Midsummer Day is the 24th June; this is also the day upon which the
birth of St. John the Baptist is celebrated by the Christian Church.
During the Middle Ages it was a joyous time of feast and merry-making,
for in these old times, as you must have gathered from this little book,
people did not work and worry so much as they do nowadays. But here is a
curious thing: nearly all the ceremonies connected with this holiday
were performed the night previous--variously called Midsummer's Eve, or
St. John's Eve. These customs and ceremonies were observed in various
forms throughout Christendom, and some of them were very strange. I have
often had to tell you that many of our holiday practices and usages were
founded upon ancient heathen rites and ceremonies; this is perhaps more
observable in connection with Midsummer Eve than upon any other holiday
occasion.
Flowers and fire were two things that became of great importance on
Midsummer's Eve. Nearly every town and village had its bonfire lit in
the market-place, and at one time these fires were formally blessed by
the priests of the church. One practice connected with these fires, a
practice that carries us far back into heathen times, was the way in
which the boys and girls leaped through and over the flames. It was also
customary to fling flowers and garlands into the fires, while the
people, young and old, circled round the blaze with merry antics and
gleeful songs. Great processions were also formed to visit the woods and
bring back green boughs wherewith to decorate the houses on St. John's
Eve. The boughs were hung round doors and windows with joyful shoutings,
in recognition of the prophecy that many would rejoice at the birth of
John the Baptist.
Midsummer's Eve was regarded as a time when the strangest things might
easily happen. That is probably the reason why Shakspere called his play
"A Midsummer Day's Dream," and make Puck and the other fairies play such
pranks with the mortals that they found wandering out-of-doors. It used
to be a common belief in Ireland, and the superstition still lingers,
that on this night the souls of all sleeping people left their bodies,
and went wandering into strange places, sometimes never to return. To
avoid this dangerous possibility it was usual to keep awake during that
night. But to keep watch did not always prevent the watcher from having
gruesome experiences. In England it was quite a prevalent opinion that
if you sat in the church porch all St. John's Eve you would see the
spirits of those who were soon to die in the parish come and knock at
the church door.
There were various other superstitious practices and beliefs associated
with Midsummer's Eve--most of them weird and heathenish--which you will
read about when you grow older. They belong to a time when people were
very ignorant, and therefore very credulous. Happily, we are forgetting
all these foolish beliefs; and for my part I find Midsummer's Eve
interesting and beautiful because the light is slow to fade from the
sky, because the wild roses make a pleasant scent in the lanes, and
because the nightingale from the copsewood brims the darkness with
melodious joy.