Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 307, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 December 1920 — YULETIDE FESTIVITIES IN OTHER LANDS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

YULETIDE FESTIVITIES IN OTHER LANDS

-■J. ENGLAND. Christmas ' T celebrations of three or four !V’ hundred years ago charm us ■BgjifJ" with their quaint and simple IL jollity. The English always remembered everyone from iheir neighbors down to their servants. "In the 1 ‘—’country, an English gentleman always Invited his neighbors and tenants to his great hull at daybreak on Christmas morning. There they ware regaled upon toast, sugar, nutmeg and good old Cheshire cheese.’' The house was decked with ivy and other greens. Under the title of a “Christmas box." the general English custom.

whleb still prevails to some extent, a small gift of money was given to postmen and other delivery men the day after Christmas, which was called “Bbxing Day.” In 1100 Henry I granted a charter to London. making it a city and the "Christmas celebration. It is recorded, consisted of a feast for rich and poor. The people gathered in the streets around blazing bonfires singing and dancing, after feasting upon oxen, deer, ale and mead. The wassail bowl, spoken of so often in many books describing England at the time of the crusades, was another evidence

of the ever-ready hospitality that the English offered to all comers. In Russia on Christmas Eve everyone dresses —or at least they used to, it is hard to say anything definite about bolsbevist Russia—for a gay masquerade. Each one was supposed to represent some animal, the idea being to commemorate the fact that Christ was born in a stable among the humblest of the animals. Peasants among the Bulgarians. Germans and others have a legend that animals are conscious on mas Eve. Some people believe that “at midnight the sheep awake and march in a procession, that rhe cattle

kneel in their stalls while by a holy miracle all the beasts are able to converse together. But it la a mortal sin for a man to attempt to overtear them ■, a sin punishable with sudden death.” ffrflwnd has many festivities, prominent among them, a skating or ice carnival- In Switzerland the ski and toboggan hold sway. An interesting practice takes place In Serbia on Christmas Eve. TSie younger men and boys of the family marly in the morning go to the forest. Astor cvrwtufTVf themselves three times as is th** custom of the Greek church, M*wiߣ a prayer. they select a tree, theT kmown as the Badnyi. They it, “Happy Badnjrt to you.” Then

one throws a handful of wiieat which has been brought for the purpose on X. another chops It down very carefully as the tree must fall toward the east just as the sun god rises. It is then cut into two or three pieces. The first chip that falls is brought home as particularly precious. Then the logs are taken home, one to each side of the door. The mother breaks on the longer log a small wheat cake of unleavened Hour, called pogacha. The day passes in preparation for the feast the following day. At sunset one of the men, fitted out* with new woolen gloves, brings in the log.

Ae he passes the threshold the mother throws at him a handful of wheat from a howl in which also the chip has been kept all day. Then the log is lighted and immediately the young folks run out and “celebrate” noisily by firing off guns and pistols. It is important to keep the log burning all night. There are no holidays in ‘ Scandinavia to which both young and old look forward with so much pleasure as the days of Yule. These days, in ye olden times, were also d by the followers of Tho”r and Odin. Christmas and the days following

are legal holidays in the city and there is much merrymaking, but it is not to be compared to what one witnesses in the country. In many districts of Sweden and Norway, among the peasants and farmers, these continue for thirteen days and are called the “tretten Yule days” (thirteen days of Yule). The day before Christmas, in the afternoon, everything is ready for the big feast. The house has been thoroughly cleaned, and 'leaves of juniper and fir are strewn on the floor. When the work is finished the family generally go into the bakehouse, which has been made warm, and each member

takes a thorough wash from head to foot, or a bath in a large tub. This is the only bath many take during the whole year. In some places old-fashioned ways still exist. Young men often paint or blacken their faces, put queer crowns on their heads or hats, wear large stars on their breasts, and generally carry long, wooden swords. One ma# 18 furnished with a large pouch, and the men then visit each farm and solicit contributions for a frolic. Now and then they -indulge in great mischief and fun. If they find ent that a young fellow loves a girl of the village they visit her house and sing iMt the old Herode’s song.