280 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
December 29, 1894. 
SOME OLD CHRISTMAS CUSTOMS. 
That the celebration of certain festivals had their 
uses in the days of old there can be no doubt, and 
especially so when the jingo spirit of the age was 
uppermost, and the cry of “ St. George and England,’ ’ 
" St. George and Victory,” made, in the language of 
one of the old chroniclers, 11 heroes of cowards and 
men of children ” ; “ St. Crispin's Days,” and the 
" May Days,” certainly served the purpose of bring¬ 
ing high and low together, when each youngster 
entered into the full tide of the month, and awakened 
a wish in his elders 
" For the days which can never return.” 
That the observance of these festivals made the 
people glad and comfortable there can be no doubt 
—they had little else to interest them outside the 
monotonous routine of their daily life ; they were 
so many dazzling spots which relieved the gloom of 
existence, as the sun gilds the dark horizon, as the 
human eye lights up the whole countenance, as a 
few glowing tints of the skilful painter impart a lively 
interest to the naked canvas—such was the “merry 
Christmas time,” when distinctions of degree were 
forgotten, and lords and ladies, servants and masters, 
joined in the merry dance in the same festive hall. 
Some of these old festivals are no longer observed, 
they have faded into obscurity; but the Christmas 
season has lost none of its accustomed cheerfulness. 
The festivities of that season had been well described 
by Sir Walter Scott in his " Marmion ” :— 
“ Heap on the wood—the wind is chill, 
But let it whistle as it will, 
We'll keep our Christmas merry still.” 
and further on— 
“ England was merry England, when 
Old Christmas brought its spoils again. 
’Twas Christmas broached the brightest ale ; 
’Twas Christmas told the merriest tale ; 
A Christmas gambol oft would cheer 
The poor man’s heart through half the year.” 
One of our Christmas institutions is the waits, which 
we have this season heard with their music making 
glad the stilly night. It has been presumed waits 
meant originally watchers, who were not merely 
night guards to tell the hour of the night or the state 
of the weather, but minstrels of the King’s Court, 
who paraded the streets to prevent depredations. 
The Christmas minstrels were honoured with the 
name of the royal watchers. They, too, were called 
waits. The word wait is common to all Teutonic 
languages—to the German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, 
etc., and is said to be the same as the Anglo-Saxon 
Weceaii, to wake; and ivaccian to watch. Mention 
was made in Rymer’s Fadeva that in the time of 
Edward IV. the waits were bound to pipe the time 
within the Court four times each night, for which 
they were provided abundantly with bread and ale, 
and entitled to eat in the Minstrel’s Hall. At a later 
period the term waits was restricted to the bands of 
minstrels kept in London and other large cities, and 
mention was frequently made of them in the pageants 
of the time. These waits were eventually complained 
of, and probably with good reason. 
The history of Carols appears to have succeeded 
that of the waits. Carol signified a song of joy, and 
was derived from the verb cauto, and sola, an inter¬ 
jection of joy. They were not always^f a religious 
character, which they assume to be at the present 
time, but often sadly ludicrous and blasphemous, 
and formed the festal songs of Christmas. What is 
good among them has survived ; and what is bad 
has ceased to exist. Some authors say that the 
singing of carols by men and women parading from 
house to house, dates from the very earliest period 
of Christmas celebration. When songs of gladness 
were appropriate for the occasion. Who does not 
know. 
“Nowell, nowell, nowell, nowell. 
To Mary thus spake Gabrieli.” 
Nowell, or with the French Noel, the name by 
which Christmas is known in France, is supposed to 
be a contraction of Emmanuel. 
The bestowal of Christmas boxes, denominated by 
many as “ an absurd custom,” is one of antiquity. 
The butcher and the baker sent round their appren¬ 
tices to levy contributions, probably because the lads 
found some help of that kind necessary in keeping 
body and soul together; but the tide nowadays, 
appears to have turned the other way, the shop¬ 
keepers and employers are besieged. That the 
custom is dying out, though slowly, there can be no 
doubt. 
