4r)S LEGENDS OP TREES. 



>[istletoe will not only enable a man to see phosts, but to force thera to speak to 

 liim. The custom of kistiinfj under the Mistletoe nt Christmas lias licen handed 

 down to us by our Saxon nnrcstors, who, on the restoruliou of IJidder, dodicnted 

 the ])lant to their A'eiius (Frijra), to place it entirely under lier control, and to 

 prevent it from beinp; ajrain used ajrainst lier as an insiruinent of mischief. In 

 the feudal ages, it was <rathered with jrreat solemnity on Christmas eve, and hung 

 up in the great hall with loud shouts and rejoicing. 



" ' On Christmas eve the bells were rung ; 

 On Christmas eve the mass was sung ; 

 That only night in all the year 

 Saw the stolod priest the chalice near. 

 The damsel donned hor kirtle sheen; 

 The hall was dressed with holly green ; 

 Forth to the woods did merry men go, 

 To gather in the mistletoe. 

 Then open wide the baron's hall 

 To vassal, tenant, serf, and all.' 



"The JloUy, like some other evergreens, has long been used at Christmas for 

 ornamenting churches and dwelling houses. It appears to have been first made 

 use of for this purpose by the early Christians at Rome, and was probably adopted 

 for decorating the churches at Christmas, because holly was used in the great 

 festival of the Saturnalia, which occurred about that period. It was customary 

 among the Fvomans to seud boughs of holly, during the Saturnalia, as emblema- 

 tical of good wishes, with the gifts they presented to their friends at that season ; 

 and the holly came thus to be considered as an emblem of peace and good-will. 

 "Whatever may have been the origin of the practice of decorating churches and 

 houses with holly, it is of great antiquity. In t^ngland, perhaps, the earliest 

 record of the custom is in a carol in praise of holly, written in the time of Henry 

 YI., beginning with the stanza : — 



" ' Nay, ivy, nay, it shall not be, I wys ; 



Let holly hafe the maystry,* as the manner is. 



Holy stonde in the lialle fayre to behold ; 



Ivy stonde without the door ; she is ful sore a-cold.' 



"In illustration of which it must be observed that the ivy, being dedicated to 

 Bacchus, was used as a vintner's sign in winter, and hung outside the door. The 

 disciples of Zoroaster (the author of fire worship) believed that the sun never 

 shadows the Holly-tree ; and the followers of that philosopher, who still remain 

 in Persia and India, are said to throw water impregnated with holly bark in the 

 face of a new-born child. In the language of flowers, the holly is the symbol of 

 foresight and caution. 



" Our former selection of legends from Loudon's Ahoretian, concluded with a 

 quotation from an old Christmas carol in praise of holly, assigning to it a chief 

 place in the hall, while ivy is made to stand without door, being 'full sore a-cold.' 

 This suggests, as appropriate to our present gleanings, the mythological allusions 

 to the latter evergreen. 



"The Ivy was dedicated by the ancients to Bacchus, whose statues are generally 

 found crowned with a wreath of its leaves ; and, as the favorite plant of the god 

 of wine, its praises have been sung by almost all poets, whether ancient or modern. 

 Many reasons have been given for the consecration to Bacchus of this plant. 

 Some poets say that it was because the ivy has the effect of dissipating the fumes 

 of wine ; others, because it was once his favorite youth, Cissus ; and others be 



* Mastery. 



