
+ But God Himself now like a mortal man became.
+
+ A Child He was, and had not learnt to speak,
+ That with His word the world before did make;
+ His mother's arms Him bore, He was so weak,
+ That with one hand the vaults of heaven could shake,
+ See how small room my infant Lord doth take,
+ Whom all the world is not enough to hold!
+ Who of His years, or of His age hath told?
+ Never such age so young, never a child so old."{43}
+
+The old lullaby tradition is continued by Wither, though the infant in
+the cradle is an ordinary human child, who is rocked to sleep with the
+story of his Lord:--
+
+ "A little Infant once was He,
+ And strength in weakness then was laid
+ Upon His virgin-mother's knee,
+ That power to thee might be conveyed.
+ Sweet baby, then, forbear to weep;
+ Be still, my babe; sweet baby, sleep.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ Within a manger lodged thy Lord,
+ Where oxen lay and asses fed;
+ Warm rooms we do to thee afford,
+ An easy cradle or a bed.
+ Sweet baby, then, forbear to weep;
+ Be still, my babe; sweet baby, sleep."{44}
+
+When we come to the eighteenth century we find, where we might least
+expect it, among the moral verses of Dr. Watts, a charming cradle-song
+conceived in just the same way:-- |84|
+
+ "Hush, my dear, lie still and slumber,
+ Holy angels guard thy bed!
+ Heavenly blessings without number
+ Gently falling on thy head.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ Soft and easy is thy cradle;
+ Coarse and hard thy Saviour lay.
+ When His birthplace was a stable,
+ And His softest bed was hay.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ Lo He slumbers in His manger
+ Where the horned oxen fed;
+ --Peace, my darling, here's no danger;
+ Here's no ox a-near thy bed."{45}
+
+It is to the eighteenth century that the three most popular of English
+Christmas hymns belong. Nahum Tate's "While shepherds watched their
+flocks by night"--one of the very few hymns (apart from metrical psalms)
+in common use in the Anglican Church before the nineteenth century--is a
+bald and apparently artless paraphrase of St. Luke which, by some
+accident, has attained dignity, and is aided greatly by the simple and
+noble tune now attached to it. Charles Wesley's "Hark, the herald angels
+sing," or--as it should be--"Hark, how all the welkin rings," is much
+admired by some, but to the present writer seems a mere piece of
+theological rhetoric. Byrom's "Christians, awake, salute the happy morn,"
+has the stiffness and formality or its period, but it is not without a
+certain quaintness and dignity. One could hardly expect fine Christmas
+poetry of an age whose religion was on the one hand staid, rational,
+unimaginative, and on the other "Evangelical" in the narrow sense,
+finding its centre in the Atonement rather than the Incarnation.
+
+The revived mediaevalism, religious and aesthetic, of the nineteenth
+century, produced a number of Christmas carols. Some, like Swinburne's
+"Three damsels in the queen's chamber," with |85| its exquisite verbal
+music and delightful colour, and William Morris's less successful
+"Masters, in this hall," and "Outlanders, whence come ye last?" are the
+work of unbelievers and bear witness only to the aesthetic charm of the
+Christmas story; but there are others, mostly from Roman or
+Anglo-Catholic sources, of real religious inspiration.[34] The most
+spontaneous are Christina Rossetti's, whose haunting rhythms and delicate
+feeling are shown at their best in her songs of the Christ Child. More
+studied and self-conscious are the austere Christmas verses of Lionel
+Johnson and the graceful carols of Professor Selwyn Image. In one poem
+Mr. Image strikes a deeper and stronger note than elsewhere; its solemn
+music takes us back to an earlier century:--
+
+ "Consider, O my soul, what morn is this!
+ Whereon the eternal Lord of all things made,
+ For us, poor mortals, and our endless bliss,
+ Came down from heaven; and, in a manger laid,
+ The first, rich, offerings of our ransom paid:
+ Consider, O my soul, what morn is this!"{46}
+
+Not a few contemporary poets have given us Christmas carols or poems.
+Among the freshest and most natural are those of Katharine Tynan, while
+Mr. Gilbert Chesterton has written some Christmas lyrics full of colour
+and vitality, and with a true mystical quality. Singing of Christmas, Mr.
+Chesterton is at his best; he has instinctive sympathy with the spirit of
+the festival, its human kindliness, its democracy, its sacramentalism,
+its exaltation of the child:--
+
+ "The thatch of the roof was as golden
+ Though dusty the straw was and old;
+ The wind had a peal as of trumpets,
+ Though blowing and barren and cold. |86|
+
+ The mother's hair was a glory,
+ Though loosened and torn;
+ For under the eaves in the gloaming
+ A child was born."{47}
+
+Thus opens a fine poem on the Nativity as symbolizing miracle of birth,
+of childhood with its infinite possibilities, eternal renewal of faith
+and hope.
+
+|87| |88| |89|
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+CHRISTMAS IN LITURGY AND POPULAR DEVOTION
+
+
+ Advent and Christmas Offices of the Roman Church--The Three Masses of
+ Christmas, their Origin and their Celebration in Rome--The Midnight
+ Mass in Many Lands--Protestant Survivals of the Night
+ Services--Christmas in the Greek Church--The Eastern Epiphany and the
+ Blessing of the Waters--The _Presepio_ or Crib, its Supposed
+ Institution by St. Francis--Early Traces of the Crib--The Crib in
+ Germany, Tyrol, &c.--Cradle-rocking in Mediaeval Germany--Christmas
+ Minstrels in Italy and Sicily--The _Presepio_ in Italy--Ceremonies
+ with the _Culla_ and the _Bambino_ in Rome--Christmas in Italian
+ London--The Spanish Christmas--Possible Survivals of the Crib in
+ England.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+THE NATIVITY.
+
+From Add. MS. 32454 in the British Museum
+
+(French, 15th century).]
+
+From a study of Christmas as reflected in lyric poetry, we now pass to
+other forms of devotion in which the Church has welcomed the Redeemer at
+His birth. These are of two kinds--liturgical and popular; and they
+correspond in a large degree to the successive ways of apprehending the
+meaning of Christmas which we traced in the foregoing chapters. Strictly
+liturgical devotions are little understanded of the people: only the
+clergy can fully join in them; for the mass of the lay folk they are
+mysterious rites in an unknown tongue, to be followed with reverence, as
+far as may be, but remote and little penetrated with humanity. Side by
+side with these, however, are popular devotions, full of vivid colour,
+highly anthropomorphic, bringing the mysteries of religion within the
+reach of the simplest minds, and warm with human feeling. The austere
+Latin hymns of the earlier centuries belong to liturgy; the vernacular
+Christmas poetry of later ages is largely associated with popular
+devotion.
+
+|90| Liturgiology is a vast and complicated, and except to the few, an
+unattractive, subject. To attempt here a survey of the liturgies in their
+relation to Christmas is obviously impossible; we must be content to
+dwell mainly upon the present-day Roman offices, which, in spite of
+various revisions, give some idea of the mediaeval services of Latin
+Christianity, and to cast a few glances at other western rites, and at
+those of the Greek Church.
+
+Whatever may be his attitude towards Catholicism, or, indeed,
+Christianity, no one sensitive to the music of words, or the suggestions
+of poetic imagery, can read the Roman Breviary and Missal without
+profound admiration for the amazing skill with which the noblest passages
+of Hebrew poetry are chosen and fitted to the expression of Christian
+devotion, and the gold of psalmists, prophets, and apostles is welded
+into coronals for the Lord and His saints. The office-books of the Roman
+Church are, in one aspect, the greatest of anthologies.
+
+Few parts of the Roman Breviary have more beauty than the Advent[35]
+offices, where the Church has brought together the majestic imagery of
+the Hebrew prophets, the fervent exhortation of the apostles, to prepare
+the minds of the faithful for the coming of the Christ, for the
+celebration of the Nativity.
+
+Advent begins with a stirring call. If we turn to the opening service of
+the Christian Year, the First Vespers of the First Sunday in Advent, we
+shall find as the first words in the "Proper of the Season" the
+trumpet-notes of St. Paul: "Brethren, it is high time to awake out of
+sleep; for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed." This, the
+Little Chapter for the office, is followed by the ancient hymn, "Creator
+alme siderum,"{1} chanting in awful tones the two comings of |91|
+Christ, for redemption and for judgment; and then are sung the words that
+strike the keynote of the Advent services, and are heard again and again.
+
+ "_Rorate, coeli, desuper, et nubes pluant Justum_
+ (Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down the
+ Righteous One).
+ _Aperiatur terra et germinet Salvatorem_
+ (Let the earth open, and let her bring forth the Saviour)."
+
+_Rorate, coeli, desuper_--Advent is a time of longing expectancy. It is a
+season of waiting patiently for the Lord, whose coming in great humility
+is to be commemorated at Christmas, to whose coming again in His glorious
+majesty to judge both the quick and the dead the Christian looks forward
+with mingled hope and awe. There are four weeks in Advent, and an ancient
+symbolical explanation interprets these as typifying four comings of the
+Son of God: the first in the flesh, the second in the hearts of the
+faithful through the Holy Spirit, the third at the death of every man,
+and the fourth at the Judgment Day. The fourth week is never completed
+(Christmas Eve is regarded as not part of Advent), because the glory
+bestowed on the saints at the Last Coming will never end.
+
+The great Eucharistic hymn, "Gloria in excelsis," is omitted in Advent,
+in order, say the symbolists, that on Christmas night, when it was first
+sung by the angels, it may be chanted with the greater eagerness and
+devotion. The "Te Deum" at Matins too is left unsaid, because Christ is
+regarded as not yet come. But "Alleluia" is not omitted, because Advent
+is only half a time of penitence: there is awe at the thought of the
+Coming for Judgment, but joy also in the hope of the Incarnation to be
+celebrated at Christmas, and the glory in store for the faithful.{3}
+
+Looking forward is above all things the note of Advent; the Church seeks
+to share the mood of the Old Testament saints, and she draws more now
+than at any other season, perhaps, on the treasures of Hebrew prophecy
+for her lessons, antiphons, versicles, and responds. Looking for the
+glory that shall be revealed, she awaits, at this darkest time of the
+year, the rising |92| of the Sun of Righteousness. _Rorate, coeli,
+desuper_--the mood comes at times to all idealists, and even those
+moderns who hope not for a supernatural Redeemer, but for the triumph of
+social justice on this earth, must be stirred by the poetry of the Advent
+offices.
+
+It is at Vespers on the seven days before Christmas Eve that the Church's
+longing finds its noblest expression--in the antiphons known as the
+"Great O's," sung before and after the "Magnificat," one on each day. "O
+Sapientia," runs the first, "O Wisdom, which camest out of the mouth of
+the Most High, and reachest from one end to another, mightily and sweetly
+ordering all things: come and teach us the way of prudence." "O Adonai,"
+"O Root of Jesse," "O Key of David," "O Day-spring, Brightness of Light
+Everlasting," "O King of the Nations," thus the Church calls to her Lord,
+"O Emmanuel, our King and Lawgiver, the Desire of all nations, and their
+Salvation: come and save us, O Lord our God."{4}
+
+At last Christmas Eve is here, and at Vespers we feel the nearness of the
+great Coming. "Lift up your heads: behold your redemption draweth nigh,"
+is the antiphon for the last psalm. "To-morrow shall be done away the
+iniquity of the earth," is the versicle after the Office Hymn. And before
+and after the "Magnificat" the Church sings: "When the sun shall have
+risen, ye shall see the King of kings coming forth from the Father, as a
+bridegroom out of his chamber."
+
+Yet only with the night office of Matins does the glory of the festival
+begin. There is a special fitness at Christmas in the Church's keeping
+watch by night, like the shepherds of Bethlehem, and the office is full
+of the poetry of the season, full of exultant joy. To the "Venite,
+exultemus Domino" a Christmas note is added by the oft-repeated
+Invitatory, "Unto us the Christ is born: O come, let us adore Him."
+Psalms follow--among them the three retained by the Anglican Church in
+her Christmas Matins--and lessons from the Old and New Testaments and the
+homilies of the Fathers, interspersed with Responsories bringing home to
+the faithful the wonders of the Holy Night. Some are almost dramatic;
+this, for instance:-- |93|
+
+ "Whom saw ye, O shepherds? speak; tell us who hath appeared on the earth.
+ We saw the new-born Child, and angels singing praise unto the Lord.
+ Speak, what saw ye? and tell us of the birth of Christ.
+ We saw the new-born Child, and angels singing praise unto the Lord."
+
+It is the wonder of the Incarnation, the marvel of the spotless Birth,
+the song of the Angels, the coming down from heaven of true peace, the
+daybreak of redemption and everlasting joy, the glory of the
+Only-begotten, now beheld by men--the supernatural side, in fact, of the
+festival, that the Church sets forth in her radiant words; there is
+little thought of the purely human side, the pathos of Bethlehem.
+
+It was customary at certain places, in mediaeval times, to lay on the
+altar three veils, and remove one at each nocturn of Christmas Matins.
+The first was black, and symbolised the time of darkness before the
+Mosaic Law; the second white, typifying, it would seem, the faith of
+those who lived under that Law of partial revelation; the third red,
+showing the love of Christ's bride, the Church, in the time of grace
+flowing from the Incarnation.{5}
+
+A stately ceremony took place in England in the Middle Ages at the end of
+Christmas Matins--the chanting of St. Matthew's genealogy of Christ. The
+deacon, in his dalmatic, with acolytes carrying tapers, with thurifer and
+cross-bearer, all in albs and unicles, went in procession to the pulpit
+or the rood-loft, to sing this portion of the Gospel. If the bishop were
+present, he it was who chanted it, and a rich candlestick was held to
+light him.[36] Then followed the chanting of the "Te Deum."{6} The
+ceremony does not appear in the ordinary Roman books, but it is still
+performed by the Benedictines, as one may read in the striking account of
+the monastic Christmas given by Huysmans in "L'Oblat."{7}
+
+|94| Where, as in religious communities, the offices of the Church are
+performed in their full order, there follows on Matins that custom
+peculiar to Christmas, the celebration of Midnight Mass. On Christmas
+morning every priest is permitted to say three Masses, which should in
+strictness be celebrated at midnight, at dawn, and in full daylight. Each
+has its own Collect, Epistle, and Gospel, each its own Introit, Gradual,
+and other anthems. In many countries the Midnight Mass is the distinctive
+Christmas service, a great and unique event in the year, something which
+by its strangeness gives to the feast of the Nativity a place by itself.
+Few Catholic rites are more impressive than this Midnight Mass,
+especially in country places; through the darkness and cold of the
+winter's night, often for long distances, the faithful journey to worship
+the Infant Saviour in the splendour of the lighted church. It is a
+re-enactment of the visit of the shepherds to the cave at Bethlehem,
+aglow with supernatural light.
+
+Various symbolical explanations of the three Masses were given by
+mediaeval writers. The midnight celebration was supposed to represent
+mankind's condition before the Law of Moses, when thick darkness covered
+the earth; the second, at dawn, the time of the Law and the Prophets with
+its growing light; the third, in full daylight, the Christian era of
+light and grace. Another interpretation, adopted by St. Thomas Aquinas,
+is more mystical; the three Masses stand for the threefold birth of
+Christ, the first typifying the dark mystery of the eternal generation of
+the Son, the second the birth of Christ the morning-star within the
+hearts of men, the third the bodily birth of the Son of Mary.{8}
+
+At the Christmas Masses the "Gloria in excelsis" resounds again. This
+song of the angels was at first chanted only at Christmas; it was
+introduced into Rome during the fifth century at Midnight Mass in
+imitation of the custom of the Church of Jerusalem.{9}
+
+It is, indeed, from imitation of the services at Jerusalem and Bethlehem
+that the three Roman Masses of Christmas seem to have sprung. From a late
+fourth-century document known as |95| the "Peregrinatio Silviae," the
+narrative of a pilgrimage to the holy places of the east by a great lady
+from southern Gaul, it appears that at the feast of the Epiphany--when
+the Birth of Christ was commemorated in the Palestinian Church--two
+successive "stations" were held, one at Bethlehem, the other at
+Jerusalem. At Bethlehem the station was held at night on the eve of the
+feast, then a procession was made to the church of the Anastasis or
+Resurrection--where was the Holy Sepulchre--arriving "about the hour when
+one man begins to recognise another, _i.e._, near daylight, but before
+the day has fully broken." There a psalm was sung, prayers were said, and
+the catechumens and faithful were blessed by the bishop. Later, Mass was
+celebrated at the Great Church at Golgotha, and the procession returned
+to the Anastasis, where another Mass was said.{10}
+
+At Bethlehem at the present time impressive services are held on the
+Latin Christmas Day. The Patriarch comes from Jerusalem, with a troop of
+cavalry and Kavasses in gorgeous array. The office lasts from 10 o'clock
+on Christmas Eve until long after midnight. "At the reading of the Gospel
+the clergy and as many of the congregation as can follow leave the
+church, and proceed by a flight of steps and a tortuous rock-hewn passage
+to the Grotto of the Nativity, an irregular subterranean chamber, long
+and narrow. They carry with them a waxen image of an infant--the
+_bambino_--wrap it in swaddling bands and lay it on the site which is
+said to be that of the manger."{11}
+
+The Midnight Mass appears to have been introduced into Rome in the first
+half of the fifth century. It was celebrated by the Pope in the church of
+Santa Maria Maggiore, while the second Mass was sung by him at Sant'
+Anastasia--perhaps because of the resemblance of the name to the
+Anastasis at Jerusalem--and the third at St. Peter's.{12} On Christmas
+Eve the Pope held a solemn "station" at Santa Maria Maggiore, and two
+Vespers were sung, the first very simple, the second, at which the Pope
+pontificated, with elaborate ceremonial. Before the second Vespers, in
+the twelfth century, a good meal had to |96| be prepared for the papal
+household by the Cardinal-Bishop of Albano. After Matins and Midnight
+Mass at Santa Maria Maggiore, the Pope went in procession to Sant'
+Anastasia for Lauds and the Mass of the Dawn. The third Mass, at St.
+Peter's, was an event of great solemnity, and at it took place in the
+year 800 that profoundly significant event, the coronation of Charlemagne
+by Leo III.--a turning-point in European history.{13}
+
+Later it became the custom for the Pope, instead of proceeding to St.
+Peter's, to return to Santa Maria Maggiore for the third Mass. On his
+arrival he was given a cane with a lighted candle affixed to it; with
+this he had to set fire to some tow placed on the capitals of the
+columns.{14} The ecclesiastical explanation of this strange ceremony was
+that it symbolised the end of the world by fire, but one may conjecture
+that some pagan custom lay at its root. Since 1870 the Pope, as "the
+prisoner of the Vatican," has of course ceased to celebrate at Santa
+Maria Maggiore or Sant' Anastasia. The Missal, however, still shows a
+trace of the papal visit to Sant' Anastasia in a commemoration of this
+saint which comes as a curious parenthesis in the Mass of the Dawn.
+
+On Christmas Day in the Vatican the Pope blesses a hat and a sword, and
+these are sent as gifts to some prince. The practice is said to have
+arisen from the mediaeval custom for the Holy Roman Emperor or some other
+sovereign to read one of the lessons at Christmas Matins, in the papal
+chapel, with his sword drawn.{15}
+
+Celebrated in countries as distant from one another, both geographically
+and in character, as Ireland and Sicily, Poland and South America, the
+Midnight Mass naturally varies greatly in its tone and setting. Sometimes
+it is little more than a fashionable function, sometimes the devotion of
+those who attend is shown by a tramp over miles of snow through the
+darkness and the bitter wind.
+
+In some charming memories of the Christmas of her childhood, Madame Th.
+Bentzon thus describes the walk to the Midnight Mass in a French country
+place about sixty years ago:-- |97|
+
+ "I can see myself as a little girl, bundled up to the tip of
+ my nose in furs and knitted shawls, tiny wooden shoes on my feet, a
+ lantern in my hand, setting out with my parents for the Midnight Mass
+ of Christmas Eve.... We started off, a number of us, together in a
+ stream of light.... Our lanterns cast great shadows on the white
+ road, crisp with frost. As our little group advanced it saw others on
+ their way, people from the farm and from the mill, who joined us, and
+ once on the Place de l'Eglise we found ourselves with all the
+ parishioners in a body. No one spoke--the icy north wind cut short
+ our breath; but the voice of the chimes filled the silence.... We
+ entered, accompanied by a gust of wind that swept into the porch at
+ the same time we did; and the splendours of the altar, studded with
+ lights, green with pine and laurel branches, dazzled us from the
+ threshold."{16}
+
+In devout Tyrol, the scenes on Christmas Eve before the Midnight Mass are
+often extremely impressive, particularly in narrow valleys where the
+houses lie scattered on the mountain slopes. Long before midnight the
+torches lighting the faithful on their way to Mass begin to twinkle;
+downward they move, now hidden in pine-woods and ravines, now reappearing
+on the open hill-side. More and more lights show themselves and throw
+ruddy flashes on the snow, until at last, the floor of the valley
+reached, they vanish, and only the church windows glow through the
+darkness, while the solemn strains of the organ and chanting break the
+silence of the night.{17}
+
+Not everywhere has the great Mass been celebrated amid scenes so still
+and devotional. In Madrid, says a writer of the early nineteenth century,
+"the evening of the vigil is scarcely dark when numbers of men, women,
+and boys are seen traversing the streets with torches, and many of them
+supplied with tambourines, which they strike loudly as they move along in
+a kind of Bacchanal procession. There is a tradition here that the
+shepherds who visited Bethlehem on the day of the Nativity had
+instruments of this sort upon which they expressed the sentiment of joy
+that animated them when they received the intelligence that a Saviour was
+born." At the Midnight Mass crowds of people who, perhaps, had been
+traversing the streets the whole night, came into the church |98| with
+their tambourines and guitars, and accompanied the organ. The Mass over,
+they began to dance in the very body of the church.{18} A later writer
+speaks of the Midnight Mass in Madrid as a fashionable function to which
+many gay young people went in order to meet one another.{19} Such is the
+character of the service in the Spanish-American cities. In Lima the
+streets on Christmas Eve are crowded with gaily dressed and noisy folks,
+many of them masked, and everybody goes to the Mass.{20} In Paris the
+elaborate music attracts enormous and often not very serious crowds. In
+Sicily there is sometimes extraordinary irreverence at the midnight
+services: people take provisions with them to eat in church, and from
+time to time go out to an inn for a drink, and between the offices they
+imitate the singing of birds.{21} We may see in such things the licence
+of pagan festivals creeping within the very walls of the sanctuary.
+
+In the Rhineland Midnight Mass has been abolished, because the
+conviviality of Christmas Eve led to unseemly behaviour at the solemn
+service, but Mass is still celebrated very early--at four or five--and
+great crowds of worshippers attend. It is a stirring thing, this first
+Mass of Christmas, in some ancient town, when from the piercing cold, the
+intense stillness of the early morning, one enters a great church
+thronged with people, bright with candles, warm with human fellowship,
+and hears the vast congregation break out into a slow solemn chorale,
+full of devout joy that
+
+ "In Bethlehem geboren
+ Ist uns ein Kindelein."
+
+It is interesting to trace survivals of the nocturnal Christmas offices
+in Protestant countries. In German "Evangelical" churches, midnight or
+early morning services were common in the eighteenth century; but they
+were forbidden in some places because of the riot and drunkenness which
+accompanied them. The people seem to have regarded them as a part of
+their Christmas revellings rather than as sacred functions; one writer
+compares the congregation to a crowd of wild drunken sailors in a |99|
+tavern, another gives disgusting particulars of disorders in a church
+where the only sober man was the preacher.{22}
+
+In Sweden the Christmas service is performed very early in the morning,
+the chancel is lighted up with many candles, and the celebrant is vested
+in a white chasuble with golden orphreys.{23}
+
+A Midnight Mass is now celebrated in many Anglican churches, but this is
+purely a modern revival. The most distinct British _survival_ is to be
+found in Wales in the early service known as _Plygain_ (dawn), sometimes
+a celebration of the Communion. At Tenby at four o'clock on Christmas
+morning it was customary for the young men of the town to escort the
+rector with lighted torches from his house to the church. Extinguishing
+their torches in the porch, they went in to the early service, and when
+it was ended the torches were relighted and the procession returned to
+the rectory. At St. Peter's Church, Carmarthen, an early service was
+held, to the light of coloured candles brought by the congregation. At
+St. Asaph, Caerwys, at 4 or 5 a.m., _Plygain_, consisting of carols sung
+round the church in procession, was held.{24} The _Plygain_ continued in
+Welsh churches until about the eighteen-fifties, and, curiously enough,
+when the Established Church abandoned it, it was celebrated in
+Nonconformist chapels.{25}
+
+In the Isle of Man on Christmas Eve, or _Oiel Verry_ (Mary's Eve), "a
+number of persons used to assemble in each parish church and proceed to
+shout carols or 'Carvals.' There was no unison or concert about the
+chanting, but a single person would stand up with a lighted candle in his
+or her hand, and chant in a dismal monotone verse after verse of some old
+Manx 'Carval,' until the candle was burnt out. Then another person would
+start up and go through a similar performance. No fresh candles might be
+lighted after the clock had chimed midnight."{26}
+
+One may conjecture that the common English practice of ringing bells
+until midnight on Christmas Eve has also some connection with the
+old-time Midnight Mass.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+For the Greek Church Christmas is a comparatively unimportant festival by
+the side of the Epiphany, the celebration of |100| Christ's Baptism;
+the Christmas offices are, however, full of fine poetry. There is far
+less restraint, far less adherence to the words of Scripture, far greater
+richness of original composition, in the Greek than in the Roman
+service-books, and while there is less poignancy there is more amplitude
+and splendour. Christmas Day, with the Greeks, is a commemoration of the
+coming of the Magi as well as of the Nativity and the adoration of the
+shepherds, and the Wise Men are very prominent in the services. The
+following hymn of St. Anatolius (fifth century), from the First Vespers
+of the feast, is fairly typical of the character of the Christmas
+offices:--
+
+ "When Jesus Our Lord was born of Her,
+ The Holy Virgin, all the universe
+ Became enlightened.
+ For as the shepherds watched their flocks,
+ And as the Magi came to pray,
+ And as the Angels sang their hymn
+ Herod was troubled; for God in flesh appeared,
+ The Saviour of our souls.
+
+ Thy kingdom, Christ our God, the kingdom is
+ Of all the worlds, and Thy dominion
+ O'er every generation bears the sway,
+ Incarnate of the Holy Ghost,
+ Man of the Ever-Virgin Mary,
+ By Thy presence, Christ our God,
+ Thou hast shined a Light on us.
+ Light of Light, the Brightness of the Father,
+ Thou hast beamed on every creature.
+ All that hath breath doth praise Thee,
+ Image of the Father's glory.
+ Thou who art, and wast before,
+ God who shinedst from the Maid,
+ Have mercy upon us.
+
+ What gift shall we bring to Thee,
+ O Christ, since Thou as Man on earth
+ For us hast shewn Thyself? |101|
+ Since every creature made by Thee
+ Brings to Thee its thanksgiving.
+ The Angels bring their song,
+ The Heavens bring their star,
+ The Magi bring their gifts,
+ The Shepherds bring their awe,
+ Earth gives a cave, the wilderness a manger,
+ And we the Virgin-Mother bring.
+ God before all worlds, have mercy upon us!"{27}
+
+A beautiful rite called the "Peace of God" is performed in Slavonic
+churches at the end of the "Liturgy" or Mass on Christmas morning--the
+people kiss one another on both cheeks, saying, "Christ is born!" To this
+the answer is made, "Of a truth He is born!" and the kisses are returned.
+This is repeated till everyone has kissed and been kissed by all
+present.{28}
+
+ * * * * *
+
+We must pass rapidly over the feasts of saints within the Octave of the
+western Christmas, St. Stephen (December 26), St. John the Evangelist
+(December 27), the Holy Innocents (December 28), and St. Sylvester
+(December 31). None of these, except the feast of the Holy Innocents,
+have any special connection with the Nativity or the Infancy, and the
+popular customs connected with them will come up for consideration in our
+Second Part.
+
+The commemoration of the Circumcision ("when eight days were accomplished
+for the circumcising of the child") falls naturally on January 1, the
+Octave of Christmas. It is not of Roman origin, and was not observed in
+Rome until it had long been established in the Byzantine and Gallican
+Churches.{29} In Gaul, as is shown by a decree of the Council of Tours
+in 567, a solemn fast was held on the Circumcision and the two days
+following it, in order to turn away the faithful from the pagan
+festivities of the Kalends.{30}
+
+The feast of the Epiphany on January 6, as we have seen, is in the
+eastern Church a commemoration of the Baptism of Christ. In the West it
+has become primarily the festival of the adoration |102| of the Magi,
+the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles. Still in the Roman offices
+many traces of the baptismal commemoration remain, and the memory of yet
+another manifestation of Christ's glory appears in the antiphon at
+"Magnificat" at the Second Vespers of the feast:--
+
+ "We keep holy a day adorned by three wonders: to-day a star led the
+ Magi to the manger; to-day at the marriage water was made wine;
+ to-day for our salvation Christ was pleased to be baptized of John in
+ Jordan. Alleluia."
+
+On the Octave of the Epiphany at Matins the Baptism is the central idea,
+and the Gospel at Mass bears on the same subject. In Rome itself even the
+Blessing of the Waters, the distinctive ceremony of the eastern Epiphany
+rite, is performed in certain churches according to a Latin ritual.{31}
+At Sant' Andrea della Valle, Rome, during the Octave of the Epiphany a
+Solemn Mass is celebrated every morning in Latin, and afterwards, on each
+of the days from January 7-13, there follows a Mass according to one of
+the eastern rites: Greco-Slav, Armenian, Chaldean, Coptic,
+Greco-Ruthenian, Greco-Melchite, and Greek.{32} It is a week of great
+opportunities for the liturgiologist and the lover of strange ceremonial.
+
+The Blessing of the Waters is an important event in all countries where
+the Greek Church prevails. In Greece the "Great Blessing," as it is
+called, is performed in various ways according to the locality; sometimes
+the sea is blessed, sometimes a river or reservoir, sometimes merely
+water in a church. In seaport towns, where the people depend on the water
+for their living, the celebration has much pomp and elaborateness. At the
+Piraeus enormous and enthusiastic crowds gather, and there is a solemn
+procession of the bishop and clergy to the harbour, where the bishop
+throws a little wooden cross, held by a long blue ribbon, into the water,
+withdraws it dripping wet, and sprinkles the bystanders. This is done
+three times. At Nauplia and other places a curious custom prevails: the
+archbishop throws a wooden cross into the waters of the harbour, and the
+fishermen |103| of the place dive in after it and struggle for its
+possession; he who wins it has the right of visiting all the houses of
+the town and levying a collection, which often brings in a large sum. In
+Samos all the women send to the church a vessel full of water to be
+blessed by the priest; with this water the fields and the trees are
+sprinkled.{33}
+
+The sense attached to the ceremony by the Church is shown in this
+prayer:--
+
+ "Thou didst sanctify the streams of Jordan by sending from Heaven Thy
+ Holy Spirit, and by breaking the heads of the dragons lurking there.
+ Therefore, O King, Lover of men, be Thou Thyself present also now by
+ the visitation of Thy Holy Spirit, and sanctify this water. Give also
+ to it the grace of ransom, the blessing of Jordan: make it a fountain
+ of incorruption; a gift of sanctification; a washing away of sins; a
+ warding off of diseases; destruction to demons; repulsion to the
+ hostile powers; filled with angelic strength; that all who take and
+ receive of it may have it for purification of souls and bodies, for
+ healing of sicknesses, for sanctification of houses, and meet for
+ every need."{34}
+
+Though for the Church the immersion of the cross represents the Baptism
+of Christ, and the blessings springing from that event are supposed to be
+carried to the people by the sprinkling with the water, it is held by
+some students that the whole practice is a Christianization of a
+primitive rain-charm--a piece of sympathetic magic intended to produce
+rain by imitating the drenching which it gives. An Epiphany song from
+Imbros connects the blessing of rain with the Baptism of Christ, and
+another tells how at the river Jordan "a dove came down, white and
+feathery, and with its wings opened; it sent rain down on the Lord, and
+again it rained and rained on our Lady, and again it rained and rained on
+its wings."{35}
+
+The Blessing of the Waters is performed in the Greek church of St.
+Sophia, Bayswater, London, on the morning of the Epiphany, which, through
+the difference between the old and new "styles," falls on our 19th of
+January. All is done within the church; the water to be blessed is placed
+on a table under |104| the dome, and is sanctified by the immersion of
+a small cross; afterwards it is sprinkled on everyone present, and some
+is taken home by the faithful in little vessels.{36}
+
+In Moscow and St. Petersburg the Blessing is a function of great
+magnificence, but it is perhaps even more interesting as performed in
+Russian country places. Whatever may be the orthodox significance of the
+rite, to the country people it is the chasing away of "forest demons,
+sprites, and fairies, once the gods the peasants worshipped, but now
+dethroned from their high estate," who in the long dark winter nights
+bewitch and vex the sons of men. A vivid and imaginative account of the
+ceremony and its meaning to the peasants is given by Mr. F. H. E. Palmer
+in his "Russian Life in Town and Country." The district in which he
+witnessed it was one of forests and of lakes frozen in winter. On one of
+these lakes had been erected "a huge cross, constructed of blocks of ice,
+that glittered like diamonds in the brilliant winter sunlight.... At
+length, far away could be heard the sound of human voices, singing a
+strange, wild melody. Presently there was a movement in the snow among
+the trees, and waving banners appeared as a procession approached, headed
+by the pope in his vestments, and surrounded by the village dignitaries,
+venerable, grey-bearded patriarchs." A wide space in the procession was
+left for "a strange and motley band of gnomes and sprites, fairies and
+wood-nymphs," who, as the peasants believed, had been caught by the holy
+singing and the sacred sign on the waving banner. The chanting still went
+on as the crowd formed a circle around the glittering cross, and all
+looked on with awe while half a dozen peasants with their axes cut a
+large hole in the ice. "And now the priest's voice is heard, deep and
+sonorous, as he pronounces the words of doom. Alas for the poor sprites!
+Into that yawning chasm they must leap, and sink deep, deep below the
+surface of that ice-cold water."{37}
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Following these eastern Epiphany rites we have wandered far from the
+cycle of ideas generally associated with Christmas. We |105| must now
+pass to those popular devotions to the Christ Child which, though they
+form no part of the Church's liturgy, she has permitted and encouraged.
+It is in the West that we shall find them; the Latin Church, as we have
+seen, makes far more of Christmas than the Greek.
+
+Rome is often condemned for using in her liturgy the dead language of
+Latin, but it must not be forgotten that in every country she offers to
+the faithful a rich store of devotional literature in their own tongue,
+and that, supplementary to the liturgical offices, there is much public
+prayer and praise in the vernacular. Nor, in that which appeals to the
+eye, does she limit herself to the mysterious symbolism of the sacraments
+and the ritual which surrounds them; she gives to the people concrete,
+pictorial images to quicken their faith. How ritual grew in mediaeval
+times into full-fledged drama we shall see in the next chapter; here let
+us consider that cult of the Christ Child in which the scene of Bethlehem
+is represented not by living actors but in plastic art, often most simple
+and homely.
+
+The use of the "crib" (French _creche_, Italian _presepio_, German
+_krippe_) at Christmas is now universally diffused in the Roman Church.
+Most readers of this book must have seen one of these structures
+representing the stable at Bethlehem, with the Child in the manger, His
+mother and St. Joseph, the ox and the ass, and perhaps the shepherds, the
+three kings, or worshipping angels. They are the delight of children, who
+through the season of Christmas and Epiphany wander into the open
+churches at all times of day to gaze wide-eyed on the life-like scene and
+offer a prayer to their Little Brother. No one with anything of the
+child-spirit can fail to be touched by the charm of the Christmas crib.
+Faults of artistic taste there may often be, but these are wont to be
+softened down by the flicker of tapers, the glow of ruby lights, amidst
+the shades of some dim aisle or chapel, and the scene of tender humanity,
+gently, mysteriously radiant, as though with "bright shoots of
+everlastingness," is full of religious and poetic suggestions.
+
+The institution of the _presepio_ is often ascribed to St. Francis of
+Assisi, who in the year 1224 celebrated Christmas at Greccio |106| with
+a Bethlehem scene with a real ox and ass. About fifteen days before the
+Nativity, according to Thomas of Celano, the blessed Francis sent for a
+certain nobleman, John by name, and said to him: "If thou wilt that we
+celebrate the present festival of the Lord at Greccio, make haste to go
+before and diligently prepare what I tell thee. For I would fain make
+memorial of that Child who was born in Bethlehem, and in some sort behold
+with bodily eyes His infant hardships; how He lay in a manger on the hay,
+with the ox and the ass standing by." The good man prepared all that the
+Saint had commanded, and at last the day of gladness drew nigh. The
+brethren were called from many convents; the men and women of the town
+prepared tapers and torches to illuminate the night. Finding all things
+ready, Francis beheld and rejoiced: the manger had been prepared, the hay
+was brought, and the ox and ass were led in. "Thus Simplicity was
+honoured, Poverty exalted, Humility commended, and of Greccio there was
+made as it were a new Bethlehem. The night was lit up as the day, and was
+delightsome to men and beasts.... The woodland rang with voices, the
+rocks made answer to the jubilant throng." Francis stood before the
+manger, "overcome with tenderness and filled with wondrous joy"; Mass was
+celebrated, and he, in deacon's vestments, chanted the Holy Gospel in an
+"earnest, sweet, and loud-sounding voice." Then he preached to the people
+of "the birth of the poor King and the little town of Bethlehem."
+"Uttering the word 'Bethlehem' in the manner of a sheep bleating, he
+filled his mouth with the sound," and in naming the Child Jesus "he
+would, as it were, lick his lips, relishing with happy palate and
+swallowing the sweetness of that word." At length, the solemn vigil
+ended, each one returned with joy to his own place.{38}
+
+It has been suggested by Countess Martinengo{39} that this beautiful
+ceremony was "the crystallization of haunting memories carried away by
+St. Francis from the real Bethlehem"; for he visited the east in 1219-20,
+and the Greccio celebration took place in 1224. St. Francis and his
+followers may well have helped greatly to popularize the use of the
+_presepio_, but it can be |107| traced back far earlier than their
+time. In the liturgical drama known as the "Officium Pastorum," which
+probably took shape in the eleventh century, we find a _praesepe_ behind
+the altar as the centre of the action{40}; but long before this
+something of the kind seems to have been in existence in the church of
+Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome--at one time called "Beata Maria ad
+praesepe." Here Pope Gregory III. (731-41) placed "a golden image of the
+Mother of God embracing God our Saviour, in various gems."{41} According
+to Usener's views this church was founded by Pope Liberius (352-66), and
+was intended to provide a special home for the new festival of Christmas
+introduced by him, while an important part of the early Christmas ritual
+there was the celebration of Mass over a "manger" in which the
+consecrated Host was laid, as once the body of the Holy Child in the crib
+at Bethlehem.{42} Further, an eastern homily of the late fourth century
+suggests that the preacher had before his eyes a representation of the
+Nativity. Such material representations, Usener conjectures, may have
+arisen from the devotions of the faithful at the supposed actual
+birthplace at Bethlehem, which would naturally be adorned with the sacred
+figures of the Holy Night.{43}
+
+In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the crib can be traced at
+Milan, Parma, and Modena, and an Italian example carved in 1478 still
+exists.{44} The Bavarian National Museum at Munich has a fine collection
+of cribs of various periods and from various lands--Germany, Tyrol,
+Italy, and Sicily--showing what elaborate care has been bestowed upon the
+preparation of these models. Among them is a great erection made at
+Botzen in the first half of the nineteenth century, and large enough to
+fill a fair-sized room. It represents the central square of a town, with
+imposing buildings, including a great cathedral not unlike our St.
+Paul's. Figures of various sizes were provided to suit the perspective,
+and the crib itself was probably set up in the porch of the church, while
+processions of puppets were arranged on the wide open square. Another,
+made in Munich, shows the adoration of the shepherds in a sort of ruined
+castle, while others, from Naples, lay the scene among remains of
+classical temples. One Tyrolese crib has a wide landscape background with
+a |108| village and mountains typical of the country. The figures are
+often numerous, and, as their makers generally dressed them in the
+costume of their contemporaries, are sometimes exceedingly quaint. An
+angel with a wasp-waist, in a powdered wig, a hat trimmed with big
+feathers, and a red velvet dress with heavy gold embroidery, seems comic
+to us moderns, yet this is how the Ursuline nuns of Innsbruck conceived
+the heavenly messenger. Many of the cribs and figures, however, are of
+fine artistic quality, especially those from Naples and Sicily, and to
+the student of costume the various types of dress are of great
+interest.{45}
+
+The use of the Christmas crib is by no means confined to churches; it is
+common in the home in many Catholic regions, and in at least one
+Protestant district, the Saxon Erzgebirge.{46} In Germany the _krippe_
+is often combined with the Christmas-tree; at Treves, for instance, the
+present writer saw a magnificent tree covered with glittering lights and
+ornaments, and underneath it the cave of the Nativity with little figures
+of the holy persons. Thus have pagan and Christian symbols met together.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+There grew up in Germany, about the fourteenth century, the extremely
+popular Christmas custom of "cradle-rocking," a response to the people's
+need of a life-like and homely presentation of Christianity. By the
+_Kindelwiegen_ the lay-folk were brought into most intimate touch with
+the Christ Child; the crib became a cradle (_wiege_) that could be
+rocked, and the worshippers were thus able to express in physical action
+their devotion to the new-born Babe. The cradle-rocking seems to have
+been done at first by priests, who impersonated the Virgin and St.
+Joseph, and sang over the Child a duet:--
+
+ "Joseph, lieber neve min,
+ Hilf mir wiegen daz kindelin.
+
+ Gerne, liebe muome min,
+ Hilf ich dir wiegen din kindelin."[37]
+
+[Illustration:
+
+A NEAPOLITAN "PRESEPIO."
+
+_Photo_] [_Meisenbach, Riffarth & Co., Munich_.]
+
+|109| The choir and people took their part in the singing; and dancing,
+to the old Germans a natural accompaniment of festive song, became common
+around the cradle, which in time the people were allowed to rock with
+their own hands.{47} "In dulci jubilo" has the character of a dance, and
+the same is true of another delightful old carol, "Lasst uns das Kindlein
+wiegen," still used, in a form modified by later editors, in the churches
+of the Rhineland. The present writer has heard it sung, very slowly, in
+unison, by vast congregations, and very beautiful is its mingling of
+solemnity, festive joy, and tender sentiment:--
+
+[Illustration: Music]
+
+ "Lasst uns das Kindlein wiegen,
+ Das Herz zum Krippelein biegen!
+ Lasst uns den Geist erfreuen,
+ Das Kindlein benedeien:
+ O Jesulein suess! O Jesulein suess!
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ Lasst uns sein Haendel und Fuesse,
+ Sein feuriges Herzlein gruessen!
+ Und ihn demuetiglich eren
+ Als unsern Gott und Herren!
+ O Jesulein suess! O Jesulein suess!"[38]{48}
+
+Two Latin hymns, "Resonet in laudibus" and "Quem pastores
+laudavere,"{49} were also sung at the _Kindelwiegen_, and |110| a
+charming and quite untranslatable German lullaby has come down to us:--
+
+ "Sausa ninne, gottes minne,
+ Nu sweig und ru!
+ Wen du wilt, so wellen wir deinen willen tun,
+ Hochgelobter edler furst, nu schweig und wein auch nicht,
+ Tuste das, so wiss wir, dass uns wol geschicht."{50}
+
+It was by appeals like this _Kindelwiegen_ to the natural, homely
+instincts of the folk that the Church gained a real hold over the masses,
+making Christianity during the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth
+centuries a genuinely popular religion in Germany. Dr. Alexander Tille,
+the best historian of the German Christmas, has an interesting passage on
+the subject: "In the dancing and jubilation around the cradle," he
+writes, "the religion of the Cross, however much it might in its inmost
+character be opposed to the nature of the German people and their
+essential healthiness, was felt no longer as something alien. It had
+become naturalized, but had lost in the process its very core. The
+preparation for a life after death, which was its Alpha and Omega, had
+passed into the background. It was not joy at the promised 'Redemption'
+that expressed itself in the dance around the cradle; for the German has
+never learnt to feel himself utterly vile and sinful: it was joy at the
+simple fact that a human being, a particular human being in peculiar
+circumstances, was born into the world.... The Middle Ages showed in the
+cradle-rocking 'a true German and most lovable childlikeness.' The Christ
+Child was the 'universal little brother of all children of earth,' and
+they acted accordingly, they lulled Him to sleep, they fondled and rocked
+Him, they danced before Him and leapt around Him _in dulci jubilo_."{51}
+There is much here that is true of the cult of the Christ Child in other
+countries than Germany, though perhaps Dr. Tille underestimates the
+religious feeling that is often joined to the human sentiment.
+
+The fifteenth century was the great period for the _Kindelwiegen_, the
+time when it appears to have been practised in all the churches of
+Germany; in the sixteenth it began to seem |111| irreverent to the
+stricter members of the clergy, and the figure of the infant Jesus was in
+many places no longer rocked in the cradle but enthroned on the
+altar.{52} This usage is described by Naogeorgus (1553):--
+
+ "A woodden childe in clowtes is on the aultar set,
+ About the which both boyes and gyrles do daunce and trymly jet,
+ And Carrols sing in prayse of Christ, and, for to helpe them heare,
+ The organs aunswere every verse with sweete and solemne cheare.
+ The priestes do rore aloude; and round about the parentes stande
+ To see the sport, and with their voyce do helpe them and their
+ hande."{53}
+
+The placing of a "Holy Child" above the altar at Christmas is still
+customary in many Roman Catholic churches.
+
+Protestantism opposed the _Kindelwiegen_, on the grounds both of
+superstition and of the disorderly proceedings that accompanied it, but
+it was long before it was utterly extinguished even in the Lutheran
+churches. In Catholic churches the custom did not altogether die out,
+though the unseemly behaviour which often attended it--and the growth of
+a pseudo-classical taste--caused its abolition in most places.{54}
+
+At Tuebingen as late as 1830 at midnight on Christmas Eve an image of the
+Christ Child was rocked on the tower of the chief church in a small
+cradle surrounded with lights, while the spectators below sang a
+cradle-song.{55} According to a recent writer the "rocking" is still
+continued in the Upper Innthal.{56} In the Tyrolese cathedral city of
+Brixen it was once performed every day between Christmas and Candlemas by
+the sacristan or boy-acolytes. That the proceedings had a tendency to be
+disorderly is shown by an eighteenth-century instruction to the
+sacristan: "Be sure to take a stick or a thong of ox-hide, for the boys
+are often very ill-behaved."{57}
+
+There are records of other curious ceremonies in German or Austrian
+churches. At St. Peter am Windberge in Muehlkreis in Upper Austria, during
+the service on Christmas night a life-sized wooden figure of the Holy
+Child was offered in |112| a basket to the congregation; each person
+reverently kissed it and passed it on to his neighbour. This was done as
+late as 1883.{58} At Crimmitschau in Saxony a boy, dressed as an angel,
+used to be let down from the roof singing Luther's "Vom Himmel hoch," and
+the custom was only given up when the breaking of the rope which
+supported the singer had caused a serious accident.{59}
+
+ * * * * *
+
+It is in Italy, probably, that the cult of the Christ Child is most
+ardently practised to-day. No people have a greater love of children than
+the Italians, none more of that dramatic instinct which such a form of
+worship demands. "Easter," says Countess Martinengo-Cesaresco, "is the
+great popular feast in the eastern Church, Christmas in the
+Latin--especially in Italy. One is the feast of the next world, and the
+other of this. Italians are fond of this world."{60} Christmas is for
+the poorer Italians a summing up of human birthdays, an occasion for
+pouring out on the _Bambino_ parental and fraternal affection as well as
+religious worship.
+
+In Rome, Christmas used to be heralded by the arrival, ten days before
+the end of Advent, of the Calabrian minstrels or _pifferari_ with their
+sylvan pipes (_zampogne_), resembling the Scottish bagpipe, but less
+harsh in sound. These minstrels were to be seen in every street in Rome,
+playing their wild plaintive music before the shrines of the Madonna,
+under the traditional notion of charming away her labour-pains. Often
+they would stop at a carpenter's shop "per politezza al messer San
+Giuseppe."{61} Since 1870 the _pifferari_ have become rare in Rome, but
+some were seen there by an English lady quite recently. At Naples, too,
+there are _zampognari_ before Christmas, though far fewer than there used
+to be; for one _lira_ they will pipe their rustic melodies before any
+householder's street Madonna through a whole _novena_.{62}
+
+[Illustration:
+
+CALABRIAN SHEPHERDS PLAYING IN ROME AT CHRISTMAS.
+
+_After an Etching by D. Allan._
+
+From Hone's "Every-day Book" (London, 1826).]
+
+In Sicily, too, men come down from the mountains nine days before
+Christmas to sing a _novena_ to a plaintive melody accompanied by 'cello
+and violin. "All day long," writes Signora Caico about Montedoro in
+Caltanissetta, "the melancholy dirge |113| was sung round the village,
+house after house, always the same minor tune, the words being different
+every day, so that in nine days the whole song was sung out.... I often
+looked out of the window to see them at a short distance, grouped before
+a house, singing their stanzas, well muffled in shawls, for the air is
+cold in spite of the bright sunshine.... The flat, white houses all
+round, the pure sky overhead, gave an Oriental setting to the scene."
+
+Another Christmas custom in the same place was the singing of a _novena_
+not outside but within some of the village houses before a kind of altar
+gaily decorated and bearing at the top a waxen image of the Child Jesus.
+"Close to it the orchestra was grouped--a 'cello, two violins, a guitar,
+and a tambourine. The kneeling women huddled in front of the altar. All
+had on their heads their black _mantelline_. They began at once singing
+the _novena_ stanzas appointed for that day; the tune was primitive and
+very odd: the first half of the stanza was quick and merry, the second
+half became a wailing dirge." A full translation of a long and very
+interesting and pathetic _novena_ is given by Signora Caico.[39]{63}
+
+The _presepio_ both in Rome and at Naples is the special Christmas symbol
+in the home, just as the lighted tree is in Germany. In Rome the Piazza
+Navona is the great place for the sale of little clay figures of the holy
+persons. (Is there perchance a survival here of the _sigillaria_, the
+little clay dolls sold in Rome at the _Saturnalia_?) These are bought in
+the market for two _soldi_ each, and the _presepi_ or "Bethlehems" are
+made at home with cardboard and moss.{64} The home-made _presepi_ at
+Naples are well described by Matilde Serao; they are pasteboard models of
+the landscape of Bethlehem--a hill with the sacred cave beneath it and
+two or three paths leading down to the grotto, a little tavern, a
+shepherd's hut, a few trees, sometimes a stream in glittering glass. The
+ground is made verdant with moss, and there is |114| straw within the
+cave for the repose of the infant Jesus; singing angels are suspended by
+thin wires, and the star of the Wise Men hangs by an invisible thread.
+There is little attempt to realize the scenery of the East; the Child is
+born and the Magi adore Him in a Campanian or Calabrian setting.{66}
+
+Italian churches, as well as Italian homes, have their _presepi_.
+"Thither come the people, bearing humble gifts of chestnuts, apples,
+tomatoes, and the like, which they place as offerings in the hands of the
+figures. These are very often life-size. Mary is usually robed in blue
+satin, with crimson scarf and white head-dress. Joseph stands near her
+dressed in the ordinary working-garb. The onlookers are got up like
+Italian contadini. The Magi are always very prominent in their grand
+clothes, with satin trains borne by black slaves, jewelled turbans, and
+satin tunics all over jewels."{67}
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ST. FRANCIS INSTITUTES THE "PRESEPIO" AT GRECCIO.
+
+_By Giotto._
+
+(Upper Church of St Francis, Assissi)]
+
+[Illustration: THE "BAMBINO" OF ARA COELI.]
+
+In Rome the two great centres of Christmas devotion are the churches of
+Santa Maria Maggiore, where are preserved the relics of the cradle of
+Christ, and Ara Coeli, the home of the most famous _Bambino_ in the
+world. A vivid picture of the scene at Santa Maria Maggiore in the early
+nineteenth century is given by Lady Morgan. She entered the church at
+midnight on Christmas Eve to wait for the procession of the _culla_, or
+cradle. "Its three ample naves, separated by rows of Ionic columns of
+white marble, produced a splendid vista. Thousands of wax tapers marked
+their form, and contrasted their shadows; some blazed from golden
+candlesticks on the superb altars of the lateral chapels.... Draperies of
+gold and crimson decked the columns, and spread their shadows from the
+inter-columniations over the marble pavement. In the midst of this
+imposing display of church magnificence, sauntered or reposed a
+population which displayed the most squalid misery. The haggard natives
+of the mountains ... were mixed with the whole mendicity of Rome.... Some
+of these terrific groups lay stretched in heaps on the ground,
+congregating for warmth; and as their dark eyes scowled from beneath the
+mantle which half hid a sheepskin dress, they had the air of banditti
+awaiting their prey; others with their wives and children knelt, half
+asleep, |115| round the chapel of the _Santa Croce_.... In the centre
+of the nave, multitudes of gay, gaudy, noisy persons, the petty
+shopkeepers, laquais, and _popolaccio_ of the city, strolled and laughed,
+and talked loud." About three o'clock the service began, with a choral
+swell, blazing torches, and a crowded procession of priests of every rank
+and order. It lasted for two hours; then began the procession to the cell
+where the cradle lay, enshrined in a blaze of tapers and guarded by
+groups of devotees. Thence it was borne with solemn chants to the chapel
+of _Santa Croce_. A musical Mass followed, and the _culla_ being at last
+deposited on the High Altar, the wearied spectators issued forth just as
+the dome of St. Peter's caught the first light of the morning.{68}
+
+Still to-day the scene in the church at the five o'clock High Mass on
+Christmas morning is extraordinarily impressive, with the crowds of poor
+people, the countless lights at which the children gaze in open-eyed
+wonder, the many low Masses said in the side chapels, the imposing
+procession and the setting of the silver casket on the High Altar. The
+history of the relics of the _culla_--five long narrow pieces of wood--is
+obscure, but it is admitted even by some orthodox Roman Catholics that
+there is no sufficient evidence to connect them with Bethlehem.{69}
+
+The famous _Bambino_ at the Franciscan church of Ara Coeli on the citadel
+of Rome is "a flesh-coloured doll, tightly swathed in gold and silver
+tissue, crowned, and sparkling with jewels," no thing of beauty, but
+believed to have miraculous powers. An inscription in the sacristy of the
+church states that it was made by a devout Minorite of wood from the
+Mount of Olives, and given flesh-colour by the interposition of God
+Himself. It has its own servants and its own carriage in which it drives
+out to visit the sick. There is a strange story of a theft of the
+wonder-working image by a woman who feigned sickness, obtained permission
+to have the _Bambino_ left with her, and then sent back to the friars
+another image dressed in its clothes. That night the Franciscans heard
+great ringing of bells and knockings at the church door, and found
+outside the true _Bambino_, naked in the wind and rain. Since then it has
+never been allowed out alone.{70}
+
+|116| All through the Christmas and Epiphany season Ara Coeli is
+crowded with visitors to the _Bambino_. Before the _presepio_, where it
+lies, is erected a wooden platform on which small boys and girls of all
+ranks follow one another with little speeches--"preaching" it is
+called--in praise of the infant Lord. "They say their pieces," writes
+Countess Martinengo, "with an infinite charm that raises half a smile and
+half a tear." They have the vivid dramatic gift, the extraordinary
+absence of self-consciousness, typical of Italian children, and their
+"preaching" is anything but a wooden repetition of a lesson learned by
+heart. Nor is there any irksome constraint; indeed to northerners the
+scene in the church might seem irreverent, for the children blow toy
+trumpets and their parents talk freely on all manner of subjects. The
+church is approached by one hundred and twenty-four steps, making an
+extraordinarily picturesque spectacle at this season, when they are
+thronged by people ascending and descending, and by vendors of all sorts
+of Christmas prints and images. On the Octave of the Epiphany there is a
+great procession, ending with the blessing of Rome by the Holy Child. The
+_Bambino_ is carried out to the space at the top of the giddy flight of
+marble steps, and a priest raises it on high and solemnly blesses the
+Eternal City.{71}
+
+A glimpse of the southern Christmas may be had in London in the Italian
+colony in and around Eyre Street Hill, off the Clerkenwell Road, a little
+town of poor Italians set down in the midst of the metropolis. The steep,
+narrow Eyre Street Hill, with its shops full of southern wares, is dingy
+enough by day, but after dark on Christmas Eve it looks like a bit of
+Naples. The windows are gay with lights and coloured festoons, there are
+lantern-decked sweetmeat stalls, one old man has a _presepio_ in his
+room, other people have little altars or shrines with candles burning,
+and bright pictures of saints adorn the walls. It is a strangely pathetic
+sight, this _festa_ of the children of the South, this attempt to keep an
+Italian Christmas amid the cold damp dreariness of a London slum. The
+colony has its own church, San Pietro, copied from some Renaissance
+basilica at Rome, a building half tawdry, half magnificent, which
+transports him who enters it far away to the South. Like every Italian
+church, it is |117| at once the Palace of the Great King and the refuge
+of the humblest--no other church in London is quite so intimately the
+home of the poor. Towards twelve o'clock on Christmas Eve the deep-toned
+bell of San Pietro booms out over the colony, and the people crowd to the
+Midnight Mass, and pay their devotions at a great _presepio_ set up for
+the veneration of the faithful. When on the Octave of the Epiphany[40]
+the time comes to close the crib, an impressive and touching ceremony
+takes place. The afternoon Benediction over, the priest, with the
+acolytes, goes to the _presepio_ and returns to the chancel with the
+_Bambino_. Holding it on his arm, he preaches in Italian on the story of
+the Christ Child. The sermon ended, the notes of "Adeste, fideles" are
+heard, and while the Latin words are sung the faithful kneel at the altar
+rails and reverently kiss the Holy Babe. It is their farewell to the
+_Bambino_ till next Christmas.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+A few details may here be given about the religious customs at Christmas
+in Spain. The Midnight Mass is there the great event of the festival.
+Something has already been said as to its celebration in Madrid. The
+scene at the midnight service in a small Andalusian country town is thus
+described by an English traveller:--"The church was full; the service
+orderly; the people of all classes. There were muleteers, wrapped in
+their blue and white checked rugs; here, Spanish gentlemen, enveloped in
+their graceful capas, or capes ... here, again, were crowds of the
+commonest people,--miners, fruitsellers, servants, and the like,--the
+women kneeling on the rush matting of the dimly-lit church, the men
+standing in dark masses behind, or clustering in groups round every
+pillar.... At last, from under the altar, the senior priest ... took out
+the image of the Babe New-born, reverently and slowly, and held it up in
+his hands for adoration. Instantly every one crossed himself, and fell on
+his knees in silent worship."{72} The crib is very popular in Spanish
+homes and is the delight of children, as may be learnt from Fernan
+Caballero's interesting sketch of Christmas Eve in Spain, "La Noche de
+Navidad."{73}
+
+|118| In England the Christmas crib is to be found nowadays in most
+Roman, and a few Anglican, churches. In the latter it is of course an
+imitation, not a survival. It is, however, possible that the custom of
+carrying dolls about in a box at Advent or Christmas time, common in some
+parts of England in the nineteenth century, is a survival, from the
+Middle Ages, of something like the crib. The so-called "vessel-cup" was
+"a box containing two dolls, dressed up to represent the Virgin and the
+infant Christ, decorated with ribbons and surrounded by flowers and
+apples." The box had usually a glass lid, was covered by a white napkin,
+and was carried from door to door by a woman.{74} It was esteemed very
+unlucky for any household not to be visited by the "Advent images" before
+Christmas Eve, and the bearers sang the well-known carol of the "Joys of
+Mary."{75} In Yorkshire only one image was carried about.{76} At
+Gilmorton, Leicestershire, a friend of the present writer remembers that
+the children used to carry round what they called a "Christmas Vase," an
+open box without lid in which lay three dolls side by side, with oranges
+and sprigs of evergreen. Some people regarded these as images of the
+Virgin, the Christ Child, and Joseph.[41]
+
+ * * * * *
+
+In this study of the feast of the Nativity as represented in liturgy and
+ceremonial we have already come close to what may strictly be called
+drama; in the next chapter we shall cross the border line and consider
+the religious plays of the Middle Ages and the relics of or parallels to
+them found in later times.
+
+|119| |120| |121|
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+CHRISTMAS DRAMA
+
+
+ Origins of the Mediaeval Drama--Dramatic Tendencies in the
+ Liturgy--Latin Liturgical Plays--The Drama becomes
+ Laicized--Characteristics of the Popular Drama--The Nativity in the
+ English Miracle Cycles--Christmas Mysteries in France--Later French
+ Survivals of Christmas Drama--German Christmas Plays--Mediaeval
+ Italian Plays and Pageants--Spanish Nativity Plays--Modern Survivals
+ in Various Countries--The Star-singers, &c.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS.
+
+From Broadside No. 305 in the Collection of the Society of Antiquaries at
+Burlington House (by permission).
+
+(Photo lent by Mr. F. Sidgwick, who has published the print on a modern
+Christmas broadside.)]
+
+In this chapter the Christian side only of the Christmas drama will be
+treated. Much folk-drama of pagan origin has gathered round the festival,
+but this we shall study in our Second Part. Our subject here is the
+dramatic representation of the story of the Nativity and the events
+immediately connected with it. The Christmas drama has passed through the
+same stages as the poetry of the Nativity. There is first a monastic and
+hieratic stage, when the drama is but an expansion of the liturgy, a
+piece of ceremonial performed by clerics with little attempt at
+verisimilitude and with Latin words drawn mainly from the Bible or the
+offices of the Church. Then, as the laity come to take a more personal
+interest in Christianity, we find fancy beginning to play around the
+subject, bringing out its human pathos and charm, until, after a
+transitional stage, the drama leaves the sanctuary, passes from Latin to
+the vulgar tongue, is played by lay performers in the streets and squares
+of the city, and, while its framework remains religious, takes into
+itself episodes of a more or less secular character. The Latin liturgical
+plays are to the "miracles" and "mysteries" of the later Middle Ages as a
+Romanesque church, solemn, oppressive, hieratic, to |122| a Gothic
+cathedral, soaring, audacious, reflecting every phase of the popular
+life.
+
+The mediaeval religious drama{1} was a natural development from the
+Catholic liturgy, not an imitation of classical models. The classical
+drama had expired at the break-up of the Roman Empire; its death was due
+largely, indeed, to the hostility of Christianity, but also to the rude
+indifference of the barbarian invaders. Whatever secular dramatic
+impulses remained in the Dark Ages showed themselves not in public and
+organized performances, but obscurely in the songs and mimicry of
+minstrels and in traditional folk-customs. Both of these classes of
+practices were strongly opposed by the Church, because of their
+connection with heathenism and the licence towards which they tended. Yet
+the dramatic instinct could not be suppressed. The folk-drama in such
+forms as the Feast of Fools found its way, as we shall see, even into the
+sanctuary, and--most remarkable fact of all--the Church's own services
+took on more and more a dramatic character.
+
+While the secular stage decayed, the Church was building up a stately
+system of ritual. It is needless to dwell upon the dramatic elements in
+Catholic worship. The central act of Christian devotion, the Eucharist,
+is in its essence a drama, a representation of the death of the Redeemer
+and the participation of the faithful in its benefits, and around this
+has gathered in the Mass a multitude of dramatic actions expressing
+different aspects of the Redemption. Nor, of course, is there merely
+symbolic _action_; the offices of the Church are in great part
+_dialogues_ between priest and people, or between two sets of singers. It
+was from this antiphonal song, this alternation of versicle and respond,
+that the religious drama of the Middle Ages took its rise. In the ninth
+century the "Antiphonarium" traditionally ascribed to Pope Gregory the
+Great had become insufficient for ambitious choirs, and the practice grew
+up of supplementing it by new melodies and words inserted at the
+beginning or end or even in the middle of the old antiphons. The new
+texts were called "tropes," and from the ninth to the thirteenth century
+many were written. An interesting Christmas |123| example is the
+following ninth-century trope ascribed to Tutilo of St. Gall:--
+
+ "Hodie cantandus est nobis puer, quem gignebat ineffabiliter ante
+ tempora pater, et eundem sub tempore generavit inclyta mater. (To-day
+ must we sing of a Child, whom in unspeakable wise His Father begat
+ before all times, and whom, within time, a glorious mother brought
+ forth.)
+
+ Int[errogatio].
+
+ Quis est iste puer quem tam magnis praeconiis dignum vociferatis?
+ Dicite nobis ut collaudatores esse possimus. (Who is this Child whom
+ ye proclaim worthy of so great laudations? Tell us that we also may
+ praise Him.)
+
+ Resp[onsio].
+
+ Hic enim est quem praesagus et electus symmista Dei ad terram
+ venturum praevidens longe ante praenotavit, sicque praedixit. (This
+ is He whose coming to earth the prophetic and chosen initiate into
+ the mysteries of God foresaw and pointed out long before, and thus
+ foretold.)"
+
+Here followed at once the Introit for the third Mass of Christmas Day,
+"Puer natus est nobis, et filius datus est nobis, &c. (Unto us a child is
+born, unto us a son is given.)" The question and answer were no doubt
+sung by different choirs.{2}
+
+One can well imagine that this might develop into a regular little drama.
+As a matter of fact, however, it was from an Easter trope in the same
+manuscript, the "Quem quaeritis," a dialogue between the three Maries and
+the angel at the sepulchre, that the liturgical drama sprang. The trope
+became very popular, and was gradually elaborated into a short symbolic
+drama, and its popularity led to the composition of similar pieces for
+Christmas and Ascensiontide. Here is the Christmas trope from a St. Gall
+manuscript:--
+
+ "_On the Nativity of the Lord at Mass let there be ready two deacons
+ having on dalmatics, behind the altar, saying_:
+
+ Quem quaeritis in praesepe, pastores, dicite? (Whom seek ye in the
+ manger, say, ye shepherds?) |124|
+
+ _Let two cantors in the choir answer_:
+
+ Salvatorem Christum Dominum, infantem pannis involutum, secundum
+ sermonem angelicum. (The Saviour, Christ the Lord, a child wrapped in
+ swaddling clothes, according to the angelic word.)
+
+ _And the deacons_:
+
+ Adest hic parvulus cum Maria, matre sua, de qua, vaticinando, Isaias
+ Propheta: ecce virgo concipiet et pariet filium; et nuntiantes dicite
+ quia natus est. (Present here is the little one with Mary, His
+ Mother, of whom Isaiah the prophet foretold: Behold, a virgin shall
+ conceive, and shall bring forth a son; and do ye say and announce
+ that He is born.)
+
+ _Then let the cantor lift up his voice and say_:
+
+ Alleluia, alleluia, jam vere scimus Christum natum in terris, de quo
+ canite, omnes, cum Propheta dicentes: Puer natus est! (Alleluia,
+ alleluia. Now we know indeed that Christ is born on earth, of whom
+ sing ye all, saying with the Prophet: Unto us a child is born.)"{3}
+
+The dramatic character of this is very marked. A comparison with later
+liturgical plays suggests that the two deacons in their broad vestments
+were meant to represent the midwives mentioned in the apocryphal Gospel
+of St. James, and the cantors the shepherds.
+
+A development from this trope, apparently, was the "Office of the
+Shepherds," which probably took shape in the eleventh century, though it
+is first given in a Rouen manuscript of the thirteenth. It must have been
+an impressive ceremony as performed in the great cathedral, dimly lit
+with candles, and full of mysterious black recesses and hints of
+infinity. Behind the high altar a _praesepe_ or "crib" was prepared, with
+an image of the Virgin. After the "Te Deum" had been sung five canons or
+their vicars, clad in albs and amices, entered by the great door of the
+choir, and proceeded towards the apse. These were the shepherds. Suddenly
+from high above them came a clear boy's voice: "Fear not, behold I bring
+you good tidings of great joy," and the rest of the angelic message. The
+"multitude of the heavenly host" was represented by other boys stationed
+probably |125| in the triforium galleries, who broke out into the
+exultant "Gloria in excelsis." Singing a hymn, "Pax in terris nunciatur,"
+the shepherds advanced towards the crib where two priests--the
+midwives--awaited them. These addressed to the shepherds the question
+"Whom seek ye in the manger?" and then came the rest of the "Quem
+quaeritis" which we already know, a hymn to the Virgin being sung while
+the shepherds adored the Infant. Mass followed immediately, the little
+drama being merely a prelude.{4}
+
+More important than this Office of the Shepherds is an Epiphany play
+called by various names, "Stella," "Tres Reges," "Magi," or "Herodes,"
+and found in different forms at Limoges, Rouen, Laon, Compiegne,
+Strasburg, Le Mans, Freising in Bavaria, and other places. Mr. E. K.
+Chambers suggests that its kernel is a dramatized Offertory. It was a
+custom for Christian kings to present gold, frankincense, and myrrh at
+the Epiphany--the offering is still made by proxy at the Chapel Royal,
+St. James's--and Mr. Chambers takes "the play to have served as a
+substitute for this ceremony, when no king actually regnant was
+present."{5} Its most essential features were the appearance of the Star
+of Bethlehem to the Magi, and their offering of the mystic gifts. The
+star, bright with candles, hung from the roof of the church, and was
+sometimes made to move.
+
+In the Rouen version of the play it is ordered that on the day of the
+Epiphany, Terce having been sung, three clerics, robed as kings, shall
+come from the east, north, and south, and meet before the altar, with
+their servants bearing the offerings of the Magi. The king from the east,
+pointing to the star with his stick, exclaims:--
+
+ "Stella fulgore nimio rutilat. (The star glows with exceeding
+ brightness.)"
+
+The second monarch answers:
+
+ "Quae regem regum natum demonstrat. (Which shows the birth of the
+ King of Kings.)" |126|
+
+And the third:
+
+ "Quem venturum olim prophetiae signaverant. (To whose coming the
+ prophecies of old had pointed.)"
+
+Then the Magi kiss one another and together sing:
+
+ "Eamus ergo et inquiramus eum, offerentes ei munera: aurum, thus, et
+ myrrham. (Let us therefore go and seek Him, offering unto Him gifts:
+ gold, frankincense, and myrrh.)"
+
+Antiphons are sung, a procession is formed, and the Magi go to a certain
+altar above which an image of the Virgin has been placed with a lighted
+star before it. Two priests in dalmatics--apparently the
+midwives--standing on either side of the altar, inquire who the Magi are,
+and receiving their answer, draw aside a curtain and bid them approach to
+worship the Child, "for He is the redemption of the world." The three
+kings do adoration, and offer their gifts, each with a few pregnant
+words:--
+
+ "Suscipe, rex, aurum. (Receive, O King, gold.)"
+ "Tolle thus, tu vere Deus. (Accept incense, Thou very God.)"
+ "Myrrham, signum sepulturae. (Myrrh, the sign of burial.)"
+
+The clergy and people then make their offerings, while the Magi fall
+asleep and are warned by an angel to return home another way. This they
+do symbolically by proceeding back to the choir by a side aisle.{6}
+
+In its later forms the Epiphany play includes the appearance of Herod,
+who is destined to fill a very important place in the mediaeval drama.
+Hamlet's saying "he out-Herods Herod" sufficiently suggests the raging
+tyrant whom the playwrights of the Middle Ages loved. His appearance
+marks perhaps the first introduction into the Christian religious play of
+the evil principle so necessary to dramatic effect. At first Herod holds
+merely a mild conversation with the Magi, begging them to tell him when
+they have found the new-born King; in later versions of the play,
+however, his wrath is shown on learning that the Wise Men have |127|
+departed home by another way; he breaks out into bloodthirsty tirades,
+orders the slaying of the Innocents, and in one form takes a sword and
+brandishes it in the air. He becomes in fact the outstanding figure in
+the drama, and one can understand why it was sometimes named after him.
+
+In the Laon "Stella" the actual murder of the Innocents was represented,
+the symbolical figure of Rachel weeping over her children being
+introduced. The plaint and consolation of Rachel, it should be noted,
+seem at first to have formed an independent little piece performed
+probably on Holy Innocents' Day.{7} This later coalesced with the
+"Stella," as did also the play of the shepherds, and, at a still later
+date, another liturgical drama which we must now consider--the
+"Prophetae."
