DECEMBER 20. 1952 Is Your Name , Christmas?

ny oharlee A. Former

Mr. Christmas is I fine old fem- uy name. One of the most ancient Sm-names drawn from the sacred lestivals. It flourishes still; and is distributed over many counties.

It has been a notable family Mme for more than six centuries m cambridgeshire. for instance, the earliest forms were

Ifiiifnum and Christmasse. It mhsequentiy became Christmas.

",4 down to this present century -here have been bearers of the ,,,me prominent in other public lmvices. There are thirteen cen- my records of landed gentlemen gamed Christmas in Huntingdon- shire, Hampshire, ;Burrey and Essex where the name survives. mougn, of course, it spread far and wide as means of transport improv- mwe have a very lively little story 0; Mr. Christmas in the diary of samiiel Pepys. Obviously this Mr. Christmas enjoyed good living. Mr. pepts went to dine with Sir Wil- mm Batten and there renewed ncquaintance with this Mr. Christ- mas who was an old school fellow.

"He did remember that I was H. great Roundheaci when I was a boy," Pepys entered in his diary,” and I was much afraid that he would have remembered the words that I said the day the King was beheaded, (that, were I to preach upon Illm, my text should bc.-The memory of the wicked shall rot!)-: but I found afterwards that he did go away from school before that time, He did make us good sport in imitating Mr. Case. Ash, and Nye, the ministers but a deadly drin- ks, he 15. and grown very flat,"

This would have been one of the Huntiiigdonshlre Christmass, for Samuel Pepys, a ."sharp boy." well able in take care of himsffli. W85 at Huntlngdon School when he was about nine or ten. As to the story, a Pepys editor has said we must make allowance ”for the schoolboyls merely local pride in the prowess of a Huntingdon man.”

"of Good Memory."

A very different personality was John Of Good Memory who lived five hundred years before the schoollellow of Mr. Pepys. Here is me of the earliest Father Christ- nass on record. He hust have been 1 really striking and well beloved zharacter in his day. Yet. strange- ly enough, books about old Lon- don and reference books are sil- ant. and his story lies elsewhere.

It is strange that London did not set him on record because the romantic history of Drury Lane. destined to become the home of pantomime, really begins with this Christimaeise family flourishing through the reigns of Henry III, Edward I and II, and Richard II.

The annuals of the London thor- nughlare we now know as Aldwych, hard by Drury Lane. may be said to begin with the Christmas fam- ily, 850 years ago. Here then was Christmasse Housegstandiiig amid spacious grounds and fruitful or- rnards. The stately home of the Christmasses was the sort of dream place we love to see on Christmas Cards, with winter snow and ro- bins. It adjoined the pretty village with its village green, where now the traffic of the Strand roars for eighteen hours a day.

Gave Hospital For Letters

Many members of the Christ- masse family were as benevolent as we expect any Father Christ- mas to be. The first was William Cristmasse, of Xtmasse, when Henry III reigned, making a grant of land for the building of a hos- pital, That lay between the Old Temple and Holeburn, now Hol- BOTH.

John of Good Memory was a Christmasse who earned that af- fectionate name by reason of his worthy life and good works. He lived by the village green to which he had given a Cross; and opposite Chi-istmasse House the family mansion.

That waswhyihe was known as John tie Cruce, for in the olden times it was quite a common cus- tom to link up it man's name with lits place of habitation. John 0: Good Memory was ever a friend- ih-need to the poor about him. M0'"'0ver. in those days the dire disease which struck down rich and Door was leprosy. It was large- lv throuzh the interest of this John Chi-istmasse that a Hospital for, Leners was established. He erected A fountain to be u. blessing to the Villagers of Aldewychel and St. Giles. and to poor wayiarei-s.

A John Chi-lstmasse of the same ”'"”l'. a Keeper of the wardrobe, Th" save the Queen's Hospital some land together with five oct- lms stipulated that the "rent for same was to be only a lose which was to be laid upon the al- tar of St. Giles annually on the anniversary of his death.

But while Richard II was on the throne the Ohristmssse traditions and associations were DBISIIIK. Christmdsse House had disappear- 'd- On its site, a White Hart Inn destined to be celebrated had :- i-isen. The White Hart was a fav- ourite symbol with the king and he had adopted it as his badge. and the inn name was chosen as si token of loyalty. Thereafter. and '0' many years down to the days of Charles the Second. this inn eh- 3”-I"'d Nye! patronage. It was the scene of revelries and parties.

