THE v By ELMO SCOTT WATSON Drawing by Ray Waiters. NE of the interesting devel. opments of the celebration of Christmas In America Is the revival of the ancient custom of singing Christmas carols on Christmas eve and the Increasing obsery- ance of that custom in all parts of the country. Of course, we have always had some Christmas carol singing, varying In prevalence in different parts of the country and con- fined mainly to the Christmas exer- cises in church and school by the chil- dren just before the holiday. But In the hurry and haste of this modern high-speed age and our departure in many respects from the old forms of observing the day, the singing of carols is one custom which has been allowed to lapse to a great extent. It is Interesting to note, however, that the Christmas carol is “staging a come-back™ and that In places where fts appearance seems all the more supprising because it is in the very renter of our modern commercialism. In many of the big department stores in the large cities, in hotels and in restaurants groups of musicians, dressed in the costumes of Old Eng- land, are playing and singing Christ. mas carols during the week before Christmas. In some of the railroad stations In the big cities hurrying commuters and other railway travel- ers are surprised to hear the sound of volces, singing old-fashioned Christ. mas carols, pealing out through the cathedral-like spaces of these great structures and upon pausing for a moment they see that the singing comes from a balcony overlooking the concourse and that it is a trained choir of many volces which is thus adding to the Christmas spirit In evi dence everywhere, The first Christmas carol Is said to be that sung by the heavenly host when the birth of Christ was an- nounced to the shepherds. Here 1s a description of that singing as told by 8t. Luke: “There were In the same country shepherds abiding In the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night, Ana, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afrald. And the angel said unto them, Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you Is born this day In the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lorq. And this shall be a sign unto you; ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, Lying In a manger. And sud. denly t was with the angel a mul- titude of the heavenly host praising God, and singing, Glory to God In the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Probably the practice of singing at Christmas rose in imitation of this, as the majority of the carols declare the good tidings of great joy. The word “earol” itself comes from two Latin words meaning “to sing Joytully.” Or as it was defined long ago in a curious old stanza: re ep SA om Fe “Know you what is a carol? "Tis singing, with pralse of God If you praise God and sing net, You utter no carol. If you sing and prze: not God, You utter no carol. If you praise anything which does not appertain To the praise of God, Though, In singing, you praise, Yon utter no carol.” It is a curious fact that the singing of carols, like many of our other Christmas customs, owes something to f pagan as well as a Christian origin. The early church found that all pagan religions celebrated the birth of a new year. The Druids gathered mistletoe on what Is our day of Christmas, the Romans held their saturnalia, the Persians held agricultural ceremonies, as did the Chinese. Theophilus, bishop of Caesarea, toward the middle of the Second cen tury, recommended “the observance of the birthday of our Lord on what day soever the 25th of December shall happen.” There follows a definite statement that the first official carol was “Gloria In Excelsis Deo” and the year in which it was sung on the new date was 120 A. D. Thus the church was able to profit from the mood of merriment created by the pagans. The spirit of joy from many religions was merged into that of one. Many high churchmen in the ancient times opposed the Introduction of song into the solemn moments. No power, however, could stem the tide of Innocent song which had in- vaded religious observance. The first crusade preached by Urban in 1005 gave impetus to the troubadour move. ment and the holidays for five cen- turies were to resound with the songs of thelr Inspiration. By 1500 carol singing was widespread In Europe ang was being Introduced into England. In the England of today wandering bands of minstrels or “waits” pre serve the old customs by going from house to house piping Christmas tunes on reed Instruments and singing carols. It may be this that they sing: “Wassall, wassall! to our town! The bowl is white, and the ale is brown; The bow! Is made of the rosemary tree, And so 1a the ale, of the good barlee, Little mald, little maid, tir the pin! Open the door, and let us come in!” Or they may lift up their volces in this equally old earol : “Here us comes a wassalling, under the holly green, Here us comes a wandering, so merry to be seen, Good luck good Master Hodgin, and kind Mistress also, And all the little children that round the table go! Your pockets full of money, your cup. boards full of good cheer, A merry Christmas, Gulzzards, and a Happy New Year!” The poor women and children also sing carols on the streets and are given cakes by those who listen, Some of the earol singers carry peaked lan. terns to light them on thelr way. The bringing In of the Yule log In Eng. land was the occasion of a Joyous Ceremony and the singing of merry songs, such as the “Boar's Head" carol, still sung at Oxford at Christ mas which goes as follows : “The boars head In hand bear 1 Jedeckt with bays and rosemary; And I pray you, my masters, be merry Quot estis in convivio Caput apri defero Reddens laudes Domino! "Our steward hath provided this In honor of the King of Bliss, Which on this day to be served is, In Reginens! Atrio Caput april defero teddens laudes Domino ™ Almost every land has Its Christmas carols They are called Wiegenlieder or Kristlieder in Ger many, Noels In France, and carols in