{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_24044/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_24044","id":"gutenberg_24044","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24044","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - Religious","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Christmas","Christmas -- History"],"text":"Produced by Irma Spehar and the Online Distributed\nProofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was\nproduced from images generously made available by The\nInternet Archive/American Libraries.)\n\n\n\n\n\n                  MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF CHRISTMASTIDE\n\n                                  BY\n\n                           BERTHA F. HERRICK\n\n                            [Illustration]\n\n                             SAN FRANCISCO\n\n                 PRINTED BY THE STANLEY-TAYLOR COMPANY\n\n                                 1901\n\n\n\n\n     The following article originally appeared in one of the\n     Christmas editions of the _San Francisco Chronicle_ and is\n     now reprinted by permission from that journal.\n\n\n\n\n                  MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF CHRISTMASTIDE\n\n\n    \"Lo! now is come our joyful'st feast,\n    Let every man be jolly.\n    Each room with ivy leaves is drest,\n    And every post with holly.\n    Now all our neighbors' chimneys smoke,\n    And Christmas blocks are burning;\n    Their ovens they with bak't meats choke,\n    And all their spits are turning.\"\n\nThe celebration of Christmas, which was considered by the Puritans to\nbe idolatrous, has for many centuries been so universal that it may\nprove of interest to contrast the rites, ceremonies and quaint beliefs\nof foreign lands with those of matter-of-fact America.\n\nMany curious customs live only in tradition; but it is surprising to\nfind what singular superstitions still exist among credulous classes,\neven in the light of the twentieth century.\n\nIn certain parts of England the peasantry formerly asserted that, on\nthe anniversary of the Nativity, oxen knelt in their stalls at\nmidnight,--the supposed hour of Christ's birth; while in other\nlocalities bees were said to sing in their hives and subterranean\nbells to ring a merry peal.\n\nAccording to legends of ancient Britain cocks crew lustily all night\non December 24th to scare away witches and evil spirits, and in\nBavaria some of the countrymen made frequent and apparently aimless\ntrips in their sledges to cause the hemp to grow thick and tall.\n\nIn many lands there is still expressed the beautiful sentiment that\nthe gates of heaven stand wide open on Christmas Eve, and that he\nwhose soul takes flight during its hallowed hours arrives straightway\nat the throne of grace.\n\nA time-honored custom in Norway and Sweden is that of fastening a\nsheaf of wheat to a long pole on the barn or house-top, for the wild\nbirds' holiday cheer; and in Holland the young men of the towns\nsometimes bear a large silver star through the snowy streets,\ncollecting alms from pedestrians for the helpless or the aged sick.\n\nRussia has no Santa Claus or Christmas tree, although the festival is\ncelebrated by church services and by ceremonies similar to those of\nour Hallowe'en.\n\nIn some of the villages in Wales a Christmas pudding is boiled for\neach of the disciples, with the exception of Judas, and in the rural\ndistricts of Scotland bread baked on Christmas Eve is said to\nindefinitely retain its freshness.\n\n\"The Fatherland\" is the home of the Christmas tree, which is thought\nto be symbolical of the \"Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil,\" in\nthe Garden of Eden; and candles were first used to typify the power of\nChristianity over the darkness of paganism, being sometimes arranged\nin triangular form to represent the Trinity.\n\nPines and firs being unattainable in the tropical islands of the\nPacific, the white residents sometimes cut down a fruit tree, such as\nan orange or a guava, or actually manufacture a tree from wood,\ncovering the bare, stiff boughs with clinging vines of evergreen.\n\nIn the Holy Land at this season the place of greatest interest is\nnaturally the Church of the Nativity at Bethlehem, erected on the\nsupposed location where Christ was born. It is said to be the oldest\nChristian church in existence, having been built more than fifteen\ncenturies ago by the Empress Helena, mother of Constantine. Repairs\nwere made later by Edward IV of England; but it is now again fast\nfalling into decay. The roof was originally composed of cedar of\nLebanon and the walls were studded with precious jewels, while\nnumerous lamps of silver and gold were suspended from the rafters. The\nGreeks, Latins and Armenians now claim joint possession of the\nstructure, and jealously guard its sacred precincts. Immediately\nbeneath the nave of the cathedral is a commodious marble chamber,\nconstructed over the spot where the far-famed stable was said to have\nstood and reached by a flight of stone steps, worn smooth by the tread\nand kisses of multitudes of worshippers. The manger is represented by\na marble slab a couple of feet in height, decorated with tinsel and\nblue satin and marked at the head with a chiseled star, bearing above\nit the inscription in Latin, \"Here was Jesus Christ born of the Virgin\nMary.