Of all nights of the year there is not one that is more anxiously
awaited by young people than the night that precedes Christmas. Then
begins the great festival of the year; the festival in honour of the
birth of Christ; the festival that reminds us of the Child born in a
manger, of the shepherds near Bethlehem watching their flocks by night,
and of the angels that sang of peace and goodwill to men. It is the most
joyous of all holiday seasons; prepared for long before, and remembered
pleasantly long afterwards. This is true of England to-day, and it was
even more true of the England of the olden times--as you will find if
you read Sir Walter Scott's poem of _Marmion_:
"England was merry England, when
Old Christmas brought his sports again.
'Twas Christmas broached the mightiest ale;
'Twas Christmas told the merriest tale;
A Christmas gambol oft would cheer
The poor man's heart through half the year."
At midnight on Christmas Eve the bells are rung, and in Roman Catholic
churches the first of the three masses is celebrated,--Christ's masses.
But although this is a Christian festival there are curious customs
observed which take us back into the old heathen world. There is the
miseltoe bough, for instance, which you hang up in the hall; and there
is the Yule log. The old Druids had a feast at this season--the time of
the winter solstice--when the chief Druid cut the miseltoe from the
oak-tree, where it grew, and divided it among the people, who hung it up
over their doorways as a charm to bring good-fortune. Then, again, the
Yule log is a relic of the ceremony in which the Norsemen lighted great
bonfires in honour of their gods. To bring home the Yule log on
Christmas Eve is not so common as it used to be, but it deserves to be
remembered as one of the most joyous of old English customs.
So, also, are the carols, the waits, the mummers, and the games of
Christmas time. Some of these games and mummeries were a little too
boisterous for our modern taste, probably because they had their origin
in the heathen Saturnalia of old Rome. But we still love to hear the
waits tuning up on a clear frosty night, the game of snap-dragon is
still a noisy joy, and the carol-singers are still welcome. I am sure
you like that old carol which begins:
"God rest you merry, gentlemen,
Let nothing you dismay
For Jesus Christ our Saviour
Was born upon this day
To save us all from Satan's power
When we were gone astray."
But probably the best thing you children like about Christmas Eve is the
ceremony of hanging up your stockings in expectation of all the things
that are to come to you from the wallet of Santa Claus. That is the
great event. Some of you, I believe, try to lie awake until Santa Claus
comes with the fruit and the toys. But that is never a success. All the
best gifts come to us when we do not peep and watch.