Christmas Festivities, Past, Present, And Future.

CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES , PAST , PRESENT , AND FUTURE .

BY BRO . G . B . A . There is little doubt that Christmas is a season of festivity which must commend itself to all members of the great Alasonic brotherhood . In these enlightened days of toleration , when no apparently impassable gulf separates the

members of one religious faith from the members ot another , and especially in Freemasonry , where men of all religions meet on terms of equality and mutual respect , it is quite possible for the Christian , the Jew , the Mohammedan , and men of other faiths to sympathize and rejoice with one another on the several occasions when each offers to the Deity his especial tribute of adoration . He may even go which

further , and take part in the innocent pleasures , , are properly observed on each of these occasions , without fear of losing caste among his co-religionists , and without the slightest hesitation on the ground of religious scruple . There is among them all a unity of faith in the beneficence of the Great Architect of the Universe , be that Great Architect the God of the Christian , the ineffable of the jew ,

or the Allah of the Alohammedan . Hence , I say , when the season of Christmas , which is as nearly as possible coterminate with the winter solstice , comes round , there is no just cause or impediment why all men , whether within or without thc pale of Masonry , may not share in some , at least , of its pleasures , and yet retain in all its purity their sense of self-respect . But , perhaps , some readers of the

Freemason , a journal which , in season and out of season , has , for years past , done its best to uphold the dignity and interests of the Craft , may think I am venturingon too delicate ground in enunciating so broad and yet so simple a proposition . Others with great plausibility will argue that a preface is generally a nuisance , and that the old Horatian maximwhich enjoins on a writer to plunge forthwith into his

, subject , is of too great importance to bc overlooked . Without further ado , then , I will try my best to avoid offending the former , and oblige the latter , if , at least , they exist elsewhere than in my own imagination , by describing the festive manners and customs in different parts of England and in other countries at the present season . For weeks before these lines appear in print , my young

friends certainly , and probably most of the elder brethren of the Fraternity to which I have the honour to belong , will have been indulging in the triple pleasures of memory , hope , and imagination . Young , mature , and old men alike , if they are what I take them to be , have been recalling as far as possible the memories of past festivities . Their hope of unlimited yet rational enjoyment has been stirred to the

utmost , while as regards their imagination , they must have been all the while revelling in visions of pies , puddings , and pantomimes galore . This you will say , good reader , is a somewhat vulgar view- of Christmas festivities . Then let me speak of those f amiliav gatherings which take place at this season , of that genial interchange of hearty good wishes which is thc outcome , as it is the object , of those gatherings ,

and of thc respect almost universally paid by non-AIasons as well as Alasons , to thc three principal virtues which constitute thc device of Alasonry— " Brotherly Love , Relief , and Truth . " The cynic may sneer , if he chooses , at the notion that the good things and amusements of the world administer to people ' s pleasure . He may laugh at thc cordial interchange of kindly feeling at Christmas among those who , at

other times , are rivals or something worse . But Diogenes in his famous tub is only admired and respected by students of a selfish philosophy . Epicurus , after all , was a better fellow , because a sensible one ; and since the Christian Era was inaugurated , a modified and yet expanded form of his philosophy has taken firm hold of mankind . We cat , drink , and arc merry , not because we may die on the

morrow , but because wc sec thc beneficence of the Creator in all His works , and because we have thc good sense to recognize that the enjoyment of pleasure is compatible with , and promotes , good feeling . This good feeling may be as transitory as the enjoyment which produces it—we do not believe it is ; still it is a clear gain to all when men throw aside the rarking cares of life , and meet one another on the

neutral ground of neighbourl y civility , if not love and friendship ; when the rich give of their substance to the poor , ' and the pout . sympathize with the rich ; when the right of all to a niche in the temple of existence is acknowledged . But I am forgetting the maxim of Horace and digressing . Father Christmas has about him all that prestige which is born of a most respectable antiquity . The festivities which mark his

advent and presence among us are older than he is , many of them having been borrowed , as tradition hath it , from the Saturnalia of Pagan Rome . But be this as it may , thc customs , which are still observed at this particular season , are kept up with an ever-recurring freshness and vigour , such as distinguish the customs proper to few other seasons of the year . We have , to a very great extent , bid farewell

to thc superstitions , while we have faithfull y retained many of the customs , of former generations . There may be a little more outward formality , but the same kindliness of feeling prevails . Pantomimes have more of spectacular display about them , while the fun is less boisterous than of yore . " Blindman ' s Buff" and " Puss in the Corner" may be considered a little out of date , but families , including the poor relations , meet just as they did in the days when

