battle; to commemorate which, he made a garter the principal ornament
of an order, and a symbol of the indissoluble union of the knights.
The order is under the patronage or protection of St. George, whence
he figures in its insignia. Such is the account of Camden, Fern, and
others. The common story of the order being instituted in honour of a
garter of the Countess of Salisbury, which she dropped in dancing, and
which was picked up by King Edward, has been denounced as fabulous by
our best antiquaries.


_Cock-crow._

Why was it formerly supposed that cocks crowed all Christmas-eve?

Because the weather is then usually cloudy and dark (whence "the dark
days before Christmas,") and cocks, during such weather, often crow
nearly all day and all night. Shakspeare alludes to this superstition
in Hamlet--

Some say that even 'gainst that hallow'd season,
At which our Saviour's birth is celebrated,
The Bird of Dawning croweth all night long.
The nights are wholesome, and no mildew falls;
No planet strikes, nor spirits walk abroad:
No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,
So gracious and so hallowed is the time.

The ancient Christians divided the night into four watches, called the
evening, midnight, and two morning cock-crowings. Their connexion with
the belief in walking spirits will be remembered--