England, In lussia the Kolyada songs, once sung gods, now dedicated to the Chiristiap saints, are sung about the streets. owp are indebted for one of our known of all Christmas Songs. “Silent Night” had its origin In ¥ a young priest, Joseph Mohr, was in vited In Oberndorf, for wandering comedians from the near-by village of Laufen to give crude representations of the Christ mas story as recounted In the Bible A shipowner named Maler from Salzburg, to be his guest at little party. As a special surprise for the priest, Maier arranged for the comedians from Laufen to stage theh festival play at his home. The thoughtful hospitality of the Mailer couple and the touching sim plicity of the festival play so stirres the young priest that instead of golng straightway home he climbed the so called “Totenbarg” (mountain of the dead), overlooking Oberndorf. an. stood there In silent meditation. The silence of the night, the blink ing of the stars, the murmur of thu Salzach river all inspired him. Quickly he descended to his parish house, ane late that night the words to “Stille Nacht” were written, The next day he hurried to his chum and co-worker, Franz Gruber village organist and school teacher, He requested his friend to write the music for his song, Happy at this opportunity, Gruber composed the melody that is known perhaps to more people than any other single melody, Christmas eve of 1818 came and the priest and the teacher were ready to offer the song for the first time. Un. fortunately the organ of St. Nicola was out of commission that night. For a moment it seemed as though the congregation were to be cheated out of this unique premiere. But Gruber ran back to his home and got his gul- tar, To its accompaniment Mohr and Gruber then sang “Stille Nacht” for the first time as a duet, (@® by Western Newspaper Valon.) W——————— ——————— This and Recipes "Kitchen 14 other ALL-STAR inside every sack of -tesfed” y not nowy All-Btar “Kitchen tested” Recipe Ly Betty Croc ker, noted Cooking Ezpert, Kitchen - tested’ pot 1003 Hope for Restoration of Isle to Fertility A representative of the United States Department of Agriculture has spent the past summer at Laysan Is land, a lonely spot In the Pacifiel ocean, about 1.000 miles northwest of Honolula, Laysan island formerly | had extensive guano beds, but these i vere worked out more than a decade nzo. Commercial fertilizers from South America and the cost of han- diing the lower grade guano made the Laysan islands no longer profit able. So the guano station on the lonely Islet was abandoned and the regular trips of supply schooners to Honolulu were discontinued. Left at Laysan were only a fast-growing fam ily of rabbits that soon virtually de nuded the Isinnd of its secant vegeta tion, while the wild [Pacific winds | heaped sand dunes over the roots of the herbage. Doctor Wilder hopes, that Laysan cap be trans formed Into a well vegetated Island { Plants and grass suitable to its corsa soll were taken in boxes on the Pio neer. Two officers, two men, a cook i and Doctor Wilder landed at Laysan | and started work. The Music Critic Harry Harkness Flagler, president of the New York symphony orches tra, sald at a dinner: “Music criticism is a difficult art. Too many music eritics are like the the young man who said: * ‘You play beautifully, Miss Smith. There Is one thing about your tech. nique that impresses me particular iy! “Yea? said Miss Smith. ‘Is it my touch you mean? “*No, said the young man. ‘It is your marvelous speed in turning the leaf when you get to the bottom of the page.” Mohammedan Holy Book In the Arabic language the word "Koran" signifies “the reading.” H wore esheets HALE’S HONEY OF HOREMHOUND AND TAR The tried home remedy for breaking » 2 HOW | WAS CURED! WOULD YOU RISK 100? Send me 10e for postage and packing and 1 wil} mail you a trial treatment of medi. cine that gave me permanent relief. 0, Ww. 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Roland is sisted the the Saracens The true Roland was a we of the Breton marches, who died fight. it the Basques, when in 778 nttacks of rden rearguard at Pyrenees. The at in the Seventeenth Vauban, the magne's the Haye was built by Sebastien citadel century fications of France that structed during his lifetime. Record Telephone Call Veterans’ Hospitals According to the Unit erans’ bureau, the bureau utilizes 93 ed States vet. of which 49 are under the di rect control of the bureau. The total hospitals to July 1, 1929, was 420.- in all he thai date was 27,754, of whom 6517 were patients, 13.781 neuro and 7,450 general on fuberculosis and surgical cases, Matter of Time Mechanie—1 think due short your { trouble is to a circuit, madam, Lady—Well, will It take you long | to lengthen it? Robust Health depends upon proper food on. 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Y.: Severe cut on his knee play- ing football, forced to remain in hos. pital for two weeks: injured In auto motile accident and returned to bed; was forced back to bed with measles; while suffering from this disease he contracted the mumps and scarlet fever; recovered and Incurred bad cut on his foot while on vacation. Now he is confined to an easy chair until that wound heals. Rebuked Little Paul had adopted Lindbergh as his hero for all time. “Why do you make so much of Lindbergh? his mother asked him one day, “Why shouldn't I™ demanded Paul, “1 bet you was Just ag excited about Columbus, when he discovered America.” ASA. 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Bank referemves Perfor. tion Blade Codd Tth Ave. New York Oly, ENTS, SELL E20 AND SEILERINE, Household necessities: buyer a future customer Mn i: a er, EZO CO. Jenkintown, Penna. Chol pefrait DAS box: #4 ee Kral oranges, 3 ’ half box dolivered. Christmas special. Rt mit money order, > M ntererta cilia. rar 00 erent selling for each: chook now. George Teague, Ione ine arte n on! A : Sells $5.80. Prot Lin 8 Fire Prevention Co, La W. N. U, BALTIMORE, NO. 49.1930.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers