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350
BORNHOLM.
Chap. LIIL
terminate with the words, “ God have mercy on his
soul!”
We again proceeded on our way. The old customs
of Bornholm (differ little from those once prevalent
in the rest of Denmark, though now gradually fading
away. Christmas, as in other countries, is a season
of universal rejoicing and merriment. “ Gud signe
eders Juul; Juul til Paaske”—May God bless your
Christmas; may it last till Easter. The salt-cellar
remains on the table during the festival of Juul;
Christmas cake and the Juul tonne, which dates from
Pagan days, to which all strangers are welcomed with
“ You shall not carry pur Juul out of doors.” From the
24th of December until the New Year no one works—
neither man nor woman. The farmer drinks during
that period of repose a considerable quantity of honey
mixed with brandy—a sort of hydromel, the favourite
beverage—and devours huge Christmas cakes ; and the
young people love the dance almost to frenzy. The
New Year, however, is not danced in, as with us; it
is “ shot in ” in Bornholm. Everybody who possesses
or can shoulder a gun or discharge a pistol fires it off
as the clock strikes twelve; large parties of the
peasants mount their steeds, and, visiting the farms of
their neighbours, fire against the window-panes, startling
those slumbering within—a somewhat uproarious
manner of wishing them “ a happy New Year.” On the
festival of the Three Kings in every house is
consumed a tallow candle with three wicks; then, at six
weeks’ distance from Christmas Day, the Bornholmers
indulge in one week of fun and jollity, relics of the old
Papistic carnival, termed “ Fastelavn” (Shrovetide). They
do then’ best to disguise and costume themselves, men
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