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Exeter Advocate, 1912-12-12, Page 3A S LF"� D CHRISTMAS Letty Ashworth, only eighteen, eas?szately homesick in au tent- tutional boaarding-house, and al= Most at the end of her money! Is It any wander that she saw every- fixing through a blue hazel: The Beet that it was the day before Christmas aggravated the situation. She. had sent every dollar she could spare up to her country home to so into the ever -gaping mouth of the farm mortgage, and no'w in the midst of all the Christmas chatter' sand planningshe "el felt an outcast— /he who loved to give and could riot.. I haven't a single thing to give to anybody," she said to herself. "O dear ! I do hope none p a of the rls will wish me ar Merry Qhrist- Zetas. If they'do, I obeli just scream se -or cry." She looked about her cell-like rooni. It was very clean; and very dreary, differentiated from the faf- ty other rooms in the Youfzg Wds attee's Home only by the fa see 8ixe esh tographs tucked into the :nireer frame and >bau ing from, the gas fixture. Her root's -mate had gone home for the holidays, and !though sho was not specially fond of her, her absence added an atone. $o the general depression. But it was breakfast time, and we isaust eat even if our hearts reek, so Letty started ler the curse ung, sortie three ilooxa below,: As she closed. her door, as girl dashed out of a room near by and came 'running -after her. 4,t the to of the stairs the uewcomexr tripped and would base 'f --'lien heedlong but for Letty'ss gnfek grasp, "Bless yrou, : Mss .Ashworth. , yWye saved my life this tuner," led the girl, Steadying herself b band on Letty's shoulder, wldlo e stood on eine foot and tried to taaugle the •other from a loop of s braid. "I 'expected this ' ed „ braid would bring nae to befare it wats fixed. ed. I'v had a . in my worksbasket for a lzakveu't had ar, minute, to 'plrer I" freeing her foot y a, sudden jerk which tore off still. :more of the br-aid, "NOW, I'v:o got to get into auothcr skirt," and she hurried heels to her room. Down in the dining -room ars ani- m.ated eonvors:otion rippled up rind dawn the long tables. ("Did you see, those lovely comb at Hefner's •--•. only fifty cants?" "No, I shouldn't dare seiner as necktie for him. I'm going to give tilxl hanndkerehiefs." "Did you finish dressing your lits tie sister's doll?" eto.. Letter bore it as long as she could, then, leaving her half -eaten break- fast, went back to her roots. he raudernvear factory where she work- ad had shut down till after Christ - 'mare to repair the engine, so she lad the day before her. If she only had some money, what a nice chance to go ,round the stores and buy things; or to go home for Ohristmaen. Home] The thought was too much, and the clouds' be- gan to drop rain, There was a: knock' at the door, and the chambermaid came in. ""Why, what's the matter, Saty 1" asked Letty detaching herself from her own misery enough to notice the girl's swollen face and the dark ;Shales round her eyes. "It's an ulcerated tooth," .groaned the girl. "Not: a wink of ;sleep did I get all night.„ "I'll take care of my room to- eay," said.' Letty, "and I just as 3ief"tend to the other rooms on this corridor. I'm not working to -day, and it will do'me good wto be busy about something. As Letty went from room to roonai snaking beds and straightening rugs send chairs with the precision re- quired in the Young Women's 'Home, somehow her heart` grew lighter, and'when she came to .the room where a skirt with trailing laraid was thrown over a "chair, a pleasant thought came to her. Find- ins- a new braid in the work -basket, she took the shirt to her room, re- bound it neatly, darned a tiny tear, sewed on a loose hook, and ,pinning a Christmas greeting on it, hung it on the chair again. As she finished her:rounds she stopped at the laundry door. "You seem to be flying round in here," she said. "We're a, little: short-handed," said the laundress. ': "Katy helps us. sort ;the clothes, but she has'gone to bed sick, and it 'looks' as if our work `would run over into Christ - mac. day." "Can you use a a.' green ' hand ?" asked „Lefty. "I've nothing to do, and I'd like to help. You'; can call any servicesa Christmas present," she aa,dded, with the first smile' of the day- on her face. "" 'would ,be the best kind of a Listmas present. 