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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Christmas: Its Origin and Associations, by
+William Francis Dawson
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Christmas: Its Origin and Associations
+ Together with Its Historical Events and Festive Celebrations During Nineteen Centuries
+
+
+Author: William Francis Dawson
+
+
+
+Release Date: July 10, 2007 [eBook #22042]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRISTMAS: ITS ORIGIN AND
+ASSOCIATIONS***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Robert Cicconetti, Turgut Dincer, and the Project
+Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net)
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+ file which includes the original illustrations.
+ See 22042-h.htm or 22042-h.zip:
+ (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/2/0/4/22042/22042-h/22042-h.htm)
+ or
+ (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/2/0/4/22042/22042-h.zip)
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+ In this text a character with macron is represented as [=x].
+ Superscripted characters are enclosed by curly brackets and
+ preceed by a caret character (example: ^{th}).
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: BRINGING IN THE YULE LOG. _Frontispiece._]
+
+
+
+
+ CHRISTMAS:
+
+ _ITS ORIGIN AND ASSOCIATIONS,_
+
+
+ TOGETHER WITH
+
+ ITS HISTORICAL EVENTS AND FESTIVE
+ CELEBRATIONS DURING NINETEEN
+ CENTURIES:
+
+
+ DEPICTING, BY PEN AND PENCIL,
+
+ MEMORABLE CELEBRATIONS, STATELY MEETINGS OF EARLY KINGS,
+ REMARKABLE EVENTS, ROMANTIC EPISODES, BRAVE DEEDS,
+ PICTURESQUE CUSTOMS, TIME-HONOURED SPORTS,
+ ROYAL CHRISTMASES, CORONATIONS AND ROYAL MARRIAGES,
+ CHIVALRIC FEATS, COURT BANQUETINGS AND REVELLINGS,
+ CHRISTMAS AT THE COLLEGES AND THE INNS OF COURT,
+ POPULAR FESTIVITIES, AND CHRISTMAS-KEEPING
+ IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD,
+ DERIVED FROM THE MOST AUTHENTIC
+ SOURCES, AND ARRANGED
+ CHRONOLOGICALLY.
+
+
+
+ BY
+
+ W. F. DAWSON.
+
+ At home, at sea, in many distant lands,
+ This Kingly Feast without a rival stands!
+
+
+
+ LONDON
+ ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C.
+ 1902.
+
+ REPUBLISHED BY GALE RESEARCH COMPANY, BOOK TOWER, DETROIT, 1968
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+In the third quarter of the nineteenth century, it fell to my lot to
+write an article on Christmas, its customs and festivities. And,
+although I sought in vain for a chronological account of the festival,
+I discovered many interesting details of its observances dispersed in
+the works of various authors; and, while I found that some of its
+greater celebrations marked important epochs in our national history,
+I saw, also, that the successive celebrations of Christmas during
+nineteen centuries were important links in the chain of historical
+Christian evidences. I became enamoured of the subject, for, in
+addition to historical interest, there is the charm of its legendary
+lore, its picturesque customs, and popular games. It seemed to me that
+the origin and hallowed associations of Christmas, its ancient customs
+and festivities, and the important part it has played in history
+combine to make it a most fascinating subject. I resolved, therefore,
+to collect materials for a larger work on _Christmas_.
+
+Henceforth, I became a snapper-up of everything relating to
+Christmastide, utilised every opportunity of searching libraries,
+bookstalls, and catalogues of books in different parts of the country,
+and, subsequently, as a Reader of the British Museum Library, had
+access to that vast storehouse of literary and historical treasures.
+
+Soon after commencing the work, I realised that I had entered a very
+spacious field of research, and that, having to deal with the
+accumulated materials of nineteen centuries, a large amount of labour
+would be involved, and some years must elapse before, even if
+circumstances proved favourable, I could hope to see the end of my
+task. Still, I went on with the work, for I felt that a complete
+account of Christmas, ancient and modern, at home and abroad, would
+prove generally acceptable, for while the historical events and
+legendary lore would interest students and antiquaries, the holiday
+sports and popular celebrations would be no less attractive to general
+readers.
+
+The love of story-telling seems to be ingrained in human nature.
+Travellers tell of vari-coloured races sitting round their watch fires
+reciting deeds of the past; and letters from colonists show how, even
+amidst forest-clearing, they have beguiled their evening hours by
+telling or reading stories as they sat in the glow of their camp
+fires. And in old England there is the same love of tales and stories.
+One of the chief delights of Christmastide is to sit in the united
+family circle and hear, tell, or read about the quaint habits and
+picturesque customs of Christmas in the olden time; and one of the
+purposes of _CHRISTMAS_ is to furnish the retailer of Christmas wares
+with suitable things for re-filling his pack.
+
+From the vast store of materials collected it is not possible to do
+more than make a selection. How far I have succeeded in setting forth
+the subject in a way suited to the diversity of tastes among readers I
+must leave to their judgment and indulgence; but I have this
+satisfaction, that the gems of literature it contains are very rich
+indeed; and I acknowledge my great indebtedness to numerous writers of
+different periods whose references to Christmas and its time-honoured
+customs are quoted.
+
+I have to acknowledge the courtesy of Mr. Henry Jewitt, Mr. E.