\" At the foot are several altars, on which incense is ever kept\nburning and from which mass is conducted, while a score of hanging\nlamps shed a fitful light over the apartment.\n\nMany theories have been advanced as to the explanation of the\nmysterious \"Star in the East\" which guided the wondering shepherds,\nbut it is now thought to have been Venus at the height of its\nsplendor.\n\nThe early Christians decorated their churches with evergreens out of\nrespect to the passage of Scripture in Isaiah--\"The glory of Lebanon\nshall come unto thee; the fir tree, the pine tree and the box together\nto beautify the place of my sanctuary\"--and the pagans believed them\nto be omens of good, as the spirits of the woods remained in their\nbranches.\n\nHolly is known in Germany and Scandinavia as \"Christ's thorn,\" and is\nemblematic everywhere of cheerfulness, forgiveness, \"peace on earth\nand good will to men.\"\n\nThe oak mistletoe or \"missel\" was held in high veneration by the\nancient Druids, who, regarding its parasitic character as a miracle\nand its evergreen nature as a symbol of immortality, worshipped it in\ntheir temples and used it as a panacea for the physical ailments of\ntheir followers. When the moon was six days old, the bunches were\nceremoniously cut with a golden sickle, by the chief priest of the\norder and received with care into the spotless robes of one of the\ncompany, for if they fell to the unholy ground, their virtues were\nconsidered lost.\n\nThen, crowned with oak leaves and singing songs of thanksgiving, they\nbore the branches in solemn procession to the altars, where two white\noxen were sacrificed to the gods.\n\nThe custom of \"kissing under the mistletoe\" dates back to the days of\nScandinavian mythology, when the god of darkness shot his rival, the\nimmortal Apollo of the North, with an arrow made from its boughs. But\nthe supposed victim being miraculously restored to life, the mistletoe\nwas given into the keeping of the goddess of affection, as a symbol of\nlove and not of death, to those who passed beneath it. A berry was\nrequired to be picked with every kiss and presented to the maiden as\na sign of good fortune, the privilege ceasing when all the berries\nwere gathered.\n\nOne of the most beautiful legends of the Black Forest, in Germany, is\nthat of the origin of the chrysanthemum, or \"Christ-flower.\" On a\ndark, stormy Christmas Eve a poor charcoal-burner was wending his way\nhomeward through the deep snow-drifts under the pine trees, with a\nloaf of coarse black bread and a piece of goat's-milk cheese as\ncontributions to the holiday cheer. Suddenly, during a brief lull in\nthe tempest, he heard a low, wailing cry, and, searching patiently, at\nlength discovered a benumbed and half-clad child, but little more than\nan infant in years or size. Wrapping him snugly in his cloak, he\nhurried onward toward the humble cottage from which rays of light\nstreamed cheerfully through the uncurtained windows. The good\n\"hausmutter\" sat before the fire with her little ones anxiously\nawaiting her husband's return; and when the poor, frozen waif was\nplaced upon her knee, her heart overflowed with compassion, and before\nlong he was comfortably warmed and fed, while the children vied with\neach other in displaying the attractions of the pretty fir tree, with\nits tiny colored tapers and paper ornaments.\n\nAll at once a mist appeared, enveloping the timid stranger, a halo\nformed around his brow and two silvery wings sprang magically from his\nshoulders. Gradually rising, higher and higher, he finally disappeared\nfrom sight, his hands outspread in benediction, while the\nterror-stricken family fell upon their knees, crossing themselves, and\nmurmuring in awestruck whispers, \"_The Holy Christ-Child!_\"\n\nThe next morning the father found, on the bleak, cold spot where the\nchild had lain, a lovely blossom of dazzling white, which he bore\nreverently homeward and named the chrysanthemum, or \"flower of\nChrist,\" and each succeeding festival season some starved and\nneglected orphan was bidden to his frugal board in memory of the time\nwhen he entertained \"an angel unawares.