Dickens pictured his Christmas at old Wardle s , and as they did last century , and the centuries that preceded it . Alummcrs may no longer perambulate the country , or onl y in the more primitive parts , but the carol remains . In place of the old waits , we have the doubtful improvement of a German band , whose discordant tunes offer a striking contrast to the general

harmony . Wassailing may still linger in parts , while at Royal Windsor and Academic Oxford , the boar's head still finds a place upon the festive board . But whether old customs remain , or new ones have usurped their place , Christmas Eve , Christmas Day , New Year's Day , and Twelfth Day , are still , facile principes , the red letter days of our calendar . When they arc still far distant , thc

preparations begin ; books arc written , cards are printed and painted , and gifts of every imaginable material and description arc manufactured . As they draw nearer , the outward and visible signs of all that has been done become more apparent . Tbe shops display their tempting wares ,

and if wc incontinently stray into any of them our purses arc invariably thc lighter . Still later come what I call the installation meetings which are held throughout the provinces and in London , when the genius of Good Cheer is inducted into office for the year . These are the shows of fat cattle , sheep , swine , and poultry , which enterprising stock-owners

Christmas Festivities, Past, Present, And Future.

have reared and fattened for our use at Christmas . And later still whole forests of holly , ivy , laurel , and other evergreens , with , last but not least , the misletoe , arise in our streets and bye-ways . In the neighbourhood of our theatres are collected crowds of fairies , masculine and feminine , young and old , pretty and plain , all arrayed in most unfairylike costumes , but waiting to bc trained for our pleasure . Then last of all comes jovial old Christmas himself with his ruddy

countenance , and—it may or may not be—his robe of snow , but warm and comfortable withal ; and he is careful that none among us shall be miserable while he remains . There is no resisting the fervour of his geniality . He denies himself to none , and will be denied by none ; and though his stay is short , it has at least the merit of being annually recurrent . So much for Christmas and his surroundings , as they exhibit themselves to us of the present generation . The

dear old fellow may , as I have said , be less full of boisterous fun , and his gait stiffer and more formal ; but if his outward appearance is somewhat altered , his inward grace and overflowing kindness remain . But what was he like , what honours awaited him in the days that are past ? I have said—on the authority of Alallet—that many of the rites paid him were borrowed from the Saturnalia of Pagan Rome , and these again , no doubt , had their origin in still

earlier festivities . But without going so far back , and without stopping to consider the statement of Beckwith in the Gentleman ' s Magazine tor February , 17 S 4— "That this rejoicing on Christmas Eve had its rise from the Juul , and was exchanged for it , is evident from a custom practised in in the Northern Counties , of putting a large clog of wood on the fire , which is still called the yule-clog "—let me note a few of the customs in vogue in former days at Christmas

tide . By the way , the mention of the yule-clog reminds me that the custom of burning large logs or blocks is an old one . lt was in existence as late as the days of Brand , author of " Popular Antiquities , " and in Hazlitt ' s opinion , was still in force in 1 S 70 , when he published a new and enlarged edition of Brand ' s well-known work . It is said to be the counterpart of thc midsummer fires , and was made within doors because of the cold weather at thc winter

solstice ; just as those in the hot season , at the summer one , were kindled in the open air . It was a custom in northern farmhouses for the servants to lay b y a large knotty block for their fire at this season , and while it lasted they were entitled to ale at their meals . "At Ripon on Christmas Eve , " according to a quotation I have seen from thc Gentleman's Magaainc , "thc chandler sent large mouldcandles , and the cooper large logs of wood , generally called

Yule-clogs , which are always used on Christmas Eve ; but should it be so large as not to be all burnt that night , which is frequently thc case , the remains are kept till old Christmas Eve , " that is the eve of Twelfth Day . Herrick in his " Hespcridcs " says it was the custom to light the new Yule-log " with last year ' s brand , " while , according to Thiers , it was usual to light it on Christmas live , and burn it for a certain time every day till Twelfth Night . The latter

further says the log was supposed to possess many virtues , and was carefully preserved under a bed or in some other secure place . It was regarded as beneficial , if properly administered , in cases of the diseases of animals , and if dipped into the water trough , used for cows in calf , it was held to expedite delivery , while its ashes , if spread over thc land , were supposed to keep the corn free from blight . Alention is made in Hazlitt ' s edition of Brand already

referred to , in vol . 1 , p . 249 , of a very quaint superstition which formerly prevailed in the Western parts of Devonshire , to the effect that at 12 o ' clock- on Christinas Eve , the oxen in their stalls were always found on their knees , as if in an attitude of devotion , and more singular still , that on the alteration of style , they were so found only on Old Christmas Eve . The existence of this superstition is confirmed bv the statement of a Cornishman living near Launceston ,

who said he had watched to sec if it were true , and found it was , to this extent at least , that in the stall he visited he saw two of the oldest oxen fall on their knees , and " making a cruel moan like Christian creatures . " Brand suggests this superstition may have had its origin in an old print of the Nativity , in which the oxen in the stall which are nearest to tbe Virgin and Child are represented kneeling as in a suppliant posture .