+Wiseman, Messrs. Harper, and Messrs. Cassell & Co., in allowing their
+illustrations to appear in this work.
+
+My aim is neither critical nor apologetic, but historical and
+pictorial: it is not to say what might or ought to have been, but to
+set forth from extant records what has actually taken place: to give
+an account of the origin and hallowed associations of Christmas, and
+to depict, by pen and pencil, the important historical events and
+interesting festivities of Christmastide during nineteen centuries.
+With materials collected from different parts of the world, and from
+writings both ancient and modern, I have endeavoured to give in the
+present work a chronological account of the celebrations and
+observances of Christmas from the birth of Christ to the end of the
+nineteenth century; but, in a few instances, the subject-matter has
+been allowed to take precedence of the chronological arrangement. Here
+will be found accounts of primitive celebrations of the Nativity,
+ecclesiastical decisions fixing the date of Christmas, the connection
+of Christmas with the festivals of the ancients, Christmas in times of
+persecution, early celebrations in Britain, stately Christmas meetings
+of the Saxon, Danish, and Norman kings of England; Christmas during
+the wars of the Roses, Royal Christmases under the Tudors, the Stuarts
+and the Kings and Queens of Modern England; Christmas at the Colleges
+and the Inns of Court; Entertainments of the nobility and gentry, and
+popular festivities; accounts of Christmas celebrations in different
+parts of Europe, in America and Canada, in the sultry lands of Africa
+and the ice-bound Arctic coasts, in India and China, at the Antipodes,
+in Australia and New Zealand, and in the Islands of the Pacific; in
+short, throughout the civilised world.
+
+In looking at the celebrations of Christmas, at different periods and
+in different places, I have observed that, whatever views men hold
+respecting Christ, they all agree that His Advent is to be hailed with
+joy, and the nearer the forms of festivity have approximated to the
+teaching of Him who is celebrated the more real has been the joy of
+those who have taken part in the celebrations.
+
+The descriptions of the festivities and customs of different periods
+are given, as far as possible, on the authority of contemporary
+authors, or writers who have special knowledge of those periods, and
+the most reliable authorities have been consulted for facts and dates,
+great care being taken to make the work as accurate and trustworthy as
+possible. I sincerely wish that all who read it may find as much
+pleasure in its perusal as I have had in its compilation.
+
+WILLIAM FRANCIS DAWSON.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Contents]
+
+CHAPTER I. PAGE
+THE ORIGIN AND ASSOCIATIONS OF CHRISTMAS 5
+
+CHAPTER II.
+The Earlier Celebrations of the Festival 10
+
+CHAPTER III.
+Early Christmas Celebrations in Britain 23
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+Christmas, From the Norman Conquest To Magna Charta 40
+(A.D. 1066-1215.)
+
+CHAPTER V.
+Christmas, From Magna Charta To the End of the Wars of
+ the Roses (A.D. 1215-1485.) 62
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+Christmas Under Henry VII. and Henry VIII. 94
+(A.D. 1485-1547.)
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+Christmas Under Edward VI., Mary, and Elizabeth 115
+(A.D. 1547-1603.)
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+Christmas Under James I. 151
+(A.D. 1603-1625.)
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+Christmas Under Charles the First and the Commonwealth 197
+(A.D. 1625-1660.)
+
+CHAPTER X.
+Christmas, From the Restoration To the Death Of George II.
+(A.D. 1660-1760.) 215
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+Modern Christmases at Home 240
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+Modern Christmases Abroad 294
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+Concluding Carol Service of the Nineteenth Century 349
+
+INDEX 351
+
+[Illustration]
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+ PAGE
+
+Bringing in the Yule Log _Frontispiece_
+
+The Herald Angels 2
+
+Virgin and Child 5
+
+Joseph Taking Mary to be Taxed, and the Nativity Events 6
+
+The Nativity (_Central portion of Picture in National Gallery_) 8
+
+Virgin and Child (_Relievo_) 9
+
+Group from the Angels' Serenade 10
+
+Adoration of the Magi (_From Pulpit of Pisa_) 11
+
+"The Inns are Full" 14
+
+Grape Gathering and the Vintage (_Mosaic in the Church of
+St. Constantine, Rome, A.D. 320_) 16
+
+German Ninth Century Picture of the Nativity 16
+
+Ancient Roman Illustrations 17
+
+Ancient Roman Illustrations 18
+
+Ancient Agape 19
+
+Ancient Roman Illustrations 21
+
+Early Celebrations in Britain 23
+
+Queen Bertha 27
+
+An Ancient Fireplace 30
+
+Traveling in the Olden Time, with a "Christmas Fool"
+ on the Front Seat" 31
+
+The Wild Boar Hunt: Killing the Boar 32
+
+Adoration of the Magi (_Picture of Stained Glass, Winchester
+ Cathedral_) 34
+
+A King at Dinner 40
+
+Blind Minstrel at a Feast 42
+