+
+This had its origin in a sermon (wrongly ascribed to St. Augustine)
+against Jews, Pagans, and Arians, a portion of which was used in many
+churches as a Christmas lesson. It begins with a rhetorical appeal to the
+Jews who refuse to accept Jesus as the Messiah in spite of the witness of
+their own prophets. Ten prophets are made to give their testimony, and
+then three Pagans are called upon, Virgil, Nebuchadnezzar and the
+Erythraean Sibyl. The sermon has a strongly dramatic character, and when
+chanted in church the parts of the preacher and the prophets were
+possibly distributed among different choristers. In time it developed
+into a regular drama, and more prophets were brought in. It was, indeed,
+the germ of the great Old Testament cycles of the later Middle Ages.{8}
+
+An extension of the "Prophetae" was the Norman or Anglo-Norman play of
+"Adam," which began with the Fall, continued with Cain and Abel, and
+ended with the witness of the prophets. In the other direction the
+"Prophetae" was extended by the addition of the "Stella." It so happens
+that there is no text of a Latin drama containing both these extensions
+at the same time, but such a play probably existed. From the
+mid-thirteenth to the mid-fourteenth century, indeed, there was a
+tendency for the plays to run together into cycles and become too long
+and too elaborate for performance in church. In the eleventh century,
+even, they had begun to pass out into the churchyard or |128| the
+market-place, and to be played not only by the clergy but by laymen. This
+change had extremely important effects on their character. In the first
+place the vulgar tongue crept in. As early, possibly, as the twelfth
+century are the Norman "Adam" and the Spanish "Misterio de los Reyes
+Magos," the former, as we have seen, an extended vernacular "Prophetae,"
+the latter, a fragment of a highly developed vernacular "Stella." They
+are the first of the popular as distinguished from the liturgical plays;
+they were meant, as their language shows, for the instruction and delight
+of the folk; they were not to be listened to, like the mysterious Latin
+of the liturgy, in uncomprehending reverence, but were to be understanded
+of the people.
+
+The thirteenth and fourteenth centuries saw a progressive supplanting of
+Latin by the common speech, until, in the great cycles, only a few scraps
+of the church language were left to tell of the liturgical origin of the
+drama. The process of popularization, the development of the plays from
+religious ceremonial to lively drama, was probably greatly helped by the
+_goliards_ or vagabond scholars, young, poor, and fond of amusement, who
+wandered over Europe from teacher to teacher, from monastery to
+monastery, in search of learning. Their influence is shown not merely in
+the broadening of the drama, but also in its passing from the Latin of
+the monasteries to the language of the common folk.
+
+A consequence of the outdoor performance of the plays was that Christmas,
+in the northern countries at all events, was found an unsuitable time for
+them. The summer was naturally preferred, and we find comparatively few
+mentions of plays at Christmas in the later Middle Ages. Whitsuntide and
+Corpus Christi became more popular dates, especially in England, and the
+pieces then performed were vast cosmic cycles, like the York, Chester,
+Towneley, and "Coventry" plays, in which the Christmas and Epiphany
+episodes formed but links in an immense chain extending from the Creation
+to the Last Judgment, and representing the whole scheme of salvation. It
+is in these Nativity scenes, however, that we have the only English
+renderings of the Christmas story in drama,{9} and though they |129|
+were actually performed not at the winter festival[42] but in the summer,
+they give in so striking a way the feelings, the point of view, of our
+mediaeval forefathers in regard to the Nativity that we are justified in
+dealing with them here at some length.
+
+As the drama became laicized, it came to reflect that strange medley of
+conflicting elements, pagan and Christian, materialistic and spiritual,
+which was the actual religion of the folk, as distinguished from the
+philosophical theology of the doctors and councils and the mysticism of
+the ascetics. The popularizing of Christianity had reached its climax in
+most countries of western Europe in the fifteenth century, approximately
+the period of the great "mysteries." However little the ethical teaching
+of Jesus may have been acted upon, the Christian religion on its external
+side had been thoroughly appropriated by the people and wrought into a
+many-coloured polytheism, a true reflection of their minds.
+
+The figures of the drama are contemporaries of the spectators both in
+garb and character; they are not Orientals of ancient times, but
+Europeans of the end of the Middle Ages. Bethlehem is a "faier borow,"
+Herod a "mody king," like unto some haughty, capricious, and violent
+monarch of the time, the shepherds are rustics of England or Germany or
+France or Italy, the Magi mighty potentates with gorgeous trains, and the
+Child Himself is a little being subject to all the pains and necessities
+of infancy, but delighted with sweet and pleasant things like a bob of
+cherries or a ball. The realism of the writers is sometimes astounding,
+and comic elements often appear--to the people of the Middle Ages
+religion was so real and natural a thing that they could laugh at it
+without ceasing to believe in or to love it.
+
+The English mediaeval playwrights, it may safely be said, are surpassed
+by no foreigners in their treatment of Christmas subjects. To illustrate
+their way of handling the scenes I may |130| gather from the four great
+cycles a few of the most interesting passages.
+
+From the so-called "Ludus Coventriae" I take the arrival of Joseph and
+Mary at Bethlehem; they ask a man in the street where they may find an
+inn:--
+
+ "_Joseph._ Heyl, wurchepful sere, and good day!
+ A ceteceyn of this cyte ye seme to be;
+ Of herborwe[43] ffor spowse and me I yow pray,
+ ffor trewly this woman is fful were,
+ And fayn at reste, sere, wold she be;
+
+ We wolde ffulffylle the byddynge of oure emperoure,
+ ffor to pay tribute, as right is oure,
+ And to kepe oureselfe ffrom dolowre,
+ We are come to this cyte.
+
+ _Cives._ Sere, ostage in this towne know I non,
+ Thin wyff and thou in for to slepe;
+ This cete is besett with pepyl every won,
+ And yett thei ly withowte fful every strete.
+
+ Withinne no walle, man, comyst thou nowth,
+ Be thou onys[44] withinne the cyte gate;
+ Onethys[45] in the strete a place may be sowth,
+ Theron to reste, withowte debate.
+
+ _Joseph._ Nay, sere, debate that wyl I nowth;
+ Alle suche thyngys passyn my powere:
+ But yitt my care and alle my thought
+ Is for Mary, my derlynge dere.
+
+ A! swete wyff, wat xal we do?
+ Wher xal we logge this nyght?
+ Onto the ffadyr of heffne pray we so,
+ Us to kepe ffrom every wykkyd whyt.
+
+ _Cives._ Good man, o word I wyl the sey,
+ If thou wylt do by the counsel of me;
+ Yondyr is an hous of haras[46] that stant be the wey,
+ Amonge the bestys herboryd may ye be. |131|
+
+ _Maria._ Now the fadyr of hefne he mut yow yelde!
+ His sone in my wombe forsothe he is;
+ He kepe the and thi good be fryth and ffelde!
+ Go we hens, husbond, for now tyme it is."{11}
+
+The scene immediately after the Nativity is delicately and reverently
+presented in the York cycle. The Virgin worships the Child, saluting Him
+thus:--
+
+ "Hayle my lord God! hayle prince of pees!
+ Hayle my fadir, and hayle my sone!
+ Hayle souereyne sege all synnes to sesse!
+ Hayle God and man in erth to wonne![47]
+ Hayle! thurgh whos myht
+ All this worlde was first be-gonne,
+ merkness[48] and light.
+
+ Sone, as I am sympill sugett of thyne,
+ Vowchesaffe, swete sone I pray the,
+ That I myght the take in the[r] armys of mine,
+ And in this poure wede to arraie the;
+ Graunte me thi blisse!
+ As I am thy modir chosen to be
+ in sothfastnesse."
+
+Joseph, who has gone out to get a light, returns, and this dialogue
+follows:--
+
+ "_Joseph._ Say, Marie doghtir, what chere with the?
+ _Mary._ Right goode, Joseph, as has been ay.
+ _Joseph._ O Marie! what swete thyng is that on thy kne?
+ _Mary._ It is my sone, the soth to saye, that is so gud
+ _Joseph._ Wel is me I bade this day, to se this foode![49]
+ Me merueles mekill of this light
+ That thus-gates shynes in this place,
+ For suth it is a selcouth[50] sight! |132|
+ _Mary._ This hase he ordand of his grace, my sone so ying,
+ A starne to be schynyng a space at his bering
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ _Joseph._ Nowe welcome, floure fairest of hewe,
+ I shall the menske[51] with mayne and myght.
+ Hayle! my maker, hayle Crist Jesu!
+ Hayle, riall king, roote of all right!
+ Hayle, saueour.
+ Hayle, my lorde, lemer[52] of light,
+ Hayle, blessid floure!
+
+ _Mary._ Nowe lord! that all this worlde schall wynne,
+ To the my sone is that I saye,
+ Here is no bedde to laye the inne,
+ Therfore my dere sone, I the praye sen it is soo,
+ Here in this cribbe I myght the lay betwene ther bestis two.
+ And I sall happe[53] the, myn owne dere childe,
+ With such clothes as we haue here.
+
+ _Joseph._ O Marie! beholde thes beestis mylde,
+ They make louyng in ther manere as thei wer men.
+ For-sothe it semes wele be ther chere thare lord thei ken.
+
+ _Mary._ Ther lorde thai kenne, that wate I wele,
+ They worshippe hym with myght and mayne;
+ The wedir is colde, as ye may feele,
+ To halde hym warme thei are full fayne, with thare warme
+ breth."{12}
+
+The playwrights are at their best in the shepherd scenes; indeed these
+are the most original parts of the cycles, for here the writers found
+little to help them in theological tradition, and were thrown upon their
+own wit. In humorous dialogue and naive sentiment the lusty burgesses of
+the fifteenth century were thoroughly at home, and the comedy and pathos
+of these scenes must have been as welcome a relief to the spectators,
+from the |133| long-winded solemnity of many of the plays, as they are
+to modern readers. In the York mysteries the shepherds make uncouth
+exclamations at the song of the angels and ludicrously try to imitate it.
+The Chester shepherds talk in a very natural way of such things as the
+diseases of sheep, sit down with much relish to a meal of "ale of
+Halton," sour milk, onions, garlick and leeks, green cheese, a sheep's
+head soused in ale, and other items; then they call their lad Trowle, who
+grumbles because his wages have not been paid, refuses to eat, wrestles
+with his masters and throws them all. They sit down discomfited; then the
+Star of Bethlehem appears, filling them with wonder, which grows when
+they hear the angels' song of "Gloria in excelsis." They discuss what the
+words were--"glore, glare with a glee," or, "glori, glory, glorious," or,
+"glory, glory, with a glo." At length they go to Bethlehem, and arrived
+at the stable, the first shepherd exclaims:--
+
+ "Sym, Sym, sickerlye
+ Heare I see Marye,
+ And Jesus Christe faste by,
+ Lapped in haye."{13}
+
+Joseph is strangely described:--
+
+ "Whatever this oulde man that heare is,
+ Take heede howe his head is whore,
+ His beirde is like a buske of breyers,
+ With a pound of heaire about his mouth and more."{14}
+
+Their gifts to the Infant are a bell, a flask, a spoon to eat pottage
+with, and a cape. Trowle the servant has nought to offer but a pair of
+his wife's old hose; four boys follow with presents of a bottle, a hood,
+a pipe, and a nut-hook. Quaint are the words of the last two givers:--
+
+ "_The Thirde Boye._
+
+ O, noble childe of thee!
+ Alas! what have I for thee,
+ Save only my pipe? |134|
+ Elles trewly nothinge,
+ Were I in the rockes or in,
+ I coulde make this pippe
+ That all this woode should ringe,
+ And quiver, as yt were.
+
+ _The Fourth Boye._
+
+ Nowe, childe, although thou be comon from God,
+ And be God thy selfe in thy manhoode,
+ Yet I knowe that in thy childehoode
+ Thou wylte for sweete meate loke,
+ To pull downe aples, peares, and plumes,
+ Oulde Joseph shall not nede to hurte his thombes,
+ Because thou hast not pleintie of crombes,
+ I geve thee heare my nutthocke."{15}
+
+Let no one deem this irreverent; the spirit of this adoration of the
+shepherds is intensely devout; they go away longing to tell all the world
+the wonder they have seen; one will become a pilgrim; even the rough
+Trowle exclaims that he will forsake the shepherd's craft and will betake
+himself to an anchorite's hard by, in prayers to "wache and wake."
+
+More famous than this Chester "Pastores" are the two shepherd plays in
+the Towneley cycle.{16} The first begins with racy talk, leading to a
+wrangle between two of the shepherds about some imaginary sheep; then a
+third arrives and makes fun of them both; a feast follows, with much
+homely detail; they go to sleep and are awakened by the angelic message;
+after much debate over its meaning and over the foretellings of the
+prophets--one of them, strangely enough, quotes a Latin passage from
+Virgil--they go to Bethlehem and present to the Child a "lytyll spruse
+cofer," a ball, and a gourd-bottle.
+
+The second play surpasses in humour anything else in the mediaeval drama
+of any country. We find the shepherds first complaining of the cold and
+their hard lot; they are "al lappyd in sorow." They talk, almost like
+modern Socialists, of the oppressions of the rich:--
+
+ "For the tylthe of our landys lyys falow as the floore,
+ As ye ken. |135|
+ We ar so hamyd,[54]
+ For-taxed and ramyd,[55]
+ We ar mayde hand-tamyd,
+ With thyse gentlery men.
+
+ Thus thay refe[56] us our rest, Our Lady theym wary![57]
+ These men that ar lord-fest,[58] they cause the ploghe tary."
+
+To these shepherds joins himself Mak, a thieving neighbour. Going to
+sleep, they make him lie between them, for they doubt his honesty. But
+for all their precautions he manages to steal a sheep, and carries it
+home to his wife. She thinks of an ingenious plan for concealing it from
+the shepherds if they visit the cottage seeking their lost property: she
+will pretend that she is in child-bed and that the sheep is the new-born
+infant. So it is wrapped up and laid in a cradle, and Mak sings a
+lullaby. The shepherds do suspect Mak, and come to search his house; his
+wife upbraids them and keeps them from the cradle. They depart, but
+suddenly an idea comes to one of them:--
+
+ "_The First Shepherd._ Gaf ye the chyld any thyng?
+ _The Second._ I trow not oone farthyng.
+ _The Third._ Fast agane will I flyng,
+ Abyde ye me there. [_He goes back._]
+ Mak, take it to no grefe, if I com to thi barne."
+
+Mak tries to put him off, but the shepherd will have his way:--
+
+ "Gyf me lefe hym to kys, and lyft up the clowtt.
+ What the devill is this? he has a long snowte."
+
+So the secret is out. Mak's wife gives a desperate explanation:--
+
+ "He was takyn with an elfe,
+ I saw it myself.
+ When the clok stroke twelf
+ Was he forshapyn."
+
+|136| Naturally this avails nothing, and her husband is given a good
+tossing by the shepherds until they are tired out and lie down to rest.
+Then comes the "Gloria in excelsis" and the call of the angel:--
+
+ "Ryse, hyrd men heynd! for now is he borne
+ That shall take fro the feynd that Adam had lorne:
+ That warloo[59] to sheynd,[60] this nyght is he borne,
+ God is made youre freynd: now at this morne
+ He behestys,
+ At Bedlem go se,
+ Ther lygys that fre[61]
+ In a cryb fulle poorely,
+ Betwyx two bestys."
+
+The shepherds wonder at the song, and one of them tries to imitate it;
+then they go even unto Bethlehem, and there follows the quaintest and
+most delightful of Christmas carols:--
+
+ "_Primus Pastor._
+
+ Hail, comly and clene,
+ Hail, yong child!
+ Hail, maker, as I meene,
+ Of a maden so milde!
+ Thou has wared,[62] I weene,
+ The warlo[63] so wilde;
+ The fals giler of teen,[64]
+ Now goes he begilde.
+ Lo! he merys,[65]
+ Lo! he laghes, my sweting.
+ A welfare meting!
+ I have holden my heting.[66]
+ Have a bob of cherys!
+
+ _Secundus Pastor._
+
+ Hail, sufferan Savioure,
+ For thou has us soght!
+ Hail, frely[67] foyde[68] and floure,
+ That all thing has wroght! |137|
+ Hail, full of favoure,
+ That made all of noght!
+ Hail, I kneel and I cowre.
+ A bird have I broght
+ To my barne.
+ Hail, litel tine mop![69]
+ Of oure crede thou art crop;[70]
+ I wold drink on thy cop,
+ Litel day starne.
+
+ _Tertius Pastor._
+
+ Hail, derling dere,
+ Full of godhede!
+ I pray thee be nere
+ When that I have nede.
+ Hail! swete is thy chere;[71]
+ My hart wolde blede
+ To see thee sitt here
+ In so poore wede,
+ With no pennys.
+ Hail! Put forth thy dall![72]
+ I bring thee bot a ball;
+ Have and play thee with all,
+ And go to the tenis!"{17}
+
+The charm of this will be felt by every reader; it lies in a curious
+incongruity--extreme homeliness joined to awe; the Infinite is contained
+within the narrowest human bounds; God Himself, the Creator and Sustainer
+of the universe, a weak, helpless child. But a step more, and all would
+have been irreverence; as it is we have devotion, human, naive, and
+touching.
+
+It would be interesting to show how other scenes connected with Christmas
+are handled in the English miracle-plays: how Octavian (Caesar Augustus)
+sent out the decree that all the world should be taxed, and learned from
+the Sibyl the birth of Christ; how the Magi were led by the star and
+offered their symbolic gifts; how the raging of the boastful tyrant
+Herod, the |138| Slaughter of the Innocents, and the Flight into Egypt
+are treated; but these scenes, though full of colour, are on the whole
+less remarkable than the shepherd and Nativity pieces, and space forbids
+us to dwell upon them. They contain many curious anachronisms, as when
+Herod invokes Mahounde, and talks about his princes, prelates, barons,
+baronets and burgesses.[73]
+
+The religious play in England did not long survive the Reformation. Under
+the influence of Protestantism, with its vigilant dread of profanity and
+superstition, the cycles were shorn of many of their scenes, the
+performances became irregular, and by the end of the sixteenth century
+they had mostly ceased to be. Not sacred story, but the play of human
+character, was henceforth the material of the drama. The rich, variegated
+religion of the people, communal in its expression, tinged everywhere
+with human colour, gave place to a sterner, colder, more individual
+faith, fearful of contamination by the use of the outward and visible.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+There is little or no trace in the vernacular Christmas plays of direct
+translation from one language into another, though there was some
+borrowing of motives. Thus the Christmas drama of each nation has its own
+special flavour.
+
+If we turn to France, we find a remarkable fifteenth-century cycle that
+belongs purely to the winter festival, and shows the strictly Christmas
+drama at its fullest development. This great mystery of the "Incarnacion
+et nativite de nostre saulveur et redempteur Jesuchrist" was performed
+out-of-doors at Rouen in 1474, an exceptional event for a northern city
+in winter-time. The twenty-four _establies_ or "mansions" set up for the
+various scenes reached across the market-place from the "Axe and Crown"
+Inn to the "Angel."
+
+|139| After a prologue briefly explaining its purpose, the mystery
+begins, like the old liturgical plays, with the witness of the prophets;
+then follows a scene in Limbo where Adam is shown lamenting his fate, and
+another in Heaven where the Redemption of mankind is discussed and the
+Incarnation decided upon. With the Annunciation and the Visitation of the
+Virgin the first day closed. The second day opened with the ordering by
+Octavian of the world-census. The edict is addressed:--
+
+ "A tous roys, marquis, ducs et contes,
+ Connestables, bailifs, vicomtes
+ Et tous autres generalment
+ Qui sont desoubz le firmament."
+
+Joseph, in order to fulfil the command of Cyrenius, governor of Syria,
+leaves Nazareth for Bethlehem. A comic shepherds' scene follows, with a
+rustic song:--
+
+ "Joyeusement, la garenlo,
+ Chantons en venant a la veille,
+ Puisque nous avons la bouteille
+ Nous y berons jusques a bo."
+
+When Joseph and Mary reach the stable where the Nativity is to take
+place, there is a charming dialogue. Joseph laments over the meanness of
+the stable, Mary accepts it with calm resignation.
+
+ _Joseph._
+
+ "Las! vecy bien povre merrien
+ Pour edifier un hostel
+ Et logis a ung seigneur tel.
+ Il naistra en bien povre place.
+
+ _Marie._
+
+ Il plait a Dieu qu'ainsy se face.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ _Joseph._
+
+ Ou sont ces chambres tant fournies
+ De Sarges, de Tapiceries |140|
+ Batus d'or, ou luyt mainte pierre,
+ Et nates mises sur la terre,
+ Affin que le froit ne mefface?
+
+ _Marie._
+
+ Il plait a Dieu qu'ainsy se face.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ _Joseph._
+
+ Helas! cy gerra povrement
+ Le createur du firmament
+ Celui qui fait le soleil luire,
+ Qui fait la terre fruis produire,
+ Qui tient la mer en son espace.
+
+ _Marie._
+
+ Il plait a Dieu qu'ainsy se face."
+
+At last Christ is born, welcomed by the song of the angels, adored by His
+mother. In the heathen temples the idols fall; Hell mouth opens and shows
+the rage of the demons, who make a hideous noise; fire issues from the
+nostrils and eyes and ears of Hell, which shuts up with the devils within
+it. And then the angels in the stable worship the Child Jesus. The
+adoration of the shepherds was shown with many naive details for the
+delight of the people, and the performance ended with the offering of a
+sacrifice in Rome by the Emperor Octavian to an image of the Blessed
+Virgin.{19}
+
+The French playwrights, quite as much as the English, love comic shepherd
+scenes with plenty of eating and drinking and brawling. A traditional
+figure is the shepherd Rifflart, always a laughable type. In the strictly
+mediaeval plays the shepherds are true French rustics, but with the
+progress of the Renaissance classical elements creep into the pastoral
+scenes; in a mystery printed in 1507 Orpheus with the Nymphs and Oreads
+is introduced. As might be expected, anachronisms often occur; a
+peculiarly piquant instance is found in the S. Genevieve mystery, where
+Caesar Augustus gets a piece of Latin translated into French for his
+convenience.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+THE SHEPHERDS OF BETHLEHEM.
+
+From "Le grant Kalendrier compost des Bergiers"
+(N. le Rouge, Troyes, 1529).
+
+(Reproduced from a modern broadside published
+by Mr. F. Sidgwick.)]
+
+|141| Late examples of French Christmas mysteries are the so-called
+"comedies" of the Nativity, Adoration of the Kings, Massacre of the
+Innocents, and Flight into Egypt contained in the "Marguerites"
+(published in 1547) of Marguerite, Queen of Navarre, sister of Francois
+I. Intermingled with the traditional figures treated more or less in the
+traditional way are personified abstractions like Philosophy,
+Tribulation, Inspiration, Divine Intelligence, and Contemplation, which
+largely rob the plays of dramatic effect. There is some true poetry in
+these pieces, but too much theological learning and too little
+simplicity, and in one place the ideas of Calvin seem to show
+themselves.{20}
+
+The French mystery began to fall into decay about the middle of the
+sixteenth century. It was attacked on every side: by the new poets of the
+Renaissance, who preferred classical to Christian subjects; by the
+Protestants, who deemed the religious drama a trifling with the solemn
+truths of Scripture; and even by the Catholic clergy, who, roused to
+greater strictness by the challenge of Protestantism, found the comic
+elements in the plays offensive and dangerous, and perhaps feared that
+too great familiarity with the Bible as represented in the mysteries
+might lead the people into heresy.{21} Yet we hear occasionally of
+Christmas dramas in France in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth
+centuries. In the neighbourhood of Nantes, for instance, a play of the
+Nativity by Claude Macee, hermit, probably written in the seventeenth
+century, was commonly performed in the first half of the nineteenth.{22}
+At Clermont the adoration of the shepherds was still performed in 1718,
+and some kind of representation of the scene continued in the diocese of
+Cambrai until 1834, when it was forbidden by the bishop. In the south,
+especially at Marseilles, "pastorals" were played towards the end of the
+nineteenth century; they had, however, largely lost their sacred
+character, and had become a kind of review of the events of the
+year.{23} At Dinan, in Brittany, some sort of Herod play was performed,
+though it was dying out, in 1886. It was acted by young men on the
+Epiphany, and there was an "innocent" whose throat they pretended to cut
+with a wooden sword.{24}
+
+|142| An interesting summary of a very full Nativity play performed in
+the churches of Upper Gascony on Christmas Eve is given by Countess
+Martinengo-Cesaresco.{25} It ranges from the arrival of Joseph and Mary
+at Bethlehem to the Flight into Egypt and the Murder of the Innocents,
+but perhaps the most interesting parts are the shepherd scenes. After the
+message of the angel--a child in a surplice, with wings fastened to his
+shoulders, seated on a chair drawn up to the ceiling and supported by
+ropes--the shepherds leave the church, the whole of which is now regarded
+as the stable of the Divine Birth. They knock for admittance, and Joseph,
+regretting that the chamber is "so badly lighted," lets them in. They
+fall down before the manger, and so do the shepherdesses, who "deposit on
+the altar steps a banner covered with flowers and greenery, from which
+hang strings of small birds, apples, nuts, chestnuts, and other fruits.
+It is their Christmas offering to the cure; the shepherds have already
+placed a whole sheep before the altar, in a like spirit." The play is not
+mere dumb-show, but has a full libretto.
+
+A rather similar piece of dramatic ceremonial is described by Barthelemy
+in his edition of Durandus,{26} as customary in the eighteenth century
+at La Villeneuve-en-Chevrie, near Mantes. At the Midnight Mass a _creche_
+with a wax figure of the Holy Child was placed in the choir, with tapers
+burning about it. After the "Te Deum" had been sung, the celebrant,
+accompanied by his attendants, censed the _creche_, to the sound of
+violins, double-basses, and other instruments. A shepherd then prostrated
+himself before the crib, holding a sheep with a sort of little saddle
+bearing sixteen lighted candles. He was followed by two shepherdesses in
+white with distaffs and tapers. A second shepherd, between two
+shepherdesses, carried a laurel branch, to which were fastened oranges,
+lemons, biscuits, and sweetmeats. Two others brought great _pains-benits_
+and lighted candles; then came four shepherdesses, who made their
+adoration, and lastly twenty-six more shepherds, two by two, bearing in
+one hand a candle and in the other a festooned crook. The same ceremonial
+was practised at the Offertory and after the close of the Mass. All was
+done, it is said, with such piety and edification that |143| St. Luke's
+words about the Bethlehem shepherds were true of these French
+swains--they "returned glorifying and praising God for all the things
+they had heard and seen."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+In German there remain very few Christmas plays earlier than the
+fifteenth century. Later periods, however, have produced a multitude, and
+dramatic performances at Christmas have continued down to quite modern
+times in German-speaking parts.
+
+At Oberufer near Pressburg--a German Protestant village in Hungary--some
+fifty years ago, a Christmas play was performed under the direction of an
+old farmer, whose office as instructor had descended from father to son.
+The play took place at intervals of from three to ten years and was acted
+on all Sundays and festivals from Advent to the Epiphany. Great care was
+taken to ensure the strictest piety and morality in the actors, and no
+secular music was allowed in the place during the season for the
+performances. The practices began as early as October. On the first
+Sunday in Advent there was a solemn procession to the hall hired for the
+play. First went a man bearing a gigantic star--he was called the "Master
+Singer"--and another carrying a Christmas-tree decked with ribbons and
+apples; then came all the actors, singing hymns. There was no scenery and
+no theatrical apparatus beyond a straw-seated chair and a wooden stool.
+When the first was used, the scene was understood to be Jerusalem, when
+the second, Bethlehem. The Christmas drama, immediately preceded by an
+Adam and Eve play, and succeeded by a Shrove Tuesday one, followed
+mediaeval lines, and included the wanderings of Joseph and Mary round the
+inns of Bethlehem, the angelic tidings to the shepherds, their visit to
+the manger, the adoration of the Three Kings, and various Herod scenes.
+Protestant influence was shown by the introduction of Luther's "Vom
+Himmel hoch," but the general character was very much that of the old
+mysteries, and the dialogue was full of quaint naivete.{27}
+
+At Brixlegg, in Tyrol, as late as 1872 a long Christmas play was acted
+under Catholic auspices; some of its dialogue was in |144| the Tyrolese
+_patois_ and racy and humorous, other parts, and particularly the
+speeches of Mary and Joseph--out of respect for these holy
+personages--had been rewritten in the eighteenth century in a very
+stilted and undramatic style. Some simple shepherd plays are said to be
+still presented in the churches of the Saxon Erzgebirge.{28}
+
+The German language is perhaps richer in real Christmas plays, as
+distinguished from Nativity and Epiphany episodes in great cosmic cycles,
+than any other. There are some examples in mediaeval manuscripts, but the
+most interesting are shorter pieces performed in country places in
+comparatively recent times, and probably largely traditional in
+substance. Christianity by the fourteenth century had at last gained a
+real hold upon the German people, or perhaps one should rather say the
+German people had laid a strong hold upon Christianity, moulding it into
+something very human and concrete, materialistic often, yet not without
+spiritual significance. In cradle-rocking and religious dancing at
+Christmas the instincts of a lusty, kindly race expressed themselves, and
+the same character is shown in the short popular Christmas dramas
+collected by Weinhold and others.{29} Many of the little pieces--some
+are rather duets than plays--were sung or acted in church or by the
+fireside in the nineteenth century, and perhaps even now may linger in
+remote places. They are in dialect, and the rusticity of their language
+harmonizes well with their naive, homely sentiment. In them we behold the
+scenes of Bethlehem as realized by peasants, and their mixture of rough
+humour and tender feeling is thoroughly in keeping with the subject.
+
+One is made to feel very vividly the amazement of the shepherds at the
+wondrous and sudden apparition of the angels:--
+
+ "_Riepl._ Woas is das fuer a Getuemmel,
+ I versteh mi nit in d'Welt.
+ _Joergl._ Is den heunt eingfalln der Himmel,
+ Fleugn d'Engeln auf unserm Feld?
+ _R._ Thuen Sprueng macha
+ _J._ Von oben acha! |145|
+ _R._ I turft das Ding nit noacha thoan,
+ that mir brechn Hals und Boan."[74]{30}
+
+The cold is keenly brought home to us when they come to the manger:--
+
+ "_J._ Mei Kind, kanst kei Herberg finden?
+ Muest so viel Frost leiden schoan.
+ _R._ Ligst du under kalden Windeln!
+ Laegts ihm doch a Gwandl oan!
+ _J._ Machts ihm d'Fueess ein,
+ Huellts in zue fein!"[75]{31}
+
+Very homely are their presents to the Child:--
+
+ "Ein drei Eier und ein Butter
+ Bringen wir auch, nemt es an!
+ Einen Han zu einer Suppen,
+ Wanns die Mutter kochen kann.
+ Giessts ein Schmalz drein, wirds wol guet sein.
+ Weil wir sonsten gar nix han,
+ Sind wir selber arme Hirten,
+ Nemts den guten Willen an."[76]{32}
+
+One of the dialogues ends with a curious piece of ordinary human
+kindliness, as if the Divine nature of the Infant were quite forgotten
+for the moment:--
+
+ "_J._ Bleib halt fein gsund, mein kloans Liebl,
+ Wannst woas brauchst, so komm ze mir.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ _J._ Pfueet di Got halt! |146|
+ _R._ Waer fein gross bald!
+ _J._ Kannst in mein Dienst stehen ein,
+ Wann darzu wirst gross gnue sein."[77]{33}
+
+Far more interesting in their realism and naturalness are these little
+plays of the common folk than the elaborate Christmas dramas of more
+learned German writers, Catholic and Lutheran, who in the sixteenth and
+seventeenth centuries became increasingly stilted and bombastic.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+The Italian religious drama{34} evolved somewhat differently from that
+of the northern countries. The later thirteenth century saw the outbreak
+of the fanaticism of the Flagellants or _Battuti_, vast crowds of people
+of all classes who went in procession from church to church, from city to
+city, scourging their naked bodies in terror and repentance till the
+blood flowed. When the wild enthusiasm of this movement subsided it left
+enduring traces in the foundation of lay communities throughout the land,
+continuing in a more sober way the penitential practices of the
+Flagellants. One of their aids to devotion was the singing or reciting of
+vernacular poetry, less formal than the Latin hymns of the liturgy, and
+known as _laude_.[78] These _laude_ developed a more or less dramatic
+form, which gained the name of _divozioni_.[79] They were, perhaps
+(though not certainly, for there seems to have been another tradition
+derived from the regular liturgical drama), the source from which sprang
+the gorgeously produced _sacre rappresentazioni_ of the fifteenth
+century.
+
+The _sacre rappresentazioni_ corresponded, though with considerable
+differences, to the miracle-plays of England and France. Their great
+period was the fifty years from 1470 to 1520, and |147| they were
+performed, like the _divozioni_, by confraternities of religious laymen.
+The actors were boys belonging to the brotherhoods, and the plays were
+intended to be edifying for youth. They are more refined than the
+northern religious dramas, but only too often fall into insipidity.
+
+Among the texts given by D'Ancona in his collection of _sacre
+rappresentazioni_ is a Tuscan "Nativita,"{36} opening with a pastoral
+scene resembling those in the northern mysteries, but far less vigorous.
+It cannot compare, for character and humour, with the Towneley plays.
+Still the shepherds, whose names are Bobi del Farucchio, Nencio di
+Pucchio, Randello, Nencietto, Giordano, and Falconcello, are at least
+meant to have a certain rusticity, as they feast on bread and cheese and
+wine, play to the Saviour on bagpipe or whistle, and offer humble
+presents like apples and cheese. The scenes which follow, the coming of
+the Magi and the Murder of the Innocents, are not intrinsically of great
+interest.
+
+It is possible that this play may have been the spectacle performed in
+Florence in 1466, as recorded by Machiavelli, "to give men something to
+take away their thoughts from affairs of state." It "represented the
+coming of the three Magi Kings from the East, following the star which
+showed the Nativity of Christ, and it was of so great pomp and
+magnificence that it kept the whole city busy for several months in
+arranging and preparing it."{37}
+
+An earlier record of an Italian pageant of the Magi is this account by
+the chronicler Galvano Flamma of what took place at Milan in 1336:--
+
+ "There were three kings crowned, on great horses, ... and an
+ exceeding great train. And there was a golden star running through
+ the air, which went before these three kings, and they came to the
+ columns of San Lorenzo, where was King Herod in effigy, with the
+ scribes and wise men. And they were seen to ask King Herod where
+ Christ was born, and having turned over many books they answered,
+ that He should be born in the city of David distant five miles from
+ Jerusalem. And having heard this, those three kings, crowned with
+ golden crowns, holding in their hands golden cups with gold, incense,
+ |148| and myrrh, came to the church of Sant' Eustorgio, the star
+ preceding them through the air, ... and a wonderful train, with
+ resounding trumpets and horns going before them, with apes, baboons,
+ and diverse kinds of animals, and a marvellous tumult of people.
+ There at the side of the high altar was a manger with ox and ass, and
+ in the manger was the little Christ in the arms of the Virgin Mother.
+ And those kings offered gifts unto Christ; then they were seen to
+ sleep, and a winged angel said to them that they should not return by
+ the region of San Lorenzo but by the Porta Romana; which also was
+ done. There was so great a concourse of the people and soldiers and
+ ladies and clerics that scarce anything like it was ever beheld. And
+ it was ordered that every year this festal show should be
+ performed."{38}
+
+How suggestive this is of the Magi pictures of the fifteenth century,
+with their gorgeous eastern monarchs and retinues of countless servants
+and strange animals. No other story in the New Testament gives such
+opportunity for pageantry as the Magi scene. All the wonder, richness,
+and romance of the East, all the splendour of western Renaissance princes
+could lawfully be introduced into the train of the Three Kings. With
+Gentile da Fabriano and Benozzo Gozzoli it has become a magnificent
+procession; there are trumpeters, pages, jesters, dwarfs, exotic
+beasts--all the motley, gorgeous retinue of the monarchs of the time,
+while the kings themselves are romantic figures in richest attire,
+velvet, brocade, wrought gold, and jewels. It may be that much of this
+splendour was suggested to the painters by dramatic spectacles which
+actually passed before their eyes.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+I have already alluded to the Spanish "Mystery of the Magi Kings," a mere
+fragment, but of peculiar interest to the historian of the drama as one
+of the two earliest religious plays in a modern European language. Though
+plays are known to have been performed in Spain at Christmas and Easter
+in the Middle Ages,{39} we have no further texts until the very short
+"Representation of the Birth of Our Lord," by Gomez Manrique, Senor de
+Villazopeque (1412-91), acted at the convent at Calabazanos, of which the
+author's sister was Superior. The characters |149| introduced are the
+Virgin, St. Joseph, St. Gabriel, St. Michael, St. Raphael, another angel,
+and three shepherds.{40}
+
+Touched by the spirit of the Renaissance, and particularly by the
+influence of Virgil, is Juan del Encina of Salamanca (1469-1534), court
+poet to the Duke of Alba, and author of two Christmas eclogues.{41} The
+first introduces four shepherds who bear the names of the Evangelists,
+Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and are curiously mixed personages, their
+words being half what might be expected from the shepherds of Bethlehem
+and half sayings proper only to the authors of the Gospels. It ends with
+a _villancico_ or carol. The second eclogue is far more realistic, and
+indeed resembles the English and French pastoral scenes. The shepherds
+grumble about the weather--it has been raining for two months, the floods
+are terrible, and no fords or bridges are left; they talk of the death of
+a sacristan, a fine singer; and they play a game with chestnuts; then
+comes the angel--whom one of them calls a "smartly dressed lad" (_garzon
+repicado_)--to tell them of the Birth, and they go to adore the Child,
+taking Him a kid, butter-cakes, eggs, and other presents.
+
+Infinitely more ambitious is "The Birth of Christ"{42} by the great Lope
+de Vega (1562-1635). It opens in Paradise, immediately after the
+Creation, and ends with the adoration of the Three Kings. Full of
+allegorical conceits and personified qualities, it will hardly please the
+taste of modern minds. Another work of Lope's, "The Shepherds of
+Bethlehem," a long pastoral in prose and verse, published in 1612,
+contains, amid many incongruities, some of the best of his shorter poems;
+one lullaby, sung by the Virgin in a palm-grove while her Child sleeps,
+has been thus translated by Ticknor:--
+
+ "Holy angels and blest,
+ Through these palms as ye sweep,
+ Hold their branches at rest,
+ For my babe is asleep.
+
+ And ye Bethlehem palm-trees,
+ As stormy winds rush |150|
+ In tempest and fury,
+ Your angry noise hush;
+ Move gently, move gently,
+ Restrain your wild sweep;
+ Hold your branches at rest,
+ My babe is asleep.
+
+ My babe all divine,
+ With earth's sorrows oppressed,
+ Seeks in slumber an instant
+ His grievings to rest;
+ He slumbers, he slumbers,
+ O, hush, then, and keep
+ Your branches all still,
+ My babe is asleep!"{43}
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Apart from such modern revivals of the Christmas drama as Mr. Laurence
+Housman's "Bethlehem," Miss Buckton's "Eager Heart," Mrs. Percy Dearmer's
+"The Soul of the World," and similar experiments in Germany and France, a
+genuine tradition has lingered on in some parts of Europe into modern
+times. We have already noticed some French and German instances; to these
+may be added a few from other countries.
+
+In Naples there is no Christmas without the "Cantata dei pastori"; it is
+looked forward to no less than the Midnight Mass. Two or three theatres
+compete for the public favour in the performance of this play in rude
+verse. It begins with Adam and Eve and ends with the birth of Jesus and
+the adoration of the shepherds. Many devils are brought on the stage,
+their arms and legs laden with brass chains that rattle horribly. Awful
+are their names, Lucifero, Satanasso, Belfegor, Belzebu, &c. They not
+only tempt Adam and Eve, but annoy the Virgin and St. Joseph, until an
+angel comes and frightens them away. Two non-Biblical figures are
+introduced, Razzullo and Sarchiapone, who are tempted by devils and aided
+by angels.{44} In Sicily too the Christmas play still lingers under the
+name of _Pastorale_.{45}
+
+|151| A nineteenth-century Spanish survival of the "Stella" is
+described in Fernan Caballero's sketch, "La Noche de Navidad."{46} At
+the foot of the altar of the village church, according to this account,
+images of the Virgin and St. Joseph were placed, with the Holy Child
+between them, lying on straw. On either side knelt a small boy dressed as
+an angel. Solemnly there entered the church a number of men attired as
+shepherds, bearing their offerings to the Child; afterwards they danced
+with slow and dignified movements before the altar. The shepherds were
+followed by the richest men of the village dressed as the Magi Kings,
+mounted on horseback, and followed by their train. Before them went a
+shining star. On reaching the church they dismounted; the first,
+representing a majestic old man with white hair, offered incense to the
+Babe; the others, Caspar and Melchior, myrrh and gold respectively. This
+was done on the feast of the Epiphany.
+
+A remnant possibly of the "Stella" is to be found in a Christmas custom
+extremely widespread in Europe and surviving even in some Protestant
+lands--the carrying about of a star in memory of the Star of Bethlehem.
+It is generally borne by a company of boys, who sing some sort of carol,
+and expect a gift in return.
+
+The practice is--or was--found as far north as Sweden. All through the
+Christmas season the "star youths" go about from house to house. Three
+are dressed up as the Magi Kings, a fourth carries on a stick a paper
+lantern in the form of a six-pointed star, made to revolve and lighted by
+candles. There are also a Judas, who bears the purse for the collection,
+and, occasionally, a King Herod. A doggerel rhyme is sung, telling the
+story of the Nativity and offering good wishes.{47} In Norway and
+Denmark processions of a like character were formerly known.{48}
+
+In Normandy at Christmas children used to go singing through the village
+streets, carrying a lantern of coloured paper on a long osier rod.{49}
+At Pleudihen in Brittany three young men representing the Magi sang
+carols in the cottages, dressed in their holiday clothes covered with
+ribbons.{50}
+
+|152| In England there appears to be no trace of the custom, which is
+however found in Germany, Austria, Holland, Italy, Bohemia, Roumania,
+Poland, and Russia.{51}
+
+In Thuringia a curious carol used to be sung, telling how Herod tried to
+tempt the Wise Men--
+
+ "'Oh, good Wise Men, come in and dine;
+ I will give you both beer and wine,
+ And hay and straw to make your bed,
+ And nought of payment shall be said.'"
+
+But they answer:--
+
+ "'Oh, no! oh, no! we must away,
+ We seek a little Child to-day,
+ A little Child, a mighty King,
+ Him who created everything.'"{52}
+
+In Tyrol the "star-singing" is very much alive at the present day. In the
+Upper Innthal three boys in white robes, with blackened faces and gold
+paper crowns, go to every house on Epiphany Eve, one of them carrying a
+golden star on a pole. They sing a carol, half religious, half
+comic--almost a little drama--and are given money, cake, and drink. In
+the Ilsethal the boys come on Christmas Eve, and presents are given them
+by well-to-do people. In some parts there is but one singer, an old man
+with a white beard and a turban, who twirls a revolving star. A
+remarkable point about the Tyrolese star-singers is that before anything
+is given them they are told to stamp on the snowy fields outside the
+houses, in order to promote the growth of the crops in summer.{53}
+
+In Little Russia the "star" is made of pasteboard and has a transparent
+centre with a picture of Christ through which the light of a candle
+shines. One boy carries the star and another twirls the points.{54} In
+Roumania it is made of wood and adorned with frills and little bells. A
+representation of the "manger," illuminated from behind, forms the
+centre, and the star also shows pictures of Adam and Eve and angels.{55}
+
+|153| A curious traditional drama, in which pagan elements seem to have
+mingled with the Herod story, is still performed by the Roumanians during
+the Christmas festival. It is called in Wallachia "Vicleim" (from
+Bethlehem), in Moldavia and Transylvania "Irozi" (plural from _Irod_ =
+Herod). At least ten persons figure in it: "Emperor" Herod, an old
+grumbling monarch who speaks in harsh tones to his followers; an officer
+and two soldiers in Roman attire; the three Magi, in Oriental garb, a
+child, and "two comical figures--the _paiata_ (the clown) and the
+_mosul_, or old man, the former in harlequin accoutrement, the latter
+with a mask on his face, a long beard, a hunch on his back, and dressed
+in a sheepskin with the wool on the outside. The plot of the play is
+quite simple. The officer brings the news that three strange men have
+been caught, going to Bethlehem to adore the new-born Messiah; Herod
+orders them to be shown in: they enter singing in a choir. Long dialogues
+ensue between them and Herod, who at last orders them to be taken to
+prison. But then they address the Heavenly Father, and shout imprecations
+on Herod, invoking celestial punishment on him, at which unaccountable
+noises are heard, seeming to announce the fulfilment of the curse. Herod
+falters, begs the Wise Men's forgiveness, putting off his anger till more
+opportune times. The Wise Men retire.... Then a child is introduced, who
+goes on his knees before Herod, with his hands on his breast, asking
+pity. He gives clever answers to various questions and foretells the
+Christ's future career, at which Herod stabs him. The whole troupe now
+strikes up a tune of reproach to Herod, who falls on his knees in deep
+repentance." The play is sometimes performed by puppets instead of living
+actors.{56}
+
+Christmas plays performed by puppets are found in other countries too. In
+Poland "during the week between Christmas and New Year is shown the
+_Jaselki_ or manger, a travelling series of scenes from the life of
+Christ or even of modern peasants, a small travelling puppet-theatre,
+gorgeous with tinsel and candles, and something like our 'Punch and Judy'
+show. The market-place of Cracow, especially at night, is a very pretty
+spectacle, its sidewalks all lined with these glittering Jaselki."{57}
+In Madrid |154| at the Epiphany a puppet-play was common, in which the
+events of the Nativity and the Infancy were mimed by wooden figures,{58}
+and in Provence, in the mid-nineteenth century, the Christmas scenes were
+represented in the same way.{59}
+
+Last may be mentioned a curious Mexican mixture of religion and
+amusement, a sort of drama called the "Posadas," described by Madame
+Calderon de la Barca in her "Life in Mexico" (1843).{60} The custom was
+based upon the wanderings of the Virgin and St. Joseph in Bethlehem in
+search of repose. For eight days these wanderings of the holy pair to the
+different _posadas_ were represented. On Christmas Eve, says the
+narrator, "a lighted candle was put into the hand of each lady [this was
+at a sort of party], and a procession was formed, two by two, which
+marched all through the house ... the whole party singing the
+Litanies.... A group of little children, dressed as angels, joined the
+procession.... At last the procession drew up before a door, and a shower
+of fireworks was sent flying over our heads, I suppose to represent the
+descent of the angels; for a group of ladies appeared, dressed to
+represent the shepherds.... Then voices, supposed to be those of Mary and
+Joseph, struck up a hymn, in which they begged for admittance, saying
+that the night was cold and dark, that the wind blew hard, and that they
+prayed for a night's shelter. A chorus of voices from within refused
+admittance. Again those without entreated shelter, and at length declared
+that she at the door, who thus wandered in the night, and had not where
+to lay her head, was the Queen of Heaven! At this name the doors were
+thrown wide open, and the Holy Family entered singing. The scene within
+was very pretty: a _nacimiento_.... One of the angels held a waxen baby
+in her arms.... A padre took the baby from the angel and placed it in the
+cradle, and the _posada_ was completed. We then returned to the
+drawing-room--angels, shepherds, and all, and danced till
+supper-time."{60} Here the religious drama has sunk to little more than
+a "Society" game.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI. MASACCIO
+
+(_Berlin: Kaiser Friedrich Museum_)]
+
+|155|
+
+
+
+
+POSTSCRIPT
+
+
+Before we pass on to the pagan aspects of Christmas, let us gather up our
+thoughts in an attempt to realize the peculiar appeal of the Feast of the
+Nativity, as it has been felt in the past, as it is felt to-day even by
+moderns who have no belief in the historical truth of the story it
+commemorates.
+
+This appeal of Christmas seems to lie in the union of two modes of
+feeling which may be called the _carol spirit_ and the _mystical spirit_.
+The _carol spirit_--by this we may understand the simple, human
+joyousness, the tender and graceful imagination, the kindly, intimate
+affection, which have gathered round the cradle of the Christ Child. The
+folk-tune, the secular song adapted to a sacred theme--such is the carol.
+What a sense of kindliness, not of sentimentality, but of genuine human
+feeling, these old songs give us, as though the folk who first sang them
+were more truly comrades, more closely knit together than we under modern
+industrialism.
+
+One element in the carol spirit is the rustic note that finds its
+sanction as regards Christmas in St. Luke's story of the shepherds
+keeping watch over their flocks by night. One thinks of the stillness
+over the fields, of the hinds with their rough talk, "simply chatting in
+a rustic row," of the keen air, and the great burst of light and song
+that dazes their simple wits, of their journey to Bethlehem where "the
+heaven-born Child all meanly wrapt in the rude manger lies," of the ox
+and ass linking the beasts of the field to the Christmas adoration of
+mankind.[80]
+
+For many people, indeed, the charm of Christmas is inseparably associated
+with the country; it is lost in London--the city is too vast, too modern,
+too sophisticated. It is bound up with the thought of frosty fields, of
+bells heard far away, of bare trees |156| against the starlit sky, of
+carols sung not by trained choirs but by rustic folk with rough accent,
+irregular time, and tunes learnt by ear and not by book.
+
+Again, without the idea of winter half the charm of Christmas would be
+gone. Transplanted in the imagination of western Christendom from an
+undefined season in the hot East to Europe at midwinter, the Nativity
+scenes have taken on a new pathos with the thought of the bitter cold to
+which the great Little One lay exposed in the rough stable, with the
+contrast between the cold and darkness of the night and the fire of love
+veiled beneath that infant form. _Lux in tenebris_ is one of the
+strongest notes of Christmas: in the bleak midwinter a light shines
+through the darkness; when all is cold and gloom, the sky bursts into
+splendour, and in the dark cave is born the Light of the World.
+
+There is the idea of royalty too, with all it stands for of colour and
+magnificence, though not so much in literature as in painting is this
+side of the Christmas story represented. The Epiphany is the great
+opportunity for imaginative development of the regal idea. Then is seen
+the union of utter poverty with highest kingship; the monarchs of the
+East come to bow before the humble Infant for whom the world has found no
+room in the inn. How suggestive by their long, slow syllables are the
+Italian names of the Magi. Gasparre, Baldassarre, Melchiorre--we picture
+Oriental monarchs in robes mysteriously gorgeous, wrought with strange
+patterns, heavy with gold and precious stones. With slow processional
+motion they advance, bearing to the King of Kings their symbolic gifts,
+gold for His crowning, incense for His worship, myrrh for His mortality,
+and with them come the mystery, colour, and perfume of the East, the
+occult wisdom which bows itself before the revelation in the Child.
+
+Above all, as the foregoing pages have shown, it is the _childhood_ of
+the Redeemer that has won the heart of Europe for Christmas; it is the
+appeal to the parental instinct, the love for the tender, weak, helpless,
+yet all-potential babe, that has given the Church's festival its
+strongest hold. And this side of Christmas is penetrated often by the
+_mystical spirit_--that sense of the Infinite in the finite without which
+the highest human life is impossible.
+
+|157| The feeling for Christmas varies from mere delight in the Christ
+Child as a representative symbol on which to lavish affection, as a child
+delights in a doll, to the mystical philosophy of Eckhart, in whose
+Christmas sermons the Nativity is viewed as a type of the Birth of God in
+the depths of man's being. Yet even the least spiritual forms of the cult
+of the Child are seldom without some hint of the supersensual, the
+Infinite, and even in Eckhart there is a love of concrete symbolism.
+Christmas stands peculiarly for the sacramental principle that the
+outward and visible is a sign and shadow of the inward and spiritual. It
+means the seeing of common, earthly things shot through by the glory of
+the Infinite. "Its note," as has been said of a stage of the mystic
+consciousness, the Illuminative Way, "is sacramental not ascetic. It
+entails ... the discovery of the Perfect One ablaze in the Many, not the
+forsaking of the Many in order to find the One ... an ineffable radiance,
+a beauty and a reality never before suspected, are perceived by a sort of
+clairvoyance shining in the meanest things."{1} Christmas is the
+festival of the Divine Immanence, and it is natural that it should have
+been beloved by the saint and mystic whose life was the supreme
+manifestation of the _Via Illuminativa_, Francis of Assisi.
+
+Christmas is the most human and lovable of the Church's feasts. Easter
+and Ascensiontide speak of the rising and exaltation of a glorious being,
+clothed in a spiritual body refined beyond all comparison with our
+natural flesh; Whitsuntide tells of the coming of a mysterious,
+intangible Power--like the wind, we cannot tell whence It cometh and
+whither It goeth; Trinity offers for contemplation an ineffable paradox
+of Pure Being. But the God of Christmas is no ethereal form, no mere
+spiritual essence, but a very human child, feeling the cold and the
+roughness of the straw, needing to be warmed and fed and cherished.
+Christmas is the festival of the natural body, of this world; it means
+the consecration of the ordinary things of life, affection and
+comradeship, eating and drinking and merrymaking; and in some degree the
+memory of the Incarnation has been able to blend with the pagan joyance
+of the New Year.
+
+|158| |159|
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Part II--Pagan Survivals
+
+|160| |161|
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+PRE-CHRISTIAN WINTER FESTIVALS
+
+
+ The Church and Superstition--Nature of Pagan Survivals--Racial
+ Origins--Roman Festivals of the _Saturnalia_ and Kalends--Was there a
+ Teutonic Midwinter Festival?--The Teutonic, Celtic, and Slav New
+ Year--Customs attracted to Christmas or January 1--The Winter Cycle
+ of Festivals--_Rationale_ of Festival Ritual: (_a_) Sacrifice and
+ Sacrament, (_b_) the Cult of the Dead, (_c_) Omens and Charms for the
+ New Year--Compromise in the Later Middle Ages--The Puritans and
+ Christmas--Decay of Old Traditions.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+NEW YEAR MUMMERS IN MANCHURIA.
+
+An Asiatic example of animal masks.]
+
+We have now to leave the commemoration of the Nativity of Christ, and to
+turn to the other side of Christmas--its many traditional observances
+which, though sometimes coloured by Christianity, have nothing to do with
+the Birth of the Redeemer. This class of customs has often, especially in
+the first millennium of our era, been the object of condemnations by
+ecclesiastics, and represents the old paganism which Christianity failed
+to extinguish. The Church has played a double part, a part of sheer
+antagonism, forcing heathen customs into the shade, into a more or less
+surreptitious and unprogressive life, and a part of adaptation, baptizing
+them into Christ, giving them a Christian name and interpretation, and
+often modifying their form. The general effect of Christianity upon pagan
+usages is well suggested by Dr. Karl Pearson:--
+
+ "What the missionary could he repressed, the more as his church grew
+ in strength; what he could not repress he adopted or simply left
+ unregarded.... What the missionary tried to repress became mediaeval
+ witchcraft; what he judiciously disregarded survives to this |162|
+ day in peasant weddings and in the folk-festivals at the great
+ changes of season."{1}
+
+We find then many pagan practices concealed beneath a superficial
+Christianity--often under the mantle of some saint--but side by side with
+these are many usages never Christianized even in appearance, and
+obviously identical with heathen customs against which the Church
+thundered in the days of her youth. Grown old and tolerant--except of
+novelties--she has long since ceased to attack them, and they have
+themselves mostly lost all definite religious meaning. As the old pagan
+faith decayed, they tended to become in a literal sense "superstition,"
+something standing over, like shells from which the living occupant has
+gone. They are now often mere "survivals" in the technical folk-lore
+sense, pieces of custom separated from the beliefs that once gave them
+meaning, performed only because in a vague sort of way they are supposed
+to bring good luck. In many cases those who practise them would be quite
+unable to explain how or why they work for good.
+
+Mental inertia, the instinct to do and believe what has always been done
+and believed, has sometimes preserved the animating faith as well as the
+external form of these practices, but often all serious significance has
+departed. What was once religious or magical ritual, upon the due
+observance of which the welfare of the community was believed to depend,
+has become mere pageantry and amusement, often a mere children's
+game.{2}
+
+Sometimes the spirit of a later age has worked upon these pagan customs,
+revivifying and transforming them, giving them charm. Often, however, one
+does not find in them the poetry, the warm humanity, the humour, which
+mark the creations of popular Catholicism. They are fossils and their
+interest is that of the fossil: they are records of a vanished world and
+help us to an imaginative reconstruction of it. But further, just as on a
+stratum of rock rich in fossils there may be fair meadows and gardens and
+groves, depending for their life on the denudation of the rock beneath,
+so have these ancient religious products largely supplied the soil in
+which more spiritual and more |163| beautiful things have flourished.
+Amid these, as has been well said, "they still emerge, unchanged and
+unchanging, like the quaint outcrops of some ancient rock formation amid
+rich vegetation and fragrant flowers."{3}
+
+The survivals of pagan religion at Christian festivals relate not so much
+to the worship of definite divinities--against this the missionaries made
+their most determined efforts, and the names of the old gods have
+practically disappeared--as to cults which preceded the development of
+anthropomorphic gods with names and attributes. These cults, paid to less
+personally conceived spirits, were of older standing and no doubt had
+deeper roots in the popular mind. Fundamentally associated with
+agricultural and pastoral life, they have in many cases been preserved by
+the most conservative element in the population, the peasantry.
+
+Many of the customs we shall meet with are magical, rather than religious
+in the proper sense; they are not directed to the conciliation of
+spiritual beings, but spring from primitive man's belief "that in order
+to produce the great phenomena of nature on which his life depended he
+had only to imitate them."{4} Even when they have a definitely religious
+character, and are connected with some spirit, magical elements are often
+found in them.
+
+Before we consider these customs in detail it will be necessary to survey
+the pagan festivals briefly alluded to in Chapter I., to note the various
+ideas and practices that characterized them, and to study the attitude of
+the Church towards survivals of such practices while the conversion of
+Europe was in progress, and also during the Middle Ages.
+
+The development of religious custom and belief in Europe is a matter of
+such vast complexity that I cannot in a book of this kind attempt more
+than the roughest outline of the probable origins of the observances,
+purely pagan or half-Christianized, clustering round Christmas. It is
+difficult, in the present state of knowledge, to discern clearly the
+contributions of different peoples to the traditional customs of Europe,
+and even, in many cases, to say whether a given custom is "Aryan" or
+pre-Aryan. The proportion of the Aryan military aristocracy to the
+peoples whom they conquered was not uniform in all countries, and |164|
+probably was often small. While the families of the conquerors succeeded
+in imposing their languages, it by no means necessarily follows that the
+folk-practices of countries now Aryan in speech came entirely or even
+chiefly from Aryan sources. Religious tradition has a marvellous power of
+persistence, and it must be remembered that the lands conquered by men of
+Aryan speech had been previously occupied for immense periods.{5}
+Similarly, in countries like our own, which have been successively
+invaded by Celts, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Danes, and Normans, it is often
+extraordinarily hard to say even to what _national_ source a given custom
+should be assigned.
+
+It is but tentatively and with uncertain hands that scholars are trying
+to separate the racial strains in the folk-traditions of Europe, and here
+I can hardly do more than point out three formative elements in Christian
+customs: the ecclesiastical, the classical (Greek and Roman), and the
+barbarian, taking the last broadly and without a minute racial analysis.
+So far, indeed, as ritual, apart from mythology, is concerned, there
+seems to be a broad common ground of tradition among the Aryan-speaking
+peoples. How far this is due to a common derivation we need not here
+attempt to decide. The folk-lore of the whole world, it is to be noted,
+"reveals for the same stages of civilization a wonderful uniformity and
+homogeneity.... This uniformity is not, however, due to necessary
+uniformity of origin, but to a great extent to the fact that it
+represents the state of equilibrium arrived at between minds at a certain
+level and their environment."{6}
+
+The scientific study of primitive religion is still almost in its
+infancy, and a large amount of conjecture must necessarily enter into any
+explanations of popular ritual that can be offered. In attempting to
+account for Christmas customs we must be mindful, therefore, of the
+tentative nature of the theories put forward. Again, it is important to
+remember that ritual practices are far more enduring than the
+explanations given to them. "The antique religions," to quote the words
+of Robertson Smith, "had for the most part no creed; they consisted
+entirely of institutions and practices ... as a rule we find that while
+the practice was |165| rigorously fixed, the meaning attached to it was
+extremely vague, and the same rite was explained by different people in
+different ways."{7}
+
+Thus if we can arrive at the significance of a rite at a given period, it
+by no means follows that those who began it meant the same thing. At the
+time of the conflict of the heathen religions with Christianity elaborate
+structures of mythology had grown up around their traditional ceremonial,
+assigning to it meanings that had often little to do with its original
+purpose. Often, too, when the purpose was changed, new ceremonies were
+added, so that a rite may look very unlike what it was at first.
+
+With these cautions and reservations we must now try to trace the
+connection between present-day or recent goings-on about Christmas-time
+and the festival practices of pre-Christian Europe.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Christmas, as we saw in Chapter I., has taken the date of the _Natalis
+Invicti_. We need not linger over this feast, for it was not attended by
+folk-customs, and there is nothing to connect it with modern survivals.
+The Roman festivals that really count for our present purpose are the
+Kalends of January and, probably, the _Saturnalia_. The influence of the
+Kalends is strongest naturally in the Latin countries, but is found also
+all over Europe. The influence of the _Saturnalia_ is less certain; the
+festival is not mentioned in ecclesiastical condemnations after the
+institution of Christmas, and possibly its popularity was not so
+widespread as that of the Kalends. There are, however, some curiously
+interesting Christmas parallels to its usages.
+
+The strictly religious feast of the _Saturnalia_{8} was held on December
+17, but the festal customs were kept up for seven days, thus lasting
+until the day before our Christmas Eve. Among them was a fair called the
+_sigillariorum celebritas_, for the sale of little images of clay or
+paste which were given away as presents.[81] Candles seem also to have
+been given away, perhaps |166| as symbols of, or even charms to ensure,
+the return of the sun's power after the solstice. The most remarkable and
+typical feature, however, of the _Saturnalia_ was the mingling of all
+classes in a common jollity. Something of the character of the
+celebration (in a Hellenized form) may be gathered from the "Cronia" or
+"Saturnalia" of Lucian, a dialogue between Cronus or Saturn and his
+priest. We learn from it that the festivities were marked by "drinking
+and being drunk, noise and games and dice, appointing of kings and
+feasting of slaves, singing naked, clapping of tremulous hands, an
+occasional ducking of corked faces in icy water," and that slaves had
+licence to revile their lords.{9}
+
+The spirit of the season may be judged from the legislation which Lucian
+attributes to Cronosolon, priest and prophet of Cronus, much as a modern
+writer might make Father Christmas or Santa Klaus lay down rules for the
+due observance of Yule. Here are some of the laws:--
+
+ "_All business, be it public or private, is forbidden during the
+ feast days, save such as tends to sport and solace and delight. Let
+ none follow their avocations saving cooks and bakers._
+
+ _All men shall be equal, slave and free, rich and poor, one with
+ another._
+
+ _Anger, resentment, threats, are contrary to law._
+
+ _No discourse shall be either composed or delivered, except it be
+ witty and lusty, conducing to mirth and jollity._"
+
+There follow directions as to the sending of presents of money, clothing,
+or vessels, by rich men to poor friends, and as to poor men's gifts in
+return. If the poor man have learning, his return gift is to be "an
+ancient book, but of good omen and festive humour, or a writing of his
+own after his ability.... For the unlearned, let him send a garland or
+grains of frankincense." The "Cronosolon" closes with "Laws of the
+Board," of which the following are a few:--
+
+ "_Every man shall take place as chance may direct; dignities and
+ birth and wealth shall give no precedence._ |167|
+
+ _All shall be served with the same wine.... Every man's
+ portion of meat shall be alike._
+
+ _When the rich man shall feast his slaves, let his friends serve with
+ him._"{11}
+
+Over the whole festival brooded the thought of a golden age in the
+distant past, when Saturn ruled, a just and kindly monarch, when all men
+were good and all men were happy.
+
+A striking feature of the _Saturnalia_ was the choosing by lot of a mock
+king, to preside over the revels. His word was law, and he was able to
+lay ridiculous commands upon the guests; "one," says Lucian, "must shout
+out a libel on himself, another dance naked, or pick up the flute-girl
+and carry her thrice round the house."{12} This king may have been
+originally the representative of the god Saturn himself. In the days of
+the classical writers he is a mere "Lord of Misrule," but Dr. Frazer has
+propounded the very interesting theory that this time of privilege and
+gaiety was once but the prelude to a grim sacrifice in which he had to
+die in the character of the god, giving his life for the world.{13} Dr.
+Frazer's theory, dependent for its evidence upon the narrative of the
+martyrdom of a fourth-century saint, Dasius by name, has been keenly
+criticized by Dr. Warde Fowler. He holds that there is nothing whatever
+to show that the "Saturn" who in the fourth century, according to the
+story, was sacrificed by soldiers on the Danube, had anything to do with
+the customs of ancient Rome.{14} Still, in whatever way the king of the
+_Saturnalia_ may be explained, it is interesting to note his existence
+and compare him with the merry monarchs whom we shall meet at Christmas
+and Twelfth Night.
+
+How far the Saturnalian customs in general were of old Latin origin it is
+difficult to say; the name Saturnus (connected with the root of _serere_,
+to sow) and the date point to a real Roman festival of the sowing of the
+crops, but this was heavily overlaid with Greek ideas and practice.{15}
+It is especially important to bear this in mind in considering Lucian's
+statements.
+
+The same is true of the festival of the January Kalends, a few days after
+the _Saturnalia_. On January 1, the Roman New |168| Year's Day, the new
+consuls were inducted into office, and for at least three days high
+festival was kept. The houses were decorated with lights and
+greenery--these, we shall find, may be partly responsible for the modern
+Christmas-tree. As at the _Saturnalia_ masters drank and gambled with
+slaves. _Vota_, or solemn wishes of prosperity for the Emperor during the
+New Year, were customary, and the people and the Senate were even
+expected to present gifts of money to him. The Emperor Caligula excited
+much disgust by publishing an edict requiring these gifts and by standing
+in the porch of his palace to receive them in person. Such gifts, not
+only presented to the Emperor, but frequently exchanged between private
+persons, were called _strenae_, a name still surviving in the French
+_etrennes_ (New Year's presents).{16}
+
+An interesting and very full account of the Kalends celebrations is given
+in two discourses of Libanius, the famous Greek sophist of the fourth
+century:--
+
+ "The festival of the Kalends," he says, "is celebrated everywhere as
+ far as the limits of the Roman Empire extend.... Everywhere may be
+ seen carousals and well-laden tables; luxurious abundance is found in
+ the houses of the rich, but also in the houses of the poor better
+ food than usual is put upon the table. The impulse to spend seizes
+ everyone. He who the whole year through has taken pleasure in saving
+ and piling up his pence, becomes suddenly extravagant. He who
+ erstwhile was accustomed and preferred to live poorly, now at this
+ feast enjoys himself as much as his means will allow.... People are
+ not only generous towards themselves, but also towards their
+ fellow-men. A stream of presents pours itself out on all sides....
+ The highroads and footpaths are covered with whole processions of
+ laden men and beasts.... As the thousand flowers which burst forth
+ everywhere are the adornment of Spring, so are the thousand presents
+ poured out on all sides, the decoration of the Kalends feast. It may
+ justly be said that it is the fairest time of the year.... The
+ Kalends festival banishes all that is connected with toil, and allows
+ men to give themselves up to undisturbed enjoyment. From the minds of
+ young people it removes two kinds of dread: the dread of the
+ schoolmaster and the dread of the stern pedagogue. The slave also it
+ allows, so far as possible, to breathe the air of freedom.... |169|
+ Another great quality of the festival is that it teaches men not to
+ hold too fast to their money, but to part with it and let it pass
+ into other hands."{17}
+
+The resemblances here to modern Christmas customs are very striking. In
+another discourse Libanius speaks of processions on the Eve of the
+festival. Few people, he says, go to bed; most go about the streets with
+singing and leaping and all sorts of mockery. The severest moralist
+utters no blame on this occasion. When morning begins to dawn they
+decorate their houses with laurels and other greenery, and at daybreak
+may go to bed to sleep off their intoxication, for many deem it necessary
+at this feast to follow the flowing bowl. On the 1st of January money is
+distributed to the populace; on the 2nd no more presents are given: it is
+customary to stay at home playing dice, masters and slaves together. On
+the 3rd there is racing; on the 4th the festivities begin to decline, but
+they are not altogether over on the 5th.{18}
+
+Another feature of the Kalends, recorded not in the pages of classical
+writers but in ecclesiastical condemnations, was the custom of dressing
+up in the hides of animals, in women's clothes, and in masks of various
+kinds.{19} Dr. Tille{20} regards this as Italian in origin, but it
+seems likely that it was a native custom in Greece, Gaul, Germany, and
+other countries conquered by the Romans. In Greece the skin-clad mummers
+may have belonged to the winter festivals of Dionysus supplanted by the
+_Kalendae_.{21}
+
+The Church's denunciations of pagan festal practices in the winter season
+are mainly directed against the Kalends celebrations, and show into how
+many regions the keeping of the feast had spread. Complaints of its
+continued observance abound in the writings of churchmen and the decrees
+of councils. In the second volume of his "Mediaeval Stage"{22} Mr.
+Chambers has made an interesting collection of forty excerpts from such
+denunciations, ranging in date from the fourth century to the eleventh,
+and coming from Spain, Italy, Antioch, northern Africa, Constantinople,
+Germany, England, and various districts of what is now France.
+
+|170| As a specimen I may translate a passage describing at some length
+the practices condemned. It is from a sermon often ascribed to St.
+Augustine of Hippo, but probably composed in the sixth century, very
+likely by Caesarius of Arles in southern Gaul:--
+
+ "On those days," says the preacher, speaking of the Kalends of
+ January, "the heathen, reversing the order of all things, dress
+ themselves up in indecent deformities.... These miserable men, and
+ what is worse, some who have been baptized, put on counterfeit forms
+ and monstrous faces, at which one should rather be ashamed and sad.
+ For what reasonable man would believe that any men in their senses
+ would by making a stag (_cervulum_) turn themselves into the
+ appearance of animals? Some are clothed in the hides of cattle;
+ others put on the heads of beasts, rejoicing and exulting that they
+ have so transformed themselves into the shapes of animals that they
+ no longer appear to be men.... How vile, further, it is that those
+ who have been born men are clothed in women's dresses, and by the
+ vilest change effeminate their manly strength by taking on the forms
+ of girls, blushing not to clothe their warlike arms in women's
+ garments; they have bearded faces, and yet they wish to appear
+ women.... There are some who on the Kalends of January practise
+ auguries, and do not allow fire out of their houses or any other
+ favour to anyone who asks. Also they both receive and give diabolical
+ presents (_strenas_). Some country people, moreover, lay tables with
+ plenty of things necessary for eating ... thinking that thus the
+ Kalends of January will be a warranty that all through the year their
+ feasting will be in like measure abundant. Now as for them who on
+ those days observe any heathen customs, it is to be feared that the
+ name of Christian will avail them nought. And therefore our holy
+ fathers of old, considering that the majority of men on those days
+ became slaves to gluttony and riotous living and raved in drunkenness
+ and impious dancing, determined for the whole world that throughout
+ the Churches a public fast should be proclaimed.... Let us therefore
+ fast, beloved brethren, on those days.... For he who on the Kalends
+ shows any civility to foolish men who are wantonly sporting, is
+ undoubtedly a partaker of their sin."{23}
+
+There are several points to be noted here. First, the zeal of the Church
+against the Kalends celebrations as impious relics of |171| heathenism:
+to root them out she even made the first three days of the year a solemn
+fast with litanies.{24} Next, the particular offences should be
+observed. These are: first, the dressing up of men in the hides of
+animals and the clothes of women; next, the New Year auguries and the
+superstition about fire, the giving of presents, and the laying of tables
+with good things; and last, drunkenness and riot in general. All these we
+shall find fully represented in modern Christmas customs.
+
+That Roman customs either spread to Germany, or were paralleled there, is
+shown by a curious letter written in 742 by St. Boniface to Pope
+Zacharias. The saint complained that certain Alamanni, Bavarians, and
+Franks refused to give up various heathen practices because they had seen
+such things done in the sacred city of Rome, close to St. Peter's, and,
+as they deemed, with the sanction of the clergy. On New Year's Eve, it
+was alleged, processions went through the streets of Rome, with impious
+songs and heathen cries; tables of fortune were set up, and at that time
+no one would lend fire or iron or any other article to his neighbour. The
+Pope replied that these things were odious to him, and should be so to
+all Christians; and next year all such practices at the January Kalends
+were formally forbidden by the Council of Rome.{25}
+
+ * * * * *
+
+So much for Roman customs; if indeed such practices as beast-masking are
+Roman, and not derived from the religion of peoples conquered by the
+imperial legions. We must now turn to the winter festivals of the
+barbarians with whom the Church began to come into contact soon after the
+establishment of Christmas.
