How Our Christmas Customs Came
About - Their Curious Mixture
of Paganism and Religion.
Copyright. 181S, by The
. J a . ,
uiifin di innnmu ana ;
M whom It was celebrated la to a
W , certain extent ahrouded In mys
aw tery, and It Is by no means cer
tain that December the twenty-nfth Is
the correct anniversary of the nativity
of Christ This uncertainty Is duo to
the fact that In the earlv Aitrm lh
bratlon of birthdays waa regarded a, i
beathenlsh. but after the triumph of
Christianity the prejudice died out and
the date of the Saviour's birth became
a matter of ecclesiastical Investigation.
It la recorded that Pop Julius had St.
Cyril make strict Inquiry as to the
date, when It was learned that a num
ber of varying days were kept in differ
ent sectlona These Included January
the sUth, which was kepi as a Joint
commemoration of the Nativity and
Baptism of the Redeemer. March
twenty-ninth, April twentieth. May
twentieth and September twenty-ninth
were respectively accepted In different
places. Pope Julius Anally decided on
December the twenty-nfth as the cor
rect date, and the first mention of lis
celebration as the birthday of Christ
occur In a Roman document known
gs the Phllocallan Calendar, dating
from the year tti. It I the opinion
of several Church historians that this
day was set apart because It waa the
date of the Winter solstice the day
n which for centuries before tho
Christian Era pagan Europe had held
Its chief festival.
Some of our present day Christmas
eastern are the evolution of a mixture
Of the Roman Saturnalia and Druid
rites, wtlh a smattering of ceremonies
V-N 'SPfT- ,-irS g?l '"fa" e,,;'. ( I - 'jaaasBwXfJBBJaVaaawX - . lf s hn TZl. T ' f - L '
'Stawfe Vis IbJP
t.sf Pit? ?i mm
How the Men Who Are Fighting Spend
Christmas, and How for a Time the
Soldiers of the Warring Nations For
get That They Are Enemies.
riiln. I!i. k Ihe
PEACE on earih. good will to,
men." Is her.i all over Chris
tendom on Chriximaa morning,
and ihe iinl of charity It J
teaches Is not r.ithout its influence
even ninor.g those who may seem to'
hate each oilier.
Tho Cbr:.tni:ia or 1 9 1& will find
Euroi'o ix n an in 114 an armed
Camp, the oiii ilirferenio between the
days will be lht nwlllonx of killed un,l
wounded hue been offered up as aj
tfra&e to the lust of power during ;
the year and yet w hatever bitterness I
and hatred there muy be among those I
eflgas! In this torriblo eoailet. If;
theio Is any personal bitterness or ;
hatred, will probably be forgotten and
the day celebrated aa It waa last year j
by the men themselves declaring a ,
truce and fratarnixlng wlla. each eth-
s"f m riounu oaror the trenches.
imile much baa bees written of Ufa
In th underground dens where men
hay borrowed Ilk rata Into the earth
to escape th (uni ef the enemy and
yet be able to pick off this asm enemy
at win hes aeeoturU show that there
la ;:tl that kt plotureequ remantlc
iDternstloaal aiijilksle
pmcucw or in tnrum uermini no
Scandinavian-, .(rang medley of
the Chrlatlun and p-an which go to
make up the festivities of th. modern
Chrlstmaa
The Tulo Ix.
Th. Tule log, so fatuoua In the Eng-
liah Christmas ccl.brutlon. Is of Scan-
dfnav" or,ln- tt"d
la the oioaern
Idea of the huge fire kindled at the
feaat of Juul at the winter aolatlce In
honor of their fod Trior. In the days ,
of feudal lords of Englnnri the cere- i
mony of bringing In the huge, gnarled
oak waa rarrled out with great cere-
mony. Men wen,! Into the woods and
hauled It In. singing carols as they
dragged It through the wood. When j
they reached the entrance .to the great
ball a quartette of minatrela hailed II,
with music Early the next morning
It was lighted and If It burned well It ,
waa, and Is still, regarded a an omen
that prosperity will reign over the
family during; the coming year. In
rural Franco and among the southern
Slav the Tule log Is one of the solemn
ceremonies of Chrlstmaa In these
countries, especially among the Slave,
the log Is believed to possess the same
magical properties as It did In the
pagan day.
