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= I 1 - ' c< (@) tV =3 1 Hr ® ® 3 ■ ■Fa iflm,! bi wr n i .xJH9B9h I g _ := = !g ißtminmMir i^SHUßl^^^Blll| T. L. MITCHELL, Proprietor. Vol. 3.—No. 12.] Old Winter is in his ermine drest; The flakes fall fast from the cold Northwest; But ere his loud blast will begin, Cozy we’ll make our home within. Let Winter roar—he’U do no harm, When Christmas cheer is on the farm. n. The Yule log burns, the sparks fly high: Like brilliant stars in midnight sky. The children’s hearts are full of joy, A shout resounds for each near toy. The sweet, sweet story of Christ is told To the listening babes—that story old; There’s joy and peace, and a wonderful charm, That broods to-night o’er the dear old farm. y^lrWsF * M y^-~~-'^ For Woman’s Work. CHRISTMAS CUSTOMS AND 1_ CAROLS. CIVILIZING and spirit ualizing influences of Chris tianity may be clearly traced ® in the progressive* celebra tions of the nativity of Christ. g The early Christian’era was doubtless marked by tranquil ceremonials of grati tude and adoration, in which 'material de lights had little or no part. Good will to men, however, was always the sentiment of the occasion, no matter how wild or absurd the rejoicing. The earliest carol that the antiquarian is able to discover is in the Anglo-Norman dialect, and its date is certainly as early as the thirteenth century. It was found written on a blank leaf in the middle of a manuscript volume of Richard Coeur de Lion that is in the British museum. Songs in those days were seldom other than verbal, and the composition was by vagrant troubadours and minstrels who received personal benefits for amusing the nobility during the festival. They called their performances “discoursing sweet sounds,” although, judging from the scores that have been preserved, they could not have been exceedingly melodious. With modernized spelling the first known carol would read— Lordlings listen to our lay, We have come from far away To seek Noel. (Christmas.) In this mansion we are told, He, his yearly feasts doth hold. ’Tie to-day I May Joy come from God above To all those who Noel love. There are five other verses which are but slightly varied. Yule-tide feastings were made merrier by these professional ni’.n strels. There is also another carol sup- CHRISTMAS ON THE FARM. CARRIE BELLE GABLE. NEXT TO YOUR GOD, LOVE TRUTH AND JUSTICE IN ALL THINGS. ATHENS, GEORGIA, DECEMBER, 1890. Woodlands are leafless, lone and sad; No song of wild bird makes them glad. The clouds lie low—a sombre gray— On this all hallow’d Christmas day. But cold and snow bring no alarm, For cheer reigns on the dear old farm. IV. Our hearts are light, round the Christmas fire As the sparks fly upward, high and higher. Do you hear sweet voices on the air 1 They come from angels, holy, fair— “ Peace on earth, good will to men”— Tidings of joy from Bethlehem! ’Tis Christmas night— God kept from harm, These loved ones on the dear old farm. posed to belong to the times of Henry VI. It was arranged with more devotion and care than the previous verse. I give two verses with refrain. “Welcome be thou heavenly King, Welcome born on this morning; Welcome for whom we shall sing Welcome Yule. Welcome be ye that are here, Welcome all, and make good cheer; Welcome all, another year, Welcome Yule.” It was thought that to pour a cup of whatever drinks made the cheer of the revelers, about the roots of fruit trees in vited them to bud and bloom abundantly the following Spring. They danced in the snow and sang: Here’s to thee old apple tree, When thou may’st bud and thou may’st blow! And whence thou may’st bear apples enow! Hats full! caps full! And my pockets full, too! Huzza! As the years rolled round, a fine senti ment of generosity and hospitality began to pervade the spirit of man, and he be came more reverent to his Maker. Chau cer, that “morning star of song” tried to key his own notes of Christmas time to a higher melody than was known to his kind in that epoch, but he failed to reach its sweetness, so difficult and sad and com fortless were the times among the poor. It was about the times of Charles the First that old John Taylor said: “The Puritans tried to keep Christmas day out of England and they succeeded partially, but only in certain cities.” It was a short while after this, that George Withers wrote a carol which became popular among Christmas-keeping Englishmen. “So now is come our joyful feast, Let every man be jolly; Each room with ivy leaves isdrest And every poet with holly. Tho’ churls may at our mirth repine, Round your foreheads garlands twine.” There are more verses of good-will and generosity, but not devotional. It was in seventeen hundred, or in its cycle, that John Milton flew, meteor-like, across the intellectual skies of England and wrote his “Hymn to the Nativity.” It is a long poem and is beautiful throughout. We give the fifth and sixth stanzas: “But peaceful was the night, Wherein the Prince of light, His reign of peace upon the eath began. The winds with wonder whist, ' Smoothly the waters kissed; Whispering new joys to the wild ocean, Who now hath quite forgot to rave. While birds of calm sit brooding on the charmed wave. Richard CraShaw was another poet who elevated the souls and lives of men and key ed their daily songs to a sweeter and purer melody. He, too, wrote a “Hymn to the Nativity,” beginning— “ Come ye shepherds whose bless’d light.” The eighteenth century did not furnish very much poetry that belongs here. In the nineteenth century, Sir Walter Scott wrote descriptive poems of Christmas-times, and there were light-hearted and light minded men who also composed verses about the festal times, mostly drinking songs, so that their wit and metrical at tractions are not rich enough to be pre sentable here. Wordsworth, that sweet, strong and tranquilizing wizard of rhythm, did not compose songs that could be sung by the common people. Coleridge created a Christmas carol; it is too long to give in full, but its first verse is very beautiful: “The shepherds went their hasty way, And found the lowly stable shed Wherein the Virgin mother lay: And now they check their eager tread, For, to the babe that at her bosom clung, A mother’s song the Virgin mother sung. John Clare wrote pretty conceits, but no writer is quoted oftener than T. Miller: for instance— /(A •“ •■• gau WvVv’U*' v» KATE GARLAND, Editress. [SO Cts. per Year. “Those Christmas bells as sweetly chime, As on the day when first they rung So merrily in the olden time, And far and wide their music rung. Shaking the talLgray ivied tower With all their deep melodious power; They still proclaim to every ear, Old Christmas comes but once a year I” The poet Bridgeman also sings most cheerily of “Old Christmas.” Church decorating at this time is not only a beautiful custom but is generous in significance to a people who have long since passed away. It is a pagan rite, having been most scrupulously performed each Winter by the Druids, who believed that their weal or woe depended upon fairies which lived hidden in the green trees. They hung holly boughs and branches of mistletoe, about their altars and really believed these little creatures came to dwell in comfort during the tem pests of the season. The hclly bough has always been an emblem of peace and good will. To place it over the heads of the family and guests and clasp hands beneath it, is an old and beautiful custom and signifies a compact of friendship. Charles Mackay wrote “Under the old Holly Bough.” “Ye who have scorned each other, Or injured friend or brother, In this fast fading year; Ye who by word or deed Have made a kind heart bleed, Come gather here. Be links no longer broken, Be sweet forgiveness spoken, Under the holly bough.” The foregoing verses are all gleanings from an old book. Looking backward over the years, to that far-off time when ignorance saw but dimly into the signifi cation of Christmas day, and when its occasion was made only one of material gratification, we are profoundly thankful that we are the happy children of the pres ent generation. Cabbie Belle Gable.