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‘FEDNESDAY. DECEFEMBER 1942 its ateate ate ote afe ols ae o ale ats To a io ts ate n te c tn oo a *n se ato atea bo o on o0 o hn a on abe ate ate e3 + 00300003 C NX C CÂ¥ T.* + countrymen then and now. In 1569 he hectored an act upon the little kingdom ordaining heavy penalties, with death on a third conviction, to those who should celebrate mass or even be present at its celebration. And so Christ Mass went by the board as a naâ€" tional festival in â€"« Scotland. In England under the Puritâ€" ans the observance of Christmas was strictly forbidden by Act of Parliament. Charles II revived the festival throughout the joint kingdom, but the Scots, set now in narrow Presbyterianism, would have nothing of ‘"heathenish popish practisis‘". Hogzmanay was observed by the Druidsâ€"those irascible old longâ€"whiskered gentlemen, always depicted with arms high flung and in a fearfully bad temper, calling down the fires of ‘retribuâ€" tion on someone‘s head. ‘They were never very much of a force n England as a whole, but were strongly entrenched throughout scotland. Among their ceremonies at the beginning of the year was one of going into the woods to gather mistletoe. Doubtless there were pretty girls around those days, but, no, one couldn‘t imagine the Druids using mistletoe for that purpose. One old writer states: ‘"They were wont the first of each year to go into the wodes where, having sacrificed, they gathered mistletow, esâ€" teeming it excellent to make beasts fruitful and most soveraign azainst all poyson". Another says the Druids "cut mistletoe with a golden biil and brought it into the towns and houses of the great next morning, where it was distributed among the people, who wore it as an amulet to preserve them from all harm, patrâ€" ticularly from danger of battle." Derivation of the word "Hogmanay‘" is obscure. Attempt has been made to derive it from "hagia mene‘" (holy month or holy others class it as a corruption of the Latin ‘hoc in anno‘". One idea is that it comes through Old French "au gui l‘an neuf" (to the mistletoe this New Year) which links the word with the Druids‘ summoning of the people to follow them to the forest in search of mistletoe. In Norway they have "hoggernott‘" or "hoegâ€" ted". This word, however, comes from "hogg" (to kill)} and narâ€" rows the meaning to the slaughter of beasts. on the eve of the great feast of Yule. Gaelic Scotland proffers several derivations which at least are ingenious if not very convincing. A part of the Hogmanay ceremonies in the Highlands was that a member of the party would be decked with a mantle made of cowhide and his companions would race after him shouting and belabouring him with sticks. The main shout would be "thog mi n‘ eigh" (I raised the cry). Maybe, but why all the fuss about raising a cry. Another Gaelic suggestion is "thog mi au tâ€"eug" (I bring death} possibly because so many bottles are killed around that time. Yet another is "thog manaidh‘"‘ (I bring luck) which is trifle better than the preceding. And then, there is the Englishman, who, when asked what he thought of the word, replied diffidentâ€" ly that it probably was the epitome of the Scot‘s national trait "Hogmanay: hug money." Derivation of the word is purely conâ€" jectural: one man‘s guess is as good as another‘s. K Great religious celebrations and festivals hold the imagination of a people long after a change in the national faith has taken place. lhe Christian Church has therefore found it judicious at times to graft its teachings upon the pagan beliefs and appropriâ€" ate festivais of the superseded cult to its own ends. Our presâ€" entâ€"day word, Yule, now synonymous with Christmas, is taken from "Geol" the name of the great midâ€"winter festival of the Angles, Saxons, and :other Gothic peoples. Similarly, when Christianity was introduced to the Celts, the mistletoeâ€"gatherâ€" ing ceremony of the Druids was adapted to Christian teachings and mistletoe remains to this day in close association with the observance of Christmas. For many a year it has been the custom all over Scotland for bands of children to go the rounds from door to door begging for something as a token of Hogmanay. Burns says of them:: "The cottar weanies, glad and gay, W1‘ packs oot owre their shouthers, Sing at the doors for Hogmanay." The song they sing has come down the years with but little change, though one does not hear it very often nowadays: "Hogmanay, Trollolay, Gie‘s o0‘ your bread An‘ nane o‘ your grey!‘. Here another quaint word pops up, one which may mean anyâ€" thing or nothing. "Hogmanay, Trollolay" say some wise philoloâ€" gists, has a Christmastide derivation: "homme est ne; trois rois la‘"‘ (a man is born; three kings there). That is to say: Christ is born; three wise men from the east are there. In Scotland, howâ€" ever, Christmas is practically ignored and Hogmanay, Trollolay is a part of the New Year festival. Again it may be nothing more than the inherent rhyming instinct of children coming into action. Hogmanay, Trollolay, one slips smoothly enough from the first word to the second, just as one hears from the lips of children at play, the world over. If so, then down go the the philâ€" ologists and their strained derivation. "And they shall be conâ€" founded by a lisping child" as St. Augustine says. It may have its roots in the "tra la la" so common in English poetry and song, esâ€" pecially around Elizabethan times. From the lips of a child "Hogâ€" manay tra la la" would swiftly merge into "Hogmanay Trollolay" However, here we are again in the wide field of conjecture. Onces again your guess is as good as mine. Hogmanay celebrations seem to have been originally of a reliâ€" gious character and were enacted in the churches. This was later prohibited, however, when observance of the holy day deâ€" generated into wild and profane clowning. In the sixteenth cenâ€" tury the clergy of France complained bitterly of the fantastic2ally dressed men and women who disturbed church service and pesâ€" tered worshippers at prayer. In the next century the wild bufâ€" foonery had become lawlessness and the government took heav; handed action to stamp it out. These motleyâ€"clad merrymaker who day. Reasons for Scotland‘s celebration of Hogmanay instead of Christmas are not hard to find. Roman Catholic Scotland kept the Christmas festival in the traditional manner, but John Knox changed all that when he initiated the great Reformation that culminated in the Presbyterian cult, with all its predestination, eternal punishment, and other gloomy Calvinistic tenets. His doctrine, hopeless and fatalistic, made the devout fear God, but certainly leit no room fon love or even respect for Him. A great man was this John Knox, a terrific driving force but an intolerant bigot. He was selfâ€"conscious, selfâ€"willed, and inâ€" tensely dogmatic, characteristics shared by so many of his fellowâ€" countrymen then and now. In 1569 he hectored an act unon the WUOrsSE much long YÂ¥ear tury th dressed tered w fooner; )1stmas are Christmas the would @and shu , Sc i1ip otl; the tiand enters 1 of the great g« their glory, it : in Scotland‘s . Sceot considers d attempt to k 17 now., in wWal re not s fest that Saturnalia Scotorum (Continued on Page Six)