Stories of persons and places in Europe . greens, and even the shipsin the harbors are decked out with birch boughs. But the Yule feast at Christmas time is the favorite holiday season,especially among the farmers. Their out-door work is finished then, andthey have plenty of time for feasting and dancing. Sometimes the merry-making is kept up for thirteen days, called The Thirteen Days of Yule. At this time all the old heirlooms of the family are brought out, the oldpottery, wooden spoons and vessels, and gilded tankards that have descended Norway. 83 from the old Viking forefathers. Baking an
Stories of persons and places in Europe . greens, and even the shipsin the harbors are decked out with birch boughs. But the Yule feast at Christmas time is the favorite holiday season,especially among the farmers. Their out-door work is finished then, andthey have plenty of time for feasting and dancing. Sometimes the merry-making is kept up for thirteen days, called The Thirteen Days of Yule. At this time all the old heirlooms of the family are brought out, the oldpottery, wooden spoons and vessels, and gilded tankards that have descended Norway. 83 from the old Viking forefathers. Baking and brewing is carried on on alarge scale in the kitchens for days before the feast begins. The fatted calfor sheep is killed, and fish, venison and bird meat brought out from thelarders where they have been kept in waiting. Not the people alone are feasted at this time but the birds and domesticanimals as well. Two or three days before Christmas, sheaves of oats aredriven into the towns by the sleigh-loads. Everyone, rich and poor, buy at. PEASANTS. least a bunch to place on their houses, fences, or on along pole for the sight of the little creatures fluttering around these sheaves, fillingtheir hungry crops with the grain, warms the hearts of these kindly peopleand prepares them for a heartier enjoyment of their own feast. The oldhorse, the cattle, and even the goats and pigs, are given a double portion offood on this day, often more than they can eat. A great deal of cleaning is also done on the day before Christmas. Thefloors are scrubbed and strewn with fir or juniper leaves, and when all is 84 Persons and Places in Europe. finished, every member of the family takes a bath. Sometimes, sad to say,it is the only bath they do take in the whole year. Much merry-making goes on among the young people during the feast,they hide each others shoes, black their faces, dress up in all sorts offantastical clothing, sing songs and dance, and have a much happier timethan people
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