+
+Much attention has been bestowed upon a supposed midwinter festival of
+the ancient Germans. In the mid-nineteenth century it was customary to
+speak of Christmas and the Twelve Nights as a continuation of the holy
+season kept by our forefathers at the winter solstice. The festive fires
+of Christmas were regarded as symbols of the sun, who then began his
+upward journey in the heavens, while the name Yule was traced back to the
+Anglo-Saxon word _hweol_ (wheel), and connected with the circular |172|
+course of the sun through the wheeling-points of the solstices and
+equinoxes. More recent research, however, has thrown the gravest doubts
+upon the existence of any Teutonic festival at the winter solstice.[82]
+It appears from philology and the study of surviving customs that the
+Teutonic peoples had no knowledge of the solstices and equinoxes, and
+until the introduction of the Roman Calendar divided their year not into
+four parts but into two, three, and six, holding their New Year's Day
+with its attendant festivities not at the end of December or beginning of
+January, but towards the middle of November. At that time in Central
+Europe the first snowfall usually occurred and the pastures were closed
+to the flocks. A great slaughter of cattle would then take place, it
+being impossible to keep the beasts in stall throughout the winter, and
+this time of slaughter would naturally be a season of feasting and
+sacrifice and religious observances.[83]{26}
+
+The Celtic year, like the Teutonic, appears to have begun in November
+with the feast of _Samhain_--a name that may mean either "summer-end" or
+"assembly." It appears to have been in origin a "pastoral and
+agricultural festival, which in time came to be looked upon as affording
+assistance to the powers of growth in their conflict with the powers of
+blight," and to have had many features in common with the Teutonic feast
+at the same season, for instance animal sacrifice, commemoration of the
+dead, and omens and charms for the New Year.{27}
+
+There is some reason also to believe that the New Year |173| festival
+of the Slavs took place in the autumn and that its usages have been
+transferred to the feast of the Nativity.{29} A description based on
+contemporary documents cannot be given of these barbarian festivals; we
+have, rather, to reconstruct them from survivals in popular custom. At
+the close of this book, when such relics have been studied, we may have
+gained some idea of what went on upon these pre-Christian holy-days. It
+is the Teutonic customs that have been most fully recorded and discussed
+by scholars, and these will loom largest in our review; at the same time
+Celtic and Slav practices will be considered, and we shall find that they
+often closely resemble those current in Teutonic lands.
+
+The customs of the old New Year feasts have frequently wandered from
+their original November date, and to this fact we owe whatever elements
+of northern paganism are to be found in Christmas. Some practices seem to
+have been put forward to Michaelmas; one side of the festivals, the cult
+of the dead, is represented especially by All Saints' and All Souls' days
+(November 1 and 2). St. Martin's Day (November 11) probably marks as
+nearly as possible the old Teutonic date, and is still in Germany an
+important folk-feast attended by many customs derived from the
+beginning-of-winter festival. Other practices are found strewn over
+various holy-days between Martinmas and Epiphany, and concentrated above
+all on the Church's feast of the Nativity and the Roman New Year's Day,
+January 1, both of which had naturally great power of attraction.{30}
+
+The progress of agriculture, as Dr. Tille points out,{31} tended to
+destroy the mid-November celebration. In the Carolingian period an
+improvement took place in the cultivation of meadows, and the increased
+quantity of hay made it possible to keep the animals fattening in stall,
+instead of slaughtering them as soon as the pastures were closed. Thus
+the killing-time, with its festivities, became later and later. St.
+Andrew's Day (November 30) and St. Nicholas's (December 6) may mark
+stages in its progress into the winter. In St. Nicholas's Day, indeed, we
+find a feast that closely resembles Martinmas, and seems to be the same
+folk-festival transferred to a later date. Again, as regards England we
+|174| must remember the difference between its climate and that of
+Central Europe. Mid-November would here not be a date beyond which
+pasturing was impossible, and thus the slaughter and feast held then by
+Angles and Saxons in their old German home would tend to be delayed.{32}
+
+Christmas, as will be gathered from the foregoing, cannot on its pagan
+side be separated from the folk-feasts of November and December. The
+meaning of the term will therefore here be so extended as to cover the
+whole period between All Saints' Day and Epiphany. That this is not too
+violent a proceeding will be seen later on.
+
+For the purposes of this book it seems best to treat the winter festivals
+calendarially, so to speak: to start at the beginning of November, and
+show them in procession, suggesting, as far as may be, the probable
+origins of the customs observed. Thus we may avoid the dismemberment
+caused by taking out certain practices from various festivals and
+grouping them under their probable origins, a method which would,
+moreover, be perilous in view of the very conjectural nature of the
+theories offered.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Before we pass to our procession of festivals, something must be said
+about the general nature and _rationale_ of the customs associated with
+them. For convenience these customs may be divided into three groups:--
+
+ I. _Sacrificial or Sacramental Practices._
+ II. _Customs connected with the Cult of the Dead and the Family Hearth._
+ III. _Omens and Charms for the New Year._
+
+Though these three classes overlap and it is sometimes difficult to place
+a given practice exclusively in one of them, they will form a useful
+framework for a brief account of the primitive ritual which survives at
+the winter festivals.
+
+
+I. SACRIFICIAL AND SACRAMENTAL PRACTICES.
+
+To most people, probably, the word "sacrifice" suggests an offering,
+something presented to a divinity in order to obtain his favour. Such
+seems to have been the meaning generally given to |175| sacrificial
+rites in Europe when Christianity came into conflict with paganism. It
+is, however, held by many scholars that the original purpose of sacrifice
+was sacramental--the partaking by the worshipper of the divine life,
+conceived of as present in the victim, rather than the offering of a gift
+to a divinity.{33}
+
+The whole subject of sacred animals is obscure, and in regard,
+especially, to totemism--defined by Dr. Frazer{34} as "belief in the
+kinship of certain families with certain species of animals" and
+practices based upon that belief--the most divergent views are held by
+scholars. The religious significance which some have seen in totemistic
+customs is denied by others, while there is much disagreement as to the
+probability of their having been widespread in Europe. Still, whatever
+may be the truth about totemism, there is much that points to the
+sometime existence in Europe of sacrifices that were not offerings, but
+solemn feasts of communion in the flesh and blood of a worshipful
+animal.{35} That the idea of sacrificial communion preceded the
+sacrifice-gift is suggested by the fact that in many customs which appear
+to be sacrificial survivals the body of the victim has some kind of
+sacramental efficacy; it conveys a blessing to that which is brought into
+contact with it. The actual eating and drinking of the flesh and blood is
+the most perfect mode of contact, but the same end seems to have been
+aimed at in such customs as the sprinkling of worshippers with blood, the
+carrying of the victim in procession from house to house, the burying of
+flesh in furrows to make the crops grow, and the wearing of hides, heads,
+or horns of sacrificed beasts.{36} We shall meet, during the Christmas
+season, with various practices that seem to have originated either in a
+sacrificial feast or in some such sacramental rites as have just been
+described. So peculiarly prominent are animal masks, apparently derived
+from hide-, head-, and horn-wearing, that we may dwell upon them a little
+at this point.
+
+We have already seen how much trouble the Kalends custom of beast-masking
+gave the ecclesiastics. Its probable origin is thus suggested by
+Robertson Smith:--
+
+ "It is ... appropriate that the worshipper should dress himself in
+ |176| the skin of a victim, and so, as it were, envelop himself in
+ its sanctity. To rude nations dress is not merely a physical comfort,
+ but a fixed part of social religion, a thing by which a man
+ constantly bears on his body the token of his religion, and which is
+ itself a charm and a means of divine protection.... When the dress of
+ sacrificial skin, which at once declared a man's religion and his
+ sacred kindred, ceased to be used in ordinary life, it was still
+ retained in holy and especially in piacular functions; ... examples
+ are afforded by the Dionysiac mysteries and other Greek rites, and by
+ almost every rude religion; while in later cults the old rite
+ survives at least in the religious use of animal masks."[84]{37}
+
+If we accept the animal-worship and sacrificial communion theory, many a
+Christmas custom will carry us back in thought to a stage of religion far
+earlier than the Greek and Roman classics or the Celtic and Teutonic
+mythology of the conversion period: we shall be taken back to a time
+before men had come to have anthropomorphic gods, when they were not
+conscious of their superiority to the beasts of the field, but regarded
+these beings, mysterious in their actions, extraordinary in their powers,
+as incarnations of potent spirits. At this stage of thought, it would
+seem, there were as yet no definite divinities with personal names and
+characters, but the world was full of spirits immanent in animal or plant
+or chosen human being, and able to pass from one incarnation to another.
+Or indeed it may be that animal sacrifice originated at a stage of
+religion before the idea of definite "spirits" had arisen, when man was
+conscious rather of a vague force like the Melanesian _mana_, in himself
+and in almost everything, and "constantly trembling on the verge of
+personality."{38} "_Mana_" better than "god" or "spirit" may express
+that with which the partaker in the communal feast originally sought
+contact. "When you sacrifice," to quote some words of Miss Jane Harrison,
+"you build as it were a bridge between your _mana_, your will, your
+desire, which is weak and impotent, and |177| that unseen outside
+_mana_ which you believe to be strong and efficacious. In the fruits of
+the earth which grow by some unseen power there is much _mana_; you want
+that _mana_. In the loud-roaring bull and the thunder is much _mana_; you
+want that _mana_. It would be well to get some, to eat a piece of that
+bull raw, but it is dangerous, not a thing to do unawares alone; so you
+consecrate the first-fruits, you sacrifice the bull and then in safety
+you--communicate."{39} "Sanctity"--the quality of awfulness and
+mystery--rather than divinity or personality, may have been what
+primitive man saw in the beasts and birds which he venerated in "their
+silent, aloof, goings, in the perfection of their limited doings."{40}
+When we use the word "spirit" in connection with the pagan sacramental
+practices of Christmastide, it is well to bear in mind the possibility
+that at the origin of these customs there may have been no notion of
+communion with strictly personal beings, but rather some such _mana_ idea
+as has been suggested above.
+
+It is probable that animal-cults had their origin at a stage of human
+life preceding agriculture, when man lived not upon cultivated plants or
+tamed beasts, but upon roots and fruits and the products of the chase.
+Some scholars, indeed, hold that the domestication of animals for
+practical use was an outcome of the sacred, inviolable character of
+certain creatures: they may originally have been spared not for reasons
+of convenience but because it was deemed a crime to kill them--except
+upon certain solemn occasions--and may have become friendly towards man
+through living by his side.{41} On the other hand it is possible that
+totems were originally staple articles of food, that they were sacred
+because they were eaten with satisfaction, and that the very awe and
+respect attached to them because of their life-giving powers tended to
+remove them from common use and limit their consumption to rare
+ceremonial occasions.
+
+Closely akin to the worship of animals is that of plants, and especially
+trees, and there is much evidence pointing to sacramental cults in
+connection with the plant-world.{42} Some cakes and special vegetable
+dishes eaten on festal days may be survivals of sacramental feasts
+parallel to those upon the flesh and blood of |178| an animal victim.
+Benediction by external contact, again, is suggested by the widespread
+use in various ways of branches or sprigs or whole trees. The
+Christmas-tree and evergreen decorations are the most obvious examples;
+we shall see others in the course of our survey, and in connection with
+plants as well as with animals we shall meet with processions intended to
+convey a blessing to every house by carrying about the sacred
+elements--to borrow a term from Christian theology. Even the familiar
+practice of going carol-singing may be a Christianized form of some such
+perambulation.
+
+It is possible that men and women had originally separate cults. The cult
+of animals, according to a theory set forth by Mr. Chambers, would at
+first belong to the men, who as hunters worshipped the beasts they slew,
+apologizing to them, as some primitive people do to-day, for the
+slaughter they were obliged to commit. Other animals, apparently, were
+held too sacred to be slain, except upon rare and solemn occasions, and
+hence, as we have seen, may have arisen domestication and the pastoral
+life which, with its religious rites, was the affair of the men. To
+women, on the other hand, belonged agriculture; the cult of Mother Earth
+and the vegetation-spirits seems to have been originally theirs. Later
+the two cults would coalesce, but a hint of the time when certain rites
+were practised only by women may be found in that dressing up of men in
+female garments which appears not merely in the old Kalends customs but
+in some modern survivals.[85]{43}
+
+Apart from any special theory of the origin of sacrifice, we may note the
+association at Christmas of physical feasting with religious rejoicing.
+In this the modern European is the heir of an agelong tradition.
+"Everywhere," says Robertson Smith, |179| "we find that a sacrifice
+ordinarily involves a feast, and that a feast cannot be provided without
+a sacrifice. For a feast is not complete without flesh, and in early
+times the rule that all slaughter is sacrifice was not confined to the
+Semites. The identity of religious occasions and festal seasons may
+indeed be taken as the determining characteristic of the type of ancient
+religion generally; when men meet their god they feast and are glad
+together, and whenever they feast and are glad they desire that the god
+should be of the party."{45} To the paganism that preceded Christianity
+we must look for the origin of that Christmas feasting which has not
+seldom been a matter of scandal for the severer type of churchman.
+
+ [Transcriber's Note: The marker for note {44} was not present in
+ the page scan]
+
+A letter addressed in 601 by Pope Gregory the Great to Abbot Mellitus,
+giving him instructions to be handed on to Augustine of Canterbury,
+throws a vivid light on the process by which heathen sacrificial feasts
+were turned into Christian festivals. "Because," the Pope says of the
+Anglo-Saxons, "they are wont to slay many oxen in sacrifices to demons,
+some solemnity should be put in the place of this, so that on the day of
+the dedication of the churches, or the nativities of the holy martyrs
+whose relics are placed there, they may make for themselves tabernacles
+of branches of trees around those churches which have been changed from
+heathen temples, and may celebrate the solemnity with religious feasting.
+Nor let them now sacrifice animals to the Devil, but to the praise of God
+kill animals for their own eating, and render thanks to the Giver of all
+for their abundance; so that while some outward joys are retained for
+them, they may more readily respond to inward joys. For from obdurate
+minds it is undoubtedly impossible to cut off everything at once, because
+he who strives to ascend to the highest place rises by degrees or steps
+and not by leaps."{46}
+
+We see here very plainly the mind of the ecclesiastical compromiser.
+Direct sacrifice to heathen gods the Church of course could not dream of
+tolerating; it had been the very centre of her attack since the days of
+St. Paul, and refusal to take part in it had cost the martyrs their
+lives. Yet the festivity and merrymaking to which it gave occasion were
+to be left to the |180| people, for a time at all events. The policy
+had its advantages, it made the Church festivals popular; but it had also
+its dangers, it encouraged the intrusion of a pagan fleshly element into
+their austere and chastened joys. A certain orgiastic licence crept in,
+an unbridling of the physical appetites, which has ever been a source of
+sorrow and anger to the most earnest Christians and even led the Puritans
+of the seventeenth century to condemn all festivals as diabolical.
+
+Before we leave the subject of sacrificial survivals, it must be added
+that certain Christmas customs may come, little as those who practise
+them suspect it, from that darkest of religious rites, human sacrifice.
+Reference has already been made to Dr. Frazer's view of the Saturnalian
+king and his awful origin. We shall meet with various similar figures
+during the Christmas season--the "King of the Bean," for instance, and
+the "Bishop of Fools." If the theories about human sacrifice set forth in
+"The Golden Bough" be accepted, we may regard these personages as having
+once been mock kings chosen to suffer instead of the real kings, who had
+at first to perish by a violent death in order to preserve from the decay
+of age the divine life incarnate in them. Such mock monarchs, according
+to Dr. Frazer, were exalted for a brief season to the glory and luxury of
+kingship ere their doom fell upon them;{47} in the Christmas "kings" the
+splendour alone has survived, the dark side is forgotten.
+
+
+II. THE CULT OF THE DEAD AND THE FAMILY HEARTH.
+
+Round the winter festival cluster certain customs apparently connected
+with distinctively domestic religion, rather than with such public and
+communal cults as we have considered under the heading of Sacrifice and
+Sacrament. A festival of the family--that is, perhaps, what Christmas
+most prominently is to-day: it is the great season for gatherings "round
+the old fireside"; it is a joyous time for the children of the house, and
+the memory of the departed is vivid then, if unexpressed. Further, by the
+Yule log customs and certain other ceremonies still practised in the
+remoter corners of Europe, we are carried back to a stage of thought at
+which the dead were conceived as hovering about or |181| visiting the
+abodes of the living. Ancestral spirits, it seems, were once believed to
+be immanent in the fire that burned on the hearth, and had to be
+propitiated with libations, while elsewhere the souls of the dead were
+thought to return to their old homes at the New Year, and meat and drink
+had to be set out for them. The Church's establishment of All Souls' Day
+did much to keep practices of tendance of the departed to early November,
+but sometimes these have wandered to later dates and especially to
+Christmas. In folk-practices directed towards the dead two tendencies are
+to be found: on the one hand affection or at all events consideration for
+the departed persists, and efforts are made to make them comfortable; on
+the other, they are regarded with dread, and the sight of them is avoided
+by the living.
+
+In the passage quoted from Caesarius of Arles there was mention of the
+laying of tables with abundance of food at the Kalends. The same practice
+is condemned by St. Jerome in the fifth century, and is by him specially
+connected with Egypt.{48} He, like Caesarius and others, regards it as a
+kind of charm to ensure abundance during the coming year, but it is very
+possible that its real purpose was different, that the food was an
+offering to supernatural beings, the guardians and representatives of the
+dead.{49} Burchardus of Worms in the early eleventh century says
+definitely that in his time tables were laid with food and drink and
+three knives for "those three Sisters whom the ancients in their folly
+called _Parcae_."{50} The _Parcae_ were apparently identified with the
+three "weird" Sisters known in England and in other Teutonic regions, and
+seem to have some connection with the fairies. As we shall see later on,
+it is still in some places the custom to lay out tables for supernatural
+beings, whether, as at All Souls' tide, explicitly for the dead, or for
+Frau Perchta, or for the Virgin or some other Christian figure. Possibly
+the name _Modranicht_ (night of mothers), which Bede gives to Christmas
+Eve,{51} may be connected with this practice.
+
+Not remote, probably, in origin from a belief in "ghosts" is the driving
+away of spirits that sometimes takes place about |182| Christmas-time.
+Many peoples, as Dr. Frazer has shown, have an annual expulsion of
+goblins, ghosts, devils, witches, and evil influences, commonly at the
+end of the Old or beginning of the New Year. Sometimes the beings so
+driven away are definitely the spirits of the departed. An appalling
+racket and a great flare of torches are common features of these
+expulsions, and we shall meet with similar customs during the Christmas
+season. Such purifications, according to Dr. Frazer, are often preceded
+or followed by periods of licence, for when the burden of evil is about
+to be, or has just been, removed, it is felt that a little temporary
+freedom from moral restraints may be allowed with impunity.{52} Hence
+possibly, in part, the licence which has often attended the Christmas
+season.
+
+
+III. OMENS AND CHARMS FOR THE NEW YEAR.
+
+Customs of augury are to be met with at various dates, which may mark the
+gradual shifting of the New Year festival from early November to January
+1, while actual charms to secure prosperity are commonest at Christmas
+itself or at the modern New Year. Magical rather than religious in
+character, they are attempts to discover or influence the future by a
+sort of crude scientific method based on supposed analogies. Beneath the
+charms lie the primitive ideas that like produces like and that things
+which have once been in contact continue to act upon one another after
+they are separated in space.{53} The same ideas obviously underlie many
+of the sacramental practices alluded to a few pages back, and these are
+often of the nature of charms. Probably, too, among New Year charms
+should be included such institutions as the bonfires on Hallowe'en in
+Celtic countries, on Guy Fawkes Day in England, and at Martinmas in
+Germany, for it would seem that they are intended to secure by imitation
+a due supply of sunshine.{54} The principle that "well begun is well
+ended"--or, as the Germans have it, "_Anfang gut, alles gut_"--is
+fundamental in New Year practices: hence the custom of giving presents as
+auguries of wealth during the coming year; hence perhaps partly the heavy
+eating and drinking--a kind of charm to ensure abundance.
+
+|183| Enough has already been said about the attitude of the early
+Church towards traditional folk-customs. Of the position taken up by the
+later mediaeval clergy we get an interesting glimpse in the "Largum Sero"
+of a certain monk Alsso of Brevnov, an account of Christmas practices in
+Bohemia written about the year 1400. It supplies a link between modern
+customs and the Kalends prohibitions of the Dark Ages. Alsso tells of a
+number of laudable Christmas Eve practices, gives elaborate Christian
+interpretations of them, and contrasts them with things done by bad
+Catholics with ungodly intention. Here are some of his complaints:--
+
+ Presents, instead of being given, as they should be, in memory of
+ God's great Gift to man, are sent because he who does not give freely
+ will be unlucky in the coming year. Money, instead of being given to
+ the poor, as is seemly, is laid on the table to augur wealth, and
+ people open their purses that luck may enter. Instead of using fruit
+ as a symbol of Christ the Precious Fruit, men cut it open to predict
+ the future [probably from the pips]. It is a laudable custom to make
+ great white loaves at Christmas as symbols of the True Bread, but
+ evil men set out such loaves that the gods may eat of them.
+
+Alsso's assumption is that the bad Catholics are diabolically perverting
+venerable Christmas customs, but there can be little doubt that precisely
+the opposite was really the case--the Christian symbolism was merely a
+gloss upon pagan practices. In one instance Alsso admits that the Church
+had adopted and transformed a heathen usage: the old _calendisationes_ or
+processions with an idol Bel had been changed into processions of clergy
+and choir-boys with the crucifix. Round the villages on the Eve and
+during the Octave of Christmas went these messengers of God, robed in
+white raiment as befitted the servants of the Lord of purity; they would
+chant joyful anthems of the Nativity, and receive in return some money
+from the people--they were, in fact, carol-singers. Moreover with their
+incense they would drive out the Devil from every corner.{55}
+
+Alsso's attitude is one of compromise, or at least many of the old
+heathen customs are allowed by him, when reinterpreted in a |184|
+Christian sense. Such seems to have been the general tendency of the
+later Catholic Church, and also of Anglicanism in so far as it continued
+the Catholic tradition. It will be seen, however, from what has already
+been said, that the English Puritans were but following early Christian
+precedents when they attacked the paganism that manifested itself at
+Christmas.
+
+A strong Puritan onslaught is to be found in the "Anatomie of Abuses" by
+the Calvinist, Philip Stubbes, first published in 1583. "Especially," he
+says, "in Christmas tyme there is nothing els vsed but cardes, dice,
+tables, maskyng, mumming, bowling, and suche like fooleries; and the
+reason is, that they think they haue a commission and prerogatiue that
+tyme to doe what they list, and to followe what vanitie they will. But
+(alas!) doe they thinke that they are preuiledged at that time to doe
+euill? The holier the time is (if one time were holier than an other, as
+it is not), the holier ought their exercises to bee. Can any tyme
+dispence with them, or giue them libertie to sinne? No, no; the soule
+which sinneth shall dye, at what tyme soeuer it offendeth....
+Notwithstandyng, who knoweth not that more mischeef is that tyme
+committed than in all the yere besides?"{56}
+
+When the Puritans had gained the upper hand they proceeded to the
+suppression not only of abuses, but of the festival itself. An excellent
+opportunity for turning the feast into a fast--as the early Church had
+done, it will be remembered, with the Kalends festival--came in 1644. In
+that year Christmas Day happened to fall upon the last Wednesday of the
+month, a day appointed by the Lords and Commons for a Fast and
+Humiliation. In its zeal against carnal pleasures Parliament published
+the following "Ordinance for the better observation of the Feast of the
+Nativity of Christ":--
+
+ "Whereas some doubts have been raised whether the next Fast shall be
+ celebrated, because it falleth on the day which, heretofore, was
+ usually called the Feast of the Nativity of our Saviour; the lords
+ and commons do order and ordain that public notice be given, that the
+ Fast appointed to be kept on the last Wednesday in every month, ought
+ to be observed until it be otherwise ordered by both houses; |185|
+ and that this day particularly is to be kept with the more solemn
+ humiliation because it may call to remembrance our sins and the sins
+ of our forefathers, who have turned this Feast, pretending the memory
+ of Christ, into an extreme forgetfulness of him, by giving liberty to
+ carnal and sensual delights; being contrary to the life which Christ
+ himself led here upon earth, and to the spiritual life of Christ in
+ our souls; for the sanctifying and saving whereof Christ was pleased
+ both to take a human life, and to lay it down again."{57}
+
+But the English people's love of Christmas could not be destroyed. "These
+poor simple creatures are made after superstitious festivals, after
+unholy holidays," said a speaker in the House of Commons. "I have known
+some that have preferred Christmas Day before the Lord's Day," said
+Calamy in a sermon to the Lords in Westminster Abbey, "I have known those
+that would be sure to receive the Sacrament on Christmas Day though they
+did not receive it all the year after. This was the superstition of this
+day, and the profaneness was as great. There were some that did not play
+cards all the year long, yet they must play at Christmas." Various
+protests were made against the suppression of the festival. Though
+Parliament sat every Christmas Day from 1644 to 1656, the shops in London
+in 1644 were all shut, and in 1646 the people who opened their shops were
+so roughly used that next year they petitioned Parliament to protect them
+in future. In 1647 the shops were indeed all closed, but evergreen
+decorations were put up in the City, and the Lord Mayor and City Marshal
+had to ride about setting fire to them. There were even riots in country
+places, notably at Canterbury. With the Restoration Christmas naturally
+came back to full recognition, though it may be doubted whether it has
+ever been quite the same thing since the Puritan Revolution.{58}
+
+Protestantism, in proportion to its thoroughness and the strength of its
+Puritan elements, has everywhere tended to destroy old pagan traditions
+and the festivals to which they cling. Calvinism has naturally been more
+destructive than Lutheranism, which in the Scandinavian countries has
+left standing many of the externals of Catholicism and also many
+Christmas customs that are purely pagan, while in Germany it has
+tolerated and even hallowed the |186| ritual of the Christmas-tree. But
+more powerful than religious influences, in rooting out the old customs,
+have been modern education and the growth of modern industry, breaking up
+the old traditional country life, and putting in its place the mobile,
+restless life of the great town. Many of the customs we shall have to
+consider belong essentially to the country, and have no relation to the
+life of the modern city. When communal in their character, a man could
+not perform them in separation from his rustic neighbours. Practices
+domestic in their purpose may indeed be transferred to the modern city,
+but it is the experience of folk-lorists that they seldom descend to the
+second generation.
+
+It is in regions like Bavaria, Tyrol, Styria, or the Slav parts of the
+Austrian Empire, or Roumania and Servia, that the richest store of
+festival customs is to be found nowadays. Here the old agricultural life
+has been less interfered with, and at the same time the Church, whether
+Roman or Greek, has succeeded in keeping modern ideas away from the
+people and in maintaining a popular piety that is largely polytheistic in
+its worship of the saints, and embodies a great amount of traditional
+paganism. In our half-suburbanized England but little now remains of
+these vestiges of primitive religion and magic whose interest and
+importance were only realized by students in the later nineteenth
+century, when the wave of "progress" was fast sweeping them away.
+
+Old traditions have a way of turning up unexpectedly in remote corners,
+and it is hard to say for certain that any custom is altogether extinct;
+every year, however, does its work of destruction, and it may well be
+that some of the practices here described in the present tense have
+passed into the Limbo of discarded things.
+
+|187| |188| |189|
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+ALL HALLOW TIDE TO MARTINMAS
+
+
+ All Saints' and All Souls' Days, their Relation to a New Year
+ Festival--All Souls' Eve and Tendance of the Departed--Soul Cakes in
+ England and on the Continent--Pagan Parallels of All
+ Souls'--Hallowe'en Charms and Omens--Hallowe'en Fires--Guy Fawkes
+ Day--"Old Hob," the _Schimmelreiter_, and other Animal
+ Masks--Martinmas and its Slaughter--Martinmas Drinking--St. Martin's
+ Fires in Germany--Winter Visitors in the Low Countries and
+ Germany--St. Martin as Gift-bringer--St. Martin's Rod.
+
+
+ALL SAINTS' AND ALL SOULS' DAYS.
+
+In the reign of Charles I. the young gentlemen of the Middle Temple were
+accustomed to reckon All Hallow Tide (November 1) the beginning of
+Christmas.{1} We may here do likewise and start our survey of winter
+festivals with November, in the earlier half of which, apparently, fell
+the Celtic and Teutonic New Year's Days. It is impossible to fix precise
+dates, but there is reason for thinking that the Celtic year began about
+November 1,[86]{2} and the Teutonic about November 11.{3}
+
+On November 1 falls one of the greater festivals of the western Church,
+All Saints'--or, to give it its old English name, All Hallows'--and on
+the morrow is the solemn commemoration of the departed--All Souls'. In
+these two anniversaries the Church has |190| preserved at or near the
+original date one part of the old beginning-of-winter festival--the part
+concerned with the cult of the dead. Some of the practices belonging to
+this side of the feast have been transferred to the season of Christmas
+and the Twelve Days, but these have often lost their original meaning,
+and it is to All Souls' Day that we must look for the most conscious
+survivals of that care for the departed which is so marked a feature of
+primitive religion. Early November, when the leaves are falling, and all
+around speaks of mortality, is a fitting time for the commemoration of
+the dead.
+
+The first clear testimony to All Souls' Day is found at the end of the
+tenth century, and in France. All Saints' Day, however, was certainly
+observed in England, France, and Germany in the eighth century,{5} and
+probably represents an attempt on the part of the Church to turn the
+minds of the faithful away from the pagan belief in and tendance of
+"ghosts" to the contemplation of the saints in the glory of Paradise. It
+would seem that this attempt failed, that the people needed a way of
+actually doing something for their own dead, and that All Souls' Day with
+its solemn Mass and prayers for the departed was intended to supply this
+need and replace the traditional practices.{6} Here again the attempt
+was only partly successful, for side by side with the Church's rites
+there survived a number of usages related not to any Christian doctrine
+of the after-life, but to the pagan idea, widespread among many peoples,
+that on one day or night of the year the souls of the dead return to
+their old homes and must be entertained.
+
+All Souls' Day then appeals to instincts older than Christianity. How
+strong is the hold of ancient custom even upon the sceptical and
+irreligious is shown very strikingly in Roman Catholic countries: even
+those who never go to church visit the graves of their relations on All
+Souls' Eve to deck them with flowers.
+
+The special liturgical features of the Church's celebration are the
+Vespers, Matins, and Lauds of the Dead on the evening of November 1, and
+the solemn Requiem Mass on November 2, with the majestic "Dies irae" and
+the oft-recurrent versicle, "Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux
+perpetua luceat |191| eis," that most beautiful of prayers. The priest
+and altar are vested in black, and a catafalque with burning tapers round
+it stands in the body of the church. For the popular customs on the Eve
+we may quote Dr. Tylor's general description:--
+
+ "In Italy the day is given to feasting and drinking in honour of the
+ dead, while skulls and skeletons in sugar and paste form appropriate
+ children's toys. In Tyrol, the poor souls released from purgatory
+ fire for the night may come and smear their burns with the melted fat
+ of the 'soul light' on the hearth, or cakes are left for them on the
+ table, and the room is kept warm for their comfort. Even in Paris the
+ souls of the departed come to partake of the food of the living. In
+ Brittany the crowd pours into the churchyard at evening, to kneel
+ barefoot at the grave of dead kinsfolk, to fill the hollow of the
+ tombstone with holy water, or to pour libations of milk upon it. All
+ night the church bells clang, and sometimes a solemn procession of
+ the clergy goes round to bless the graves. In no household that night
+ is the cloth removed, for the supper must be left for the souls to
+ come and take their part, nor must the fire be put out, where they
+ will come to warm themselves. And at last, as the inmates retire to
+ rest, there is heard at the door a doleful chant--it is the souls,
+ who, borrowing the voices of the parish poor, have come to ask the
+ prayers of the living."{7}
+
+To this may be added some further accounts of All Souls' Eve as the one
+night in the year when the spirits of the departed are thought to revisit
+their old homes.
+
+In the Vosges mountains while the bells are ringing in All Souls' Eve it
+is a custom to uncover the beds and open the windows in order that the
+poor souls may enter and rest. Prayer is made for the dead until late in
+the night, and when the last "De profundis" has been said "the head of
+the family gently covers up the beds, sprinkles them with holy water, and
+shuts the windows."{8}
+
+The Esthonians on All Souls' Day provide a meal for the dead and invite
+them by name. The souls arrive at the first cock-crow and depart at the
+second, being lighted out of the house by the head of the family, who
+waves a white cloth after them and bids them come again next year.{9}
+
+In Brittany, as we have seen, the dead are thought to return at |192|
+this season. It is believed that on the night between All Saints' and All
+Souls' the church is lighted up and the departed attend a nocturnal Mass
+celebrated by a phantom priest. All through the week, in one district,
+people are afraid to go out after nightfall lest they should see some
+dead person.{10} In Tyrol it is believed that the "poor souls" are
+present in the howling winds that often blow at this time.{11}
+
+In the Abruzzi on All Souls' Eve "before people go to sleep they place on
+the table a lighted lamp or candle and a frugal meal of bread and water.
+The dead issue from their graves and stalk in procession through every
+street of the village.... First pass the souls of the good, and then the
+souls of the murdered and the damned."{12}
+
+In Sicily a strange belief is connected with All Souls' Day (_jornu di li
+morti_): the family dead are supposed, like Santa Klaus in the North, to
+bring presents to children; the dead relations have become the good
+fairies of the little ones. On the night between November 1 and 2 little
+Sicilians believe that the departed leave their dread abode and come to
+town to steal from rich shopkeepers sweets and toys and new clothes.
+These they give to their child relations who have been "good" and have
+prayed on their behalf. Often they are clothed in white and wear silken
+shoes, to elude the vigilance of the shopkeepers. They do not always
+enter the houses; sometimes the presents are left in the children's shoes
+put outside doors and windows. In the morning the pretty gifts are
+attributed by the children to the _morti_ in whose coming their parents
+have taught them to believe.{13}
+
+A very widespread custom at this season is to burn candles, perhaps in
+order to lighten the darkness for the poor souls. In Catholic Ireland
+candles shine in the windows on the Vigil of All Souls',{14} in Belgium
+a holy candle is burnt all night, or people walk in procession with
+lighted tapers, while in many Roman Catholic countries, and even in the
+Protestant villages of Baden, the graves are decked with lights as well
+as flowers.{15}
+
+Another practice on All Saints' and All Souls' Days, curiously |193|
+common formerly in Protestant England, is that of making and giving
+"soul-cakes." These and the quest of them by children were customary in
+various English counties and in Scotland.{16} The youngsters would beg
+not only for the cakes but also sometimes for such things as "apples and
+strong beer," presumably to make a "wassail-bowl" of "lambswool," hot
+spiced ale with roast apples in it.{17} Here is a curious rhyme which
+they sang in Shropshire as they went round to their neighbours,
+collecting contributions:--
+
+ "Soul! soul! for a soul-cake!
+ I pray, good missis, a soul-cake!
+ An apple or pear, a plum or a cherry,
+ Any good thing to make us merry.
+ One for Peter, two for Paul,
+ Three for Him who made us all.
+ Up with the kettle, and down with the pan,
+ Give us good alms, and we'll be gone."{18}
+
+Shropshire is a county peculiarly rich in "souling" traditions, and one
+old lady had cakes made to give away to the souling-children up to the
+time of her death in 1884. At that period the custom of "souling" had
+greatly declined in the county, and where it still existed the rewards
+were usually apples or money. Grown men, as well as children, sometimes
+went round, and the ditties sung often contained verses of good-wishes
+for the household practically identical with those sung by wassailers at
+Christmas.{19}
+
+The name "soul-cake" of course suggests that the cakes were in some way
+associated with the departed, whether given as a reward for prayers for
+souls in Purgatory, or as a charity for the benefit of the "poor souls,"
+or baked that the dead might feast upon them.[87] It seems most probable
+that they were relics of a feast once laid out for the souls. On the
+other hand it is just possible that they were originally a sacrament of
+the corn-spirit. |194| A North Welsh tradition recorded by Pennant may
+conceivably have preserved a vague memory of some agricultural
+connection: he tells us that on receiving soul-cakes the poor people used
+to pray to God to bless the next crop of wheat.{20}
+
+Not in Great Britain alone are soul-cakes found; they are met with in
+Belgium, southern Germany, and Austria. In western Flanders children set
+up on All Souls' Eve little street altars, putting a crucifix or Madonna
+with candles on a chair or stool, and begging passers-by for money "for
+cakes for the souls in Purgatory." On All Souls' morning it is customary,
+all over the Flemish part of Belgium, to bake little cakes of finest
+white flour, called "soul-bread." They are eaten hot, and a prayer is
+said at the same time for the souls in Purgatory. It is believed that a
+soul is delivered for every cake eaten. At Antwerp the cakes are coloured
+yellow with saffron to suggest the Purgatorial flames. In southern
+Germany and Austria little white loaves of a special kind are baked; they
+are generally oval in form, and are usually called by some name into
+which the word "soul" enters. In Tyrol they are given to children by
+their godparents; those for the boys have the shape of horses or hares,
+those for the girls, of hens. In Tyrol the cakes left over at supper
+remain on the table and are said to "belong to the poor souls."{21}
+
+In Friuli in the north-east of Italy there is a custom closely
+corresponding to our "soul-cakes." On All Souls' Day every family gives
+away a quantity of bread. This is not regarded as a charity; all the
+people of the village come to receive it and before eating it pray for
+the departed of the donor's family. The most prosperous people are not
+ashamed to knock at the door and ask for this _pane dei morti_.{22}
+
+In Tyrol All Souls' is a day of licensed begging, which has become a
+serious abuse. A noisy rabble of ragged and disorderly folk, with bags
+and baskets to receive gifts, wanders from village to village, claiming
+as a right the presents of provisions that were originally a freewill
+offering for the benefit of the departed, and angrily abusing those who
+refuse to give.{23}
+
+The New Year is the time for a festival of the dead in many parts of the
+world.{24} I may quote Dr. Frazer's account of what |195| goes on in
+Tonquin; it shows a remarkable likeness to some European customs[88]:--
+
+ "In Tonquin, as in Sumba, the dead revisit their kinsfolk and their
+ old homes at the New Year. From the hour of midnight, when the New
+ Year begins, no one dares to shut the door of his house for fear of
+ excluding the ghosts, who begin to arrive at that time. Preparations
+ have been made to welcome and refresh them after their long journey.
+ Beds and mats are ready for their weary bodies to repose upon, water
+ to wash their dusty feet, slippers to comfort them, and canes to
+ support their feeble steps."{25}
+
+In Lithuania, the last country in Europe to be converted to Christianity,
+heathen traditions lingered long, and sixteenth- and seventeenth-century
+travellers give accounts of a pagan New Year's feast which has great
+interest. In October, according to one account, on November 2, according
+to another, the whole family met together, strewed the tables with straw
+and put sacks on the straw. Bread and two jugs of beer were then placed
+on the table, and one of every kind of domestic animal was roasted before
+the fire after a prayer to the god Zimiennik (possibly an ancestral
+spirit), asking for protection through the year and offering the animals.
+Portions were thrown to the corners of the room with the words "Accept
+our burnt sacrifice, O Zimiennik, and kindly partake thereof." Then
+followed a great feast. Further, the spirits of the dead were invited to
+leave their graves and visit the bath-house, where platters of food were
+spread out and left for three days. At the end of this time the remains
+of the repast were set out over the graves and libations poured.{26}
+
+ * * * * *
+
+The beginning of November is not solely a time of memory of the dead;
+customs of other sorts linger, or until lately used to linger, about it,
+especially in Scotland, northern England, Ireland, Cornwall, Wales, and
+the West Midlands. One may conjecture that these are survivals from the
+Celtic New Year's Day, for most of them are of the nature of omens or
+charms. Apples and nuts are prominent on Hallowe'en, the Eve of All
+|196| Saints;[89] they may be regarded either as a kind of sacrament of
+the vegetation-spirit, or as simply intended by homoeopathic magic to
+bring fulness and fruitfulness to their recipients. A custom once common
+in the north of England{27} and in Wales{28} was to catch at apples
+with the mouth, the fruit being suspended on a string, or on one end of a
+large transverse beam with a lighted candle at the other end. In the
+north apples and nuts were the feature of the evening feast, hence the
+name "Nutcrack night."{29}
+
+Again, at St. Ives in Cornwall every child is given a big apple on
+Allhallows' Eve--"Allan Day" as it is called.{30} Nuts and apples were
+also used as means of forecasting the future. In Scotland for instance
+nuts were put into the fire and named after particular lads and lasses.
+"As they burn quietly together or start from beside one another, the
+course and issue of the courtship will be."{31} On Hallowe'en in
+Nottinghamshire if a girl had two lovers and wanted to know which would
+be the more constant, she took two apple-pips, stuck one on each cheek
+(naming them after her lovers) and waited for one to fall off. The poet
+Gay alludes to this custom:--
+
+ "See from the core two kernels now I take,
+ This on my cheek for Lubberkin is worn,
+ And Booby Clod on t'other side is borne;
+ But Booby Clod soon falls upon the ground,
+ A certain token that his love's unsound;
+ While Lubberkin sticks firmly to the last;
+ Oh! were his lips to mine but joined so fast."{32}
+
+In Nottinghamshire apples are roasted and the parings thrown over the
+left shoulder. "Notice is taken of the shapes which the parings assume
+when they fall to the ground. Whatever letter a paring resembles will be
+the initial letter of the Christian name of the man or woman whom you
+will marry."{33}
+
+|197| Hallowe'en is indeed in the British Isles the favourite time for
+forecasting the future, and various methods are employed for this
+purpose.
+
+A girl may cross her shoes upon her bedroom floor in the shape of a T and
+say these lines:--
+
+ "I cross my shoes in the shape of a T,
+ Hoping this night my true love to see,
+ Not in his best or worst array,
+ But in the clothes of every day."
+
+Then let her get into bed backwards without speaking any more that night,
+and she will see her future husband in her dreams.{34}
+
+"On All Hallowe'en or New Year's Eve," says Mr. W. Henderson, "a Border
+maiden may wash her sark, and hang it over a chair to dry, taking care to
+tell no one what she is about. If she lie awake long enough, she will see
+the form of her future spouse enter the room and turn the sark. We are
+told of one young girl who, after fulfilling this rite, looked out of bed
+and saw a coffin behind the sark; it remained visible for some time and
+then disappeared. The girl rose up in agony and told her family what had
+occurred, and the next morning she heard of her lover's death."{35}
+
+In Scotland{36} and Ireland{37} other methods of foreseeing the future
+are practised on Hallowe'en; we need not consider them here, for we shall
+have quite enough of such auguries later on. (Some Scottish customs are
+introduced by Burns into his poem "Hallowe'en.") I may, however, allude
+to the custom formerly prevalent in Wales for women to congregate in the
+church on this "Night of the Winter Kalends," in order to discover who of
+the parishioners would die during the year.{38} East of the Welsh
+border, at Dorstone in Herefordshire, there was a belief that on All
+Hallows' Eve at midnight those who were bold enough to look through the
+windows would see the church lighted with an unearthly glow, and Satan in
+monk's habit fulminating anathemas from the pulpit and calling out the
+names of those who were to render up their souls.{39}
+
+|198| Again, there are numerous Hallowe'en fire customs, probably
+sun-charms for the New Year, a kind of homoeopathic magic intended to
+assist the sun in his struggle with the powers of darkness. To this day
+great bonfires are kindled in the Highlands, and formerly brands were
+carried about and the new fire was lit in each house.{40} It would seem
+that the Yule log customs (see Chapter X.) are connected with this new
+lighting of the house-fire, transferred to Christmas.
+
+In Ireland fire was lighted at this time at a place called Tlachtga, from
+which all the hearths in Ireland are said to have been annually
+supplied.{41} In Wales the habit of lighting bonfires on the hills is
+perhaps not yet extinct.{42} Within living memory when the flames were
+out somebody would raise the cry, "May the tailless black sow seize the
+hindmost," and everyone present would run for his life.{43} This may
+point to a former human sacrifice, possibly of a victim laden with the
+accumulated evils of the past year.{44}
+
+In North Wales, according to another account, each family used to make a
+great bonfire in a conspicuous place near the house. Every person threw
+into the ashes a white stone, marked; the stones were searched for in the
+morning, and if any one were missing the person who had thrown it in
+would die, it was believed, during the year.{45} The same belief and
+practice were found at Callander in Perthshire.{46}
+
+Though, probably, the Hallowe'en fire rites had originally some
+connection with the sun, the conscious intention of those who practised
+them in modern times was often to ward off witchcraft. With this object
+in one place the master of the family used to carry a bunch of burning
+straw about the corn, in Scotland the red end of a fiery stick was waved
+in the air, in Lancashire a lighted candle was borne about the fells, and
+in the Isle of Man fires were kindled.{47}
+
+
+GUY FAWKES DAY.
+
+Probably the burning of Guy Fawkes on November 5 is a survival of a New
+Year bonfire. There is every reason to think that the commemoration of
+the deliverance from "gunpowder |199| treason and plot" is but a modern
+meaning attached to an ancient traditional practice, for the burning of
+the effigy has many parallels in folk-custom. Dr. Frazer{48} regards
+such effigies as representatives of the spirit of vegetation--by burning
+them in a fire that represented the sun men thought they secured sunshine
+for trees and crops. Later, when the ideas on which the custom was based
+had faded away, people came to identify these images with persons whom
+they regarded with aversion, such as Judas Iscariot, Luther (in Catholic
+Tyrol), and, apparently, Guy Fawkes in England. At Ludlow in Shropshire,
+it is interesting to note, if any well-known local man had aroused the
+enmity of the populace his effigy was substituted for, or added to, that
+of Guy Fawkes. Bonfire Day at Ludlow is marked by a torchlight procession
+and a huge conflagration.{49} At Hampstead the Guy Fawkes fire and
+procession are still in great force. The thing has become a regular
+carnival, and on a foggy November night the procession along the steep
+curving Heath Street, with the glare of the torches lighting up the faces
+of dense crowds, is a strangely picturesque spectacle.[90]
+
+
+ANIMAL MASKS.
+
+On All Souls' Day in Cheshire there began to be carried about a curious
+construction called "Old Hob," a horse's head enveloped in a sheet; it
+was taken from door to door, and accompanied by the singing of begging
+rhymes.{50} Old Hob, who continued to appear until Christmas, is an
+English parallel to the German _Schimmel_ or white horse. We have here to
+do with one of those strange animal forms which are apparently relics of
+sacrificial customs. They come on various days in the winter festival
+season, and also at other times, and may as well be considered at this
+point. In some cases they are definitely imitations of animals, and may
+have replaced real sacrificial beasts taken about in procession, in
+others they are simply men wearing the head, horn, hide, or tail of a
+beast, like the worshippers at many |200| a heathen sacrifice to-day.
+(Of the _rationale_ of masking something has already been said in Chapter
+VI.)
+
+The mingling of Roman and non-Roman customs makes it very hard to
+separate the different elements in the winter festivals. In regard
+particularly to animal masks it is difficult to pronounce in favour of
+one racial origin rather than another; we may, however, infer with some
+probability that when a custom is attached not to Christmas or the
+January Kalends but to one of the November or early December feasts, it
+is not of Roman origin. For, as the centuries have passed, Christmas and
+the Kalends--the Roman festivals ecclesiastical and secular--have
+increasingly tended to supplant the old northern festal times, and a
+transference of, for instance, a Teutonic custom from Martinmas to
+Christmas or January 1, is far more conceivable than the attraction of a
+Roman practice to one of the earlier and waning festivals.
+
+Let us take first the horse-forms, seemingly connected with that
+sacrificial use of the horse among the Teutons to which Tacitus and other
+writers testify.{51} "Old Hob" is doubtless one form of the hobby horse,
+so familiar in old English festival customs. His German parallel, the
+_Schimmel_, is mostly formed thus in the north: a sieve with a long pole
+to whose end a horse's head is fastened, is tied beneath the chest of a
+young man, who goes on all fours, and some white cloths are thrown over
+the whole. In Silesia the _Schimmel_ is formed by three or four youths.
+The rider is generally veiled, and often wears on his head a pot with
+glowing coals shining forth through openings that represent eyes and a
+mouth.{52} In Pomerania the thing is called simply _Schimmel_,{53} in
+other parts emphasis is laid upon the rider, and the name
+_Schimmelreiter_ is given. Some mythologists have seen in this rider on a
+white horse an impersonation of Woden on his great charger; but it is
+more likely that the practice simply originated in the taking round of a
+real sacrificial horse.{54} The _Schimmelreiter_ is often accompanied by
+a "bear," a youth dressed in straw who plays the part of a bear tied to a
+pole.{55} He may be connected with some such veneration of the animal as
+is suggested by the custom still surviving at Berne, of keeping bears at
+the public expense.
+
+To return to Great Britain, here is an account of a so-called |201|
+"hodening" ceremony once performed at Christmas-time at Ramsgate: "A
+party of young people procure the head of a dead horse, which is affixed
+to a pole about four feet in length, a string is tied to the lower jaw, a
+horse-cloth is then attached to the whole, under which one of the party
+gets, and by frequently pulling the string keeps up a loud snapping noise
+and is accompanied by the rest of the party grotesquely habited and
+ringing hand-bells. They thus proceed from house to house, sounding their
+bells and singing carols and songs."{56}
+
+Again, in Wales a creature called "the Mari Llwyd" was known at
+Christmas. A horse's skull is "dressed up with ribbons, and supported on
+a pole by a man who is concealed under a large white cloth. There is a
+contrivance for opening and shutting the jaws, and the figure pursues and
+bites everybody it can lay hold of, and does not release them except on
+payment of a fine."{57} The movable jaws here give the thing a likeness
+to certain Continental figures representing other kinds of animals and
+probably witnessing to their former sacrificial use. On the island of
+Usedom appears the _Klapperbock_, a youth who carries a pole with the
+hide of a buck thrown over it and a wooden head at the end. The lower jaw
+moves up and down and clatters, and he charges at children who do not
+know their prayers by heart.{58} In Upper Styria we meet the
+_Habergaiss_. Four men hold on to one another and are covered with white
+blankets. The foremost one holds up a wooden goat's head with a movable
+lower jaw that rattles, and he butts children.{59} At Ilsenburg in the
+Harz is found the _Habersack_, formed by a person taking a pole ending in
+a fork, and putting a broom between the prongs so that the appearance of
+a head with horns is obtained. The carrier is concealed by a sheet.{60}
+
+In connection with horns we must not forget the "horn-dance" at Abbots
+Bromley in Staffordshire, held now in September, but formerly at
+Christmas. Six of the performers wear sets of horns kept from year to
+year in the church.{61} Plot, in his "Natural History of Staffordshire"
+(1686, p. 434) calls it a "_Hobby-horse Dance_ from a person who carried
+the image of a horse between his legs, made of thin boards."{62}
+
+|202| In Denmark, Sweden, and Norway creatures resembling both the
+_Schimmelreiter_ and the _Klapperbock_ are or were to be met with at
+Christmas. The name _Julebuk_ (yule buck) is used for various objects:
+sometimes for a person dressed up in hide and horns, or with a buck's
+head, who "goes for" little boys and girls; sometimes for a straw puppet
+set up or tossed about from hand to hand; sometimes for a cake in the
+form of a buck. People seem to have had a bad conscience about these
+things, for there are stories connecting them with the Devil. A girl, for
+instance, who danced at midnight with a straw _Julebuk_, found that her
+partner was no puppet but the Evil One himself. Again, a fellow who had
+dressed himself in black and put horns on his head, claws on his hands,
+and fiery tow in his mouth, was carried off by the Prince of Darkness
+whose form he had mimicked.{63} The association of animal maskings with
+the infernal powers is doubtless the work of the Church. To the zealous
+missionary the old heathen ritual was no mere foolish superstition but a
+service of intensely real and awful beings, the very devils of hell, and
+one may even conjecture that the traditional Christian devil-type, half
+animal half human, was indirectly derived from skin-clad worshippers at
+pagan festivals.
+
+
+MARTINMAS.
+
+Between All Souls' Day and Martinmas (November 11) there are no
+folk-festivals of great importance, though on St. Hubert's Day, November
+3, in Flemish Belgium special little cakes are made, adorned with the
+horn of the saint, the patron of hunting, and are eaten not only by human
+beings but by dogs, cats, and other domestic animals.{64} The English
+Guy Fawkes Day has already been considered, while November 9, Lord
+Mayor's Day, the beginning of the municipal year, may remind us of the
+old Teutonic New Year.
+
+Round Martinmas popular customs cluster thickly, as might be expected,
+since it marks as nearly as possible the date of the old
+beginning-of-winter festival, the feast perhaps at which Germanicus
+surprised the Marsi in A.D. 14.{65}
+
+The most obvious feature of Martinmas is its physical feasting. |203|
+Economic causes, as we saw in Chapter VI., must have made the middle of
+November a great killing season among the old Germans, for the snow which
+then began rendered it impossible longer to pasture the beasts, and there
+was not fodder enough to keep the whole herd through the winter. Thus it
+was a time of feasting on flesh, and of animal sacrifices, as is
+suggested by the Anglo-Saxon name given to November by Bede,
+_Blot-monath_, sacrifice-month.{66}
+
+Christmas does not seem to have quickly superseded the middle of November
+as a popular feast in Teutonic countries; rather one finds an outcome of
+the conciliatory policy pursued by Gregory the Great (see Chapter VI.) in
+the development of Martinmas. Founded in the fifth century, it was made a
+great Church festival by Pope Martin I. (649-654),{67} and it may well
+have been intended to absorb and Christianize the New Year festivities of
+the Teutonic peoples. The veneration of St. Martin spread rapidly in the
+churches of northern Europe, and he came to be regarded as one of the
+very chief of the saints.{68} His day is no longer a Church feast of
+high rank, but its importance as a folk festival is great.
+
+The tradition of slaughter is preserved in the British custom of killing
+cattle on St. Martin's Day--"Martlemas beef"{69}--and in the German
+eating of St. Martin's geese and swine.{70} The St. Martin's goose,
+indeed, is in Germany as much a feature of the festival as the English
+Michaelmas goose is of the September feast of the angels.
+
+In Denmark too a goose is eaten at Martinmas, and from its breast-bone
+the character of the coming winter can be foreseen. The white in it is a
+sign of snow, the brown of very great cold. Similar ideas can be traced
+in Germany, though there is not always agreement as to what the white and
+the brown betoken.{71}
+
+At St. Peter's, Athlone, Ireland, a very obviously sacrificial custom
+lasted on into the nineteenth century. Every household would kill an
+animal of some kind, and sprinkle the threshold with its blood. A cow or
+sheep, a goose or turkey, or merely a cock or hen, was used according to
+the means of the family.{72} It seems that the animal was actually
+offered to St. Martin, apparently as |204| the successor of some god,
+and bad luck came if the custom were not observed. Probably these rites
+were transferred to Martinmas from the old Celtic festival of _Samhain_.
+Again, in a strange Irish legend the saint himself is said to have been
+cut up and eaten in the form of an ox.{73}
+
+In the wine-producing regions of Germany Martinmas was the day for the
+first drinking of the new wine, and the feasting in general on his day
+gave the saint the reputation of a guzzler and a glutton; it even became
+customary to speak of a person who had squandered his substance in
+riotous living as a _Martinsmann_.{74} As we have seen survivals of
+sacrifice in the Martinmas slaughter, so we may regard the _Martinsminne_
+or toast as originating in a sacrifice of liquor.{75} In the Boehmerwald
+it is believed that wine taken at Martinmas brings strength and beauty,
+and the lads and girls gather in the inns to drink, while a common German
+proverb runs:--
+
+ "Heb an Martini,
+ Trink Wein per circulum anni."[91]{76}
+
+Here, by the way, is a faint suggestion that Martinmas is regarded as the
+beginning of the year; as such it certainly appears in a number of legal
+customs, English, French, and German, which existed in the Middle Ages
+and in some cases in quite recent times. It was often at Martinmas that
+leases ended, rents had to be paid, and farm-servants changed their
+places.{77}
+
+There is a survival, perhaps, of a cereal sacrifice or sacrament in the
+so-called "Martin's horns," horseshoe pastries given at Martinmas in many
+parts of Germany.{78} Another kind of sacrifice is suggested by a Dutch
+custom of throwing baskets of fruit into Martinmas bonfires, and by a
+German custom of casting in empty fruit-baskets.{79} In Venetia the
+peasants keep over from the vintage a few grapes to form part of their
+Martinmas supper, and as far south as Sicily it is considered essential
+to taste the new wine at this festival.{80}
+
+Bonfires appear at Martinmas in Germany, as at All Hallows tide in the
+British Isles. On St. Martin's Eve in the Rhine |205| Valley between
+Cologne and Coblentz, numbers of little fires burn on the heights and by
+the river-bank,{81} the young people leap through the flames and dance
+about them, and the ashes are strewn on the fields to make them
+fertile.{82} Survivals of fire-customs are found also in other regions.
+In Belgium, Holland, and north-west Germany processions of children with
+paper or turnip lanterns take place on St. Martin's Eve. In the Eichsfeld
+district the little river Geislede glows with the light of candles placed
+in floating nutshells. Even the practice of leaping through the fire
+survives in a modified form, for in northern Germany it is not uncommon
+for people on St. Martin's Day or Eve to jump over lighted candles set on
+the parlour floor.{83} In the fifteenth century the Martinmas fires were
+so many that the festival actually got the name of _Funkentag_ (Spark
+Day).{84}
+
+ * * * * *
+
+On St. Martin's Eve in Germany and the Low Countries we begin to meet
+those winter visitors, bright saints and angels on the one hand,
+mock-terrible bogeys and monsters on the other, who add so much to the
+romance and mystery of the children's Christmas. Such visitors are to be
+found in many countries, but it is in the lands of German speech that
+they take on the most vivid and picturesque forms. St. Martin, St.
+Nicholas, Christkind, Knecht Ruprecht, and the rest are very real and
+personal beings to the children, and are awaited with pleasant
+expectation or mild dread. Often they are beheld not merely with the
+imagination but with the bodily eye, when father or friend is wondrously
+transformed into a supernatural figure.
+
+What are the origins of these holy or monstrous beings? It is hard to say
+with certainty, for many elements, pagan and Christian, seem here to be
+closely blended. It is pretty clear, however, that the grotesque
+half-animal shapes are direct relics of heathendom, and it is highly
+probable that the forms of saints or angels--even, perhaps, of the Christ
+Child Himself--represent attempts of the Church to transform and sanctify
+alien things which she could not suppress. What some of these may have
+been we shall tentatively guess as we go along. Though no grown-up person
+would take the mimic Martin or Nicholas |206| seriously nowadays, there
+seem to be at the root of them things once regarded as of vital moment.
+Just as fairy-tales, originally serious attempts to explain natural
+facts, have now become reading for children, so ritual practices which
+our ancestors deemed of vast importance for human welfare have become
+mere games to amuse the young.
+
+On St. Martin's Eve, to come back from speculation to the facts of
+popular custom, the saint appears in the nurseries of Antwerp and other
+Flemish towns. He is a man dressed up as a bishop, with a pastoral staff
+in his hand. His business is to ask if the children have been "good," and
+if the result of his inquiries is satisfactory he throws down apples,
+nuts, and cakes. If not, it is rods that he leaves behind. At Ypres he
+does not visibly appear, but children hang up stockings filled with hay,
+and next morning find presents in them, left by the saint in gratitude
+for the fodder provided for his horse. He is there imagined as a rider on
+a white horse, and the same conception prevails in Austrian Silesia,
+where he brings the "Martin's horns" already mentioned.{85} In Silesia
+when it snows at Martinmas people say that the saint is coming on his
+white horse, and there, it may be noted, the _Schimmelreiter_ appears at
+the same season.{86} In certain respects, it has been suggested, St.
+Martin may have taken the place of Woden.{87} It is perhaps not without
+significance that, like the god, he is a military hero, and conceived as
+a rider on horseback. At Duesseldorf he used to be represented in his
+festival procession by a man riding on another fellow's back.{88}
+
+At Mechlin and other places children go round from house to house,
+singing and collecting gifts. Often four boys with paper caps on their
+heads, dressed as Turks, carry a sort of litter whereon St. Martin sits.
+He has a long white beard of flax and a paper mitre and stole, and holds
+a large wooden spoon to receive apples and other eatables that are given
+to the children, as well as a leather purse for offerings of money.{89}
+
+In the Ansbach region a different type of being used to
+appear--Pelzmaerten (Skin Martin) by name; he ran about and frightened the
+children, before he threw them their apples and nuts. In several places
+in Swabia, too, Pelzmaerte was known; |207| he had a black face, a
+cow-bell hung on his person, and he distributed blows as well as nuts and
+apples.{90} In him there is obviously more of the pagan mummer than the
+Christian bishop.
+
+In Belgium St. Martin is chiefly known as the bringer of apples and nuts
+for children; in Bavaria and Austria he has a different aspect: a _gerte_
+or rod, supposed to promote fruitfulness among cattle and prosperity in
+general, is connected with his day. The rods are taken round by the
+neatherds to the farmers, and one is given to each--two to rich
+proprietors; they are to be used, when spring comes, to drive out the
+cattle for the first time. In Bavaria they are formed by a birch-bough
+with all the leaves and twigs stripped off--except at the top, to which
+oak-leaves and juniper-twigs are fastened. At Etzendorf a curious old
+rhyme shows that the herdsman with the rod is regarded as the
+representative of St. Martin.{91}
+
+Can we connect this custom with the saint who brings presents to
+youngsters?[92] There seems to be a point of contact when we note that at
+Antwerp St. Martin throws down rods for naughty children as well as nuts
+and apples for good ones, and that Pelzmaerte in Swabia has blows to
+bestow as well as gifts. St. Martin's main functions--and, as we shall
+see, St. Nicholas has the same--are to beat the bad children and reward
+the good with apples, nuts, and cakes. Can it be that the ethical
+distinction is of comparatively recent origin, an invention perhaps for
+children when the customs came to be performed solely for their benefit,
+and that the beating and the gifts were originally shared by all alike
+and were of a sacramental character? We shall meet with more whipping
+customs later on, they are common enough in folk-ritual, and are not
+punishments, but kindly services; their purpose is to drive away evil
+influences, and to bring to the flogged one the life-giving virtues of
+the tree from which the twigs or boughs are taken.{92} Both the flogging
+and the eating of fruit may, indeed, be means of contact with the
+vegetation-spirit, the one in |208| an external, the other in a more
+internal way. Or possibly the rod and the fruit may once have been
+conjoined, the beating being performed with fruit-laden boughs in order
+to produce prosperity. It is noteworthy that at Etzendorf so many head of
+cattle and loads of hay are augured for the farmer as there are
+juniper-_berries_ and twigs on St. Martin's _gerte_.{94}
+
+Attempts to account for the figures of SS. Martin and Nicholas in
+northern folk-customs have been made along various lines. Some scholars
+regard them as Christianizations of the pagan god Woden; but they might
+also be taken as akin to the "first-foots" whom we shall meet on January
+1--visitors who bring good luck--or as maskers connected with animal
+sacrifices (Pelzmaerte suggests this), or again as related to the Boy
+Bishop, the Lord of Misrule and the Twelfth Night King. May I suggest
+that some at least of their aspects could be explained on the supposition
+that they represent administrants of primitive vegetation sacraments, and
+that these administrants, once ordinary human beings, have taken on the
+name and attributes of the saint who under the Christian dispensation
+presides over the festival? In any case it is a strange irony of history
+that around the festival of Martin of Tours, the zealous soldier of
+Christ and deadly foe of heathenism, should have gathered so much that is
+unmistakably pagan.
+
+|209| |210| |211|
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+ST. CLEMENT TO ST. THOMAS
+
+
+ St. Clement's Day Quests and Processions--St. Catherine's Day as
+ Spinsters' Festival--St. Andrew's Eve Auguries--The
+ _Kloepfelnaechte_--St. Nicholas's Day, the Saint as Gift-bringer, and
+ his Attendants--Election of the Boy Bishop--St. Nicholas's Day at
+ Bari--St. Lucia's Day in Sweden, Sicily, and Central Europe--St.
+ Thomas's Day as School Festival--Its Uncanny Eve--"Going
+ a-Thomassin'."
+
+
+ST. CLEMENT'S DAY.
+
+The next folk-feast after Martinmas is St. Clement's Day, November 23,
+once reckoned the first day of winter in England.{1} It marks apparently
+one of the stages in the progress of the winter feast towards its present
+solstitial date. In England some interesting popular customs existed on
+this day. In Staffordshire children used to go round to the village
+houses begging for gifts, with rhymes resembling in many ways the
+"souling" verses I have already quoted. Here is one of the Staffordshire
+"clemencing" songs:--
+
+ "Clemany! Clemany! Clemany mine!
+ A good red apple and a pint of wine,
+ Some of your mutton and some of your veal,
+ If it is good, pray give me a deal;
+ If it is not, pray give me some salt.
+ Butler, butler, fill your bowl;
+ If thou fill'st it of the best,
+ The Lord'll send your soul to rest;
+ If thou fill'st it of the small,
+ Down goes butler, bowl and all. |212|
+
+ Pray, good mistress, send to me
+ One for Peter, one for Paul,
+ One for Him who made us all;
+ Apple, pear, plum, or cherry,
+ Any good thing to make us merry;
+ A bouncing buck and a velvet chair,
+ Clement comes but once a year;
+ Off with the pot and on with the pan,
+ A good red apple and I'll be gone."{2}
+
+In Worcestershire on St. Clement's Day the boys chanted similar rhymes,
+and at the close of their collection they would roast the apples received
+and throw them into ale or cider.{3} In the north of England men used to
+go about begging drink, and at Ripon Minster the choristers went round
+the church offering everyone a rosy apple with a sprig of box on it.{4}
+The Cambridge bakers held their annual supper on this day,{5} at Tenby
+the fishermen were given a supper,{6} while the blacksmiths' apprentices
+at Woolwich had a remarkable ceremony, akin perhaps to the Boy Bishop
+customs. One of their number was chosen to play the part of "Old Clem,"
+was attired in a great coat, and wore a mask, a long white beard, and an
+oakum wig. Seated in a large wooden chair, and surrounded by attendants
+bearing banners, torches, and weapons, he was borne about the town on the
+shoulders of six men, visiting numerous public-houses and the blacksmiths
+and officers of the dockyard. Before him he had a wooden anvil, and in
+his hands a pair of tongs and a wooden hammer, the insignia of the
+blacksmith's trade.{7}
+
+
+ST. CATHERINE'S DAY.
+
+November 25 is St. Catherine's Day, and at Woolwich Arsenal a similar
+ceremony was then performed: a man was dressed in female attire, with a
+large wheel by his side to represent the saint, and was taken round the
+town{8} in a wooden chair. At Chatham there was a torchlight procession
+on St. Catherine's Day, and a woman in white muslin with a gilt crown was
+carried about in a chair. She was said to represent not the saint, but
+Queen Catherine.{9}
+
+|213| St. Catherine's Day was formerly a festival for the lacemakers of
+Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, and Bedfordshire. She was the
+patroness of spinsters in the literal as well as the modern sense of the
+word, and at Peterborough the workhouse girls used to go in procession
+round the city on her day, dressed in white with coloured ribbons; the
+tallest was chosen as Queen and bore a crown and sceptre. As they went to
+beg money of the chief inhabitants they sang a quaint ballad which begins
+thus:--
+
+ "Here comes Queen Catherine, as fine as any queen,
+ With a coach and six horses a-coming to be seen,
+ And a-spinning we will go, will go, will go,
+ And a-spinning we will go."{10}
+
+We may perhaps see in this Saint or Queen Catherine a female counterpart
+of the Boy Bishop, who began his career on St. Nicholas's Day. Catherine,
+it must be remembered, is the patron saint of girls as Nicholas is of
+boys. In Belgium her day is still a festival for the "young person" both
+in schools and in families.{11} Even in modern Paris the
+dressmaker-girls celebrate it, and in a very charming way, too.
+
+"At midday the girls of every workroom present little mob-caps trimmed
+with yellow ribbons to those of their number who are over twenty-five and
+still unmarried. Then they themselves put on becoming little caps with
+yellow flowers and yellow ribbons and a sprig of orange blossom on them,
+and out they go arm-in-arm to parade the streets and collect a tribute of
+flowers from every man they meet.... Instead of working all the
+afternoon, the midinettes entertain all their friends (no men admitted,
+though, for it is the day of St. Catherine) to concerts and even to
+dramatic performances in the workrooms, where the work-tables are turned
+into stages, and the employers provide supper."{12}
+
+
+ST. ANDREW'S DAY.
+
+The last day of November is the feast of St. Andrew. Of English customs
+on this day the most interesting perhaps are those connected with the
+"Tander" or "Tandrew" merrymakings |214| of the Northamptonshire
+lacemakers. A day of general licence used to end in masquerading. Women
+went about in male attire and men and boys in female dress.{13} In Kent
+and Sussex squirrel-hunting was practised on this day{14}--a survival
+apparently of some old sacrificial custom comparable with the hunting of
+the wren at Christmas (see Chapter XII.).
+
+In Germany St. Andrew's Eve is a great occasion for prognostications of
+the future. Indeed, like Hallowe'en in Great Britain, _Andreasabend_ in
+Germany seems to have preserved the customs of augury connected with the
+old November New Year festival.{15} To a large extent the practices are
+performed by girls anxious to know what sort of husband they will get.
+Many and various are the methods.
+
+Sometimes it suffices to repeat some such rhyme as the following before
+going to sleep, and the future husband will appear in a dream:--
+
+ "St. Andrew's Eve is to-day,
+ Sleep all people,
+ Sleep all children of men,
+ Who are between heaven and earth,
+ Except this only man,
+ Who may be mine in marriage."{16}
+
+Again, at nightfall let a girl shut herself up naked in her bedroom, take
+two beakers, and into one pour clear water, into the other wine. These
+let her place on the table, which is to be covered with white, and let
+the following words be said:--
+
+ "My dear St. Andrew!
+ Let now appear before me
+ My heart's most dearly beloved.
+ If he shall be rich,
+ He will pour a cup of wine;
+ If he is to be poor,
+ Let him pour a cup of water."
+
+This done, the form of the future husband will enter and drink |215| of
+one of the cups. If he is poor, he will take the water; if rich, the
+wine.{17}
+
+One of the most common practices is to pour molten lead or tin through a
+key into cold water, and to discover the calling of the future husband by
+the form it takes, which will represent the tools of his trade. The white
+of an egg is sometimes used for the same purpose.{18} Another very
+widespread custom is to put nutshells to float on water with little
+candles burning in them. There are twice as many shells as there are
+girls present; each girl has her shell, and to the others the names of
+possible suitors are given. The man and the girl whose shells come
+together will marry one another. Sometimes the same method is practised
+with little cups of silver foil.{19}
+
+On the border of Saxony and Bohemia, a maiden who wishes to know the
+bodily build of her future husband goes in the darkness to a stack of
+wood and draws out a piece. If the wood is smooth and straight the man
+will be slim and well built; if it is crooked, or knotted, he will be
+ill-developed or even a hunchback.{20}
+
+These are but a few of the many ways in which girls seek to peer into the
+future and learn something about the most important event in their lives.
+Far less numerous, but not altogether absent on this night, are other
+kinds of prognostication. A person, for instance, who wishes to know
+whether he will die in the coming year, must on St. Andrew's Eve before
+going to bed make on the table a little pointed heap of flour. If by the
+morning it has fallen asunder, the maker will die.{21}
+
+The association of St. Andrew's Eve with the foreseeing of the future is
+not confined to the German race; it is found also on Slavonic and
+Roumanian ground. In Croatia he who fasts then will behold his future
+wife in a dream,{22} and among the Roumanians mothers anxious about
+their children's luck break small sprays from fruit-trees, bind them
+together in bunches, one for each child, and put them in a glass of
+water. The branch of the lucky one will blossom.{23}
+
+In Roumania St. Andrew's Eve is a creepy time, for on it vampires are
+supposed to rise from their graves, and with coffins |216| on their
+heads walk about the houses in which they once lived. Before nightfall
+every woman takes some garlic and anoints with it the door locks and
+window casements; this will keep away the vampires. At the cross-roads
+there is a great fight of these loathsome beings until the first cock
+crows; and not only the dead take part in this, but also some living men
+who are vampires from their birth. Sometimes it is only the souls of
+these living vampires that join in the fight; the soul comes out through
+the mouth in the form of a bluish flame, takes the shape of an animal,
+and runs to the crossway. If the body meanwhile is moved from its place
+the person dies, for the soul cannot find its way back.{24}
+
+St. Andrew's Day is sometimes the last, sometimes the first important
+festival of the western Church's year. It is regarded in parts of Germany
+as the beginning of winter, as witness the saying:--
+
+ "Suenten-Dres-Misse,
+ es de Winter gewisse."[93]{25}
+
+The nights are now almost at their longest, and as November passes away,
+giving place to the last month of the year, Christmas is felt to be near
+at hand.
+
+In northern Bohemia it is customary for peasant girls to keep for
+themselves all the yarn they spin on St. Andrew's Eve, and the _Hausfrau_
+gives them also some flax and a little money. With this they buy coffee
+and other refreshments for the lads who come to visit the parlours where
+in the long winter evenings the women sit spinning. These evenings, when
+many gather together in a brightly lighted room and sing songs and tell
+stories while they spin, are cheerful enough, and spice is added by the
+visits of the village lads, who in some places come to see the girls
+home.{26}
+
+
+THE KLOePFELNAeCHTE.