+Minstrels' Christmas Serenade at an Old Baronial Hall 44
+
+Westminster Hall 46
+
+Strange Old Stories Illustrated (_From Harl. MS._) 50
+
+A Cook of the Period (_Early Norman_) 55
+
+Monk Undergoing Discipline 56
+
+Wassailing at Christmastide 57
+
+Panoply of a Crusader 58
+
+Royal Party Dining in State 63
+
+Ladies Looking from the Hustings upon the Tournament 73
+
+The Lord of Misrule 74
+
+Curious Cuts of Priestly Players in the Olden Time 76
+
+A Court Fool 77
+
+Virgin and Child (_Florentine, 1480. South Kensington Museum_) 83
+
+Henry VI.'s Cradle 84
+
+Lady Musician of the Fifteenth Century 91
+
+Rustic Christmas Minstrel with Pipe and Tabor 92
+
+Martin Luther and the Christmas Tree 106
+
+The Little Orleans Madonna of Raphael 107
+
+Magdalen College, Oxford 110
+
+Bringing in the Boar's Head with Minstrelsy 111
+
+Virgin and Child, Chirbury, Shropshire 118
+
+Riding a-Mumming at Christmastide 121
+
+A Dumb Show in the Time of Elizabeth 123
+
+The Fool of the Old Play (_From a Print by Breughel_) 137
+
+The Acting of one of Shakespeare's Plays in the Time of
+ Queen Elizabeth 141
+
+Neighbours with Pipe and Tabor 147
+
+Christmas in the Hall 149
+
+The Hobby-Horse 197
+
+Servants' Christmas Feast 202
+
+"The Hackin" 216
+
+Seafaring Pilgrims 219
+
+An Ancient Fireplace 225
+
+A Druid Priestess Bearing Mistletoe 228
+
+A Nest of Fools 229
+
+"The Mask Dance" 231
+
+The Christmas Mummers 234
+
+The Waits 240
+
+The Christmas Plum-Pudding 245
+
+Italian Minstrels in London, at Christmas, 1825 246
+
+Snap Dragon 247
+
+Blindman's Buff 249
+
+The Christmas Dance 250
+
+The Giving Away of Christmas Doles 257
+
+Poor Children's Treat in Modern Times 265
+
+The Christmas Bells 271
+
+Wassailing the Apple-Trees in Devonshire 279
+
+Modern Christmas Performers: Yorkshire Sword-Actors 282
+
+Modern Christmas Characters: "St Peter," "St. Denys" 283
+
+A Scotch First Footing 285
+
+Provencal Plays at Christmastide 320
+
+Nativity Picture (_From Byzantine Ivory in the British Museum_) 324
+
+Calabrian Shepherds Playing in Rome at Christmas 329
+
+Worshipping the Child Jesus (_From a Picture in the Museum
+ at Naples_) 337
+
+Angels and Men Worshipping the Child Jesus (_From a
+ Picture in Seville Cathedral_) 338
+
+Simeon Received the Child Jesus into his Arms (_From Modern
+ Stained Glass in Bishopsgate Church, London_) 348
+
+Lichfield Cathedral 349
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration:
+
+While shepherds watched their flocks by night,
+ All seated on the ground;
+The angel of the Lord came down,
+ And glory shone around.
+
+_Carol._]
+
+
+
+
+THE HERALD ANGELS.
+
+Lo! God hath ope'd the glist'ring gates of heaven,
+ And thence are streaming beams of glorious light:
+All earth is bath'd in the effulgence giv'n
+ To dissipate the darkness of the night.
+The eastern shepherds, 'biding in the fields,
+ O'erlook the flocks till now their constant care,
+And light divine to mortal sense reveals
+ A seraph bright descending in the air.
+
+Hark! strains seraphic fall upon the ear,
+ From shining ones around th' eternal gates:
+Glad that man's load of guilt may disappear,
+ Infinite strength on finite weakness waits.
+
+Why are the trembling shepherds sore afraid?
+ Why shrink they at the grand, the heavenly sight?
+"Fear not" (the angel says), nor be dismay'd,
+ And o'er them sheds a ray of God-sent light.
+O matchless mercy! All-embracing love!
+ The angel speaks and, gladly, men record:--
+"I bring you joyful tidings from above:
+ This day is born a Saviour, Christ the Lord!"
+
+Hark! "Peace on earth, and God's good-will to men!"
+ The angels sing, and heaven resounds with praise--
+That fallen man may live with God again,
+ Through Christ, who deigns the sons of men to raise.
+
+W. F. D
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER I._
+
+THE ORIGIN AND ASSOCIATIONS OF CHRISTMAS.
+
+
+THE FIRST CHRISTMAS: THE ADVENT OF CHRIST.
+
+ Behold, a virgin shall conceive,
+ And bear a Son,
+ And shall call His name Immanuel.
+
+ (_Isaiah_ vii. 14.)
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When His mother Mary
+had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found
+with child of the Holy Ghost. And Joseph her husband, being a
+righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, was
+minded to put her away privily. But when he thought on these things,
+behold, an angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying,
+Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife:
+for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall
+bring forth a Son; and thou shalt call His name Jesus; for it is He
+that shall save His people from their sins. Now all this is come to
+pass, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through
+the prophet, saying,
+
+ Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a Son,
+ And they shall call His name Immanuel;
+
+which is, being interpreted, God with us. And Joseph arose from his
+sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took unto
+him his wife; and knew her not till she had brought forth a Son; and
+he called His name Jesus.
