When New Year's Eve Was Called Sylvester

Audiobook at Everand (Scribd): https://www.everand.com/audiobook/957288116/Yule-tide-in-Many-Lands

"Sylvester, or New Year's Eve, is the next occasion to be observed during Yule-tide. The former name was given in honor of the first pope of that name, and still retained by many. After the usual church service in the early evening, the intervening hours before midnight are spent in the most boisterous merriment. Fun of all sorts within the limit of law and decency prevails. Any one venturing forth wearing a silk hat is in danger of having his hat, if not his head, smashed. "Hat off," cries the one who spies one of these head-coverings, and if the order is not instantly obeyed, woe betide the luckless wearer. At midnight all Germany, or at least all in the cities and the larger towns, may be seen out-of-doors or leaning from windows, waiting for the bells to ring out the Old Year and welcome in the New. At first stroke of the bells there arises one universal salute of Prosit Neujahr (Happy New Year). It is all good-natured fun, a wild, exuberant farewell to the Old Year--the closing scene of the joyous Yule-tide."

***

"The observance of New Year on January first, according to the Gregorian Calendar, was instituted by Peter the Great in 1700. The previous evening is known as St. Sylvester's Eve, and is the time of great fun and enjoyment. According to the poet, Vasili Andreivich Zhukivski:

    "St. Sylvester's evening hour,
     Calls the maidens round;
     Shoes to throw behind the door,
     Delve the snowy ground.

     Peep behind the window there,
     Burning wax to pour;
     And the corn for chanticleer,
     Reckon three times o'er.

     In the water-fountain fling
     Solemnly the golden ring
     Earrings, too, of gold;
     Kerchief white must cover them
     While we're chanting over them
     Magic songs of old."

- Yule-Tide In Many Lands by Mary Poague Pringle and Clara A. Urann, 1916

Yule-Tide in Many Lands

"As the fact of Christ's birth was not recorded and there was no certainty as to its date, the early Christian Fathers very wisely ascribed it to Yule-tide, changing the occasion from the birthday of the sun to that of the Son. For a while the birth of Christ was celebrated on dates varying from the first to the sixth of January; on the dates of certain religious festivals such as the Jewish Passover or the Feast of Tabernacles; but the twenty-fifth of December, the birthday of the sun, was ever the favorite date.

"Pope Julius, who reigned from 337 to 352 B.C.E., after a careful investigation, considered it settled beyond doubt that Christ was born on or about the twenty-fifth of December, and by the end of the fifth century that date was very generally accepted by Christians. The transition from the old to the new significance of Yule-tide was brought about so quietly and naturally that it made no great impression on the mind of the masses, so nothing authentic can be learned of the early observance of Christmas."

- Yule-Tide in Many Lands by Mary Poague Pringle and Clara A. Urann

The Washington, D.C. Evening Star, Dec. 14, 1925

The Chapel Hill Weekly, Dec. 18, 1925

The Chapel Hill Weekly, Dec. 18, 1925

St. Nicholas Day

"The grand Yule-tide festival is opened on the eve of St. Nicholas Day, December sixth; in fact bazaars are held from the first of the month, which is really one prolonged season of merrymaking.

"In Germany, St. Nicholas has a day set apart in his honor. He was born in Palara, a city of Lycia, and but very little is known of his life except that he was made Bishop of Myra and died in the year 343. It was once the custom to send a man around to personate St. Nicholas on St. Nicholas Eve, and to inquire how the children had behaved through the year, who were deserving of gifts, and who needed a touch of the birch rods that he carried with him into every home. St. Nicholas still goes about in some parts of the country, and in the bazaars and shops are sold little bunches of rods, real or made of candy, such as St. Nicholas is supposed to deal in. In some places Knight Rupert takes the place of St. Nicholas in visiting the houses. But Kriss Kringle has nearly usurped the place St. Nicholas once held in awe and respect by German children.

"Because St. Nicholas Day came so near to Christmas, in some countries the Saint became associated with that celebration, although in Germany the eve of his birthday continues to be observed. Germans purchase liberally of the toys and confectionery offered at the bazaars, and nowhere are prettier toys and confectionery found than in Germany--the country which furnishes the most beautiful toys in the world."

- Yule-Tide in Many Lands by Mary Poagle Pringle and Clara A. Urann, 1916

Audiobook at Everand (Scribd): https://www.everand.com/audiobook/957288116/Yule-tide-in-Many-Lands

Audio only: 

St. Barbara's Day: Yule-Tide Begins in France

"Yule-tide in France begins on St. Barbara's Day [Sainte-Barbe], December fourth, when it is customary to plant grain in little dishes of earth for this saint's use as a means of informing her devotees what manner of crops to expect during the forthcoming year. If the grain comes up and is flourishing at Christmas, the crops will be abundant. Each dish of fresh, green grain is used for a centerpiece on the dinner table."

- Yule-Tide in Many Lands by Mary Poagle Pringle and Clara A. Urann, 1916

Audiobook at Everand (Scribd): https://www.everand.com/audiobook/957288116/Yule-tide-in-Many-Lands