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trees may amen: eat. a tension» Income in- ii, r to will benefit us should be my take I o wood. but no and In during the At fuelwood woodlot win we to". I then u. winter so... are (M). “wood mt. tho Amount mind from " is largely cement that he" an readers, "It": - bout re. buld In rthwhilo Iueneea an of inieat Prtse- both " " '0. u '" ave cola n rate or rtanatq ine the " n- the n TY tn i! I All three home: ere Want to Christians when interest in it _ from the tremendous hot that in the! little town we: born Him Who was rightly called "The Breed of Life;" Who mu to be the mum Head or a new race, widespread u the world itself; and Who In there born in human flesh, though the Naughty Son of God. Bethlehem or The Home of Bread, Wu more Inciently known as Eph- rath or Fruitful, but in modern times is culled Beituahm or “Home of Flesh." A Meanwhile, the farm, as ever, continued to turnish the where- withal tor the least. and at the same time, as centuries rolled by and towns became swamped in then own actttities, it was the tarm that kept alive the kindly, ancient rites of the feast. Many centuries later, Charles Dickens restored to the townsfolk of England something ot the icy and beauty of the spirit of Christmas which still tmurished among agricultural communities. Even today many ot the ancient agricultural Christmas ce.ebrations. as distinct trom the towns, sur- vnve, some of them Lnder limited conditions. There ii, Plough Mon- day, for example, which is still observed in several Countries, includ- ing the British Isles. In olden times in Europe, Plough Monday mark- ed the end of the Christmas holidays. It was held on the first Mon. day in January after the Twelfth Day. It was customary on Plough Monday, hetore the ploughman returned to work on the tollowmg day, to draw a plough from door to door of the parish to Sollcn plough money to spend in a frolic. The queen of the banquet was called Bessy. . _ .--- And at this Christmastide, as in the davs gone by, the ram has furnished the chief necessaries for the Christmas feast. such as the meats. the turkeys. the geese, the ducks and chickens, the cereal foods, the vegetables, the cream, milk, eggs and cheese, not forgetting that many of the other essentials the candies and dontectionery, the pickles. cigars and cigarettes, are all of agricultural origin. " t "ii', -o"triGGe,"t'iitGnG'eiitLisi.. Ciirisimas and ihe Farm Farm and Food.-Orillia Packet and Times. It was from the iirGliGii opulation mainly that the early Christians drew their adherents, an; many yaers later it was overthc tarms and orchards in the vicinity of Rome that the early 1Prist/an.s scr " the country in search of holly branches to decorate their churches and dwellings at Christmastidd. 7 tood and was . ii v-r- u: "I: "M"".".'" lllc wuru mun Inca") . a so ca led because m older times the tenant was required t? Pntvide the landlord With tood by way of rent. Today this delim- tlon has been consyierahly extended in that the tarm supplies the na- .tyy with Pod, and without food, without the feeding of the multitude, it IS. nut Klyen to human beings to be able openly to express that si"It.ot universal kindness and peace and good will evoked by the teachings ot the Master in the celebration of the festival of Christmas. . The connection between agriculture and Christmas has been intimate from the beginning. It was to shepherds watching their !lo.fks by night that the words, Fear not: for, behold, I bring. you good tidings of great joy, were addressed. . It was a lowly stable attached to a farm-khan that the Saviour of the World was born, and a short time atter it was on the back ot the most humble farm animal, the ass, that He 'f?' borne to Egypt in satety. _ Lnnstmas and the Farm; the Farm and Food"-Christmas 1936 should see a revival of this ancient Christmas toast. Those were the days when the value of the farm was universally recognized, but m the whirl ot modern the the tarm. as the sure toundatlon ot ma- terial Civilization, is apt to be torgotten. The word tarm means pm... and m... -_- -_.' . . Christmas and the F'ii.ir, In Bethlehem Was Born "A Saviour Who is Christ the In That Little Town Thither came the widow, Naomi, and het dtsughter-in-law, Ruth, the Moabitess, mourners. bereft of all they held dear. There the young widow Ruth was wedded to her wealthy Kinsman, Boaz, thereby be- coming great-grandmother of the Psalmist-King David. and else one of the progenitors of the Christmas King, the Lord and Saviour of Man- kind. The terrible tale of wrong doing and reprisals caune'perilousdy near to the destroying of the whole tribe of neu- jnmin, within whose limits Bethlehem was situated. " the provide for its Maker, Redeemer and King, when in pitying love and tender living mercy He came to visit it, at the Christmas tide'. Oi all the quaint old Christmas customs which have not yet been for- gown, none is more interesting than the mumming which is given every year in some ot the villages in York- shire. With blackened faces grinning un- frequently confused With ch. der paper caps, some half-dozen of dances. In the original Morri the village boys make their way from .t.he, performers alyNs l: house to house. Trooping into the their Gees, from whieh fac loom where the family is sitting, been thought t.hat the done: the: enact a strange scene. Fiercely name of Morris from the t brandishing wooden swords, they all the Blackamoors. who intro rush upon one boy, reciting verses of into Europe. which the meaning appears to be un- It would be interesting to I known both to performers am audi- actly what the modern perfo once. Suddenly this boy 'alls as this very ancient play really though dead. His vanquishers gloat words, when account has be over him, they bow. and file out of of the inaccuracies and ch: the room. The vanquished one then pronunciation, would prob; gets up sheepishly. bows, and