+
+On the Thursday nights in Advent it is customary in southern Germany for
+children or grown-up people to go from house |217| to house, singing
+hymns and knocking on the doors with rods or little hammers, or throwing
+peas, lentils, and the like against the windows. Hence these evenings
+have gained the name of _Kloepfel_ or _Knoepflinsnaechte_ (Knocking
+Nights).{27} The practice is described by Naogeorgus in the sixteenth
+century:--
+
+ "Three weekes before the day whereon was borne the Lord of Grace,
+ And on the Thursdaye Boyes and Girles do runne in every place,
+ And bounce and beate at every doore, with blowes and lustie snaps,
+ And crie, the Advent of the Lorde not borne as yet perhaps.
+ And wishing to the neighbours all, that in the houses dwell,
+ A happie yeare, and every thing to spring and prosper well:
+ Here have they peares, and plumbs, and pence, ech man gives willinglee,
+ For these three nightes are alwayes thought, unfortunate to bee;
+ Wherein they are afrayde of sprites and cankred witches' spight,
+ And dreadfull devils blacke and grim, that then have chiefest
+ might."{28}
+
+With it may be compared the Macedonian custom for village boys to go in
+parties at nightfall on Christmas Eve, knocking at the cottage doors with
+sticks, shouting _Kolianda! Kolianda!_ and receiving presents,{29} and
+also one in vogue in Holland between Christmas and the Epiphany. There
+"the children go out in couples, each boy carrying an earthenware pot,
+over which a bladder is stretched, with a piece of stick tied in the
+middle. When this stick is twirled about, a not very melodious grumbling
+sound proceeds from the contrivance, which is known by the name of
+'Rommelpot.' By going about in this manner the children are able to
+collect some few pence."{30}
+
+Can such practices have originated in attempts to drive out evil spirits
+from the houses by noise? Similar methods are used for that purpose by
+various European and other peoples.{31} Anyhow something mysterious
+hangs about the _Kloepfelnaechte_. They are occasions for girls to learn
+about their future husbands, and upon them in Swabia goes about
+Pelzmaerte, whom we already know.{32}
+
+|218| In Tyrol curious mummeries are then performed. At Pillersee in
+the Lower Innthal two youths combine to form a mimic ass, upon which a
+third rides, and they are followed by a motley train. The ass falls sick
+and has to be cured by a "vet," and all kinds of satirical jokes are made
+about things that have happened in the parish during the year. Elsewhere
+two men dress up in straw as husband and wife, and go out with a masked
+company. The pair wrangle with one another and carry on a play of wits
+with the peasants whose house they are visiting. Sometimes the satire is
+so cutting that permanent enmities ensue, and for this reason the
+practice is gradually being dropped.{33}
+
+
+ST. NICHOLAS'S DAY.
+
+On December 6 we reach the most distinctive children's festival of the
+whole year, St. Nicholas's Day. In England it has gone out of mind, and
+in the flat north of Germany Protestantism has largely rooted it out, as
+savouring too much of saint-worship, and transferred its festivities to
+the more Evangelical season of Christmas.{34} In western and southern
+Germany, however, and in Austria, Switzerland, and the Low Countries, it
+is still a day of joy for children, though in some regions even there its
+radiance tends to pale before the greater glory of the Christmas-tree.
+
+It is not easy either to get at the historic facts about St. Nicholas,
+the fourth-century bishop of Myra in Asia Minor, or to ascertain why he
+became the patron saint of boys. The legends of his infant piety and his
+later wondrous works for the benefit of young people may either have
+given rise, or be themselves due to, his connection with children.{35}
+In eastern Europe and southern Italy he is above all things the saint of
+seafaring men, and among the Greeks his cult has perhaps replaced that of
+Artemis as a sea divinity.{36} This aspect of him does not, however,
+appear in the German festival customs with which we are here chiefly
+concerned.
+
+It has already been hinted that in some respects St. Nicholas is a
+duplicate of St. Martin. His feast, indeed, is probably a later
+beginning-of-winter festival, dating from the period when |219|
+improved methods of agriculture and other causes made early December,
+rather than mid-November, the time for the great annual slaughter and its
+attendant rejoicings. Like St. Martin he brings sweet things for the good
+children and rods for the bad.
+
+St. Nicholas's Eve is a time of festive stir in Holland and Belgium; the
+shops are full of pleasant little gifts: many-shaped biscuits, gilt
+gingerbreads, sometimes representing the saint, sugar images, toys, and
+other trifles. In many places, when evening comes on, people dress up as
+St. Nicholas, with mitre and pastoral staff, enquire about the behaviour
+of the children, and if it has been good pronounce a benediction and
+promise them a reward next morning. Before they go to bed the children
+put out their shoes, with hay, straw, or a carrot in them for the saint's
+white horse or ass. When they wake in the morning, if they have been
+"good" the fodder is gone and sweet things or toys are in its place; if
+they have misbehaved themselves the provender is untouched and no gift
+but a rod is there.{37}
+
+In various parts of Germany, Switzerland, and Austria St. Nicholas is
+mimed by a man dressed up as a bishop.{38} In Tyrol children pray to the
+saint on his Eve and leave out hay for his white horse and a glass of
+_schnaps_ for his servant. And he comes in all the splendour of a
+church-image, a reverend grey-haired figure with flowing beard,
+gold-broidered cope, glittering mitre, and pastoral staff. Children who
+know their catechism are rewarded with sweet things out of the basket
+carried by his servant; those who cannot answer are reproved, and St.
+Nicholas points to a terrible form that stands behind him with a rod--the
+hideous Klaubauf, a shaggy monster with horns, black face, fiery eyes,
+long red tongue, and chains that clank as he moves.{39}
+
+In Lower Austria the saint is followed by a similar figure called Krampus
+or Grampus;{40} in Styria this horrible attendant is named Bartel;{41}
+all are no doubt related to such monsters as the _Klapperbock_ (see
+Chapter VII.). Their heathen origin is evident though it is difficult to
+trace their exact pedigree. Sometimes St. Nicholas himself appears in a
+non-churchly form like Pelzmaerte, with a bell,{42} or with a sack of
+ashes which gains him the name of Aschenklas.{43}
+
+|220| Not only by hideous figures is St. Nicholas attended. Sometimes,
+as at Warnsdorf near Rumburg, there come with him the forms of Christ
+Himself, St. Peter, an angel, and the famous Knecht Ruprecht, whom we
+shall meet again on Christmas Eve. They are represented by children, and
+a little drama is performed, one personage coming in after the other and
+calling for the next in the manner of the English mummers' play. St.
+Nicholas, St. Peter, and Ruprecht accuse the children of all kinds of
+naughtiness, the "Heiliger Christ" intercedes and at last throws nuts
+down and receives money from the parents.{44} In Tyrol there are St.
+Nicholas plays of a more comic nature, performed publicly by large
+companies of players and introducing a number of humorous characters and
+much rude popular wit.{45}
+
+Sometimes a female bogey used to appear: Budelfrau in Lower Austria,
+Berchtel in Swabia, Buzebergt in the neighbourhood of Augsburg.{46} The
+last two are plainly variants of Berchte, who is specially connected with
+the Epiphany. Berchtel used to punish the naughty children with a rod,
+and reward the good with nuts and apples; Buzebergt wore black rags, had
+her face blackened and her hair hanging unkempt, and carried a pot of
+starch which she smeared upon people's faces.{47}
+
+As Santa Klaus St. Nicholas is of course known to every English child,
+but rather as a sort of incarnation of Christmas than as a saint with a
+day of his own. Santa Klaus, probably, has come to us _via_ the United
+States, whither the Dutch took him, and where he has still immense
+popularity.
+
+In the Middle Ages in England as elsewhere the Eve of St. Nicholas was a
+day of great excitement for boys. It was then that the small choristers
+and servers in cathedral and other churches generally elected their "Boy
+Bishop" or "Nicholas."{48} He had in some places to officiate at First
+Vespers and at the services on the festival itself. As a rule, however,
+the feast of the Holy Innocents, December 28, was probably the most
+important day in the Boy Bishop's career, and we may therefore postpone
+our consideration of him. We will here only note his connection with the
+festival of the patron saint of boys, a connection perhaps implying a
+common origin for him and |221| for the St. Nicholases who in bishops'
+vestments make their present-giving rounds.
+
+The festival of St. Nicholas is naturally celebrated with most splendour
+at the place where his body lies, the seaport of Bari in south-eastern
+Italy. The holy bones are preserved in a sepulchre beneath a crypt of
+rich Saracenic architecture, above which rises a magnificent church.
+Legend relates that in the eleventh century they were stolen by certain
+merchants of Bari from the saint's own cathedral at Myra in Asia Minor.
+The tomb of St. Nicholas is a famous centre for pilgrimages, and on the
+6th of December many thousands of the faithful, bearing staves bound with
+olive and pine, visit it. An interesting ceremony on the festival is the
+taking of the saint's image out to sea by the sailors of the port. They
+return with it at nightfall, and a great procession escorts it back to
+the cathedral with torches and fireworks and chanting.{49} Here may be
+seen the other, the seafaring, aspect of St. Nicholas; by this mariners'
+cult we are taken far away from the present-giving saint who delights the
+small children of the North.
+
+
+ST. LUCIA'S DAY.
+
+The only folk-festivals of note between St. Nicholas's Day and Christmas
+are those of St. Lucia (December 13) and St. Thomas the Apostle (December
+21).
+
+In Sweden St. Lucia's Day was formerly marked by some interesting
+practices. It was, so to speak, the entrance to the Christmas festival,
+and was called "little Yule."{50} At the first cock-crow, between 1 and
+4 a.m., the prettiest girl in the house used to go among the sleeping
+folk, dressed in a white robe, a red sash, and a wire crown covered with
+whortleberry-twigs and having nine lighted candles fastened in it. She
+awakened the sleepers and regaled them with a sweet drink or with
+coffee,[94] sang a special song, and was named "Lussi" or "Lussibruden"
+(Lucy bride). When everyone was dressed, breakfast was taken, the room
+being lighted by many candles. The domestic animals |222| were not
+forgotten on this day, but were given special portions. A peculiar
+feature of the Swedish custom is the presence of lights on Lussi's crown.
+Lights indeed are the special mark of the festival; it was customary to
+shoot and fish on St. Lucy's Day by torchlight, the parlours, as has been
+said, were brilliantly illuminated in the early morning, in West Gothland
+Lussi went round the village preceded by torchbearers, and in one parish
+she was represented by a cow with a crown of lights on her head. In
+schools the day was celebrated with illuminations.{51}
+
+What is the explanation of this feast of lights? There is nothing in the
+legend of the saint to account for it; her name, however, at once
+suggests _lux_--light. It is possible, as Dr. Feilberg supposes, that the
+name gave rise to the special use of lights among the Latin-learned monks
+who brought Christianity to Sweden, and that the custom spread from them
+to the common people. A peculiar fitness would be found in it because St.
+Lucia's Day according to the Old Style was the shortest day of the year,
+the turning-point of the sun's light.{52}
+
+In Sicily also St. Lucia's festival is a feast of lights. After sunset on
+the Eve a long procession of men, lads, and children, each flourishing a
+thick bunch of long straws all afire, rushes wildly down the streets of
+the mountain village of Montedoro, as if fleeing from some danger, and
+shouting hoarsely. "The darkness of the night," says an eye-witness, "was
+lighted up by this savage procession of dancing, flaming torches, whilst
+bonfires in all the side streets gave the illusion that the whole village
+was burning." At the end of the procession came the image of Santa Lucia,
+holding a dish which contained her eyes.[95] In the midst of the _piazza_
+a great mountain of straw had been prepared; on this everyone threw his
+own burning torch, and the saint was placed in a spot from which she
+could survey the vast bonfire.{53}
+
+In central Europe we see St. Lucia in other aspects. In the Boehmerwald
+she goes round the village in the form of a nanny-goat with horns, gives
+fruit to the good children, and threatens to rip open the belly of the
+naughty. Here she is evidently related |223| to the pagan monsters
+already described. In Tyrol she plays a more graceful part: she brings
+presents for girls, an office which St. Nicholas is there supposed to
+perform for boys only.{55}
+
+In Lower Austria St. Lucia's Eve is a time when special danger from
+witchcraft is feared and must be averted by prayer and incense. A
+procession is made through each house to cense every room. On this
+evening, too, girls are afraid to spin lest in the morning they should
+find their distaffs twisted, the threads broken, and the yarn in
+confusion. (We shall meet with like superstitions during the Twelve
+Nights.) At midnight the girls practise a strange ceremony: they go to a
+willow-bordered brook, cut the bark of a tree partly away, without
+detaching it, make with a knife a cross on the inner side of the cut
+bark, moisten it with water, and carefully close up the opening. On New
+Year's Day the cutting is opened, and the future is augured from the
+markings found. The lads, on the other hand, look out at midnight for a
+mysterious light, the _Luzieschein_, the forms of which indicate coming
+events.{56}
+
+In Denmark, too, St. Lucia's Eve is a time for seeing the future. Here is
+a prayer of Danish maids: "Sweet St. Lucy let me know: whose cloth
+I shall lay, whose bed I shall make, whose child I shall bear, whose
+darling I shall be, whose arms I shall sleep in."{57}
+
+
+ST. THOMAS'S DAY.
+
+Many and various are the customs and beliefs associated with the feast of
+St. Thomas (December 21). In Denmark it was formerly a great children's
+day, unique in the year, and rather resembling the mediaeval Boy Bishop
+festival. It was the breaking-up day for schools; the children used to
+bring their master an offering of candles and money, and in return he
+gave them a feast. In some places it had an even more delightful side:
+for this one day in the year the children were allowed the mastery in the
+school. Testimonials to their scholarship and industry were made out, and
+elaborate titles were added to their names, as exalted sometimes as
+"Pope," "Emperor," or "Empress." Poor children used to go about showing
+these |224| documents and collecting money. Games and larks of all
+sorts went on in the schools without a word of reproof, and the children
+were wont to burn their master's rod.{58}
+
+In the neighbourhood of Antwerp children go early to school on St.
+Thomas's Day, and lock the master out, until he promises to treat them
+with ale or other drink. After this they buy a cock and hen, which are
+allowed to escape and have to be caught by the boys or the girls
+respectively. The girl who catches the hen is called "queen," the boy who
+gets the cock, "king." Elsewhere in Belgium children lock out their
+parents, and servants their masters, while schoolboys bind their teacher
+to his chair and carry him over to the inn. There he has to buy back his
+liberty by treating his scholars with punch and cakes. Instead of the
+chase for the fowls, it was up to 1850 the custom in the Ardennes for the
+teacher to give the children hens and let them chop the heads off.{59}
+Some pagan sacrifice no doubt lies at the root of this barbarous
+practice, which has many parallels in the folk-lore of western and
+southern Europe.{60}
+
+As for schoolboys' larks with their teachers, the custom of "barring out
+the master" existed in England, and was practised before Christmas{61}
+as well as at other times of the year, notably Shrove Tuesday. At
+Bromfield in Cumberland on Shrove Tuesday there was a regular siege, the
+school doors were strongly barricaded within, and the boy-defenders were
+armed with pop-guns. If the master won, heavy tasks were imposed, but if,
+as more often happened, he was defeated in his efforts to regain his
+authority, he had to make terms with the boys as to the hours of work and
+play.{62}
+
+St. Thomas's Eve is in certain regions one of the uncanniest nights in
+the year. In some Bohemian villages the saint is believed to drive about
+at midnight in a chariot of fire. In the churchyard there await him all
+the dead men whose name is Thomas; they help him to alight and accompany
+him to the churchyard cross, which glows red with supernatural radiance.
+There St. Thomas kneels and prays, and then rises to bless his namesakes.
+This done, he vanishes beneath the cross, and each Thomas returns to his
+grave. The saint here seems to have taken over |225| the character of
+some pagan god, who, like the Teutonic Odin or Woden, ruled the souls of
+the departed. In the houses the people listen with awe for the sound of
+his chariot, and when it is heard make anxious prayer to him for
+protection from all ill. Before retiring to rest the house-father goes to
+the cowhouse with holy water and consecrated salt, asperges it from
+without, and then entering, sprinkles every cow. Salt is also thrown on
+the head of each animal with the words, "St. Thomas preserve thee from
+all sickness." In the Boehmerwald the cattle are fed on this night with
+consecrated bayberries, bread, and salt, in order to avert disease.{63}
+
+In Upper and Lower Austria St. Thomas's Eve is reckoned as one of the
+so-called _Rauchnaechte_ (smoke-nights) when houses and farm-buildings
+must be sanctified with incense and holy water, the other nights being
+the Eves of Christmas, the New Year, and the Epiphany.{64}
+
+In Germany St. Thomas's, like St. Andrew's Eve, is a time for forecasting
+the future, and the methods already described are sometimes employed by
+girls who wish to behold their future husbands. A widely diffused custom
+is that of throwing shoes backwards over the shoulders. If the points are
+found turned towards the door the thrower is destined to leave the house
+during the year; if they are turned away from it another year will be
+spent there. In Westphalia a belief prevails that you must eat and drink
+heartily on this night in order to avert scarcity.{65}
+
+In Lower Austria it is supposed that sluggards can cure themselves of
+oversleeping by saying a special prayer before they go to bed on St.
+Thomas's Eve, and in Westphalia in the mid-nineteenth century the same
+association of the day with slumber was shown by the schoolchildren's
+custom of calling the child who arrived last at school _Domesesel_
+(Thomas ass). In Holland, again, the person who lies longest in bed on
+St. Thomas's Day is greeted with shouts of "lazybones." Probably the fact
+that December 21 is the shortest day is enough to account for this.{66}
+
+In England there was divination by means of "St. Thomas's onion." Girls
+used to peel an onion, wrap it in a handkerchief and put it under their
+heads at night, with a prayer to the satin |226| to show them their
+true love in a dream.{67} The most notable English custom on this day,
+however, was the peregrinations of poor people begging for money or
+provisions for Christmas. Going "a-gooding," or "a-Thomassin'," or
+"a-mumping," this was called. Sometimes in return for the charity
+bestowed a sprig of holly or mistletoe was given.{68} Possibly the sprig
+was originally a sacrament of the healthful spirit of growth: it may be
+compared with the olive- or cornel-branches carried about on New Year's
+Eve by Macedonian boys,{69} and also with the St. Martin's rod (see last
+chapter).
+
+One more English custom on December 21 must be mentioned--it points to a
+sometime sacrifice--the bull-baiting practised until 1821 at Wokingham in
+Berkshire. Its abolition in 1822 caused great resentment among the
+populace, although the flesh continued to be duly distributed.{70}
+
+ * * * * *
+
+We are now four days from the feast of the Nativity, and many things
+commonly regarded as distinctive of Christmas have already come under
+notice. We have met, for instance, with several kinds of present-giving,
+with auguries for the New Year, with processions of carol-singers and
+well-wishers, with ceremonial feasting that anticipates the Christmas
+eating and drinking, and with various figures, saintly or monstrous,
+mimed or merely imagined, which we shall find reappearing at the greatest
+of winter festivals. These things would seem to have been attracted from
+earlier dates to the feast of the Nativity, and the probability that
+Christmas has borrowed much from an old November festival gradually
+shifted into December, is our justification for having dwelt so long upon
+the feasts that precede the Twelve Days.
+
+|227| |228| |229|
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+CHRISTMAS EVE AND THE TWELVE DAYS
+
+
+ Christkind, Santa Klaus, and Knecht Ruprecht--Talking Animals and
+ other Wonders of Christmas Eve--Scandinavian Beliefs about Trolls and
+ the Return of the Dead--Traditional Christmas Songs in Eastern
+ Europe--The Twelve Days, their Christian Origin and Pagan
+ Superstitions--The Raging Host--Hints of Supernatural Visitors in
+ England--The German _Frauen_--The Greek _Kallikantzaroi_.
+
+[Illustration: CHRISTMAS EVE IN DEVONSHIRE--THE MUMMERS COMING IN]
+
+
+CHRISTMAS EVE.
+
+Christmas in the narrowest sense must be reckoned as beginning on the
+evening of December 24. Though Christmas Eve is not much observed in
+modern England, throughout the rest of Europe its importance so far as
+popular customs are concerned is far greater than that of the Day itself.
+Then in Germany the Christmas-tree is manifested in its glory; then, as
+in the England of the past, the Yule log is solemnly lighted in many
+lands; then often the most distinctive Christmas meal takes place.
+
+We shall consider these and other institutions later; though they appear
+first on Christmas Eve, they belong more or less to the Twelve Days as a
+whole. Let us look first at the supernatural visitors, mimed by human
+beings, who delight the minds of children, especially in Germany, on the
+evening of December 24, and at the beliefs that hang around this most
+solemn night of the year.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+First of all, the activities of St. Nicholas are not confined to his own
+festival; he often appears on Christmas Eve. We have already seen how he
+is attended by various companions, including |230| Christ Himself, and
+how he comes now vested as a bishop, now as a masked and shaggy figure.
+The names and attributes of the Christmas and Advent visitors are rather
+confused, but on the whole it may be said that in Protestant north
+Germany the episcopal St. Nicholas and his Eve have been replaced by
+Christmas Eve and the Christ Child, while the name Klas has become
+attached to various unsaintly forms appearing at or shortly before
+Christmas.
+
+We can trace a deliberate substitution of the Christ Child for St.
+Nicholas as the bringer of gifts. In the early seventeenth century a
+Protestant pastor is found complaining that parents put presents in their
+children's beds and tell them that St. Nicholas has brought them. "This,"
+he says, "is a bad custom, because it points children to the saint, while
+yet we know that not St. Nicholas but the holy Christ Child gives us all
+good things for body and soul, and He alone it is whom we ought to call
+upon."{1}
+
+The ways in which the figure, or at all events the name, of Christ
+Himself, is introduced into German Christmas customs, are often
+surprising. The Christ Child, "Christkind," so familiar to German
+children, has now become a sort of mythical figure, a product of
+sentiment and imagination working so freely as almost to forget the
+sacred character of the original. Christkind bears little resemblance to
+the Infant of Bethlehem; he is quite a tall child, and is often
+represented by a girl dressed in white, with long fair hair. He hovers,
+indeed, between the character of the Divine Infant and that of an angel,
+and is regarded more as a kind of good fairy than as anything else.
+
+In Alsace the girl who represents Christkind has her face "made up" with
+flour, wears a crown of gold paper with lighted candles in it--a parallel
+to the headgear of the Swedish Lussi; in one hand she holds a silver
+bell, in the other, a basket of sweetmeats. She is followed by the
+terrible Hans Trapp, dressed in a bearskin, with blackened face, long
+beard, and threatening rod. He "goes for" the naughty children, who are
+only saved by the intercession of Christkind.{2}
+
+In the Mittelmark the name of _de hele_ (holy) _Christ_ is strangely
+|231| given to a skin- or straw-clad man, elsewhere called Knecht
+Ruprecht, Klas, or Joseph.{3} In the Ruppin district a man dresses up in
+white with ribbons, carries a large pouch, and is called _Christmann_ or
+_Christpuppe_. He is accompanied by a _Schimmelreiter_ and by other
+fellows who are attired as women, have blackened faces, and are named
+_Feien_ (we may see in them a likeness to the Kalends maskers condemned
+by the early Church). The procession goes round from house to house. The
+_Schimmelreiter_ as he enters has to jump over a chair; this done, the
+_Christpuppe_ is admitted. The girls present begin to sing, and the
+_Schimmelreiter_ dances with one of them. Meanwhile the _Christpuppe_
+makes the children repeat some verse of Scripture or a hymn; if they know
+it well, he rewards them with gingerbreads from his wallet; if not, he
+beats them with a bundle filled with ashes. Then both he and the
+_Schimmelreiter_ dance and pass on. Only when they are gone are the
+_Feien_ allowed to enter; they jump wildly about and frighten the
+children.{4}
+
+Knecht Ruprecht, to whom allusion has already been made, is a prominent
+figure in the German Christmas. On Christmas Eve in the north he goes
+about clad in skins or straw and examines children; if they can say their
+prayers perfectly he rewards them with apples, nuts and gingerbreads; if
+not, he punishes them. In the Mittelmark, as we have seen, a personage
+corresponding to him is sometimes called "the holy Christ"; in
+Mecklenburg he is "ru Klas" (rough Nicholas--note his identification with
+the saint); in Brunswick, Hanover, and Holstein "Klas," "Klawes," "Klas
+Bur" and "Bullerklas"; and in Silesia "Joseph." Sometimes he wears bells
+and carries a long staff with a bag of ashes at the end--hence the name
+"Aschenklas" occasionally given to him.{5} An ingenious theory connects
+this aspect of him with the _polaznik_ of the Slavs, who on Christmas Day
+in Crivoscian farms goes to the hearth, takes up the ashes of the Yule
+log and dashes them against the cauldron-hook above so that sparks fly
+(see Chapter X.).{6} As for the name "Ruprecht" the older mythologists
+interpreted it as meaning "shining with glory," _hruodperaht_, and
+identified its owner with the god Woden.{7} Dr. Tille, however, regards
+him |232| as dating only from the seventeenth century.{8} It can
+hardly be said that any satisfactory account has as yet been given of the
+origins of this personage, or of his relation to St. Nicholas, Pelzmaerte,
+and monstrous creatures like the _Klapperbock_.
+
+In the south-western part of Lower Austria, both St. Nicholas--a proper
+bishop with mitre, staff, and ring--and Ruprecht appear on Christmas Eve,
+and there is quite an elaborate ceremonial. The children welcome the
+saint with a hymn; then he goes to a table and makes each child repeat a
+prayer and show his lesson-books. Meanwhile Ruprecht in a hide, with
+glowing eyes and a long red tongue, stands at the door to overawe the
+young people. Each child next kneels before the saint and kisses his
+ring, whereupon Nicholas bids him put his shoes out-of-doors and look in
+them when the clock strikes ten. After this the saint lays on the table a
+rod dipped in lime, solemnly blesses the children, sprinkling them with
+holy water, and noiselessly departs. The children steal out into the
+garden, clear a space in the snow, and set out their shoes; when the last
+stroke of ten has sounded they find them filled with nuts and apples and
+all kinds of sweet things.{9}
+
+In the Troppau district of Austrian Silesia, three figures go round on
+Christmas Eve--Christkindel, the archangel Gabriel, and St. Peter--and
+perform a little play before the presents they bring are given.
+Christkindel announces that he has gifts for the good children, but the
+bad shall feel the rod. St. Peter complains of the naughtiness of the
+youngsters: they play about in the streets instead of going straight to
+school; they tear up their lesson-books and do many other wicked things.
+However, the children's mother pleads for them, and St. Peter relents and
+gives out the presents.{10}
+
+In the Erzgebirge appear St. Peter and Ruprecht, who is clad in skin and
+straw, has a mask over his face, a rod, a chain round his body, and a
+sack with apples, nuts, and other gifts; and a somewhat similar
+performance is gone through.{11}
+
+If we go as far east as Russia we find a parallel to the girl Christkind
+in Kolyada, a white-robed maiden driven about in a sledge from house to
+house on Christmas Eve. The young people who attended her sang carols,
+and presents were given |233| them in return. _Kolyada_ is the name for
+Christmas and appears to be derived from _Kalendae_, which probably
+entered the Slavonic languages by way of Byzantium. The maiden is one of
+those beings who, like the Italian Befana, have taken their names from
+the festival at which they appear.{12}
+
+ * * * * *
+
+No time in all the Twelve Nights and Days is so charged with the
+supernatural as Christmas Eve. Doubtless this is due to the fact that the
+Church has hallowed the night of December 24-5 above all others in the
+year. It was to the shepherds keeping watch over their flocks _by night_
+that, according to the Third Evangelist, came the angelic message of the
+Birth, and in harmony with this is the unique Midnight Mass of the Roman
+Church, lending a peculiar sanctity to the hour of its celebration. And
+yet many of the beliefs associated with this night show a large admixture
+of paganism.
+
+First, there is the idea that at midnight on Christmas Eve animals have
+the power of speech. This superstition exists in various parts of Europe,
+and no one can hear the beasts talk with impunity. The idea has given
+rise to some curious and rather grim tales. Here is one from Brittany:--
+
+"Once upon a time there was a woman who starved her cat and dog. At
+midnight on Christmas Eve she heard the dog say to the cat, 'It is quite
+time we lost our mistress; she is a regular miser. To-night burglars are
+coming to steal her money; and if she cries out they will break her
+head.' ''Twill be a good deed,' the cat replied. The woman in terror got
+up to go to a neighbour's house; as she went out the burglars opened the
+door, and when she shouted for help they broke her head."{13}
+
+Again a story is told of a farm servant in the German Alps who did not
+believe that the beasts could speak, and hid in a stable on Christmas Eve
+to learn what went on. At midnight he heard surprising things. "We shall
+have hard work to do this day week," said one horse. "Yes, the farmer's
+servant is heavy," answered the other. "And the way to the churchyard is
+long and steep," said the first. The servant was buried that day
+week.{14}
+
+|234| It may well have been the traditional association of the ox and
+ass with the Nativity that fixed this superstition to Christmas Eve, but
+the conception of the talking animals is probably pagan.
+
+Related to this idea, but more Christian in form, is the belief that at
+midnight all cattle rise in their stalls or kneel and adore the new-born
+King. Readers of Mr. Hardy's "Tess" will remember how this is brought
+into a delightful story told by a Wessex peasant. The idea is widespread
+in England and on the Continent,{15} and has reached even the North
+American Indians. Howison, in his "Sketches of Upper Canada," relates
+that an Indian told him that "on Christmas night all deer kneel and look
+up to Great Spirit."{16} A somewhat similar belief about bees was held
+in the north of England: they were said to assemble on Christmas Eve and
+hum a Christmas hymn.{17} Bees seem in folk-lore in general to be
+specially near to humanity in their feelings.
+
+It is a widespread idea that at midnight on Christmas Eve all water turns
+to wine. A Guernsey woman once determined to test this; at midnight she
+drew a bucket from the well. Then came a voice:--
+
+ "Toute l'eau se tourne en vin,
+ Et tu es proche de ta fin."
+
+She fell down with a mortal disease, and died before the end of the year.
+In Sark the superstition is that the water in streams and wells turns
+into blood, and if you go to look you will die within the year.{18}
+
+There is also a French belief that on Christmas Eve, while the genealogy
+of Christ is being chanted at the Midnight Mass, hidden treasures are
+revealed.{19} In Russia all sorts of buried treasures are supposed to be
+revealed on the evenings between Christmas and the Epiphany, and on the
+eves of these festivals the heavens are opened, and the waters of springs
+and rivers turn into wine.{20}
+
+Another instance of the supernatural character of the night is found in a
+Breton story of a blacksmith who went on working after the sacring bell
+had rung at the Midnight Mass. To him |235| came a tall, stooping man
+with a scythe, who begged him to put in a nail. He did so; and the
+visitor in return bade him send for a priest, for this work would be his
+last. The figure disappeared, the blacksmith felt his limbs fail him, and
+at cock-crow he died. He had mended the scythe of the _Ankou_--Death the
+reaper.{21}
+
+In the Scandinavian countries simple folk have a vivid sense of the
+nearness of the supernatural on Christmas Eve. On Yule night no one
+should go out, for he may meet uncanny beings of all kinds. In Sweden the
+Trolls are believed to celebrate Christmas Eve with dancing and revelry.
+"On the heaths witches and little Trolls ride, one on a wolf, another on
+a broom or a shovel, to their assemblies, where they dance under their
+stones.... In the mount are then to be heard mirth and music, dancing and
+drinking. On Christmas morn, during the time between cock-crowing and
+daybreak, it is highly dangerous to be abroad."{22}
+
+Christmas Eve is also in Scandinavian folk-belief the time when the dead
+revisit their old homes, as on All Souls' Eve in Roman Catholic lands.
+The living prepare for their coming with mingled dread and desire to make
+them welcome. When the Christmas Eve festivities are over, and everyone
+has gone to rest, the parlour is left tidy and adorned, with a great fire
+burning, candles lighted, the table covered with a festive cloth and
+plentifully spread with food, and a jug of Yule ale ready. Sometimes
+before going to bed people wipe the chairs with a clean white towel; in
+the morning they are wiped again, and, if earth is found, some kinsman,
+fresh from the grave, has sat there. Consideration for the dead even
+leads people to prepare a warm bath in the belief that, like living
+folks, the kinsmen will want a wash before their festal meal.[96] Or
+again beds were made ready for them while the living slept on straw. Not
+always is it consciously the dead for whom these preparations are made,
+sometimes they are said to be for the Trolls and sometimes even for
+|236| the Saviour and His angels.{24} (We may compare with this
+Christian idea the Tyrolese custom of leaving some milk for the Christ
+Child and His Mother{25} at the hour of Midnight Mass, and a Breton
+practice of leaving food all through Christmas night in case the Virgin
+should come.{26})
+
+It is difficult to say how far the other supernatural beings--their name
+is legion--who in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Iceland are believed to
+come out of their underground hiding-places during the long dark
+Christmas nights, were originally ghosts of the dead. Twenty years ago
+many students would have accounted for them all in this way, but the
+tendency now is strongly against the derivation of all supernatural
+beings from ancestor-worship. Elves, trolls, dwarfs, witches, and other
+uncanny folk--the beliefs about their Christmas doings are too many to be
+treated here; readers of Danish will find a long and very interesting
+chapter on this subject in Dr. Feilberg's "Jul."{27} I may mention just
+one familiar figure of the Scandinavian Yule, Tomte Gubbe, a sort of
+genius of the house corresponding very much to the "drudging goblin" of
+Milton's "L'Allegro," for whom the cream-bowl must be duly set. He may
+perhaps be the spirit of the founder of the family. At all events on
+Christmas Eve Yule porridge and new milk are set out for him, sometimes
+with other things, such as a suit of small clothes, spirits, or even
+tobacco. Thus must his goodwill be won for the coming year.{28}
+
+In one part of Norway it used to be believed that on Christmas Eve, at
+rare intervals, the old Norse gods made war on Christians, coming down
+from the mountains with great blasts of wind and wild shouts, and
+carrying off any human being who might be about. In one place the memory
+of such a visitation was preserved in the nineteenth century. The people
+were preparing for their festivities, when suddenly from the mountains
+came the warning sounds. "In a second the air became black, peals of
+thunder echoed among the hills, lightning danced about the buildings, and
+the inhabitants in the darkened rooms heard the clatter of hoofs and the
+weird shrieks of the hosts of the gods."{29}
+
+|237| The Scandinavian countries, Protestant though they are, have
+retained many of the outward forms of Catholicism, and the sign of the
+cross is often used as a protection against uncanny visitors. The
+cross--perhaps the symbol was originally Thor's hammer--is marked with
+chalk or tar or fire upon doors and gates, is formed of straw or other
+material and put in stables and cowhouses, or is smeared with the remains
+of the Yule candle on the udders of the beasts--it is in fact displayed
+at every point open to attack by a spirit of darkness.{30}
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Christmas Eve is in Germany a time for auguries. Some of the methods
+already noted on other days are practised upon it--for instance the
+pouring of molten lead into water, the flinging of shoes, the pulling out
+of pieces of wood, and the floating of nutshells--and there are various
+others which it might be tedious to describe.{31}
+
+Among the southern Slavs if a girl wants to know what sort of husband she
+will get, she covers the table on Christmas Eve, puts on it a white loaf,
+a plate, and a knife, spoon, and fork, and goes to bed. At midnight the
+spirit of her future husband will appear and fling the knife at her. If
+it falls without injuring her she will get a good husband and be happy,
+but if she is hurt she will die early. There is a similar mode of
+divination for a young fellow. On Christmas Eve, when everybody else has
+gone to church, he must, naked and in darkness, sift ashes through a
+sieve. His future bride will then appear, pull him thrice by the nose,
+and go away.{32}
+
+In eastern Europe Christmas, and especially Christmas Eve, is the time
+for the singing of carols called in Russian _Kolyadki_, and in other Slav
+countries by similar names derived from _Kalendae_.{33} More often than
+not these are without connection with the Nativity; sometimes they have a
+Christian form and tell of the doings of God, the Virgin and the saints,
+but frequently they are of an entirely secular or even pagan character.
+Into some the sun, moon, and stars and other natural objects are
+introduced, and they seem to be based on myths to which a Christian
+appearance has been given by a sprinkling of names of holy persons of the
+|238| Church. Here for instance is a fragment from a Carpathian song:--
+
+ "A golden plough goes ploughing,
+ And behind that plough is the Lord Himself.
+ The holy Peter helps Him to drive,
+ And the Mother of God carries the seed corn,
+ Carries the seed corn, prays to the Lord God,
+ 'Make, O Lord, the strong wheat to grow,
+ The strong wheat and the vigorous corn!
+ The stalks then shall be like reeds!'"{34}
+
+Often they contain wishes for the prosperity of the household and end
+with the words, "for many years, for many years." The Roumanian songs are
+frequently very long, and a typical, oft-recurring refrain is:--
+
+ "This evening is a great evening,
+ White flowers;
+ Great evening of Christmas,
+ White flowers."{35}
+
+Sometimes they are ballads of the national life.
+
+In Russia a carol beginning "Glory be to God in heaven, Glory!" and
+calling down blessings on the Tsar and his people, is one of the most
+prominent among the _Kolyadki_, and opens the singing of the songs called
+_Podblyudnuiya_. "At the Christmas festival a table is covered with a
+cloth, and on it is set a dish or bowl (_blyudo_) containing water. The
+young people drop rings or other trinkets into the dish, which is
+afterwards covered with a cloth, and then the _Podblyudnuiya_ Songs
+commence. At the end of each song one of the trinkets is drawn at random,
+and its owner deduces an omen from the nature of the words which have
+just been sung."{36}
+
+
+THE TWELVE DAYS.
+
+Whatever the limits fixed for the beginning and end of the Christmas
+festival, its core is always the period between Christmas |239| Eve and
+the Epiphany--the "Twelve Days."[97] A cycle of feasts falls within this
+time, and the customs peculiar to each day will be treated in calendarial
+order. First, however, it will be well to glance at the character of the
+Twelve Days as a whole, and at the superstitions which hang about the
+season. So many are these superstitions, so "bewitched" is the time, that
+the older mythologists not unnaturally saw in it a Teutonic festal
+season, dating from pre-Christian days. In point of fact it appears to be
+simply a creation of the Church, a natural linking together of Christmas
+and Epiphany. It is first mentioned as a festal tide by the eastern
+Father, Ephraem Syrus, at the end of the fourth century, and was declared
+to be such by the western Council of Tours in 567.{37}
+
+While Christmas Eve is the night _par excellence_ of the supernatural,
+the whole season of the Twelve Days is charged with it. It is hard to see
+whence Shakespeare could have got the idea which he puts into the mouth
+of Marcellus in "Hamlet":--
+
+ "Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes
+ Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated,
+ The bird of dawning singeth all night long;
+ And then, they say, no spirit dare stir abroad;
+ The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike,
+ No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,
+ So hallow'd and so gracious is the time."{38}
+
+Against this is the fact that in folk-lore Christmas is a quite
+peculiarly uncanny time. Not unnatural is it that at this midwinter
+season of darkness, howling winds, and raging storms, men should have
+thought to see and hear the mysterious shapes and voices of dread beings
+whom the living shun.
+
+Throughout the Teutonic world one finds the belief in a "raging |240|
+host" or "wild hunt" or spirits, rushing howling through the air on
+stormy nights. In North Devon its name is "Yeth (heathen) hounds";{40}
+elsewhere in the west of England it is called the "Wish hounds."{41} It
+is the train of the unhappy souls of those who died unbaptized, or by
+violent hands, or under a curse, and often Woden is their leader.{42} At
+least since the seventeenth century this "raging host" (_das wuethende
+Heer_) has been particularly associated with Christmas in German
+folk-lore,{43} and in Iceland it goes by the name of the "Yule
+host."{44}
+
+In Guernsey the powers of darkness are supposed to be more than usually
+active between St. Thomas's Day and New Year's Eve, and it is dangerous
+to be out after nightfall. People are led astray then by Will o' the
+Wisp, or are preceded or followed by large black dogs, or find their path
+beset by white rabbits that go hopping along just under their feet.{45}
+
+In England there are signs that supernatural visitors were formerly
+looked for during the Twelve Days. First there was a custom of cleansing
+the house and its implements with peculiar care. In Shropshire, for
+instance, "the pewter and brazen vessels had to be made so bright that
+the maids could see to put their caps on in them--otherwise the fairies
+would pinch them, but if all was perfect, the worker would find a coin in
+her shoe." Again in Shropshire special care was taken to put away any
+suds or "back-lee" for washing purposes, and no spinning might be done
+during the Twelve Days.{46} It was said elsewhere that if any flax were
+left on the distaff, the Devil would come and cut it.{47}
+
+The prohibition of spinning may be due to the Church's hallowing of the
+season and the idea that all work then was wrong. This churchly hallowing
+may lie also at the root of the Danish tradition that from Christmas till
+New Year's Day nothing that runs round should be set in motion,{48} and
+of the German idea that no thrashing must be done during the Twelve Days,
+or all the corn within hearing will spoil. The expectation of uncanny
+visitors in the English traditions calls, however, for special attention;
+it is perhaps because of their coming that the house must be left
+spotlessly clean and with as little as possible about on which they can
+work mischief.{49} Though I know of no distinct English belief in the
+|241| return of the family dead at Christmas, it may be that the fairies
+expected in Shropshire were originally ancestral ghosts. Such a
+derivation of the elves and brownies that haunt the hearth is very
+probable.{50}
+
+ * * * * *
+
+The belief about the Devil cutting flax left on the distaff links the
+English superstitions to the mysterious _Frau_ with various names, who in
+Germany is supposed to go her rounds during the Twelve Nights. She has a
+special relation to spinning, often punishing girls who leave their flax
+unspun. In central Germany and in parts of Austria she is called Frau
+Holle or Holda, in southern Germany and Tyrol Frau Berchta or Perchta, in
+the north down to the Harz Mountains Frau Freen or Frick, or Fru Gode or
+Fru Harke, and there are other names too.{51} Attempts have been made to
+dispute her claim to the rank of an old Teutonic goddess and to prove her
+a creation of the Middle Ages, a representative of the crowd of ghosts
+supposed to be specially near to the living at Christmastide.{52} It is
+questionable whether she can be thus explained away, and at the back of
+the varying names, and much overlaid no doubt with later superstitions,
+there may be a traditional goddess corresponding to that old divinity
+Frigg to whom we owe the name of Friday. The connection of Frick with
+Frigg is very probable, and Frick shares characteristics with the other
+_Frauen_.{53}
+
+All are connected with spinning and spinsters (in the literal sense). Fru
+Frick or Freen in the Uckermark and the northern Harz permits no spinning
+during the time when she goes her rounds, and if there are lazy spinsters
+she soils the unspun flax on their distaff. In like manner do Holda,
+Harke, Berchta, and Gode punish lazy girls.{54}
+
+The characters of the _Frauen_ can best be shown by the things told of
+them in different regions. They are more dreaded than loved, but if
+severe in their chastisements they are also generous in rewarding those
+who do them service.
+
+Frau Gaude (also called Gode, Gaue, or Wode) is said in Mecklenburg to
+love to drive through the village streets on the Twelve Nights with a
+train of dogs. Wherever she finds a street-door open she sends a little
+dog in. Next morning he wags his |242| tail at the inmates and whines,
+and will not be driven away. If killed, he turns into a stone by day;
+this, though it may be thrown away, always returns and is a dog again by
+night. All through the year he whines and brings ill luck upon the house;
+so people are careful to keep their street-doors shut during the Twelve
+Nights.{55}
+
+Good luck, however, befalls those who do Frau Gaude a service. A man who
+put a new pole to her carriage was brilliantly repaid--the chips that
+fell from the pole turned to glittering gold. Similar stories of golden
+chips are told about Holda and Berchta.{56}
+
+A train of dogs belongs not only to Frau Gaude but also to Frau Harke;
+with these howling beasts they go raging through the air by night.{57}
+The _Frauen_ in certain aspects are, indeed, the leaders of the "Wild
+Host."
+
+Holda and Perchta, as some strange stories show, are the guides and
+guardians of the _heimchen_ or souls of children who have died
+unbaptized. In the valley of the Saale, so runs a tale, Perchta, queen of
+the _heimchen_, had her dwelling of old, and at her command the children
+watered the fields, while she worked with her plough. But the people of
+the place were ungrateful, and she resolved to leave their land. One
+night a ferryman beheld on the bank of the Saale a tall, stately lady
+with a crowd of weeping children. She demanded to be ferried across, and
+the children dragged a plough into the boat, crying bitterly. As a reward
+for the ferrying, Perchta, mending her plough, pointed to the chips. The
+man grumblingly took three, and in the morning they had turned to
+gold-pieces.{58}
+
+Holda, whose name means "the kindly one," is the most friendly of the
+_Frauen_. In Saxony she brings rewards for diligent spinsters, and on
+every New Year's Eve, between nine and ten o'clock, she drives in a
+carriage full of presents through villages where respect has been shown
+to her. At the crack of her whip the people come out to receive her
+gifts. In Hesse and Thuringia she is imagined as a beautiful woman clad
+in white with long golden hair, and, when it snows hard, people say,
+"Frau Holle is shaking her featherbed."{59}
+
+|243| More of a bugbear on the whole is Berchte or Perchte (the name is
+variously spelt). She is particularly connected with the Eve of the
+Epiphany, and it is possible that her name comes from the old German
+_giper(c)hta Na(c)ht_, the bright or shining night, referring to the
+manifestation of Christ's glory.{60} In Carinthia the Epiphany is still
+called _Berchtentag_.{61}
+
+Berchte is sometimes a bogey to frighten children. In the mountains round
+Traunstein children are told on Epiphany Eve that if they are naughty she
+will come and cut their stomachs open.{62} In Upper Austria the girls
+must finish their spinning by Christmas; if Frau Berch finds flax still
+on their distaffs she will be angered and send them bad luck.{63}
+
+In the Orlagau (between the Saale and the Orle) on the night before
+Twelfth Day, Perchta examines the spinning-rooms and brings the spinners
+empty reels with directions to spin them full within a very brief time;
+if this is not done she punishes them by tangling and befouling the flax.
+She also cuts open the body of any one who has not eaten _zemmede_
+(fasting fare made of flour and milk and water) that day, takes out any
+other food he has had, fills the empty space with straw and bricks, and
+sews him up again.{64} And yet, as we have seen, she has a kindly
+side--at any rate she rewards those who serve her--and in Styria at
+Christmas she even plays the part of Santa Klaus, hearing children repeat
+their prayers and rewarding them with nuts and apples.{65}
+
+There is a charming Tyrolese story about her. At midnight on Epiphany Eve
+a peasant--not too sober--suddenly heard behind him "a sound of many
+voices, which came on nearer and nearer, and then the Berchtl, in her
+white clothing, her broken ploughshare in her hand, and all her train of
+little people, swept clattering and chattering close past him. The least
+was the last, and it wore a long shirt which got in the way of its little
+bare feet, and kept tripping it up. The peasant had sense enough left to
+feel compassion, so he took his garter off and bound it for a girdle
+round the infant, and then set it again on its way. When the Berchtl saw
+what he had done, she turned back and thanked him, and told him that in
+return for his compassion his children should never come to want."{66}
+
+|244| In Tyrol, by the way, it is often said that the Perchtl is
+Pontius Pilate's wife, Procula.{67} In the Italian dialects of south
+Tyrol the German Frau Berchta has been turned into _la donna Berta_.{68}
+If one goes further south, into Italy itself, one meets with a similar
+being, the Befana, whose name is plainly nothing but a corruption of
+_Epiphania_. She is so distinctly a part of the Epiphany festival that we
+may leave her to be considered later.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Of all supernatural Christmas visitors, the most vividly realized and
+believed in at the present day are probably the Greek _Kallikantzaroi_ or
+_Karkantzaroi_.{69} They are the terror of the Greek peasant during the
+Twelve Days; in the soil of his imagination they flourish luxuriantly,
+and to him they are a very real and living nuisance.
+
+Traditions about the _Kallikantzaroi_ vary from region to region, but in
+general they are half-animal, half-human monsters, black, hairy, with
+huge heads, glaring red eyes, goats' or asses' ears, blood-red tongues
+hanging out, ferocious tusks, monkeys' arms, and long curved nails, and
+commonly they have the foot of some beast. "From dawn till sunset they
+hide themselves in dark and dank places ... but at night they issue forth
+and run wildly to and fro, rending and crushing those who cross their
+path. Destruction and waste, greed and lust mark their course." When a
+house is not prepared against their coming, "by chimney and door alike
+they swarm in, and make havoc of the home; in sheer wanton mischief they
+overturn and break all the furniture, devour the Christmas pork, befoul
+all the water and wine and food which remains, and leave the occupants
+half dead with fright or violence." Many like or far worse pranks do they
+play, until at the crowing of the third cock they get them away to their
+dens. The signal for their final departure does not come until the
+Epiphany, when, as we saw in Chapter IV., the "Blessing of the Waters"
+takes place. Some of the hallowed water is put into vessels, and with
+these and with incense the priests sometimes make a round of the village,
+sprinkling the people and their houses. The fear of the |245|
+_Kallikantzaroi_ at this purification is expressed in the following
+lines:--
+
+ "Quick, begone! we must begone,
+ Here comes the pot-bellied priest,
+ With his censer in his hand
+ And his sprinkling-vessel too;
+ He has purified the streams
+ And he has polluted us."
+
+Besides this ecclesiastical purification there are various Christian
+precautions against the _Kallikantzaroi_--_e.g._, to mark the house-door
+with a black cross on Christmas Eve, the burning of incense and the
+invocation of the Trinity--and a number of other means of aversion: the
+lighting of the Yule log, the burning of something that smells strong,
+and--perhaps as a peace-offering--the hanging of pork-bones, sweetmeats,
+or sausages in the chimney.
+
+Just as men are sometimes believed to become vampires temporarily during
+their lifetime, so, according to one stream of tradition, do living men
+become _Kallikantzaroi_. In Greece children born at Christmas are thought
+likely to have this objectionable characteristic as a punishment for
+their mothers' sin in bearing them at a time sacred to the Mother of God.
+In Macedonia{70} people who have a "light" guardian angel undergo the
+hideous transformation.
+
+Many attempts have been made to account for the _Kallikantzaroi_. Perhaps
+the most plausible explanation of the outward form, at least, of the
+uncanny creatures, is the theory connecting them with the masquerades
+that formed part of the winter festival of Dionysus and are still to be
+found in Greece at Christmastide. The hideous bestial shapes, the noise
+and riot, may well have seemed demoniacal to simple people slightly
+"elevated," perhaps, by Christmas feasting, while the human nature of the
+maskers was not altogether forgotten.{71} Another theory of an even more
+prosaic character has been propounded--"that the Kallikantzaroi are
+nothing more than established nightmares, limited like indigestion to the
+twelve days of feasting. This view is |246| taken by Allatius, who says
+that a Kallikantzaros has all the characteristics of nightmare, rampaging
+abroad and jumping on men's shoulders, then leaving them half senseless
+on the ground."{72}
+
+Such theories are ingenious and suggestive, and may be true to a certain
+degree, but they hardly cover all the facts. It is possible that the
+_Kallikantzaroi_ may have some connection with the departed; they
+certainly appear akin to the modern Greek and Slavonic vampire, "a corpse
+imbued with a kind of half-life," and with eyes gleaming like live
+coals.{73} They are, however, even more closely related to the werewolf,
+a man who is supposed to change into a wolf and go about ravening. It is
+to be noted that "man-wolves" ([Greek: lykanthropoi]) is the very name
+given to the _Kallikantzaroi_ in southern Greece, and that the word
+_Kallikantzaros_ itself has been conjecturally derived by Bernhard
+Schmidt from two Turkish words meaning "black" and "werewolf."{74} The
+connection between Christmas and werewolves is not confined to Greece.
+According to a belief not yet extinct in the north and east of Germany,
+even where the real animals have long ago been extirpated, children born
+during the Twelve Nights become werewolves, while in Livonia and Poland
+that period is the special season for the werewolf's ravenings.{75}
+
+Perhaps on no question connected with primitive religion is there more
+uncertainty than on the ideas of early man about the nature of animals
+and their relation to himself and the world. When we meet with
+half-animal, half-human beings we must be prepared to find much that is
+obscure.
+
+With the _Kallikantzaroi_ may be compared some goblins of the Celtic
+imagination; especially like is the Manx _Fynnodderee_ (lit. "the
+hairy-dun one"), "something between a man and a beast, being covered with
+black shaggy hair and having fiery eyes," and prodigiously strong.{76}
+The Russian _Domovy_ or house-spirit is also a hirsute creature,{77} and
+the Russian _Ljeschi_, goat-footed woodland sprites, are, like the
+_Kallikantzaroi_, supposed to be got rid of by the "Blessing of the
+Waters" at the Epiphany.{78} Some of the monstrous German figures
+already dealt with here |247| bear strong resemblances to the Greek
+demons. And, of course, on Greek ground one cannot help thinking of Pan
+and the Satyrs and Centaurs.[98]
+
+|248| |249| |250| |251|
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE YULE LOG
+
+
+ The Log as Centre of the Domestic Christmas--Customs of the Southern
+ Slavs--The _Polaznik_--Origin of the Yule Log--Probable Connection
+ with Vegetation-cults or Ancestor-worship--The _Souche de Noel_ in
+ France--Italian and German Christmas Logs--English Customs--The Yule
+ Candle in England and Scandinavia.
+
+The peoples of Europe have various centres for their Christmas rejoicing.
+In Spain and Italy the crib is often the focus of the festival in the
+home as well as the church. In England--after the old tradition--, in
+rural France, and among the southern Slavs, the centre is the great log
+solemnly brought in and kindled on the hearth, while in Germany, one need
+hardly say, the light-laden tree is the supreme symbol of Christmas. The
+crib has already been treated in our First Part, the Yule log and the
+Christmas-tree will be considered in this chapter and the next.
+
+The log placed on the fire on the Vigil of the Nativity no longer forms
+an important part of the English Christmas. Yet within the memory of many
+it was a very essential element in the celebration of the festival, not
+merely as giving out welcome warmth in the midwinter cold, but as
+possessing occult, magical properties. In some remote corners of England
+it probably lingers yet. We shall return to the traditional English Yule
+log after a study of some Continental customs of the same kind.
+
+First, we may travel to a part of eastern Europe where the log ceremonies
+are found in their most elaborate form. Among the Serbs and Croats on
+Christmas Eve two or three young oaks are felled for every house, and, as
+twilight comes on, are brought in and laid on the fire. (Sometimes there
+is one for each male |252| member of the family, but one large log is
+the centre of the ritual.) The felling takes place in some districts
+before sunrise, corn being thrown upon the trees with the words, "Good
+morning, Christmas!" At Risano and other places in Lower Dalmatia the
+women and girls wind red silk and gold wire round the oak trunks, and
+adorn them with leaves and flowers. While they are being carried into the
+house lighted tapers are held on either side of the door. As the
+house-father crosses the threshold in the twilight with the first log,
+corn--or in some places wine--is thrown over him by one of the family.
+The log or _badnjak_ is then placed on the fire. At Ragusa the
+house-father sprinkles corn and wine upon the _badnjak_, saying, as the
+flame shoots up, "Goodly be thy birth!" In the mountains above Risano he
+not only pours corn and wine but afterwards takes a bowl of corn, an
+orange, and a ploughshare, and places them on the upper end of the log in
+order that the corn may grow well and the beasts be healthy during the
+year. In Montenegro, instead of throwing corn, he more usually breaks a
+piece of unleavened bread, places it upon the log, and pours over it a
+libation of wine.{1}
+
+The first visit on Christmas Day is considered important--we may compare
+this with "first-footing" in the British Isles on January 1--and in order
+that the right sort of person may come, some one is specially chosen to
+be the so-called _polaznik_. No outsider but this _polaznik_ may enter a
+house on Christmas Day, where the rites are strictly observed. He appears
+in the early morning, carries corn in his glove and shakes it out before
+the threshold with the words, "Christ is born," whereupon some member of
+the household sprinkles him with corn in return, answering, "He is born
+indeed." Afterwards the _polaznik_ goes to the fire and makes sparks fly
+from the remains of the _badnjak_, at the same time uttering a wish for
+the good luck of the house-father and his household and farm. Money and
+sometimes an orange are then placed on the _badnjak_. It is not allowed
+to burn quite away; the last remains of the fire are extinguished and the
+embers are laid between the branches of young fruit-trees to promote
+their growth.{2}
+
+How shall we interpret these practices? Mannhardt regards the log as an
+embodiment of the vegetation-spirit, and its burning |253| as an
+efficacious symbol of sunshine, meant to secure the genial vitalizing
+influence of the sun during the coming year.{3} It is, however, possible
+to connect it with a different circle of ideas and to see in its burning
+the solemn annual rekindling of the sacred hearth-fire, the centre of the
+family life and the dwelling-place of the ancestors. Primitive peoples in
+many parts of the world are accustomed to associate fire with human
+generation,{4} and it is a general belief among Aryan and other peoples
+that ancestral spirits have their seat in the hearth. In Russia, for
+instance, "in the Nijegorod Government it is still forbidden to break up
+the smouldering faggots in a stove, because to do so might cause the
+ancestors to fall through into hell. And when a Russian family moves from
+one house to another, the fire is conveyed to the new one, where it is
+received with the words, 'Welcome, grandfather, to the new home!'"{5}
+
+Sir Arthur Evans in three articles in _Macmillan's Magazine_ for 1881{6}
+gave a minute account of the Christmas customs of the Serbian highlanders
+above Risano, who practise the log-rites with elaborate ceremonial, and
+explained them as connected in one way or other with ancestor-worship,
+though the people themselves attach a Christian meaning to many of them.
+He pointed to the following facts as showing that the Serbian Christmas
+is at bottom a feast of the dead:--(1) It is said on Christmas Eve,
+"To-night Earth is blended with Paradise" [_Raj_, the abode of the dead
+among the heathen Slavs]. (2) There is talk of unchristened folk beneath
+the threshold wailing "for a wax-light and offerings to be brought them;
+when that is done they lie still enough"--here there may be a modified
+survival of the idea that ancestral spirits dwell beneath the doorway.
+(3) The food must on no account be cleared away after the Christmas meal,
+but is left for three days, apparently for the house-spirits. (4)
+Blessings are invoked upon the "Absent Ones," which seems to mean the
+departed, and (5) a toast is drunk and a bread-cake broken in memory of
+"the Patron Namegiver of all house-fathers," ostensibly Christ but
+perhaps originally the founder of the family. Some of these customs
+resemble those we have noted on All Souls' Eve and--in Scandinavia--on
+Christmas Eve; other parallels we shall meet |254| with later. Among
+the Slav races the old organization of the family under an elective
+house-elder and holding things in common has been faithfully preserved,
+and we might expect to find among the remote Serbian highlanders
+specially clear traces of the old religion of the hearth. One remarkable
+point noted by Sir Arthur Evans was that in the Crivoscian cottage where
+he stayed the fire-irons, the table, and the stools were removed to an
+obscure corner before the logs were brought in and the Christmas rites
+began--an indication apparently of the extreme antiquity of the
+celebration, as dating from a time when such implements were unknown.{7}
+
+If we take the view that ancestral spirits are the centre of the
+_badnjak_ observances, we may regard the libations upon the fire as
+intended for their benefit. On the sun and vegetation hypothesis,
+however, the libations would be meant to secure, by homoeopathic magic,
+that sunshine should alternate with the rain necessary for the welfare of
+plants.[99]{8} The fertilizing powers possessed by the sparks and ashes
+of the Christmas log appear frequently in folk-lore, and may be explained
+either by the connection of fire with human generation already noted, or,
+on the other theory, by the burning log being a sort of sacrament of
+sunshine. It is not perhaps necessary to exclude the idea of the log's
+connection with the vegetation-spirit even on the ancestral cult
+hypothesis, for the tree which furnished the fuel may have been regarded
+as the source of the life of the race.{9} The Serbian rites certainly
+suggest very strongly some sort of veneration for the log itself as well
+as for the fire that it feeds.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+We may now return to western Europe. In France the Christmas log or
+_souche de Noel_ is common in the less modernized places, particularly in
+the south. In Dauphine it is called _chalendal_, |255| in Provence
+_calignaou_ (from _Kalendae_, of course) or _trefoir_, in Orne
+_trefouet_. On Christmas Eve in Provence the whole family goes solemnly
+out to bring in the log. A carol meanwhile is sung praying for blessings
+on the house, that the women may bear children, the nanny-goats kids, and
+the ewes lambs, that corn and flour may abound, and the cask be full of
+wine. Then the youngest child in the family pours wine on the log in the
+name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The log is then thrown upon the
+fire, and the charcoal is kept all the year and used as a remedy for
+various ills.{11}
+
+Another account is given in his Memoirs by Frederic Mistral, the
+Provencal poet. On Christmas Eve everyone, he says, speaking of his
+boyhood, sallied forth to fetch the Yule log, which had to be cut from a
+fruit-tree:--
+
+ "Walking in line we bore it home, headed by the oldest at one end,
+ and I, the last born, bringing up the rear. Three times we made the
+ tour of the kitchen, then, arrived at the flagstones of the hearth,
+ my father solemnly poured over the log a glass of wine, with the
+ dedicatory words:
+
+ 'Joy, joy. May God shower joy upon us, my dear children. Christmas
+ brings us all good things. God give us grace to see the New Year, and
+ if we do not increase in numbers may we at all events not decrease.'
+
+ In chorus we responded:
+
+ 'Joy, joy, joy!' and lifted the log on the fire dogs. Then as the
+ first flame leapt up my father would cross himself, saying, 'Burn the
+ log, O fire,' and with that we all sat down to the table."{12}
+
+In some places the _trefoir_ or _tison de Noel_ is burnt every evening
+during the Thirteen Nights. If put under the bed its charcoal protects
+the house all the year round from lightning; contact with it preserves
+people from chilblains and animals from various diseases; mixed with
+fodder it makes cows calve; its brands thrown into the soil keep the corn
+healthy. In Perigord the portion which has not been burnt is used to form
+part of a plough, and is believed to make the seed prosper; women also
+keep some fragments until Epiphany that their poultry may thrive.{13} In
+|256| Brittany the _tison_ is a protection against lightning and its
+ashes are put in wells to keep the water good.{14}
+
+In northern Italy also the _ceppo_ or log is (or was) known--the
+Piedmontese call it _suc_--and in Tuscany Christmas is called after it
+_Festa di Ceppo_. In the Val di Chiana on Christmas Eve the family
+gathers, a great log is set on the fire, the children are blindfolded and
+have to beat it with tongs, and an _Ave Maria del Ceppo_ is sung.{15}
+Under the name in Lombardy of _zocco_, in Tuscany of _ciocco_, _di
+Natale_, the Yule log was in olden times common in Italian cities; the
+custom can there be traced back to the eleventh century. A little book
+probably printed in Milan at the end of the fifteenth century gives
+minute particulars of the ritual observed, and we learn that on Christmas
+Eve the father, or the head of the household, used to call all the family
+together and with great devotion, in the name of the Holy Trinity, take
+the log and place it on the fire. Juniper was put under it, and on the
+top money was placed, afterwards to be given to the servants. Wine in
+abundance was poured three times on the fire when the head of the house
+had drunk and given drink to all present. It was an old Italian custom to
+preserve the ashes of the _zocco_ as a protection against hail. A modern
+superstition is to keep some splinters of the wood and burn them in the
+fires made for the benefit of silkworms; so burnt, they are supposed to
+keep ills away from the creatures.{16}
+
+In many parts of Germany Yule log customs can be traced. In Hesse and
+Westphalia, for instance, it was the custom on Christmas Eve or Day to
+lay a large block of wood on the fire and, as soon as it was charred a
+little, to take it off and preserve it. When a storm threatened, it was
+kindled again as a protection against lightning. It was called the
+_Christbrand_.{17} In Thuringia a _Christklotz_ (Christ log) is put on
+the fire before people go to bed, so that it may burn all through the
+night. Its remains are kept to protect the house from fire and ill-luck.
+In parts of Thuringia and in Mecklenburg, Pomerania, East Prussia,
+Saxony, and Bohemia, the fire is kept up all night on Christmas or New
+Year's Eve, and the ashes are used to rid cattle of vermin and protect
+plants and fruit-trees from insects, while in the country between the
+Sieg |257| and Lahn the powdered ashes of an oaken log are strewn
+during the Thirteen Nights on the fields, to increase their
+fertility.{18} In Sweden, too, some form of Yule log was known,{19} and
+in Greece, as we have seen, the burning of a log is still supposed to be
+a protection against _Kallikantzaroi_.
+
+As for the English customs, they can hardly be better introduced than in
+Herrick's words:--
+
+ "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.
+
+ With the last year's Brand
+ Light the new Block, and
+ For good success in his spending,
+ On your psaltries play,
+ That sweet luck may
+ Come while the log is a-teending."[100]{20}
+
+We may note especially that the block must be kindled with last year's
+brand; here there is a distinct suggestion that the lighting of the log
+at Christmas is a shrunken remnant of the keeping up of a perpetual fire,
+the continuity being to some extent preserved by the use of a brand from
+last year's blaze.
+
+Another tradition and its origin are thus described by Sir Laurence
+Gomme:--
+
+ "From there being an ever-burning fire, it has come to be that the
+ fire must not be allowed to be extinguished on the last day of the
+ old year, so that the old year's fire may last into the new year. In
+ Lanarkshire it is considered unlucky to give out a light to any one
+ on the morning of the new year, and therefore if the house-fire has
+ been allowed to become extinguished recourse must be had to the
+ embers of |258| the village pile [for on New Year's Eve a great
+ public bonfire is made]. In some places the self-extinction of the
+ yule-log at Christmas is portentous of evil."{21}
+
+In the north of England in the days of tinder-boxes, if any one could not
+get a light it was useless to ask a neighbour for one, so frightfully
+unlucky was it to allow any light to leave the house between Christmas
+Eve and New Year's Day.{22} The idea of the unluckiness of giving out
+fire at the Kalends of January can be traced back to the eighth century
+when, as we saw in Chapter VI., St. Boniface alluded to this superstition
+among the people or Rome.
+
+In Shropshire the idea is extended even to ashes, which must not be
+thrown out of the house on Christmas Day, "for fear of throwing them in
+Our Saviour's face." Perhaps such superstitions may originally have had
+to do with dread that the "luck" of the family, the household spirit,
+might be carried away with the gift of fire from the hearth.{23}
+
+When Miss Burne wrote in the eighties there were still many West
+Shropshire people who could remember seeing the "Christmas Brand" drawn
+by horses to the farmhouse door, and placed at the back of the wide open
+hearth, where the flame was made up in front of it. "The embers," says
+one informant, "were raked up to it every night, and it was carefully
+tended that it might not go out during the whole season, during which
+time no light might either be struck, given, or borrowed." At Cleobury
+Mortimer in the south-east of the county the silence of the curfew bell
+during "the Christmas" points to a time when fires might not be
+extinguished during that season.{24}
+
+The place of the Yule log in Devonshire is taken by the "ashen [sometimes
+"ashton"] faggot," still burnt in many a farm on Christmas Eve. The
+sticks of ash are fastened together by ashen bands, and the traditional
+custom is for a quart of cider to be called for and served to the
+merrymaking company, as each band bursts in the flames.{25}
+
+In England the Yule log was often supplemented or replaced |259| by a
+great candle. At Ripon in the eighteenth century the chandlers sent their
+customers large candles on Christmas Eve, and the coopers, logs of
+wood.{26} Hampson, writing in 1841, says:--
+
+ "In some places candles are made of a particular kind, because the
+ candle that is lighted on Christmas Day must be so large as to burn
+ from the time of its ignition to the close of the day, otherwise it
+ will portend evil to the family for the ensuing year. The poor were
+ wont to present the rich with wax tapers, and yule candles are still
+ in the north of Scotland given by merchants to their customers. At
+ one time children at the village schools in Lancashire were required
+ to bring each a mould candle before the _parting_ or separation for
+ the Christmas holidays."[101]{27}
+
+In the Scandinavian countries the Yule candle is, or was, very prominent
+indeed. In West Jutland (Denmark) two great tallow candles stood on the
+festive board. No one dared to touch or extinguish them, and if by any
+mischance one went out it was a portent of death. They stood for the
+husband and wife, and that one of the wedded pair whose candle burnt the
+longer would outlive the other.{28}
+
+In Norway also two lights were placed on the table.{29} All over the
+Scandinavian lands the Yule candle had to burn throughout the night; it
+was not to be extinguished till the sun rose or--as was said
+elsewhere--till the beginning of service on Christmas Day. Sometimes the
+putting-out had to be done by the oldest member of the family or the
+father of the household. In Norway the candle was lighted every evening
+until New Year's Day. While it foreshadowed death if it went out, so long
+as it duly burned it shed a blessing with its light, and, in order to
+secure abundance of good things, money, clothes, food, and drink were
+spread out that its rays might fall upon them. The remains of the candle
+were used in various ways to benefit man and beast. Sometimes a cross was
+branded with them upon the animals on Christmas morning; in Sweden the
+plough was smeared with |260| the tallow, when used for the first time
+in spring. Or again the tallow was given to the fowls; and, lastly, in
+Denmark the ends were preserved and burnt in thundery weather to protect
+the house from lightning.{30} There is an analogy here with the use of
+the Christmas log, and also of the candles of the Purification (see
+Chapter XVI.).
+
+|261| |262| |263|
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+THE CHRISTMAS-TREE, DECORATIONS, AND GIFTS
+
+
+ The Christmas-tree a German Creation--Charm of the German
+ Christmas--Early Christmas-trees--The Christmas Pyramid--Spread of
+ the Tree in Modern Germany and other Countries--Origin of the
+ Christmas-tree--Beliefs about Flowering Trees at
+ Christmas--Evergreens at the Kalends--Non-German Parallels to the
+ Christmas-tree--Christmas Decorations connected with Ancient Kalends
+ Customs--Sacredness of Holly and Mistletoe--Floors strewn with
+ Straw--Christmas and New Year Gifts, their Connection with the Roman
+ _Strenae_ and St. Nicholas--Present-giving in Various
+ Countries--Christmas Cards.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+THE GERMAN CHRISTMAS-TREE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
+
+From an engraving by Joseph Kellner.]
+
+
+THE CHRISTMAS-TREE.
+
+The most widespread, and to children the most delightful, of all festal
+institutions is the Christmas-tree. Its picturesqueness and gay charm
+have made it spread rapidly all over Europe without roots in national
+tradition, for, as most people know, it is a German creation, and even in
+Germany it attained its present immense popularity only in the nineteenth
+century. To Germany, of course, one should go to see the tree in all its
+glory. Many people, indeed, maintain that no other Christmas can compare
+with the German _Weihnacht_. "It is," writes Miss I. A. R. Wylie, "that
+childish, open-hearted simplicity which, so it seems to me, makes
+Christmas essentially German, or at any rate explains why it is that
+nowhere else in the world does it find so pure an expression. The German
+is himself simple, warm-hearted, unpretentious, with something at the
+bottom of him which is childlike in the best sense. He is the last
+'Naturmensch' in civilization." Christmas suits him "as well as a play
+suits an actor for whose character and temperament it has been especially
+written."{1}
+
+|264| In Germany the Christmas-tree is not a luxury for well-to-do
+people as in England, but a necessity, the very centre of the festival;
+no one is too poor or too lonely to have one. There is something about a
+German _Weihnachtsbaum_--a romance and a wonder--that English
+Christmas-trees do not possess. For one thing, perhaps, in a land of
+forests the tree seems more in place; it is a kind of sacrament linking
+mankind to the mysteries of the woodland. Again the German tree is simply
+a thing of beauty and radiance; no utilitarian presents hang from its
+boughs--they are laid apart on a table--and the tree is purely splendour
+for splendour's sake. However tawdry it may look by day, at night it is a
+true thing of wonder, shining with countless lights and glittering
+ornaments, with fruit of gold and shimmering festoons of silver. Then
+there is the solemnity with which it is surrounded; the long secret
+preparations behind the closed doors, and, when Christmas Eve arrives,
+the sudden revelation of hidden glory. The Germans have quite a religious
+feeling for their _Weihnachtsbaum_, coming down, one may fancy, from some
+dim ancestral worship of the trees of the wood.
+
+As Christmas draws near the market-place in a German town is filled with
+a miniature forest of firs; the trees are sold by old women in quaint
+costumes, and the shop-windows are full of candles and ornaments to deck
+them. Mrs. Alfred Sidgwick in her "Home Life in Germany" gives a
+delightful picture of such a Christmas market in "one of the old German
+cities in the hill country, when the streets and the open places are
+covered with crisp clean snow, and the mountains are white with it....
+The air is cold and still, and heavy with the scent of the
+Christmas-trees brought from the forest for the pleasure of the children.
