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As we all know, and indeed
as I am almost certain to have reported in some such column at
some point in time in the last twenty years, it was Martin Luther
who first brought an evergreen into the house, and, decorating
it, invented the Christmas Tree. This is an oft told and beloved
tale, particularly beloved, one assumes, among Lutherans and
Germans. Having both in my background, I would naturally hesitate
to cast any aspersions on the story.
However, truth and folkore
must out, so I must now confess that the custom of decorating
trees for the holidays dates back at least to an English monk
now known as Saint Boniface, who around the year 722 introduced
the fir as a symbol of Christianity to the then-pagan Germans.
It is a matter of public record that at least by the dawn of
the 1300's the Germans had a well established tradition of bringing
a large evergreen into the village square and decorating it for
the season. (In the spirit of charity, one may suppose that Luther
inaugurated the concept of bringing a smaller version of the
thing indoors, however.)
Anyway, as we also all know,
this now-German concept remained unknown to England (and, by
extension, America) until the mid 1800's, when Prince Albert,
husband of Queen Victoria, introduced the Christmas Tree to the
royal palace.
Ahem.
By the time of the American
Revolution there were, of course, numerous German settlements
in the New World — my own ancestors date from this period.
It would in any case be odd if the tradition of the Christmas
Tree had not followed these settlers to America, especially as
the fir tree was so plentiful in this new land. It is at the
very least a matter of public record that, at the time of the
Revolution, German soldiers brought over by the English officially
introduced the tradition in New Jersey.
Now, in less-than-German areas
the concept was not so quick to catch on. As late as 1851, a
minister in Cleveland attempted to further the charming custom
by erecting a Christmas Tree inside his church. The outraged
parishioners proceeded to throw both tree and minister out into
the snow.
So, a lot of possible "origins"
for this wonderful little Yuletide custom, and I've barely scratched
the surface. For myself, however, I prefer the following legend,
discovered in an old monastery in Sicily:
"And it came to pass
that, when the Christ Child was born in a manger, a long procession
of humble folk came to give honor to the newborn babe. And this
procession was not limited to humankind, for even the animals,
yes and the very trees of the forest joined the march toward
Bethlehem.
"And among these trees
were those who held themselves as perhaps greater than their
brethren - the olive tree, the palm tree, the apple and other
fruit bearing trees - for they bore in their very branches wonderful
gifts to bring the Child. And at the back of this procession,
very humble and not so great at all, there stood a little fir
tree. All it had in its branches were thorny needles - hardly
appropriate offerings. The poor fir longed to see the infant,
but was pushed to the back by its self-acknowledged superiors,
who did not want to embarrass the assemblage with the sight of
their inferior needled cousin. And so the little fir tree remained
at the back, humblest perhaps of all the humble creatures now
gathered.
"And it happened that
an angel was hovering nearby, and took pity on the poor fir tree,
and persuaded a few stars to leave their berths in the heavens
and for a time come and sit amongst the fir's boughs. The Christ
Child looked up, and saw this now magnificently star-adorned
tree, and smiled His first smile..."
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