— 246 — 



Practised until some years back, in some of the 

 oldest settlements on the Saint Lawrence, it consisted 

 in a serenade by a band of juvenile masqueraders, 

 knocking at doors and windows, with music and song, 

 and begging for offerings, generally eatables, for the 

 poor, with threats of revenge if gifts were refused. The 

 benevolent custom degenerated, however, in drinking 

 bouts ; the offerings diverted from the original object 

 were exchanged for refreshments, not all of the Blue 

 Eibbon type. 



A piece of pork, with the tail adhering, La Chignee, 

 was the traditional offering expected. 



La Ignolee has its legends in prose and in verse, 

 and closed the Christmas time just before the new year 

 began. The curious will find an outline of these legends 

 in the Edda, or sacred book of the Scandinavians. The 

 mistletoe played an unenviable part in connection with 

 the Scandinavian gods, Odin and his kind wife, Friga. 

 Their colleague Balder, the god of poetry and eloquence, 

 was supposed to have lost his life through the perfi- 

 dious conduct of another denizen of Olympus, named 

 Loake. 



We find in Mr. Gagnon's precious store-house of 

 Canadian songs, this lege ad, or song, quoted thus, page 

 240, as sung by the masqueraders : 



,l Bonjour le maitre et la maiiresse 

 Et tous les gens de la maison. 

 Nous avons fait une promesse 

 De v'nir vous voir une fois l'an, 



Une fois l'an Ce n'est pas grand'chose 



Q'un, petit morceau de Chignee 



" Un petit morceau de Chignee, 



Si vous voulez 



Dites nous-le ! 

 Nous prendrons la fille ainee 

 Nous y ferons chauffer les pieds. 

 La Ignolee ! La Ignoloche ! 

 Pour mettre du lard dans ma poche ! 



