Because they had an extraordinary reverence for the number _three_,
and not only the berries, but the leaves of the mistletoe, grow in
clusters of three united on one stalk. Its growing upon the oak, their
sacred tree, was doubtless another cause of its veneration.

We read of a celebrated oak at Norwood near London, which bore
mistletoe, "which some people cut for the gain of selling it to the
apothecaries of London, leaving a branch of it to sprout out; but they
proved unfortunate after it, for one of them fell lame, and others lost
an eye. At length, in the year 1678, a certain man, notwithstanding he
was warned against it, upon the account of what the others had suffered,
adventured to cut the tree down, and he soon after broke his
leg."--_Camden_.

Mr. Brand, however, thinks that mistletoe was never put up in churches
but by mistake or ignorance of the sextons: it being a heathenish and
profane plant, and therefore assigned to the kitchen. Mr. Brand made
many diligent inquiries after the truth of this point. He learnt at Bath
that it never came into churches there. An old Sexton at Teddington told
him that mistletoe was once put up in the church there, but was by the
clergyman immediately ordered to be taken away.

Why was the boar's head formerly a prime dish at Christmas?

Because fresh meats were then seldom eaten, and brawn was considered a
great delicacy. Holinshed says, that "in the year 1170, upon the day
of the young prince's coronation, King Henry I. served his sonne at
table as server, bringing up the boar's head with trumpets before it,
according to the manner." For this ceremony there was a special carol.
Dugdale also tells us, that "at the inns of court, during Christmas, the