+
+(_Matthew_ i. 18-25.)
+
+[Illustration: "There went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the
+world should be taxed. And Joseph went to be taxed with Mary his
+espoused wife, being great with child." (_Luke_ ii. 1-5.)]
+
+And there were shepherds in the same country abiding in the field,
+and keeping watch by night over their flock. And an angel of the Lord
+stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and
+they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Be not afraid;
+for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to
+all the people: for there is born to you this day in the city of David
+a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this is the sign unto you; Ye
+shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.
+And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host
+praising God, and saying,
+
+ Glory to God in the highest,
+ And on earth peace among men in whom He is well pleased.
+
+And it came to pass, when the angels went away from them into heaven,
+the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem,
+and see this thing that is come to pass, which the Lord hath made
+known unto us. And they came with haste, and found both Mary and
+Joseph, and the Babe lying in the manger. And when they saw it, they
+made known concerning the saying which was spoken to them about this
+child. And all that heard it wondered at the things which were spoken
+unto them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these sayings, pondering
+them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising
+God for all the things that they had heard and seen, even as it was
+spoken unto them.
+
+(_Luke_ ii. 8-20.)
+
+
+THE PLACE OF THE NATIVITY.
+
+The evangelist Matthew tells us that "Jesus was born in Bethlehem of
+Judaea in the days of Herod the king;" and Justin Martyr, who was born
+at Shechem and lived less than a century after the time of Christ,
+places the scene of the Nativity in a cave. Over this cave has risen
+the Church and Convent of the Nativity, and there is a stone slab with
+a star cut in it to mark the spot where the Saviour was born. Dean
+Farrar, who has been at the place, says: "It is impossible to stand in
+the little Chapel of the Nativity, and to look without emotion on the
+silver star let into the white marble, encircled by its sixteen
+everburning lamps, and surrounded by the inscription, '_Hic de Virgine
+Maria Jesus Christus natus est_.'"
+
+To visit such a scene is to have the thoughts carried back to the
+greatest event in the world's history, for it has been truly said that
+the birth of Christ was the world's second birthday.
+
+ Now, death is life! and grief is turn'd to joy!
+ Since glory shone on that auspicious morn,
+ When God incarnate came, not to destroy,
+ But man to save and manhood's state adorn!
+
+ W. F. D.
+
+[Illustration: The Nativity by Sandro Botticelli
+Centre Portion of Picture in National Gallery]
+
+THE WORD "CHRISTMAS": ITS ORTHOGRAPHY AND MEANING.
+
+"Christmas" (pronounced Kris'mas) signifies "Christ's Mass," meaning
+the festival of the Nativity of Christ, and the word has been
+variously spelt at different periods. The following are obsolete forms
+of it found in old English writings: Crystmasse, Cristmes, Cristmas,
+Crestenmes, Crestenmas, Cristemes, Cristynmes, Crismas, Kyrsomas,
+Xtemas, Cristesmesse, Cristemasse, Crystenmas, Crystynmas, Chrystmas,
+Chrystemes, Chrystemasse, Chrystymesse, Cristenmas, Christenmas,
+Christmass, Christmes. Christmas has also been called _Noel_ or
+_Nowel_. As to the derivation of the word _Noel_, some say it is a
+contraction of the French _nouvelles_ (tidings), _les bonnes
+nouvelles_, that is "The good news of the Gospel"; others take it as
+an abbreviation of the Gascon or Provencal _nadaue_, _nadal_, which
+means the same as the Latin _natalis_, that is, _dies natalis_, "the
+birthday." In "The Franklin's Tale," Chaucer alludes to "Nowel" as a
+festive cry at Christmastide: "And 'Nowel' crieth every lusty man."
+Some say _Noel_ is a corruption of _Yule_, _Jule_, or _Ule_, meaning
+"The festival of the sun." The name _Yule_ is still applied to the
+festival in Scotland, and some other places. Christmas is represented
+in Welsh by _Nadolig_, which signifies "the natal, or birth"; in
+French by _Noel_; and in Italian by _Il Natale_, which, together with
+its cognate term in Spanish, is simply a contraction of _dies
+natalis_, "the birthday."
+
+ CHRISTMAS: blest Feast of the Nativity!
+ H eaven made thy lowly shrine
+ R esplendent with the gift of the eternal Deity
+ I n whom we live and move, whose large benignity
+ S pared not His Son divine:
+ T hat well-beloved Son by God was given,
+ M ankind to save with His redeeming blood;
+ A nd Jesus freely left the bliss of Heaven,
+ S uffering death, to achieve our lasting good.--W. F. D.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER II_.
+
+THE EARLIER CELEBRATIONS OF THE FESTIVAL.
+
+
+THE EARLIER CELEBRATIONS.
