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Speaker 1: Folklore of Christmas Tide, collected by A f Chamberlain. Scottish

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folklore has it that Christ was born at the hour

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of midnight on Christmas Eve, and that the miracle of

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turning water into wine was performed by him at the

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same hour. There is a belief current in some parts

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of Germany that between eleven and twelve of the night

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before Christmas water turns to wine. In other districts, as

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at Bielerfeldt, it is on Christmas Night that this change

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is thought to take place. This hour is also auspicious

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for many actions, and in some sections of Germany it

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was thought that if one would go to the crossroads

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between eleven and twelve on Christmas Day and listen, he

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would hear what most concerns him in the coming year.

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Another belief is that if one walks into the winter

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corn on Holy Christmas Eve, he will hear all that

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will happen in the village that year. Christmas Eve or

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Christmas is the time when the oracles of the folk

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are in the best working order, especially the many processes

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by which maidens are wont to discover the color of

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their lover's hair, the beauty of his face, and form,

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his trade and occupation, whether they shall marry or not,

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and the like. The same season is most auspicious for

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certain ceremonies and practices transferred to it from the heathen

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antiquity of the peasantry of Europe. In relation to agriculture

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and allied industries. Among those noted by Grimm are the following.

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On Christmas Eve, crash the garden with a flail with

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only your shirt on, and the grass will grow well

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next year. Tie wet straw bands around the orchard trees

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on Christmas Eve and it will make them fruitful. On

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Christmas Eve, put a stone on every tree, and they

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will bear the more beat the trees on Christmas Night,

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and they will bear more fruit. In Herefordshire, Devonshire, and

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Cornwall in England, the farmers and peasantry salute the apple

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trees on Christmas Eve. And in Sussex they used to whirzle,

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that is, wassail the apple trees and chant verses to

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them in somewhat of the primitive fashion. Some other curious

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items of Christmas folklore are the following current, chiefly in Germany.

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If after a Christmas dinner you shake out the tablecloth

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over the bare ground under the open sky, crumbwork will

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grow on the spot. If on Christmas Day or Christmas

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Eve you hung a wash clout on a hedge and

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then groom the horses with it, they will grow fat.

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As often as the cock crows on Christmas Eve, the

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quarter of corn will be as deer. If a dog

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howls the night before Christmas, it will go mad within

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the year. If the light is let go out on

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

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are brought in on Christmas Eve. If any one's shadow

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has no head, he will die within a year. If

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half a head in the second half year. If a

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hoop comes off a cask on Christmas Eve, some one

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in the house will die that year. If on Christmas

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Eve you make a little heap of salt on the

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table and it melts over night, you will die the

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

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will live. If you wear something sowed with thread spun

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on Christmas Eve, no vermin will stick to you. If

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a shirt be spun, woven, and sowed by a pure

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chaste maiden on Christmas Day, it will be proof against

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lead or steal. If you are born at sermon time

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on Christmas morning, you can see spirits. If you burn

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elder on Christmas Eve, you will have revealed to you

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all the witches and sorcerers of the neighborhood. If you

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steal hay the night before Christmas and give the cattle some,

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they thrive and you are not caught in any future thefts.

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If you steal anything at Christmas without being caught, you

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can steal safely for a year. If you eat no

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beans on Christmas Eve, you will become an ass. If

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you eat a raw egg fasting on Christmas morning, you

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can carry heavy weights. The crumbs saved up on three

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Christmas Eves are good to give us physic to one

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who is disappointed. It is unlucky to carry anything forth

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from the house on Christmas morning until something has been

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brought in. It is unlucky to give a neighbor a

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live coal to kindle a fire with on Christmas morning.

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If the fire burns brightly on Christmas morning, it betokens

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prosperity during the year. If it smolders adversity. These and

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many other practices ceremonies, beliefs, and superstitions, which may be

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

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and others who have written of Christmas show the importance

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attached in the folk mind to the time of the

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birth of Christ, and how around it as a center

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have fixed themselves hundreds of the rites and solemnities of

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passing Heathendom, with its recognition of the kinship of all nature,

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out of which grew astrology, magic and other pseudo sciences.

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End of Folklore of Christmas Tide, collected by A. F

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Chamberlain