CHAPTER VI.

Christmas Festivities -- the Festival of the Fireside -- Its Ancient Usages made familiar by our Popular Writers -- Burton’s Account of Christmas Games -- Withers’ Poetical Description of Christmas 200 years ago -- Scott’s View of them as seen in the past -- Pageants at this Season in Catholic Countries, as at Rome, Naples, and in Spain -- Interesting Domestic Custom in Germany -- Christmas as now passed by the Poor, and by the Middle and Higher Classes -- the Waits -- Christmas Visiting and Country Games -- Christmas Carols, as sung about Manchester, collected by the late Miss Jewsbury -- Christmas Customs still kept up -- George and the Dragon -- Blessing Orchards, etc. -- Concluding Remarks on the Present State of Popular Festivals 451