\"\n\nIn \"Merrie England\" Christmas was the chief event of the entire year,\nand was sometimes celebrated for nearly a month. The tables of the\nwealthy literally groaned with plenty, but the poor without their\ngates were not forgotten, for--\n\n    \"Old Christmas had come for to keep open house,\n    He'd scorn to be guilty of starving a mouse.\"\n\nDuring the reign of Elizabeth the boar's head was the favorite holiday\ndish, and was served with mustard (then a rare and costly condiment),\nand decorated with bay-leaves and with rosemary, which was said to\nstrengthen the memory, to clear the brain and to stimulate affection.\nBoars were originally sacrificed to the Scandinavian gods of peace and\nplenty, and many odes were composed in their honor.\n\nThat remarkable compound known as \"wassail\" was composed of warm ale\nor wine, sweetened with sugar and flavored with spices, and bearing\nupon its surface floating bits of toast and roasted crabs and apples.\nThe huge bowl, gaily decorated with ribbons, was passed from hand to\nhand around the table, each guest taking a portion of its contents, as\na sign of joviality and good-fellowship.\n\nBut the triumph of the pastry cook's art was \"the rare minced pie,\"\nthe use of which is of great antiquity. The shape was formerly a\nnarrow oblong, representing the celebrated manger at Bethlehem, and\nthe fruits and spices of which it was composed were symbolic of those\nthat the wise men of the Orient brought as offerings to their new-born\nKing, while to partake of such a pie was considered a proof that the\neater was a Christian and not a Jew.\n\nAll sorts of games were immensely popular with the English, whether\nking or serf, aristocrat or pauper, merchant or apprentice.\n\n    \"A Christmas gambol oft could cheer\n    The poor man's heart thro' half the year.\"\n\nEvery one has heard of the matchless \"Lord of Misrule\" (also known as\nthe \"Abbot of Unreason\" and the \"Master of Merry Disports\"), who,\nattended by his mock court, king's jester and grotesquely masked\nrevelers, visited the castles of lords and princes to entertain them\nwith strange antics and uproarious merriment. His reign lasted until\nTwelfth Night, during which period he was treated as became a genuine\nmonarch, being feted and feasted, with all his train, and having\nabsolute authority over individuals and state affairs.\n\nThe great event of the evening, after the holiday feast, was the\nbringing in of the famous yule log, which was often the entire root of\na tree. Much ceremony and rejoicing attended this performance, as it\nwas considered lucky to help pull the rope. It was lighted by a person\nwith freshly washed hands, with a brand saved from the last year's\nfire, and was never allowed to be extinguished, as the witches would\nthen come down the chimney.\n\nThe presence of a barefooted or cross-eyed individual or of a woman\nwith flat feet was thought to foretell misfortune for the coming year.\n\nThe games of \"snap dragon\" and \"hot cockles\" are supposed to be relics\neither of the \"ordeal by fire\" or of the days of the ancient\nfire-worshippers. The former consists of snatching raisins from a\nbowl of burning brandy or alcohol, and the latter of taking frantic\nbites at a red apple revolving rapidly upon a pivot in alternation\nwith a lighted taper.\n\nChristmas carols are commemorative of the angels' song to the\nshepherds on the plains of Bethlehem, and are seldom heard in America\nsave by the surpliced choirs of the Episcopal churches. The English\n\"waits,\" or serenaders, who sang under the squires' windows in hopes\nof receiving a \"Christmas box,\" unconsciously add a touch of romance\nand picturesqueness to the associations of the season. For upon the\nfrosty evening air arose such strains as--\n\n    \"Awake! glad heart! arise and sing!\n    It is the birthday of thy King!\"\n\nOr--\n\n    \"God rest you, merry gentlemen!\n    Let nothing you dismay,\n    For Jesus Christ, our Savior,\n    Was born upon this day.\"\n\nMost of the old-time favorites are too well known for repetition. The\nmere mention of their names recalls the scent of evergreens, the\npealing of the organ, the tinkle of sleigh bells and the music of the\nChristmas chimes. \"Hark! The herald angels sing!\" \"While shepherds\nwatched their flocks by night,\" \"Gloria in Excelsis\" and many others\nembody the very spirit of the season, and will live till time shall\ncease to be.\n\n    \"Sing the song of great joy that the angels began,\n    Sing of glory to God and of good will to man!\n    While joining in chorus,\n    The heavens bend o'er us,\n    The dark night is ending and dawn has begun.\"\n\n                               --BERTHA F. HERRICK.\n\n[Illustration]","title":"Myths and Legends of Christmastide","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":2232}