Christmas In Ritual And Tradition, Christian And Pagan

Christmas In Ritual and Tradition, Christian and Pagan

THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI (DETAIL). GENTILE DA FABRIANO ( Florence: Accademia ) 5...

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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 p

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PREFACE5 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION15

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. Ancient Latin Hymns, their Dogmatic, Theological Character—Humanizing Influence of Franciscanism—Jacopone da

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CHAPTER III CHRISTMAS POETRY (II)53

The French Noël —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...

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CHAPTER IV CHRISTMAS IN LITURGY AND POPULAR DEVOTION87

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, &amp;c.—Cradle-rocking in Mediaeval Germany—Christmas Minstrels in Italy and Sicily—The Pr

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CHAPTER V CHRISTMAS DRAMA119

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, &amp;c....

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POSTSCRIPT155 PART II—PAGAN SURVIVALS CHAPTER VI PRE-CHRISTIAN WINTER FESTIVALS159

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

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CHAPTER VII ALL HALLOW TIDE TO MARTINMAS187

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....

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CHAPTER VIII ST. CLEMENT TO ST. THOMAS209

St. Clement's Day Quests and Processions—St. Catherine's Day as Spinsters' Festival—St. Andrew's Eve Auguries—The Klöpfelnächte —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'.”...

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CHAPTER IX CHRISTMAS EVE AND THE TWELVE DAYS227

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 ....

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CHAPTER X THE YULE LOG249

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 Noël in France—Italian and German Christmas Logs—English Customs—The Yule Candle in England and Scandinavia. 10...

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CHAPTER XI THE CHRISTMAS-TREE, DECORATIONS, AND GIFTS261

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 Rom

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CHAPTER XII CHRISTMAS FEASTING AND SACRIFICIAL SURVIVALS281

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....

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CHAPTER XIII MASKING, THE MUMMERS' PLAY, THE FEAST OF FOOLS, AND THE BOY BISHOP295

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....

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CHAPTER XIV ST. STEPHEN'S, ST. JOHN'S, AND HOLY INNOCENTS' DAYS309

Horse Customs of St. Stephen's Day—The Swedish St. Stephen—St. John's Wine—Childermas and its Beatings. 11...

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CHAPTER XV NEW YEAR'S DAY319

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....

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CHAPTER XVI EPIPHANY TO CANDLEMAS335

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. 12 MADONNA AND CHILD. By Albrecht Dürer. 1

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THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI (Detail)Frontispiece

Gentile da Fabriano. ( Florence: Accademia ) Albert Dürer Pesellino. ( Empoli Gallery ) From “Laude di Frate Jacopone da Todi” (Florence, 1490) By Fouquet. ( Musée Condé, Chantilly ) Master of the Seven Sorrows of Mary. (Also attributed to Joachim Patinir.) ( Vienna: Imperial Gallery ) By Ludwig Richter From Add. MS. 32454 in the British Museum. (French, 15th Century) After an Etching by D. Allan. From Hone's “Every-day Book” (London, 1826) By Giotto. ( Upper Church of St. Francis, Assisi ) 14 F

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THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS55

By Fouquet. ( Musée Condé, Chantilly )...

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THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT: THE REST BY THE WAY70

Master of the Seven Sorrows of Mary. (Also attributed to Joachim Patinir.) ( Vienna: Imperial Gallery )...

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SINGING “VOM HIMMEL HOCH” FROM A CHURCH TOWER AT CHRISTMAS71

By Ludwig Richter...

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THE NATIVITY89

From Add. MS. 32454 in the British Museum. (French, 15th Century)...

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A NEAPOLITAN PRESEPIO108 CALABRIAN SHEPHERDS PLAYING IN ROME AT CHRISTMAS112

After an Etching by D. Allan. From Hone's “Every-day Book” (London, 1826)...

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ST. FRANCIS INSTITUTES THE PRESEPIO AT GRECCIO114

By Giotto. ( Upper Church of St. Francis, Assisi ) 14...

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THE BAMBINO OF ARA COELI115 THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS121

From Broadside No. 305 in the Collection of the Society of Antiquaries at Burlington House...

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THE SHEPHERDS OF BETHLEHEM140

From “Le grant Kalendrier &amp; compost des Bergiers” (N. le Rouge, Troyes, 1529)...

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THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI154

Masaccio. ( Berlin: Kaiser Friedrich Museum )...

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NEW YEAR MUMMERS IN MANCHURIA161

An Asiatic example of animal masks...

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CHRISTMAS EVE IN DEVONSHIRE—THE MUMMERS COMING IN229 THE GERMAN CHRISTMAS-TREE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY263

From an engraving by Joseph Kellner...

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CHRISTMAS MORNING IN LOWER AUSTRIA281

By Ferdinand Waldmüller (b. 1793)...