TINY would have shocked the noble John of Good Memory, and "10 time came when authority Went away all buildings from the lnnd which has been Christmitsse "mwry. to make way for a newer more sanitary and more law-abid- "1: quarter.

(Copyright: N. F. L.)

. sharply through our emurnees, our

.

L Bethlehem! What a. beautiful .word! it is lovely for its associa- tions, but it also has a glorious sound in any language. Just as the name "Avila" would be beautiful even if one had never heard of St. Theresa; just as the word "dawn" or the word "splendor" would be beautiful even if they had never been associated with the sun. It means "the house of bread," and the word is peculiarly fitted to car- ry the Christmas message of grand- eur, loneliness and romance. and it speaks of the Eternal. It suggests the intimacy of the cradlelantl the granite eternity of Divine life. It sounds like the love of Christ.

Rachel. the'wi'fe .of Jacob. was buried there nearly four thousaiivi years ago. It was from there that Naomi went out into exile at Mosh and came again with Ruth, who has cast her spell over its golden fields for more than two thousand years, "when. sick for home. she stood in tears amid the alien corn."

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David was born. in. Bethlehem It was the water from its well that he longed for when he went among the hills like a hunted partridge before he came to the throne, and it was of this village that Micah, the Prophet, 739 years before the com- ing of Christ foretold the birth of the Saviour. "Thou Bethlehem of the land of Judah out of thee shall He come forth to be the ftuler of Israel."

When we sing "0 Little Town of Bethlehem." we are not singing oi a mythical place like Atlantis but a spot on the present map, a town of today with a history. It is only seven miles from Jerusalem; there is a sign-post at the foot of the hill: Drive Slowly. There are homes and people. You will still find shep- herds in the fields. There is a church built by Constantine the Great. as a thank-offering. and a very low door in a wall where you enter. People worship there. but you must go down below the level of the ground on stairs which are symbols of the Incarnation which brings us to our knees in the Creed, until in the cave beneath wersee a star set in the floor and we read in Latin: "Here Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary." You will find a Greek priest with a black beard curled like that of an Assyr- ian klng, and little children come silently down to kiss the Star in the candlelight. and whisper a,prayea.

I O I '

Human nature is very prosaic. it is a comfort to us to remember that the Saviour of ti" world was born in I place which every one knows. If we want to see Christ, we have to get up and go there: the Wise Men were the first to discover that. When people say that God is ev- erywhere, of course it is true; we can find Him in the sky over any land. We can find Him in -our hearts. but somehow the Christ- mas story tells us that there is a certain value in going to Bethle- hem, which every one of us can do in spirit. Every one must find the Saviour for himself. When He was in Galilee: when he died on Cal- vary and the veil of the Tcmple was rent as if the mysterious Pres- ence had swept out to redeem the world, it is this very principle that carries on today-we may all go as

Christ. I I 0 But Bethlehem is not only a place. It is a loyalty. ii passion of faith and love. All Christmas draws near we who live on this Western continent. unknown to men in the days of Christ, should remember that Bethlehem means. different things. First, the heart of the Christlan faith, You can, travel across the ocean by airplane and find the place. some,people will see only the foreground: they can ' imagine a baby. I1 mothe , a sheda but this is not what Christianity sees in it. Saint John. describing the coming of Christ, gives the Div; . ine picture. "In the Beginning was the Word. and the Word was witii God and the Word was God." Here are the lofty mountains ofeternity. and here is the roll of the ocean or the Divine nurpose the sunlit waves of Divine life di-i n by the waves of the spirit to break on the shores of human experience. i I O 0

"And the Wcrri was made Flesh" -601 made flesh. a God who cut:

Bethlehem

complacency. our hypocrisy and our g-reed. a God who smashes through our little walls of race. color and prejudice. Today, as ever. false gods are calling: Mars, the god of war. is still active; Venus is calling and her votarles crowd the temples of pleasure; Mammon is calling, and this god of the bestial lace and selfish heart is. as usual, on a high throne lordlng it over the lives of men.