Decorations With Fversrwn.
The custom of decorating our houses
and churches with evergreen at
Chrlstmaa come from the old Roman
feasts, especially the Saturnalia, when
all Roman house were turned Into
"bower of green" another evidence
of the anxiety of the Church to pleas
their heathen converts by permitting
iDternalloasI 8nyUcata
about trench wavrtjara. Last winter j
nerve racked goen.llredi lor day In
muddy dltchesi wondering how much
longer It would last this awful
slaughter of men, this terrifying com-
nat of long opposing line of heavy
artillery and howlUera. the shrieking
ot shell, th whistling of ahrspnel an I
.lie tearing roar of guns, the savage
efforts to take and retake trenches
with alway. the slaughter ef brave
tnen.
fiirt. Fnr u i. n iww
Gtfta For Meat ta The Trenches.
When there la a lull in th fighting
trench lit I wwn worse than when
thero is filing, for Ihe monotony of
idleness so works upon their nerves
thal every buah or tree becomes an
Wy ? Tun n-wBKT S imirt-cj4rettB which had been sent to
moan of a steeping soldier will set
their nerve. aJingU '"Clieer up. boys.
Christmas will soon be her and w e
will have all sorts ef good things!"
cries out one of th men aa he looks
at bis eorarade'a waa face, and the
two begia to talk ef the coming fes
tival mm th one bright spot In th
. J-." .-yirr-:. r3fan3iiaarwl3 . wian...... Xesawti iafc. 1 1
7? CVsvjrr,jnyj- 7? jo
tho harmless element of th pagan
f'l to become a part of tlx celebra
tion of the Nativity All wrU of tree
jand shrubs were uaed by the Romans
" Riauuttiii it Dtrtmi me cunom 01
Christians to us. ni, .Vorr..n
and , ,ooh upon M h ,ymbo, of
eternal life. Then these plants took
, on erriliin r.1(rloul mt.Aningm ,
every branch of Christmas decoration
j has fome rlgnlflcnnre peculiar to tho
'day. The holly with Ita red berrlea Isi
the modern Ilurntng Bush, the Holy
sioiner and the Holy Child. This
ahrub la really an evolution In plant
life from the wild myrtle, the ollv red
berrlea of which will burn like candles
a sign that the Divine Klre shall
spread over the world,
The laurel la the emblem of 81.
Joseph, and la often called Bt. Joseph s
staff The Ivy Is known as the Herb
of St. John a fitting touch to all
Christmas decorations for John was
the Disciple whom Jesus loved. The
different pines, cedars and spruce are
green throughout the year emblems
of everlasting life.
Mistletoe.
The mistletoe that queer parasite
plant so much used at Christmas, was
the favorite decoration of th Druids
at their winter solstice festival; In
fact. It was held In a sort of venera
tion by that sect History tell us how
It was gathered with great ceremony,
the whit robed priest cutting the
mistletoe from the great oaks with a
golden scythe while hundreds of peo
ple, all clad in white garments, chant
ed. The people after obtaining afjiigs
of the plant from the priests hung the
branches over the entrance of their
houses as a propitiation and an offer
of shelter to the sylvan dlettea during
the season of frost and cold. In th
trench fighter' Ufa
. Gertxtaua Gesebratei
' Those who are acquainted with the
German people know that wherever
a German happens to be at Chrlstmaa
be will find some way to celebrate th
fpt'vaU and the German soldier In the
,,rencn u no "cepUon, for he la al-
'ready gathering In th pine branches
! ' decorte hta underground quartera.
, yefcr although th weather waa
' bitter, th men managed to bring
'chrlstmaa cheer Into th very theatre
!0f war by actually setting up Christ -
' mtM trees In th trench and deoe-
rating them with bright colored bands
and ribbons taken front Lha. damn
I ham. Every scrap of colored paper 1
that could be found was utilized, and i
according to a letter from a German j
soldier to his mother, on tre waa !
decorated with paper chickens mad I
from the colored papers that had been
wrapped around the candy "fctssss"
cut from bona Beam ef German
i - . . .1 j,.