follows found to be those which Wt the rest. posed by some minstrel, or " This old Christmas custom embodi- by a parish priest, for a St es all that now remains of one of play, as early or even earl the earliest forms of English drama, the thirteenth century. Sue the St. George plays. These plays were never written down, a were originally performed on the the course of centuries may, feast of the national saint, but in become the unintelligible course of time they became attracted laughed at every Christmas. Mumming Old York Custom What Remains of St. George Plays, Early Form of English Il U////// wk' ' l ghfi/gtmas 'E'iii:ti', _ jii?i:::t to the bigger festival of Christmas. At first their theme wet M. Georgehs fight with the dragon, but ir later versions many other characters were introduced, and St. George was killed and raised to life 3.3th by a charecter called the Doctor. It is undoubtedly this play which the Yorkshire boys enact each Christmas, though they may not realize it. The uint’e re- vival has been forgotten, so that in the modern version the unfortunate St. George has to get up and get out rather Iamely. The wooden swords are derived from the still older sword dances which were incorporated into the St. George plays, while the blackened faces are a legacy of the old Morris dance. which in these festivals was frequently confused with the sword dances. In the original Morris dances the performers always blackened their Gees, from which fact it has been thought that the dance got its name of Morris from the Moors or the Blackamoors. who introduced it into Europe. It would be interesting to know ex- actly what the modern performers of this very ancient play really say. The words, when account has been taken of the inaccuracies and changes of pronunciation, would probably be found to be those which were com- posed by some minstrel, or perhaps by a parish priest, for a St. George play, as early or even earlier than the thirteenth century. Such words were never written down, and so in the course of centuries may well have become the unintelligible babble I fact it l dance got he Moors introduced T3NTAmiARCFTNES --- TORONTO has its or I it There is A custom that time has not greatly changed. snd that is the decking of British homes with ever- greens. holly and mistletoe. The use of ivy, which was really a vintner's sign, has died out very considerably. In "Poor Richard’s Almanac" there is s carol. The last verse reads: "With holly and ivy So green and so gay. We deck up our houses As fresh as the day. With bays and rosemary And laurel eompleat, And every one now is king in conceit." Holly and ivy were lsrgely used in church decorations. but mistletoe was not often found in any sacred edifice, as the old clergy looked upon it with great disfavor. since the Druids had used it in their rites. The Druids called "all-heal" and it was laid on their titan u on em- blem of the "tuOtiferout, advent of Messiah," according to the "Medallie History of Carausis." It is spelt "mistletoe." The eutt'ng oi the mistletoe wan curried out with great ceremony. The bards walked first, singing enntieles and hymns, a herald preceding three Druids with imple- ments for the purpose. Then lollow- ed the, Prince of the Driuds, accom- panied by all the people. He mounted the oak, and, cutting the "mistletoe" with a golden sickle, presented it to the other Druids, who took it with great respect, and on the first day of the year distributed n among the people as n sa'red and holy Vplanft. Church decoration is very old. In old church calendars Christmas Eve is marked "Templa exornatur." How. ever this may be, the greatest charm of Christmas is the decorated church. the power which makes a man see beyond the bare walls of che church and which carries him back through the ages to worship with the shep- herds " the manger cot in Bethleo hem. Christmas without its religious Observances, for all the feasting, gaiety and rejoicing, mould long ago have passed away. Holly, Mistletoe and Ivy Ap Throughout History M Evergreen: Long Used In Decoration Queer Christmas Dishes of the Past I t l , . ',, M , . . {l-gi" . rl cs C' I j _l', G' _ v " if i il , ' 739:3? "rj-i' . E IA 25l ( _ . air:isyii:l., It, r.§~'\v ' ..> Bk', ‘ .:,\ ". -/r'r-Ntr v Il))..!,,,',:.'!?`?';), Bti, '3‘}: """:. 30% 'i'ir'gri "rd)1's8 ' 1zii. practically the only drink to be aer- ved. Under the injunctions of the founder the liquor must be brewed on the College premises by its own servants, acting under the super- vision of the steward of the week and the treasurer', clerk. The m- vity of the ale could only be indi- cated by a whole row of 'tts." It in. in fact, so potent that it is sipped an o liqueur. Mulled ale, concocted with cloves, any“. nutmeg and bowel es; and served with dry tout waa brewed according to a recipe " least two hundred years old " a Shreve- burr hotel where Paganini. the vio- linist, once performed. Christmas in England has nlwnyl been In great occasion for drinking and feasting. In fact, In Italian proverb says of I busy man. that "He has more to do than the oven! in England at Christmas." In old England they had many d'shea which we seldom hear ot now. There Wu frumenty. I dish made of wheat which is tstil sometimes served in Yorksiiic, ale posset. Shropshire "wigs," and can-away buns dipped in ale. Yule doughs or dows were eaten everywhere, and in Coventry they made their famous Godcake. Tansy, too, was a favorite dish. This was made with eggs and cream. flavored with the juice of tangy, an extremely bitter, uomatic herb. In addition there was Christmas brawn. connynges in gravy. and 1 hat of dishes that have since died out. Christmas was never 1 national festival in Seotlnnd, but at thin period of the yen new sowens were always eaten. These were made from the hush and sifting: of ontmeel mixed with moleues. and to all se- counts were delicious. Feasting Customs m . , Wy cn