Mooney.] ^-"^ [May r^, 



calld Yule, which was with them one of the principal occasions of the 

 year. Fire seems to hav playd an important part in the Yule celebration, 

 and Grimm is of the opinion that the Yule fire of the Germans was the 

 equivalent of the Samhan fire of the Keltic nations.* The "Christmas 

 log" and "Christmas candle," which ar kept burning from Christmas to 

 Twelfth-night, ar common to Ireland, England and Scotland, the former 

 being found also in France and among the Letts. f Speaking in this con- 

 nection. Brand says : "I am pretty confident that the Yule block will be 

 found, in its first use, to have been only a counterpart of the midsummer 

 fires, made within doors because of the cold weather at this winter solstice, 

 as those in the hot season, at the summer one, are kindled in the open 

 air.":]: 



At this season of the year the druids of Gaul wer accustomd to repair 

 to the woods to gather the mistletoe with much ceremony, but how far 

 this practice was observd by their Irish brethren is not clear, altho the 

 mistletoe was a sacred plant with ancient Kelts and Germans alike, being 

 regarded as a great panacea and a promoter of fertility in cattle. 



The Gaelic name of Christmas is Nodlog (J^ullog),^ and it is considerd 

 at once the most joyous and the most solemn festival of the whole year. 

 Everybody is up long before daylight, and it would be regarded as the 

 greatest of misfortunes to be unable to attend early mass in the morning. 

 Even the poorest strive to hav something better than common for the 

 Christmas dinner, and this feeling is embodied in the Kerry proverb : 



Christmas day and the day of the turf, 

 Them ar the days we'l eat enough, 



alluding to the day on which the turf is cut, on which occasion the far- 

 mers hire a number of the poverty-stricken laborers to assist them, and 

 always make it a point to give them a good dinner for once. As the gen- 

 eral festivities, the giving of presents and hanging up of stockings by the 

 little ones, hav already been noticed, we shal proceed to describe those 

 features which savor more of a national character. 



The mummers, as they ar calld, go about here as tlic}'^ do in England 

 and on the continent, from Christmas to Twelflh-night. In appearance 

 and manner they resemble the May boys already described in treating of 

 May day. Drest in fantastic style and singing verses suited to the occa- 

 sion, they visit the houses of the farmers and gentry, and go through a 

 whimsical dance or rude dramatic performance, with the aid of a piper 

 and a " fool," the latter being frequently envelopt in the skin of a cow. 

 Sometimes a sham battle is enacted by mounted warriors armed with 

 wooden swords. In return for their effoils to amuse the people, they 



* Grimm, Mythologie, 1, 531 and 593. 



t Ibid., 591. 



X Brand, Antiquities, i, 471. 



g Evidently the same as the French Noel, and perhaps, also, the German Yule. 