+
+[Illustration: GROUP FROM THE ANGELS' SERENADE THEODORE MINTROP]
+
+The Angels' Song has been called the first Christmas Carol, and the
+shepherds who heard this heavenly song of peace and goodwill, and went
+"with haste" to the birthplace at Bethlehem, where they "found Mary,
+and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger," certainly took part in
+the first celebration of the Nativity. And the Wise Men, who came
+afterwards with presents from the East, being led to Bethlehem by the
+appearance of the miraculous star, may also be regarded as taking part
+in the first celebration of the Nativity, for the name Epiphany (now
+used to commemorate the manifestation of the Saviour) did not come
+into use till long afterwards, and when it was first adopted among the
+Oriental Churches it was designed to commemorate both the birth and
+baptism of Jesus, which two events the Eastern Churches believed to
+have occurred on January 6th. Whether the shepherds commemorated the
+Feast of the Nativity annually does not appear from the records of the
+Evangelists; but it is by no means improbable that to the end of their
+lives they would annually celebrate the most wonderful event which
+they had witnessed.
+
+[Illustration: ADORATION OF THE MAGI (Relievo.)
+From Pulpit of Pisa Nicola: Pisano]
+
+Within thirty years after the death of our Lord, there were churches
+in Jerusalem, Caesarea, Rome, and the Syrian Antioch. In reference to
+the latter, Bishop Ken beautifully says:--
+
+ "Fair Antioch the rich, the great,
+ Of learning the imperial seat,
+ You readily inclined,
+ To light which on you shined;
+ It soon shot up to a meridian flame,
+ You first baptized it with a Christian name."
+
+Clement, one of the Apostolic Fathers and third Bishop of Rome, who
+flourished in the first century, says: "Brethren, keep diligently
+feast-days, and truly in the first place the day of Christ's birth."
+And according to another of the early Bishops of Rome, it was ordained
+early in the second century, "that in the holy night of the Nativity
+of our Lord and Saviour, they do celebrate public church services and
+in them solemnly sing the Angels' Hymn, because also the same night He
+was declared unto the shepherds by an angel, as the truth itself doth
+witness."
+
+But, before proceeding further with the historical narrative, it will
+be well now to make more particular reference to the fixing of the
+date of the festival.
+
+
+FIXING THE DATE OF CHRISTMAS.
+
+Whether the 25th of December, which is now observed as Christmas Day,
+correctly fixes the period of the year when Christ was born is still
+doubtful, although it is a question upon which there has been much
+controversy. From Clement of Alexandria it appears, that when the
+first efforts were made to fix the season of the Advent, there were
+advocates for the 20th of May, and for the 20th or 21st of April. It
+is also found that some communities of Christians celebrated the
+festival on the 1st or 6th of January; others on the 29th of March,
+the time of the Jewish Passover: while others observed it on the 29th
+of September, or Feast of Tabernacles. The Oriental Christians
+generally were of opinion that both the birth and baptism of Christ
+took place on the 6th of January. Julius I., Bishop of Rome (A.D.
+337-352), contended that the 25th of December was the date of Christ's
+birth, a view to which the majority of the Eastern Church ultimately
+came round, while the Church of the West adopted from their brethren
+in the East the view that the baptism was on the 6th of January. It
+is, at any rate, certain that after St. Chrysostom Christmas was
+observed on the 25th of December in East and West alike, except in the
+Armenian Church, which still remains faithful to January 6th. St.
+Chrysostom, who died in the beginning of the fifth century, informs
+us, in one of his Epistles, that Julius, on the solicitation of St.
+Cyril of Jerusalem, caused strict inquiries to be made on the subject,
+and thereafter, following what seemed to be the best authenticated
+tradition, settled authoritatively the 25th of December as the
+anniversary of Christ's birth, the _Festorum omnium metropolis_, as it
+is styled by Chrysostom. It may be observed, however, that some have
+represented this fixing of the day to have been accomplished by St.
+Telesphorus, who was Bishop of Rome A.D. 127-139, but the authority
+for the assertion is very doubtful. There is good ground for
+maintaining that Easter and its accessory celebrations mark with
+tolerable accuracy the anniversaries of the Passion and Resurrection
+of our Lord, because we know that the events themselves took place at
+the period of the Jewish Passover; but no such precision of date can
+be adduced as regards Christmas. Dr. Geikie[1] says: "The _season_ at
+which Christ was born is inferred from the fact that He was six months
+younger than John, respecting the date of whose birth we have the help
+of knowing the time of the annunciation during his father's
+ministrations in Jerusalem. Still, the whole subject is very
+uncertain. Ewald appears to fix the date of the birth as five years
+earlier than our era. Petavius and Usher fix it as on the 25th of
+December, five years before our era; Bengel, on the 25th of December,
+four years before our era; Anger and Winer, four years before our era,
+in the spring; Scaliger, three years before our era, in October; St.
+Jerome, three years before our era, on December 25th; Eusebius, two
+years before our era, on January 6th; and Ideler, seven years before
+our era, in December." Milton, following the immemorial tradition of
+the Church, says that--
+
+ "It was the winter wild."
+
+But there are still many who think that the 25th of December does not
+correspond with the actual date of the birth of Christ, and regard the
+incident of the flocks and shepherds in the open field, recorded by
+St. Luke, as indicative of spring rather than winter. This incident,
+it is thought, could not have taken place in the inclement month of
+December, and it has been conjectured, with some probability, that the
+25th of December was chosen in order to substitute the purified joy of
+a Christian festival for the license of the _Bacchanalia_ and
+_Saturnalia_ which were kept at that season. It is most probable that
+the Advent took place between December, 749, of Rome, and February,
+750.