The decking of houses as well as places of worship 
with evergreens is a custom still much followed, and 
flowers have come to play a most important part also 
especially in home decoration. An old poem on 
Christmas sets forth— 
“ From every hedge is plucked by eager hands, 
The holly branch with prickly leaves replete, 
And fraught with berries of a crimson hue; 
Which, torn asunder from its parent trunk. 
Is straightway taken to the neighbouring towns, 
Where window, mantles, candlesticks, and shelves, 
Quarts, pints, decanters, pipkins, basons, jugs, 
And other articles of household ware, 
The verdant garb confess.” 
Flowers have always been held in high veneration 
during the festive season, and especially at Christmas 
time; and foliage also—the Rosemary, Bay, the 
Holly, the Laurel, and the Mistleto—because green 
and enduring, and thus they form a striking contrast 
to the appearance of Nature at mid-winter. 
At the Christmas season there were at one time 
strange ideas entertained relative to the mysterious 
character of the birthright of our Saviour, at which 
mention is made in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. 
“ Some say that ever ’gainst that season comes, 
Wherein our Saviour's birth to celebrate, 
This bird of dawning singeth all night long, 
And then they say no spirit dares stir abroad ; 
The nights are wholesome ; then no planets strike, 
No fairy takes, no witch has power to charm, 
So hallowed and so gracious is the time.” 
I conclude with an extract from an old author— 
“ Merry is the cock, and the owl for twelve day is 
Sprightly, because the spoiler of Satan was born.” 
And still, in some parts of the country, as a more 
modern writer remarks, “ The idea is retained that 
the ox kneels down to a dove precisely at twelve 
o’clock ; and some still would have it that, for a 
moment, all water blushed and became wine, and 
that come what weather it would the thorn of 
Glastonbury blossomed on Christmas night.” 
Superstitious as these beliefs and practices v ere, 
they yet had in them something that had a tendency 
to better things, though we may have grown out of 
any beliefs in them.— R. D. 
- 4 -- 
JAPANESE ANEMONES. 
These are among the very best of autumnal flowers. 
We have several forms of Anemones among our 
earliest spring flowers, then comes a brief gap and 
we get the glorious Japan Anemones from the middle 
of August until winter sets in. They lend themselves 
so admirably to floral displays whether in the flower 
border or as cut flowers in the house. Like the 
year 1891, the past wet summer caused a freer 
growth than usual, and we had a grand display of 
bloom, more especially upon the old Japonica alba. 
It is such simple flowers as these that impart so 
much of the beauty found in old-fashioned and 
cottager's gardens. Our endeavour after perfect 
forms and size have certainly missed the mark as 
regards floral effects; in most cases, the results are 
much too heavy. 
One thing about these Anemones is the extreme 
simplicity and rapidity with which they may be 
propagated and grown. Given a deep loam of not 
too stiff a nature and they are not easy to kill. Any 
small portion of root will grow, and if we give a 
slight mulching of rough manure in winter we are 
sure of a beautiful display the following season.—- 
Flora. 
-- 
GATHERING VEGETABLES. 
Most gardeners at some period or other of their 
professional career have had to take their turn at the 
culling of vegetables for the kitchen. In many 
gardens a man is specially deputed to do this, but in 
the smaller establishments the duty frequently 
devolves upon the garden boy. It matters not by 
whom it be performed the fact remains, that it is 
one of the most important operations in the kitchen 
garden. It goes without saying that the serving of 
vegetables in a clean, attractive and workmanlike 
manner is of great moment. Good vegetables will 
certainly not appear to any the less advantage, and 
inferior ones may be made to wear a more passable 
appearance, when free from superfluous dirt, leaves, 
etc. Sometimes we see a basket of potatos, turnips 
and carrots carried off in anything but a cleanly 
condition, the basket in many cases containing a 
goodly quantity of earth for which as far as we are 
aware at present the kitchen authorities have not the 
slightest use. 
