Britain Yule-tide is now a time of family reunions and social
gatherings. Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and the Islands each retain a
few of their own peculiar customs, but they are not observed to any
extent. In Ireland--or at least in some parts--they still indulge in
drinking what is known as _Lamb's-wool_, which is made by bruising
roasted apples and mixing the juice with ale or milk. This drink,
together with apples and nuts, is considered indispensable on
Christmas Eve.

England of all countries has probably known the merriest of
Yule-tides, certainly the merriest during those centuries when the
mummers of yore bade to each and all

"A merry Christmas and a happy New Year,
Your pockets full of money and your cellar full of beer."

There seems always to have been more or less anxiety felt regarding
New Year's Day in England, for "If the morning be red and dusky it
denotes a year of robberies and strife."

"If the grass grows in Janivear
It grows the worse for 't all the year."

And then very much depended upon the import of the chapter to which
one opened the Bible on this morning. If the first visitor chanced to
be a female, ill luck was sure to follow, although why it should is
not explained.

It was very desirable to obtain the "cream of the year" from the
nearest spring, and maidens sat up till after midnight to obtain the