+Day by day you see the rows of them growing thinner, and if you go to the
+market on Christmas Eve itself you will find only a few trees left out in
+the cold. The market is empty, the peasants are harnessing their horses
+or their oxen, the women are packing up their unsold goods. In every home
+in the city one of the trees that scented the open air a week ago is
+shining now with lights and little gilded nuts and apples, and is helping
+to make that Christmas smell, all compact of the pine forest, wax |265|
+candles, cakes and painted toys, you must associate so long as you live
+with Christmas in Germany."{2}
+
+Even in London one may get a glimpse of the Teutonic Christmas in the
+half-German streets round Fitzroy Square. They are bald and drab enough,
+but at Christmas here and there a window shines with a lighted tree, and
+the very prosaic Lutheran church in Cleveland Street has an unwonted
+sight to show--two great fir-trees decked with white candles, standing
+one on each side of the pulpit. The church of the German Catholics, too,
+St. Boniface's, Whitechapel, has in its sanctuary two Christmas-trees
+strangely gay with coloured glistening balls and long strands of gold and
+silver _engelshaar_. The candles are lit at Benediction during the
+festival, and between the shining trees the solemn ritual is performed by
+the priest and a crowd of serving boys in scarlet and white with tapers
+and incense.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+There is a pretty story about the institution of the _Weihnachtsbaum_ by
+Martin Luther: how, after wandering one Christmas Eve under the clear
+winter sky lit by a thousand stars, he set up for his children a tree
+with countless candles, an image of the starry heaven whence Christ came
+down. This, however, belongs to the region of legend; the first
+historical mention of the Christmas-tree is found in the notes of a
+certain Strasburg citizen of unknown name, written in the year 1605. "At
+Christmas," he writes, "they set up fir-trees in the parlours at
+Strasburg and hang thereon roses cut out of many-coloured paper, apples,
+wafers, gold-foil, sweets, &c."{3}
+
+We next meet with the tree in a hostile allusion by a distinguished
+Strasburg theologian, Dr. Johann Konrad Dannhauer, Professor and Preacher
+at the Cathedral. In his book, "The Milk of the Catechism," published
+about the middle of the seventeenth century, he speaks of "the
+Christmas- or fir-tree, which people set up in their houses, hang with
+dolls and sweets, and afterwards shake and deflower." "Whence comes the
+custom," he says, "I know not; it is child's play.... Far better were it
+to point the children to the spiritual cedar-tree, Jesus Christ."{4}
+
+In neither of these references is there any mention of candles--the
+|266| most fascinating feature of the modern tree. These appear,
+however, in a Latin work on Christmas presents by Karl Gottfried Kissling
+of the University of Wittenberg, written in 1737. He tells how a certain
+country lady of his acquaintance set up a little tree for each of her
+sons and daughters, lit candles on or around the trees, laid out presents
+beneath them, and called her children one by one into the room to take
+the trees and gifts intended for them.{5}
+
+With the advance of the eighteenth-century notices of the
+_Weihnachtsbaum_ become more frequent: Jung Stilling, Goethe, Schiller,
+and others mention it, and about the end of the century its use seems to
+have been fairly general in Germany.{6} In many places, however, it was
+not common till well on in the eighteen hundreds: it was a Protestant
+rather than a Catholic institution, and it made its way but slowly in
+regions where the older faith was held.{7} Well-to-do townspeople
+welcomed it first, and the peasantry were slow to adopt it. In Old
+Bavaria, for instance, in 1855 it was quite unknown in country places,
+and even to-day it is not very common there, except in the towns.{8} "It
+is more in vogue on the whole," wrote Dr. Tille in 1893, "in the
+Protestant north than in the Catholic south,"{9} but its popularity was
+rapidly growing at that time.
+
+A common substitute for the Christmas-tree in Saxony during the
+nineteenth century, and one still found in country places, was the
+so-called "pyramid," a wooden erection adorned with many-coloured paper
+and with lights. These pyramids were very popular among the smaller
+_bourgeoisie_ and artisans, and were kept from one Christmas to
+another.{10} In Berlin, too, the pyramid was once very common. It was
+there adorned with green twigs as well as with candles and coloured
+paper, and had more resemblance to the Christmas-tree.{11} Tieck refers
+to it in his story, "Weihnacht-Abend" (1805).{12}
+
+Pyramids, without lights apparently, were known in England before 1840.
+In Hertfordshire they were formed of gilt evergreens, apples, and nuts,
+and were carried about just before Christmas for presents. In
+Herefordshire they were known at the New Year.{13}
+
+|267| The Christmas-tree was introduced into France in 1840, when
+Princess Helene of Mecklenburg brought it to Paris. In 1890 between
+thirty and thirty-five thousand of the trees are said to have been sold
+in Paris.{14}
+
+In England it is alluded to in 1789,{15} but its use did not become at
+all general until about the eighteen-forties. In 1840 Queen Victoria and
+Prince Albert had a Christmas-tree, and the fashion spread until it
+became completely naturalized.{16} In Denmark and Norway it was known in
+1830, and in Sweden in 1863 (among the Swedish population on the coast of
+Finland it seems to have been in use in 1800).{17} In Bohemia it is
+mentioned in 1862.{18} It is also found in Russia, the United States,
+Spain, Italy, and Holland,{19} and of course in Switzerland and Austria,
+so largely German in language and customs. In non-German countries it is
+rather a thing for the well-to-do classes than for the masses of the
+people.
+
+The Christmas-tree is essentially a domestic institution. It has,
+however, found its way into Protestant churches in Germany and from them
+into Catholic churches. Even the Swiss Zwinglians, with all their
+Puritanism, do not exclude it from their bare, white-washed fanes. In the
+Muensterthal, for instance, a valley of Romonsch speech, off the Lower
+Engadine, a tree decked with candles, festoons, presents, and
+serpent-squibs, stands in church at Christmas, and it is difficult for
+the minister to conduct service, for all the time, except during the
+prayers, the people are letting off fireworks. On one day between
+Christmas Eve and New Year there is a great present-giving in
+church.{20}
+
+In Munich, and doubtless elsewhere, the tree appears not only in the
+church and in the home, but in the cemetery. The graves of the dead are
+decked on Christmas Eve with holly and mistletoe and a little
+Christmas-tree with gleaming lights, a touching token of remembrance, an
+attempt, perhaps, to give the departed a share in the brightness of the
+festival.{21}
+
+ * * * * *
+
+The question of the origin of Christmas-trees is of great interest.
+Though their affinity to other sacraments of the |268| vegetation-spirit
+is evident, it is difficult to be certain of their exact ancestry. Dr.
+Tille regards them as coming from a union of two elements: the old Roman
+custom of decking houses with laurels and green trees at the Kalends of
+January, and the popular belief that every Christmas Eve apple and other
+trees blossomed and bore fruit.{22}
+
+Before the advent of the Christmas-tree proper--a fir with lights and
+ornaments often imitating and always suggesting flowers and fruit--it
+was customary to put trees like cherry or hawthorn into water or into
+pots indoors, so that they might bud and blossom at New Year or
+Christmas.{23} Even to-day the practice of picking boughs in order that
+they may blossom at Christmas is to be found in some parts of Austria.
+In Carinthia girls on St. Lucia's Day (December 13) stick a
+cherry-branch into wet sand; if it blooms at Christmas their wishes will
+be fulfilled. In other parts the branches--pear as well as cherry--are
+picked on St. Barbara's Day (December 4), and in South Tyrol
+cherry-trees are manured with lime on the first Thursday in Advent so
+that they may blossom at Christmas.{24} The custom may have had to do
+with legendary lore about the marvellous transformation of Nature on the
+night of Christ's birth, when the rivers ran wine instead of water and
+trees stood in full blossom in spite of ice and snow.{25}
+
+In England there was an old belief in trees blossoming at Christmas,
+connected with the well-known legend of St. Joseph of Arimathea. When the
+saint settled at Glastonbury he planted his staff in the earth and it put
+forth leaves; moreover it blossomed every Christmas Eve. Not only the
+original thorn at Glastonbury but trees of the same species in other
+parts of England had this characteristic. When in 1752 the New Style was
+substituted for the Old, making Christmas fall twelve days earlier, folks
+were curious to see what the thorns would do. At Quainton in
+Buckinghamshire two thousand people, it is said, went out on the new
+Christmas Eve to view a blackthorn which had the Christmas blossoming
+habit. As no sign of buds was visible they agreed that the new Christmas
+could not be right, and refused to keep it. At Glastonbury itself nothing
+|269| happened on December 24, but on January 5, the right day according
+to the Old Style, the thorn blossomed as usual.[102]{26}
+
+Let us turn to the customs of the Roman Empire which may be in part
+responsible for the German Christmas-tree. The practice of adorning
+houses with evergreens at the January Kalends was common throughout the
+Empire, as we learn from Libanius, Tertullian, and Chrysostom. A grim
+denunciation of such decorations and the lights which accompanied them
+may be quoted from Tertullian; it makes a pregnant contrast of pagan and
+Christian. "Let them," he says of the heathen, "kindle lamps, they who
+have no light; let them fix on the doorposts laurels which shall
+afterwards be burnt, they for whom fire is close at hand; meet for them
+are testimonies of darkness and auguries of punishment. But thou," he
+says to the Christian, "art a light of the world and a tree that is ever
+green; if thou hast renounced temples, make not a temple of thy own
+house-door."{27}
+
+That these New Year practices of the Empire had to do with the
+_Weihnachtsbaum_ is very possible, but on the other hand it has closer
+parallels in certain folk-customs that in no way suggest Roman or Greek
+influence. Not only at Christmas are ceremonial "trees" to be found in
+Germany. In the Erzgebirge there is dancing at the summer solstice round
+"St. John's tree," a pyramid decked with garlands and flowers, and lit up
+at night by candles.{28} At midsummer "in the towns of the Upper Harz
+Mountains tall fir-trees, with the bark peeled off their lower trunks,
+were set up in open places and decked with flowers and eggs, which were
+painted yellow and red. Round these trees the young folk danced by day
+and the old folk in the evening";{29} while on Dutch ground in
+Gelderland and Limburg at the beginning of May trees were adorned with
+lights.{30}
+
+Nearer to Christmas is a New Year's custom found in some |270| Alsatian
+villages: the adorning of the fountain with a "May." The girls who visit
+the fountain procure a small fir-tree or holly-bush, and deck it with
+ribbons, egg-shells, and little figures representing a shepherd or a man
+beating his wife. This is set up above the fountain on New Year's Eve. On
+the evening of the next day the snow is carefully cleared away and the
+girls dance and sing around the fountain. The lads may only take part in
+the dance by permission of the girls. The tree is kept all through the
+year as a protection to those who have set it up.{31}
+
+In Sweden, before the advent of the German type of tree, it was customary
+to place young pines, divested of bark and branches, outside the houses
+at Christmastide.{32} An English parallel which does not suggest any
+borrowing from Germany, was formerly to be found at Brough in
+Westmoreland on Twelfth Night. A holly-tree with torches attached to its
+branches was carried through the town in procession. It was finally
+thrown among the populace, who divided into two parties, one of which
+endeavoured to take the tree to one inn, and the other, to a rival
+hostelry.{33} We have here pretty plainly a struggle of two
+factions--perhaps of two quarters of a town that were once separate
+villages--for the possession of a sacred object.[103]
+
+We may find parallels, lastly, in two remote corners of Europe. In the
+island of Chios--here we are on Greek ground--tenants are wont to offer
+to their landlords on Christmas morning a _rhamna_, a pole with wreaths
+of myrtle, olive, and orange leaves bound around it; "to these are fixed
+any flowers that may be found--geraniums, anemones, and the like, and, by
+way of further decoration, oranges, lemons, and strips of gold and
+coloured paper."[104]{34} Secondly, among the Circassians in the early
+half of the nineteenth century, a young pear-tree used to be carried into
+each house at an autumn festival, to the sound of music and joyous cries.
+It was covered with candles, and a cheese was fastened to its top. Round
+about it they ate, drank, and sang. Afterwards it was |271| removed to
+the courtyard, where it remained for the rest of the year.{36}
+
+Though there is no recorded instance of the use of a tree at Christmas in
+Germany before the seventeenth century, the _Weihnachtsbaum_ may well be
+a descendant of some sacred tree carried about or set up at the
+beginning-of-winter festival. All things considered, it seems to belong
+to a class of primitive sacraments of which the example most familiar to
+English peoples is the May-pole. This is, of course, an early summer
+institution, but in France and Germany a Harvest May is also known--a
+large branch or a whole tree, which is decked with ears of corn, brought
+home on the last waggon from the harvest field, and fastened to the roof
+of farmhouse or barn, where it remains for a year.{37} Mannhardt has
+shown that such sacraments embody the tree-spirit conceived as the spirit
+of vegetation in general, and are believed to convey its life-giving,
+fructifying influences. Probably the idea of contact with the spirit of
+growth lay also beneath the Roman evergreen decorations, so that whether
+or not we connect the Christmas-tree with these, the principle at the
+bottom is the same.
+
+Certain Christian ideas, finally, besides that of trees blossoming on the
+night of the Nativity, may have affected the fortunes of the
+Christmas-tree. December 24 was in old Church calendars the day of Adam
+and Eve, the idea being that Christ the second Adam had repaired by His
+Incarnation the loss caused by the sin of the first. A legend grew up
+that Adam when he left Paradise took with him an apple or sprout from the
+Tree of Knowledge, and that from this sprang the tree from which the
+Cross was made. Or it was said that on Adam's grave grew a sprig from the
+Tree of Life, and that from it Christ plucked the fruit of redemption.
+The Cross in early Christian poetry was conceived as the Tree of Life
+planted anew, bearing the glorious fruit of Christ's body, and repairing
+the mischief wrought by the misuse of the first tree. We may recall a
+verse from the "Pange, lingua" of Passiontide:--
+
+ "Faithful Cross! above all other,
+ One and only noble tree! |272|
+ None in foliage, none in blossom,
+ None in fruit thy peer may be:
+ Sweetest wood and sweetest iron!
+ Sweetest weight is hung on thee."
+
+In the religious Christmas plays the tree of Paradise was sometimes shown
+to the people. At Oberufer, for instance, it was a fine juniper-tree,
+adorned with apples and ribbons. Sometimes Christ Himself was regarded as
+the tree of Paradise.{38} The thought of Him as both the Light of the
+World and the Tree of Life may at least have given a Christian meaning to
+the light-bearing tree, and helped to establish its popularity among
+pious folk.
+
+
+CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS.
+
+We have seen that the Christmas-tree may be a development, partly at
+least, from the custom of decorating buildings with evergreens at the New
+Year, and that such decorations were common throughout the Roman
+Empire.[105] Some further consideration may now be given to the subject
+of Christmas decorations in various lands. In winter, when all is brown
+and dead, the evergreens are manifestations of the abiding life within
+the plant-world, and they may well have been used as sacramental means of
+contact with the spirit of growth and fertility, threatened by the powers
+of blight. Particularly precious would be plants like the holly, the ivy,
+and the mistletoe, which actually bore fruit in the winter-time.{39}
+
+In spite of ecclesiastical condemnations of Kalends decorations--as late
+as the sixth century the _capitula_ of Bishop Martin of Braga forbid the
+adorning of houses with laurels and green trees{40}--the custom has
+found its way even into churches, and nowhere more than in England. At
+least as far back as the fifteenth century, according to Stow's "Survay
+of London," it was the custom at Christmas for "every man's house, as
+also the parish churches," to be "decked with holm, ivy, bays, and
+whatsoever the season of the year afforded to be green. The conduits and
+|273| standards in the streets were likewise garnished."{41} Many
+people of the last generation will remember the old English mode of
+decoration--how sprigs of holly and yew, stuck into holes in the high
+pews, used to make the churches into miniature forests. Only upon the
+mistletoe does a trace of the ecclesiastical taboo remain, and even that
+is not universal, for at York Minster, for instance, some was laid upon
+the altar.{42}
+
+English popular custom has connected particular plants with the winter
+festival in a peculiarly delightful way; at the mere mention of holly or
+mistletoe the picture of Christmas with its country charm rises to the
+mind--we think of snowy fields and distant bells, of warm hearths and
+kindly merrymaking.
+
+It is no wonder that the mistletoe has a special place in Christmas
+decorations, for it is associated with both Teutonic myth and Celtic
+ritual. It was with mistletoe that the beloved Balder was shot, and the
+plant played an important part in a Druidic ceremony described by Pliny.
+A white-robed Druid climbed a sacred oak and cut the mistletoe with a
+golden sickle. As it fell it was caught in a white cloth, and two white
+bulls were then sacrificed, with prayer. The mistletoe was called
+"all-healer" and was believed to be a remedy against poison and to make
+barren animals fruitful.{43} The significance of the ritual is not easy
+to find. Pliny's account, Dr. MacCulloch has suggested, may be
+incomplete, and the cutting of the mistletoe may have been a preliminary
+to some other ceremony--perhaps the felling of the tree on which it grew,
+whose soul was supposed to be in it, or perhaps the slaying of a
+representative of the tree-spirit; while the white oxen of Pliny's time
+may have replaced a human victim.{44}
+
+It is interesting to find that the name "all-healer" is still given to
+the mistletoe in Celtic speech,[106]{45} and that in various European
+countries it is believed to possess marvellous powers of healing sickness
+or averting misfortune.{46}
+
+|274| It is hard to say exactly what is the origin of the English
+"kissing under the mistletoe," but the practice would appear to be due to
+an imagined relation between the love of the sexes and the spirit of
+fertility embodied in the sacred bough, and it may be a vestige of the
+licence often permitted at folk-festivals. According to one form of the
+English custom the young men plucked, each time they kissed a girl, a
+berry from the bough. When the berries were all picked, the privilege
+ceased.{48}
+
+Sometimes a curious form, reminding one both of the German Christmas-tree
+and of the _Krippe_, is taken by the "kissing bunch." Here is an account
+from Derbyshire:--
+
+ "The 'kissing bunch' is always an elaborate affair. The size depends
+ upon the couple of hoops--one thrust through the other--which form
+ its skeleton. Each of the ribs is garlanded with holly, ivy, and
+ sprigs of other greens, with bits of coloured ribbons and paper
+ roses, rosy-cheeked apples, specially reserved for this occasion, and
+ oranges. Three small dolls are also prepared, often with much taste,
+ and these represent our Saviour, the mother of Jesus, and Joseph.
+ These dolls generally hang within the kissing bunch by strings from
+ the top, and are surrounded by apples, oranges tied to strings, and
+ various brightly coloured ornaments. Occasionally, however, the dolls
+ are arranged in the kissing bunch to represent a manger-scene....
+ Mistletoe is not very plentiful in Derbyshire; but, generally, a bit
+ is obtainable, and this is carefully tied to the bottom of the
+ kissing bunch, which is then hung in the middle of the house-place,
+ the centre of attention during Christmastide."{49}
+
+Kissing under the mistletoe seems to be distinctively English. There is,
+however, a New Year's Eve custom in Lower Austria and the Rhaetian Alps
+that somewhat resembles our mistletoe bough practices. People linger late
+in the inns, the walls and windows of which are decorated with green
+pine-twigs. In the centre of the inn-parlour hangs from a roof-beam a
+wreath of the same greenery, and in a dark corner hides a masked figure
+known as "Sylvester," old and ugly, with a flaxen beard and _a wreath of
+mistletoe_. If a youth or maiden happens to pass under the pine wreath
+Sylvester springs out and imprints a rough kiss. When midnight comes he
+is driven out as the representative of the old year.{50}
+
+|275| There are traces in Britain of the sacredness of holly as well as
+mistletoe. In Northumberland it is used for divination: nine leaves are
+taken and tied with nine knots into a handkerchief, and put under the
+pillow by a person who desires prophetic dreams.{51} For this purpose
+smooth leaves (without prickles) must be employed, and it is to be noted
+that at Burford in Shropshire smooth holly only was used for the
+Christmas decorations.{52} Holly is hated by witches,{53} but perhaps
+this may be due not to any pre-Christian sanctity attached to it but to
+the association of its thorns and blood-red berries with the Passion--an
+association to which it owes its Danish name, _Kristdorn_.
+
+In some old English Christmas carols holly and ivy are put into a curious
+antagonism, apparently connected with a contest of the sexes. Holly is
+the men's plant, ivy the women's, and the carols are debates as to the
+respective merits of each. Possibly some sort of rude drama may once have
+been performed.{54} Here is a fifteenth-century example of these
+carols:--
+
+ "Holly and Ivy made a great party,
+ Who should have the mastery,
+ In landes where they go.
+
+ Then spoke Holly, 'I am free and jolly,
+ I will have the mastery,
+ In landes where we go.'
+
+ Then spake Ivy, 'I am lov'd and prov'd,
+ And I will have the mastery,
+ In landes where we go.'
+
+ Then spake Holly, and set him down on his knee,
+ 'I pray thee, gentle Ivy,
+ Say me no villainy,
+ In landes where we go.'"{55}
+
+The sanctity of Christmas house-decorations in England is shown by the
+care taken in disposing of them when removed from the walls. In
+Shropshire old-fashioned people never threw them away, for fear of
+misfortune, but either burnt them or gave them to the cows; it was very
+unlucky to let a piece |276| fall to the ground. The Shropshire custom
+was to leave the holly and ivy up until Candlemas, while the
+mistletoe-bough was carefully preserved until the time came for a new one
+next year. West Shropshire tradition, by the way, connects the mistletoe
+with the New Year rather than with Christmas; the bough ought not to be
+put up until New Year's Eve.{56}
+
+In Sweden green boughs, apparently, are not used for decoration, but the
+floor of the parlour is strewn with sprigs of fragrant juniper or
+spruce-pine, or with rye-straw.{57} The straw was probably intended
+originally to bring to the house, by means of sacramental contact, the
+wholesome influences of the corn-spirit, though the common people connect
+it with the stable at Bethlehem. The practice of laying straw and the
+same Christian explanation are found also in Poland{58} and in
+Crivoscia.{59} In Poland before the cloth is laid on Christmas Eve, the
+table is covered with a layer of hay or straw, and a sheaf stands in the
+corner. Years ago straw was also spread on the floor. Sometimes it is
+given to the cattle as a charm and sometimes it is used to tie up
+fruit-trees.{60}
+
+Dr. Frazer conjectures that the Swedish Yule straw comes in part at least
+from the last sheaf at harvest, to which, as embodying the corn-spirit, a
+peculiar significance is attached. The Swedish, like the Polish, Yule
+straw has sundry virtues; scattered on the ground it will make a barren
+field productive; and it is used to bind trees and make them
+fruitful.{61} Again the peasant at Christmas will sit on a log and throw
+up Yule straws one by one to the roof; as many as lodge in the rafters,
+so many will be the sheaves of rye at harvest.{62}
+
+
+CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR GIFTS.
+
+We have come across presents of various kinds at the pre-Christmas
+festivals; now that we have reached Christmastide itself we may dwell a
+little upon the festival as the great present-giving season of the year,
+and try to get at the origins of the custom.
+
+The Roman _strenae_ offered to the Emperor or exchanged between private
+citizens at the January Kalends have already |277| been noted.
+According to tradition they were originally merely branches plucked from
+the grove of the goddess Strenia, and the purpose of these may well have
+been akin to that of the greenery used for decorations, viz., to secure
+contact with a vegetation-spirit. In the time of the Empire, however, the
+_strenae_ were of a more attractive character, "men gave honeyed things,
+that the year of the recipient might be full of sweetness, lamps that it
+might be full of light, copper and silver and gold that wealth might flow
+in amain."{63} Such presents were obviously a kind of charm for the New
+Year, based on the principle that as the beginning was, so would the rest
+of the year be.
+
+With the adoption of the Roman New Year's Day its present-giving customs
+appear to have spread far and wide. In France, where the Latin spirit is
+still strong, January 1 is even now the great day for presents, and they
+are actually called _etrennes_, a name obviously derived from _strenae_.
+In Paris boxes of sweets are then given by bachelors to friends who have
+entertained them at their houses during the year--a survival perhaps of
+the "honeyed things" given in Roman times.
+
+In many countries, however, present-giving is attached to the
+ecclesiastical festival of Christmas. This is doubtless largely due to
+attraction from the Roman New Year's Day to the feast hallowed by the
+Church, but readers of the foregoing pages will have seen that Christmas
+has also drawn to itself many practices of a November festival, and it is
+probable that German Christmas presents, at least, are connected as much
+with the apples and nuts of St. Martin and St. Nicholas[107] as with the
+Roman _strenae_. It has already been pointed out that the German St.
+Nicholas as present-giver appears to be a duplicate of St. Martin, and
+that St. Nicholas himself has often wandered from his own day to
+Christmas, or has been replaced by the Christ Child. We have also noted
+the rod associated with the two saints, and seen reason for thinking that
+its original purpose was not disciplinary but health-giving.
+
+|278| It is interesting to find that while, if we may trust tradition,
+the Roman _strenae_ were originally twigs, Christmas gifts in
+sixteenth-century Germany showed a connection with the twigs or rods of
+St. Martin and St. Nicholas. The presents were tied together in a bundle,
+and a twig was added to them.{65} This was regarded by the pedagogic
+mind of the period not as a lucky twig but as a rod in the sinister
+sense. In some Protestant sermons of the latter half of the century there
+are curious detailed references to Christmas presents. These are supposed
+to be brought to children by the Saviour Himself, strangely called the
+_Haus-Christ_. Among the gifts mentioned as contained in the
+"Christ-bundles" are pleasant things like money, sugar-plums, cakes,
+apples, nuts, dolls; useful things like clothes; and also things "that
+belong to teaching, obedience, chastisement, and discipline, as A.B.C.
+tablets, Bibles and handsome books, writing materials, paper, &c., _and
+the_ '_Christ-rod_.'"{66}
+
+A common gift to German children at Christmas or the New Year was an
+apple with a coin in it; the coin may conceivably be a Roman
+survival,{67} while the apple may be connected with those brought by St.
+Nicholas.
+
+The Christ Child is still supposed to bring presents in Germany; in
+France, too, it is sometimes _le petit Jesus_ who bears the welcome
+gifts.{68} In Italy we shall find that the great time for children's
+presents is Epiphany Eve, when the Befana comes, though in the northern
+provinces Santa Lucia is sometimes a gift-bringer.{69} In Sicily the
+days for gifts and the supposed bringers vary; sometimes, as we have
+already seen, it is the dead who bring them, on All Souls' Eve; sometimes
+it is _la Vecchia di Natali_--the Christmas old woman--who comes with
+them on Christmas Eve; sometimes they are brought by the old woman
+Strina--note the derivation from _strenae_--at the New Year; sometimes by
+the Befana at the Epiphany.{70}
+
+A curious mode of giving presents on Christmas Eve belongs particularly
+to Sweden, though it is also found--perhaps borrowed--in Mecklenburg,
+Pomerania, and other parts of Germany. The so-called _Julklapp_ is a gift
+wrapped up in innumerable coverings. The person who brings it raps
+noisily at |279| the door, and throws or pushes the _Julklapp_ into the
+room. It is essential that he should arrive quite unexpectedly, and come
+and go like lightning without revealing his identity. Great efforts are
+made to conceal the gift so that the recipient after much trouble in
+undoing the covering may have to search and search again to find it.
+Sometimes in Sweden a thin gold ring is hidden away in a great heavy box,
+or a little gold heart is put in a Christmas cake. Occasionally a man
+contrives to hide in the _Julklapp_ and thus offer himself as a Christmas
+present to the lady whom he loves. The gift is often accompanied by some
+satirical rhyme, or takes a form intended to tease the recipient.{71}
+
+Another custom, sometimes found in "better-class" Swedish households, is
+for the Christmas presents to be given by two masked figures, an old man
+and an old woman. The old man holds a bell in his hand and rings it, the
+old woman carries a basket full of sealed packets, which she delivers to
+the addressees.{72}
+
+There is nothing specially interesting in modern English modes of
+present-giving. We may, however, perhaps see in the custom of Christmas
+boxes, inexorably demanded and not always willingly bestowed, a
+degeneration of what was once friendly entertainment given in return for
+the good wishes and the luck brought by wassailers. Instances of gifts to
+calling neighbours have already come before our notice at several
+pre-Christmas festivals, notably All Souls', St. Clement's, and St.
+Thomas's. As for the name "Christmas box," it would seem to have come
+from the receptacles used for the gifts. According to one account
+apprentices, journeymen, and servants used to carry about earthen boxes
+with a slit in them, and when the time for collecting was over, broke
+them to obtain the contents.{73}
+
+The Christmas card, a sort of attenuated present, seems to be of quite
+modern origin. It is apparently a descendant of the "school pieces" or
+"Christmas pieces" popular in England in the first half of the nineteenth
+century--sheets of writing-paper with designs in pen and ink or
+copper-plate headings. The first Christmas card proper appears to have
+been issued in 1846, but it was not till about 1862 that the custom of
+card-sending obtained any foothold.{74}
+
+|280|
+
+[Illustration:
+
+CHRISTMAS MORNING IN LOWER AUSTRIA.
+
+_By Ferdinand Waldmuller (b. 1793)._]
+
+|281| |282| |283|
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+CHRISTMAS FEASTING AND SACRIFICIAL SURVIVALS
+
+
+ Prominence of Eating in the English Christmas--The Boar's Head, the
+ Goose, and other Christmas Fare--Frumenty, Sowens, Yule Cakes, and
+ the Wassail Bowl--Continental Christmas Dishes, their Possible
+ Origins--French and German Cakes--The Animals' Christmas Feast--Cakes
+ in Eastern Europe--Relics of Animal Sacrifice--Hunting the
+ Wren--Various Games of Sacrificial Origin.
+
+
+FEASTING CUSTOMS.
+
+In the mind of the average sensual Englishman perhaps the most vivid
+images called up by the word Christmas are those connected with eating
+and drinking. "Ha piu da fare che i forni di Natale in Inghilterra,"[108]
+an Italian proverb used of a very busy person, sufficiently suggests the
+character of our Christmas.[109] It may be that the Christmas dinner
+looms larger among the English than among most other peoples, but in
+every country a distinctive meal of some kind is associated with the
+season. We have already seen how this illustrates the immemorial
+connection between material feasting and religious rejoicing.
+
+Let us note some forms of "Christmas fare" and try to get an idea of
+their origin. First we may look at English feasting customs, though, as
+they have been pretty fully described by |284| previous writers, no
+very elaborate account of them need be given.
+
+The gross eating and drinking in former days at Christmas, of which our
+present mild gluttony is but a pale reflection, would seem to be
+connected with the old November feast, though transferred to the season
+hallowed by Christ's birth. The show of slaughtered beasts, adorned with
+green garlands, in an English town just before Christmas, reminds one
+strongly of the old November killing. In displays of this kind the pig's
+head is specially conspicuous, and points to the time when the swine was
+a favourite sacrificial animal.{1} We may recall here the traditional
+carol sung at Queen's College, Oxford, as the boar's head is solemnly
+brought in at Christmas, and found elsewhere in other forms:--
+
+ "The boar's head in hand bear I,
+ Bedeck'd with bays and rosemary;
+ And I pray you, my masters, be merry,
+ _Quot estis in convivio._
+ _Caput apri defero,_
+ _Reddens laudes Domino._"{2}
+
+The Christmas bird provided by the familiar "goose club" may be compared
+with the German Martinmas goose. The more luxurious turkey must be
+relatively an innovation, for that bird seems not to have been introduced
+into England until the sixteenth century.{3}
+
+Cakes and pies, partly or wholly of vegetable origin, are, of course, as
+conspicuous at the English Christmas as animal food. The peculiar
+"luckiness" attached to some of them (as when mince-pies, eaten in
+different houses during the Twelve Days, bring a happy month each) makes
+one suspect some more serious original purpose than mere gratification of
+the appetite. A sacrificial or sacramental origin is probable, at least
+in certain cases; a cake made of flour, for instance, may well have been
+regarded as embodying the spirit immanent in the corn.{4} Whether any
+mystic significance ever belonged to the plum-pudding it is hard to say,
+though the sprig of holly stuck into its |285| top recalls the lucky
+green boughs we have so often come across, and a resemblance to the
+libations upon the Christmas log might be seen in the burning brandy.
+
+A dish once prominent at Christmas was "frumenty" or "furmety" (variously
+spelt, and derived from the Latin _frumentum_, corn). It was made of
+hulled wheat boiled in milk and seasoned with cinnamon, sugar, &c.{5}
+This too may have been a cereal sacrament. In Yorkshire it was the first
+thing eaten on Christmas morning, just as ale posset was the last thing
+drunk on Christmas Eve. Ale posset was a mixture of beer and milk, and
+each member of the family in turn had to take a "sup," as also a piece of
+a large apple-pie.{6}
+
+In the Highlands of Scotland, among those who observed Christmas, a
+characteristic dish was new sowens (the husks and siftings of oatmeal),
+given to the family early on Christmas Day in their beds. They were
+boiled into the consistence of molasses and were poured into as many
+bickers as there were people to partake of them. Everyone on despatching
+his bicker jumped out of bed.{7} Here, as in the case of the Yorkshire
+frumenty, the eating has a distinctly ceremonial character.
+
+In the East Riding of Yorkshire a special Yule cake was eaten on
+Christmas Eve, "made of flour, barm, large cooking raisins, currants,
+lemon-peel, and nutmeg," and about as large as a dinner-plate.{8} In
+Shropshire "wigs" or caraway buns dipped in ale were eaten on Christmas
+Eve.{9} Again elsewhere there were Yule Doughs or Dows, little images of
+paste, presented by bakers to their customers.{10} We shall see plenty
+of parallels to these on the Continent. When they are in animal or even
+human form they may in some cases have taken the place of actual
+sacrificial victims.{11}
+
+In Nottinghamshire the Christmas cake was associated with the
+wassail-bowl in a manner which may be compared with the Macedonian custom
+described later; it was broken up and put into the bowl, hot ale was
+poured over it, and so it was eaten.{12}
+
+The wassail-bowl--one cannot leave the subject of English Yuletide
+feasting without a few words upon this beloved beaker of hot spiced ale
+and toasted apples ("lambswool"). _Wassail_ is |286| derived from the
+Anglo-Saxon _wes hal_ = be whole, and wassailing is in its essence the
+wishing of a person's very good health. The origin of drinking healths is
+not obvious; perhaps it may be sacramental: the draught may have been at
+first a means of communion with some divinity, and then its consumption
+may have come to be regarded not only as benefiting the partaker, but as
+a rite that could be performed for the welfare of another person. Apart
+from such speculations, we may note the frequent mention of wassailing in
+old English carols of the less ecclesiastical type; the singers carried
+with them a bowl or cup which they expected their wealthier neighbours to
+fill with drink.{13} Sometimes the bowl was adorned with ribbons and had
+a golden apple at the top,{14} and it is a noteworthy fact that the box
+with the Christmas images, mentioned in Chapter IV. (p. 118), is
+sometimes called "the Vessel [Wassail] Cup."{15}
+
+The various Christmas dishes of Europe would form an interesting subject
+for exhaustive study. To suggest a religious origin for each would be
+going too far, for merely economic considerations must have had much to
+do with the matter, but it is very probable that in some cases they are
+relics of sacrifices or sacraments.
+
+The pig is a favourite food animal at Christmas in other countries than
+our own, a fact probably connected with sacrificial customs. In Denmark
+and Sweden a pig's head was one of the principal articles of the great
+Christmas Eve repast.{16} In Germany it is a fairly widespread custom to
+kill a pig shortly before Christmas and partake of it on Christmas Day;
+its entrails and bones and the straw which has been in contact with it
+are supposed to have fertilizing powers.{17} In Roumania a pig is the
+Christmas animal _par excellence_,{18} in Russia pigs' trotters are a
+favourite dish at the New Year,{19} and in every Servian house roast pig
+is the principal Christmas dish.{20}
+
+In Upper Bavaria there is a custom which almost certainly has at its root
+a sacrifice: a number of poor people club together at Christmas-time and
+buy a cow to be killed and eaten at a common feast.{21}
+
+More doubtful is the sacrificial origin of the dishes of certain |287|
+special kinds of fish on Christmas Eve. In Saxony and Thuringia herring
+salad is eaten--he who bakes it will have money all the year--and in many
+parts of Germany and also in Styria carp is then consumed.{22} Round
+Erce in Brittany the family dish is cod.{23} In Italy the _cenone_ or
+great supper held on Christmas Eve has fish for its animal basis, and
+stewed eels are particularly popular. It is to be remembered that in
+Catholic countries the Vigil of the Nativity is a fast, and meat is not
+allowed upon it; this alone would account for the prominence of fish on
+Christmas Eve.
+
+We have already come across peculiar cakes eaten at various pre-Christmas
+festivals; at Christmas itself special kinds of bread, pastry, and cakes
+abound on the Continent, and in some cases at least may have a religious
+origin.
+
+In France various sorts of cakes and loaves are known at the season of
+_Noel_. In Berry on Christmas morning loaves called _cornaboeux_, made in
+the shape of horns or a crescent, are distributed to the poor. In
+Lorraine people give one another _cognes_ or _cogneux_, a kind of pastry
+in the shape of two crescents back to back, or else long and narrow in
+form and with a crescent at either end. In some parts of France the
+_cornaboeux_ are known as _holais_, and ploughmen give to the poor as many
+of these loaves as they possess oxen and horses.{24} These horns may be
+substitutes for a sacrifice of oxen.
+
+Sometimes the French Christmas cakes have the form of complete oxen or
+horses--such were the thin unleavened cakes sold in the early nineteenth
+century at La Chatre (Indre). In the neighbourhood of Chartres there are
+_cochenilles_ and _coquelins_ in animal and human shapes. Little cakes
+called _naulets_ are sold by French bakers, and actually represent the
+Holy Child. With them may be compared the _coignoles_ of French Flanders,
+cakes of oblong form adorned with the figure of the infant Jesus in
+sugar.{25} Sometimes the Christmas loaf or cake in France has healing
+properties; a certain kind of cake in Berry and Limousin is kept all
+through the year, and a piece eaten in sickness has marvellous
+powers.{26}
+
+Cortet gives an extraordinary account of a French custom |288|
+connected with eating and drinking. At Mouthe (Doubs) there used to be
+brought to the church at Christmas pies, cakes, and other eatables, and
+wine of the best. They were called the "De fructu," and when at Vespers
+the verse "De fructu ventris tui ponam super sedem tuam" was reached, all
+the congregation made a rush for these refreshments, contended for them,
+and carried them off with singing and shouting.{27}
+
+The most remarkable of Christmas cakes or loaves is the Swedish and
+Danish "Yule Boar," a loaf in the form of a boar-pig, which stands on the
+table throughout the festal season. It is often made from the corn of the
+last sheaf of the harvest, and in it Dr. Frazer finds a clear expression
+of the idea of the corn-spirit as embodied in pig form. "Often it is kept
+till sowing-time in spring, when part of it is mixed with the seed corn
+and part given to the ploughman and plough-horses or plough-oxen to eat,
+in the expectation of a good harvest." In some parts of the Esthonian
+island of Oesel the cake has not the form of a boar, but bears the same
+name, and on New Year's Day is given to the cattle. In other parts of the
+island the "Yule Boar" is actually a little pig, roasted on Christmas Eve
+and set up on the table.{28}
+
+In Germany, besides _stollen_--a sort of plum-loaf--biscuits, often of
+animal or human shape, are very conspicuous on Christmas Eve. Any one who
+has witnessed a German Christmas will remember the extraordinary variety
+of them, _lebkuchen_, _pfeffernuesse_, _printen_, _spekulatius_ biscuits,
+&c. In Berlin a great pile of biscuits heaped up on your plate is an
+important part of the Christmas Eve supper. These of course are nowadays
+mere luxuries, but they may well have had some sort of sacrificial
+origin. An admirable and exhaustive study of Teutonic Christmas cakes and
+biscuits has been made, with infinite pains, by an Austrian professor,
+Dr. Hoefler, who reproduces some curious old biscuits, stamped with highly
+artistic patterns, preserved in museums.{29}
+
+Among unsophisticated German peasants there is a belief in magical powers
+possessed by bread baked at Christmas, particularly when moistened by
+Christmas dew. (This dew is held to be peculiarly sacred, perhaps on
+account of the words "Rorate, coeli, |289| desuper" used at the Advent
+Masses.) In Franconia such bread, thrown into a dangerous fire, stills
+the flames; in the north of Germany, if put during the Twelve Days into
+the fodder of the cattle, it makes them prolific and healthy throughout
+the year.{30}
+
+It is pleasant to note that animals are often specially cared for at
+Christmas. Up till the early nineteenth century the cattle in Shropshire
+were always better fed at Christmas than at other times, and Miss Burne
+tells of an old gentleman in Cheshire who used then to give his poultry a
+double portion of grain, for, he said, "all creation should rejoice at
+Christmas, and the dumb creatures had no other manner of doing so."{31}
+The saying reminds one of that lover of Christmas and the animals, St.
+Francis of Assisi. It will be remembered how he wished that oxen and
+asses should have extra corn and hay at Christmas, "for reverence of the
+Son of God, whom on such a night the most Blessed Virgin Mary did lay
+down in the stall betwixt the ox and the ass."{32} It was a gracious
+thought, and no doubt with St. Francis, as with the old Cheshireman, it
+was a purely Christian one; very possibly, however, the original object
+of such attention to the dumb creatures was to bring to the animals, by
+means of the corn, the influence of the spirit of fertility.
+
+In Silesia on Christmas night all the beasts are given wheat to make them
+thrive, and it is believed that if wheat be kept in the pocket during the
+Christmas service and then given to fowls, it will make them grow fat and
+lay many eggs.{33} In Sweden on Christmas Eve the cattle are given the
+best forage the house can afford, and afterwards a mess of all the viands
+of which their masters have partaken; the horses are given the choicest
+hay and, later on, ale; and the other animals are treated to good
+things.{34}
+
+At Loblang in Hungary the last sheaf at harvest is kept, and given on New
+Year's morning to the wild birds.{35} In southern Germany corn is put on
+the roof for them on Christmas Eve, or,{36} as also in Sweden,{37} an
+unthreshed sheaf is set on a pole. In these cases it is possible that the
+food was originally an offering to ancestral or other spirits.
+
+_Revenons a nos gateaux._ In Rome and elsewhere in Italy an important
+article of Christmas food is the _panettone_, a currant loaf. |290|
+Such loaves are sent as presents to friends. In eastern Europe, too,
+Christmas loaves or cakes are very conspicuous. The _chesnitza_ and
+_kolatch_ cakes among the southern Slavs are flat and wheel-like, with a
+circular hole in the middle and a number of lines radiating from it. In
+the central hole is sometimes placed a lighted taper or a small
+Christmas-tree hung with ribbons, tinsel, and sweetmeats. These cakes,
+made with elaborate ceremonial early in the morning, are solemnly broken
+by the house-father on Christmas Day, and a small piece is eaten by each
+member of the family. In some places one is fixed on the horn of the
+"eldest ox," and if he throws it off it is a good sign.{38} The last
+practice may be compared with a Herefordshire custom which we shall meet
+with on Twelfth Night (p. 346).
+
+In southern Greece a special kind of flat loaves with a cross on the top
+is made on Christmas Eve. The name given is "Christ's Loaves." "The cloth
+is not removed from the table; but everything is left as it is in the
+belief that 'Christ will come and eat' during the night."{39} Probably
+Christ has here taken the place of ancestral spirits.
+
+In Tyrol peasants eat at Christmastide the so-called _zelten_, a kind of
+pie filled with dried pear-slices, nuts, figs, raisins, and the like. It
+is baked on the Eve of St. Thomas, and its filling is as important an
+event for the whole family as was the plum-pudding and mincemeat making
+in old-fashioned English households. When the _zelten_ is filled the sign
+of the cross is made upon it and it is sprinkled with holy water and put
+in the oven. When baked and cooled, it is laid in the family stock of rye
+and is not eaten until St. Stephen's Day or Epiphany. Its cutting by the
+father of the family is a matter of considerable solemnity. Smaller pies
+are made at the same time for the maid-servants, and a curious custom is
+connected with them. It is usual for the maids to visit their relations
+during the Christmas holidays and share with them their _zelten_. A young
+man who wishes to be engaged to a maid should offer to carry her pie for
+her. This is his declaration of love, and if she accepts the offer she
+signifies her approval of him. To him falls the duty or privilege of
+cutting the _zelten_.{40}
+
+|291| Other cake customs are associated with the Epiphany, and will be
+considered in connection with that festival. We may here in conclusion
+notice a few further articles of Christmas good cheer.
+
+In Italy and Spain{41} a sort of nougat known as _torrone_ or _turron_
+is eaten at Christmas. You may buy it even in London in the Italian
+quarter; in Eyre Street Hill it is sold on Christmas Eve on little
+gaily-decked street stalls. Its use may well be a survival of the Roman
+custom of giving sweet things at the Kalends in order that the year might
+be full of sweetness.
+
+Some Little Russian feasting customs are probably pagan in origin, but
+have received a curious Christian interpretation. All Little Russians sit
+down to honey and porridge on Christmas Eve. They call it _koutia_, and
+cherish the custom as something that distinguishes them from Great and
+White Russians. Each dish is said to represent the Holy Crib. First
+porridge is put in, which is like putting straw in the manger; then each
+person helps himself to honey and fruit, and that symbolizes the Babe. A
+place is made in the porridge, and then the honey and fruit are poured
+in; the fruit stands for the body, the honey for the spirit or the
+blood.{42}
+
+Something like this is the special dish eaten in every Roumanian peasant
+household on Christmas Eve--the _turte_. It is made up of a pile of thin
+dry leaves of dough, with melted sugar or honey, or powdered walnut, or
+the juice of the hemp-seed. The _turte_ are traditionally said to
+represent the swaddling clothes of the Holy Child.{43}
+
+In Poland a few weeks before Christmas monks bring round small packages
+of wafers made of flour and water, blessed by a priest, and with figures
+stamped upon them. No Polish family is without these _oplatki_; they are
+sent in letters to relations and friends, as we send Christmas cards.
+When the first star appears on Christmas Eve the whole family, beginning
+with the eldest member, break one of these wafers between themselves, at
+the same time exchanging good wishes. Afterwards the master and mistress
+go to the servants' quarters to divide the wafer there.{44}
+
+|292|
+
+
+RELICS OF SACRIFICE.
+
+We have noted a connection, partial at least, between Christmas good
+cheer and sacrifice; let us now glance at a few customs of a different
+character but seemingly of sacrificial origin.
+
+Traces of sacrifices of cats and dogs are to be found in Germany and
+Bohemia. In Lauenburg and Mecklenburg on Christmas morning, before the
+cattle are watered, a dog is thrown into their drinking water, in order
+that they may not suffer from the mange. In the Uckermark a cat may be
+substituted for the dog. In Bohemia a black cat is caught, boiled, and
+buried by night under a tree, to keep evil spirits from injuring the
+fields.{45}
+
+A strange Christmas custom is the "hunting of the wren," once widespread
+in England and France and still practised in Ireland. In the Isle of Man
+very early on Christmas morning, when the church bells had rung out
+midnight, servants went out to hunt the wren. They killed the bird,
+fastened it to the top of a long pole, and carried it in procession to
+every house, chanting these words:--
+
+ "We hunted the wren for Robin the Bobbin,
+ We hunted the wren for Jack of the Can,
+ We hunted the wren for Robin the Bobbin,
+ We hunted the wren for every one."
+
+At each house they sought to collect money. At last, when all had been
+visited, they laid the wren on a bier, carried it to the churchyard, and
+buried it with the utmost solemnity, singing Manx dirges. Another
+account, from the mid-nineteenth century, describes how on St. Stephen's
+Day Manx boys went from door to door with a wren suspended by the legs in
+the centre of two hoops crossing one another at right angles and
+decorated with evergreens and ribbons. In exchange for a small coin they
+would give a feather of the wren, which was carefully kept as a
+preservative against shipwreck during the year.[110]{46} |293| There
+are also traces of a Manx custom of boiling and eating the bird.{48}
+
+The wren is popularly called "the king of birds," and it is supposed to
+be highly unlucky to kill one at ordinary times. Probably it was once
+regarded as sacred, and the Christmas "hunting" is the survival of an
+annual custom of slaying the divine animal, such as is found among
+primitive peoples.{49} The carrying of its body from door to door is
+apparently intended to convey to each house a portion of its virtues,
+while the actual eating of the bird would be a sort of communion feast.
+Perhaps the custom, in a Cornish village, of eating blackbird pie on
+Twelfth Day should be explained in the same way.{50}
+
+I can here hardly do more than allude to the many games{51} that were
+traditional in England at Christmas--hoodman-blind, shoe the wild mare,
+hot cockles, steal the white loaf, snap-dragon, and the rest. To attempt
+to describe and explain them would lead me too far, but it is highly
+probable that some at least might be traced to an origin in sacrificial
+ritual. The degeneration of religious rites into mere play is, indeed, as
+we have seen, a process illustrated by the whole history of Christmas.
+
+Only two British Christmas games can be discussed in this book:
+blindman's buff and football. An account of a remarkable Christmas
+football match will be found in the chapter on Epiphany customs, where it
+is brought into connection with that closely related game, the "Haxey
+hood."
+
+As for blindman's buff, it is distinctly a Christmas sport, and it is
+known nearly all over Europe by names derived from animals, _e.g._,
+"blind cow" and "blind mouse." Mr. N. W. Thomas has suggested that "the
+explanation of these names is that the players originally wore masks; the
+game is known in some cases as the 'blinde Mumm,' or blind mask.... The
+player who is 'it' seems to be the sacrificer; he bears the same name as
+the victim, just as in agricultural customs the reaper of the last corn
+bears the same name as the last sheaf."{52}
+
+The Scandinavian countries are very rich in Christmas games and
+dances,{53} of which it would be interesting to attempt explanations if
+space allowed. One Swedish song and dance game--it |294| may be related
+to the sword-dance (see Chapter XIII.)--is obviously sacrificial. Several
+youths, with blackened faces and persons disguised, are the performers.
+One of them is put to death with a knife by a woman in hideous attire.
+Afterwards, with gross gestures, she dances with the victim.{54}
+According to another account, from Gothland, the victim sits clad in a
+skin, holding in his mouth a wisp of straw cut sharp at the ends and
+standing out. It has been conjectured that this is meant to resemble a
+swine's bristles, and that the man represents a hog sacrificed to
+Frey.{55}
+
+Lastly a Russian game may be mentioned, though it has no sacrificial
+suggestion. During the Christmas season girls play at what is called "the
+Burial of the Gold." They form a circle, with one girl standing in the
+centre, and pass from hand to hand a gold ring, which the maiden inside
+tries to detect. Meanwhile a song is sung, "Gold I bury, gold I bury."
+Some imaginative mythologists interpret the ring as representing the sun,
+buried by the clouds of winter.{56}
+
+|295| |296| |297|
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+MASKING, THE MUMMERS' PLAY, THE FEAST OF FOOLS, AND THE BOY BISHOP
+
+
+ English Court Masking--"The Lord of Misrule"--The Mummers' Play, the
+ Sword-Dance, and the Morris Dance--Origin of St. George and other
+ Characters--Mumming in Eastern Europe--The Feast of Fools, its
+ History and Suppression--The Boy Bishop, his Functions and
+ Sermons--Modern Survivals of the Boy Bishop.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+YORKSHIRE SWORD-ACTORS: ST. GEORGE IN COMBAT WITH ST. PETER.
+
+From an article by Mr. T. M. Fallow in _The Antiquary_, May, 1895.
+
+(By permission of Messrs. Elliot Stock.)]
+
+We have already seen a good deal of masking in connection with St.
+Nicholas, Knecht Ruprecht, and other figures of the German Christmas; we
+may next give some attention to English customs of the same sort during
+the Twelve Days, and then pass on to the strange burlesque ceremonies of
+the Feast of Fools and the Boy Bishop, ceremonies which show an intrusion
+of pagan mummery into the sanctuary itself.
+
+
+CHRISTMAS MASKING.
+
+The custom of Christmas masking, "mumming," or "disguising" can be traced
+at the English court as early as the reign of Edward III. It is in all
+probability connected with that wearing of beasts' heads and skins of
+which we have already noted various examples--its origin in folk-custom
+seems to have been the coming of a band of worshippers clad in this
+uncouth but auspicious garb to bring good luck to a house.{1} The most
+direct English survival is found in the village mummers who still call
+themselves "guisers" or "geese-dancers" and claim the right to enter
+every house. These will be dealt with shortly, after a consideration of
+more courtly customs of the same kind.
+
+|298| In the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries the English
+court masque reached its greatest developments; the fundamental idea was
+then generally overlaid with splendid trappings, the dresses and the
+arrangements were often extremely elaborate, and the introduction of
+dialogued speech made these "disguises" regular dramatic performances. A
+notable example is Ben Jonson's "Masque of Christmas."{2} Shakespeare,
+however, gives us in "Henry VIII."{3} an example of a simpler impromptu
+form: the king and a party dressed up as shepherds break in upon a
+banquet of Wolsey's.
+
+In this volume we are more concerned with the popular Christmas than with
+the festivities of kings and courts and grandees. Mention must, however,
+be made of a personage who played an important part in the Christmas of
+the Tudor court and appeared also in colleges, Inns of Court, and the
+houses of the nobility--the "Lord of Misrule."{4} He was annually
+elected to preside over the revels, had a retinue of courtiers, and was
+surrounded by elaborate ceremonial. He seems to be the equivalent and was
+probably the direct descendant of the "Abbot" or "Bishop" of the Feast of
+Fools, who will be noticed later in this chapter. Sometimes indeed he is
+actually called "Abbot of Misrule." A parallel to him is the Twelfth
+Night "king," and he appears to be a courtly example of the temporary
+monarch of folk-custom, though his name is sometimes extended to "kings"
+of quite vulgar origin elected not by court or gentry but by the common
+people. The "Lord of Misrule" was among the relics of paganism most
+violently attacked by Puritan writers like Stubbes and Prynne, and the
+Great Rebellion seems to have been the death of him.
+
+
+MUMMERS' PLAYS AND MORRIS DANCES.
+
+Let us turn now to the rustic Christmas mummers, to-day fast
+disappearing, but common enough in the mid-nineteenth century. Their
+goings-on are really far more interesting, because more traditional, than
+the elaborate shows and dressings-up of the court. Their names vary:
+"mummers" and "guisers" are the commonest; in Sussex they are
+"tipteerers," perhaps because of |299| the perquisites they collect, in
+Cornwall "geese-dancers" ("geese" no doubt comes from "disguise"), in
+Shropshire "morris"--or "merry"--"dancers."{5} It is to be noted that
+they are unbidden guests, and enter your house as of right.{6} Sometimes
+they merely dance, sing, and feast, but commonly they perform a rude
+drama.{7}
+
+The plays acted by the mummers{8} vary so much that it is difficult to
+describe them in general terms. There is no reason to suppose that the
+words are of great antiquity--the earliest form may perhaps date from the
+seventeenth century; they appear to be the result of a crude dramatic and
+literary instinct working upon the remains of traditional ritual, and
+manipulating it for purposes of entertainment. The central figure is St.
+George (occasionally he is called Sir, King, or Prince George), and the
+main dramatic substance, after a prologue and introduction of the
+characters, is a fight and the arrival of a doctor to bring back the
+slain to life. At the close comes a _quete_ for money. The name George is
+found in all the Christmas plays, but the other characters have a
+bewildering variety of names ranging from Hector and Alexander to
+Bonaparte and Nelson.
+
+Mr. Chambers in two very interesting and elaborately documented chapters
+has traced a connection between these St. George players and the
+sword-dancers found at Christmas or other festivals in Germany, Spain,
+France, Italy, Sweden, and Great Britain. The sword-dance in its simplest
+form is described by Tacitus in his "Germania": "they have," he says of
+the Germans, "but one kind of public show: in every gathering it is the
+same. Naked youths, who profess this sport, fling themselves in dance
+among swords and levelled lances."{9} In certain forms of the dance
+there are figures in which the swords are brought together on the heads
+of performers, or a pretence is made to cut at heads and feet, or the
+swords are put in a ring round a person's neck. This strongly suggests
+that an execution, probably a sacrifice, lies at the bottom of the
+dances. In several cases, moreover, they are accompanied by sets of
+verses containing the incident of a quarrel and the violent death of one
+of the performers. The likeness to the central feature of the |300|
+St. George play--the slaying--will be noticed. In one of the dances, too,
+there is even a doctor who revives the victim.
+
+In England the sword-dance is found chiefly in the north, but with it
+appear to be identical the morris-dances--characterized by the wearing of
+jingling bells--which are commoner in the southern counties. Blackened
+faces are common in both, and both have the same grotesque figures, a man
+and a woman, often called Tommy and Bessy in the sword-dance and "the
+fool" and Maid Marian in the morris. Moreover the morris-dancers in
+England sometimes use swords, and in one case the performers of an
+undoubted sword-dance were called "morrice" dancers in the eighteenth
+century. Bells too, so characteristic of the morris, are mentioned in
+some Continental accounts of the sword-dance.[111]
+
+Intermediate between these dances and the fully developed St. George
+dramas are the plays performed on Plough Monday in Lincolnshire and the
+East Midlands. They all contain a good deal of dancing, a violent death
+and a revival, and grotesques found both in the dances and in the
+Christmas plays.
+
+The sword-dance thus passes by a gradual transition, the dancing
+diminishing, the dramatic elements increasing, into the mummers' plays of
+St. George. The central motive, death and revival, Mr. Chambers regards
+as a symbol of the resurrection of the year or the spirit of
+vegetation,[112] like the Thuringian custom of executing a "wild man"
+covered with leaves, whom a doctor brings to life again by bleeding. This
+piece of ritual has apparently been attracted to Christmas from an early
+feast of spring, and Plough Monday, when the East Midland plays take
+place, is just such an early spring feast. Again, in some places the
+|301| St. George play is performed at Easter, a date alluded to in the
+title, "Pace-eggers'" or "Pasque-eggers'" play.{13}
+
+Two grotesque figures appear with varying degrees of clearness and with
+various names in the dances and in the plays--the "fool" (Tommy) who
+wears the skin and tail of a fox or other animal, and a man dressed in
+woman's clothes (Bessy). In these we may recognize the skin-clad mummer
+and the man aping a woman whom we meet in the old Kalends denunciations.
+Sometimes the two are combined, while a hobby-horse also not unfrequently
+appears.{14}
+
+How exactly St. George came to be the central figure of the Christmas
+plays is uncertain; possibly they may be a development of a dance in
+which appeared the "Seven Champions," the English national heroes--of
+whom Richard Johnson wrote a history in 1596--with St. George at their
+head. It is more probable, however, that the saint came in from the
+mediaeval pageants held on his day in many English towns.{15}
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Can it be that the German St. Nicholas plays are more Christianized and
+sophisticated forms of folk-dramas like in origin to those we have been
+discussing? They certainly resemble the English plays in the manner in
+which one actor calls in another by name; while the grotesque figures
+introduced have some likeness to the "fool" of the morris.
+
+Christmas mumming, it may be added, is found in eastern as well as
+western Europe. In Greece, where ecclesiastical condemnations of such
+things can be traced with remarkable clearness from early times to the
+twelfth century, it takes sundry forms. "At Pharsala," writes Mr. J. C.
+Lawson, "there is a sort of play at the Epiphany, in which the mummers
+represent bride, bridegroom, and 'Arab'; the Arab tries to carry off the
+bride, and the bridegroom defends her.... Formerly also at 'Kozane and in
+many other parts of Greece,' according to a Greek writer in the early
+part of the nineteenth century, throughout the Twelve Days boys carrying
+bells used to go round the houses, singing songs and having 'one or more
+of their company dressed up with masks and bells and foxes' brushes and
+other such things to give them a weird and monstrous look.'"{16}
+
+|302| In Russia, too, mummers used to go about at Christmastide,
+visiting houses, dancing, and performing all kinds of antics. "Prominent
+parts were always played by human representatives of a goat and a bear.
+Some of the party would be disguised as 'Lazaruses,' that is, as blind
+beggars." A certain number of the mummers were generally supposed to play
+the part of thieves anxious to break in.{17} Readers of Tolstoy's "War
+and Peace" may remember a description of some such maskings in the year
+1810.
+
+
+THE FEAST OF FOOLS.
+
+So far, in this Second Part, we have been considering customs practised
+chiefly in houses, streets, and fields. We must now turn to certain
+festivities following hard upon Christmas Day, which, though pagan in
+origin and sometimes even blasphemous, found their way in the Middle Ages
+within the walls of the church.
+
+Shortly after Christmas a group of _tripudia_ or revels was held by the
+various inferior clergy and ministrants of cathedrals and other churches.
+These festivals, of which the best known are the Feast of Fools and the
+Boy Bishop ceremonies, have been so fully described by other writers, and
+my space here is so limited, that I need but treat them in outline, and
+for detail refer the reader to such admirable accounts as are to be found
+in Chapters XIII., XIV., and XV. of Mr. Chamber's "The Mediaeval
+Stage."{18}
+
+Johannes Belethus, Rector of Theology at Paris towards the end of the
+twelfth century, speaks of four _tripudia_ held after Christmas:--those
+of the deacons on St. Stephen's Day, the priests on St. John's, the
+choir-boys on Holy Innocents', and the subdeacons on the Circumcision,
+the Epiphany, or the Octave of the Epiphany. The feast of subdeacons,
+says Belethus, "we call that of fools." It is this feast which, though
+not apparently the earliest in origin of the four, was the most riotous
+and disorderly, and shows most clearly its pagan character. Belethus'
+mention of it is the first clear notice, though disorderly revels of the
+same kind seem to have existed at Constantinople as early as the ninth
+century. At first confined to the subdeacons, the Feast of Fools became
+in its later developments a festival not only of that order but of the
+|303| inferior clergy in general, of the vicars choral, the chaplains,
+and the choir-clerks, as distinguished from the canons. For this rabble
+of poor and low-class clergy it was no doubt a welcome relaxation, and
+one can hardly wonder that they let themselves go in burlesquing the
+sacred but often wearisome rites at which it was their business to be
+present through many long hours, or that they delighted to usurp for once
+in a way the functions ordinarily performed by their superiors. The
+putting down of the mighty from their seat and the exalting of them of
+low degree was the keynote of the festival. While "Deposuit potentes de
+sede: et exaltavit humiles" was being sung at the "Magnificat," it would
+appear that the precentor's _baculus_ or staff was handed over to the
+clerk who was to be "lord of the feast" for the year, and throughout the
+services of the day the inferior clergy predominated, under the
+leadership of this chosen "lord." He was usually given some title of
+ecclesiastical dignity, "bishop," "prelate," "archbishop," "cardinal," or
+even "pope," was vested in full pontificals, and in some cases sat on the
+real bishop's throne, gave benedictions, and issued indulgences.
+
+These lower clergy, it must be remembered, belonged to the peasant or
+small _bourgeois_ class and were probably for the most part but
+ill-educated. They were likely to bring with them into the Church the
+superstitions floating about among the people, and the Feast of Fools may
+be regarded as a recoil of paganism upon Christianity in its very
+sanctuary. "An ebullition of the natural lout beneath the cassock" it has
+been called by Mr. Chambers, and many of its usages may be explained by
+the reaction of coarse natures freed for once from restraint. It brought
+to light, however, not merely personal vulgarity, but a whole range of
+traditional customs, derived probably from a fusion of the Roman feast of
+the Kalends of January with Teutonic or Celtic heathen festivities.
+
+A general account of its usages is given in a letter addressed in 1445 by
+the Paris Faculty of Theology to the bishops and chapters of France:--
+
+ "Priests and clerks may be seen wearing masks and monstrous visages
+ at the hours of office. They dance in the choir dressed as |304|
+ women, panders or minstrels. They sing wanton songs. They eat black
+ puddings at the horn of the altar while the celebrant is saying Mass.
+ They play at dice there. They cense with stinking smoke from the
+ soles of old shoes. They run and leap through the church, without a
+ blush at their own shame. Finally they drive about the town and its
+ theatres in shabby traps and carts, and rouse the laughter of their
+ fellows and the bystanders in infamous performances, with indecent
+ gesture and verses scurrilous and unchaste."{19}
+
+The letter also speaks of "bishops" or "archbishops" of Fools, who wore
+mitres and held pastoral staffs. We here see clearly, besides mere
+irreverence, an outcrop of pagan practices. Topsy-turvydom, the temporary
+exaltation of inferiors, was itself a characteristic of the Kalends
+celebrations, and a still more remarkable feature of them was, as we have
+seen, the wearing of beast-masks and the dressing up of men in women's
+clothes. And what is the "bishop" or "archbishop" but a parallel to, and,
+we may well believe, an example of, the mock king whom Dr. Frazer has
+traced in so many a folk-festival, and who is found at the _Saturnalia_?
+
+One more feature of the Feast of Fools must be considered, the Ass who
+gave to it the not uncommon title of _asinaria festa_. At Bourges, Sens,
+and Beauvais, a curious half-comic hymn was sung in church, the so-called
+"Prose of the Ass." It begins as follows:--
+
+ "Orientis partibus
+ Adventavit Asinus,
+ Pulcher et fortissimus,
+ Sarcinis aptissimus.
+ Hez, Sir Asnes, car chantez,
+ Belle bouche rechignez,
+ Vous aurez du foin assez
+ Et de l'avoine a plantez."
+
+And after eight verses in praise of the beast, with some mention of his
+connection with Bethlehem and the Wise Men, it closes thus:--
+
+ "Amen dicas, Asine,
+ Iam satur de gramine, |305|
+ Amen, Amen, itera,
+ Aspernare vetera.
+ Hez va, hez va! hez va, hez!
+ Bialx Sire Asnes, car allez:
+ Belle bouche, car chantez."{20}
+
+An ass, it would seem, was actually brought into church, at Beauvais at
+all events, during the singing of this song on the feast of the
+Circumcision. On January 14 an extraordinary ceremony took place there. A
+girl with a child in her arms rode upon an ass into St. Stephen's church,
+to represent the Flight into Egypt. The Introit, "Kyrie," "Gloria," and
+"Credo" at Mass ended in a bray, and at the close of the service the
+priest instead of saying "Ite, missa est," had to bray three times, and
+the people to respond in like manner. Mr. Chambers's theory is that the
+ass was a descendant of the _cervulus_ or hobby-buck who figures so
+largely in ecclesiastical condemnations of Kalends customs.
+
+The country _par excellence_ of the Feast of the Fools was France. It can
+also be traced in Germany and Bohemia, while in England too there are
+notices of it, though far fewer than in France. Its abuses were the
+subject of frequent denunciations by Church reformers from the twelfth to
+the fifteenth century. The feast was prohibited at various times, and
+notably by the Council of Basle in 1435, but it was too popular to be
+quickly suppressed, and it took a century and a half to die out after
+this condemnation by a general council of the Church. In one cathedral,
+Amiens, it even lingered until 1721.
+
+When in the fifteenth century and later the Feast of Fools was expelled
+from the churches of France, associations of laymen sprang up to carry on
+its traditions outside. It was indeed a form of entertainment which the
+townsfolk as well as the lower clergy thoroughly appreciated, and they
+were by no means willing to let it die. A _Prince des Sots_ took the
+place of the "bishop," and was chosen by _societes joyeuses_ organized by
+the youth of the cities for New Year merrymaking. Gradually their
+activities grew, and their celebrations came to take place at other
+festive times beside the Christmas season. The _sots_ had a distinctive
+dress, its |306| most characteristic feature being a hood with asses'
+ears, probably a relic of the primitive days when the heads of sacrificed
+animals were worn by festal worshippers.{21}
+
+
+THE BOY BISHOP.
+
+Of older standing than the Feast of Fools were the Christmas revels of
+the deacons, the priests, and the choir-boys. They can be traced back to
+the early tenth century, and may have originated at the great song-school
+of St. Gall near Constance. The most important of the three feasts was
+that of the boys on Holy Innocents' Day, a theoretically appropriate
+date. Corresponding to the "lord" of the Feast of Fools was the famous
+"Boy Bishop," a choir-boy chosen by the lads themselves, who was vested
+in cope and mitre, held a pastoral staff, and gave the benediction. Other
+boys too usurped the dignities of their elders, and were attired as dean,
+archdeacons, and canons. Offices for the festival, in which the Boy
+Bishop figures largely, are to be found in English, French, and German
+service-books, the best known in this country being those in the Sarum
+Processional and Breviary. In England these ceremonies were far more
+popular and lasting than the Feast of Fools, and, unlike it, they were
+recognized and approved by authority, probably because boys were more
+amenable to discipline than men, and objectionable features could be
+pruned away with comparative ease. The festivities must have formed a
+delightful break in the year of the mediaeval schoolboy, for whom
+holidays, as distinguished from holy-days for church-going, scarcely
+existed. The feast, as we shall see, was by no means confined within the
+church walls; there was plenty of merrymaking and money-making outside.
+
+Minute details have been preserved of the Boy Bishop customs at St.
+Paul's Cathedral in the thirteenth century. It had apparently been usual
+for the "bishop" to make the cathedral dignitaries act as taper- and
+incense-bearers, thus reversing matters so that the great performed the
+functions of the lowly. In 1263 this was forbidden, and only clerks of
+lower rank might be chosen for these offices. But the "bishop" had the
+right to demand |307| after Compline on the Eve of the Innocents a
+supper for himself and his train from the Dean or one of his canons. The
+number of his following must, however, be limited; if he went to the
+Dean's he might take with him a train of fifteen: two chaplains, two
+taper-bearers, five clerks, two vergers, and four residentiary canons; if
+to a lesser dignitary his attendants were to be fewer.
+
+On Innocents' Day he was given a dinner, after which came a cavalcade
+through the city, that the "bishop" might bless the people. He had also
+to preach a sermon--no doubt written for him.
+
+Examples of such discourses are still extant,{22} and are not without
+quaint touches. For instance the bidding prayer before one of them
+alludes to "the ryghte reverende fader and worshypfull lorde my broder
+Bysshopp of London, your dyoceasan," and "my worshypfull broder [the]
+Deane of this cathedrall chirche,"{23} while in another the preacher
+remarks, speaking of the choristers and children of the song-school, "Yt
+is not so long sens I was one of them myself."{24}
+
+In some places it appears, though this is by no means certain, that the
+boy actually sang Mass. The "bishop's" office was a very desirable one
+not merely because of the feasting, but because he had usually the right
+to levy contributions on the faithful, and the amounts collected were
+often very large. At York, for instance, in 1396 the "bishop" pocketed
+about L77, all expenses paid.
+
+The general parallelism of the Boy Bishop customs and the Feast of Fools
+is obvious, and no doubt they had much the same folk-origin. One point,
+already mentioned, should specially be noticed: the election of the Boy
+Bishop generally took place on December 5, the Eve of St. Nicholas,
+patron of children; he was often called "Nicholas bishop"; and sometimes,
+as at Eton and Mayence, he exercised episcopal functions at divine
+service on the eve and the feast itself. It is possible, as Mr. Chambers
+suggests, that St. Nicholas's Day was an older date for the boys'
+festival than Holy Innocents', and that from the connection with St.
+Nicholas, the bishop saint _par excellence_ (he was said to have been
+consecrated by divine command when still a mere layman), sprang |308|
+the custom of giving the title "bishop" to the "lord" first of the boys'
+feast and later of the Feast of Fools.
+
+In the late Middle Ages the Boy Bishop was found not merely in cathedral,
+monastic, and collegiate churches but in many parish churches throughout
+England and Scotland. Various inventories of the vestments and ornaments
+provided for him still exist. With the beginnings of the Reformation came
+his suppression: a proclamation of Henry VIII., dated July 22, 1541,
+commands "that from henceforth all suche superstitions be loste and
+clyerlye extinguisshed throughowte all this his realmes and dominions,
+forasmoche as the same doo resemble rather the unlawfull superstition of
+gentilitie [paganism], than the pure and sincere religion of
+Christe."{25} In Mary's reign the Boy Bishop reappeared, along with
+other "Popish" usages, but after Elizabeth's accession he naturally fell
+into oblivion. A few traces of him lingered in the seventeenth century.
+"The Schoole-boies in the west," says Aubrey, "still religiously observe
+St. Nicholas day (Decemb. 6th), he was the Patron of the Schoole-boies.
+At Curry-Yeovill in Somersetshire, where there is a Howschole (or schole)
+in the Church, they have annually at that time a Barrell of good Ale
+brought into the church; and that night they have the priviledge to
+breake open their Masters Cellar-dore."{26}
+
+In France he seems to have gradually vanished, as, after the Reformation,
+the Catholic Church grew more and more "respectable," but traces of him
+are to be found in the eighteenth century at Lyons and Rheims; and at
+Sens, even in the nineteenth, the choir-boys used to play at being
+bishops on Innocents' Day and call their "archbishop" _ane_--a memory
+this of the old _asinaria festa_.{27} In Denmark a vague trace of him
+was retained in the nineteenth century in a children's game. A boy was
+dressed up in a white shirt, and seated on a chair, and the children sang
+a verse beginning, "Here we consecrate a Yule-bishop," and offered him
+nuts and apples.{28}
+
+|309| |310| |311|
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+ST. STEPHEN'S, ST. JOHN'S, AND HOLY INNOCENTS' DAYS
+
+
+ Horse Customs of St. Stephen's Day--The Swedish St. Stephen--St.
+ John's Wine--Childermas and its Beatings.
+
+The three saints' days immediately following Christmas--St. Stephen's
+(December 26), St. John the Evangelist's (December 27), and the Holy
+Innocents' (December 28)--have still various folk-customs associated with
+them, in some cases purely secular, in others hallowed by the Church.
+
+
+ST. STEPHEN'S DAY.