+
+Dionysius Exiguus, surnamed the Little, a Romish monk of the sixth
+century, a Scythian by birth, and who died A.D. 556, fixed the birth
+of Christ in the year of Rome 753, but the best authorities are now
+agreed that 753 was not the year in which the Saviour of mankind was
+born. The Nativity is now placed, not as might have been expected, in
+A.D. 1, but in B.C. 5 or 4. The mode of reckoning by the "year of our
+Lord" was first introduced by Dionysius, in his "Cyclus Paschalis," a
+treatise on the computation of Easter, in the first half of the sixth
+century. Up to that time the received computation of events through
+the western portion of Christendom had been from the supposed
+foundation of Rome (B.C. 754), and events were marked accordingly as
+happening in this or that year, _Anno Urbis Conditae_, or by the
+initial letters A.U.C. In the East some historians continued to reckon
+from the era of Seleucidae, which dated from the accession of Seleucus
+Nicator to the monarchy of Syria, in B.C. 312. The new computation was
+received by Christendom in the sixth century, and adopted without
+adequate inquiry, till the sixteenth century. A more careful
+examination of the data presented by the Gospel history, and, in
+particular, by the fact that "Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea"
+before the death of Herod, showed that Dionysius had made a mistake of
+four years, or perhaps more, in his calculations. The death of Herod
+took place in the year of Rome A.U.C. 750, just before the Passover.
+This year coincided with what in our common chronology would be B.C.
+4--so that we have to recognise the fact that our own reckoning is
+erroneous, and to fix B.C. 5 or 4 as the date of the Nativity.
+
+[Illustration: "THE INNS ARE FULL."]
+
+Now, out of the consideration of the time at which the Christmas
+festival is fixed, naturally arises another question, viz.:--
+
+
+THE CONNECTION OF CHRISTMAS WITH ANCIENT FESTIVALS.
+
+Sir Isaac Newton[2] says the Feast of the Nativity, and most of the
+other ecclesiastical anniversaries, were originally fixed at cardinal
+points of the year, without any reference to the dates of the
+incidents which they commemorated, dates which, by lapse of time, it
+was impossible to ascertain. Thus the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary
+was placed on the 25th of March, or about the time of the vernal
+equinox; the Feast of St. Michael on the 29th of September, or near
+the autumnal equinox; and the Birth of Christ at the time of the
+winter solstice. Christmas was thus fixed at the time of the year when
+the most celebrated festivals of the ancients were held in honour of
+the return of the sun which at the winter solstice begins gradually to
+regain power and to ascend apparently in the horizon. Previously to
+this (says William Sandys, F.S.A.),[3] the year was drawing to a
+close, and the world was typically considered to be in the same state.
+The promised restoration of light and commencement of a new era were
+therefore hailed with rejoicings and thanksgivings. The Saxon and
+other northern nations kept a festival at this time of the year in
+honour of Thor, in which they mingled feasting, drinking, and dancing
+with sacrifices and religious rites. It was called Yule, or Jule, a
+term of which the derivation has caused dispute amongst antiquaries;
+some considering it to mean a festival, and others stating that Iol,
+or Iul (spelt in various ways), is a primitive word, conveying the
+idea of Revolution or Wheel, and applicable therefore to the return of
+the sun. The _Bacchanalia_ and _Saturnalia_ of the Romans had
+apparently the same object as the Yuletide, or feast of the Northern
+nations, and were probably adopted from some more ancient nations, as
+the Greeks, Mexicans, Persians, Chinese, &c., had all something
+similar. In the course of them, as is well known, masters and slaves
+were supposed to be on an equality; indeed, the former waited on the
+latter.[4] Presents were mutually given and received, as Christmas
+presents in these days. Towards the end of the feast, when the sun was
+on its return, and the world was considered to be renovated, a king or
+ruler was chosen, with considerable power granted to him during his
+ephemeral reign, whence may have sprung some of the Twelfth-Night
+revels, mingled with those in honour of the Manifestation and
+Adoration of the Magi. And, in all probability, some other Christmas
+customs are adopted from the festivals of the ancients, as decking
+with evergreens and mistletoe (relics of Druidism) and the wassail
+bowl. It is not surprising, therefore, that Bacchanalian illustrations
+have been found among the decorations in the early Christian Churches.
+The illustration on the following page is from a mosaic in the Church
+of St. Constantine, Rome, A.D. 320.
+
+[Illustration: GRAPE GATHERING AND THE VINTAGE.
+MOSAIC IN THE CHURCH OF ST. CONSTANTINE, ROME, A.D. 320.]
+
+[Illustration: FROM AN IVORY (PART OF BOOK COVER)
+GERMAN NINTH CENTURY BRITISH MUSEUM]
+
+Dr. Cassel, of Germany, an erudite Jewish convert who is little known
+in this country, has endeavoured to show that the festival of
+Christmas has a Judaean origin. He considers that its customs are
+significantly in accordance with those of the Jewish festival of the
+Dedication of the Temple. This feast was held in the winter time, on
+the 25th of Cisleu (December 20th), having been founded by Judas
+Maccabaeus in honour of the cleansing of the Temple in B.C. 164, six
+years and a half after its profanation by Antiochus Epiphanes. In
+connection with Dr. Cassel's theory it may be remarked that the German
+word _Weihnachten_ (from _weihen_, "to consecrate, inaugurate," and
+_nacht_, "night") leads directly to the meaning, "Night of the
+Dedication."