Brand is my authority for a custom in vogue so late as 1790 , which he was told b y Sir Thomas Acland prevailed in the neighbourhood of Wcrington , Devonshire , where on Christmas Day the country folk sang a wassail , or drinking song , and threw the toast from the wassail bowl to the appletrees in order to have a fruitful year . Herrick had previously noted a similar custom in England on Christmas Eve , of " wassailing , " or wishing health to the apple trees .

" VVassailc the trees , that they may bear You many a plum , and many a pear , For more or less fruits they will bring , And you do give them wassailing . " Readers of the Freemason may or may not have heard of a pleasant potable composition known as " Lambsivoo ) , " so named , in the opinion of Brand , from its softness . It

seems from a communication to the Magazine already quoted more than once that it was a custom on Christmas Eve , in the schoolboy days " of the writer , to roast apples on a string till they dropped into a large bowl of spiced ale . This constituted Lambswool which it is not unlikely , from thefollowing passage in A Midsummer Night ' s Dream , may have been a familiar drink in the days of Shakespeare . " Sometimes lurk I in a gossip ' s bowl ,

In very likeness of a wasted crab ; And when she drinks , against her lips I bob , And on her wither'd dewlap pour the ale I " A curious custom , prevalent even now in Cornwall , is mentioned by Air . Hazlitt as having been communicated to him by Air . T . O . Couch , of Bodmin . In that county it seems thc second Thursday before Christmas is known as " Picrotis Day . " Though the ceremonial proper to the

occasion has ' . been curtailed from what it was formerly , the day is still observed by a supper and much merry-making . Thc tradition is that Picrotis Day is intended to commemorate the discovery of tin by a man named " Picrous . " Another quaint , but apparently isolated , custom is noted in the Gentleman's Mtigasine tor February , 1795 , as having been in vogue annually on 24 th December at the house of a gentleman residing at Aston , near Birmingham .

After supper " a table is set in the hall . On it is placed a brown loaf with twenty silver threepences stuck on the top of it , a tankard of ale , with pipes and tobacco ; and the two oldest servants have chairs behind it , to sit as judges if they please . " The servants , both male and female , are then brought in , covered with a " winnow-sheet , " and the judges , when the hand of the servant , which is the only part exposed to view , has been placed on the loaf , endeavour

Christmas Festivities, Past, Present, And Future.

alternately to guess who it is . If one of them succeeds , the servant is taken back ; if they fail , the sheet is removed and the servant receives a silver threepenny ; and so on , till the money is exhausted . Those who slept not in the house the previous night forfeited their rig-lit to the money . But one of the principal features of Christmas Day is the interchange of presents among the members of families . I remember some thirty years ago spending more than one

Christmas with a family tn the country—whither , after a most successful career in business , they had migrated—which most religiously observed this excellent arid most seasonable custom . Breakfast over on Christmas morning , the family adjourned to the dining room or elsewhere , and the giving of gifts began forthwith . Paterfamilias led the way by presenting his wife and then each of the children in turn with some kind of present . His better half followed , and

then the sonsandthe daughters ofthe house , each giving to the other , and to their parents , some token of affection . The presents were of the most heterogeneous character , and included writing desks , materials for a silk dress , shawls , pockethandkerchiefs , toys for the little ones , articles of jewellery , purses of money , mostly in the case of the elder children alread y provided with desks or work boxes , rings , studs , scarf pins , watches , and the like . The scene , I

assure you , was as interesting as it was pretty , and one I shall always call to mind with pleasure . The same usage prevails now as it did years ago , not only in England , but abroad . The hampers with which trains and carriers ' carts arc laden at Christmas , the display of g ifts in the shopwindows , all point to the maintenance of this good old custom , and we know thc claims of the poor , the sick , and the afflicted to a temporary relief from their poverty and

distress are not forgotten . As illustrating what took place in his day in the north of Germany , Coleridge , writing from Ratzehurg in 1 S 0 S , mentions in his " Friend " " that it was usual for children to make presents to their parents and to each other on Christmas Eve , while the parents made presents to their children on Christmas Day . Great secrecy , he says , was observed by die children as to the nature of their several gifts , and ne describes the scene as being most interesting .

He adds that formerly throughout the whole country—and still at the time he is speaking of , in the case of the smaller towns and villages—it was the practice for thc parents to send their presents to a man who was known as Knecht Rupert , and was clad for the occasion in awhile robe , with high buskins , a mask , and an enormous flax wig . On Christmas ni g ht , this Knecht Rupert went round from house to house , giving out that he had been sent by Jesus Christ

his master . He was received by the parents and their elder children with much pomp and reverence , but the little ones were frightened . He then distributed the gifts entrusted to him , giving , however , to those children who had seriously misbehaved themselves a birch rod to indicate thc kind of gift they best deserved . A somewhat similar custom prevails in Holland , only it is celebrated on thc day of St . ( To be continued . )

Lodge Of Benevolence.