+
+In Tyrolese churches early in the morning of St. Stephen's Day there
+takes place a consecration of water and of salt brought by the people.
+The water is used by the peasants to sprinkle food, barns, and fields in
+order to avert the influence of witches and evil spirits, and bread
+soaked in it is given to the cattle when they are driven out to pasture
+on Whit Monday. The salt, too, is given to the beasts, and the peasants
+themselves partake of it before any important journey like a pilgrimage.
+Moreover when a storm is threatening some is thrown into the fire as a
+protection against hail.{1}
+
+The most striking thing about St. Stephen's Day, however, is its
+connection with horses. St. Stephen is their patron; in England in former
+times they were bled on his festival in the belief that it would benefit
+them,{2} and the custom is still continued in some parts of Austria.{3}
+In Tyrol it is the custom not only to |312| bleed horses on St.
+Stephen's Day, but also to give them consecrated salt and bread or oats
+and barley.{4}
+
+In some of the Carinthian valleys where horse-breeding is specially
+carried on, the young men ride into the village on their unsaddled
+steeds, and a race is run four or five times round the church, while the
+priest blesses the animals, sprinkling them with holy water and
+exorcizing them.{5}
+
+Similar customs are or were found in various parts of Germany. In Munich,
+formerly, during the services on St. Stephen's Day more than two hundred
+men on horseback used to ride three times round the interior of a church.
+The horses were decorated with many-coloured ribbons, and the practice
+was not abolished till 1876.{6} At Backnang in Swabia horses were ridden
+out, as fast as possible, to protect them from the influence of witches,
+and in the Hohenlohe region men-servants were permitted by their masters
+to ride in companies to neighbouring places, where much drinking went
+on.{7} In Holstein the lads on Stephen's Eve used to visit their
+neighbours in a company, groom the horses, and ride about in the
+farmyards, making a great noise until the people woke up and treated them
+to beer and spirits.{8} At the village of Wallsbuell near Flensburg the
+peasant youths in the early morning held a race, and the winner was
+called Steffen and entertained at the inn. At Vioel near Bredstadt the
+child who got up last on December 26 received the name of Steffen and had
+to ride to a neighbour's house on a hay-fork. In other German districts
+the festival was called "the great horse-day," consecrated food was given
+to the animals, they were driven round and round the fields until they
+sweated violently, and at last were ridden to the blacksmith's and bled,
+to keep them healthy through the year. The blood was preserved as a
+remedy for various illnesses.{9}
+
+It is, however, in Sweden that the "horsy" aspect of the festival is most
+obvious.{10} Formerly there was a custom, at one o'clock on St.
+Stephen's morning, for horses to be ridden to water that flowed
+northward; they would then drink "the cream of the water" and flourish
+during the year. There was a violent race to the water, and the servant
+who got there first was rewarded by a drink of something stronger. Again,
+early that morning one |313| peasant would clean out another's stable,
+often at some distance from his home, feed, water, and rub down the
+horses, and then be entertained to breakfast. In olden times after
+service on St. Stephen's Day there was a race home on horseback, and it
+was supposed that he who arrived first would be the first to get his
+harvest in. But the most remarkable custom is the early morning jaunt of
+the so-called "Stephen's men," companies of peasant youths, who long
+before daybreak ride in a kind of race from village to village and awaken
+the inhabitants with a folk-song called _Staffansvisa_, expecting to be
+treated to ale or spirits in return.
+
+The cavalcade is supposed to represent St. Stephen and his followers, yet
+the saint is not, as might be expected, the first martyr of the New
+Testament, but a dauntless missionary who, according to old legends, was
+one of the first preachers of the Gospel in Sweden, and was murdered by
+the heathen in a dark forest. A special trait, his love of horses,
+connects him with the customs just described. He had, the legends tell,
+five steeds: two red, two white, one dappled; when one was weary he
+mounted another, making every week a great round to preach the Word.
+After his death his body was fastened to the back of an unbroken colt,
+which halted not till it came near Norrala, his home. There he was
+buried, and a church built over his grave became a place of pilgrimage to
+which sick animals, especially horses, were brought for healing.
+
+Mannhardt and Feilberg hold that this Swedish St. Stephen is not a
+historical personage but a mythical figure, like many other saints, and
+that his legend, so bound up with horses, was an attempt to account for
+the folk-customs practised on the day dedicated to St. Stephen the first
+martyr. It is interesting to note that legendary tradition has played
+about a good deal with the New Testament Stephen; for instance an old
+English carol makes him a servant in King Herod's hall at the time of
+Christ's birth:--
+
+ "Stephen out of kitchen came,
+ With boares head on hand,
+ He saw a star was fair and bright
+ Over Bethlehem stand."
+
+|314| Thereupon he forsook King Herod for the Child Jesus, and was
+stoned to death.{11}
+
+To return, however, to the horse customs of the day after Christmas, it
+is pretty plain that they are of non-Christian origin. Mannhardt has
+suggested that the race which is their most prominent feature once formed
+the prelude to a ceremony of lustration of houses and fields with a
+sacred tree. Somewhat similar "ridings" are found in various parts of
+Europe in spring, and are connected with a procession that appears to be
+an ecclesiastical adaptation of a pre-Christian lustration-rite.{12} The
+great name of Mannhardt lends weight to this theory, but it seems a
+somewhat roundabout way of accounting for the facts. Perhaps an
+explanation of the "horsiness" of the day might be sought in some
+pre-Christian sacrifice of steeds.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+We have already noted that St. Stephen's Day is often the date for the
+"hunting of the wren" in the British Isles; it was also in England
+generally devoted to hunting and shooting, it being held that the game
+laws were not in force on that day.{13} This may be only an instance of
+Christmas licence, but it is just possible that there is here a survival
+of some tradition of sacrificial slaughter.
+
+
+ST. JOHN'S DAY.
+
+An ecclesiastical adaptation of a pagan practice may be seen in the
+_Johannissegen_ customary on St. John's Day in many parts of Catholic
+Germany and Austria. A quantity of wine is brought to church to be
+blessed by the priest after Mass, and is taken away by the people to be
+drunk at home. There are many popular beliefs about the magical powers of
+this wine, beliefs which can be traced back through at least four
+centuries. In Tyrol and Bavaria it is supposed to protect its drinker
+from being struck by lightning, in the Rhenish Palatinate it is drunk in
+order that the other wine a man possesses may be kept from injury, or
+that next year's harvest may be good. In Nassau, Carinthia, and other
+regions some is poured into the wine-casks to preserve the precious drink
+from harm, while in Bavaria some is kept for use as medicine in sickness.
+|315| In Syria St. John's wine is said to keep the body sound and
+healthy, and on his day even babes in the cradle are made to join in the
+family drinking.{14}
+
+It appears that in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries there was a
+great drinking on St. John's Day of ordinary, as well as consecrated,
+wine, often to excess, and scholars of that time seriously believed that
+_Weihnacht_, the German name for Christmas, should properly be spelt
+_Weinnacht_.{15} The _Johannissegen_, or _Johannisminne_ as it was
+sometimes called, seems, all things considered, to be a survival of an
+old wine sacrifice like the _Martinsminne_. That it does not owe its
+origin to the legend about the cup of poison drunk by St. John is shown
+by the fact that a similar custom was in old times practised in Germany
+and Sweden on St. Stephen's Day.{16}
+
+
+HOLY INNOCENTS' DAY.
+
+Holy Innocents' Day or Childermas, whether or not because of Herod's
+massacre, was formerly peculiarly unlucky; it was a day upon which no
+one, if he could possibly avoid it, should begin any piece of work. It is
+said of that superstitious monarch, Louis XI. of France, that he would
+never do any business on that day, and of our own Edward IV. that his
+coronation was postponed, because the date originally fixed was
+Childermas. In Cornwall no housewife would scour or scrub on Childermas,
+and in Northamptonshire it was considered very unlucky to begin any
+undertaking or even to do washing throughout the year on the day of the
+week on which the feast fell. Childermas was there called Dyzemas and a
+saying ran: "What is begun on Dyzemas Day will never be finished." In
+Ireland it was called "the cross day of the year," and it was said that
+anything then begun must have an unlucky ending.{17}
+
+In folk-ritual the day is remarkable for its association with whipping
+customs. The seventeenth-century writer Gregorie mentions a custom of
+whipping up children on Innocents' Day in the morning, and explains its
+purpose as being that the memory of Herod's "murther might stick the
+closer; and, in a moderate proportion, to act over the crueltie again in
+kind."{18}
+
+|316| This explanation will hardly hold water; the many and various
+examples of the practice of whipping at Christmas collected by
+Mannhardt{19} show that it is not confined either to Innocents' Day or
+to children. Moreover it is often regarded not as a cruel infliction, but
+as a service for which return must be made in good things to eat.
+
+In central and southern Germany the custom is called "peppering"
+(_pfeffern_) and also by other names. In the Orlagau the girls on St.
+Stephen's, and the boys on St. John's Day beat their parents and
+godparents with green fir-branches, while the menservants beat their
+masters with rosemary sticks, saying:
+
+ "Fresh green! Long life!
+ Give me a bright _thaler_ [or nuts, &c.]."
+
+They are entertained with plum-loaf or gingerbreads and brandy. In the
+Saxon Erzgebirge the young fellows whip the women and girls on St.
+Stephen's Day, if possible while they are still in bed, with birch-rods,
+singing the while:
+
+ "Fresh green, fair and fine,
+ Gingerbread and brandy-wine";
+
+and on St. John's Day the women pay the men back. At several places in
+the Thuringian Forest children on Innocents' Day beat passers-by with
+birch-boughs, and get in return apples, nuts, and other dainties. Various
+other German examples of the same class of practice are given by
+Mannhardt.{20}
+
+In France children who let themselves be caught in bed on the morning of
+Holy Innocents' came in for a whipping from their parents; while in one
+province, Normandy, the early risers among the young people themselves
+gave the sluggards a beating. The practice even gave birth to a
+verb--_innocenter_.{21}
+
+There can be little doubt that the Innocents' Day beating is a survival
+of a pre-Christian custom. Similar ritual scourging is found in many
+countries at various seasons of the year, and is by no means confined to
+Europe.{22} As now practised, it has |317| often a harsh appearance,
+or has become a kind of teasing, as when in Bohemia at Easter young men
+whip girls until they give them something. Its original purpose, however,
+as we have seen in connection with St. Martin's rod, seems to have been
+altogether kindly. The whipping was not meant as a punishment or
+expiation or to harden people to pain, but either to expel harmful
+influences and drive out evil spirits or to convey by contact the virtues
+of some sacred tree.
+
+|318| |319| |320| |321|
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+NEW YEAR'S DAY
+
+
+ Principle of New Year Customs--The New Year in France, Germany, the
+ United States, and Eastern Europe--"First-footing" in Great
+ Britain--Scottish New Year Practices--Highland Fumigation and
+ "Breast-strip" Customs--Hogmanay and Aguillanneuf--New Year
+ Processions in Macedonia, Roumania, Greece, and Rome--Methods of
+ Augury--Sundry New Year Charms.
+
+Coming to January 1, the modern and the Roman New Year's Day, we shall
+find that most of its customs have been anticipated at earlier festivals;
+the Roman Kalends practices have often been shifted to Christmas, while
+old Celtic and Teutonic New Year practices have frequently been
+transferred to the Roman date.[113]
+
+The observances of New Year's Day mainly rest, as was said in Chapter
+VI., on the principle that "a good beginning makes a good ending," that
+as the first day is so will the rest be. If you would have plenty to eat
+during the year, dine lavishly on New Year's Day, if you would be rich
+see that your pockets are not empty at this critical season, if you would
+be lucky avoid like poison at this of all times everything of ill omen.
+
+"On the Borders," says Mr. W. Henderson, "care is taken that no one
+enters a house empty-handed on New Year's Day. A visitor must bring in
+his hand some eatable; he will be doubly welcome if he carries in a hot
+stoup or 'plotie.' Everybody |322| should wear a new dress on New
+Year's Day, and if its pockets contain money of every description they
+will be certain not to be empty throughout the year."{2}
+
+The laying of stress on what happens on New Year's Day is by no means
+peculiarly European. Hindus, for instance, as Mr. Edgar Thurston tells
+us, "are very particular about catching sight of some auspicious object
+on the morning of New Year's Day, as the effects of omens seen on that
+occasion are believed to last throughout the year." It is thought that a
+man's whole prosperity depends upon the things that he then happens to
+fix his eyes upon.{3}
+
+Charms, omens, and good wishes are naturally the most prominent customs
+of January 1 and its Eve. The New Year in England can hardly be called a
+popular festival; there is no public holiday and the occasion is more
+associated with penitential Watch Night services and good resolutions
+than with rejoicing. But let the reader, if he be in London, pay a visit
+to Soho at this time, and he will get some idea of what the New Year
+means to the foreigner. The little restaurants are decorated with gay
+festoons of all colours and thronged with merrymakers, the shop-windows
+are crowded with all manner of _recherche_ delicacies; it is the gala
+season of the year.
+
+In France January 1 is a far more festal day than Christmas; it is then
+that presents are given, family gatherings held, and calls paid. In the
+morning children find their stockings filled with gifts, and then rush
+off to offer good wishes to their parents. In the afternoon the younger
+people call upon their older relations, and in the evening all meet for
+dinner at the home of the head of the family.{4}
+
+In Germany the New Year is a time of great importance. Cards are far more
+numerous than at Christmas, and "New Year boxes" are given to the
+tradespeople, while on the Eve (_Sylvesterabend_) there are dances or
+parties, the custom of forecasting the future by lead-pouring is
+practised, and at the stroke of midnight there is a general cry of
+"Prosit Neu Jahr!", a drinking of healths, and a shaking of hands.{5}
+
+New Year wishes and "compliments of the season" are |323| familiar to
+us all, but in England we have not that custom of paying formal calls
+which in France is so characteristic of January 1, when not only
+relations and personal friends, but people whose connection is purely
+official are expected to visit one another. In devout Brittany the wish
+exchanged takes a beautiful religious form--"I wish you a good year and
+Paradise at the end of your days."{6}
+
+New Year calling is by no means confined to France. In the United States
+it is one of the few traces left by the early Dutch settlers on American
+manners. The custom is now rapidly falling into disuse,{7} but in New
+York up to the middle of the nineteenth century "New Year's Day was
+devoted to the universal interchange of visits. Every door was thrown
+wide open. It was a breach of etiquette to omit any acquaintance in these
+annual calls, when old friendships were renewed and family differences
+amicably settled. A hearty welcome was extended even to strangers of
+presentable appearance." At that time the day was marked by tremendous
+eating and drinking, and its visiting customs sometimes developed into
+wild riot. Young men in barouches would rattle from one house to another
+all day long. "The ceremony of calling was a burlesque. There was a noisy
+and hilarious greeting, a glass of wine was swallowed hurriedly,
+everybody shook hands all round, and the callers dashed out and rushed
+into the carriage and were driven rapidly to the next house."{8}
+
+The New Year calling to offer good wishes resembles in some respects the
+widespread custom of "first-footing," based on the belief that the
+character of the first visitor on New Year's Day affects the welfare of
+the household during the year. We have already met with a "first-foot" in
+the _polaznik_ of the southern Slavs on Christmas Day. It is to be borne
+in mind that for them, or at all events for the Crivoscian highlanders
+whose customs are described by Sir Arthur Evans, Christmas is essentially
+the festival of the New Year: New Year's Day is not spoken of at all, its
+name and ceremonies being completely absorbed by the feasts of "Great"
+and "Little" Christmas.{9}
+
+The "first-foot" superstition is found in countries as far apart as
+|324| Scotland and Macedonia. Let us begin with some English examples of
+it. In Shropshire the most important principle is that if luck is to rest
+on a house the "first-foot" must not be a woman. To provide against such
+an unlucky accident as that a woman should call first, people often
+engage a friendly man or boy to pay them an early visit. It is
+particularly interesting to find a Shropshire parallel to the
+_polaznik's_ action in going straight to the hearth and striking sparks
+from the Christmas log,[114] when Miss Burne tells us that one old man
+who used to "let the New Year in" "always entered without knocking or
+speaking, and silently stirred the fire before he offered any greeting to
+the family."{10}
+
+In the villages of the Teme valley, Worcestershire and Herefordshire, "in
+the old climbing-boy days, chimneys used to be swept on New Year's
+morning, that one of the right sex should be the first to enter; and the
+young urchins of the neighbourhood went the round of the houses before
+daylight singing songs, when one of their number would be admitted into
+the kitchen 'for good luck all the year.'" In 1875 this custom was still
+practised; and at some of the farmhouses, if washing-day chanced to fall
+on the first day of the year, it was either put off, or to make sure,
+before the women could come, the waggoner's lad was called up early that
+he might be let out and let in again.{11}
+
+The idea of the unluckiness of a woman's being the "first-foot" is
+extraordinarily widespread; the present writer has met with it in an
+ordinary London restaurant, where great stress was laid upon a man's
+opening the place on New Year's morning before the waitresses arrived. A
+similar belief is found even in far-away China: it is there unlucky on
+New Year's Day to meet a woman on first going out.{12} Can the belief be
+connected with such ideas about dangerous influences proceeding from
+women as have been described by Dr. Frazer in Vol. III. of "The Golden
+Bough,"{13} or does it rest merely on a view of woman as the inferior
+sex? The unluckiness of first meeting a woman is, we may note, not
+confined to, but merely intensified on New Year's Day; in Shropshire{14}
+and in Germany{15} it belongs to any ordinary day.
+
+|325| As to the general attitude towards woman suggested by these
+superstitions I may quote a striking passage from Miss Jane Harrison's
+"Themis." "Woman to primitive man is a thing at once weak and magical, to
+be oppressed, yet feared. She is charged with powers of child-bearing
+denied to man, powers only half understood, forces of attraction, but
+also of danger and repulsion, forces that all over the world seem to fill
+him with dim terror. The attitude of man to woman, and, though perhaps in
+a less degree, of woman to man, is still to-day essentially
+magical."{16}
+
+"First-foot" superstitions flourish in the north of England and in
+Scotland. In the northern counties a man is often specially retained as
+"first-foot" or "lucky bird"; in some parts he must be a bachelor, and he
+is often expected to bring a present with him--a shovelful of coals, or
+some eatable, or whisky.{17} In the East Riding of Yorkshire a boy
+called the "lucky bird" used to come at dawn on Christmas morning as well
+as on New Year's Day, and bring a sprig of evergreens{18}--an offering
+by now thoroughly familiar to us. In Scotland, especially in Edinburgh,
+it is customary for domestic servants to invite their sweethearts to be
+their "first-foots." The old Scotch families who preserve ancient customs
+encourage their servants to "first-foot" them, and grandparents like
+their grandchildren to perform for them the same service.{19} In
+Aberdeenshire it is considered most important that the "first-foot"
+should not come empty-handed. Formerly he carried spiced ale; now he
+brings a whisky-bottle. Shortbread, oat-cakes, "sweeties," or sowens,
+were also sometimes brought by the "first-foot," and occasionally the
+sowens were sprinkled on the doors and windows of the houses visited--a
+custom strongly suggesting a sacramental significance of some sort.{20}
+
+Before we leave the subject of British "first-footing" we may notice one
+or two things that have possibly a racial significance. Not only must the
+"first-foot" be a man or boy, he is often required to be dark-haired; it
+is unlucky for a fair- or red-haired person to "let in" the New
+Year.{21} It has been suggested by Sir John Rhys that this idea rested
+in the first instance upon |326| racial antipathy--the natural
+antagonism of an indigenous dark-haired people to a race of blonde
+invaders.{22} Another curious requirement--in the Isle of Man and
+Northumberland--is that the "first-foot" shall not be flat-footed: he
+should be a person with a high-arched instep, a foot that "water runs
+under." Sir John Rhys is inclined to connect this also with some racial
+contrast. He remarks, by way of illustration, that English shoes do not
+as a rule fit Welsh feet, being made too low in the instep.{23}
+
+Some reference has already been made to Scottish New Year customs. In
+Scotland, the most Protestant region of Europe, the country in which
+Puritanism abolished altogether the celebration of Christmas, New Year's
+Day is a great occasion, and is marked by various interesting usages, its
+importance being no doubt largely due to the fact that it has not to
+compete with the Church feast of the Nativity. Nowadays, indeed, the
+example of Anglicanism is affecting the country to a considerable extent,
+and Christmas Day is becoming observed in the churches. The New Year,
+however, is still the national holiday, and January 1 a great day for
+visiting and feasting, the chief, in fact, of all festivals.{24} New
+Year's Day and its Eve are often called the "Daft Days"; cakes and pastry
+of all kinds are eaten, healths are drunk, and calls are paid.{25}
+
+In Edinburgh there are striking scenes on New Year's Eve. "Towards
+evening," writes an observer, "the thoroughfares become thronged with the
+youth of the city.... As the midnight hour approaches, drinking of
+healths becomes frequent, and some are already intoxicated.... The eyes
+of the immense crowd are ever being turned towards the lighted clock-face
+of 'Auld and Faithful'' Tron [Church], the hour approaches, the hands
+seem to stand still, but in one second more the hurrahing, the cheering,
+the hand-shaking, the health-drinking, is all kept up as long as the
+clock continues to ring out the much-longed-for midnight hour.... The
+crowds slowly disperse, the much-intoxicated and helpless ones being
+hustled about a good deal, the police urging them on out of harm's way.
+The first-footers are off and away, flying in every direction through the
+city, singing, cheering, and shaking hands with all and sundry."{26}
+
+|327| One need hardly allude to the gathering of London Scots around
+St. Paul's to hear the midnight chime and welcome the New Year with the
+strains of "Auld Lang Syne," except to say that times have changed and
+Scotsmen are now lost in the swelling multitude of roysterers of all
+nationalities.
+
+Drinking is and was a great feature of the Scottish New Year's Eve. "On
+the approach of twelve o'clock, a _hot pint_ was prepared--that is, a
+kettle or flagon full of warm, spiced, and sweetened ale, with an
+infusion of spirits. When the clock had struck the knell of the departed
+year, each member of the family drank of this mixture 'A good health and
+a happy New Year and many of them' to all the rest, with a general
+hand-shaking." The elders of the family would then sally out to visit
+their neighbours, and exchange greetings.{27}
+
+At Biggar in Lanarkshire it was customary to "burn out the old year" with
+bonfires, while at Burghead in Morayshire a tar-barrel called the
+"Clavie" was set on fire and carried about the village and the fishing
+boats. Its embers were scrambled for by the people and carefully kept as
+charms against witchcraft.{28} These fire-customs may be compared with
+those on Hallowe'en, which, as we have seen, is probably an old New
+Year's Eve.
+
+Stewart in his "Popular Superstitions of the Highlands of Scotland" tells
+how on the last night of the year the Strathdown Highlanders used to
+bring home great loads of juniper, which on New Year's Day was kindled in
+the different rooms, all apertures being closed so that the smoke might
+produce a thorough fumigation. Not only human beings had to stand this,
+but horses and other animals were treated in the same way to preserve
+them from harm throughout the year. Moreover, first thing on New Year's
+morning, everybody, while still in bed, was asperged with a large
+brush.{29} There is a great resemblance here to the Catholic use of
+incense and holy water in southern Germany and Austria on the
+_Rauchnaechte_ (see also Chapter VIII.). In Tyrol these nights are
+Christmas, New Year's, and Epiphany Eves. When night falls the Tyrolese
+peasant goes with all his household through each room and outhouse, his
+wife bearing the holy water vessel and the censer. Every corner of the
+buildings, every animal, |328| every human being is purified with the
+sacred smoke and the holy sprinkling, and even the Christmas pie must be
+hallowed in this way. In Orthodox Greek countries something of the same
+kind takes place, as we shall see, at the Epiphany. To drive away evil
+spirits is no doubt the object of all these rites.{30}
+
+The most interesting of Scottish New Year customs, considered as
+religious survivals, is a practice found in the Highlands on New Year's
+Eve, and evidently of sacrificial origin. It has been described by
+several writers, and has various forms. According to one account the hide
+of the mart or winter cow was wrapped round the head of one of a company
+of men, who all made off belabouring the hide with switches. The
+disorderly procession went three times _deiseal_ (according to the course
+of the sun) round each house in the village, striking the walls and
+shouting on coming to a door a rhyme demanding admission. On entering,
+each member of the party was offered refreshments, and their leader gave
+to the goodman of the house the "breast-stripe" of a sheep, deer, or
+goat, wrapped round the point of a shinty stick.{31}
+
+We have here another survival of that oft-noted custom of skin-wearing,
+which, as has been seen, originated apparently in a desire for contact
+with the sanctity of the sacrificed victim. Further, the "breast-stripe"
+given to the goodman of each house is evidently meant to convey the
+hallowed influences to each family. It is an oval strip, and no knife may
+be used in removing it from the flesh. The head of the house sets fire to
+it, and it is given to each person in turn to smell. The inhaling of its
+fumes is a talisman against fairies, witches, and demons. In the island
+of South Uist, according to a quite recent account, each person seizes
+hold of it as it burns, making the sign of the cross, if he be a
+Catholic, in the name of the Trinity, and it is put thrice sun-wise about
+the heads of those present. If it should be extinguished it is a bad omen
+for the New Year.{32}
+
+The writer of the last account speaks of the "breast-strip" as the
+"Hogmanay," and it is just possible that the well-known Hogmanay
+processions of children on New Year's Eve (in Scotland and elsewhere) may
+have some connection with the ritual above described. It is customary for
+the poorer children to |329| swaddle themselves in a great sheet,
+doubled up in front so as to form a vast pocket, and then go along the
+streets in little bands, calling out "Hogmanay" at the doors of the
+wealthier classes, and expecting a dole of oaten bread. Each child gets a
+quadrant of oat-cake (sometimes with cheese), and this is called the
+"Hogmanay." Here is one of the rhymes they sing:--
+
+ "Get up, goodwife, and shake your feathers,
+ And dinna think that we are beggars;
+ For we are bairns come out to play,
+ Get up and gie's our hogmanay!"{33}
+
+The word _Hogmanay_--it is found in various forms in the northern English
+counties as well as in Scotland--has been a puzzle to etymologists. It is
+used both for the last day of the year and for the gift of the oaten cake
+or the like; and, as we have seen, it is shouted by the children in their
+quest. Exactly corresponding to it in sense and use is the French word
+_aguillanneuf_, from which it appears to be derived. Although the
+phonetic difference between this and the Scottish word is great, the
+Norman form _hoguinane_ is much closer. There is, moreover, a Spanish
+word _aguinaldo_ (formerly _aguilando_) = Christmas-box. The popular
+explanation of the French term as _au-guy-l'an-neuf_ (to the mistletoe
+the New Year) is now rejected by scholars, and it seems likely that the
+word is a corruption of the Latin _Kalendae_.{34}
+
+A few instances of _aguillanneuf_ customs may be given. Here are
+specimens of rhymes sung by the New Year _queteurs_:--
+
+ "Si vous veniez a la depense,
+ A la depense de chez nous,
+ Vous mangeriez de bons choux,
+ On vous servirait du rost.
+ Hoguinano.
+
+ Donnez-moi mes hoguignettes
+ Dans un panier que voicy.
+ Je l'achetai samedy
+ D'un bon homme de dehors;
+ Mais il est encore a payer.
+ Hoguinano."{35}
+
+|330| Formerly at Matignon and Ploubalay in Brittany on Christmas Eve
+the boys used to get together, carry big sticks and wallets, and knock at
+farmhouse doors. When the inmates called out, "Who's there?" they would
+answer, "The _hoguihanneu_," and after singing something they were given
+a piece of lard. This was put on a pointed stick carried by one of the
+boys, and was kept for a feast called the _bouriho_.{36} Elsewhere in
+Brittany poor children went round crying "_au guyane_," and were given
+pieces of lard or salt beef, which they stuck on a long spit.{37} In
+Guernsey the children's quest at the New Year was called _oguinane_. They
+chanted the following rhyme:--
+
+ "Oguinani! Oguinano!
+ Ouvre ta pouque, et pis la recclios."[115]{38}
+
+Similar processions are common in eastern Europe at the New Year. In some
+parts of Macedonia on New Year's Eve men or boys go about making a noise
+with bells. In other districts, early on New Year's morning, lads run
+about with sticks or clubs, knock people up, cry out good wishes, and
+expect to be rewarded with something to eat. Elsewhere again they carry
+green olive- or cornel-boughs, and touch with them everyone they
+meet.{39} We have already considered various similar customs, the noise
+and knocking being apparently intended to drive away evil spirits, and
+the green boughs to bring folks into contact with the spirit of growth
+therein immanent.
+
+In Roumania on New Year's Eve there is a custom known as the "little
+plough." Boys and men go about after dark from house to house, with long
+greetings, ringing of bells, and cracking of whips. On New Year's morning
+Roumanians throw handfuls of corn at one another with some appropriate
+greeting, such as:--
+
+ "May you live,
+ May you flourish
+ Like apple-trees, |331|
+ Like pear-trees
+ In springtime,
+ Like wealthy autumn,
+ Of all things plentiful."
+
+Generally this greeting is from the young to the old or from the poor to
+the rich, and a present in return is expected.{40}
+
+In Athens models of war-ships are carried round by waits, who make a
+collection of money in them. "St. Basil's ships" they are called, and
+they are supposed to represent the vessel on which St. Basil, whose feast
+is kept on January 1, sailed from Caesarea.{41} It is probable that this
+is but a Christian gloss on a pagan custom. Possibly there may be here a
+survival of an old Greek practice of bearing a ship in procession in
+honour of Dionysus,{42} but it is to be noted that similar observances
+are found at various seasons in countries like Germany and Belgium where
+no Greek influence can be traced. The custom is widespread, and it has
+been suggested by Mannhardt that it was originally intended either to
+promote the success of navigation or to carry evil spirits out to
+sea.{43}
+
+It is interesting, lastly, to read a mediaeval account of a New Year
+_quete_ in Rome. "The following," says the writer, "are common Roman
+sports at the Kalends of January. On the Eve of the Kalends at a late
+hour boys arise and carry a shield. One of them wears a mask; they
+whistle and beat a drum, they go round to the houses, they surround the
+shield, the drum sounds, and the masked figure whistles. This playing
+ended, they receive a present from the master of the house, whatever he
+thinks fit to give. So they do at every house. On that day they eat all
+kinds of vegetables. And in the morning two of the boys arise, take
+olive-branches and salt, enter into the houses, and salute the master
+with the words, 'Joy and gladness be in the house, so many sons, so many
+little pigs, so many lambs,' and they wish him all good things. And
+before the sun rises they eat either a piece of honeycomb or something
+sweet, that the whole year may pass sweetly, without strife and great
+trouble."{44}
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Various methods of peering into the future, more or less like |332|
+those described at earlier festivals, are practised at the New Year.
+Especially popular at German New Year's Eve parties is the custom of
+_bleigiessen_. "This ceremony consists of boiling specially prepared
+pieces of lead in a spoon over a candle; each guest takes his spoonful
+and throws it quickly into the basin of water which is held ready.
+According to the form which the lead takes so will his future be in the
+coming year ... ships (which indicate a journey), or hearts (which have,
+of course, only one meaning), or some other equally significant shape is
+usually discerned."{45}
+
+In Macedonia St. Basil's Eve (December 31) is a common time for
+divination: a favourite method is to lay on the hot cinders a pair of
+wild-olive-leaves to represent a youth and a maid. If the leaves crumple
+up and draw near each other, it is concluded that the young people love
+one another dearly, but if they recoil apart the opposite is the case. If
+they flare up and burn, it is a sign of excessive passion.{46}
+
+In Lithuania on New Year's Eve nine sorts of things--money, cradle,
+bread, ring, death's head, old man, old woman, ladder, and key--are baked
+of dough, and laid under nine plates, and every one has three grabs at
+them. What he gets will fall to his lot during the year.{47}
+
+Lastly, in Brittany it is supposed that the wind which prevails on the
+first twelve days of the year will blow during each of the twelve months,
+the first day corresponding to January, the second to February, and so
+on.{48} Similar ideas of the prophetic character of Christmastide
+weather are common in our own and other countries.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Practically all the customs discussed in this chapter have been of the
+nature of charms; one or two more, practised on New Year's Day or Eve,
+may be mentioned in conclusion.
+
+There are curious superstitions about New Year water. At Bromyard in
+Herefordshire it was the custom, at midnight on New Year's Eve, to rush
+to the nearest spring to snatch the "cream of the well"--the first
+pitcherful of water--and with it the prospect of the best luck.{49} A
+Highland practice was to send |333| some one on the last night of the
+year to draw a pitcherful of water in silence, and without the vessel
+touching the ground. The water was drunk on New Year's morning as a charm
+against witchcraft and the evil eye.{50} A similar belief about the
+luckiness of "new water" exists at Canzano Peligno in the Abruzzi. "On
+New Year's Eve, the fountain is decked with leaves and bits of coloured
+stuff, and fires are kindled round it. As soon as it is light, the girls
+come as usual with their copper pots on their head; but the youths are on
+this morning guardians of the well, and sell the 'new water' for nuts and
+fruits--and other sweet things."{51}
+
+In some of the Aegean islands when the family return from church on New
+Year's Day, the father picks up a stone and leaves it in the yard, with
+the wish that the New Year may bring with it "as much gold as is the
+weight of the stone."{52} Finally, in Little Russia "corn sheaves are
+piled upon a table, and in the midst of them is set a large pie. The
+father of the family takes his seat behind them, and asks his children if
+they can see him. 'We cannot see you,' they reply. On which he proceeds
+to express what seems to be a hope that the corn will grow so high in his
+fields that he may be invisible to his children when he walks there at
+harvest-time."{53}
+
+With a curious and beautiful old carol from South Wales I must bring this
+chapter to a close. It was formerly sung before dawn on New Year's Day by
+poor children who carried about a jug of water drawn that morning from
+the well. With a sprig of box or other evergreen they would sprinkle
+those they met, wishing them the compliments of the season. To pay their
+respects to those not abroad at so early an hour, they would serenade
+them with the following lines, which, while connected with the "new
+water" tradition, contain much that is of doubtful interpretation, and
+are a fascinating puzzle for folk-lorists:--
+
+ "Here we bring new water
+ From the well so clear,
+ For to worship God with,
+ This happy New Year. |334|
+ Sing levy-dew, sing levy-dew,
+ The water and the wine;
+ The seven bright gold wires
+ And the bugles they do shine.
+
+ Sing reign of Fair Maid,
+ With gold upon her toe,--
+ Open you the West Door,
+ And turn the Old Year go:
+ Sing reign of Fair Maid,
+ With gold upon her chin,--
+ Open you the East Door,
+ And let the New Year in."{54}
+
+|335| |336| |337|
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+EPIPHANY TO CANDLEMAS
+
+
+ The Twelfth Cake and the "King of the Bean"--French Twelfth Night
+ Customs--St. Basil's Cake in Macedonia--Epiphany and the Expulsion of
+ Evils--The Befana in Italy--The Magi as Present-bringers--Greek
+ Epiphany Customs--Wassailing Fruit-trees--Herefordshire and Irish
+ Twelfth Night Practices--The "Haxey Hood" and Christmas Football--St.
+ Knut's Day in Sweden--Rock Day--Plough Monday--Candlemas, its
+ Ecclesiastical and Folk Ceremonies--Farewells to Christmas.
+
+[Illustration: THE EPIPHANY IN FLORENCE.]
+
+
+THE EPIPHANY.
+
+Though the Epiphany has ceased to be a popular festival in England, it
+was once a very high day indeed, and in many parts of Europe it is still
+attended by folk-customs of great interest.[116] For the peasant of
+Tyrol, indeed, it is New Year's Day, the first of January being kept only
+by the townsfolk and modernized people.{1}
+
+To Englishmen perhaps the best known feature of the secular festival is
+the Twelfth Cake. Some words of Leigh Hunt's will show what an important
+place this held in the mid-nineteenth century:--
+
+ "Christmas goes out in fine style,--with Twelfth Night. It is a
+ finish worthy of the time. Christmas Day was the morning of the
+ season; New Year's Day the middle of it, or noon; Twelfth Night is
+ the night, brilliant with innumerable planets of Twelfth-cakes. The
+ whole island keeps court; nay, all Christendom. All the world are
+ |338| kings and queens. Everybody is somebody else, and learns at
+ once to laugh at, and to tolerate, characters different from his own,
+ by enacting them. Cakes, characters, forfeits, lights, theatres,
+ merry rooms, little holiday-faces, and, last not least, the painted
+ sugar on the cakes, so bad to eat but so fine to look at, useful
+ because it is perfectly useless except for a sight and a moral--all
+ conspire to throw a giddy splendour over the last night of the
+ season, and to send it to bed in pomp and colours, like a
+ Prince."{2}
+
+ * * * * *
+
+For seventeenth-century banqueting customs and the connection of the cake
+with the "King of the Bean" Herrick may be quoted:--
+
+ "Now, now the mirth comes
+ With the cake full of plums,
+ Where bean's the king of the sport here;
+ Besides we must know,
+ The pea also
+ Must revel as queen in the court here.
+
+ Begin then to choose
+ This night as ye use,
+ Who shall for the present delight here
+ Be a king by the lot,
+ And who shall not
+ Be Twelfth-day queen for the night here
+
+ Which known, let us make
+ Joy-sops with the cake;
+ And let not a man then be seen here,
+ Who unurg'd will not drink,
+ To the base from the brink,
+ A health to the king and the queen here."{3}
+
+There are many English references to the custom of electing a Twelfth Day
+monarch by means of a bean or pea, and this "king" is mentioned in royal
+accounts as early as the reign of Edward II.{4} He appears, however, to
+have been even more popular in France than in England.
+
+|339| The method of choosing the Epiphany king is thus described by the
+sixteenth-century writer, Etienne Pasquier:--
+
+ "When the cake has been cut into as many portions as there are
+ guests, a small child is put under the table, and is interrogated by
+ the master under the name of Phebe [Phoebus], as if he were a child
+ who in the innocence of his age represented a kind of Apollo's
+ oracle. To this questioning the child answers with a Latin word:
+ _Domine_. Thereupon the master calls on him to say to whom he shall
+ give the piece of cake which he has in his hand: the child names
+ whoever comes into his head, without respect of persons, until the
+ portion where the bean is given out. He who gets it is reckoned king
+ of the company, although he may be a person of the least importance.
+ This done, everyone eats, drinks, and dances heartily."{5}
+
+In Berry at the end of the festive repast a cake is brought before the
+head of the household, and divided into as many portions as there are
+guests, plus one. The youngest member of the family distributes them. The
+portion remaining is called _la part du bon Dieu_ and is given to the
+first person who asks for it. A band of children generally come to claim
+it, with a leader who sings a little song.{6} There was formerly a
+custom of dressing up a king in full robes. He had a fool to amuse him
+during the feast, and shots were fired when he drank.{7}
+
+Here is a nineteenth-century account from Lorraine:--
+
+ "On the Vigil of the Epiphany all the family and the guests assemble
+ round the table, which is illuminated by a lamp hanging above its
+ centre. Lots are cast for the king of the feast, and if the head of
+ anyone present casts no shadow on the wall it is a sign that he will
+ die during the year. Then the king chooses freely his queen: they
+ have the place of honour, and each time they raise their glasses to
+ their mouths cries of 'The king drinks, the queen drinks!' burst
+ forth on all sides.... The next day an enormous cake, divided into
+ equal portions, is distributed to the company by the youngest boy.
+ The first portion is always for _le bon Dieu_, the second for the
+ Blessed Virgin (these two portions are always given to the first poor
+ person who presents himself); then come those of relations, servants,
+ and visitors. He who finds a bean in his portion is proclaimed king;
+ if it is a lady she chooses her |340| king, and he invites the
+ company to a banquet on the Sunday following, at which black kings
+ are made by rubbing the face with a burnt cork."{8}
+
+The use of the _gateau des Rois_ goes pretty far back. At the monastery
+of Mont-St.-Michel in the thirteenth century the Epiphany king was chosen
+from among the monks by means of a number of cakes in one of which a bean
+was placed. At Matins, High Mass, and Vespers he sat upon a special
+throne.{9}
+
+It may be added that there is a quaint old story of a curate "who having
+taken his preparations over evening, when all men cry (as the manner is)
+_the king drinketh_, chanting his Masse the next morning, fell asleep in
+his Memento: and, when he awoke, added with a loud voice, _The king
+drinketh_."{10}
+
+One more French "king" custom may be mentioned, though it relates to
+Christmas Day, not Epiphany. At Salers in the centre of France there were
+formerly a king and queen whose function was to preside over the
+festival, sit in a place of honour in church, and go first in the
+procession. The kingship was not elective, but was sold by auction at the
+church door, and it is said to have been so much coveted that worthy
+citizens would sell their heritage in order to purchase it.{11}
+
+It may be remarked that Epiphany kings and cakes similar to the French
+can be traced in Holland and Germany,{12} and that the "King of the
+Bean" is known in modern Italy, though there he may be an importation
+from the north.{13}
+
+How is this merry monarch to be accounted for? His resemblance to the
+king of the _Saturnalia_, who presided over the fun of the feast in the
+days of imperial Rome, is certainly striking, but it is impossible to say
+whether he derives directly from that personage. No doubt his association
+with the feast of the Three Kings has helped to maintain his rule. As for
+the bean, it appears to have been a sacred vegetable in ancient times.
+There is a story about the philosopher Pythagoras, how, when flying
+before a host of rebels, he came upon a field of beans and refused to
+pass through it for fear of crushing the plants, thus enabling his
+pursuers to overtake him. Moreover, the _flamen dialis_ in Rome was
+forbidden to eat or even name the vegetable, and the |341| name of the
+Fabii, a Roman _gens_, suggests a totem tribe of the bean.{14}
+
+In eastern Europe, though I know of no election of a king, there are New
+Year customs with cakes, closely resembling some of the French practices
+described a page or two back. "St. Basil's Cake" on New Year's Eve in
+Macedonia is a kind of shortbread with a silver coin and a cross of green
+twigs in it. When all are seated round the table the father and mother
+take the cake, "and break it into two pieces, which are again subdivided
+by the head of the family into shares. The first portion is destined for
+St. Basil, the Holy Virgin, or the patron saint whose icon is in the
+house. The second stands for the house itself. The third for the cattle
+and domestic animals belonging thereto. The fourth for the inanimate
+property, and the rest for each member of the household according to age.
+Each portion is successively dipped in a cup of wine." He who finds the
+cross or the coin in his share of the cake will prosper during the year.
+The money is considered sacred and is used to buy a votive taper.{15}
+
+In Macedonia when the New Year's supper is over, the table, with the
+remnants of the feast upon it, is removed to a corner of the room in
+order that St. Basil may come and partake of the food.{16} He appears to
+have been substituted by the Church for the spirits of the departed, for
+whom, as we have seen, food is left in the West on All Souls' and
+Christmas Eves. Probably the Macedonian practice of setting aside a
+portion of the cake for a saint, and the pieces cut in France for _le bon
+Dieu_ and the Virgin or the three Magi, have a like origin. One may
+compare them with the Serbian breaking of the _kolatch_ cake in honour of
+Christ "the Patron Namegiver." Is it irrelevant, also, to mention here
+the Greek Church custom, at the preparation of the elements for the
+Eucharist, of breaking portions of the bread in memory of the Virgin and
+other saints?
+
+ * * * * *
+
+In many countries the Epiphany is a special time for the expulsion of
+evils. At Brunnen in Switzerland boys go about in procession on Twelfth
+Night, with torches and lanterns, and make a great noise with horns,
+bells, whips, &c., in order to |342| frighten away two wood-spirits. In
+Labruguiere in southern France on the Eve of Twelfth Day the inhabitants
+rush through the streets, making discordant noises and a huge uproar,
+with the object of scaring away ghosts and devils.{17}
+
+In parts of the eastern Alps there takes place what is called
+_Berchtenlaufen_. Lads, formerly to the number of two or three hundred,
+rush about in the strangest masks, with cowbells, whips, and all sorts of
+weapons, and shout wildly.{18} In Nuremberg up to the year 1616 on
+_Bergnacht_ or Epiphany Eve boys and girls used to run about the streets
+and knock loudly at the doors.{19} Such knocking, as we have seen, may
+well have been intended to drive away spirits from the houses.
+
+At Eschenloh near Partenkirchen in Upper Bavaria three women used to
+_berchten_ on that evening. They all had linen bags over their heads,
+with holes for the mouth and eyes. One carried a chain, another a rake,
+and the third a broom. Going round to the houses, they knocked on the
+door with the chain, scraped the ground with the rake, and made a noise
+of sweeping with the broom.{20} The suggestion of a clearing away of
+evils is here very strong.
+
+In connection with the _Kallikantzaroi_ mention has already been made of
+the purification of houses with holy water, performed by Greek priests on
+the Epiphany. In Roumania, where a similar sprinkling is performed, a
+curious piece of imitative magic is added--the priest is invited to sit
+upon the bed, in order that the brooding hen may sit upon her eggs.
+Moreover there should be maize grains under the mattress; then the hen
+will lay eggs in abundance.{21}
+
+ * * * * *
+
+We noted in an earlier chapter the name _Berchtentag_ applied in southern
+Germany and in Austria to the Epiphany, and we saw also how the
+mysterious Frau Berchta was specially connected with the day. On the
+Epiphany and its Eve in the Moellthal in Carinthia a female figure, "the
+Berchtel," goes the round of the houses. She is generally dressed in a
+hide, wears a hideous wooden mask, and hops wildly about, inquiring as to
+the behaviour of children, and demanding gifts.{22}
+
+|343| Something of the terrible, as well as the beneficent, belongs to
+the "Befana," the Epiphany visitor who to Italian children is the great
+gift-bringer of the year, the Santa Klaus of the South. "Delightful," say
+Countess Martinengo, "as are the treasures she puts in their shoes when
+satisfied with their behaviour, she is credited with an unpleasantly
+sharp eye for youthful transgressions."{23} Mothers will sometimes warn
+their children that if they are naughty the Befana will fetch and eat
+them. To Italian youngsters she is a very real being, and her coming on
+Epiphany Eve is looked forward to with the greatest anxiety. Though she
+puts playthings and sweets in the stockings of good children, she has
+nothing but a birch and coal for those who misbehave themselves.{24}
+
+Formerly at Florence images of the Befana were put up in the windows of
+houses, and there were processions through the streets, guys being borne
+about, with a great blowing of trumpets.{25} Toy trumpets are still the
+delight of little boys at the Epiphany in Italy.
+
+The Befana's name is obviously derived from _Epiphania_. In Naples the
+little old woman who fills children's stockings is called "Pasqua
+Epiphania,"[117] the northern contraction not having been acclimatized
+there.{26}
+
+In Spain as well as Italy the Epiphany is associated with presents for
+children, but the gift-bringers for little Spaniards are the Three Holy
+Kings themselves. There is an old Spanish tradition that the Magi go
+every year to Bethlehem to adore the infant Jesus, and on their way visit
+children, leaving sweets and toys for them if they have behaved well. On
+Epiphany Eve the youngsters go early to bed, put out their shoes on the
+window-sill or balcony to be filled with presents by the Wise Men, and
+provide a little straw for their horses.{27}
+
+It is, or was, a custom in Madrid to look out for the Kings on Epiphany
+Eve. Companies of men go out with bells and pots and pans, and make a
+great noise. There is loud shouting, and torches cast a fantastic light
+upon the scene. One of the men carries a large ladder, and mounts it to
+see if the Kings are |344| coming. Here, perhaps, some devil-scaring
+rite, resembling those described above, has been half-Christianized.{28}
+
+In Provence, too, there was a custom of going to meet the Magi. In a
+charming chapter of his Memoirs Mistral tells us how on Epiphany Eve all
+the children of his countryside used to go out to meet the Kings, bearing
+cakes for the Magi, dried figs for their pages, and handfuls of hay for
+their horses. In the glory and colour of the sunset young Mistral thought
+he saw the splendid train; but soon the gorgeous vision died away, and
+the children stood gaping alone on the darkening highway--the Kings had
+passed behind the mountain. After supper the little ones hurried to
+church, and there in the Chapel of the Nativity beheld the Kings in
+adoration before the Crib.{29}
+
+At Trest not only did the young people carry baskets or dried fruit, but
+there were three men dressed as Magi to receive the offerings and accept
+compliments addressed to them by an orator. In return they presented him
+with a purse full of counters, upon which he rushed off with the treasure
+and was pursued by the others in a sort of dance.{30} Here again the
+Magi are evidently mixed up with something that has no relation to
+Christianity.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+We noted in Chapter IV. the elaborate ceremonies connected in Greece with
+the Blessing of the Waters at the Epiphany, and the custom of diving for
+a cross. It would seem, as was pointed out, that the latter is an
+ecclesiastically sanctioned form of a folk-ceremony. This is found in a
+purer state in Macedonia, where, after Matins on the Epiphany, it is the
+custom to thrust some one into water, be it sea or river, pond or well.
+On emerging he has to sprinkle the bystanders.{31} The rite may be
+compared with the drenchings of human beings in order to produce rain
+described by Dr. Frazer in "The Magic Art."{32}
+
+Another Greek custom combines the purifying powers of Epiphany water with
+the fertilizing influences of the Christmas log--round Mount Olympos
+ashes are taken from the hearth where a cedar log has been burning since
+Christmas, and are baptized in the blessed water of the river. They are
+then borne |345| to the vineyards, and thrown at their four corners,
+and also at the foot of apple- and fig-trees.{33}
+
+This may remind us that in England fruit-trees used to come in for
+special treatment on the Vigil of the Epiphany. In Devonshire the farmer
+and his men would go to the orchard with a large jug of cider, and drink
+the following toast at the foot of one of the best-bearing apple-trees,
+firing guns in conclusion:--
+
+ "Here's to thee, old apple-tree,
+ Whence thou may'st bud, and whence thou may'st blow!
+ And whence thou may'st bear apples enow!
+ Hats full! caps full!
+ Bushel!--bushel--sacks full,
+ And my pockets full too! Huzza!"{34}
+
+In seventeenth-century Somersetshire, according to Aubrey, a piece of
+toast was put upon the roots.{35} According to another account each
+person in the company used to take a cupful of cider, with roasted apples
+pressed into it, drink part of the contents, and throw the rest at the
+tree.{36} The custom is described by Herrick as a Christmas Eve
+ceremony:--
+
+ "Wassail the trees, that they may bear
+ You many a plum and many a pear;
+ For more or less fruits they will bring,
+ As you do give them wassailing."{37}
+
+In Sussex the wassailing (or "worsling") of fruit-trees took place on
+Christmas Eve, and was accompanied by a trumpeter blowing on a cow's
+horn.{38}
+
+The wassailing of the trees may be regarded as either originally an
+offering to their spirits or--and this seems more probable--as a
+sacramental act intended to bring fertilizing influences to bear upon
+them. Customs of a similar character are found in Continental countries
+during the Christmas season. In Tyrol, for instance, when the Christmas
+pies are a-making on St. Thomas's Eve, the maids are told to go
+out-of-doors and put their arms, sticky with paste, round the
+fruit-trees, in order that they |346| may bear well next year.{39} The
+uses of the ashes of the Christmas log have already been noticed.
+
+Sometimes, as in the Thurgau, Mecklenburg, Oldenburg, and Tyrol, the
+trees are beaten to make them bear. On New Year's Eve at Hildesheim
+people dance and sing around them,{40} while the Tyrolese peasant on
+Christmas Eve will go out to his trees, and, knocking with bent fingers
+upon them, will bid them wake up and bear.{41} There is a Slavonic
+custom, on the same night, of threatening apple-trees with a hatchet if
+they do not produce fruit during the year.{42}
+
+Another remarkable agricultural rite was practised on Epiphany Eve in
+Herefordshire and Gloucestershire. The farmer and his servants would meet
+in a field sown with wheat, and there light thirteen fires, with one
+larger than the rest. Round this a circle was formed by the company, and
+all would drink a glass of cider to the success of the harvest.[118] This
+done, they returned to the farm, to feast--in Gloucestershire--on cakes
+made with caraways, and soaked in cider. The Herefordshire accounts give
+particulars of a further ceremony. A large cake was provided, with a hole
+in the middle, and after supper everyone went to the wain-house. The
+master filled a cup with strong ale, and standing opposite the finest ox,
+pledged him in a curious toast; the company followed his example with the
+other oxen, addressing each by name. Afterwards the large cake was put on
+the horn of the first ox.{43}
+
+It is extremely remarkable, and can scarcely be a mere coincidence, that
+far away among the southern Slavs, as we saw in Chapter XII., a Christmas
+cake with a hole in its centre is likewise put upon the horn of the chief
+ox. The wassailing of the animals is found there also. On Christmas Day,
+Sir Arthur |347| Evans relates, the house-mother "entered the stall set
+apart for the goats, and having first sprinkled them with corn, took the
+wine-cup in her hand and said, 'Good morning, little mother! The Peace of
+God be on thee! Christ is born; of a truth He is born. May'st thou be
+healthy. I drink to thee in wine; I give thee a pomegranate; may'st thou
+meet with all good luck!' She then lifted the cup to her lips, took a
+sup, tossed the pomegranate among the herd, and throwing her arms round
+the she-goat, whose health she had already drunk, gave it the 'Peace of
+God'--kissed it, that is, over and over again." The same ceremony was
+then performed for the benefit of the sheep and cows, and all the animals
+were beaten with a leafy olive-branch.{44}
+
+As for the fires, an Irish custom to some extent supplies a parallel. On
+Epiphany Eve a sieve of oats was set up, "and in it a dozen of candles
+set round, and in the centre one larger, all lighted." This was said to
+be in memory of the Saviour and His apostles, lights of the world.{45}
+Here is an account of a similar custom practised in Co. Leitrim:--
+
+ "A piece of board is covered with cow-dung, and twelve rushlights are
+ stuck therein. These are sprinkled with ash at the top, to make them
+ light easily, and then set alight, each being named by some one
+ present, and as each dies so will the life of its owner. A ball is
+ then made of the dung, and it is placed over the door of the cowhouse
+ for an increase of cattle. Sometimes mud is used, and the ball placed
+ over the door of the dwelling-house."{46}
+
+There remains to be considered under Epiphany usages an ancient and very
+remarkable game played annually on January 6 at Haxey in Lincolnshire. It
+is known traditionally as "Haxey Hood," and its centre is a struggle
+between the men of two villages for the possession of a roll of sacking
+or leather called the "hood." Over it preside the "boggans" or "bullocks"
+of Plough Monday (see p. 352), headed by a figure known as "My Lord," who
+is attended by a fool. The proceedings are opened on the village green by
+a mysterious speech from the fool:--
+
+"Now, good folks, this is Haxa' Hood. We've killed two |348| bullocks
+and a half, but the other half we had to leave running about field: we
+can fetch it if it's wanted. Remember it's--
+
+ 'Hoose agin hoose, toon agin toon,
+ And if you meet a man knock him doon.'"
+
+Then, in an open field, the hoods--there are six of them, one apparently
+for each of the chief hamlets round--are thrown up and struggled for.
+"The object is to carry them off the field away from the boggans. If any
+of these can get hold of them, or even touch them, they have to be given
+up, and carried back to My Lord. For every one carried off the field the
+boggans forfeit half-a-crown, which is spent in beer, doubtless by the
+men of the particular hamlet who have carried off the hood." The great
+event of the day is the struggle for the last hood--made of
+leather--between the men of Haxey and the men of Westwoodside--"that is
+to say really between the customers of the public-houses there--each
+party trying to get it to his favourite 'house.' The publican at the
+successful house stands beer."{47}
+
+Mr. Chambers regards the fool's strange speech as preserving the
+tradition that the hood is the half of a bullock--the head of a
+sacrificial victim, and he explains both the Haxey game and also the
+familiar games of hockey and football as originating in a struggle
+between the people of two villages to get such a head, with all its
+fertilizing properties, over their own boundary.{48} At Hornchurch in
+Essex, if we may trust a note given by Hone, an actual boar's head was
+wrestled for on Christmas Day, and afterwards feasted upon at one of the
+public-houses by the victor and his friends.{49}
+
+One more feature of the Haxey celebration must be mentioned (it points
+apparently to a human sacrifice): the fool, the morning after the game,
+used to be "smoked" over a straw fire. "He was suspended above the fire
+and swung backwards and forwards over it until almost suffocated; then
+allowed to drop into the smouldering straw, which was well wetted, and to
+scramble out as he could."{50}
+
+Returning to the subject of football, I may here condense an |349|
+account of a Welsh Christmas custom quoted by Sir Laurence Gomme, in his
+book "The Village Community," from the _Oswestry Observer_ of March 2,
+1887:--"In South Cardiganshire it seems that about eighty years ago the
+population, rich and poor, male and female, of opposing parishes, turned
+out on Christmas Day and indulged in the game of football with such
+vigour that it became little short of a serious fight." Both in north and
+south Wales the custom was found. At one place, Llanwenog near Lampeter,
+there was a struggle between two parties with different traditions of
+race. The Bros, supposed to be descendants from Irish people, occupied
+the high ground of the parish; the Blaenaus, presumably pure-bred
+Brythons, occupied the lowlands. After morning service on Christmas Day,
+"the whole of the Bros and Blaenaus, rich and poor, male and female,
+assembled on the turnpike road which divided the highlands from the
+lowlands." The ball was thrown high in the air, "and when it fell Bros
+and Blaenaus scrambled for its possession.... If the Bros, by hook or by
+crook, could succeed in taking the ball up the mountain to their hamlet
+of Rhyddlan they won the day, while the Blaenaus were successful if they
+got the ball to their end of the parish at New Court." Many severe kicks
+were given, and the whole thing was taken so keenly "that a Bro or a
+Blaenau would as soon lose a cow from his cowhouse as the football from
+his portion of the parish." There is plainly more than a mere pastime
+here; the thing appears to have been originally a struggle between two
+clans.{51}
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Anciently the Carnival, with its merrymaking before the austerities of
+Lent, was held to begin at the Epiphany. This was the case in Tyrol even
+in the nineteenth century.{52} As a rule, however, the Carnival in Roman
+Catholic countries is restricted to the last three days before Ash
+Wednesday. The pagan origin of its mummeries and licence is evident, but
+it is a spring rather than a winter festival, and hardly calls for
+treatment here.
+
+The Epiphany is in many places the end of Christmas. In Calvados,
+Normandy, it is marked by bonfires; red flames mount |350| skywards,
+and the peasants join hands, dance, and leap through blinding smoke and
+cinders, shouting these rude lines:--
+
+ "Adieu les Rois
+ Jusqu'a douze mois,
+ Douze mois passes
+ Les bougelees."{53}
+
+Another French Epiphany _chanson_, translated by the Rev. R. L. Gales, is
+a charming farewell to Christmas:--
+
+ "Noel is leaving us,
+ Sad 'tis to tell,
+ But he will come again,
+ Adieu, Noel.
+
+ His wife and his children
+ Weep as they go:
+ On a grey horse
+ They ride thro' the snow.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ The Kings ride away
+ In the snow and the rain,
+ After twelve months
+ We shall see them again."{54}
+
+
+POST-EPIPHANY FESTIVALS.
+
+Though with Twelfth Day the high festival of Christmas generally ends,
+later dates have sometimes been assigned as the close of the season. At
+the old English court, for instance, the merrymaking was sometimes
+carried on until Candlemas, while in some English country places it was
+customary, even in the late nineteenth century, to leave Christmas
+decorations up, in houses and churches, till that day.{55} The whole
+time between Christmas and the Presentation in the Temple was thus
+treated as sacred to the Babyhood of Christ; the withered evergreens
+would keep alive memories of Christmas joys, even, sometimes, after
+Septuagesima had struck the note of penitence.
+
+Before we pass on to a short notice of Candlemas, we may |351| glance
+at a few last sparks, so to speak, of the Christmas blaze, and then at
+the English festivals which marked the resumption of work after the
+holidays.
+
+In Sweden Yule is considered to close with the Octave of the Epiphany,
+January 13, "St. Knut's Day," the twentieth after Christmas.
+
+ "Twentieth day Knut
+ Driveth Yule out"
+
+sing the old folks as the young people dance in a ring round the festive
+Yule board, which is afterwards robbed of the viands that remain on it,
+including the Yule boar. On this day a sort of mimic fight used to take
+place, the master and servants of the house pretending to drive away the
+guests with axe, broom, knife, spoon, and other implements.{56} The
+name, "St. Knut's Day," is apparently due to the fact that in the laws of
+Canute the Great (1017-36) it is commanded that there is to be no fasting
+from Christmas to the Octave of the Epiphany.{57}
+
+In England the day after the Epiphany was called St. Distaff's or Rock
+Day (the word Rock is evidently the same as the German _Rocken_ =
+distaff). It was the day when the women resumed their spinning after the
+rest and gaiety of Christmas. From a poem of Herrick's it appears that
+the men in jest tried to burn the women's flax, and the women in return
+poured water on the men:--
+
+ "Partly work, and partly play
+ You must on St. Distaff's day:
+ From the plough soon free your team,
+ Then come home and fother them;
+ If the maids a-spinning go,
+ Burn the flax and fire the tow.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ Bring in pails of water then,
+ Let the maids bewash the men;
+ Give St. Distaff all the right,
+ Then bid Christmas sport good night;
+ And next morrow, every one
+ To his own vocation."{58}
+
+|352| A more notable occasion was Plough Monday, the first after
+Twelfth Day. Men's labour then began again after the holidays.{59} We
+have already seen that it is sometimes associated with the mummers'
+plays. Often, however, its ritual is not developed into actual drama, and
+the following account from Derbyshire gives a fairly typical description
+of its customs:--
+
+ "On Plough Monday the 'Plough bullocks' are occasionally seen; they
+ consist of a number of young men from various farmhouses, who are
+ dressed up in ribbons.... These young men yoke themselves to a
+ plough, which they draw about, preceded by a band of music, from
+ house to house, collecting money. They are accompanied by the Fool
+ and Bessy; the fool being dressed in the skin of a calf, with the
+ tail hanging down behind, and Bessy generally a young man in female
+ attire. The fool carries an inflated bladder tied to the end of a
+ long stick, by way of whip, which he does not fail to apply pretty
+ soundly to the heads and shoulders of his team. When anything is
+ given a cry of 'Largess!' is raised, and a dance performed round the
+ plough. If a refusal to their application for money is made they not
+ unfrequently plough up the pathway, door-stone, or any other portion
+ of the premises they happen to be near."{60}
+
+By Plough Monday we have passed, it seems probable, from New Year
+festivals to one that originally celebrated the beginning of spring. Such
+a feast, apparently, was kept in mid-February when ploughing began at
+that season; later the advance of agriculture made it possible to shift
+it forward to early January.{61}
+
+
+CANDLEMAS.
+
+Nearer to the original date of the spring feast is Candlemas, February 2;
+though connected with Christmas by its ecclesiastical meaning, it is
+something of a vernal festival.{62}
+
+The feast of the Purification of the Virgin or Presentation of Christ in
+the Temple was probably instituted by Pope Liberius at Rome in the fourth
+century. The ceremonial to which it owes its popular name, Candlemas, is
+the blessing of candles in church and the procession of the faithful,
+carrying them lighted in their hands. During the blessing the "Nunc
+dimittis" is chanted, |353| with the antiphon "Lumen ad revelationem
+gentium et gloriam plebis tuae Israel," the ceremony being thus brought
+into connection with the "light to lighten the Gentiles" hymned by
+Symeon. Usener has however shown reason for thinking that the Candlemas
+procession was not of spontaneous Christian growth, but was inspired by a
+desire to Christianize a Roman rite, the _Amburbale_, which took place at
+the same season and consisted of a procession round the city with lighted
+candles.{63}
+
+The Candlemas customs of the sixteenth century are thus described by
+Naogeorgus:
+
+ "Then numbers great of Tapers large, both men and women beare
+ To Church, being halowed there with pomp, and dreadful words to heare.
+ This done, eche man his Candell lightes, where chiefest seemeth hee,
+ Whose taper greatest may be seene, and fortunate to bee,
+ Whose Candell burneth cleare and brighte; a wondrous force and might
+ Doth in these Candells lie, which if at any time they light,
+ They sure beleve that neyther storme or tempest dare abide,
+ Nor thunder in the skies be heard, nor any devils spide,
+ Nor fearefull sprites that walke by night, nor hurts of frost or
+ haile."{64}
+
+Still, in many Roman Catholic regions, the candles blessed in church at
+the Purification are believed to have marvellous powers. In Brittany,
+Franche-Comte, and elsewhere, they are preserved and lighted in time of
+storm or sickness.{65} In Tyrol they are lighted on important family
+occasions such as christenings and funerals, as well as on the approach
+of a storm{66}; in Sicily in time of earthquake or when somebody is
+dying.{67}
+
+In England some use of candles on this festival continued long after the
+Reformation. In 1628 the Bishop of Durham gave serious offence by
+sticking up wax candles in his cathedral at the Purification; "the number
+of all the candles burnt that evening was two hundred and twenty, besides
+sixteen torches; sixty of |354| those burning tapers and torches
+standing upon and near the high Altar."{68} Ripon Cathedral, as late as
+the eighteenth century, was brilliantly illuminated with candles on the
+Sunday before the festival.{69} And, to come to domestic customs, at
+Lyme Regis in Dorsetshire the person who bought the wood-ashes of a
+family used to send a present of a large candle at Candlemas. It was
+lighted at night, and round it there was festive drinking until its going
+out gave the signal for retirement to rest.{70}
+
+There are other British Candlemas customs connected with fire. In the
+western isles of Scotland, says an early eighteenth-century writer, "as
+Candlemas Day comes round, the mistress and servants of each family
+taking a sheaf of oats, dress it up in woman's apparel, and after putting
+it in a large basket, beside which a wooden club is placed, they cry
+three times, 'Briid is come! Briid is welcome!' This they do just before
+going to bed, and as soon as they rise in the morning, they look among
+the ashes, expecting to see the impression of Briid's club there, which
+if they do, they reckon it a true presage of a good crop and prosperous
+year, and the contrary they take as an ill-omen."{71} Sir Laurence Gomme
+regards this as an illustration of belief in a house-spirit whose
+residence is the hearth and whose element is the ever-burning sacred
+flame. He also considers the Lyme Regis custom mentioned above to be a
+modernized relic of the sacred hearth-fire.{72}
+
+Again, the feast of the Purification was the time to kindle a "brand"
+preserved from the Christmas log. Herrick's Candlemas lines may be
+recalled:--
+
+ "Kindle the Christmas brand, and then
+ Till sunne-set let it burne;
+ Which quencht, then lay it up agen,
+ Till Christmas next returne.
+
+ Part must be kept wherewith to teend
+ The Christmas Log next yeare;
+ And where 'tis safely kept, the Fiend
+ Can do no mischiefe there."{73}
+
+|355| Candlemas Eve was the moment for the last farewells to Christmas;
+Herrick sings:--
+
+ "End now the White Loafe and the Pye,
+ And let all sports with Christmas dye,"
+
+and
+
+ "Down with the Rosemary and Bayes,
+ Down with the Misleto;
+ Instead of Holly, now up-raise
+ The greener Box for show.
+
+ The Holly hitherto did sway;
+ Let Box now domineere
+ Until the dancing Easter Day,
+ Or Easter's Eve appeare."{74}
+
+An old Shropshire servant, Miss Burne tells us, was wont, when she took
+down the holly and ivy on Candlemas Eve, to put snow-drops in their
+place.{75} We may see in this replacing of the winter evergreens by the
+delicate white flowers a hint that by Candlemas the worst of the winter
+is over and gone; Earth has begun to deck herself with blossoms, and
+spring, however feebly, has begun. With Candlemas we, like the older
+English countryfolk, may take our leave of Christmas.
+
+|356| |357|
+
+
+
+
+CONCLUSION
+
+
+The reader who has had patience to persevere will by now have gained some
+idea of the manner in which Christmas is, and has been, kept throughout
+Europe. We have traced the evolution of the festival, seen it take its
+rise soon after the victory of the Catholic doctrine of Christ's person
+at Nicea, and spread from Rome to every quarter of the Empire, not as a
+folk-festival but as an ecclesiastical holy-day. We have seen the Church
+condemn with horror the relics of pagan feasts which clung round the same
+season of the year; then, as time went on, we have found the two
+elements, pagan and Christian, mingling in some degree, the pagan losing
+most of its serious meaning, and continuing mainly as ritual performed
+for the sake of use and wont or as a jovial tradition, the Christian
+becoming humanized, the skeleton of dogma clothed with warm flesh and
+blood.
+
+We have considered, as represented in poetry and liturgy, the strictly
+ecclesiastical festival, the commemoration of the Nativity as the
+beginning of man's redemption. We have seen how in the carols, the cult
+of the _presepio_, and the religious drama, the Birth of the King of
+Glory in the stable at midwinter has presented itself in concrete form to
+the popular mind, calling up a host of human emotions, a crowd of quaint
+and beautiful fancies. Lastly we have noted the survival, in the most
+varied degrees of transformation, of things which are alien to
+Christianity and in some cases seem to go back to very primitive stages
+of thought and feeling. An antique reverence for the plant-world may lie,
+as we have seen, beneath the familiar institution of the Christmas-tree,
+some sort of animal-worship may be at the bottom of the |358|
+beast-masks common at winter festivals, survivals of sacrifice may linger
+in Christmas feasting, and in the family gatherings round the hearth may
+be preserved a dim memory of ancient domestic rites.
+
+Christmas, indeed, regarded in all its aspects, is a microcosm of
+European religion. It reflects almost every phase of thought and feeling
+from crude magic and superstition to the speculative mysticism of
+Eckhart, from mere delight in physical indulgence to the exquisite
+spirituality and tenderness of St. Francis. Ascetic and _bon-vivant_,
+mystic and materialist, learned and simple, noble and peasant, all have
+found something in it of which to lay hold. It is a river into which have
+flowed tributaries from every side, from Oriental religion, from Greek
+and Roman civilization, from Celtic, Teutonic, Slav, and probably
+pre-Aryan, society, mingling their waters so that it is often hard to
+discover the far-away springs.
+
+We have seen how the Reformation broke up the great mediaeval synthesis
+of paganism and Christianity, how the extremer forms of Protestantism
+aimed at completely destroying Christmas, and how the general tendency of
+modern civilization, with its scientific spirit, its popular education,
+its railways, its concentration of the people in great cities, has been
+to root out traditional beliefs and customs both Christian and pagan, so
+that if we would seek for relics of the old things we must go to the
+regions of Europe that are least industrially and intellectually
+"advanced." Yet amongst the most sceptical and "enlightened" of moderns
+there is generally a large residuum of tradition. "Emotionally," it has
+been said, "we are hundreds of thousands of years old; rationally we are
+embryos"{1}; and many people who deem themselves "emancipated" are
+willing for once in the year to plunge into the stream of tradition,
+merge themselves in inherited social custom, and give way to sentiments
+and impressions which in their more reflective moments they spurn. Most
+men are ready at Christmas to put themselves into an instinctive rather
+than a rational attitude, to drink of the springs of wonder, and return
+in some degree to earlier, less intellectual stages of human
+development--to become in fact children again.
+
+|359| Many elements enter into the modern Christmas. There is the
+delight of its warmth and brightness and comfort against the bleak
+midwinter. A peculiar charm of the northern Christmas lies in the thought
+of the cold barred out, the home made a warm, gay place in contrast with
+the cheerless world outside. There is the physical pleasure of "good
+cheer," of plentiful eating and drinking, joined to, and partly resulting
+in, a sense of goodwill and expansive kindliness towards the world at
+large, a temporary feeling of the brotherhood of man, a desire that the
+poor may for once in the year "have a good time." Here perhaps we may
+trace the influence of the _Saturnalia_, with its dreams of the age of
+gold, its exaltation of them of low degree. Mixed with a little
+sentimental Christianity this is the Christmas of Dickens--the Christmas
+which he largely helped to perpetuate in England.
+
+Each nation, naturally, has fashioned its own Christmas. The English have
+made it a season of solid material comfort, of good-fellowship and
+"charity," with a slight flavour of soothing religion. The modern French,
+sceptical and pagan, make little of Christmas, and concentrate upon the
+secular celebration of the _jour de l'an_. For the Scandinavians
+Christmas is above all a time of sport, recreation, good living, and
+social gaiety in the midst of a season when little outdoor work can be
+done and night almost swallows up day. The Germans, sentimental and
+childlike, have produced a Christmas that is a very Paradise for children
+and at which the old delight to play at being young again around the
+Tree. For the Italians Christmas is centred upon the cult of the
+_Bambino_, so fitted to their dramatic instincts, their love of display,
+their strong parental affection. (How much of the sentiment that
+surrounds the _presepio_ is, though religiously heightened, akin to the
+delight of a child in its doll!) If the Germans may be called the good,
+industrious, sentimental children of Europe, making the most of simple
+things, the Italians are the lively, passionate, impulsive children,
+loving gay clothes and finery; and the contrast shows in their keeping of
+Christmas.
+
+The modern Christmas is above all things a children's feast, and the
+elders who join in it put themselves upon their children's |360| level.
