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Folklore of Christmas Tide, collected by
A f Chamberlain. Scottish folklore has it

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that Christ was born at the hour
of midnight on Christmas Eve, and that

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the miracle of turning water into wine
was performed by him at the same hour.

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There is a belief current in some
parts of Germany that between eleven and

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twelve of the night before Christmas water
turns to wine. In other districts,

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as at Bielerfeldt, it is on
Christmas Night that this change is thought to

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take place. This hour is also
auspicious for many actions, and in some

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sections of Germany it was thought that
if one would go to the crossroads between

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eleven and twelve on Christmas Day and
listen, he would hear what most concerns

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him in the coming year. Another
belief is that if one walks into the

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winter corn on Holy Christmas Eve,
he will hear all that will happen in

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the village that year. Christmas Eve
or Christmas is the time when the oracles

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of the folk are in the best
working order, especially the many processes by

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which maidens are wont to discover the
color of their lover's hair, the beauty

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of his face, and form,
his trade and occupation, whether they shall

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marry or not, and the like. The same season is most auspicious for

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certain ceremonies and practices transferred to it
from the heathen antiquity of the peasantry of

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Europe. In relation to agriculture and
allied industries. Among those noted by Grimm

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are the following. On Christmas Eve, crash the garden with a flail with

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only your shirt on, and the
grass will grow well next year. Tie

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wet straw bands around the orchard trees
on Christmas Eve and it will make them

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fruitful. On Christmas Eve, put
a stone on every tree, and they

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will bear the more beat the trees
on Christmas Night, and they will bear

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more fruit. In Herefordshire, Devonshire, and Cornwall in England, the farmers

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and peasantry salute the apple trees on
Christmas Eve. And in Sussex they used

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to whirzle, that is, wassail
the apple trees and chant verses to them

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in somewhat of the primitive fashion.
Some other curious items of Christmas folklore are

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the following current, chiefly in Germany. If after a Christmas dinner you shake

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out the tablecloth over the bare ground
under the open sky, crumbwork will grow

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on the spot. If on Christmas
Day or Christmas Eve you hung a wash

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clout on a hedge and then groom
the horses with it, they will grow

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fat. As often as the cock
crows on Christmas Eve, the quarter of

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corn will be as deer. If
a dog howls the night before Christmas,

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it will go mad within the year. If the light is let go out

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on Christmas Eve, someone in the
house will die. When lights are brought

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in on Christmas Eve. If any
one's shadow has no head, he will

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die within a year. If half
a head in the second half year.

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If a hoop comes off a cask
on Christmas Eve, some one in the

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house will die that year. If
on Christmas Eve you make a little heap

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of salt on the table and it
melts over night, you will die the

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next year. If in the morning
it remain undiminished, you will live.

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If you wear something sowed with thread
spun on Christmas Eve, no vermin will

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stick to you. If a shirt
be spun, woven, and sowed by

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a pure chaste maiden on Christmas Day, it will be proof against lead or

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steal. If you are born at
sermon time on Christmas morning, you can

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see spirits. If you burn elder
on Christmas Eve, you will have revealed

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to you all the witches and sorcerers
of the neighborhood. If you steal hay

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the night before Christmas and give the
cattle some, they thrive and you are

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not caught in any future thefts.
If you steal anything at Christmas without being

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caught, you can steal safely for
a year. If you eat no beans

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on Christmas Eve, you will become
an ass. If you eat a raw

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egg fasting on Christmas morning, you
can carry heavy weights. The crumbs saved

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up on three Christmas Eves are good
to give us physic to one who is

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disappointed. It is unlucky to carry
anything forth from the house on Christmas morning

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until something has been brought in.
It is unlucky to give a neighbor a

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live coal to kindle a fire with
on Christmas morning. If the fire burns

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brightly on Christmas morning, it betokens
prosperity during the year. If it smolders

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adversity. These and many other practices
ceremonies, beliefs, and superstitions, which

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may be read in grimm Gregor Henderson, the gubernatis aught, Vine Tilta,

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and others who have written of Christmas
show the importance attached in the folk mind

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to the time of the birth of
Christ, and how around it as a

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center have fixed themselves hundreds of the
rites and solemnities of passing Heathendom, with

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its recognition of the kinship of all
nature, out of which grew astrology,

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magic and other pseudo sciences. End
of Folklore of Christmas Tide, collected by

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A. F Chamberlain