+
+[Illustration: ANCIENT ROMAN ILLUSTRATIONS.]
+
+In proceeding with our historical survey, then, we must recollect that
+in the festivities of Christmastide there is a mingling of the Divine
+with the human elements of society--the establishment and development
+of a Christian festival on pagan soil and in the midst of
+superstitious surroundings. Unless this be borne in mind it is
+impossible to understand some customs connected with the celebration
+of Christmas. For while the festival commemorates the Nativity of
+Christ, it also illustrates the ancient practices of the various
+peoples who have taken part in the commemoration, and not
+inappropriately so, as the event commemorated is also linked to the
+past. "Christmas" (says Dean Stanley) "brings before us the relations
+of the Christian religion to the religions which went before; for the
+birth at Bethlehem was itself a link with the past. The coming of
+Jesus Christ was not unheralded or unforeseen. Even in the heathen
+world there had been anticipations of an event of a character not
+unlike this. In Plato's Dialogue bright ideals had been drawn of the
+just man; in Virgil's Eclogues there had been a vision of a new and
+peaceful order of things. But it was in the Jewish nation that these
+anticipations were most distinct. That wonderful people in all its
+history had looked, not backward, but forward. The appearance of Jesus
+Christ was not merely the accomplishment of certain predictions; it
+was the fulfilment of this wide and deep expectation of a whole
+people, and that people the most remarkable in the ancient world."
+Thus Dean Stanley links Christianity with the older religions of the
+world, as other writers have connected the festival of Christmas with
+the festivals of paganism and Judaism. The first Christians were
+exposed to the dissolute habits and idolatrous practices of
+heathenism, as well as the superstitious ceremonials of Judaism, and
+it is in these influences that we must seek the true origin of many of
+the usages and institutions of Christianity. The old hall of Roman
+justice and exchange--an edifice expressive of the popular life of
+Greece and Rome--was not deemed too secular to be used as the first
+Christian place of worship: pagan statues were preserved as objects of
+adoration, being changed but in name; names describing the functions
+of Church officers were copied from the civil vocabulary of the time;
+the ceremonies of Christian worship were accommodated as far as
+possible to those of the heathen, that new converts might not be much
+startled at the change, and at the Christmas festival Christians
+indulged in revels closely resembling those of the _Saturnalia_.
+
+[Illustration: ANCIENT ROMAN ILLUSTRATIONS.]
+
+
+CHRISTMAS IN TIMES OF PERSECUTION.
+
+It is known that the Feast of the Nativity was observed as early as
+the first century, and that it was kept by the primitive Christians
+even in dark days of persecution. "They wandered in deserts, and in
+mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth" (Heb. xi. 38). Yet they
+were faithful to Christ, and the Catacombs of Rome contain evidence
+that they celebrated the Nativity.
+
+The opening up of these Catacombs has brought to light many most
+interesting relics of primitive Christianity. In these Christian
+cemeteries and places of worship there are signs not only of the deep
+emotion and hope with which they buried their dead, but also of their
+simple forms of worship and the festive joy with which they
+commemorated the Nativity of Christ. On the rock-hewn tombs these
+primitive Christians wrote the thoughts that were most consoling to
+themselves, or painted on the walls the figures which gave them the
+most pleasure. The subjects of these paintings are for the most part
+taken from the Bible, and the one which illustrates the earliest and
+most universal of these pictures, and exhibits their Christmas joy, is
+"The Adoration of the Magi." Another of these emblems of joyous
+festivity which is frequently seen, is a vine, with its branches and
+purple clusters spreading in every direction, reminding us that in
+Eastern countries the vintage is the great holiday of the year. In the
+Jewish Church there was no festival so joyous as the Feast of
+Tabernacles, when they gathered the fruit of the vineyard, and in some
+of the earlier celebrations of the Nativity these festivities were
+closely copied. And as all down the ages pagan elements have mingled
+in the festivities of Christmas, so in the Catacombs they are not
+absent. There is Orpheus playing on his harp to the beasts; Bacchus as
+the god of the vintage; Psyche, the butterfly of the soul; the Jordan
+as the god of the rivers. The classical and the Christian, the Hebrew
+and the Hellenic elements had not yet parted; and the unearthing of
+these pictures after the lapse of centuries affords another
+interesting clue to the origin of some of the customs of
+Christmastide. It is astonishing how many of the Catacomb decorations
+are taken from heathen sources and copied from heathen paintings; yet
+we need not wonder when we reflect that the vine was used by the early
+Christians as an emblem of gladness, and it was scarcely possible for
+them to celebrate the Feast of the Nativity--a festival of glad
+tidings--without some sort of _Bacchanalia_. Thus it appears that even
+beneath the palaces and temples of pagan Rome the birth of Christ was
+celebrated, this early undermining of paganism by Christianity being,
+as it were, the germ of the final victory, and the secret praise,
+which came like muffled music from the Catacombs in honour of the
+Nativity, the prelude to the triumph-song in which they shall unite
+who receive from Christ the unwithering crown.
