>
> The Christians took over Christmas, from a Pagan festival Xmas* which is
> celebrated around the 26th December (I think).
>
> Also, and interesting bit of Christmas trivia:
>
> Did you know that in England, Christmas is actually illegal! In the
> 16th or 17th century, the king of the time made Christmas illegal by
> passing a law on it, and to this day it has not been revoked!
>
> * - Xmas, contrary to popular belief, is not a shortening of Christmas, but
> the X refers to a Pagan rune, wich closely resembles the X.
Could you footnote your footnote, please? I have never heard this before
(while I *have* seen X used in various contexts as an abbreviation of
'Christ'), and am skeptical of your source. Actually, if you have a
footnote for the Christmas-is-illegal-in-England bit, too, I'm curious
about it.
Eva