MYTHS AND THE MISTLETOE, 



On Christmas Eve the bells were rung-; 

 On Christmas Eve the chant was sung; 

 That only night in all the year 

 Saw the stoled priest the chalice near; 

 The damsel donned her kirtle sheen; 

 The hall was dressed with Holly green; 

 Forth to the woods did merry men go 

 To gather in the Mistletoe. 



THE Mistletoe, particularly that 

 which grows on the Oak, was 

 held in great veneration by 

 the Britons. At the beginning of 

 their year the Druids went in solemn 

 procession into the forests, and raised 

 a grass altar at the foot of the finest 

 Oak, on which they inscribed the 

 names of those gods which were con- 

 sidered the most powerful. After this 

 the chief Druid, clad in a white gar- 

 ment, ascended the tree and cropped 

 the Mistletoe with a consecrated 

 golden pruning-hook, the other Druids 

 receiving it in a pure, white cloth, 

 which they held beneath the tree. The 

 Mistletoe was then dipped in the water 

 by the principal Druid and distributed 

 among the people as a preservative 

 against witchcraft and disease. If any 

 part touched the ground it was consid- 

 ered an omen of some dreadful mis- 

 fortune. 



In the Eddas of mythological Norse 

 lore, Loke, the evil spirit, is said to 

 have made the arrow with which he 

 wounded Balder (Apollo), the son of 

 Friga (Venus), of a branch of Mistle- 

 toe. Balder was charmed against every- 

 thing which sprang from fire, earth, air, 

 and water, but the Mistletoe, springing 

 from neither of these, was fatal, and 

 Balder was not restored to the world 

 till by a general effort of the other 

 gods. In some parts of Germany and 



Switzerland it is believed that by hold- 

 ing in the hand a branch of Mistletoe 

 one will be enabled not only to see, but 

 to converse with departed spirits. 



The Druids, partly because the Mis- 

 tletoe was supposed to grow only on 

 the Apple tree and the Oak, and also 

 on account of the usefulness of the 

 fruit, paid great attention to its cultiva- 

 tion. Many old rites and ceremonies, 

 in connection with the Apple, are prac- 

 ticed to this day in some parts of Eng- 

 land. On Christmas Eve the farmers 

 and their men take a huge bowl of 

 cider, with a smoking piece of toasted 

 bread in it and, carrying it to the 

 orchard, salute the Apple trees with 

 great ceremony, in order to make them 

 bear well next season. 



The wassail bowl drank on Christ- 

 mas Eve, and on other church festivals, 

 was compounded of old ale, sugar, nut- 

 megs, and roasted apples, of which 

 each person partook, taking out an 

 apple with a spoon and then a deep 

 draught out of the bowl. 



Under the Mistletoe of Christmas, 

 the custom of kissing has been handed 

 down to us by our Saxon ancestors, 

 who, on the restoration of Apollo, ded- 

 icated the plant to Venus, the Goddess 

 of Love and Beauty. It was placed 

 entirely under her control, thus pre- 

 venting its ever again being used 

 against her in future ages. — E. K. M. 



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