+We have noted how ritual acts, once performed with serious purpose, tend
+to become games for youngsters, and have seen many an example of this
+process in the sports and mummeries kept up by the elder folk for the
+benefit of the children. We have seen too how the radiant figure of the
+Christ Child has become a gift-bringer for the little ones. At no time in
+the world's history has so much been made of children as to-day, and
+because Christmas is their feast its lustre continues unabated in an age
+upon which dogmatic Christianity has largely lost its hold, which laughs
+at the pagan superstitions of its forefathers. Christmas is the feast of
+beginnings, of instinctive, happy childhood; the Christian idea of the
+Immortal Babe renewing weary, stained humanity, blends with the thought
+of the New Year, with its hope and promise, laid in the cradle of Time.
+
+|361| |362| |363|
+
+
+
+
+NOTES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
+
+
+CHAPTER I.--INTRODUCTION
+
+1. #G. K. Chesterton# in #"The Daily News,"# Dec. 26, 1903.
+
+2. _Ibid._ Dec. 23, 1911.
+
+3. Cf. #J. E. Harrison, "Themis: a Study of the Social Origins of Greek
+ Religion"# (Cambridge, 1912), 139, 184.
+
+4. Or plural _Weihnachten_. The name _Weihnachten_ was applied in five
+ different ways in mediaeval Germany: (1) to Dec. 25, (2) to Dec.
+ 25-8, (3) to the whole Christmas week, (4) to Dec. 25 to Jan. 6, (5)
+ to the whole time from Christmas to the Octave of the Epiphany. #G.
+ Bilfinger, "Das germanische Julfest"# (Stuttgart, 1901), 39.
+
+5. #A. Tille, "Die Geschichte der deutschen Weihnacht"# (Leipsic, 1893),
+ 22. [Referred to as "D. W."]
+
+6. #H. Usener, "Das Weihnachtsfest"# (Kap. i., bis. iii. 2nd Edition,
+ Bonn, 1911), 273 f.
+
+7. #L. Duchesne, "Christian Worship: its Origin and Evolution"# (Eng.
+ Trans., Revised Edition, London, 1912), 257 f.
+
+8. #J. Hastings, "Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics"# (Edinburgh,
+ 1910), iii. 601 f.
+
+9. #E. K. Chambers, "The Mediaeval Stage"# (Oxford, 1903), i. 244.
+ [Referred to as "M. S."]
+
+10. #A. Tille, "Yule and Christmas: their Place in the Germanic Year"#
+ (London, 1899), 122. [Referred to as "Y. & C."]
+
+11. _Ibid._ 164.
+
+12. Tille, "D. W.," 21.
+
+13. Tille, "Y. & C.," 203.
+
+14. #K. Lake# in Hastings's "Encyclopaedia" and in #"The Guardian,"# Dec.
+ 29, 1911; #F. C. Conybeare#, Preface to #"The Key of Truth, a Manual
+ of the Paulician Church of Armenia"# (Oxford, 1898), clii. f.;
+ Usener, 18 f.
+
+15. Usener, 27 f.
+
+16. _Ibid._ 31; #J. E. Harrison, "Prolegomena to the Study of Greek
+ Religion"# (Cambridge, 1903), 550.
+
+17. Harrison, "Prolegomena," 402 f., 524 f., 550. |364|
+
+18. #Lake#, and #G. Rietschel, "Weihnachten in Kirche, Kunst and
+ Volksleben"# (Bielefeld and Leipsic, 1902), 10.
+
+19. Conybeare, lxxviii.
+
+20. #A. Lupi, "Dissertazioni, lettere ed altre operette"# (Faenza, 1785),
+ i. 219 f., mentioned in article "Nativity" in #T. K. Cheyne's
+ "Encyclopaedia Biblica"# (London, 1902), iii. 3346.
+
+21. Chambers, "M. S.," i. 234.
+
+22. _Ibid._ i. 235; #F. Cumont, "The Monuments of Mithra"# (Eng. Trans.,
+ London, 1903), 190.
+
+23. #G. Negri, "Julian the Apostate"# (Eng. Trans., London, 1905),
+ i. 240 f.
+
+24. Chambers, "M. S.," i. 235.
+
+25. Duchesne, "Christian Worship," 265.
+
+26. Tille, "Y. & C.," 146.
+
+
+PART I.--THE CHRISTIAN FEAST
+
+
+CHAPTER II.--CHRISTMAS POETRY (I)
+
+1. See especially for Latin, German, and English hymnody #J. Julian, "A
+ Dictionary of Hymnology"# (New Edition, London, 1907), and the
+ #Historical Edition of "Hymns Ancient and Modern"# (London, 1909).
+
+2. #H. C. Beeching, "A Book of Christmas Verse"# (London, 1895), 3.
+
+3. Beeching, 8.
+
+4. #A. Gastoue, "Noel"# (Paris, 1907), 38.
+
+5. #R. W. Church, "St. Anselm"# (London, 1870), 6.
+
+6. _Ibid._ 3 f.
+
+7. #W. R. W. Stephens, "The English Church from the Norman Conquest to
+ the Accession of Edward I."# (London, 1901), 309.
+
+8. #W. Sandys, "Christmastide: its History, Festivities, and Carols"#
+ (London, n.d.), 216; #E. Rickert, "Ancient English Carols.
+ MCCCC-MDCC"# (London, 1910), 133.
+
+9. For the Franciscan influence on poetry and art see: #Vernon Lee,
+ "Renaissance Fancies and Studies"# (London, 1895); #H. Thode, "Franz
+ von Assisi und die Anfaenge der Kunst der Renaissance in Italien"#
+ (Berlin, 1885); #A. Macdonell, "Sons of Francis"# (London, 1902); #J.
+ A. Symonds, "The Renaissance in Italy. Italian Literature,"# Part I.
+ (New Edition, London, 1898).
+
+10. #Thomas of Celano, "Lives of St. Francis"# (Eng. Trans. by A. G.
+ Ferrers Howell, London, 1908), 84.
+
+11. #P. Robinson, "Writings of St. Francis"# (London, 1906), 175.
+
+12. #"Le poesie spirituali del B. Jacopone da Todi,"# con annotationi di
+ Fra Francesco Tresatti (Venice, 1617), 266.
+
+13. _Ibid._ 275.
+
+14. _Ibid._ 867.
+
+15. #"Stabat Mater speciosa,"# trans. and ed. by J. M. Neale (London,
+ 1866). |365|
+
+16. For German Christmas poetry see, besides Julian: #Hoffmann von
+ Fallersleben, "Geschichte des deutschen Kirchenliedes bis auf Luthers
+ Zeit"# (2nd Edition, Hanover, 1854); #P. Wackernagel, "Das deutsche
+ Kirchenlied"# (Leipsic, 1867); and #C. Winkworth, "Christian Singers
+ of Germany"# (London, n.d.).
+
+17. #R. M. Jones, "Studies in Mystical Religion"# (London, 1909), 235,
+ 237.
+
+18. #"Meister Eckharts Schriften und Predigten,"# edited by H. Buttner
+ (Leipsic, 1903), i. 44.
+
+19. Translation by C. Winkworth, "Christian Singers," 84. German text in
+ Wackernagel, ii. 302 f.
+
+20. #"Deutsches Weihnachtsbuch"# (Hamburg-Grossborstel, 1907), 125.
+
+21. #"A Compendious Book of Godly and Spiritual Songs,"# reprinted from
+ the Edition of 1567 by A. F. Mitchell (Edinburgh and London, 1897),
+ 53. This translation is abridged and Protestantized. The mediaeval
+ German text, which is partly addressed to the Virgin, is given in
+ #Hoffmann von Fallersleben, "In Dulci Jubilo"# (Hanover, 1854), 46.
+ For the music see #G. R. Woodward, "The Cowley Carol Book"# (New
+ Edition, London, 1909), 20 f. [a work peculiarly rich in old German
+ airs].
+
+22. #K. Weinhold, "Weihnacht-Spiele und Lieder aus Sueddeutschland und
+ Schlesien"# (2nd Edition, Vienna, 1875), 385.
+
+23. _Ibid._ 396. [For help in the translation of German dialect I am
+ indebted to Dr. M. A. Muegge.]
+
+24. _Ibid._ 400.
+
+25. _Ibid._ 417.
+
+26. E. K. Chambers, essay on "Some Aspects of Mediaeval Lyric" in #"Early
+ English Lyrics,"# chosen by #E. K. Chambers and F. Sidgwick# (London,
+ 1907), 290. [Twenty-five of Awdlay's carols were printed by Messrs.
+ #Chambers and Sidgwick# in #"The Modern Language Review"#
+ (Cambridge), Oct., 1910, and Jan., 1911.]
+
+27. _Ibid._ 293.
+
+28. Quoted by #J. J. Jusserand, "A Literary History of the English
+ People"# (2nd Edition, London, 1907), i. 218.
+
+29. Rickert, 6; Beeching, 13.
+
+30. No. lv. in Chambers and Sidgwick, "Early English Lyrics."
+
+31. No. lix., _ibid._
+
+32. No. lxi., _ibid._
+
+33. No. lxx., _ibid._
+
+34. No. lxvii., _ibid._
+
+35. No. lxiii., _ibid._
+
+36. Rickert, 67.
+
+
+CHAPTER III.--CHRISTMAS POETRY (II)
+
+1. #Noel Herve, "Les Noels francais"# (Niort, 1905), Gastoue, 57 f.; #G.
+ Gregory Smith, "The Transition Period"# (Edinburgh and London, 1900),
+ 217.
+
+2. Gregory Smith, 217.
+
+3. #H. Lemeignen, "Vieux Noels composes en l'honneur de la Naissance de
+ Notre-Seigneur Jesus-Christ"# (Nantes, 1876), iii. 2 f.
+
+4. _Ibid._ i. 10, 11.
+
+5. _Ibid._ ii. 93, 95.
+
+6. Herve, 46.
+
+7. Lemeignen, i. 55. |366|
+
+8. Lemeignen, i. 29.
+
+9. #"Les Vieux Noels,"# in #"Nouvelle Bibliotheque Populaire"#
+ (published by Henri Gautier, 55 Quai des Grands Augustins, Paris).
+
+10. Lemeignen, i. 93.
+
+11. #H. J. L. J. Masse, "A Book Of Old Carols"# (London, 1910), i. 21.
+
+12. Herve, 86.
+
+13. Lemeignen, i. 71.
+
+14. "Hymns Ancient and Modern" (Historical Edition), 79. Translation is
+ No. 58 in Ordinary Edition.
+
+15. Herve, 132.
+
+16. A great number of these _villancicos_ and _romances_ may be found in
+ #Justo de Sancha, "Romancero y Cancionero Sagrados"# (Madrid,
+ 1855, vol. 35 of Rivadeneyra's Library of Spanish Authors), and there
+ are some good examples in #J. N. Boehl de Faber, "Rimas Antiguas
+ Castellanas"# (Hamburg, 1823).
+
+17. Boehl de Faber, ii. 36.
+
+18. #F. Caballero, "Elia y La Noche de Navidad"# (Leipsic, 1864), 210.
+
+19. #A. de Gubernatis, "Storia Comparata degli Usi Natalizi"# (Milan,
+ 1878), 90.
+
+20. These three verses are taken from #Countess Martinengo-Cesaresco's#
+ charming translation of the poem, in her #"Essays in the Study of
+ Folk-Songs"# (London, 1886), 304 f.
+
+21. Martinengo, "Folk-Songs," 302 f.
+
+22. Latin text in Tille, "D. W.," 311; Italian game in De Gubernatis, 93.
+
+23. Herve, 115 f.
+
+24. #W. Hone, "The Ancient Mysteries Described"# (London, 1823), 103.
+
+25. _Ibid._ 103.
+
+26. See Note 11.
+
+27. #D. Hyde, "Religious Songs of Connacht"# (London, 1906), ii. 225 f.
+
+28. #"The Vineyard"# (London), Dec., 1910, 144.
+
+29. "Deutsches Weihnachtsbuch," 120 f.
+
+30. "A Compendious Book of Godly and Spiritual Songs," 49 f. (spelling
+ here modernized); Rickert, 82 f.
+
+31. "Deutsches Weihnachtsbuch," 123, and most German Protestant
+ hymnbooks.
+
+32. Translation by Miles Coverdale, in Rickert, 192 f.
+
+33. No. 5 in #Paulus Gerhardt, "Geistliche Lieder,"# ed. by P.
+ Wackernagel and W. Tuempel (9th Edition, Guetersloh, 1907).
+
+34. Translation by #C. Winkworth# in #"Lyra Germanica"# (New Edition,
+ London, 1869), ii. 13 f.
+
+35. "Deutsches Weihnachtsbuch," 128 f.
+
+36. Translation (last verse altered) in #"The British Herald"# (London),
+ Sept., 1866, 329.
+
+37. #"Christmas Carols New and Old,"# the words edited by #H. R.
+ Bramley#, the music edited by #Sir John Stainer# (London, n.d.).
+
+38. Beeching, 27 f.
+
+39. _Ibid._ 67.
+
+40. _Ibid._ 49.
+
+41. _Ibid._ 76.
+
+42. _Ibid._ 48.
+
+43. _Ibid._ 45.
+
+44. _Ibid._ 42 f. |367|
+
+45. Beeching, 85 f.
+
+46. #Selwyn Image, "Poems and Carols"# (London, 1894), 25.
+
+47. #G. K. Chesterton# in #"The Commonwealth"# (London), Dec., 1902, 353.
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.--CHRISTMAS IN LITURGY AND POPULAR DEVOTION
+
+1. Translation, "Creator of the starry height," in "Hymns A. and M."
+ (Ordinary Edition), No. 45.
+
+2. #J. Dowden, "The Church Year and Kalendar"# (Cambridge, 1910), 76 f.
+
+3. #"Rational ou Manuel des divins Offices de Guillaume Durand, Eveque
+ de Mende au treizieme siecle,"# traduit par #M. C. Barthelemy#
+ (Paris, 1854), iii. 155 f.
+
+4. See translation of the Great O's in "The English Hymnal," No. 734.
+
+5. Barthelemy, iii. 220 f.
+
+6. #D. Rock, "The Church of Our Fathers"# (London, 1853), vol. iii. pt.
+ ii. 214.
+
+7. #J. K. Huysmans, "L'Oblat"# (Paris, 1903), 194.
+
+8. Gastoue, 44 f.
+
+9. #E. G. C. F. Atchley, "Ordo Romanus Primus"# (London, 1905), 71.
+
+10. #"The Pilgrimage of S. Silvia of Aquitaine"# (Eng. Trans. by J. H.
+ Bernard, London, 1891), 50 f.
+
+11. #S. D. Ferriman# in #"The Daily News,"# Dec. 25, 1911.
+
+12. #G. Bonaccorsi, "Il Natale: appunti d'esegesi e di storia"# (Rome,
+ 1903), 73.
+
+13. Gastoue, 41 f.
+
+14. Bonaccorsi, 75.
+
+15. #H. Malleson and M. A. R. Tuker, "Handbook to Christian and
+ Ecclesiastical Rome"# (London, 1897), pt. ii. 211.
+
+16. #Th. Bentzon, "Christmas In France"# in #"The Century Magazine"# (New
+ York), Dec., 1901, 170 f.
+
+17. #L. von Hoermann, "Tiroler Volksleben"# (Stuttgart, 1909), 232.
+
+18. #M. J. Quin, "A Visit to Spain"# (2nd Edition, London, 1824), 126 f.
+
+19. #"Madrid in 1835,"# by a #Resident Officer# (London, 1836), i. 395 f.
+
+20. #W. S. Walsh, "Curiosities of Popular Customs"# (London, 1898), 237.
+
+21. #G. Pitre, "Spettacoli e feste popolari siciliane"# (Palermo, 1880),
+ 444.
+
+22. Tille, "D. W.," 70 f.
+
+23. #F. H. Woods, "Sweden and Norway"# (London, 1882), 209; #L. Lloyd,
+ "Peasant Life in Sweden"# (London, 1870), 201 f.
+
+24. #J. E. Vaux, "Church Folklore"# (London, 1894), 222 f.
+
+25. #M. Trevelyan, "Folk-Lore and Folk-Stories of Wales"# (London, 1909),
+ 28.
+
+26. Vaux, 262 f.
+
+27. #R. F. Littledale, "Offices from the Service-Books of the Holy
+ Eastern Church"# (London, 1863), 174 f.
+
+28. #[Sir] A. J. Evans, "Christmas and Ancestor Worship in the Black
+ Mountain,"# in #"Macmillan's Magazine"# (London), vol. xliii., 1881,
+ 228.
+
+29. Duchesne, 273.
+
+30. Chambers, "M. S.," i. 245.
+
+31. #"The Roman Breviary,"# translated by #John, Marquess of Bute# (New
+ Edition Edinburgh and London, 1908), 186.
+
+32. See announcement in #"The Roman Mail"# in Jan., 1912. |368|
+
+33. #Mary Hamilton, "Greek Saints and their Festivals"# (London, 1910),
+ 113 f.
+
+34. #H. Holloway, "An Eastern Epiphany Service"# in #"Pax"# (the Magazine
+ of the Caldey Island Benedictines), Dec., 1910.
+
+35. Hamilton, 119 f.
+
+36. Holloway, as above.
+
+37. #F. H. E. Palmer, "Russian Life in Town and Country"# (London, 1901),
+ 176 f.
+
+38. Thomas of Celano, trans. by Howell, 82 f.
+
+39. #Countess Martinengo-Cesaresco, "Puer Parvulus"# in #"The Outdoor
+ Life in the Greek and Roman Poets"# (London, 1911), 248.
+
+40. Chambers, "M. S.," ii. 41.
+
+41. Bonaccorsi, 85; Usener, 298.
+
+42. Usener, 290.
+
+43. _Ibid._ 295, 299.
+
+44. Rietschel, 55.
+
+45. _Ibid._ 56 f.
+
+46. _Ibid._ 60.
+
+47. _Ibid._ 69 f.; Tille, "D. W.," 59 f.
+
+48. Music from #Trier "Gesangbuch"# (1911), No. 18, where a very much
+ weakened text is given. Text from Weinhold, 114. Another form of the
+ air is given in "The Cowley Carol Book," No. 36.
+
+49. Text and music in Masse, i. 6.
+
+50. Tille, "D. W.," 60.
+
+51. _Ibid._ 61 f.
+
+52. _Ibid._ 63.
+
+53. #Thomas Naogeorgus, "The Popish Kingdome,"# Englyshed by Barnabe
+ Googe, 1570 (ed. by R. C. Hope, London, 1880), 45.
+
+54. Tille, "D. W.," 68.
+
+55. _Ibid._ 68.
+
+56. Hoermann, "Tiroler Volksleben," 235.
+
+57. _Ibid._ 235.
+
+58. Tille, "D. W.," 64.
+
+59. Rietschel, 75.
+
+60. Martinengo, "Outdoor Life," 249.
+
+61. #Lady Morgan, "Italy"# (New Edition, London, 1821), iii. 72.
+
+62. #Matilde Serao, "La Madonna e i Santi"# (Naples, 1902), 223 f.
+
+63. #L. Caico, "Sicilian Ways and Days"# (London, 1910), 192 f.
+
+64. Information kindly given to the author by Mrs. C. G. Crump.
+
+65. Information derived by the author from a resident in Messina.
+
+66. Serao, _see_ Note 62.
+
+67. #W. H. D. Rouse, "Religious Tableaux in Italian Churches,"# in
+ #"Folk-Lore"# (London), vol. v., 1894, 6 f.
+
+68. Morgan, iii. 76 f.
+
+69. Bonaccorsi, 45 f.
+
+70. #A. J. C. Hare, "Walks in Rome"# (11th Edition, London, 1883), 157.
+
+71. Martinengo, "Outdoor Life," 253; Bonaccorsi, 110 f.; #R. Ellis
+ Roberts, "A Roman Pilgrimage"# (London, 1911), 185 f.
+
+72. #H. J. Rose, "Untrodden Spain"# (London, 1875), 276.
+
+73. See Note 18 to Chapter III. |369|
+
+74. #T. F. Thiselton Dyer, "British Popular Customs"# (London, 1876),
+ 464.
+
+75. Vaux, 216.
+
+76. Dyer, 464.
+
+77. Cf. Chambers, "M. S.," i. 120.
+
+
+CHAPTER V.--CHRISTMAS DRAMA
+
+1. This account of the mediaeval Christmas drama owes much to Chambers,
+ "The Mediaeval Stage," especially chaps. xviii. to xx., and to #W.
+ Creizenach, "Geschichte des neueren Dramas"# (Halle a/S.,
+ 1893), vol. i., bks. ii.-iv. See also: #Karl Pearson#, essay on #"The
+ German Passion Play"# in #"The Chances of Death, and other Studies in
+ Evolution"# (London, 1897), ii. 246 f.; #E. Du Meril, "Origines
+ latines du theatre moderne"# (Paris, 1849); #L. Petit de Julleville,
+ "Histoire du theatre en France au moyen age. I. Les Mysteres"#
+ (Paris, 1880); and other works cited later.
+
+2. Chambers, "M. S.," ii. 8 f.
+
+3. _Ibid._ ii. 11.
+
+4. Du Meril, 147.
+
+5. Chambers, "M. S.," ii. 52.
+
+6. Text in Du Meril, 153 f.
+
+7. Chambers, "M. S.," ii. 44.
+
+8. _Ibid._ ii. 52 f.
+
+9. On the English plays see: Chambers, "M. S.," chaps. xx. and xxi.; #A.
+ W. Ward, "A History of English Dramatic Literature"# (London,
+ 1875), vol. i. chap. i.; Creizenach, vol. i.; #K. L. Bates, "The
+ English Religious Drama"# (London, 1893).
+
+10. Chambers, "M. S.," ii. 129, 131, 139.
+
+11. #"Ludus Coventriae,"# ed. by J. O. Halliwell (London, 1841), 146 f.
+
+12. #"York Plays,"# ed. by L. Toulmin Smith (Oxford, 1885), 114 f.
+
+13. #"The Chester Plays,"# ed. by T. Wright (London, 1843), 137.
+
+14. _Ibid._ 138.
+
+15. _Ibid._ 143.
+
+16. #"The Towneley Plays,"# ed. by George England, with Introduction by
+ A. W. Pollard (London, 1897). The first Shepherds' Play is on p.
+ 100 f., the second on p. 116 f.
+
+17. Text from Chambers and Sidgwick, "Early English Lyrics," 124 f.
+
+18. Text in #T. Sharp, "A Dissertation on the Pageants or Dramatic
+ Mysteries anciently performed at Coventry"# (Coventry, 1825).
+
+19. Petit de Julleville, ii. 36 f and 431 f.
+
+20. _Ibid._ ii. 620 f.; #"Les marguerites de la Marguerite des
+ princesses,"# ed. from the edition of 1547 by F. Frank (Paris, 1873),
+ ii. 1 f.
+
+21. Petit de Julleville, i. 441.
+
+22. _Ibid._ i. 455. Text in Lemeignen, ii. 1 f.
+
+23. Petit de Julleville, i. 79 f.
+
+24. #P. Sebillot, "Coutumes populaires de la Haute-Bretagne"# (Paris,
+ 1886), 177.
+
+25. Martinengo, "Folk-Songs," xxxiii. f. In her essay, "Puer Parvulus,"
+ in "The Outdoor Life," 260 f., the Countess gives a charming
+ description of a somewhat similar Piedmontese play.
+
+26. Barthelemy, iii. 411 f. |370|
+
+27. Rietschel, 88 f.; #O. von Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, "Das festliche
+ Jahr"# (2nd Edition, Leipsic, 1898), 439 f.
+
+28. Rietschel, 92 f.
+
+29. An interesting book on popular Christmas plays is #F. Vogt, "Die
+ schlesischen Weihnachtspiele"# (Leipsic, 1901).
+
+30. Weinhold, 94.
+
+31. _Ibid._ 95 f.
+
+32. _Ibid._ 100 f.
+
+33. _Ibid._ 96 f.
+
+34. See Chambers, "M. S.," ii. 91 f.; Symonds, "Renaissance," iv. 242,
+ 272 f.; #A. d'Ancona, "Origini del Teatro italiano"# (Florence,
+ 1877), i. 87 f.
+
+35. D'Ancona, "Origini," i. 126 f.
+
+36. #A. d'Ancona, "Sacre Rappresentazioni dei secoli xiv, xv e xvi"#
+ (Florence, 1872), i. 191 f.
+
+37. _Ibid._ i. 192.
+
+38. Latin original quoted by D'Ancona, "Origini," i. 91, and Chambers,
+ "M. S.," ii. 93.
+
+39. Creizenach, i. 347.
+
+40. #J. Fitzmaurice-Kelly, "A History of Spanish Literature"# (London,
+ 1898), 113.
+
+41. #Juan del Encina, "Teatro Completo"# (Madrid, 1893), 3 f., 137 f.
+
+42. See #G. Ticknor, "History of Spanish Literature"# (6th American
+ Edition, Boston, 1888), ii. 283 f.
+
+43. _Ibid._ ii. 208.
+
+44. #"Archivio per lo studio delle tradizioni popolari"# (Palermo and
+ Turin), vol. xxi., 1902, 381.
+
+45. Pitre, 448.
+
+46. Fernan Caballero, "Elia y La Noche de Navidad," 222 f.
+
+47. Lloyd, 213 f.
+
+48. #H. F. Feilberg, "Jul"# (Copenhagen, 1904), ii. 242 f.
+
+49. #E. Cortet, "Essai sur les fetes religieuses"# (Paris, 1867), 38.
+
+50. Sebillot, 215.
+
+51. Feilberg, ii. 250; Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 31 f.; #T. Stratilesco,
+ "From Carpathian to Pindus: Pictures of Roumanian Country Life"#
+ (London, 1906), 195 f.; #E. van Norman, "Poland: the Knight among
+ Nations"# (London and New York, 3rd Edition, n.d.), 302; #S. Graham,
+ "A Vagabond in the Caucasus. With some Notes of his Experiences among
+ the Russians"# (London, 1910), 28.
+
+52. Translation in #Karl Hase, "Miracle Plays and Sacred Dramas"# (Eng.
+ Trans., London, 1880), 9; German text in Weinhold, 132.
+
+53. Hoermann, "Tiroler Volksleben," 247 f.
+
+54. Graham, 28.
+
+55. Stratilesco, 195 f.
+
+56. _Ibid._ 355 f.
+
+57. Van Norman, 302.
+
+58. Cortet, 42.
+
+59. Barthelemy, iii. 411 f.
+
+60. #Madame Calderon de la Barca, "Life in Mexico"# (London, 1843),
+ 237 f.
+
+
+POSTSCRIPT
+
+1. #E. Underhill, "Mysticism: A Study in the Nature and Development of
+ Man's Spiritual Consciousness"# (London, 1911), 305. |371|
+
+
+PART II.--PAGAN SURVIVALS
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.--PRE-CHRISTIAN WINTER FESTIVALS
+
+1. #Karl Pearson#, essay on #"Woman as Witch"# in #"The Chances of Death
+ and other Studies in Evolution"# (London, 1897), ii. 16.
+
+2. Cf. #J. G. Frazer, "The Dying God"# (London, 1911), 269.
+
+3. #J. A. MacCulloch, "The Religion of the Ancient Celts"# (Edinburgh,
+ 1911), 278.
+
+4. Frazer, "Dying God," 266.
+
+5. #E. Anwyl, "Celtic Religion in Pre-Christian Times"# (London, 1906),
+ 1 f.
+
+6. _Ibid._ 20; cf. #E. K. Chambers, "The Mediaeval Stage"# (Oxford,
+ 1903), i. 100 f. [Referred to as "M. S."]
+
+7. #W. Robertson Smith, "Lectures on the Religion of the Semites"# (New
+ Edition, London, 1894), 16.
+
+8. Chambers, "M. S.," i. 236; #W. W. Fowler, "The Roman Festivals of the
+ Period of the Republic"# (London, 1899), 272.
+
+9. #"The Works of Lucian of Samosata"# (Eng. Trans. by H. W. and F. G.
+ Fowler, Oxford, 1905), iv. 108 f.
+
+10. #John Brand, "Observations on Popular Antiquities"# (New Edition,
+ with the Additions of Sir Henry Ellis, London, Chatto & Windus,
+ 1900), 283.
+
+11. "Works of Lucian," iv. 114 f.
+
+12. _Ibid._ iv. 109.
+
+13. #J. G. Frazer, "The Golden Bough"# (2nd Edition, London, 1900), iii.
+ 138 f., and #"The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kingship"# (London,
+ 1911), ii. 310 f.
+
+14. #W. W. Fowler, "The Religious Experience of the Roman People"#
+ (London, 1911), 107, 112.
+
+15. Fowler, "Roman Festivals," 268, and "Religious Experience," 107; #C.
+ Bailey, "The Religion of Ancient Rome"# (London, 1907), 70.
+
+16. Chambers, "M. S.," i. 237 f.; Fowler, "Roman Festivals," 278.
+
+17. Quoted from #"Libanii Opera,"# ed. by Reiske, i. 256 f., by #G.
+ Bilfinger, "Das germanische Julfest"# (vol. ii. of "Untersuchungen
+ ueber die Zeitrechnung der alten Germanen," Stuttgart, 1901), 41 f.
+
+18. "Libanii Opera," iv. 1053 f., quoted by Bilfinger, 43 f.
+
+19. Chambers, "M. S.," i. 237 f., 258.
+
+20. #A. Tille, "Yule and Christmas"# (London, 1899), 96. [Referred to as
+ "Y. & C."]
+
+21. #J. C. Lawson, "Modern Greek Folklore and Ancient Greek Religion"#
+ (Cambridge, 1910), 221 f. Cf. #M. Hamilton, "Greek Saints and their
+ Festivals"# (London, 1910), 98.
+
+22. Chambers, "M. S.," ii. 290 f.
+
+23. Latin text in Chambers, "M. S.," ii. 297 f.
+
+24. _Ibid._ i. 245.
+
+25. Tille, "Y. & C.," 88 f.; Chambers, "M. S.," ii. 303 f. |372|
+
+26. Tille, "Y. & C.," throughout; Chambers, "M. S.," i. 288 f.;
+ #Chantepie de la Saussaye, "The Religion of the Ancient Teutons"#
+ (Boston, 1902), 382. Cf. #O. Schrader#, in #Hastings's "Encyclopaedia
+ of Religion and Ethics"# (Edinburgh, 1909), ii. 47 f.
+
+27. MacCulloch, "Religion of the Ancient Celts," 258 f. Cf. Chambers, "M.
+ S.," i. 228, 234.
+
+28. Tille, "Y. & C.," 203.
+
+29. #[Sir] A. J. Evans, "Christmas and Ancestor Worship in the Black
+ Mountain,"# in #"Macmillan's Magazine"# (London), vol. xliii., 1881,
+ 363.
+
+30. Chambers, "M. S.," i. 247.
+
+31. Tille, "Y. & C.," 64.
+
+32. Chambers, "M. S.," i. 232.
+
+33. _Ibid._ i. 130; W. Robertson Smith, 213 f.
+
+34. Frazer, "Dying God," 129 f.
+
+35. See #N. W. Thomas# in #"Folk-Lore"# (London), vol. xi., 1900, 227 f.
+
+36. Chambers, "M. S.," i. 132 f.
+
+37. W. Robertson Smith, 437 f.
+
+38. #J. E. Harrison, "Themis: A Study of the Social Origins of Greek
+ Religion"# (Cambridge, 1912), 67. Cf. #E. F. Ames, "The Psychology of
+ Religious Experience"# (London and Boston, 1910), 95 f.
+
+39. Harrison, "Themis," 137.
+
+40. _Ibid._ 110.
+
+41. #S. Reinach, "Cultes, mythes, et religions"# (Paris, 1905), i. 93.
+ For the theory that totems were originally food-objects, see Ames,
+ 118 f.
+
+42. Chambers, "M. S.," i. 133.
+
+43. _Ibid._ i. 105 f., 144.
+
+44. Harrison, "Themis," 507.
+
+45. W. Robertson Smith, 255.
+
+46. #Bede, "Historia Ecclesiastica,"# lib. i. cap. 30. Latin text in
+ Bede's Works, edited by J. A. Giles (London, 1843), vol. ii. p. 142.
+
+47. Frazer, "Golden Bough," iii. 143.
+
+48. #Jerome, "Comm. in Isaiam,"# lxv. 11. Latin text in Chambers, "M. S.,"
+ ii. 294.
+
+49. Chambers, "M. S.," i. 266.
+
+50. Latin text in Chambers, "M. S.," ii. 306.
+
+51. #Bede, "De Temporum Ratione,"# cap. 15, quoted by Chambers, i. 231.
+ See also Tille, "Y. & C.," 152 f., and Bilfinger, 131, for other
+ views.
+
+52. Frazer, "Golden Bough," iii. 70 f.
+
+53. See Frazer, "Magic Art," i. 52.
+
+54. Cf. Frazer, "Golden Bough," iii. 300 f.
+
+55. Latin text in #H. Usener, "Religionsgeschichtliche Untersuchungen,"#
+ part ii. (Bonn, 1889), 43 f. See also #A. Tille, "Die Geschichte der
+ deutschen Weihnacht"# (Leipsic, 1893), 44 f. [Referred to as "D. W."]
+
+56. #Philip Stubbs, "Anatomie Of Abuses"# (Reprint of 3rd Edition of
+ 1585, edited by W. B. Turnbull, London, 1836), 205.
+
+57. Quoted by #J. Ashton, "A righte Merrie Christmasse!!"#
+ (London, n.d.), 26 f.
+
+58. _Ibid._ 27 f. |373|
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.--ALL HALLOW TIDE TO MARTINMAS
+
+1. #R. Chambers, "The Book Of Days"# (London, n.d.), ii. 538 [referred
+ to as "B. D."]; #T. F. Thiselton Dyer, "British Popular Customs"#
+ (London, 1876), 396 f.
+
+2. #[Sir] J. Rhys, "Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religion as
+ illustrated by Celtic Heathendom"# (London, 1888), 514, #"Celtic
+ Folklore: Welsh and Manx"# (Oxford, 1901), i. 321.
+
+3. Tille, "Y. & C.," 57 f.
+
+4. Rhys, "Celtic Folklore," i. 315 f.
+
+5. #J. Dowden, "The Church Year and Kalendar"# (Cambridge, 1910), 23 f.
+
+6. Cf. #J. G. Frazer, "Adonis, Attis, Osiris"# (2nd Edition, London,
+ 1907), 315 f.
+
+7. #E. B. Tylor, "Primitive Culture"# (3rd Edition, London, 1891),
+ ii. 38.
+
+8. Frazer, "Adonis," 310.
+
+9. _Ibid._ 312 f.
+
+10. #P. Sebillot, "Coutumes populaires de la Haute-Bretagne"# (Paris,
+ 1886), 206.
+
+11. #L. von Hoermann, "Tiroler Volksleben"# (Stuttgart, 1909), 193.
+
+12. Frazer, "Adonis," 315.
+
+13. #G. Pitre, "Spettacoli e feste popolari siciliane"# (Palermo, 1880),
+ 393 f. Cf. #H. F. Feilberg, "Jul"# (Copenhagen, 1904), i. 67.
+
+14. #"Notes and Queries"# (London), 3rd Series, vol. i. 446; Dyer, 408.
+
+15. Frazer, "Adonis," 250.
+
+16. Dyer, 405 f.
+
+17. _Notes and Queries_, 1st Series, vol. iv. 381; Dyer, 407.
+
+18. #C. S. Burne and G. F. Jackson, "Shropshire Folk-Lore"# (London,
+ 1883), 383.
+
+19. _Ibid._ 381 f.
+
+20. Quoted by Dyer, 410.
+
+21. #O. von Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, "Das festliche Jahr der germanischen
+ Voelker"# (2nd Edition, Leipsic, 1898), 390.
+
+22. #"Archivio per lo studio delle tradizioni popolari"#
+ (Palermo), vol. viii. 574.
+
+23. Hoermann, "Tiroler Volksleben," 189 f.
+
+24. Frazer, "Adonis," 303 f.
+
+25. _Ibid._ 306 f.
+
+26. Evans, 363 f.
+
+27. Dyer, 394.
+
+28. _Ibid._ 398.
+
+29. _Ibid._ 394. Cf. Chambers, "B. D.," ii. 519 f.
+
+30. Dyer, 395.
+
+31. _Ibid._ 399.
+
+32. _Ibid._ 397 f.
+
+33. #S. O. Addy, "Household Tales, with other Traditional Remains.
+ Collected in the Counties of Lincoln, Derby, and Nottingham"# (London
+ and Sheffield, 1895), 82.
+
+34. _Ibid._ 85.
+
+35. #W. Henderson, "Folk Lore of the Northern Counties of England and the
+ Borders"# (2nd Edition, London, 1879), 101.
+
+36. Dyer, 399.
+
+37. _Ibid._ 403. |374|
+
+38. Rhys, "Celtic Folklore," i. 321, "Celtic Heathendom," 514.
+
+39. Rhys, "Celtic Folklore," i. 328.
+
+40. MacCulloch, "Religion of the Ancient Celts," 259, 261.
+
+41. Rhys, "Celtic Heathendom," 515.
+
+42. _Ibid._ 515.
+
+43. _Ibid._ 515, "Celtic Folklore," i. 225.
+
+44. MacCulloch, "Religion of the Ancient Celts," 262.
+
+45. Brand, 211.
+
+46. Dyer, 402.
+
+47. _Ibid._ 394 f.
+
+48. Frazer, "Golden Bough," iii. 299 f.
+
+49. Burne and Jackson, 389.
+
+50. Dyer, 409.
+
+51. #J. Grimm, "Teutonic Mythology"# (Eng. Trans. by J. S. Stallybrass,
+ London, 1880-8), i. 47.
+
+52. #K. Weinhold, "Weihnacht-Spiele und Lieder aus Sueddeutschland und
+ Schlesien"# (Vienna, 1875), 6.
+
+53. #U. Jahn, "Die deutschen Opfergebraeuche bei Ackerbau und Viehzucht"#
+ (Breslau, 1884), 262.
+
+54. _Ibid._ 262.
+
+55. Weinhold, 6.
+
+56. Dyer, 472.
+
+57. _Notes and Queries_, 1st Series, vol. i. 173; Dyer, 486.
+
+58. Weinhold, 7.
+
+59. _Ibid._ 10.
+
+60. Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 449.
+
+61. Chambers, "M. S.," i. 166.
+
+62. Dyer, 480.
+
+63. Feilberg, ii. 228 f.
+
+64. Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 393.
+
+65. #Tacitus, "Annales,"# lib. i. cap. 50, quoted by Tille, "Y. & C.,"
+ 25.
+
+66. Tille, "Y. & C.," 26.
+
+67. _Ibid._ 52.
+
+68. _Ibid._ 27.
+
+69. Brand, 216 f.
+
+70. Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 401 f. For German Martinmas feasting, see also
+ Jahn, 229 f.
+
+71. Grimm, iv. 1838, for Danish custom; Jahn, 235 f., for German.
+
+72. #"The Folk-Lore Record"# (London), vol. iv., 1881, 107; Dyer, 420.
+
+73. MacCulloch, "Religion of the Ancient Celts," 260.
+
+74. Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 403.
+
+75. Jahn, 246 f.
+
+76. _Ibid._ 246; Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 403.
+
+77. Tille, "Y. & C.," 34 f.
+
+78. Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 404; Jahn, 250.
+
+79. Jahn, 247.
+
+80. Angela Nardo-Cibele in _Archivio trad. pop._, vol. v. 238 f., for
+ Venetia; Pitre, 411 f., for Sicily.
+
+81. Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 405. |375|
+
+82. Jahn, 240.
+
+83. _Ibid._ 241 f.
+
+84. _Ibid._ 241.
+
+85. Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 404.
+
+86. Weinhold, 7.
+
+87. Chambers, "M. S.," i. 268; Weinhold, 7; Tille, "D. W.," 25.
+
+88. Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, illustration facing p. 406.
+
+89. _Ibid._ 405.
+
+90. _Ibid._ 404.
+
+91. _Ibid._ 410; Tille, "D. W.," 26 f.; #W. Mannhardt, "Der Baumkultus
+ der Germanen und ihrer Nachbarstaemme"# (Berlin, 1875. Vol. i. of
+ "Wald- und Feldkulte"), 273.
+
+92. Cf. Mannhardt, "Baumkultus," 303, and Reinach, i. 180.
+
+93. _Archivio trad. pop._, vol. v. 238 f., 358 f.
+
+94. Mannhardt, "Baumkultus," 274.
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.--ST. CLEMENT TO ST. THOMAS
+
+1. Dyer, 423.
+
+2. _Notes and Queries_, 1st Series, vol. viii. 618; Dyer, 425.
+
+3. Brand, 222 f.
+
+4. Henderson, "Folk Lore of the Northern Counties," 97.
+
+5. _Notes and Queries_, 3rd Series, vol. iv. 492; Dyer, 423.
+
+6. Dyer, 425.
+
+7. Brand, 222.
+
+8. _Ibid._ 223.
+
+9. _Notes and Queries_, 2nd Series, vol. v. 47; Dyer, 427.
+
+10. Dyer, 426 f.
+
+11. Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 415.
+
+12. #J. N. Raphael# in #"The Daily Express,"# Nov. 28, 1911.
+
+13. Dyer, 430.
+
+14. _Ibid._ 429.
+
+15. Tille, "D. W.," 148.
+
+16. #B. Thorpe, "Northern Mythology"# (London, 1852), iii. 143.
+
+17. _Ibid._ iii. 144.
+
+18. Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 416 f. Cf. Grimm, iv. 1800.
+
+19. Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 417. Cf. Thorpe, iii. 145.
+
+20. Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 418.
+
+21. Thorpe, iii. 145.
+
+22. #F. S. Krauss, "Sitte und Brauch der Suedslaven"# (Vienna, 1885), 179.
+
+23. #T. Stratilesco, "From Carpathian to Pindus: Pictures of Roumanian
+ Country Life"# (London, 1906), 189.
+
+24. _Ibid._ 188 f.
+
+25. Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 416.
+
+26. _Ibid._ 420 f.
+
+27. _Ibid._ 425. |376|
+
+28. #Thomas Naogeorgus, "The Popish Kingdome,"# Englyshed by Barnabe
+ Googe, 1570 (ed. by R. C. Hope, London, 1880), 44.
+
+29. #G. F. Abbott, "Macedonian Folklore"# (Cambridge, 1903), 76.
+
+30. #P. M. Hough, "Dutch Life in Town and Country"# (London, 1901), 96.
+
+31. Cf. Frazer, "Golden Bough," iii. 90, and also the Epiphany
+ noise-makings described in the present volume.
+
+32. Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 426.
+
+33. Hoermann, "Tiroler Volksleben," 218 f.
+
+34. Tille, "D. W.," 30.
+
+35. Chambers, "M. S.," i. 370.
+
+36. Hamilton, 30. Cf. article on St. Nicholas by Professor Anichkof in
+ _Folk-Lore_, vol. v., 1894, 108 f.
+
+37. Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 428 f.
+
+38. Tille, "D. W.," 35 f.; Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 430.
+
+39. Hoermann, "Tiroler Volksleben," 209 f.
+
+40. Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 430.
+
+41. Weinhold, 9.
+
+42. Mannhardt, "Baumkultus," 326.
+
+43. Weinhold, 9.
+
+44. Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 431 f.
+
+45. Hoermann, "Tiroler Volksleben," 212 f.
+
+46. Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 433.
+
+47. _Ibid._ 433.
+
+48. Chambers, "M. S.," i. 369.
+
+49. #W. S. Walsh, "Curiosities of Popular Customs"# (London, 1898),
+ 753 f. Cf. Chambers, "B. D.," ii. 664.
+
+50. Feilberg, i. 165, 170.
+
+51. _Ibid._ i. 169 f.
+
+52. _Ibid._ i. 171.
+
+53. #L. Caico, "Sicilian Ways and Days"# (London, 1910), 188 f.
+
+54. Feilberg, i. 168.
+
+55. Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 434.
+
+56. _Ibid._ 434 f.
+
+57. Grimm, iv. 1867.
+
+58. Feilberg, i. 108 f.
+
+59. _Ibid._ i. 111.
+
+60. N. W. Thomas in _Folk-Lore_, vol. xi., 1900, 252.
+
+61. Ashton, 52.
+
+62. Dyer, 72 f.
+
+63. Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 436 f.
+
+64. _Ibid._ 437.
+
+65. _Ibid._ 438.
+
+66. _Ibid._ 439.
+
+67. Dyer, 439.
+
+68. _Ibid._ 438 f.; Chambers, "B. D.," ii. 724.
+
+69. Abbott, 81.
+
+70. _Notes and Queries_, 2nd Series, vol. v. 35; Dyer, 439. |377|
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.--CHRISTMAS EVE AND THE TWELVE DAYS
+
+1. Tille, "D. W.," 32 f.
+
+2. Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 446.
+
+3. _Ibid._ 448.
+
+4. _Ibid._ 449.
+
+5. _Ibid._ 448; Weinhold, 8 f.
+
+6. Evans, 229.
+
+7. Weinhold, 8.
+
+8. Tille, "Y. & C.," 116.
+
+9. Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 444 f.
+
+10. _Ibid._ 442 f.
+
+11. _Ibid._ 444.
+
+12. #W. R. S. Ralston, "Songs of the Russian People"# (1st Edition,
+ London, 1872), 186 f.
+
+13. Sebillot, 216.
+
+14. Walsh, 232.
+
+15. Burne and Jackson, 406; Henderson, "Folk Lore of the Northern
+ Counties," 311; #Sir Edgar MacCulloch, "Guernsey Folk Lore"# (London,
+ 1903), 34; Thorpe, ii. 272.
+
+16. Walsh, 232.
+
+17. Henderson, "Folk Lore of the Northern Counties," 311.
+
+18. MacCulloch, "Guernsey Folk Lore," 34 f. Cf. for Germany, Grimm,
+ iv. 1779, 1809.
+
+19. Grimm, iv. 1840.
+
+20. Ralston, 201.
+
+21. #A. Le Braz, "La Legende de la Mort chez les Bretons armoricains"#
+ (Paris, 1902), i. 114 f.
+
+22. Thorpe, ii. 89.
+
+23. Lloyd, 171.
+
+24. Feilberg, ii. 7 f.
+
+25. _Ibid._ ii. 14.
+
+26. Bilfinger, 52.
+
+27. Feilberg, ii. 3 f.
+
+28. _Ibid._ ii. 20 f.
+
+29. #A. F. M. Ferryman, "In the Northman's Land"# (London, 1896), 112.
+
+30. Feilberg, ii. 64.
+
+31. Grimm, iv. 1781, 1783, 1793, 1818.
+
+32. Krauss, 181.
+
+33. Accounts of the carols used in Little Russia are given by Mr.
+ Ralston, 186 f., while those sung by the Roumanians are described by
+ Mlle. Stratilesco, 192 f., and those customary in Dalmatia by Sir A.
+ J. Evans, 224 f.
+
+34. Ralston, 193.
+
+35. Stratilesco, 192.
+
+36. Ralston, 197.
+
+37. Chambers, "M. S.," i. 244.
+
+38. #Shakespeare, "Hamlet," Act I. Sc. 1.#
+
+39. Bilfinger, 37 f.
+
+40. Henderson, "Folk Lore of the Northern Counties," 132. |378|
+
+41. Tylor, i. 362.
+
+42. #W. Golther, "Handbuch der germanischen Mythologie"# (Leipsic, 1895),
+ 283 f.
+
+43. Tille, "D. W.," 173.
+
+44. Henderson, "Folk Lore of the Northern Counties," 132.
+
+45. MacCulloch, "Guernsey Folk Lore," 33 f.
+
+46. Burne and Jackson, 396 f., 403.
+
+47. #R. T. Hampson, "Medii Aevi Kalendarium"# (London, 1841), i. 90.
+
+48. Grimm, iv. 1836; Thorpe, ii. 272.
+
+49. Burne and Jackson, 405.
+
+50. _Ibid._ 405; MacCulloch, "Religion of the Ancient Celts," 166.
+
+51. #E. H. Meyer, "Mythologie der Germanen"# (Strassburg, 1903), 424;
+ Golther, 491; Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 22 f.
+
+52. Golther, 493.
+
+53. Meyer, 425 f.
+
+54. _Ibid._ 425 f.
+
+55. Grimm, iii. 925 f.
+
+56. _Ibid._ i. 268, 275 f.
+
+57. Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 22.
+
+58. Grimm, i. 275; Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 23.
+
+59. _Ibid._ 23.
+
+60. Meyer, 425; Grimm, i. 281.
+
+61. Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 21.
+
+62. Golther, 493.
+
+63. Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 24.
+
+64. Grimm, i. 274.
+
+65. Meyer, 428.
+
+66. #R. H. Busk, "The Valleys of Tirol"# (London, 1874), 116.
+
+67. _Ibid._ 118.
+
+68. _Ibid._ 417.
+
+69. The details given about the _Kallikantzaroi_ are taken, unless
+ otherwise stated, from Lawson, 190 f.
+
+70. Abbott, 74.
+
+71. Hamilton, 108 f.
+
+72. _Ibid._ 109.
+
+73. Abbott, 218.
+
+74. _Ibid._ 73 f.
+
+75. Meyer, 85 f.
+
+76. #G. Henderson, "Survivals of Belief among the Celts"# (Glasgow, 1911),
+ 178.
+
+77. _Ibid._ 177.
+
+78. #F. H. E. Palmer, "Russian Life In Town and Country"# (London, 1901),
+ 178.
+
+
+CHAPTER X.--THE YULE LOG
+
+1. Evans, 221 f.; Mannhardt, "Baumkultus," 224 f. Cf. the account of the
+ Servian Christmas in #Chedo Mijatovitch, "Servia and the Servians"#
+ (London, 1908), 98 f.
+
+2. Same sources. |379|
+
+3. Mannhardt, "Baumkultus," 236.
+
+4. Frazer, "Magic Art," ii. 208.
+
+5. _Ibid._ ii. 232.
+
+6. Evans, 219, 295, and 357.
+
+7. _Ibid._ 222.
+
+8. Mannhardt, "Baumkultus," 237.
+
+9. Cf. Frazer, "Magic Art," ii. 233.
+
+10. _Ibid._ ii. 365 f.
+
+11. Mannhardt, "Baumkultus," 226 f.
+
+12. #"Memoirs of Mistral"# (Eng. Trans. by C. E. Maud, London, 1907),
+ 29 f.
+
+13. Mannhardt, "Baumkultus," 226 f.
+
+14. Sebillot, 218.
+
+15. #A. de Gubernatis, "Storia Comparata degli Usi Natalizi"# (Milan,
+ 1878), 112.
+
+16. C. Casati in _Archivio trad. pop._, vol. vi. 168 f.
+
+17. Jahn, 253.
+
+18. _Ibid._ 254.
+
+19. _Ibid._ 257.
+
+20. Brand, 245; Dyer, 466.
+
+21. #[Sir] G. L. Gomme, "Folk Lore Relics of Early Village Life"# (London
+ 1883), 99.
+
+22. Ashton, 111.
+
+23. Burne and Jackson, 402.
+
+24. _Ibid._ 398 f.
+
+25. _Notes and Queries_, 1st Series, vol. iv. 309; Dyer, 446 f.
+
+26. #"The Gentleman's Magazine,"# 1790, 719.
+
+27. Hampson, i. 109.
+
+28. Feilberg, i. 118 f.
+
+29. _Ibid._ i. 146.
+
+30. _Ibid._ ii. 66 f.
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.--THE CHRISTMAS-TREE, DECORATIONS, AND GIFTS
+
+1. #I. A. R. Wylie, "My German Year"# (London, 1910), 68.
+
+2. #Mrs. A. Sidgwick, "Home Life in Germany"# (London, 1908), 176.
+
+3. Tille, "D. W.," 258. For the history and associations of the
+ Christmas-tree see also #E. M. Kronfeld, "Der Weihnachtsbaum"#
+ (Oldenburg, 1906).
+
+4. Tille, "D. W.," 259.
+
+5. _Ibid._ 261.
+
+6. _Ibid._ 261 f.
+
+7. #G. Rietschel, "Weihnachten in Kirche, Kunst und Volksleben"#
+ (Bielefeld and Leipsic, 1902), 153.
+
+8. _Ibid._, 153.
+
+9. Tille, "D. W.," 270.
+
+10. Rietschel, 151.
+
+11. _Ibid._ 151.
+
+12. Tille, "D. W.," 267. |380|
+
+13. Dyer, 442; E. M. Leather, #"The Folk-Lore of Herefordshire"# (London,
+ 1912), 90.
+
+14. Rietschel, 154.
+
+15. Ashton, 189.
+
+16. _Ibid._ 190.
+
+17. Tille, "D. W.," 271.
+
+18. _Ibid._ 272.
+
+19. _Ibid._ 277; Rietschel, 254.
+
+20. Information supplied by the Rev. E. W. Lummis, who a few years ago
+ was a pastor in the Muensterthal.
+
+21. #L. Macdonald# in #"The Pall Mall Gazette"# (London), Dec. 28, 1911.
+
+22. Tille, "Y. & C.," 174.
+
+23. _Ibid._ 175 f.
+
+24. Rietschel, 141.
+
+25. Tille, "Y. & C.," 175.
+
+26. _Ibid._ 172 f.; Chambers, "B. D.," ii. 759.
+
+27. Latin text in Chambers, "M. S.," ii. 290.
+
+28. Mannhardt, "Baumkultus," 244.
+
+29. Frazer, "Magic Art," ii. 65.
+
+30. Mannhardt, "Baumkultus," 244.
+
+31. _Ibid._ 241; Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 18.
+
+32. Lloyd, 168.
+
+33. Dyer, 35.
+
+34. #W. F. Dawson, "Christmas: its Origin and Associations"# (London,
+ 1902), 325.
+
+35. Harrison, "Themis," 321.
+
+36. Frazer, "Magic Art," ii. 55 f.
+
+37. Frazer, "Magic Art," ii. 48.
+
+38. Mannhardt, "Baumkultus," 242 f.
+
+39. Chambers, "M. S.," i. 251.
+
+40. Latin text, _ibid._ ii. 300.
+
+41. #J. Stow, "A Survay of London,"# edited by Henry Morley (London,
+ 1893), 123.
+
+42. Chambers, "M. S.," i. 251.
+
+43. Grimm, iii. 1206; Frazer, "Golden Bough," iii. 327; MacCulloch,
+ "Religion of the Ancient Celts," 162, 205.
+
+44. MacCulloch, "Religion of the Ancient Celts," 162 f.
+
+45. Grimm, iii. 1206.
+
+46. Burne and Jackson, 246; #Laisnel de la Salle, "Croyances et legendes
+ du centre de la France"# (Paris, 1875), i. 58.
+
+47. Frazer, "Golden Bough," iii. 451 f.
+
+48. #Washington Irving, "The Sketch-Book"# (Revised Edition, New York,
+ 1860), 245.
+
+49. _Notes and Queries_, 5th Series, vol. viii. 481.
+
+50. Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 472.
+
+51. Henderson, "Folk Lore of the Northern Counties," 100.
+
+52. Burne and Jackson, 245.
+
+53. Henderson, "Folk Lore of the Northern Counties," 226.
+
+54. #E. K. Chambers and F. Sidgwick, "Early English Lyrics"# (London,
+ 1907), 293; #E. Rickert, "Ancient English Carols"# (London, 1910),
+ 262. |381|
+
+55. Rickert, 262.
+
+56. Burne and Jackson, 245 f., 397, 411.
+
+57. Lloyd, 169.
+
+58. Van Norman, 300.
+
+59. Evans, 222.
+
+60. Van Norman, 300 f.
+
+61. Frazer, "Golden Bough," ii. 286 f.
+
+62. Grimm, iv. 1831.
+
+63. Chambers, "M. S.," i. 238. Cf. Tille, "Y. & C.," 104.
+
+64. Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 420.
+
+65. Tille, "D. W.," 195.
+
+66. _Ibid._ 197.
+
+67. Bilfinger, 48.
+
+68. #Th. Bentzon, "Christmas in France"# in #"The Century Magazine"# (New
+ York), Dec., 1901, 173.
+
+69. Feilberg, ii. 179 f.
+
+70. Pitre, 167, 404.
+
+71. Feilberg, i. 196; Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 453 f.; Wylie, 77 f.
+
+72. Lloyd, 172.
+
+73. #W. Sandys, "Christmas Carols, Ancient and Modern"# (London, 1833),
+ xcv.
+
+74. Walsh, 240 f.; Ashton, 194 f.
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.--CHRISTMAS FEASTING AND SACRIFICIAL SURVIVALS
+
+1. Chambers, "M. S.," i. 257.
+
+2. Rickert, 259.
+
+3. #W. Sandys, "Christmastide: its History, Festivities, and Carols"#
+ (London, n.d.), 112.
+
+4. Chambers, "M. S.," i. 133.
+
+5. #J. A. H. Murray, "A New English Dictionary"# (Oxford, 1888, &c.)
+ iv. (1) 577.
+
+6. Addy, 103.
+
+7. Dawson, 254.
+
+8. Addy, 104.
+
+9. Burne and Jackson, 407.
+
+10. Brand, 283.
+
+11. Cf. _Folk-Lore_, vol. xi., 1900, 260.
+
+12. Addy, 103.
+
+13. Cf. carols in Brand, 3, and Rickert, 243 f.
+
+14. Brand, 3.
+
+15. Dyer, 464.
+
+16. Feilberg, i. 119, 184; Lloyd, 173.
+
+17. Jahn, 265.
+
+18. Stratilesco, 190.
+
+19. Ralston, 193, 203.
+
+20. Mijatovich, 98.
+
+21. Jahn, 261.
+
+22. Rietschel, 106. Cf. Weinhold, 25, and Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 463.
+
+23. Sebillot, 217. |382|
+
+24. Laisnel, i. 7 f.
+
+25. _Ibid._ i. 12 f.
+
+26. _Ibid._ i. 11.
+
+27. #E. Cortet, "Essai sur les Fetes religieuses"# (Paris, 1867), 265.
+
+28. Frazer, "Golden Bough," ii. 286 f.
+
+29. #M. Hoefler, "Weihnachtsgebaecke. Eine vergleichende Studie der
+ germanischen Gebildbrote zur Weihnachtszeit"# in #"Zeitschrift fuer
+ oesterreichische Volkskunde,"# Jahrg. 11, Supplement-Heft 3 (Vienna,
+ 1905).
+
+30. Jahn, 280 f.
+
+31. Burne and Jackson, 406 f.
+
+32. #"The Mirror of Perfection,"# trans. by Sebastian Evans (London,
+ 1898), 206.
+
+33. Mannhardt, "Baumkultus," 233 f.
+
+34. Lloyd, 170 f.
+
+35. Jahn, 276.
+
+36. _Ibid._ 276.
+
+37. Lloyd, 168.
+
+38. Evans, 231 f.; for the ox-custom, see Evans, 233.
+
+39. Abbott, 76.
+
+40. Hoermann, "Tiroler Volksleben," 244 f., 238, 245.
+
+41. Dawson, 339.
+
+42. #S. Graham, "A Vagabond in the Caucasus. With some Notes of his
+ Experiences among the Russians"# (London, 1910), 25 f.
+
+43. Stratilesco, 190.
+
+44. Van Norman, 299 f.
+
+45. Jahn, 267.
+
+46. Frazer, "Golden Bough," ii. 442 f., where other examples, British and
+ Continental, of the wren-hunt are given. Cf. Dyer, 494 f.
+
+47. _Folk-Lore_, vol. xviii., 1907, 439 f.
+
+48. MacCulloch, "Religion of the Ancient Celts," 221.
+
+49. See Frazer, "Golden Bough," ii. 380, 441, for examples of similar
+ practices with sacred animals.
+
+50. _Folk-Lore_, vol. xi., 1900, 259.
+
+51. Brand, 272.
+
+52. _Folk-Lore_, vol. xi., 1900, 262.
+
+53. Lloyd, 181 f.
+
+54. _Ibid._ 181.
+
+55. Thorpe, ii. 49 f.
+
+56. Ralston, 200.
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.--MASKING, THE MUMMERS' PLAY, THE FEAST OF FOOLS, AND THE
+ BOY BISHOP
+
+1. Chambers, "M. S.," i. 390 f.
+
+2. #The Works Of Ben Jonson#, ed. by Barry Cornwall (London, 1838), 600.
+
+3. #Shakespeare, "Henry VIII.,"# Act I. Sc. IV.
+
+4. Chambers, "M. S.," i. 403 f.
+
+5. _Ibid._ i. 227, 402.
+
+6. _Ibid._ i. 402. Cf. Burne and Jackson, 410.
+
+7. For a bibliography of texts of the mummers' plays see Chambers,
+ "M. S.," i. 205 f. |383|
+
+8. This account of the plays and dances is based upon Chambers, "M. S.,"
+ i. 182 f. (chapters ix. and x.).
+
+9. #Tacitus, "Germania,"# cap. xxiv. (Eng. Trans. by W. Hamilton Fyfe,
+ Oxford, 1908).
+
+10. Cf. Harrison, "Themis," 43 f.
+
+11. Professor Gilbert Murray in "Themis," 341 f.
+
+12. Harrison, "Themis," 232.
+
+13. Chambers, "M. S.," i. 226.
+
+14. Chambers, "M. S.," i. 192, 213 f.
+
+15. _Ibid._ i. 220 f.
+
+16. Lawson, 223 f.
+
+17. _Notes and Queries_, 5th Series, vol. x. 482.
+
+18. This account of the Feast of Fools and the Boy Bishop is mainly
+ derived from Chambers, "M. S.," i. 274-371, and from #Mr. A. F.
+ Leach's# article, #"The Schoolboys' Feast,"# in #"The Fortnightly
+ Review"# (London), vol. lix., 1896, 128 f.
+
+19. Chambers, "M. S.," i. 294.
+
+20. Full text in Chambers, "M. S.," ii. 280 f.
+
+21. Chambers, "M. S.," i. 372 f.
+
+22. #"Two Sermons preached by the Boy Bishop at St. Paul's,"# ed. by J.
+ G. Nichols, with an Introduction by E. F. Rimbault (London, printed
+ for the Camden Society, 1875).
+
+23. _Ibid._ 3.
+
+24. Quoted by #F. J. Snell, "The Customs Of Old England"# (London, 1911),
+ 44.
+
+25. Chambers, "M. S.," i. 366.
+
+26. #J. Aubrey, "Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme"# (1686-7), ed. by
+ J. Britten (London, 1881), 40 f.
+
+27. Chambers, "M. S.," i. 350.
+
+28. Feilberg, ii. 254.
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.--ST. STEPHEN'S, ST. JOHN'S, AND HOLY INNOCENTS' DAYS
+
+1. Hoermann, "Tiroler Volksleben," 237 f.
+
+2. Dyer, 492.
+
+3. #L. von Hoermann, "Das Tiroler Bauernjahr"# (Innsbruck, 1899), 204.
+
+4. _Ibid._ 204.
+
+5. _Ibid._ 204 f.
+
+6. Feilberg, i. 212.
+
+7. Mannhardt, "Baumkultus," 402.
+
+8. Feilberg, i. 211.
+
+9. Mannhardt, "Baumkultus," 402 f.
+
+10. _Ibid._ 402 f.; Feilberg, i. 204 f.; Lloyd, 203 f.
+
+11. #H. C. Beeching, "A Book of Christmas Verse"# (London, 1895), 21 f.
+
+12. Mannhardt, "Baumkultus," 406.
+
+13. Henderson, "Folk Lore of the Northern Counties," 67.
+
+14. Jahn, 269 f.
+
+15. _Ibid._ 270 f.
+
+16. _Ibid._ 273. |384|
+
+17. Dyer, 497 f.
+
+18. _Ibid._ 498; Brand, 290.
+
+19. Mannhardt, "Baumkultus," 264 f.
+
+20. _Ibid._ 265 f.
+
+21. _Ibid._ 268.
+
+22. Frazer, "Golden Bough," iii. 129 f.
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.--NEW YEAR'S DAY
+
+1. Rhys, "Celtic Folklore," i. 320 f.
+
+2. Henderson, "Folk Lore of the Northern Counties," 72.
+
+3. #E. Thurston, "Omens and Superstitions of Southern India"# (London,
+ 1912), 17 f.
+
+4. Walsh, 742.
+
+5. Wylie, 81.
+
+6. Sebillot, 176.
+
+7. #A. Maurice Low, "The American People"# (London, 1911), ii. 6.
+
+8. Walsh, 739 f.
+
+9. Evans, 229.
+
+10. Burne and Jackson, 315 f.
+
+11. _Notes and Queries_, 5th Series, vol. iii. 6.
+
+12. Information given by the Rev. E. J. Hardy, formerly Chaplain to the
+ Forces at Hongkong.
+
+13. Frazer, "Golden Bough," iii. 204 f.
+
+14. Burne and Jackson, 265.
+
+15. Grimm, iv. 1784.
+
+16. Harrison, "Themis," 36.
+
+17. Henderson, "Folk Lore of the Northern Counties," 72 f.
+
+18. Addy, 205.
+
+19. G. Hastie in _Folk-Lore_, vol. iv., 1893, 309 f.
+
+20. J. E. Crombie in same volume, 316 f.
+
+21. Addy, 106; Burne and Jackson, 314; Rhys, "Celtic Folklore," i. 337.
+
+22. Rhys, "Celtic Folklore," i. 339.
+
+23. _Ibid._ 339 f.; W. Henderson, 74. Cf. _Folk-Lore_, vol. iii., 1892,
+ 253 f.; vol. iv., 1893, 309 f.
+
+24. Hastie (see Note 19), 311.
+
+25. Walsh, 738.
+
+26. Hastie, 312.
+
+27. Chambers, "B. D.," i. 28.
+
+28. _Ibid._ ii. 789 f.; _Notes and Queries_, 2nd Series, vol. ix., 322;
+ Dyer, 506.
+
+29. Ashton, 228.
+
+30. Hoermann, "Tiroler Volksleben," 230 f.
+
+31. #J. G. Campbell, "Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and
+ Islands of Scotland"# (Glasgow, 1902), 232. Cf. the account given by
+ Dr. Johnson, in Brand, 278.
+
+32. Henderson, "Survivals of Belief among the Celts," 263 f.
+
+33. #R. Chambers, "Popular Rhymes of Scotland"# (Edinburgh, 1847), 296,
+ and "B. D.," ii. 788. |385|
+
+34. "New English Dictionary," v. (1) 327.
+
+35. Cortet, 18.
+
+36. Sebillot, 213.
+
+37. _Ibid._ 213.
+
+38. MacCulloch, "Guernsey Folk Lore," 37.
+
+39. Abbott, 80 f.
+
+40. Stratilesco, 197 f.
+
+41. Hamilton, 103.
+
+42. _Ibid._ 104.
+
+43. Mannhardt, "Baumkultus," 593 f.
+
+44. Latin text from Ducange in Chambers, "M. S.," i. 254.
+
+45. Wylie, 81.
+
+46. Abbott, 78.
+
+47. Grimm, iv. 1847.
+
+48. Sebillot, 171.
+
+49. Dyer, 7.
+
+50. Ashton, 228.
+
+51. #A. Macdonell, "In the Abruzzi"# (London, 1908), 102.
+
+52. Abbott, 77.
+
+53. Ralston, 205.
+
+54. #"The Athenaeum"# (London), Feb. 5, 1848; _Notes and Queries_, 1st
+ Series, vol. v., 5.
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.--EPIPHANY TO CANDLEMAS
+
+1. Hoermann, "Tiroler Volksleben," 240 f.
+
+2. #Leigh Hunt, "The Seer; or, Common-Places Refreshed"# (London, 1850),
+ part ii. 31.
+
+3. Beeching, 148 f.
+
+4. Chambers, "M. S.," i. 261.
+
+5. #E. Pasquier, "Les Recherches de la France"# (Paris, 1621), livre
+ iv., chap. ix. p. 375.
+
+6. Cortet, 33.
+
+7. _Ibid._ 34.
+
+8. _Ibid._ 43.
+
+9. #E. Du Meril, "Origines latines du theatre moderne"# (Paris, 1849),
+ 26 f.
+
+10. Brand, 13.
+
+11. #A. de Nore, "Coutumes, mythes et traditions des provinces de
+ France"# (Paris, 1846), 173.
+
+12. Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 29 f.; Brand, 13.
+
+13. #Matilde Serao, "La Madonna e i Santi"# (Naples, 1902), 128.
+
+14. Reinach, i. 45 f.
+
+15. Abbott, 77.
+
+16. _Ibid._ 78.
+
+17. Frazer, "Golden Bough," iii. 93.
+
+18. Hoermann, "Tiroler Volksleben," 246; Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 21.
+
+19. Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 21.
+
+20. _Ibid._ 21 f. |386|
+
+21. Stratilesco, 198.
+
+22. Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, 21.
+
+23. #Countess Martinengo-Cesaresco, "Essays in the Study of Folk-Songs"#
+ (London, 1886), 334.
+
+24. #D. N. Lees, "Tuscan Feasts and Tuscan Friends"# (London, 1907), 87.
+
+25. _Ibid._ 83.
+
+26. Serao, 127 f.
+
+27. #E. de Olavarria y Huarte, "El Folk-Lore de Madrid,"# 90. [Vol. ii.
+ of "Biblioteca de las Tradiciones Populares Espanolas" (Seville,
+ 1884).]
+
+28. _Ibid._ 92.
+
+29. "Memoirs of Mistral," 32 f.
+
+30. Nore, 17.
+
+31. Abbott, 87.
+
+32. Frazer, "Magic Art," i. 275 f.
+
+33. Hamilton, 118.
+
+34. Brand, 16; Chambers, "B. D.," i. 56; Dyer, 21.
+
+35. Aubrey, 40.
+
+36. Brand, 16.
+
+37. Beeching, 147.
+
+38. Ashton, 87 f.
+
+39. Hoermann, "Tiroler Volksleben," 225.
+
+40. Tille, "D. W.," 254.
+
+41. Hoermann, "Tiroler Volksleben," 230.
+
+42. #W. S. Lach-Szyrma# in #"The Folk-Lore Record"# (London), vol. iv.,
+ 1881, 53.
+
+43. Brand, 17; Chambers, "B. D.," i. 55 f.; Dyer, 22 f. Several accounts
+ have been collected by Mrs. Leather, "Folk-Lore of Herefordshire,"
+ 93 f.
+
+44. Evans, 228.
+
+45. Dyer, 24.
+
+46. _Folk-Lore_, vol. v., 1894, 192.
+
+47. _Ibid._ vol. vii., 1896, 340 f.
+
+48. Chambers, "M. S.," i. 149 f.
+
+49. W. Hone, "Every Day Book" (London, 1838), ii. 1649.
+
+50. _Folk-Lore_, vol. vii., 1896, 342.
+
+51. #[Sir] G. L. Gomme, "The Village Community"# (London, 1890), 242 f.
+
+52. Busk, 99.
+
+53. Dawson, 320.
+
+54. #"The Nation"# (London), Dec. 10, 1910.
+
+55. Burne and Jackson, 411.
+
+56. Lloyd, 217.
+
+57. Bilfinger, 24.
+
+58. Brand, 18 f.
+
+59. Dyer, 37.
+
+60. Quoted from #"Journal of the Archaeological Association,"# vol. vii.,
+ 1852, 202, by Dyer, 39.
+
+61. Chambers, "M. S.," i. 113.
+
+62. _Ibid._ i. 114.
+
+63. Usener, 310 f.
+
+64. Naogeorgus, 48.
+
+65. Sebillot, 179 f. |387|
+
+66. Hoermann, "Tiroler Volksleben," 7.
+
+67. Usener, 321.
+
+68. Brand, 25. Cf. #G. W. Kitchin, "Seven Sages Of Durham"# (London,
+ 1911), 113.
+
+69. _The Gentleman's Magazine_, 1790, 719.
+
+70. Dyer, 55 f.
+
+71. Quoted by Dyer, 57, from #Martin's "Description of the Western Isles
+ of Scotland"# (1703), 119.
+
+72. Gomme, "Folk-Lore Relics," 95.
+
+73. Brand, 26.
+
+74. _Ibid._ 26.
+
+75. Burne and Jackson, 411.
+
+
+CONCLUSION
+
+1. E. Clodd in Presidential Address to the Folk-Lore Society, 1894. See
+ _Folk-Lore_, vol. vi., 1895, 77.
