Facts About Christmas

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20995, 23 December 1939, Page 19 (Supplement)

Facts About Christmas

T\ID you know that in Britain, December 25 was a festival long before the people were converted to Christianity ? A famous historian named Bede records that “the ancient peoples of Angli began the year on December 25” and regarded that night as a sacred one. Did you know that the first Mr Christmas was named after the greatest of all Christmas feasts ? Besides people bearing this uncommon name, there are many named Noel, Nowell and Yule. Do you know that the turkey, which is an American bird, is short for turkey-cock a name originally applied to a guineafowl—which was often imported into Europe through Turkish territory ° Did you know that the term Santa Claus is from the Dutch Sint Klaas for Saint Nicholas, the Saint who first sent Christmas presents when he did noc want those who received them to know who they came from ? Do you know that the very early Christmas puddings were probably nothing but haggis, or entrails of a pig or other animal stuffed with meat that had been r.-.ireed, flavoured and mixed with oatmeal before being boiled ? Do you know that in 1644 the English Puritans forbade any Christmas merriment or religious services by Act of Parliament ? The Puritans maintained that Christmas was a heathen festival, and ordered it to be kept as a fast. Charles 11. however, revived the feast during the Restoration.