Then besides the question of cleanliness that of 
freshness appeals very strongly to our consideration. 
The best vegetables must deteriorate in quality if 
kept for two or three days waiting upon the shelves 
of a hot scullery. It is the gardener’s duty to see 
that his employer’s table is furnished with all 
seasonable vegetables, also that these vegetables are 
sent in in the best possible condition. Weshouldbe 
sorry to say anything against the “ queen of the 
kitchen,” for we believe that cooks are as a class 
patient, long suffering and considerate, but in this 
matter we are inclined to think they do not always 
do the gardener the justice which is his due and 
lawful right. Thus we find that if any 
vegetable find especial favour in the dining room, 
the cook takes the credit for her skill 
in preparing these delicacies, but, if on the other 
hand, the vegetables are tough, stringy, or high 
flavoured, then it is the gardener upon whom the 
blame is thrust, for sending in unsuitable material. 
From whatever cause resulting, possibly careless¬ 
ness in looking after subordinates, we have known it 
to happen that old vegetables which have been 
gathered for several days, have been served in the 
dining room regardless of the fact that abundant 
supplies of fresh ones have been sent in daily, simply 
because the former happened to come to hand first. 
And in the event of complaints on the employer's 
part, and a consequent firing up on the side of the 
gardener,who would naturally resent the in sinuation 
that the vegetables were not sent in in good condition, 
the cook has contrived to throw the weight of the 
condemnation upon the shoulders of the vegetable 
boy. Poor boy, what a nuisance he is to be sure !— 
at least in some people's estimation ; what terrible 
things he does ! and what a lot of looking after he 
takes. But anyway his presence is often a blessing 
in disguise, and all his wrong doings are abundantly 
compensated for by his value as a scape-goat, to bear 
the sins of his superiors. 
Several gardeners with whom we are acquainted, 
who have been bitten in the manner described, have 
wisely given the boy instructions to carry away with 
him, on his return journey, any vegetables of the 
previous day’s gathering which may be laying about. 
Of course these instructions do not apply so strictly 
to roots and tubers, but even these, however, are not 
improved by a week or so’s keeping in the scullery. 
With regard to Beans, members of the Brassica 
family, Salading, etc., the full significance of such a 
method of procedure will readily be comprehended. 
It is an obvious fact that the gardener, seeing how 
largely his credit as a successful cultivator is 
involved, cannot keep too watchful an eye upon the 
doings of the cook and her assistants.— G. 
--*•- 
CHRYSANTHEMUM 
MR. C. HARMAN PAYNE. 
The number of large Chrysanthemums continues to 
be augmented from year to year, and that under 
notice is one of them. The bloom measures 6 in. to 
7 in. in diameter, and 5 in. to 6 in. in depth; its 
outer florets are drooping, while others are reflexed 
over them and imbricate, but more or less twisted. 
Furthermore, the florets are very long, of moderate 
width, more or less ridged, exceedingly numerous 
and of a rich shade of reddish-purple, distinctly 
mottled or marbled with white, particularly tow-ards 
the centre of the bloom. Though not unique in this 
respect, it is more distinct than any of the few of 
that character which have hitherto been raised and 
brought before the public. The raiser was M. 
Calvat, Grenoble, France, who has been instru¬ 
mental in raising many fine things in this popular 
class of plants, and who exhibited it at a floral 
committee meeting of the National Chrysanthemum 
Society on November 21st last, when a First-class 
Certificate was accorded it. Our illustration 
accompanying this was prepared from one of M. 
Calvat’s blooms. 
Vines and Vine Culture.—The best book on Grapes. By 
Archibald F. Barron. Superintendent of the Rcyal Horticultural 
Society’s Gadens, Chiswick ; Secretary of the Fruit Com- 
mmitee. Demy 8vo., Handsomely bound in Cloth. Price, 5s., 
post free, 5s. 3d. Publisher, Gardening World, i, Clements 
inn. Strand, W.C. 
