Some Christmas Customs
TN thii materialistic age the superstitions which --11- troubled our forefathers no longer exist. Neverthe- less, many of the ancient rites and ceremonies connected with Christmas are still faithfully carried out. How many of us when the family is gathered round the fire ever think of burning the ashen faggot on Christmas Day ? Yet this was a custom which existed for many centuries in the West Country and is still carried. out in some remote parts. There are two explanations of this old custom. One, still believed in by the gipsies, related to the tradition that when Christ was hiding Himself in the Garden of Gethsemane, all trees remained silent with the exception of the ash, which told where He was hiding. For this reason it was -burnt at Christmas. The second suggestion is. that the origin of -the practice lies in the fact that it was by an ash-wood fire that Christ was first washed and dressed at Bethlehem.
When we burn the Yule log on Christmas Eve do any of us ever remember that the ashes should be collected and preserved, so that the house and its inmates may be secure from evil spirits throughout the year ?
The name Yule, by the way, was applied to the months when the giant deity was worshipped at the Teu- tonic winter festival of the solstice. Our Santa. Claus, too, is possibly but another name for the same giant god, and derived from the old German " Zunte Klass,_" meaning the " big deity," though by tradition he is St. Nicholas.
In some parts the belief is still firmly held that all cattle go down upon their ,knees at midnight. This was commonly believed in Cornwall until quite reeently,,.,it Was also held by many in that county that at the same moment all water in the well was temporarily turned into Wine, but that anyone tasting it would be instantly killed.
Another old superstition in the cider districts of the West of England was in the efficacy of " wassailing the apple trees." On Christmas Eve, after a goodly feast of cider and cakes, all the lads and lasses went into the orchard, and a cake was placed upon the first fork of the most productive apple tree and a jug of cider poured over it. Singing an old refrain, they would then dance round the tree. This simple rite was believed to ensure a large crop in the following year.
Ireland is still the home of superstitions. Two con- nected with Christmastide are interesting. It was be- . lieved, and still is by many, that on Christmas Eve Judas Iscariot was allowed to revisit the earth, and anyone looking into a mirror on that night would see either Judas or the devil peering over his shoulder. The second superstition, but of a very different kind, is that on Christmas Eve the Christ-child is out alone in the dark and cold, and to light Him on His way candles arc placed
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