III. HERE comes Holly, that is so gent,* But Lord and Lady of this hall, Alleluia! Whosoever against Holly doth cry, Whosoever against Holly doth sing, IV. Ivy, chief of trees it is The most worthy is she in town; He who says other, says amiss; Worthy is she to bear the crown; Veni coronaberis. Ivy is soft, and meek of speech, Against all woe she bringeth bliss ; Happy is he that may her reach; SUPERSTITIONS REGARDING CHRISTMAS DAY. Ivy is green, of colour bright, Of all trees the chief she is ; Veni coronaberis. Ivy, she beareth berries black; God grant to all of us His bliss! For then we shall nothing lack; Superstitions regarding Christmas Day. THE following poems are, perhaps, more curious than interesting. They ̧ afford, however, some idea of the superstitious dread with which the advent of Christmas Day must have been regarded in these early times, not merely by the vulgar, but by all classes of our forefathers, for the Francis Moores and Raphaels of the fifteenth century found even kings willing believers in their extravagant predictions. From the allusion in each verse of the first poem to the risks that those who steal subject themselves to, one would almost suppose thieving to have been the fashionable vice of the age, practised alike by both rich and poor, and that there was great need of such injunctions against it. Both of these poems are from the same Harleian MS. in the British Museum.* I. ORDINGS, all of you I warn, If the day that Christ was born Fall upon a Sunday, The winter shall be good, I say, But great winds aloft shall be; The summer shall be fair and dry. No. 2252, fols. 153-4, vo. 1 By kind skill and without loss, A great lord he shall live to be. If Christmas day on Monday be, A great winter that year you'll see, And full of winds, both loud and shrill; While battles they shall multiply ; If Christmas day on Tuesday be, That year shall many women die, That year shall kings and lords be slain, A dry summer that year shall be, They shall be strong and covetous. If thou steal aught, thou losest thy life, But if thou fall sick, 't is certain, Thou shalt turn to life again. SUPERSTITIONS REGARDING CHRISTMAS DAY. If Christmas day, the truth to say, There shall be a hard winter and strong, The summer merry and good shall be, He shall be doughty and gay, I wis. And wise and crafty also of deed, If Christmas day on Thursday be, If Christmas day on a Friday be, The first of winter hard shall be, But the end thereof it shall be good. Again, the summer shall be good also; Who stealeth ought shall be found out, 1 |