'Come right in. hose; clothes on the racks are ready p sort, and then be bent round to rooms," So tatty stood up to alae long Rusks and sorted and folded with ? izling hands, ard, the neat piles of u k, an it< &Qthe disappeared like ,magi when the tables wore eleare laundry girls came up with s faces and said, "Thank you f Christmas peasant, Miss A worth," and Letty wen do dinner with quite an appetite. there a new chanes for service seated itself. Two or three o girls were bewailing belated rands which required daylight So, after dinner, Letty went er and thither, matching ri and silks and tassels, .and co home with loaded arms, found a box from her y country home, a box filled with holly, If tixe waxen leaves suddenly gained a new lus- ter, the dewdrops which" caused it were not wholly tears of unhappi- n.evy• The day had been lived through, but the long evening was to be rac- ed. Many of the girls had gene home for the holidays, and others, were busy with their Christmas gifts, so Letty sat alone, the . tide of homesickness rising higher and higher. She heard the occupant of Me, next room come in and shut her door, "I wonder if Miss Wilbur is homesick, too," she mused, Miss Wilbur was a comparatively comer, a silent, reserved' girl had xao intimates in the Herne, L ty hand always, stood a little iu of her, but'uow she felt a Budd impulse, tq go to her, " i y I come in 7" said Letts, the door opened to her lrn Magic And. d '{`the.. irliliing or our wn:sta REVS ..s And pee cell fthe er- How the pulses beat to the lilt of , the old-time Yuletide revelry, hith- "when Englaxld was Merry Wig- rib OLD Ci RISTMAS land," and ming " „lavas Christmas broached the mightiest ale; 'Twas Christmas told the merriest tate," Close your eyes on drab to -day, and you can see the fire "with well - dried legs supplied," leaping and. ni roan g up the wide cn-znxzey of the baronial hall; the huge table groan- ing roan- i g under its burden of lusty fawn, of boar's head "`crested with bays and rosemary" ; the huge -sir- loin, th; plum -porridge and Christ- mas pie, and the wassail "in geed brown bowls garui.elted with rib- bons," We watch the ruerry ruasquers pouring into the 'ball, and laugh aloud at their fr+lfea and antics, new' i and from, thc� snowy wastes without who our snug aanetuary� we hear Oa :.et- < carina "roared ;with b�litheseme nase diet.'" en Our Bost. And our host, Was ever Tn . ' ' ruddy of visage, so jovially rotnznca, large of heart? Like Sir Rogea showing the room to be in d ,uess,, ""Pre just dying. of hp sickness," "Then there are twa of us,,, s the ether girl, extending her h and drawing her in. "You see," Letty hurried with a catch in her voriee, ""My ther is two hundred utiles away, a it may be a year before 1 see he ";' y mother is farther away t that," said Miss Wilbur, "and may be a good many yeas trete d her again," and reazr ember the other's Meek garb, Laity and stood. For a time the two girls wept gather, and. when their tears lightened their hearts a little, tth talked tenderly, epi their homes kindred, and cause nearer toget than in a year of ordinary int course, Then Letty"had an inspi tion.. "There are two or three girls I wanted to remember," said, "there's Miss Crosby---sh going to the hospital in a few day for an operation, and she dreads awfully, and. Gertrude Geny's Izr ther has gone 'wrong and,"she's jet brokers-heartol; and ;M�illy 13ish is very and over her broken engem sent. I'rn awfully "short" j new, but I have just thought some bright pieces I have wh• would make little cushions or area rests, and I've plenty' of fir balsa to fill them. Will ,you come in room and help leer' In a few minutes the girls near busy over their scraps of silk, an when the dainty little gifts we. finished, Letty brought out her bo of holly and fastened a spray o Miss Wilbur's shoulder, saying "Now let's make some big wreath for our windows."" ""Yes,"` said the other, "or"' "Or what ?" asked Letty. "Wouldn't it bo nice to put s piece at every plate, so all the girls; could enjoy, it? You suggested it, pinning this piece on me." Letty caught at the idea a a at once. "We'll be breaking it up, and after everybody is abed, we'll go down and distribute it, and won't they wonder where