Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 6.djvu/585

 ii s. vi. DEC. 21, 1912.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

481

LONDON. SATURDAY, DECHMBER 21,

CONTENTS.-No. 156.

WOTES : Christmas and New Year in Paris, 481 Jonathan King and his Collections, 483 Feminism in the Seven- teenth Century, 485 Evergreens at Christmas Dickensiana : Fagin, 486 Odd Street - Name Lady Nelson's Marriage Lines " Point - in - View Chapel," Exmoulh, 487.

QUERIES : " To tool the reins" Etymology of Esher, 487 Water of the Dead Sea French : O'Connor Variants in Kenilworth ' Darnley's Descent Christie of Baberton Arkinstall : Boniface, 488' Puss in Pattens ' Hamp- den Surname Author Wanted Carlyle's "Carcassonne" Fire -Ritual "Apium" Campbell References Wanted, 489 Topcliffe, Rack-Master of the Tower- Exciseman Gill W. Dargan Symbolism of the Peutulpha, 490.

HEPLIES : Dooms in Churches, 490 Novalis and J. S. Mill on Suicide, 492 "Uncle Tom" ' Bingen on the Rhine,' 493 "E'en as he trod" A "Dish" of Tea "Club Walks" "Out" for a Thing, 494 Galignani East Anglian Families Royal Tunbridge Wells Bel- shazzxr's Feast, 495 ' Musica Proibita '" Selling of a horse " by Pepys Macdonald : MacQueen Wreck of the Royal George -Regimental Sobriquets Ireland's Stolen Shire, 496 ' Loss and Gain ' : ' From Oxford to Rome ' Maidens' Garlands Great Glembam Fulwood : Halley, 497.

UOTES ON BOOKS : ' The Science of Etymology ' ' Modern English Biography ' ' Herbals ' ' Short History of Architecture ' ' Roget's Thesaurus ' ' Archao- logia vEliana ' ' The Adventurous Simplicissimus.'

.Notices to Correspondents.

CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR IN PARIS.

AMONG the light-hearted Parisians these festivals are celebrated, not with as much deep feeling as in some other lands, but with joyousness and spontaneous cheerful- ness by rich and poor alike. New Year's Day is the great national holiday. Christ- mas is rather the children's day, when " le petit J6sus " comes down to fill their " sabots " with all sorts of delightful treasures. During the month of December A large part of every shop is given over to a display of Christmas gifts ; so the children enjoy the festival for some weeks in antici- pation.

In the middle of the month stalls are set up in the boulevards. There for a few sous one can buy mechanical toys, dolls, and la % ge artificial flowers. Real flowers are expensive at Christmastime ; but, thanks to these showy paper and calico substitutes, even the humblest home is bright w r ith colour at this season. All the flowersellers have piles of mistletoe. A large bunch is

hung for luck in the sitting-room, and left there during the whole of January. Small Christmas trees, some of them scarcely a foot high, are al-o sold for a few sous. At these stalls and at the confectioners' the children eagerly buy infant ' Christs ' made of shortbread. A mite of five or six puts down his sou, saying, " Un petit Jesus, s'il vous plait," and goes out crunching the cake with delight. One of the most striking things about the preparations for Cliristmas is the fact that all the large shops devote the greater part of their thought and skill to catering for those who have only a little money to spend. Christmas is pre-eminently " la fete des pauvres gens."

The celebrations begin after dinner on Christmas Eve. Those who do not enter a church during the whole year would not dream of missing the Midnight Mass. So, after 10 o'clock, it is almost impossible to get a seat in any of the churches. La Made- leine, St. Sulpice, and a few other well- known places of worship, are filled by half- past 8 or 9 o'clock. The congregation waits patiently for hours, and now and then the organist plays an offertory. An incongruous and rather unseemly touch is given by the theatregoers, who stroll in shortly before midnight, in clothes that suggest frivolity rather than devotion. They continue at the Madeleine the evening that was begun at the Folies-Bergeres, and will be ended at Maxim's. They crowd into the aisles with other late-comers, till not another person could be packed into the church. The side -chapels have been filled long ago : their sanctuaries are reserved for prominent members of the parish, who are accompanied by a whole tribe of relations. For this religious ceremony is also a family gathering.

While Mass is being said at the High Altar, and at each of the side altars, the choir sings the old French hymns, composed in the Middle Ages, that are heard only on this occasion. The church is almost in darkness : here and there a lamp casts strange shadows on the worshippers ; the lofty pillars and the vaulted roof remain almost in total obscurity. In the centre of the church the High Altar is one great blaze of light. Even from the far end of the church the effect is dazzling. The flowers, the music, and the heavy scent of incense add to the impres- siveness of the scene.

When Mass is over the people disperse, and the " reVeillon " begins. Weeks before- hand tables have been reserved at certain cafes. At some resorts the fun is fast and furious ; other quieter cafes are filled with