out and imprints a rough kiss. When midnight comes he
is driven out as the representative of the old year.{50}

|275| There are traces in Britain of the sacredness of holly as well as
mistletoe. In Northumberland it is used for divination: nine leaves are
taken and tied with nine knots into a handkerchief, and put under the
pillow by a person who desires prophetic dreams.{51} For this purpose
smooth leaves (without prickles) must be employed, and it is to be noted
that at Burford in Shropshire smooth holly only was used for the
Christmas decorations.{52} Holly is hated by witches,{53} but perhaps
this may be due not to any pre-Christian sanctity attached to it but to
the association of its thorns and blood-red berries with the Passion--an
association to which it owes its Danish name, _Kristdorn_.

In some old English Christmas carols holly and ivy are put into a curious
antagonism, apparently connected with a contest of the sexes. Holly is
the men's plant, ivy the women's, and the carols are debates as to the
respective merits of each. Possibly some sort of rude drama may once have
been performed.{54} Here is a fifteenth-century example of these
carols:--

"Holly and Ivy made a great party,
Who should have the mastery,
In landes where they go.

Then spoke Holly, 'I am free and jolly,
I will have the mastery,
In landes where we go.'

Then spake Ivy, 'I am lov'd and prov'd,
And I will have the mastery,
In landes where we go.'

Then spake Holly, and set him down on his knee,
'I pray thee, gentle Ivy,
Say me no villainy,
In landes where we go.'"{55}

The sanctity of Christmas house-decorations in England is shown by the
care taken in disposing of them when removed from the walls. In
Shropshire old-fashioned people never threw them away, for fear of
misfortune, but either burnt them or gave them to the cows; it was very
unlucky to let a piece |276| fall to the ground. The Shropshire custom
was to leave the holly and ivy up until Candlemas, while the
mistletoe-bough was carefully preserved until the time came for a new one
next year. West Shropshire tradition, by the way, connects the mistletoe
with the New Year rather than with Christmas; the bough ought not to be
put up until New Year's Eve.{56}

In Sweden green boughs, apparently, are not used for decoration, but the
floor of the parlour is strewn with sprigs of fragrant juniper or
spruce-pine, or wit