it came from 7" A couple of hours later, the two girls crept noiselessly upstairs and as they parted, at Letty's door, Miss Wilbur stooped and kissed her cheek, whispering, ""I believe you saved any" heart from breaking, to- night," and slipped into her room before Letty could answer. When the girls trooped down to breakfast Christmas morning and saw the long white 'tables bordered with shining leaves and bright ber- ries, there were many "Ohs" and "`Ahs, and much wonderment, and. soon the girls were pinning them on their dresses or tucking them in their hair. Everybody was in high spirits, and Letty found herself giv- ing and receiving ""Merry Christ- mases," right and left. She had no thought that she'had helped toward the cheer of the dare but Katy and the girl' with the hanging dress - braid And the •laundry .girls and the girls with' errands and the night watchman -or to speak aceurately, the night watch-woman—had told tales, and when` Letty went up, to her room, she found on her table a vase of tall chrysanthemums, and 'the card with them said, ""For; the one: who has done the most to 'give the Homo a Merry Christmas:" As Letty settled herself to sleep that eight, she gave a sigh of thank- fulness, and said to herself, "It has been a' good Christmas, if ` it did start -in a little teary, and I've had a beautiful Christmas present - new friend." And. upon the girl who in home- sickness and poverty had lived the Christmas spirit, fell'the Christ - peace. de rue- aicl arkd Qn, 1210- ud r., :-ares' 3t seri ingt to - hard cls Caverley, his prototype, he levee to ``rejoice the heats of .the poor at this season,.and to gee -the whole illarge merry in his great Eos^ twelve days he seta his "small beer running to everyone that calls for it," and mountains of cold beef rzrd mineo-pies :'esus:- before he ' appetites of tenants and vil- s alike. prcrnde era en to the sr which �eraaide�d: by .our , borne aloft cru a ear azilyer, and eseor-_ .. giaty knights and fair ladies makes iis stately entry kit* t baaxzef,ueting1 hall to the strains Ai 07 and laser ere the. she he s, it. o- st op net myIQiI ni •e. r 11 , mops Often a ' narh vino has great con versational ability: has little ease. 0 is that ead, tza a-4aay hi . ERRiE OLDS ENGLAND e 'tetifesitesenee le in ranee ll'."slier It is certain that very early in the Christian era Christmas was celebrated in Britain, minglin its festivities some of the festival eustorns of the ancient tons and the Roman invaders, traces of those eelebrations still seen in some of the Christ oustoms of modern tinges. The ancient Goths and Sa called their festival Yule. Throe out �t �e the middle ages and down the reformation, the festivals Christmas ingraffted on the pa rites of Yule continued. through Christendom to be universally'e brated with every mark of rej ilea, Qn the adoptiosi of a. new tern of faith by most of the no ern nations of Europe ie the teeanth eentury the Lutheran Anglican churches retained the lebration of Christmas and of festivals which Calvinists reje from th absolutely, dexrounoin 1 civ B a g e glsserv- arxace of Rall each days except SUP - as superstitious and uzrserip- uxaal. Alfred Set Twelve Days. During the .reign .crf Alfred the eat a law was :passed in relation a holidays, by virtue of which the twelve days after the Nativity of the. sti= in- ob- holy Be- it alas reel ail trd' nxaa ori 0. rth rr, a+ s oast et - Some •�ta1rn•t Cu• •stom•s• • of Old • • England at Christmas Tine According to. Lord Rosebery, Qhlistmas would'long ago have died out as a popular festival. if it hard not been for Charle Dick- ens, There is much to be said for g in s Dick- ens. inner that view, but it would be easy to Bri show that from the very earliest for days the Feast of. Yale has been °b- seraved as a time of rejoicing and mss special merrymakipg, except for the ;interval of Puritan rule, when an Sax , gh abortive attempt was suede su:a- t(p. of It was probably to bring a little merriment into men's lives at this gau out dull season that the Pope Julius 'test I,, in the middle of the fourth sen- tury, altered the observance of " '" Christmas from the tune of the Jew Fe s: sh Passover in March to the pre- tett- sent date. The festival is, in fact, slid a perpetuation of the Satureelia of ' the :beans, and