RALEIGH NEWS AND OBSERVER
of CTfeSTtSV? C?rsn Pnnta'iAeSi Century
early days the mistletoe was tabooed
aa a church decoration on account of
a custom which sprung up that
every young wuutan w ho came under
the spray being kissed by a young
man who happenrd to catch her
there. The kissing became so general
that the Church feared a return of th ' maa cuatoma written In 17IT by a Oor
custom of the Saturnalia when riot ! man student, he speaka of th candles
and license ran loose Early In the shlch illuminated th tree. Here
sixteenth century the use of mistletoe again we must go bark to th pagan
a a Chrlstmaa decoration was revived j daya In Norway when the Yule candle
and soon came to be regarded em-j was burned for the god Thor at th
blematlc of the mystery of Christ's winter solstice. Later, when these
birth on account of Its springing Into
life from a brunch and being nurtured
by no parent atock. The custom of
hanging mistletoe over the doorway
or to the chandeliers, which often car
ries with It the oscillatory privileges,
la clearly a Telle of paganism.
The Ovrlslmaa Tree,
The most widespread and moat de
lightful of all festal Inatitutlon Is th
Christmas tra. While many coun
tries have their legenda claiming for
them th honor of having given the
Christmas tree to the world, the ma
jority of authorities on th subject
are of (he opinion that Germany Is
responsible for this never ending Joy
to the child and that It la probably a
remnant of the splendid daaclng pa
geants of the Middle Ages. There Is a
pretty legend which ascribes Its origin
to Martin Ljither and tell bow after
wandering about through a pine for
est pp Chrhrtmas eve he conceived th
idea of setting up a pine tree In his
home to represent the Tree of Ufa
and decorating tt with candles as an
Image of th starry heavens from
which Christ caume down. The Aral
historical mention Of the Christmas
tree Is found In th notes of a certain
Strnshurs cWren of unknown name.
cakes cut Into grotesque figures, of
soldier caused th men much mrsl
aoent among th troop when they aet
the gingerbread men up In row and
then knocked them, down with can
dles. Finally, they made a feast of ;
their target In many places the men .
managed to serve regular Christmas :
dinners where, to us the expression :
of a German who spok English, "they
made plea seat with addresses and i
conversation." " j
French And Esurlksh Christ snaara. 1
Along th Unas ef the Allies th
am scenes wer enacted except there j
wer fewer Christmas trees, th Brit-
tea, .eeA Fwwn eontentlng-xhsinseJves'
by hanging branches of evergreen
.boot the trenches.' The Christmas'
box was in evidence as well as the fur
coat warm mittens, mufflers and ,
sweaters Down in the French !
trenches there were several Christmas'
vaudeville shows. It Is a well known!
fact that hundreds ef French players
are fighting la the ranks of th French ;
eCaTJgssssSXjSs
written In the year 1106. "At Christ
mas," he writes, "they act up Ar trees
In the parlours at Btrasburg and bang
thereon rosea cut out ef many col
oured paper, apple, wafer and
sweeta"
However. In an account of Christ
people began to celebrate the Nativity
the candle were burned a of old, but
called the Candlea of Purification.
Quite recently there has been a re
vival of th Christmas candle custom,
and today It la no uncommon eight to
see th window of houses lighted by
them on Christmas night. Th fash
Ion of sending bayberry candlea Is In
rogue, and this year thousands of
these olive green candles will be sent
out as gifts They are made from a
berry which growa on the Atlantic
Coast from Masachusetts to the Caro
lines and havs a delicate odor, bunt
ing without making ridges of wax
down the sldea A bayberry candle ta
aald to protect It owner from all
harm If It la lighted on Chrlstmaa As
the legend runs. Its Incense will be
wafted through the air to friends In
distant lands and thus their thoughts
will turn to the far away owner of the
Purification Candle.
Carols,
Amid so many 'popular customs at
Christmas there I none more charm
ing than that of the Christmas carols!
which celebrate In Joyous yet devout I
strain the Nstivlty of the Saviour.
The word is derived from the Latin I
eantsre to sins, and rola-
ex -
army, and wherever they could be
found on Chrlstmaa day they were
pressed Into service to do a "turn,"
and for a time the horrors of war were
forgotten In the peals of laughter
which resounded throughout the long
ditch. "We had plenty to eat and a
good time," wrote a Frenchman to his
mother. " our cake welt I east ten
you how much we enjoyed It One of
the men from the old Moulin Rouge In
Paris la In our regiment and he gave
us a fine show.. Two or three lmea,
he ran ear of the rwncfrse and "waved
hi hat at th Germans but they did
not shoot at him In fact they did not
bother us at all. I expert they were
celebrating Just s w ware,"
in the English trenches the men
were fairly overloaded with good
things, and It seemed that every man
had his plum pudding, mufflns and
Jam, to aay nothing of the new, warm
i lame tt on of Joy. The practice ap
I pears to be as old aa the celebration
or Christmas liseil as Lauren history Feast of the Nativity was hallowed r
show record, of how th bishops the church th giving of gifts wr
war. .accustomed lo In, carol. ojth Cnrutmas aa th. appre-
Christmas Day. also that In th early .... . . .
day. th. .hepherd. left tbolr Bock, ,r,a" tor "nd,n P'nU. oV
and came to Rom. to sing and pla, J,d n ,h Three Wis Men brlna
on musical Instruments before the!ft to lh C1'1 1" th Manger, a
hrlne and churches During the f I aa not this Child the gift ot Qo4 tort
teenth century the carol waa at the the human race 1 1
height of Its popularity aa Just about , Even Balnt Nicholas, or Santa Claugf
that time a n um In. of beautiful aa he la known In this country, hear
Christmas hymns wer written. In Oer-
many th people always went to th
balconies or tops of th churches and
rhsnted their corols a custom still
carried out In some of the smaller
towns of Germany. In many countries
the carol sieging Is done by children
who go from house to bouse with a
Christmas greeting
The Chrlstmaa Caurd.
Th Christmas card Is of compara
tively recent orkgin and seems to be
on of thoee new methods of remem
bering friends without going to verv
much trouble or expense to do so.
Th Christmas card Is a legitimate
descendant of what waa known about
1110 aa "Christmas pieces." They
were sheets of writing paper on which
eluborate drawings were made, some
times headed by copper plate engrav
ings, and uaed by school boys to show
their parents the progress made In
their chlrrgraphy. About lltl Lon
don publisher put out a number of
card, decorated with tiny colored
wreatha f holly with the word. "A
Merry Christmas" engraved under
the deccratlcn. Hundreds wer sold
and the Christmas card sprang Into
use and haa been steadily growing In
favor ever since. It Is a sort of at
tenuated present.
Gifts, and FVastlng.
Th giving of gifts originated In the
daya of ancient Rome when th cltl-
clothing. Hundreds of coses of milk
were sent by frlenda An English
! dairy made a specialty ot sending milk
to the trenches for Christmas and one
night send as few as hnlf a dozen
quart bottles, so even ihe poorest
women waa able to send Jier ton mllx
for Christmas.
Germans And Fngllsh Kralce-nlte.
At several points where the trenches
Hi. I2rtfians and Snvllsh sr.r. nnt
I Car snarl the Germans began to talk
peace and good will among themselves.
"After all." they sniu. "our enemies
are but fighting for th land Ihey love
las w are. and why ahould we not for
' get our differences and on this blrth
. day of ths Son of Man glvs greeting to
! our enemies." This feeling brought
! about Christmas scenes on the battle
fields of Europe which seems almost
'incredible, A number of English war
j correspondents witnessed the Incidents
snd seat reports to their respective
I newspapers.
j After the Oermana had Trimmed
their Christmas trees and set up lan
terns they came out of their trenches
beating a flag of truce and Invited the
English ..to- slop . .sheetlng .and some
over and celebrate Christmas. With
one accord the Invitation waa accepted
and a truce for the night arranged.
Then officers and men from both aides
left their trenches and met on "No
Man's Land." where as a rule no man
dares to show so much as the top of
his head. It was decided that each
aid would Brat bury their dead, and
whll th English were engaged In
tens offered gifts to each other durltg ?
the January Kalsnds, but when the
wandered away from his own feast day,
December sixth, to pleas th chl!drBr
and help their parenta to reward the"
good boys and girl, of th land. He"
is th patron saint of th child and Is"
supposed lo bring sweets to the goat
, children and rods for th bad on
However, during the present age ksr
seems lo reward them alt Hi part k
th Christmas festival originated t
Holland several centuries ago, when'
he became a part of Chrlstmaa and it'l
waa th Dutch emigrant who brought
him to the United States. Th body I
of the real Bt. Nicholas rests In th
magnificent church at Bart Italy, aaWH
is a famous place of pilgrimage CoF?
children. uaa
It was not strange that at that
son when everyone was filled wltlr
good cheer and kindly feeling for Ota
era that the thoughts of those who hadTt
plenty ahould turn toward the poor"?
and needy. So early In the day of
these Chrlstmaa festivities th caatosau
sprung u of sei.ding gifts to thos bait
want such gifts as would best minister;
to their necessities and happiness OBslR
make them feel that th true Christian
spirit was abroad In the land and thai'
the message of love and charity which
Christ brought to mankind waa not'-:
forgotten, and aa far bacjk a the tntt
century Chrlstmaa dinners were pra
vlded for ihe poor a forerunner f'
th feasts given lo the unfortunate
today.
jthl sad duty a party ot Oermaar
' brought over th body of an English!
I officer w ho had been killed In fronf,
or meir trenches and deposited a rTi"
'ercntly on the ground before aora of
his regiment, after which they wenfj,
I hack to attend lo Ihe burial of theuVj
on dead When this last tribute U, '
I'oiurailes waa completed the OermanrTt
iirougnt out cigars ana cigarettes ano ,
. men who a few hours be?nr had be"
lioo'.ing at each other danced uroune.
I compliments of the season They evtl ,t
'Hindu addresses to each other on tht)tj
.subject of Christmas which wcro loj
terpreted by a young iierinan sold leg
n ho in 1 l:rd in iha United States,,
This particular regiment was C00U1
posed or Suon - !i;k, merry fellow .
! who mad.- the Kngllsh laugh at I hell
pranks. A i the lay uoro on the aol- t
dicrs Joii-.d In a nbl.lt hunt, anj
later there tvus r fonii..il match whloll -
' waa won by tli t;er.:iar.s. AftelT;!
a while they txi li.inucd hats ar.d 6''
'ally as a i i'ii..i..i. M lo l!ie tlermnjir'
ihe Knulh s-. K 1 'cut jthlar.d Uber"
i Alio." and 11- rmitir, not to bo out'
done, gave a r.. : iit..):i of 'Mod Bnv"
'tho Kin." Aft-r it iv.-.s nil ever th'1
'men of both Mi! .s declared Ciat tby"t
wcro grebly K.u-prtid to find thotr-
enemies such a U - l I tot of fellows?
Toward night the p. n Hr' back Intn I
, the trenches, an.! eiuly on th twenty I
sixth the firing I f again. I
! . i . c. a
I i-Trrh'n aiui n on
i ComnM-n t.nrtmd.
The French and () ric.ans, ton. X"
'changed (hristma; rcetlntf. but tV
was not as general aa the festivities'
with the Kngltsh. At ono plaro where
It Is said that the trenche wr only
about eighty yards apart the German
asked their Krench cpyonont to de
clare a truce on Christmas Eve to bury
,the dead. The French accepted, and
' came out of their trenches Carrying
shovels. The Germans ent over the,
lino offering cigars and rlgorettus with
'th compliments of the season. At
' first the Krench feared a surprla., but J
aflef a French corporal bad shakes
hands with a big German '..i wart J
1 salute and good wish. Thcr. th .
I dead were buried end the mrB v"'
j turned to their trenches, Kor a time
all was silent" wrote ono o: ll mes. .
j "then w began to tr to Kltl each
'other again, and the man w'.o offered. .
jthe first box of cigars to a French.
'soldier fell dead beside me--b-.it aftet'
ialt It was a bit of Chrle-.inAa" ;
Purtnarth xun hoXds f t ,
pec ted that these samo seen will be
repeated, and It may be lht In the
meetings a little prayer for lite 4.ilr.g "
of th carnage may b saiC sad that
or long th Angel ef rvc ;aey , -spread
her white wings oe th )
in th trenches and n.ak tAa Chrest-'
mas them ef "Pence oa enA, gold ! f
will to men" a full rfssaktr est tbe. ;
world.
1 dn.!. !