The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

PAGE 16, WLDNESDAY. DECEMI3ER 17, 1980, "CHRISTMAS SUPPLEMENT". WHITBY ings b-fore Christmas, the belis announced the ap- proach of the big day. O From sunset on Decem- 0 0~ ber 24 to sunset on Decem- ~ 0 ber 25, beils could be heard I every hour. Occasional 'K peals rang out in between 'y hours for no particular reason. Silver bells, jingle belle, sleigh bels.-.. it's hard to imagine Christmas without some sort of. ehiming or, ringing. Bu t-bells were not initially"part 6the holiday celebration. The 'flrst large.bell for à*** Christian chu'rch. was in- stalled in Italy, about. the 5th céntury'-A.D., and, the orII But the most important part of the tolling occurred during the hour before midnight on Christmnas Eve, when the beils were rung as if someoipe were dying. At midnight the death knell changed to a iovnuii'eal. annoninz the4 custom of Christmas bell- Ca omu a jqtanandthe ringing really didn't be- birth of thenChristhd corne firmly established untl the Middle Ages, in To the people of the Mid- England.dle Ages, the sound ôf ^thé En~lnd.Christs belîs recalled the bIthat era, ,Christmas sn fthe èls-otâ chiies began atiepr n. oyngt th& flrst Sunda>ý,Q f Advent and were repeated on sucùë'-* cesýiVe Snay Then,. on, eae~ of the last three'morn- FREE PRESS Yuletide Tree lias Origins in Primitive Beliefs How about decorating your tree with apples and round wafers this year? They may not be as color- fui as the glittering balis and ornarnents you normal- Iy use, but they're more in keeping with the early me- thods of tree-trimming. Theý tree is a symbol of immortality, the apples stand for si,; and the round wafers mean redemption. That, at least, -is the 'way Christians 'a-fter the l5th, century saw it. Tey tfk te-. PazadçIe,, Tree '(symbolof the fali of man in tiïïiýi.e plays *of, theMiddje."Aýes);'brôught, it into the ir' oms;,aid- used'it-ast a.les5orin moral- #ty for their children. Over the years, the reli- gious aspects of the tree gave way to pure decora- tion. The apples were re- placed by ornamnents; the wafers, by stars, moons, men and animais. The tree itself is steeped in traditions that date back to even earlier times. In the cold North, primi- tive men watched the ap- proach of winter with fear. They saw the sunlight dwindle, the days grow short and the fields 'freeze up. There seemned no hope of another harvest. Evergreens alone attest- ed to the retumn of light and life and thé revival of the Sun god. .oThe primitives brought -thiem inside" in tubs; to -prctect the spirits of the woods and to bost er fai>-âurgeýthroUgh.the dark winte days. The Yule Log The Persians gave the Yule log its name. It was the custom in Persia to cut down a tree and cut a sec- tion from its trunk. The section was round, and marked off into four seg- ments representing the four seasons of the year. This "calendar" was turn- ed like a wheel and was called a Yole. The log trom which it was cut was known as the Yole log. With every season, the wheel was turned and a great'fire kindled. The-Yole log was p 'laced'in this fire, as the people prayed -for good. fortune, during the coming season. "I H-eeLrd th.le Bells