eat a few of its tt her oldest customs have beep =borrowed _hose pagan roysterers, But whatever their origin, these: abserva�uees were calculated to pro- veers that 'boisterous mirth whish;:. the beat antidote to the spleen pre- duced by winter skies. Every mer- ry party dragging in the "Yule log! is uneensciQusly perpetuating an ancient rite of the Sczandinaviarrs who, at their :feast of Jul or Yule, lit great bon fires ire tremor of their god, Thor. , Sunset on Chrisirnas proper time for observin;- tcirs. At that, hour the ab -bosh men should sally forth to fbe Yule lag, decorate it with rikhone and sprays Af holly, and fasten round a atrozag rope by which to drag it octra. _ At the erste mesa prepared, under t io Lord of Mist proxieusly eho5en t the Srlrrrstnza rev- e £s all put baack sea as to leave the party, who irzgtrry tamping weighty burden hearth, while the rot ti my sing the ,x1d refrai h a noise, ray merry; press the observance a1 eI'ei b our Saviour were get apart for eelebraafinrx of the Cirr�istnras fe veal. Senna writers are of the ep ion that but for Alfred's striet servasee of the "full twelve days" he would not have been foaled by the :Danes in 878, for baredh hisfu g that t enjoyment of 'ilea of Christmas hinds ern prepariirg for the bat flied that in 901 Xing lid atoll; the Christmas fe etu at splendor at York, Tt shed kept his Christ e bray citizens of Dud ho had defended the capital w" cgs and stoutly resisted Swege ant lair « o,@ the Daau s, l the Confessor, it is no heated elle first Christrza stir��al of his coronation with gre and in 1006 on Chra dray, . William the Conquer "The 'hoar':; bevel in band bring 1, Fenster praisti to faced on high:" In the annexe of this lordly dish. follows the. peacock, "food for lov- ers and meat for lords, with gilt beak and fay -colored pinrxnage, ea- riaed by the fairest laxly guest, with her retinue of singing ladies, little less fair than hexa©lf. And theses tare but the heralds 4f the feast, which includes ficaae: and tongues, hams and. sirloins—and° so On, through the long and sueculent list of Christmas fare to furniety, plum-porrielge, and taince-pies of Gargantuan proportions. Lord of Misrule. And no0, the feast ended, the last toast drunk, and the last song sung, the "Lord of Misrule"—the "'Master of Merry Disports"—takes up his ecoptres anti uader his rule fun 411C1 101 My reign supreme. The his satellites keo the hall in jovial disorder and uproarious gaiety un- til sides aohe with laughter, and the earning th.e mummers is hail- ed as a relief. Efere they come, streaming into the hall—Father Christmea, with holly -hough and wassail -bowl, fol- lowed by his retinue—St. Ceeerge, the gallant knight, the Grand Turk aed the Dragon of fearsome mein, the little girl bearing a branch of mistletoe, the doctor armed with a mamnaoth and. the parish beadle swelling- with the dignity of his office. Te the beating of drums and the discordant sound of weird instruments they enter to play their drama and to convulse all once more with their absurd antics. And now the mummers have gone, regaled and rewarded, to give place to the earollers, and to the waits, who distend purple cheeks almost to the bursting -point in their efforts to extract the last blatant otince out of their frozen instruments. And what weird in- struments they are One is a brassy affair carried round the musician's neck; the fiddle is much in evi- dence, and there is another curious .article, a. kind of e,oach horn- Banqueters and revellers,' Lords of Misrule and niummers, have long been dust. But how they did live in their day! 114 Stainp Will Carry A lace or mull tie. A peir of gloves. Feat leather pen wiper. Bodkin case with three bodkins. A favorite poem made into a booklet. „ A pair of fine lisle or silk stock- ings. A home made booklet of a dozen reliable chafing dish recipes. A blotter, the upper side made of a picture postcard of youreelf. An envelope of lavender linen filled with dried lavender flowers to lebr And last, taut not least a Christ- cora mas letter full of good slicer to its orowued Zing of England Westrainster. The Norman kin ucl nobles who now became rule of England, displayed their tau for rraaagnifioence in the most re Iaarkaable manner at their corona; ens, tournaments and their vele mations of Christmas, faster an Whitsuntide. Minstrels Made Merry. At the Christmas feast minstrel luyed on various musical isstru meets during dinner, and sang o told tales afterwards,both in th half and in the chamber to whim; the king and his nobles retired To amusement. Thus it is written o a court minstrel': "Before the icing he set hire down And took his harp of merry sound And, as he full well can, merry erry nol';.:3 ho began." where the best tree is a,nointt4 with cider by the beadle or other welts known resident who Qpootrophises it thus: "0 tree: bear fruit and flourish; thine owner nourish, give wealth and fruit. 0 tree." The farmers fire their guns through tt?ne branches, andedrinl;, eider for good luck before passing on oto perform a similar office for the next orvhard en the list. The boar's; head, wench made so imposing a; dieplay ia' t 1a'4 � p a ever Christ,- as y y x mss banquet in olden days, is now a fast disappearing institution, though toothsome ireitatiorie of the anginal are consumed every Christ - Inas at the xtebles of the rich. The euster;:'z is a survival from the Mid- dle Ages, when a whole boar, richly gilt, was served up by way of brawn. "The Devil's Knell." Many quaint observances are kept ep in different parts of England, where they eau be traced back for xaaanyr' centuries, ' hes, in Norfolk, iter, Somerset, and one, or ner countries, the "Devil's is tolled on the church belts in li:rastlrlae week- At Iiazey, 'n 9raeolnslirre, there is a peculiar cuetsgrn. known as"Throwing the Ho+�d,a' its which all the people of the pla,ck3 eangalge, and whoever sue-- ceds in capturing the h�xi is re= liberally with gni cheer. In Qa;fordsltire it ha; been the ftravilege of the maidservant, for tnaazny centuries to ask a eta rserv- aarvt at Christmas time for holly and evergreen with widen to cle- x prennis s; end he re.; plat to brlrrg in e soap atrea jarstii's'td in steal- 's trousers, aid pea- fro ae -frothe nd swag a song or to ehe wassail bawl of n ,:passed round, in token of eriag-in of the eeason of pitality and good -will towards ra n. Then the great Iog "roiled ea to a the hearth, and kindled with - brand saved up frosrt last year, r fire, and the flames are soon lea with a. welcome roar. Oarellina Necessary. ply car In 1067 the Conqueror kept a grand Christmas in London, hav- ing invited a number of the Saxon chiefs to participate, and also caused a proclamation to be read in all the churches declaring it to be his -will that "all the citizees of Landoll should enjoy their national lam as in the days of King Ed - "In the hall, the tea and vassal Held, ifhat night, their Christmas Many a carol, old and saintly, Sang the mistrels and the waits." Puritans Barred Gayety. Th118 for a long time all the suc- ceeding rulers olaserved with great ceeemony the coming of Christmas, until in 1644 when an ordinance was paesed decreeing ehat Christ- mas day shoirld be observed as a feast instead of a festival, and that the workaday world should not cease from its labors. Preaching in churches was proscribed, the hanging of Christmas greens pro- hibited. Instead of the- churohes which.. -had formerly welcomed Christmas froni every Church tower the crier passed along the silent streets of the town, ringing in a monotone, "No Christanas I No Christmas!" The people received what they regarded as an infringe- ment of their ancient rights with sullen disapproval, "and no public act," says Macaulay, "seems to have irritated the common people more," The 'joy with which the restora- ton of Charles was received was due, no doubt, to the uncomprom- ising strictness of the extreme Puritaps. With the "inerrie mon- arch" there carr,e back all old cus- toms, and it was at a Christmas feast that he knighted a loin of beef, giving the world the highly prized sirloin. In no country to -day is Christ- mas observed with more joyous es.