This following article is transcribed & is also edited, by Teena ( a few lines were omitted, but nothing is changed)
27 Dec. 1919 Drogheda Independent An Irish Christmas Tradition and a custom we Might Revive Santa Claus, the Yule Log and indeed, too, the Plum Pudding are Christmas associations that, strange as it may seem, are purely English in origin. The eminent Catholic surgeon, Sir Victor Horsley, an Englishman, describes Father Christmas as one of the 3 most British institutions—the other 2 being Henry VIII and John Bull. The trio, by the way, he asserts to be examples of fatty degeneration caused by chronic alcoholism. Associated in Ireland with the great Christmas Festival we have a very beautiful custom, still extant in some parts. For the peasantry it was usual on Christmas Eve to have lighted candles, generally blessed wax candles, placed in the windows of their dwellings, mostly in the kitchen, and the front door, left on the latch. Usually, too, before the household retired for the night, the floor was cleaned and a fine big fire left blazing on the hearth. >From its bright, cheerful appearance, its warmth and light and tidy aspect, the house seemed ready to welcome the approach of some well-beloved friend or distinguished stranger. And so indeed it was. In Donegal, as in the West, the candle also burns at Christmas and the house awaits the stranger, ready to extend hospitality. That distinguished antiquarian and scholar. Mr. Francis BIGGAR of Belfast, has written enthusiastically of this grand old custom, and more than once made warm appeals for its general revival. Its influence on a community must be wholesome and elevating. Try to make at least one person happy every day, and then in ten years you will have made 3,650 persons happy or brightened a small town by your contribution to the fund of general enjoyment. I haven't yet found an Irish version of plum pudding. Does someone on the list have that? I wonder what the difference could be? All the best~ Teena -- www.cotyrone.com http://lists.cotyrone.com/mailman/listinfo/ulsterancestry https://www.facebook.com/groups/CoTyroneIrelandGenealogy/
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