Many people do not understand that true Christians are never sat- isfied until Jesus Christ is born in tiiem. William Blake once wrote: "Nor shall the sword rest in my hand, till I have built Jcrilsaleni, in England's green and pleasant land." The Christian festival is an opportunity for every Christian to build his own Bethlehem in his heart.

That night when in Judaean skies The mystic star dispensed its

light, A blind man turned him in his sleep And dreamed that he had sight. That night when in a stable szall Slept Child and Mother in humble fold,

A cripple turned his twisted i'orm And dreamed that he was whole.

That night when to the Mother's breast A little King was held secure. A harlot slept a happy sleep And dreamed that she was pure.

That night when in the manger

lay The Holy One who came to

SBVC.

A.man turned in the sleep of death

And dreamed there was no pgrave.

LIGHTS GO ON AGAIN AT "THE OLD GEORGE" .

Among many famous buildings in London which were destroyed or damaged by bombs in 1940 was the George Inn in the Strand. In

the 18th century it was a famous

coffee house. and its most illustri- ous patrons -were Dr. Johnson. James Boswell and Oliver Gold- smith. The inn has now been re- stored and Christmas fare will a- gain be served this year at "The

old George”. as it is fondly called.

THE GUARDIAN. CHARLOTTETOWPF

Evergreen Message

Christmas card styles have chant- ed greatly 'over half-century. Postman are weary this month.

their bags heavy with envelope:

most every envelope carries the same friendly message expressed in a thousand ways.

There is an eight-inch square of cardboard bearing a furry rabbit "For Baby's First Christmas". A black, varnish-slick piece of paper with gold leaf stamping brings the season's greetings to the sophistic- ate. And Canadians are finding in their mail-boxes Christmas .ca.rds painted by the worlds best-known amateur painter-Winston Chur- chill.

The flood which sweeps the pos- tal system each year at this time began as a trickle less than 100 years ago. Like our gay Christmas tree. the Christmas card was a product of the Victorian revival of Christmas festivities, onoe forbid- den by Puritan laws. The first Christmas card is believed to have been designed early in the 1840's. but not until 20 years later did the exchange of greeting cards catch the popular fancy.

A predecessor of the Christmas card was the garish Valentine, the fad durilig the crinollned 50's. At the time the crinoline began to lose favor, people began sending each other cards at Christmas as well as on Valentines Day. These commercial greetings became ex- tremely popular about the same time as bustles-in the late 60's. Designs were unoriginal-genial old gentlemen, enormous plum pud- dings, the simplest of humor-but people liked them. Many Christ- mas cards were sold by Valentine manufacturers who made no at- tempt to produce Christmas cards in keeping with the wintry season

The range of material used by the Victorians is astounding. Card board was the most common base but the ingenious manufacturers also used pleated silk, looking- glass, imitation tortoiseshell, imi- iation mother-of-pearl and ivory silk fringe. lace chenille, velvet sachets, dried flowers, seaweed and moss celluloid of violent color and extraordinary design.

ON THE MORNING OF CHRIST'S NATIVITY This is the month, and this the happy morn. wherein the Son of Heaven's eter- nal King. wedded Maid Mother born, Our great redemption from above did bring-- For so the holy angels once did sing- That He our deadly forfeit should release. And with His Father

Of and Virgin

work us a

perpetual peace.

That glorious form, that light un- surferable,

And that far-beaming blaze of majesty

Wherewith I-le wont at heavens

high council-table

To sit the midst of Tl'Ii'lRI Unity.

He laid aside; and here with us to be

Forsook the courts of everlasting day. And chose with us a darksome

house of mortal clay.

Say, heavenly Muse! shall not thy sacred vein Afford a present God?

I-last. thou no verse, no hymn, or solemn strain,

To welcome Him to this His new abode-

Now while the heaven, by the sun's team untrod,

to the Infant

of all shapes and sizes. And al-' .

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Hath took no print of the ap- proacliing light, i And all the spangled host keep watch in squadrons bright! I I See how from far upon the east; ern road The star-led wizards haste withl odors sweet! ! 0 run! prevent them with thy'' humble ode. And lay it lowly at his blessed et; Have thou the honour first thy-

Lord to greet, And join thy voice unto the angel choir '

From out His secret altar touched

with hallowed fire. -John Milton.

the shepherds went, to meet Jesust ' ' '

T iron

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