- ation than in Englaed, with its St1T1? carOIS its Christmas de - tions, p)um pudding. and sany ClIStODIS which have been e One' whe' is Tonesome or ill or hand ecl down Imre a very early journ to the nearest largo orchard, No Christmas he Ragland is con- sidered eomplete even now without its tared -singing, which has enjoy- ed a dietinet revival in recent years% Carols originated. probably in the tongs sune between the scenes of the rinse:1.y and miracle pla,ys of -the Mid,cile Ages, when bands of itinerant minstrels toured from place to place and received usually a hearty welcome at the big hells and village inns throughout the countryside. Of similar anci- ent origin are the "Waits," those disturbers of Yuletide simulacra, who were a:innerly known as "musi- cal watchmen." The mummers, maskers, or gale - anis, were once as regular visitors at this season as the ea,rol-singers, and alSo traced elheir descent from the minstrel playem of the Middle Ages. Now their appearance at Christnaas time is considered some- thing of a rarity; but in Stafford- shire the mummers are still an an- nual institution, and even in Lon- don a pasty of grotesque aerate, ters sometiene,s goes else round of the West End on Christraas Eve. There were several old stock plays, of a more or less martial character, the favorite one being "St, George and the Dragon." The oi.st includes Old Father Christmas,' the Graad Turk, the gallant Knight St. George, a ferocious -looking Dragon, Robin Hood in Lincoln green, and Maid Marian in starlet, bodice and lartle. The mummers, having announced their arrival by the beating of a drum and the play- ing of any other masical instru- ments they have been able to se- cure, being admitted to the kit - °hen, and performed their blood- thirsty play, bsfore the assembled household. Whatever may be the play, the ending invariably hints that some recognition of the per- formance in money rill not be tak- en amiss. Wassailing the Orchards. In Devonshire, and some districts of Wales the picturesque custom of wassailing the orchards on Christ- mas Eve or Twelflth Xight is still preserved. The nmghboring farmers provided with their guns and a large jar at cider, gather at an ap- pointed spot, where they are joined by the parson, tbo clerk and the .schoolmaster„ The party then ad - The t lir ghted eau raubles, has recant irnportat frrarta +Thence also who pays his mys.e the little ones' bedside as Ever and tails their rvrth toys and sweets.. Dired Christmas comes but once a year, says the old song, but this would be sadder and colder world if the spirit of christmas were with us only *nee a year. Th4t spirit makes merry and glad, but there is nothing selfish about. the gladness. The sordid, mart men has his plea uses, but, he canna he happy and glad in the apirit ef thia gracious and theerful season. Tlie Christ- mas spirit is that of forgivonesa generosity and good -will. It is al- truism that brings no quiet inner joy. We are truly glad only when and because we have, within eur enea,ne and resources, material and mama, made others glad. Christmas is essentially a, chil- dren's holiday, and the grown-ups enjoy it in preportion to their bale,- ginative and spontaneous sympathy with the spirit of childhood. To create for every one a merry Christ- mas is to be young and free again— to forget care, resesatment, petty rivalries, mallet) and uncharitable- ess. It is te rejoice in a, deep conseiousness of human brother- hood and peace. It is "to pledge a hand to all our frieuds," to think kindly even of utter strangees and enemies, to relieve misery a.ad dif- fuse well-being. W0 cannot, this side of Utopia, make every dae a Christmas in this hill sense, but we can strive to live up more and more to the Christmas spirit during the other days of the long year. We can resolve to be more considerate, more thoughtful, raore helpful, more °pee -minded and open-hearted, snore optimistio, more . 'Inman and sympathetic. Many of our .dieaculties would melt away or bee:me far less formidable if we carried more of the Christmas mood or spirit over into the prosaic and strenuous days. This spirit never fails: it alwat-s "works" and blesses those who display it even more than those toward whom it is displayed, A merry Christmas, and re S-GOpe and space to its beautiful, en- nobling spirit ! What, Always Happens. "Dees your rich uncle send you something for. Christmas,r), "0,11, -yes. Every year he sends along jest enough to make us think how much he might . have sent if he'd wanted to:" Christmas stookin'es7i „Should be provided for all [the yo A ,child's stocking will liar enough, so let borroW 'one the end of his bed before going to sleep. He will haves Ineen er130.7-