— 241 — 



Each year the revolving wheel of time brings round 

 a festival dear to Christian nations : Christmas day. 

 Since the fifth century, by common consent, its date 

 is fixed for the 25th December ; various the displays 

 and usages which mark the auspicious date in different 

 countries. 



In merry old England, the Lord of Misrule then for 

 the time asserts his boisterous sway, among the young, 

 whilst their demure elders look on the day as one 

 sacred to family meetings. 



The " hopefuls " count, as a certainty, on a liberal 

 allowance of plum-pudding, nuts and mince-pie, to be 

 followed by games, music, conjuring, snap-dragon, 

 whilst the yule clog is blazing on the hearth and the 

 parlour hung with holly, invites the coy maidens to 

 trust themselves for a moment under the mistletoe 

 bough 



Of old, the good time used even to invade, in a 

 conspicuous manner, those revered seats of learning 



The Boar's Head Carol. (1) 



{Sung at Queen's College, Oxford.) 



The boar's head in hand bear I, 

 Bedecked with bays and rosemary ; 

 And I pray you, my masters, be merry, 



Quot estis in convivo. 



Caput apri defer o 



Reddens laudes domino. 



The boar's head, as I understand, 

 Is the rarest dish in all this land, 

 Which thus bedecked with a gay garland 



Let us servire cantico. 



Caput apri defero 



Reddens laudes domino. 



(1) " The Boar's head is the symbol of Odin, the old Norsk 

 deity, and the circle is the symbol of the Sun. It is not an 

 orange, an apple, or a lemon, though either was used sym- 

 bolically — {Karl Blind's papers, on Ethic ideas of the Edda.) 

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