+
+|388| |389| |390| |391|
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+Abbots Bromley, horn-dance at, 201
+
+Abruzzi, All Souls' Eve in, 192;
+ "new water" in, 333
+
+"Adam," drama, 127-8
+
+Adam and Eve, their Day, 271
+
+Adam of St. Victor, 33-4
+
+"Adeste, fideles," 63-4
+
+Advent, 90-2;
+ "Advent images," 118;
+ _Kloepfelnaechte_, 216-8
+
+Alexandria, pagan rites at, 20
+
+All Saints' Day, and the cult of the dead, 173, 189-90
+
+All Souls' Day, and the cult of the dead, 173, 181, 189-95
+
+Alsace, Christkind in, 230;
+ New Year's "May" in, 269-70
+
+Alsso of Brevnov, 183
+
+Ambrose, St., 31-2
+
+_Amburbale_, 353
+
+Amiens, Feast of Fools at, 305
+
+Anatolius, St., hymn of, 100
+
+Ancestor-worship, 181, 253-4, 290, 341
+
+Andrew, St., his Day, 173, 213-6, 277
+
+Animals, carol of, 69;
+ ox and ass at the Nativity, 155;
+ cult of, 174-8;
+ masks of, 175-6, 199-202;
+ on Christmas Eve, 233-4;
+ specially fed at Christmas, 289;
+ wassailing, 346-7
+
+Ansbach, Martinmas in, 206
+
+Antwerp, soul-cakes at, 194;
+ St. Martin at, 206-7;
+ St. Thomas's Day at, 224
+
+Apples, customs with, 195-6, 207, 278
+
+Ara Coeli, Rome, 115-6
+
+Ardennes, St. Thomas's Day in, 224
+
+Armenian Church, Epiphany in, 22
+
+Artemis and St. Nicholas, 218
+
+Aryan and pre-Aryan customs, 163-4
+
+Aschenklas, 219, 231
+
+Ashes, superstition about, 258
+
+Ass, Prose of the, 304-5
+
+Athens, New Year in, 331
+
+Aubrey, J., 308
+
+Augury, 182, 195-8, 214-5, 225, 237, 321-33
+
+Augustine, St. (of Canterbury), 21, 179
+
+Aurelian, 23
+
+Austria, Christmas poetry in, 45-46;
+ Christmas drama in, 143-6;
+ soul-cakes in, 194;
+ St. Nicholas in, 218-20;
+ St. Lucia's Eve in, 223;
+ St. Thomas's Eve in, 225;
+ Frau Perchta, etc., in, 241-4, 342;
+ Sylvester in, 274.
+ _See also_ Bohemia, Carinthia, Styria, Tyrol
+
+Awdlay, John, 47-8
+
+
+Bach, J. S., 73-4
+
+Baden, All Souls' Eve in, 192
+
+Balder, 273
+
+Baptism of Christ, celebrated at Epiphany, 20-2, 101-4
+
+Barbara, St., her festival, 268
+
+Bari, festival of St. Nicholas at, 221
+
+Barring out the master, 224
+
+Bartel, 219
+
+Basil, St., his festival, 331
+
+Basilidians, 21
+
+Basle, Council of, 305
+
+Bavaria, St. Martin's rod in, 207;
+ Christmas-trees in, 266-7;
+ sacrificial feast in, 286;
+ St. John's wine in, 314
+
+Beauvais, Feast of the Ass at, 305
+
+Bede, Venerable, 181, 203 |392|
+
+Bees on Christmas Eve, 234
+
+Befana, 244, 278, 343
+
+Belethus, Johannes, 302
+
+Belgium, All Souls' Eve in, 192, 194;
+ St. Hubert's Day in, 202;
+ Martinmas in, 204-7;
+ St. Catherine's Day in, 213;
+ St. Nicholas in, 219;
+ St. Thomas's Day in, 224
+
+Bentzon, Madame Th., 96-7
+
+Berchta. _See_ Perchta
+
+Berlin, pyramids in, 266;
+ biscuits in, 288
+
+Bernard, St., of Clairvaux, 33
+
+Berry, cake customs in, 287, 339
+
+Bethlehem, Christmas at, 94-5, 107
+
+Biggar, bonfires at, 327
+
+Bilfinger, Dr. G., 172
+
+Birds fed at Christmas, 289
+
+Blindman's buff, 293
+
+Boar's head, 284, 348
+
+Bohemia, the "star" in, 152;
+ fifteenth-century Christmas customs in, 183;
+ St. Andrew's Eve in, 215-6;
+ St. Thomas's Eve in, 224-5
+
+Boniface, St., 171
+
+Boy Bishop, 212-3, 306-8;
+ connection with St. Nicholas, 220-1, 307-8
+
+"Breast-strip" rites, 328
+
+Breviary, the Roman, 90
+
+Briid, 354
+
+Brimo, 21
+
+Brittany, Herod play in, 141;
+ Magi actors in, 151;
+ All Souls' Eve in, 191-2;
+ Christmas Eve superstitions in, 233-5, 236;
+ Christmas log in, 256;
+ New Year in, 323;
+ _aguillanneuf_ in, 330;
+ weather superstition in, 332
+
+Brixen, cradle-rocking at, 111
+
+Brixlegg, Christmas play at, 143 f.
+
+Bromfield, Cumberland, barring out the master at, 224
+
+Brough, Westmoreland, Twelfth Night tree at, 270
+
+Brunnen, Epiphany at, 341
+
+Budelfrau, 220
+
+Burchardus of Worms, 181
+
+Burford, Christmas holly at, 275
+
+Burghead, "Clavie" at, 327
+
+Burns, Robert, 197
+
+"Bush, burning the," 346
+
+Buzebergt, 220
+
+Byrom, John, 84
+
+
+Caballero, Fernan, 66-7, 117, 151
+
+Caesarius of Arles, 170-1, 181
+
+Cakes, "feasten," 177;
+ soul, 192-4;
+ St. Hubert's, 202;
+ Martin's horns, 204;
+ Christmas, 287-8, 289-90;
+ Twelfth Night, 337-40, 346;
+ St. Basil's, 341
+
+Calabrian minstrels, 112
+
+Calamy, 185
+
+Caligula, 168
+
+Callander, Hallowe'en at, 198
+
+Cambridge, St. Clement's Day at, 212
+
+Canada, Christmas Eve superstition in, 234
+
+Candlemas, 350, 352-5
+
+Candles, on St. Lucia's Day, 212-2;
+ Yule, 258-60
+
+Cards, Christmas, 279
+
+Carinthia, St. Stephen's Day in, 312
+
+Carnival, 300, 349
+
+Carols, meaning of the word, 47-8;
+ English sacred, 47-51, 76-8, 84-5;
+ Welsh, 69;
+ Irish, 69-70;
+ Highland, 70
+
+Catholicism and Christmas, 27, 186
+
+Celtic New Year, 172, 189, 195, 203-4, 321
+
+Centaurs, 247
+
+Cereal sacraments, 177-8.
+ _See also_ Cakes
+
+Chambers, Mr. E. K., 5, 125, 299-300, 302-7, 348
+
+Charlemagne, coronation of, 96
+
+Charms, New Year, 182, 195-8, 321-34
+
+Cheshire, Old Hob in, 199;
+ poultry specially fed at Christmas, 289
+
+Chester plays, 128, 133-4
+
+Chesterton, Mr. G. K., 85-6
+
+Childermas, 315
+
+Children's festivals, 205-7, 218-20, 223-4, 359-60
+
+China, New Year in, 324
+
+Chios, Christmas _rhamna_ in, 270
+
+Christkind as gift-bringer, 205, 230, 277-8
+
+Christmas, pagan and Christian elements in, 18-28, 161-86, 357-60;
+ names of, 20-5;
+ establishment of, 20-2; |393|
+ its connection with earlier festivals, 20-8;
+ becomes humanized, 25-7, 34-8;
+ in poetry, 31-86;
+ liturgical aspects of, 89-101;
+ in popular devotion, 104-18;
+ in drama, 121-54;
+ its human appeal, 155-7, 357-60;
+ attracts customs from other festivals, 173, 226, 277-8, 284;
+ decorations, 178, 272-6;
+ feasting, 178-80, 283-91;
+ presents, 276-9;
+ masking customs, 297-308;
+ log, _see_ Yule Log
+
+Christmas Eve, 229-38;
+ superstitions about the supernatural, 233-7;
+ log customs, 251-8;
+ fish supper on, 286-7
+
+Christmas-tree, 168, 178, 263-72;
+ its origin, 267-72
+
+Christpuppe, 231
+
+Chrysostom, 269
+
+Church, Dean, 34
+
+Circumcision, Feast of, 101, 302.
+ _See also_ New Year's Day
+
+Clement, St., his Day, 211-2
+
+Cleobury Mortimer, curfew at, 258
+
+Clermont, shepherd play at, 141
+
+Coffin, Charles, 64
+
+Communion, sacrificial, 174-8
+
+"Comte d'Alsinoys," 56, 58-9
+
+Cornwall, Hallowe'en custom in, 196;
+ blackbird pie in, 293;
+ Childermas in, 315
+
+Coventry plays, 128, 130-1, 138
+
+Cradle-rocking, 108-11
+
+Crashaw, 79-81
+
+Crib, Christmas, 105-8, 113-8;
+ possible survivals in England, 118, 274
+
+Crimmitschau, 112
+
+Crivoscian customs, 231, 253-4, 276, 346-7
+
+Croatia, St. Andrew's Eve in, 215;
+ Christmas log customs in, 251
+
+_Cronia_, 166
+
+
+Dalmatia, Yule log customs in, 252
+
+Dancing, 47-8, 293-4, 298-300, 302
+
+Daniel, Jean, 56, 58
+
+Dannhauer, J. K., 265
+
+Dasius, St., 167
+
+Dead, feasts of the, 173, 180-1, 189-95, 235-6, 240, 253-4, 341
+
+Decorations, evergreen, 168, 178, 350, 355
+
+Denisot, Nicholas, 56, 58-9
+
+Denmark, "star-singing" in, 151;
+ animal masks in, 202;
+ Martinmas goose in, 203;
+ St. Lucia's Eve in, 223;
+ St. Thomas's Day in, 223-4;
+ Christmas Eve superstitions in, 235-6;
+ Yule candles in, 259-60;
+ Christmas-tree in, 267;
+ pig's head eaten in, 286;
+ Yule-bishop in, 308
+
+Derbyshire, "kissing-bunch" in, 274;
+ Plough Monday in, 352
+
+Devil, and beast masks, 202;
+ and flax, 240
+
+Devon, "Yeth hounds" in, 240;
+ "ashton faggot" in, 258;
+ wassailing fruit-trees in, 345
+
+Dew, Christmas, 288-9
+
+Dickens, Charles, 359
+
+Dinan, Herod play at, 141
+
+Dionysus, as child-god, 21;
+ winter festivals of, 169, 331
+
+Dorstone, Hallowe'en at, 197
+
+Drama, Christmas, in Latin, 121-7;
+ in English, 128-38;
+ in French, 128, 138-43;
+ in Spanish, 128, 148-50;
+ in German, 143-6;
+ in Italian, 147-8, 150;
+ survivals of, 150-4;
+ St. Nicholas plays, 220, 232;
+ pagan folk-drama, 298-302
+
+Drinking customs, 36, 204, 285-6, 314-5, 327
+
+Druids and mistletoe, 273
+
+Duchesne, Monsignor, 20, 24
+
+Durham, Candlemas at, 353-4
+
+Duesseldorf, Martinmas at, 206
+
+Dyzemas, 315
+
+
+Eckhart, 42-3, 157
+
+Edinburgh, New Year in, 325-6
+
+_Eiresione_, 270
+
+Encina, Juan del, 149
+
+England, Christmas poetry in, 47-51, 76-86;
+ Midnight Mass in, 99;
+ possible survivals of the Christmas crib in, 118, 274;
+ the Nativity in the miracle cycles, 128-38;
+ "souling" in, 192-4;
+ Hallowe'en in, 195-8;
+ Guy Fawkes Day in, 198-9;
+ animal masks in, 199-201; |394|
+ Martinmas in, 203;
+ St. Clement's Day in, 211-2;
+ St. Catherine's Day in, 212-3;
+ St. Andrew's Day in, 213-4;
+ St. Thomas's Day in, 225-6;
+ Christmas Eve superstitions in, 234;
+ Yule log in, 257-8;
+ Yule candle in, 259;
+ pyramids and Christmas-trees in, 266-7, 270;
+ the Holy Thorn in, 268-9;
+ evergreen decorations in, 272-6;
+ Christmas boxes in, 279;
+ Christmas fare in, 283-6;
+ sacrificial survivals and Christmas games in, 292-3;
+ mummers and sword-dancers in, 297-301;
+ Feast of Fools in, 305;
+ Boy Bishop in, 220, 306-8;
+ St. Stephen's Day in, 292, 311-4;
+ Holy Innocents' Day in, 315;
+ New Year's Day in, 321-9, 332;
+ Epiphany customs in, 337-8, 345-8;
+ Candlemas in, 350, 353-5;
+ Rock Day in, 351;
+ Plough Monday in, 352
+
+Ephraem Syrus, 31, 239
+
+Epiphanius, 21
+
+Epiphany, early history of the festival, 20-2;
+ in the Roman Church, 101-2;
+ in the Greek Church, 102-4;
+ Blessing of the Waters at, 102-4, 244, 246, 344;
+ Italian religious ceremonies at, 116-7;
+ in drama, 125-8;
+ old German name for, 243;
+ folk customs on, 293;
+ Twelfth Night cakes and kings, 337-41;
+ expulsion of evils, 341-2;
+ the Befana and the Magi, 343-4;
+ wassailing, 345-7;
+ "Haxey Hood," 347-8;
+ farewells to Christmas, 349-50
+
+Erzgebirge, Christmas plays in, 144, 232;
+ St. John's tree in, 269;
+ _pfeffern_ in, 316
+
+Eschenloh, _berchten_ at, 342
+
+Esthonians, All Souls' Day among, 191
+
+Ethelred, laws of, 21
+
+Etzendorf, St. Martin's rod at, 207-8
+
+Evans, Sir Arthur, 253-4
+
+Eves, importance of for festival customs, 196
+
+Expulsion rites, 104, 181-2, 217, 327-8, 341-2, 344
+
+
+Fabriano, Gentile da, 148
+
+Fare, Christmas, 283-91
+
+Feasting, connected with sacrifice, 178-9, 284;
+ at Martinmas, 202-4;
+ at Christmas, 283-91;
+ at New Year, 321-3;
+ at Epiphany, 337-41
+
+_Feien_, 231
+
+Feilberg, Dr. H. F., 6, 236, 313-4
+
+Festivals, origin and purpose of, 17-8;
+ relation of pagan and Christian, 19-27, 169-74
+
+Fire, not given out at Christmas or New Year, 170-1, 257-8;
+ bonfires, 182, 198-9, 204-5, 327, 346-50;
+ new fire lit, 198;
+ Christmas log and ancestor-worship, 251-4;
+ the Yule log and candle in western Europe, 254-60;
+ Candlemas fires and lights, 352-4
+
+"First-foots," 208, 252, 323-6
+
+Fish eaten on Christmas Eve, 287
+
+Flagellants, 146
+
+Flamma, Galvano, 147-8
+
+Fletcher, Giles, 82-3
+
+Florence, Nativity plays at, 147;
+ Befana at, 343
+
+Fools, Feast of, 180, 302-6
+
+Football, 349
+
+Fowler, Dr. W. Warde, 167
+
+France, Christmas poetry in, 55-65;
+ Midnight Mass in, 96-8;
+ Christmas drama in, 124-7, 138-43;
+ All Souls' Eve in, 191-2;
+ Christmas Eve superstitions in, 234-5;
+ Christmas log in, 254-6;
+ Christmas-tree in, 267;
+ Harvest May in, 271;
+ presents brought by _le petit Jesus_, 278;
+ Christmas cakes in, 287-8;
+ Feast of Fools in, 302-6;
+ Boy Bishop in, 308;
+ Innocents' Day in, 316;
+ New Year in, 322-3;
+ _aguillanneuf_ in, 329-30;
+ Epiphany in, 339-42, 344, 349-50;
+ Candlemas candles in, 353
+
+Francis, St. (of Assisi), and Christmas, 36-8, 105-6, 157, 289
+
+Frazer, Dr. J. G., 6, 167, 180, 182, 199, 276, 288, 324
+
+Frick, Frau, 241
+
+Frigg, 241
+
+Friuli, All Souls' Day in, 194
+
+Frumenty, 285
+
+
+Games, Christmas, 293-4 |395|
+
+Gaude, Frau, 241-2
+
+Gautier, Theophile, 64
+
+Gay, 196
+
+Geese-dancers, 299
+
+Genealogy, chanting of the, 93
+
+George, St., in mummers' plays, 299-301
+
+Gerhardt, Paul, 73-4
+
+Germanicus, 202
+
+Germany, Christmas established in, 21;
+ Christmas poetry in Catholic, 42-7;
+ Protestant hymns in, 70-6;
+ Christmas services in, 98-9;
+ the crib and _Kindelwiegen_ in, 107-12;
+ Christmas drama in, 143-6;
+ "star-singing" in, 152;
+ Roman customs in, 171;
+ pre-Christian New Year in, 171-4;
+ soul-cakes in, 194;
+ the _Schimmel_ and other animal masks in, 199-201;
+ Martinmas customs in, 202-8;
+ St. Andrew's Eve in, 214-6;
+ St. Nicholas in, 218-9, 229-32;
+ St. Thomas's Eve in, 225;
+ Christmas Eve in, 229, 237;
+ Twelve Days superstitions in, 240-3;
+ Frau Berchta, etc., in, 241-3;
+ werewolves in, 246;
+ Christmas log in, 256;
+ Christmas-tree in, 263-7, 359;
+ Harvest May in, 271;
+ Christmas presents in, 277-9;
+ Christmas fare in, 286-9;
+ sacrificial relics in, 292;
+ St. Stephen's Day in, 312, 315-6;
+ St. John's Day in, 314-6;
+ Holy Innocents' Day in, 316;
+ New Year in, 322, 332
+
+Gilmorton, "Christmas Vase" at, 118
+
+Glastonbury thorns, 268-9
+
+"Gloria in excelsis," 91, 94
+
+Goethe, 266
+
+_Goliards_, 49, 128
+
+Gomme, Sir Laurence, 257-8, 354
+
+Goose, Martinmas, 203;
+ Christmas, 284
+
+Gozzoli, Benozzo, 148
+
+Grampus, 219
+
+Greece, Epiphany ceremonies in, 102-3, 244-5, 344;
+ winter festivals of Dionysus in, 169, 245;
+ _Kallikantzaroi_ in, 244-7, 257;
+ Christmas log in, 257, 344;
+ _rhamna_ in Chios, 270;
+ "Christ's Loaves" in, 290;
+ folk-plays in, 300-1;
+ New Year in, 331, 333
+
+Greek Church, Epiphany in, 22, 102-4;
+ Christmas in, 22, 99-101;
+ Advent in, 90
+
+Gregorie, 315
+
+Gregory III., 107
+
+Gregory the Great, letter to Mellitus, 179, 203
+
+Guernsey, Christmas superstitions in, 234, 240;
+ _oguinane_ in, 330
+
+Guisers, 297-8
+
+Guy Fawkes Day, 182, 198-9
+
+
+_Habergaiss_, 201
+
+_Habersack_, 201
+
+Hakon the Good, 21, 172
+
+Hallowe'en, 182, 195-8
+
+Hampstead, Guy Fawkes Day at, 199
+
+Hans Trapp, 230
+
+Hardy, Mr. Thomas, 48, 234
+
+Harke, Frau, 241
+
+Harrison, Miss Jane, 21, 176-7, 325
+
+"Haxey Hood," 347-8
+
+Herbert, George, 81
+
+Herefordshire, Hallowe'en in, 197;
+ pyramids in, 266;
+ Holy Thorn in, 269;
+ New Year water in, 332;
+ Epiphany and New Year ceremonies in, 346
+
+Herod plays, 126-7, 129, 141, 153
+
+Herrick, 81-2, 257, 338, 345, 354-5
+
+Hertfordshire, pyramids in, 266
+
+Hindu New Year, 322
+
+Hoefler, Dr., 288
+
+Hogmanay, 328-30
+
+Holda, Frau, 241-2
+
+Holland, the "star" in, 152;
+ Martinmas in, 204-5;
+ _Rommelpot_ in, 217;
+ St. Nicholas in, 219;
+ St. Thomas's Day in, 225
+
+Holly, 272, 275-6
+
+Holy Innocents' Day, 127, 302, 306-8, 315-7
+
+Horn-cakes, 202, 204
+
+Hornchurch, boar's head at, 348
+
+Horn-dance, 201
+
+Horse, as a sacrificial animal, 200;
+ hobby-horse, hodening, and the _Schimmel_, 199-201;
+ customs on St. Stephen's Day, 311-4 |396|
+
+Howison, 234
+
+Hubert, St., his Day, 202
+
+Hunt, Leigh, 337-8
+
+Huysmans, J. K., 93
+
+Hymns, Latin, 31-4, 42
+
+
+Iceland, "Yule host" in, 240
+
+Image, Prof. Selwyn, 85
+
+"In dulci jubilo," 44-5
+
+Incense used for purification, 183, 225, 244-5, 327-8
+
+Ireland, Christmas carols in, 69-70;
+ All Souls' Eve in, 192;
+ Hallowe'en customs in, 197-8;
+ Martinmas slaughter in, 203-4;
+ "hunting of the wren" in, 292;
+ Holy Innocents' Day in, 315;
+ Epiphany in, 350
+
+Italy, Christmas poetry in, 36-42, 67;
+ _presepio_ in, 105-7, 112-6, 359;
+ Christmas drama in, 146-8, 152;
+ All Souls' in, 192, 194;
+ Martinmas in, 204;
+ Christmas log in, 256;
+ Santa Lucia in, 278;
+ Christmas fare in, 287, 289-91;
+ Epiphany in, 343
+
+Ivy, 272, 275-6
+
+
+Jacopone da Todi, 36, 39-42, 146
+
+James, St., Gospel of, 124
+
+Jerome, St., 181
+
+Jerusalem, Christmas at, 22, 94-5
+
+John, St., Evangelist, his Day, 302, 314-5
+
+Johnson, Lionel, 85
+
+Johnson, Richard, 301
+
+Jonson, Ben, 298
+
+_Julebuk_, 202
+
+Julian the Apostate, 23
+
+_Julklapp_, 278-9
+
+
+Kalends of January, the Roman festival, 24, 165, 167-71, 200, 269;
+ made a fast, 101, 170-1.
+ _See also_ New Year's Day
+
+_Kallikantzaroi_, 244-7
+
+_Kindelwiegen_, 108-11
+
+King of the Bean, 180, 338-41
+
+"Kissing-bunch," 274
+
+Kissling, K. G., 266
+
+_Klapperbock_, 201
+
+Klaubauf, 219
+
+_Kloepfelnaechte_, 216-7
+
+Knecht Ruprecht, 220, 231-2
+
+Kore, 21
+
+Krampus, 219
+
+
+Labruguiere, Epiphany in, 342
+
+Lake, Prof. K., 20, 24
+
+La Monnoye, 62-3
+
+Lancashire, Hallowe'en in, 198
+
+Latin Christmas poetry, 31-4, 42, 63-4, 68-9
+
+Lawson, Mr. J. C., 247, 301
+
+Lead-pouring, 215, 237, 332
+
+Leather, Mrs., 269, 346
+
+Le Moigne, Lucas, 56-8
+
+Libanius, 168-9, 269
+
+Liberius, Pope, 107, 352-3
+
+Lima, Christmas Eve at, 98
+
+Lithuania, feast of the dead in, 195;
+ New Year's Eve in, 332
+
+Log customs. _See_ Yule log
+
+Lombardy, Christmas log in, 256
+
+London, Greek Epiphany ceremonies in, 103;
+ Italian Christmas in, 116-7, 291;
+ Christmas in, under Puritans, 185;
+ German Christmas in, 265;
+ Boy Bishop in, 306-7;
+ New Year in, 322, 327
+
+Lord Mayor's day, 202
+
+Lord of Misrule, 298
+
+Lorraine, cake customs in, 287, 339-40
+
+Lucia, St., her festival, 221-3, 268
+
+Lucian, 166-7
+
+Ludlow, Guy Fawkes Day at, 199
+
+Lullabies, 51, 67-9, 83-4, 109-10
+
+Luther, Martin, 70-3, 265
+
+Lyme Regis, Candlemas at, 354
+
+
+Macedonia, Christmas Eve in, 217;
+ New Year's Eve in, 226, 330, 332;
+ _Kallikantzaroi_ in, 245;
+ folk-play in, 300;
+ Epiphany in, 344
+
+Macee, Claude, 141
+
+Madrid, 97-8, 153, 343
+
+Magi in drama, 125-6, 128-9, 151-3;
+ as present-bringers, 343
+
+Magic, 163
+
+Man, Isle of, carol-singing in, 99;
+ _Hollantide_ in, 189, 198, 321; |397|
+ _Fynnodderee_ in, 246;
+ "hunting of the wren" in, 292-3
+
+_Mana_, 176-7
+
+Mannhardt, W., 252-3, 313-4
+
+Marguerite of Navarre, 141
+
+Marseilles, "pastorals" at, 141
+
+Martin of Braga, 272
+
+Martin I., Pope, 203
+
+Martinengo-Cesaresco, Countess, 106, 112, 142
+
+Martinmas, an old winter festival, 173, 182, 200, 202-3;
+ its feasting customs, 202-4;
+ its bonfires, 204-5;
+ St. Martin as gift-bringer, and his relation to St. Nicholas, 205-8,
+ 218-9, 277-8
+
+Masking customs, 169-71, 175-6, 199-202, 206, 219, 230-2, 245, 297-302,
+ 304-305, 352
+
+Mass, Midnight, 94-9;
+ the three Christmas Masses, 94-6
+
+Mechlin, Martinmas at, 206
+
+Mellitus, Abbot, 179
+
+Mexico, Christmas drama in, 154
+
+Michaelmas, 173
+
+Milan, Epiphany play at, 147-8
+
+Milton, 82
+
+Mince-pies, 284
+
+Minnesingers, 36
+
+"Misterio de los Reyes Magos," 128
+
+Mistletoe, 272-4, 276
+
+Mistral, Frederic, 255
+
+Mithra, 23
+
+_Modranicht_, 181
+
+Monasticism and Christmas, 34-5
+
+Mont-St.-Michel, Epiphany king at, 340
+
+Montenegro, Christmas log customs in, 252
+
+Morgan, Lady, 114-5
+
+Morris, William, 85
+
+Morris-dancers, 299-301
+
+Mouthe, "De fructu" at, 288
+
+Mummers' plays, 297-302
+
+Munich, Bavarian National Museum at, 107-8;
+ Christmas-tree at, 267;
+ St. Stephen's Day at, 312
+
+Murillo, 65
+
+Mythology, in relation to ritual, 164-5, 176
+
+
+Naogeorgus, 111, 217, 353
+
+Naples, _zampognari_ at, 112;
+ _presepio_ at, 113-4;
+ Christmas plays at, 150;
+ Epiphany at, 343
+
+_Natalis Invicti_, 23-4, 165
+
+New Year's Day, in Roman Empire, 24, 167-71, 276-7;
+ opposed in character to Christmas, 25-6;
+ Teutonic and Celtic, 25, 171-3, 189, 202-4;
+ Slav, 173;
+ January 1 made a fast, 101, 170-1;
+ customs attracted to January 1, 173, 189, 200, 321;
+ fire not given out, 170-1, 257-8;
+ charms, omens, and other customs, 182, 321-34;
+ presents, 168-71, 276-7;
+ mistletoe connected with, 276
+
+Nicea, Council of, 22
+
+Nicholas, St., his Day related to Martinmas, 173, 207-8, 277-8;
+ as patron of boys, 218, 220,
+ of sailors, 218, 221;
+ his festival, 218-21;
+ on Christmas Eve, 229-32
+
+_Noel_, origin of the name, 22;
+ the French carol, 55-65
+
+Normandy, "star-singing" in, 151;
+ Innocents' Day in, 316;
+ Epiphany in, 349-50
+
+Northamptonshire, St. Catherine's and St. Andrew's Days in, 213-4;
+ Dyzemas in, 315
+
+Northumberland, holly in, 275
+
+Norway, Christmas established in, 21;
+ "star-singing" in, 151;
+ pre-Christian Yule festival in, 172;
+ animal masks in, 202;
+ Christmas Eve superstitions in, 235-6;
+ Yule candles in, 259-60
+
+Notker, 32
+
+Nottinghamshire, Hallowe'en customs in, 196;
+ Christmas cake and wassail-bowl in, 285
+
+Nuremberg, Epiphany at, 342
+
+Nuts, customs with, 195-6, 207
+
+
+"O's," Great, 92
+
+Oak as a sacred tree, 254
+
+Oberufer, Christmas play at, 143, 272
+
+Ocana, F. de, 65-6
+
+Oesel, "Yule Boar" in, 288
+
+Old Hob, 199-200 |398|
+
+Otfrid of Weissenburg, 42
+
+Oxford, boars head at, 284
+
+
+Palmer, Mr. F. H. E., 104
+
+_Parcae_, 181
+
+Paris, Christmas in, 98;
+ All Souls' Eve in, 191;
+ St. Catherine's Day in, 213;
+ Christmas-tree in, 267;
+ New Year in, 277;
+ Feast of Fools in, 302-3
+
+Paschal, Francoise, 61-2
+
+Pasquier, Etienne, 339
+
+Pearson, Dr. Karl, 161-2
+
+Pellegrin, Abbe, 63
+
+Pelzmaerte, 206-8, 217
+
+Perchta, 181, 241-4, 342
+
+Perun, 254
+
+Peterborough, St. Catherine's Day at, 213
+
+Philocalian Calendar, 20
+
+_Pifferari_, 112
+
+Pillersee, Advent mummeries at, 218
+
+Pliny, 273
+
+Plough Monday, 300
+
+Plum-pudding, 284-5
+
+_Plygain_, 99
+
+Poland, the "star" in, 152;
+ puppet-shows in, 153;
+ werewolves in, 246;
+ Christmas straw in, 276;
+ Christmas wafers in, 291
+
+_Polaznik_, 231, 252, 323-4
+
+Presents, at the Roman Kalends, 168-71, 276-7;
+ on All Souls' Eve, 192;
+ at Martinmas, 205-8;
+ on St. Nicholas's Day, 218-20;
+ at Christmas, 183, 230, 277-9;
+ at New Year and other seasons, 277-8;
+ at Epiphany, 343
+
+_Presepio._ _See_ Crib
+
+"Prophetae," 127
+
+Protestantism, effects of, on Christmas, 27, 70-8, 111, 138, 141, 185-6,
+ 229-30
+
+Provence, remains of Christmas drama in, 141, 154;
+ Christmas log in, 255;
+ Magi in, 344
+
+Prudentius, 32
+
+Puppet-plays, 153 f.
+
+Purification, feast of the. _See_ Candlemas
+
+Puritans, their attitude towards Christmas, 77, 180, 184-5, 298
+
+Pyramids, 266
+
+
+Quainton, blossoming thorn at, 268
+
+
+"Raging host," 240, 242
+
+Ragusa, Christmas log customs at, 252
+
+Ramsgate, hodening at, 200-1
+
+_Rauchnaechte_, 225, 327-8
+
+Rhys, Sir John, 189, 321, 325-6
+
+Ripon, St. Clement's Day at, 212;
+ Yule candles at, 259;
+ Candlemas at, 354
+
+Risano, Christmas log customs at, 252
+
+Rolle, Richard, 48
+
+Rome, Christmas established in, 20-1;
+ pagan winter festivals in, 23-4, 165-71;
+ Christmas services and customs in, 95-6, 112-6, 289-90;
+ mediaeval New Year _quete_ in, 331
+
+Rossetti, Christina, 85
+
+Rouen, religious plays at, 124-5, 138-40
+
+Roumania, the "star" in, 152;
+ Christmas drama in, 153;
+ St. Andrew's Eve in, 215-6;
+ Christmas songs in, 238;
+ Christmas fare in, 287, 291;
+ New Year in, 330-1;
+ Epiphany in, 342
+
+Russia, Epiphany ceremonies in, 104, 246;
+ the "star" in, 152;
+ Christmas Eve in, 232-3, 237;
+ fire superstitions in, 253;
+ Christmas fare in, 287, 291;
+ Christmas games in, 294;
+ mummers in, 302;
+ New Year in, 333
+
+
+Saboly, 62
+
+Sacrifice, theories of, 174-8;
+ connected with festivals, 178-9;
+ survivals of, 199, 283-7, 292-4, 328, 347-9
+
+Salers, Christmas king at, 340
+
+_Samhain_, 172, 204
+
+Sant' Andrea della Valle, Rome, 102
+
+Santa Klaus, 220
+
+Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome, 95-6, 107, 114-5
+
+_Saturnalia_, 24, 113, 165-7, 180, 359
+
+Schiller, 266
+
+_Schimmel_ and _Schimmelreiter_, 199-200, 206, 231
+
+Schoolboys' festival, 223-4.
+ _See also_ Boy Bishop
+
+Scotland, Christmas carols in, 70;
+ Hallowe'en customs in, 197-8;
+ sowens eaten in, 285;
+ "first-foot" in, 325-6;
+ other New Year customs in, 326-9, 332-3;
+ Candlemas in, 354 |399|
+
+Sedulius, Coelius, 32
+
+Sequences, 32-3
+
+Serao, Matilde, 113
+
+Serbs, Christmas customs of, 251-4, 341
+
+Shakespeare, 239, 298
+
+Shepherds in Christmas drama, 123-4, 132-7, 139-43
+
+Shropshire, soul-cakes in, 192-3;
+ Guy Fawkes Day at Ludlow, 199;
+ Twelve Days superstitions in, 240-1, 258;
+ Christmas Brand in, 258;
+ Christmas decorations in, 275-6, 355;
+ "wigs" in, 285;
+ cattle specially fed at Christmas, 289;
+ morris-dancers in, 299;
+ New Year in, 324;
+ Candlemas in, 355
+
+Sicily, Midnight Mass in, 98;
+ Christmas _novena_ in, 112-3;
+ Christmas procession at Messina, 113;
+ Christmas plays in, 150;
+ All Souls' Eve in, 192;
+ Martinmas in, 204;
+ St. Lucia's Eve in, 222;
+ presents in, 278;
+ Candlemas candles in, 353
+
+Sidgwick, Mr. F., 6, 77-8
+
+Sidgwick, Mrs. Alfred, 264
+
+Silesia, _Schimmel_ in, 200;
+ Martinmas in, 206;
+ Christmas Eve in, 232;
+ animals specially fed at Christmas, 289
+
+Slav New Year, 172-3;
+ Christmas songs and customs, 237-8, 251-4, 290, 341.
+ _See also_ Bohemia, Crivoscia, Poland, Russia
+
+Smith, W. Robertson, 164-5, 175-6, 178-9
+
+Somersetshire wassailing, 345
+
+Soul cakes, 192-4
+
+South America, Christmas in, 98
+
+Southwell, 79-80
+
+Sowens eaten, 285, 325
+
+Spain, Christmas poetry in, 65-7;
+ Midnight Mass in, 97-8, 117;
+ the crib in, 117;
+ Christmas drama in, 128, 148-51, 153;
+ _turron_ in, 291;
+ Epiphany in, 343-4
+
+Spervogel, 42
+
+Spinning, during Twelve Days, 240-3
+
+Staffordshire, St. Clement's Day in, 211-2
+
+"Star-singing," 151-2
+
+"Stella," 125-7, 129
+
+Stephen, St., his festival, 292, 302, 311-6
+
+Stephens, Dean, 35
+
+Stow's "Survay," 272
+
+Strasburg, early Christmas-trees at, 265-6
+
+_Strenae_, 168, 277-8
+
+Stubbes, Philip, 184, 298
+
+Styles, Old and New, 268-9
+
+Styria, _Habergaiss_ in, 201;
+ Perchta in, 243;
+ St. John's wine in, 315
+
+Sun, the, December 25 as festival of, 23;
+ Yule not connected with, 171-2;
+ sun-charms, 182, 198, 252, 254
+
+Suso, 44
+
+Sussex, squirrel-hunting in, 214;
+ tipteerers in, 298;
+ wassailing fruit-trees in, 345
+
+Swabia, Pelzmaerte in, 206-7, 217
+
+Sweden, Christmas service in, 99;
+ "star-singing" in, 151;
+ animal masks in, 202;
+ St. Lucia's Day in, 221-4;
+ Christmas Eve superstitions in, 235-6;
+ Yule log in, 257;
+ Yule candles in, 259-60;
+ Christmas-trees in, 267, 270;
+ Yule straw in, 276;
+ Christmas presents in, 278-9;
+ pig's head eaten in, 286;
+ dances in, 293-4;
+ St. Stephen's Day in, 312-3, 315;
+ "St. Knut's Day" in, 351
+
+Swinburne, 84-5
+
+Swine as sacrificial animal, 284, 286
+
+Switzerland, St. Nicholas in, 218-9;
+ Christmas-tree in, 267;
+ birds fed at Christmas, 289
+
+Sword-dance, 294, 299-301
+
+_Sylvesterabend_, 274, 322
+
+
+Tacitus, 200, 299
+
+Tate, Nahum, 84
+
+Tauler, 43
+
+Teme valley, "first-footing" in, 324
+
+Tenby, _Plygain_ at, 99;
+ St. Clement's Day at, 212
+
+Tersteegen, Gerhard, 75-6
+
+Tertullian, 269
+
+Teutonic New Year, 171-3, 189, 202-4
+
+Thomas of Celano, 38
+
+Thomas, Mr. N. W., 293
+
+Thomas, St., his festival, 223-6
+
+"Thomassin'," 226
+
+Thurston, Mr. Edgar, 322
+
+Tieck, 266 |400|
+
+Tille, Dr. A., 5, 110, 169, 172-3, 231-2, 268
+
+Tipteerers, 298
+
+Tolstoy's "War and Peace," 302
+
+Tomte Gubbe, 236
+
+Tonquin, feast of the dead in, 195
+
+Totemism, 175-8
+
+Tours, Council of, 21, 101, 239
+
+Towneley plays, 128, 134-7
+
+Trees, sacred, 177-8, 254, 269-71;
+ flowering at Christmas, 268-9;
+ Christian symbols, 271-2
+
+Trest, Epiphany at, 344
+
+Trolls on Christmas Eve, 235-6
+
+Troppau, Christmas Eve at, 232
+
+Troubadours, 36
+
+Tuebingen, cradle-rocking at, 111
+
+Tuscany, Christmas log in, 256
+
+Tutilo of St. Gall, 123
+
+Twelfth Night. _See_ Epiphany
+
+Twelve Days, declared a festal tide, 21, 239;
+ variously reckoned, 239;
+ supernatural visitors on, 239-47
+
+Tylor, Dr. E. B., 191
+
+Tynan, Katharine, 85
+
+Tyrol, Midnight Mass in, 97;
+ the crib in, 107-8;
+ cradle-rocking in, 111;
+ Christmas drama in, 143;
+ "star-singing" in, 152;
+ All Souls in, 191-2, 194;
+ _Kloepfelnaechte_ in, 218;
+ St. Nicholas in, 220;
+ St. Lucia in, 223;
+ Christmas Eve in, 236, 346;
+ Berchta in, 243-4;
+ customs with fruit-trees in, 268;
+ Christmas pie in, 290, 345-6;
+ St. Stephen's Day in, 311-2;
+ St. John's Day in, 314;
+ Epiphany in, 337;
+ Carnival in, 349;
+ Purification candles in, 353
+
+
+Ubeda, J. L. de, 65
+
+Uist, South, "breast-strip" in, 328
+
+United States, Santa Klaus in, 220;
+ New Year in, 323
+
+Usedom, 201
+
+Usener, H., 20, 107
+
+
+Valdivielso, J. de, 65
+
+Vampires, 215-6, 245-6
+
+Vaughan, Henry, 81
+
+Vega, Lope de, 149-50
+
+Vegetation-cults, 177-8
+
+Venetia, Martinmas in, 204, 207
+
+Vessel-cup, 118
+
+Villazopeque, 148-9
+
+Vosges mountains, All Souls' Eve in, 191
+
+
+Wales, Christmas carols in, 69;
+ _Plygain_ in, 99;
+ soul-cakes in, 193-4;
+ Hallowe'en in, 189, 196-8;
+ the "Mari Llwyd" in, 201;
+ "new water" carol in, 333-4;
+ Christmas football in, 349
+
+Warnsdorf, St. Nicholas play at, 220
+
+Wassail-bowl, 193, 285-6
+
+Water, New Year, 332-4
+
+Watts, Isaac, 83-4
+
+Weather, ideas about, 203, 332
+
+_Weihnacht_, origin of the name, 20
+
+Werewolves, 246
+
+Wesley, Charles, 84
+
+Westermarck, Dr. E., 176
+
+Westphalia, St. Thomas's Day in, 225
+
+Whipping customs, 207-8, 315-7, 330
+
+"Wild hunt," 239-40
+
+Wine, Martinmas, 204;
+ St. John's and St. Stephen's, 314-5
+
+"Wish hounds," 240
+
+Wither, George, 83
+
+Woden, 200, 206, 208, 231, 240
+
+Women, their clothes worn by men at folk-festivals, 178, 301, 304;
+ unlucky at New Year, 324-5
+
+Woolwich, St. Clement's and St. Catherine's Days at, 212
+
+Worcestershire. St. Clement's Day in, 212;
+ New Year in, 324
+
+Wormesley, Holy Thorn at, 269
+
+Wren, hunting of, 292-3
+
+Wylie, Miss I. A. R., 263
+
+
+"Yeth hounds," 240
+
+York Minster, mistletoe at, 273;
+ Boy Bishop at, 307
+
+York plays, 128, 131-3
+
+Yorkshire, possible survival of the crib in, 118;
+ frumenty, ale posset, and Yule cakes in, 285;
+ "lucky bird" in, 325
+
+Ypres, St. Martin at, 206
+
+Yule, origin of the name, 25, 171-2
+
+"Yule Boar," 288
+
+Yule log, 180, 245, 251-8, 344, 354
+
+
+Zacharias, Pope, 171
+
+
+
+
+FOOTNOTES
+
+[1] For an explanation of the small numerals in the text see Preface.
+
+ [Transcriber's Note: In this edition the numerals are enclosed in
+ {curly brackets}, so they will not be confused with footnotes.]
+
+[2] "Christianity," as here used, will stand for the system of
+ orthodoxy which had been fixed in its main outlines when the
+ festival of Christmas took its rise. The relation of the orthodox
+ creed to historical fact need not concern us here, nor need we for
+ the purposes of this study attempt to distinguish between the
+ Christianity of Jesus and ecclesiastical accretions around his
+ teaching.
+
+[3] Whether the Nativity had previously been celebrated at Rome on
+ January 6 is a matter of controversy; the affirmative view was
+ maintained by Usener in his monograph on Christmas,{6} the
+ negative by Monsignor Duchesne.{7} A very minute, cautious, and
+ balanced study of both arguments is to be found in Professor
+ Kirsopp Lake's article on Christmas in Hastings's "Encyclopaedia of
+ Religion and Ethics,"{8} and a short article was contributed by
+ the same writer to _The Guardian_, December 29, 1911. Professor
+ Lake, on the whole, inclines to Usener's view. The early history of
+ the festival is also treated by Father Cyril Martindale in "The
+ Catholic Encyclopaedia" (article "Christmas").
+
+[4] Usener says 354, Duchesne 336.
+
+[5] The eastern father, Epiphanius (fourth century), gives a strange
+ account of a heathen, or perhaps in reality a Gnostic, rite held at
+ Alexandria on the night of January 5-6. In the temple of Kore--the
+ Maiden--he tells us, worshippers spent the night in singing and
+ flute-playing, and at cock-crow brought up from a subterranean
+ sanctuary a wooden image seated naked on a litter. It had the sign
+ of the cross upon it in gold in five places--the forehead, the
+ hands, and the knees. This image was carried seven times round the
+ central hall of the temple with flute-playing, drumming, and hymns,
+ and then taken back to the underground chamber. In explanation of
+ these strange actions it was said: "To-day, at this hour, hath Kore
+ (the Maiden) borne the AEon."{15} Can there be a connection between
+ this festival and the Eleusinian mysteries? In the latter there was
+ a nocturnal celebration with many lights burning, and the cry went
+ forth, "Holy Brimo (the Maiden) hath borne a sacred child,
+ Brimos."{16} The details given by Miss Harrison in her
+ "Prolegomena" of the worship of the child Dionysus{17} are of
+ extraordinary interest, and a minute comparison of this cult with
+ that of the Christ Child might lead to remarkable results.
+
+[6] Mithraism resembled Christianity in its monotheistic tendencies,
+ its sacraments, its comparatively high morality, its doctrine of an
+ Intercessor and Redeemer, and its vivid belief in a future life and
+ judgment to come. Moreover Sunday was its holy-day dedicated to the
+ Sun.
+
+[7] This is the explanation adopted by most scholars (cf. Chambers, "M.
+ S.," i., 241-2). Duchesne suggests as an explanation of the choice
+ of December 25 the fact that a tradition fixed the Passion of
+ Christ on March 25. The same date, he thinks, would have been
+ assigned to His Conception in order to make the years of His life
+ complete, and the Birth would come naturally nine months after the
+ Conception. He, however, "would not venture to say, in regard to
+ the 25th of December, that the coincidence of the _Sol novus_
+ exercised no direct or indirect influence on the ecclesiastical
+ decision arrived at in regard to the matter."{25} Professor Lake
+ also, in his article in Hastings's "Encyclopaedia," seeks to account
+ for the selection of December 25 without any deliberate competition
+ with the _Natalis Invicti_. He points out that the Birth of Christ
+ was fixed at the vernal equinox by certain early chronologists, on
+ the strength of an elaborate and fantastic calculation based on
+ Scriptural data, and connecting the Incarnation with the Creation,
+ and that when the Incarnation came to be viewed as beginning at the
+ Conception instead of the Birth, the latter would naturally be
+ placed nine months later.
+
+[8] Cf. chap. xviii. of Dr. Yrjoe Hirn's "The Sacred Shrine" (London,
+ 1912). Dr. Hirn finds a solitary anticipation of the Franciscan
+ treatment of the Nativity in the Christmas hymns of the
+ fourth-century eastern poet, Ephraem Syrus.
+
+[9] No. 55 in "Hymns Ancient and Modern" (Ordinary Edition).
+
+[10] No. 56 in "Hymns Ancient and Modern" (Ordinary Edition).
+
+[11]
+
+ "Come rejoicing,
+ Faithful men, with rapture singing
+ Alleluya!
+ Monarch's Monarch,
+ From a holy maiden springing,
+ Mighty wonder!
+
+ Angel of the Counsel here,
+ Sun from star, he doth appear,
+ Born of maiden:
+ He a sun who knows no night,
+ She a star whose paler light
+ Fadeth never."
+
+ (Translation in "The English Hymnal," No. 22.)
+
+[12]
+
+ "Lords, by Christmas and the host
+ Of this mansion hear my toast--
+ Drink it well--
+ Each must drain his cup of wine,
+ And I the first will toss off mine:
+ Thus I advise.
+ Here then I bid you all _Wassail_,
+ Cursed be he who will not say, _Drinkhail!_"
+
+ (Translation by F. Douce.)
+
+[13] It is difficult to be sure of the authenticity of the verse
+ attributed to Jacopone. Many of the poems in Tresatti's edition,
+ from which the quotations in the text are taken, may be the work of
+ his followers.
+
+[14]
+
+ "Come and look upon her child
+ Nestling in the hay!
+ See his fair arms opened wide,
+ On her lap to play!
+ And she tucks him by her side,
+ Cloaks him as she may!
+ Gives her paps unto his mouth,
+ Where his lips are laid.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ She with left hand cradling
+ Rocked and hushed her boy,
+ And with holy lullabies
+ Quieted her toy....
+ Little angels all around
+ Danced, and carols flung;
+ Making verselets sweet and true,
+ Still of love they sung."
+
+ (Translation by John Addington Symonds in "The Renaissance in
+ Italy. Italian Literature" [1898 Edn.], Part I., 468.)
+
+[15] "In the worthy stable of the sweet baby the angels are singing
+ round the little one; they sing and cry out, the beloved angels,
+ quite reverent, timid and shy round the little baby Prince of the
+ Elect who lies naked among the prickly hay.... The Divine Verb,
+ which is highest knowledge, this day seems as if He knew nothing of
+ anything. Look at Him on the hay, crying and kicking as if He were
+ not at all a divine man."
+
+ (Translation by Vernon Lee in "Renaissance Fancies and Studies," 34.)
+
+[16]
+
+ "Sweep hearth and floor;
+ Be all your vessel's store
+ Shining and clean.
+ Then bring the little guest
+ And give Him of your best
+ Of meat and drink. Yet more
+ Ye owe than meat.
+ One gift at your King's feet
+ Lay now. I mean
+ A heart full to the brim
+ Of love, and all for Him,
+ And from all envy clean."
+
+ (Translation by Miss Anne Macdonell, in "Sons of Francis," 372.)
+
+[17]
+
+ "Full of beauty stood the Mother,
+ By the Manger, blest o'er other,
+ Where her little One she lays.
+ For her inmost soul's elation,
+ In its fervid jubilation,
+ Thrills with ecstasy of praise."
+
+ (Translation by J. M. Neale.)
+
+[18]
+
+ "A spotless Rose is blowing,
+ Sprung from a tender root,
+ Of ancient seers' foreshowing,
+ Of Jesse promised fruit;
+ Its fairest bud unfolds to light
+ Amid the cold, cold winter,
+ And in the dark midnight.
+
+ The Rose which I am singing,
+ Whereof Isaiah said,
+ Is from its sweet root springing
+ In Mary, purest Maid;
+ For through our God's great love and might
+ The Blessed Babe she bare us
+ In a cold, cold winter's night."
+
+ (Translation by C. Winkworth, "Christian Singers," 85.)
+
+[19] The tune is often used in England for Neale's carol, "Good
+ Christian men, rejoice."
+
+[20] "When Jesus Christ was born, then was it cold; in a little crib He
+ was laid. There stood an ass and an ox which breathed over the Holy
+ Child quite openly. He who has a pure heart need have no care."
+
+[21] "Dearest mother, take care of the Child; it is freezing hard, wrap
+ Him up quickly. And you, old father, tuck the little one up, or the
+ cold and the wind will give Him no rest. Now we must take our
+ leave, O divine Child, remember us, pardon our sins. We are
+ heartily glad that Thou art come; no one else could have helped
+ us."
+
+[22] "The Child is laid in the crib, so hearty and so rare! My little
+ Hans would be nothing by His side, were he finer than he is.
+ Coal-black as cherries are His eyes, the rest of Him is white as
+ chalk. His pretty hands are right tender and delicate, I touched
+ Him carefully. Then He gave me a smile and a deep sigh too. If you
+ were mine, thought I, you'd grow a merry boy. At home in the
+ kitchen I'd comfortably house you; out here in the stable the cold
+ wind comes in at every corner."
+
+[23] Richard Rolle, poet, mystic, and wandering preacher, in many ways
+ reminds us of Jacopone da Todi. Though he has left no Christmas
+ verses, some lovely words of his show how deeply he felt the wonder
+ and pathos of Bethlehem: "Jhesu es thy name. A! A! that wondryrfull
+ name! A! that delittabyll name! This es the name that es above all
+ names.... I yede [went] abowte be Covaytyse of riches and I fand
+ noghte Jhesu. I satt in companyes of Worldly myrthe and I fand
+ noghte Jhesu.... Therefore I turnede by anothire waye, and I rane
+ a-bowte be Poverte, and I fande Jhesu pure borne in the worlde,
+ laid in a crybe and lappid in clathis."{28}
+
+[24] "When midnight sounded I leapt from my bed to the floor, and I saw
+ a beautiful angel who sang a thousand times sweeter than a
+ nightingale. The watch-dogs of the neighbourhood all came up. Never
+ had they seen such a sight, and they suddenly began to bark. The
+ shepherds under the straw were sleeping like logs: when they heard
+ the sound of the barking they thought it was the wolves. They were
+ reasonable folk; they came without waiting to be asked. They found
+ in a little stable the Light, even the Truth."
+
+[25] "Within a poor manger and covered with hay lies Jesus of Nazareth.
+ In the hay lies stretched the Eternal Son of God; to deliver from
+ hell man whom He had created, and to kill sin, our Jesus of
+ Nazareth is content with the hay. He rests between two animals who
+ warm Him from the cold, He who remedies our ills with His great
+ power; His kingdom and seigniory are the world and the calm heaven,
+ and now He sleeps in the hay. He counts it good to bear the cold
+ and fare thus, having no robe to protect or cover Him, and to give
+ us life He suffered cold in the hay, our Jesus of Nazareth."
+
+[26] "In a porch, full of cobwebs, between the mule and the ox, the
+ Saviour of souls is born.... In the porch at Bethlehem are star,
+ sun, and moon: the Virgin and St. Joseph and the Child who lies in
+ the cradle. In Bethlehem they touch fire, from the porch the flame
+ issues; it is a star of heaven which has fallen into the straw.
+ I am a poor gipsy who come hither from Egypt, and bring to God's
+ Child a cock. I am a poor Galician who come from Galicia, and bring
+ to God's Child linen for a shift. To the new-born Child all bring a
+ gift; I am little and have nothing; I bring him my heart."
+
+[27]
+
+ "Sleep, oh sleep, dear Baby mine,
+ King Divine;
+ Sleep, my Child, in sleep recline;
+ Lullaby, mine Infant fair,
+ Heaven's King,
+ All glittering,
+ Full of grace as lilies rare.
+
+ Close thine eyelids, O my treasure,
+ Loved past measure,
+ Of my soul, the Lord, the pleasure;
+ Lullaby, O regal Child,
+ On the hay
+ My joy I lay;
+ Love celestial, meek and mild.
+
+ Why dost weep, my Babe? alas!
+ Cold winds that pass
+ Vex, or is't the little ass?
+ Lullaby, O Paradise;
+ Of my heart
+ Thou Saviour art;
+ On thy face I press a kiss."{20}
+
+ (Translation by Countess Martinengo-Cesaresco.)
+
+[28] A Bas-Quercy bird-carol of this kind is printed by Mr. H. J. L. J.
+ Masse in his delightful "Book of Old Carols,"{26} a collection of
+ the words and music of Christmas songs in many languages--English,
+ Latin, German, Flemish, Basque, Swedish, Catalan, Provencal, and
+ French of various periods and dialects.
+
+[29]
+
+ "I come from heaven to tell
+ The best nowells that ever befell;
+ To you thir tidings true I bring,
+ And I will of them say and sing.
+
+ This day to you is born ane child,
+ Of Mary meek and virgin mild,
+ That blessed bairn, benign and kind,
+ Sall you rejoice, baith heart and mind.
+
+ My soul and life, stand up and see
+ What lies in ane crib of tree [wood].
+ What Babe is that, so gude and fair?
+ It is Christ, Goddis Son and Heir.
+
+ O God! that made all creature,
+ How art Thou now become so puir,
+ That on the hay and stray will lie,
+ Among the asses, oxen, and kye?
+
+ O, my dear heart, young Jesus sweet,
+ Prepare Thy cradle in my spreit,
+ And I sall rock Thee in my heart,
+ And never mair from Thee depart
+
+ But I sall praise Thee ever moir,
+ With sangis sweet unto Thy gloir;
+ The knees of my heart sall I bow,
+ And sing that richt Balulalow."{30}
+
+[30]
+
+ "Now blessed be Thou, Christ Jesu,
+ Thou art man born, this is true;
+ The angels made a merry noise,
+ Yet have we more cause to rejoice,
+ _Kirieleyson_.
+
+ The blessed Son of God only,
+ In a crib full poor did lie,
+ With our poor flesh and our poor blood,
+ Was clothed that everlasting Good.
+ _Kirieleyson._
+
+ He that made heaven and earth of nought,
+ In our flesh hath our health brought,
+ For our sake made He Himself full small,
+ That reigneth Lord and King over all.
+ _Kirieleyson._"{32}
+
+[31]
+
+ "All my heart this night rejoices,
+ As I hear,
+ Far and near,
+ Sweetest angel voices;
+ 'Christ is born,' their choirs are singing,
+ Till the air
+ Everywhere
+ Now with joy is ringing.
+
+ Hark! a voice from yonder manger,
+ Soft and sweet,
+ Doth entreat,
+ 'Flee from woe and danger;
+ Brethren, come, from all doth grieve you
+ You are freed,
+ All you need
+ I will surely give you.'
+
+ Blessed Saviour, let me find Thee!
+ Keep Thou me
+ Close to Thee,
+ Call me not behind Thee!
+ Life of life, my heart Thou stillest,
+ Calm I rest
+ On Thy breast,
+ All this void Thou fillest."{34}
+
+[32]
+
+ "Triumph, ye heavens! rejoice ye with high adoration!
+ Sing to the Lord, to the Saviour, in glad exultation!
+ Angels, give ear!
+ God unto man hath drawn near,
+ Bringing to lost ones salvation.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ King of the Glory! what grace in Thy humiliation!
+ Thou wert a child! who of old wert the Lord of creation.
+ Thee will I own,
+ Thee would I follow, alone,
+ Heir of Thy wondrous salvation.
+
+ Faithful Immanuel! let me Thy glories be telling,
+ Come, O my Saviour, be born, in mine inmost heart dwelling,
+ In me abide.
+ Make me with Thee unified,
+ Where the life-fountain is welling."{36}
+
+[33] A few of the best traditional pieces have been published by Mr. F.
+ Sidgwick in one of his charming "Watergate Booklets" under the
+ title of "Popular Carols." The two next quotations are from this
+ source.
+
+[34] Browning's great poem, "Christmas Eve," is philosophical rather
+ than devotional, and hardly comes within the scope of this chapter.
+
+[35] The first mention of a season corresponding to Advent is at the
+ Council of Tours, about 567, when a fast for monks in December is
+ vaguely indicated. At the Council of Macon (581) it is enjoined
+ that from Martinmas the second, fourth, and sixth days of the week
+ should be fasting days; and at the close of the sixth century Rome,
+ under Gregory the Great, adopted the rule of the four Sundays in
+ Advent. In the next century it became prevalent in the West. In the
+ Greek Church, forty days of fasting are observed before Christmas;
+ this custom appears to have been established in the thirteenth
+ century. In the Roman Church the practice as to fasting varies: in
+ the British Isles Wednesday and Friday are observed, but in some
+ countries no distinction is made between Advent and ordinary weeks
+ of the year.{2}
+
+[36] Anthony Beck, Bishop of Durham, bequeathed to his cathedral a
+ Christmas candlestick of silver-gilt, on the base of which was an
+ image of St. Mary with her Son lying in the crib.
+
+[37] "Joseph, dear nephew mine, help me to rock the Child." "Gladly,
+ dear aunt, will I help thee to rock thy Child." (Note the curious
+ words of relationship; Joseph and Mary were both of the seed of
+ David.)
+
+[38] "Let us rock the Child and bow our hearts before the crib! Let us
+ delight our spirits and bless the Child: sweet little Jesu! sweet
+ little Jesu!... Let us greet His little hands and feet, His little
+ heart of fire, and reverence Him humbly as our Lord and God! Sweet
+ little Jesu! sweet little Jesu!"
+
+[39] Turning for a moment from Sicilian domestic celebrations to a
+ public and communal action, I may mention a strange ceremony that
+ takes place at Messina in the dead of night; at two o'clock on
+ Christmas morning a naked _Bambino_ is carried in procession from
+ the church of Santa Lucia to the cathedral and back.{65}
+
+[40] Or on the Sunday following the Octave, if the Octave itself is a
+ week-day.
+
+[41] Tempting as it is to connect these dolls with the crib, it is
+ possible that their origin should be sought rather in
+ anthropomorphic representations of the spirits of vegetation, and
+ that they are of the same nature as the images carried about with
+ garlands in May and at other seasons.{77}
+
+[42] Though no texts are extant of religious plays in English acted at
+ Christmastide, there are occasional records of such
+ performances:--at Tintinhull for instance in 1451 and at Dublin in
+ 1528, while at Aberdeen a processional "Nativity" was performed at
+ Candlemas. And the "Stella," whether in English or Latin it is
+ uncertain, is found at various places between 1462 and 1579.{10}
+
+[43] Lodging.
+
+[44] Once.
+
+[45] Scarcely.
+
+[46] Horses. Hous of haras = stable.
+
+[47] Dwell.
+
+[48] Darkness.
+
+[49] Being.
+
+[50] Wonderful.
+
+[51] Worship.
+
+[52] Shedder.
+
+[53] Wrap.
+
+[54] Crippled.
+
+[55] Overreached.
+
+[56] Deprive of.
+
+[57] Curse.
+
+[58] Strong in lordliness.
+
+[59] Wizard.
+
+[60] Shame.
+
+[61] Noble being.
+
+[62] Cursed.
+
+[63] Warlock.
+
+[64] Sorrow.
+
+[65] Grows merry.
+
+[66] Promise.
+
+[67] Noble.
+
+[68] Child.
+
+[69] Baby.
+
+[70] Head.
+
+[71] Face.
+
+[72] Hand.
+
+[73] Besides the Nativity plays in the four great cycles there exists a
+ "Shearmen and Tailors' Play" which undoubtedly belongs to Coventry,
+ unlike the "Ludus Coventriae," whose connection with that town is,
+ to say the least, highly doubtful. It opens with a prologue by the
+ prophet Isaiah, and in a small space presents the events connected
+ with the Incarnation from the Annunciation to the Murder of the
+ Innocents. The Nativity and shepherd scenes have less character and
+ interest than those in the great cycles, and need not be dealt with
+ here.{18}
+
+[74]
+
+ "_Riepl._ What a noise there is. Everything seems so strange
+ to me!
+ _Joergl._ Have the heavens fallen to-day; are the angels flying
+ over our field?
+ _R._ They are leaping
+ _J._ Down from above.
+ _R._ I couldn't do the thing; 'twould break my neck and legs."
+
+[75]
+
+ "_J._ My child, canst find no lodging? Must Thou bear such
+ frost and cold?
+ _R._ Thou liest in cold swaddling-clothes! Come, put a
+ garment about Him!
+ _J._ Cover His feet up; wrap Him up delicately!"
+
+[76] "Three eggs and some butter we bring, too; deign to accept it! A
+ fowl to make some broth if Thy mother can cook it--put some
+ dripping in, and 'twill be good. Because we've nothing else--we are
+ but poor shepherds--accept our goodwill."
+
+[77]
+
+ "_J._ The best of health to thee ever, my little dear; when
+ thou wantest anything, come to me.
+ _J._ God keep thee ever!
+ _R._ Grow up fine and tall soon!
+ _J._ I'll take thee into service when thou'rt big enough."
+
+[78] Jacopone da Todi, whose Christmas songs we have already considered,
+ was probably connected with the movement.
+
+[79] An interesting and pathetic Christmas example is given by Signor
+ D'Ancona in his "Origini del Teatro in Italia."{35}
+
+[80] Though the ox and ass are not mentioned by St. Luke, it is an easy
+ transition to them from the idea of the manger. Early Christian
+ writers found a Scriptural sanction for them in two passages in the
+ prophets: Isaiah i. 3, "The ox knoweth his owner and the ass his
+ master's crib," and Habakkuk iii. 2 (a mistranslation), "In the
+ midst of two beasts shall Thou be known."
+
+[81] With this may be compared the fair still held in Rome in the Piazza
+ Navona just before Christmas, at which booths are hung with little
+ clay figures for use in _presepi_ (see p. 113). One cannot help
+ being reminded too, though probably there is no direct connection,
+ of the biscuits in human shapes to be seen in German markets and
+ shops at Christmas, and of the paste images which English bakers
+ used to make at this season.{10}
+
+[82] Among the Scandinavians, who were late in their conversion, a
+ pre-Christian Yule feast seems to have been held in the ninth
+ century, but it appears to have taken place not in December but
+ about the middle of January, and to have been transferred to
+ December 25 by the Christian king Hakon the Good of Norway
+ (940-63).{28}
+
+[83] It is only right to mention here Professor G. Bilfinger's monograph
+ "Das germanische Julfest" (Stuttgart, 1901), where it is maintained
+ that the only festivals from which the Christmas customs of the
+ Teutonic peoples have sprung are the January Kalends of the Roman
+ Empire and the Christian feast of the Nativity. Bilfinger holds
+ that there is no evidence either of a November beginning-of-winter
+ festival or of an ancient Teutonic midwinter feast. Bilfinger's is
+ the most systematic of existing treatises on Christmas origins, but
+ the considerations brought forward in Tille's "Yule and Christmas"
+ in favour of the November festival are not lightly to be set aside,
+ and while recognizing that its celebration must be regarded rather
+ as a probable hypothesis than an established fact, I shall here
+ follow in general the suggestions of Tille and try to show the
+ contributions of this northern New Year feast to Christmas customs.
+
+[84] Accounts of such maskings are to be found in innumerable books of
+ travel. In _Folk-Lore_, June 30, 1911, Professor Edward Westermarck
+ gives a particularly full and interesting description of Moroccan
+ customs of this sort. He describes at length various masquerades in
+ the skins and heads of beasts, accompanied often by the dressing-up
+ of men as women and by gross obscenities.
+
+[85] Another suggested explanation connects the change of clothes with
+ rites of initiation at the passage from boyhood to manhood.
+ "Manhood, among primitive peoples, seems to be envisaged as ceasing
+ to be a woman.... Man is born of woman, reared of woman. When he
+ passes to manhood, he ceases to be a woman-thing, and begins to
+ exercise functions other and alien. That moment is one naturally of
+ extreme peril; he at once emphasizes it and disguises it. He wears
+ woman's clothes." From initiation rites, according to this theory,
+ the custom spread to other occasions when it was desirable to
+ "change the luck."
+
+[86] According to Sir John Rhys, in the Isle of Man _Hollantide_
+ (November 1, Old Style, therefore November 12) is still to-day the
+ beginning of a new year. But the ordinary calendar is gaining
+ ground, and some of the associations of the old New Year's Day are
+ being transferred to January 1, the Roman date. "In Wales this must
+ have been decidedly helped by the influence of Roman rule and Roman
+ ideas; but even there the adjuncts of the Winter Calends have never
+ been wholly transferred to the Calends of January."{4}
+
+[87] In Burne and Jackson's "Shropshire Folk-Lore" (p. 305 f.) there are
+ details about cakes and other doles given to the poor at funerals.
+ These probably had the same origin as the November "soul-cakes."
+
+[88] Cf. pp. 191-2 and 235-6 of this volume.
+
+[89] The prominence of "Eves" in festival customs is a point specially
+ to be noticed; it is often to them rather than to the actual feast
+ days that old practices cling. This is perhaps connected with the
+ ancient Celtic and Teutonic habit of reckoning by nights instead of
+ days--a trace of this is left in our word "fortnight"--but it must
+ be remembered that the Church encouraged the same tendency by her
+ solemn services on the Eves of festivals, and that the Jewish
+ Sabbath begins on Friday evening.
+
+[90] Attempts are being made to suppress the November carnival at
+ Hampstead, and perhaps the 1911 celebration may prove to have been
+ the last.
+
+[91] "Raise the glass at Martinmas, drink wine all through the year."
+
+[92] It is interesting to note that in the Italian province of Venetia,
+ as well as in more northerly regions, Martinmas is especially a
+ children's feast. In the sweetshops are sold little sugar images of
+ the saint on horseback with a long sword, and in Venice itself
+ children go about singing, playing on tambourines, and begging for
+ money.{93}
+
+[93] "At St. Andrew's Mass winter is certain."
+
+[94] This custom may be compared with the Scotch eating of sowans in bed
+ on Christmas morning (see Chapter XII.).
+
+[95] In a legend of the saint she is said to have plucked out her own
+ eyes when their beauty caused a prince to seek to ravish her away
+ from her convent.{54}
+
+[96] The bath-house in the old-fashioned Swedish farm is a separate
+ building to which everyone repairs on Christmas Eve, but which is,
+ or was, seldom used except on this one night of the year.{23}
+
+[97] Sometimes Christmas is reckoned as one of the Twelve Days,
+ sometimes not. In the former case, of course, the Epiphany is the
+ thirteenth day. In England we call the Epiphany Twelfth Day, in
+ Germany it is generally called Thirteenth; in Belgium and Holland
+ it is Thirteenth; in Sweden it varies, but is usually Thirteenth.
+ Sometimes then the Twelve Days are spoken of, sometimes the
+ Thirteen. "The Twelve Nights," in accordance with the old Teutonic
+ mode of reckoning by nights, is a natural and correct term.{39}
+
+[98] Those who wish to pursue further the study of the _Kallikantzaroi_
+ should read the elaborate and fascinating, if not altogether
+ convincing, theories of Mr. J. C. Lawson in his "Modern Greek
+ Folklore and Ancient Greek Religion." He distinguishes two classes
+ of _Kallikantzaroi_, one of which he identifies with ordinary
+ werewolves, while the other is the type of hairy, clawed demons
+ above described. He sets forth a most ingenious hypothesis
+ connecting them with the Centaurs.
+
+[99] It is to be borne in mind that the oak was a sacred tree among the
+ heathen Slavs; it was connected with the thunder-god Perun, the
+ counterpart of Jupiter, and a fire of oak burned night and day in
+ his honour. The neighbours of the Slavs, the Lithuanians, had the
+ same god, whom they called Perkunas; they too kept up a perpetual
+ oak-fire in his honour, and in time of drought they used to pour
+ beer on the flames, praying to Perkunas to send showers.{10} The
+ libations of wine on the Yule log may conceivably have had a
+ similar purpose.
+
+[100] Kindling.
+
+[101] The custom referred to in the last sentence may be compared with
+ the Danish St. Thomas's Day practice (see Chapter VIII.).
+
+[102] At Wormesley in Herefordshire there is a Holy Thorn which is still
+ believed to blossom exactly at twelve o'clock on Twelfth Night.
+ "The blossoms are thought to open at midnight, and drop off about
+ an hour afterwards. A piece of thorn gathered at this hour brings
+ luck, if kept for the rest of the year." As recently as 1908 about
+ forty people went to see the thorn blossom at this time (see E. M.
+ Leather, "The Folk-Lore of Herefordshire" [London, 1912], 17).
+
+[103] Compare the struggle for the "Haxey hood," described in Chapter
+ XVI., p. 347.
+
+[104] This may be compared with the ancient Greek _Eiresione_, "a
+ portable May-pole, a branch hung about with wool, acorns, figs,
+ cakes, fruits of all sorts and sometimes wine-jars."{35}
+
+[105] It by no means necessarily follows, of course, that they were
+ exclusively Roman in origin.
+
+[106] In Welsh it has also the name of "the tree of pure gold," a rather
+ surprising title for a plant with green leaves and white berries.
+ Dr. Frazer has sought to explain this name by the theory that in a
+ roundabout way the sun's golden fire was believed to be an
+ emanation from the mistletoe, in which the life of the oak, whence
+ fire was kindled, was held to reside.{47}
+
+[107] In the neighbourhood of Reichenberg children hang up their
+ stockings at the windows on St. Andrew's Eve, and in the morning
+ find them filled with apples and nuts{64}--a parallel to Martinmas
+ and St. Nicholas customs, at a date intermediate between the two
+ festivals.
+
+[108] "He has more to do than the ovens in England at Christmas."
+
+[109] The following quotation from an ancient account book is tersely
+ suggestive of the English Christmas:--
+
+ s. d.
+ "Item payd to the preacher vi ii
+ Item payd to the minstrell xii o
+ Item payd to the coke xv o"
+
+[110] In County Louth, Ireland, boys used to carry about a thorn-bush
+ decked with streamers of coloured paper and with a wren tied to one
+ of the branches.{47}
+
+[111] Dancing is, as everyone knows, a common and indeed a central
+ feature of primitive festivals; and such dancing is wont to take a
+ dramatic form, to be mimetic, whether re-enacting some past event
+ or _pre_-doing something with magical intent to produce it.{10}
+ The Greek tragedy itself probably sprang from a primitive dance of
+ a dramatic and magical character, centred in a death and
+ re-birth.{11}
+
+[112] In Thessaly and Macedonia at Carnival time folk-plays of a somewhat
+ similar character are performed, including a quarrel, a death, and
+ a miraculous restoration to life--evidently originating in magical
+ ritual intended to promote the fertility of vegetation.{12}
+ Parallels can be found in the Carnival customs of other countries.
+
+[113] A remarkably clear instance of the transference of customs from
+ Hollantide Eve (Hallowe'en) to the modern New Year is given by Sir
+ John Rhys. Certain methods of prognostication described by him are
+ practised by some people in the Isle of Man on the one day and by
+ some on the other, and the Roman date is gaining ground.{1}
+
+[114] See p. 252.
+
+[115] "Ope thy purse, and shut it then."
+
+[116] It is probable that some customs practised at the Epiphany belong
+ in reality to Christmas Day, Old Style.
+
+[117] _Pasqua_ is there used for great festivals in general, not only for
+ Easter.
+
+[118] The custom of "burning the bush," still surviving here and there in
+ Herefordshire, shows a certain resemblance to this. The "bush," a
+ globe made of hawthorn, hangs throughout the year in the farmhouse
+ kitchen, with the mistletoe. Early on New Year's Day it "is carried
+ to the earliest sown wheat field, where a large fire is lighted, of
+ straw and bushes, in which it is burnt. While it is burning, a new
+ one is made; in making it, the ends of the branches are scorched in
+ the fire." Burning straw is carried over twelve ridges of the
+ field, and then follow cider-drinking and cheering. (See Leather,
+ "Folk-Lore of Herefordshire," 91 f.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Christmas in Ritual and Tradition,
+Christian and Pagan, by Clement A. Miles
+
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