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YORKSHIRE SWORD-ACTORS: ST. GEORGE IN COMBAT WITH ST. PETER297

From an article by Mr. T. M. Fallow in The Antiquary , May, 1895...

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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 cere

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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. 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:— 52 53 54 55...

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CHAPTER III CHRISTMAS POETRY (II)

The French Noël —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. THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS. By Fouquet. (Musée Condé, 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

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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, &amp;c.—Cradle-rocking in Mediaeval Germany—Christmas Minstrels in Italy and Sicily—The Pr

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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, &amp;c. When Joseph and Mary reach the stable where the Nativity is to take p

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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, huma

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Part II—Pagan Survivals

160 161 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 Tradi

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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 di

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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

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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 w

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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 Nov

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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 sunshi

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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 s

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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 Teuto

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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 “

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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 festiv

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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

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The Klöpfelnächte.

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 Klöpfel or Knöpflinsnächte (Knocking Nights). {27} The practice is described by Naogeorgus in the sixteenth century:— With it may be compared the Macedonian custom for village boys to go in p

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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 the

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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 covere

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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

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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

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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,

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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 Noël 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 ol

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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 co

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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 c

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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 t

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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 più 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 se

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292Relics 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 Bo

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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 t

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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 “

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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

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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

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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. Mo

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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 stru

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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 No

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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 Roma

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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

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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 sa

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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 thei

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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 t

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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

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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. Gastoué, “Noël” (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 Edw

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CHAPTER III.—CHRISTMAS POETRY (II)

1 . Noël Hervé, “Les Noëls français” (Niort, 1905), Gastoué, 57 f.; G. Gregory Smith, “The Transition Period” (Edinburgh and London, 1900), 217. 2 . Gregory Smith, 217. 3 . H. Lemeignen, “Vieux Noëls composés en l'honneur de la Naissance de Notre-Seigneur Jésus-Christ” (Nantes, 1876), iii. 2 f. 4 . Ibid. i. 10, 11. 5 . Ibid. ii. 93, 95. 6 . Hervé, 46. 7 . Lemeignen, i. 55. 366 8 . Lemeignen, i. 29. 9 . “Les Vieux Noëls,” in “Nouvelle Bibliothèque Populaire” (published by H

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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, Évèque de Mende au treizième siècle,” traduit par M. C. Barthélemy (Paris, 1854), iii. 155 f. 4 . See translation of the Great O's in “The English Hymnal,” No. 734. 5 . Barthélemy, iii. 220 f. 6 . D. Rock, “The Church of Our Fathers” (London, 1853), vo

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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 Méril, “Origines latines du théâtre moderne” (Paris, 1849); L. Petit de Julleville, “Histoire du théâtre en France au moy

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POSTSCRIPT

1 . E. Underhill, “Mysticism: A Study in the Nature and Development of Man's Spiritual Consciousness” (London, 1911), 305. 371...

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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 .

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CHAPTER VII.—ALL HALLOW TIDE TO MARTINMAS

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. Sébillot, “Coutumes populaires de la Haute-Bretagne” (Paris, 1886), 206. 11. L. von Hörmann, “Tiroler Volksleben” (Stuttgart, 1909), 193. 12. Frazer, “Adonis,”

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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-Düringsfeld, 415. 12. J. N. Raphael in “The Daily Express,” Nov. 28, 1911. 13. Dyer, 430. 14. Ibid. 429. 15. Tille

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CHAPTER IX.—CHRISTMAS EVE AND THE TWELVE DAYS

1 . Tille, “D. W.,” 32 f. 2 . Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, 446. 3 . Ibid. 448. 4 . Ibid. 449. 5 . Ibid. 448; Weinhold, 8 f. 6 . Evans, 229. 7 . Weinhold, 8. 8 . Tille, “Y. &amp; C.,” 116. 9 . Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, 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. Sébillot, 216. 14. Walsh, 232. 15. Burne and Jackson, 406; Henderson, “Folk Lore of the Northern Counties,” 311; Sir Edg

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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” (E

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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. Rie

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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, &amp;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

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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,”

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CHAPTER XIV.—ST. STEPHEN'S, ST. JOHN'S, AND HOLY INNOCENTS’ DAYS

1 . Hörmann, “Tiroler Volksleben,” 237 f. 2 . Dyer, 492. 3 . L. von Hörmann, “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 Norther

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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 . Sébillot, 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 t

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CHAPTER XVI.—EPIPHANY TO CANDLEMAS

1 . Hörmann, “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 Méril, “Origines latines du théâtre moderne” (Paris, 1849), 26 f. 10. Brand, 13. 11. A. de Nore, “Coutumes, mythes et traditions des provinces de Fr

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CONCLUSION

1 . E. Clodd in Presidential Address to the Folk-Lore Society, 1894. See Folk-Lore , vol. vi., 1895, 77. 388...

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