LODGE OF BENEVOLENCE .

Thc monthly meeting of the Lodge of Benevolence was held on Wednesday evening , at Freemasons' Hall . Bro . Joshua Nunn , P . G . S . B ., Senior Vice-President , occupied the President ' s chair ; Bro . James Brett , P . G . P ., Junior Vice-President , took the chair of Senior Vice-President ; and Bro . S . Rawson , Past District Grand Alaster of China ,

held the chair of Junior Vice-President . The other brethren present were Bros , Charles Frederick Hogard , P . AL 205 ; G . P . Britten , P . AL 183 ; J . D . Collier , P . AI . 13 GG ; Henry Garrod , P . AL 749 ; VV . H . Perryman , P . AI . 3 ; VV . T . Christian , P . AI . 1 GG 2 ; Charles Dairy , P . AL 141 ; John Constable , P . AL 1 S 5 ; Wm . Stephens , P . AI .

14 S 9 ; J . Lazarus , P . AL 1017 ; J . H _ Alatthctvs , P . AI . 143 ; J . Harmcr Owens , P . AL 1347 ; Robert P . Tate , W . M . S 62 ; John Mornham , VV . AI . 7 ; John E . Shand , VV . AI . 1563 ; George Newman , P . AI . 192 and 7 GG ; N . Brown , W . M . 13 ; Henry Lovegrove , P . AI . 1077 ; T . Walker Cooper , W . AL 538 ; Thos . P . Cotlings , W . AI . 22 j A . Shcerboom , VV . M . 7 S 1 ; John II . Southwood , P . AL 12 G 0 ; James VV . Gillard , P . AL 1 S 0 ; W . Radcliffe ,

W . AL 211 ; James C . Perkins , VV . AI . 7 G 5 ; IL Rogers , P . M . S 98 ; J . J . Alichael , P . AL 1107 ; E . Kidman , W . AI . 7 6 G , the VV . AI . of St . Luke's Lodge , 144 ; Charles Atkins , P . AL 27 ; J . H . Thompson , P . M . 1707 ; A . Brodie , W . AL S 79 ; Wm . Henry Brand , VV . M . 1524 ; J . Warren , I . P . AI . 700 ; VV . Side , W . AI . 1507 ; Wm . Stiles , P . AI . 1712 ; H . A . Lovett , W . AL 179 ; V . W . Koch , P . AL S 20

George Al . Felton , P . AL 1056 ; Colonel Shadwell H . Gierke , G . S . ; H . G , Buss , Assistant G . Sec . ; A . A . Pcndlcbury ; VV . Dodd ; II . Sadler , G . T . ; and II . Alassey , P . AI . G 19 ( Freemason ) , also attended . The brethren first confirmed the recommendations made at last meeting , to the amount of £ 500 . The new cases were forty-five , which Bro . Joshua Nunn informed the brethren was the largest number that had ever been before

the lodge at one meeting . He also informed the brethren that up to the present time the grants from the Fund ot Benevolence during this year had exceeded the year ' s income by X 1200 . The brethren then considered thc new cases . Forty-three of these were relieved with a total of £ o . ^> which was composed of thc following sums : Two £ l 5 ( £ 150 ); two £ 50 ( £ 100 ); two £ 40 ( So ) ; one £ 35 ( 35 ) ' ti / l

IUUI fcju-ui ^ fe-JIfc'Wi C W " . " •* .- " \*> ""> > " - '" X £ 15 ( 45 )! ten £ 10 ( £ 100 ); three £ 5 ( £ 15 ); and one £ 3 ( £ 3 ) . Three cases were deferred . The lodge was then closed . The following is a resume of the total grants made during the year at the monthly meetings of the Lodge of Benevolence : January , £ 530 ; February , £ 915 ; Alarch , XIIM : April , XSG . i ; Alay , £ 783 ; June , i . S 70 ; July ,

£ S 15 > August , £ 413 ; September , £ 4 ( 10 ; October , £ 940 ; November , £ 923 ; and December , £ 95 8 } or an aggregate sum of £ 9363 . But from this must be deducted £ 140 , the balance of a sum of £ 150 ( jfc 10 having been paid on account the following day ) recommended by thc meeting of the 18 th August . Grand Lodge tne

of September ist referred thc recommendation back to Lodge of Benevolence , which , on strict enquiry into the case , withdrew the recommendation . The total amount , therefore , granted during the year is £ 9223 . The number of cases relieved in the twelve sittings waa 30 S , viz : 17 in January ; 29 in February ; 31 in March ; 2 Gin April ; 29 in Alay ; 2 S in June ; iS in July ; " August ; 15 in September ; 30 in October ; 32 in November ; and 42 in December ,