+
+[Illustration: ANCIENT AGAPE.
+
+(_From Withrow's_ "_Catacombs of Rome_," which states that the
+inscriptions, according to Dr. Maitland, should be expanded thus IRENE
+DA CALDA[M AQVAM]--"Peace, give hot water," and AGAPE MISCE MI [VINVM
+CVM AQVA]--"Love, mix me wine with water," the allusion being to the
+ancient custom of tempering wine with water, hot or cold)]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+But they who would wear the crown must first bear the cross, and these
+early Christians had to pass through dreadful days of persecution.
+Some of them were made food for the torches of the atrocious Nero,
+others were thrown into the Imperial fish-ponds to fatten lampreys for
+the Bacchanalian banquets, and many were mangled to death by savage
+beasts, or still more savage men, to make sport for thousands of
+pitiless sightseers, while not a single thumb was turned to make the
+sign of mercy. But perhaps the most gigantic and horrible of all
+Christmas atrocities were those perpetrated by the tyrant Diocletian,
+who became Emperor A.D. 284. The early years of his reign were
+characterised by some sort of religious toleration, but when his
+persecutions began many endured martyrdom, and the storm of his fury
+burst on the Christians in the year 303. A multitude of Christians of
+all ages had assembled to commemorate the Nativity in the temple at
+Nicomedia, in Bithynia, when the tyrant Emperor had the town
+surrounded by soldiers and set on fire, and about twenty thousand
+persons perished. The persecutions were carried on throughout the
+Roman Empire, and the death-roll included some British martyrs,
+Britain being at that time a Roman province. St. Alban, who was put to
+death at Verulam in Diocletian's reign, is said to have been the first
+Christian martyr in Britain. On the retirement of Diocletian, satiated
+with slaughter and wearied with wickedness, Galerius continued the
+persecutions for a while. But the time of deliverance was at hand, for
+the martyrs had made more converts in their deaths than in their
+lives. It was vainly hoped that Christianity would be destroyed, but
+in the succeeding reign of Constantine it became the religion of the
+empire. Not one of the martyrs had died in vain or passed through
+death unrecorded.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+ "There is a record traced on high,
+ That shall endure eternally;
+ The angel standing by God's throne
+ Treasures there each word and groan;
+ And not the martyr's speech alone,
+ But every word is there depicted,
+ With every circumstance of pain
+ The crimson stream, the gash inflicted--
+ And not a drop is shed in vain."
+
+
+CELEBRATIONS UNDER CONSTANTINE THE GREAT.
+
+With the accession of Constantine (born at York, February 27, 274, son
+of the sub-Emperor Constantius by a British mother, the "fair Helena
+of York," and who, on the death of his father at York in 306, was in
+Britain proclaimed Emperor of the Roman Empire) brighter days came to
+the Christians, for his first act was one of favour to them. He had
+been present at the promulgation of Diocletian's edict of the last and
+fiercest of the persecutions against the Christians, in 303, at
+Nicomedia, soon after which the imperial palace was struck by
+lightning, and the conjunction of the events seems to have deeply
+impressed him. No sooner had he ascended the throne than his good
+feeling towards the Christians took the active form of an edict of
+toleration, and subsequently he accepted Christianity, and his example
+was followed by the greater part of his family. And now the
+Christians, who had formerly hidden away in the darkness of the
+Catacombs and encouraged one another with "Alleluias," which served as
+a sort of invitatory or mutual call to each other to praise the Lord,
+might come forth into the Imperial sunshine and hold their services in
+basilicas or public halls, the roofs of which (Jerome tells us)
+"re-echoed with their cries of Alleluia," while Ambrose says the sound
+of their psalms as they sang in celebration of the Nativity "was like
+the surging of the sea in great waves of sound." And the Catacombs
+contain confirmatory evidence of the joy with which relatives of the
+Emperor participated in Christian festivities. In the tomb of
+Constantia, the sister of the Emperor Constantine, the only
+decorations are children gathering the vintage, plucking the grapes,
+carrying baskets of grapes on their heads, dancing on the grapes to
+press out the wine. This primitive conception of the Founder of
+Christianity shows the faith of these early Christians to have been of
+a joyous and festive character, and the Graduals for Christmas Eve and
+Christmas morning, the beautiful Kyrie Eleisons (which in later times
+passed into carols), and the other festival music which has come down
+to us through that wonderful compilation of Christian song, _Gregory's
+Antiphonary_, show that Christmas stood out prominently in the
+celebrations of the now established Church, for the Emperor
+Constantine had transferred the seat of government to Constantinople,
+and Christianity was formally recognised as the established religion.
+
+
+EPISCOPAL REFERENCES TO CHRISTMAS AND CAUTIONS AGAINST EXCESSES.
+
+Cyprian, the intrepid Bishop of Carthage, whose stormy episcopate
+closed with the crown of martyrdom in the latter half of the third
+century, began his treatise on the Nativity thus: "The much wished-for
+and long expected Nativity of Christ is come, the famous solemnity is
+come"--expressions which indicate the desire with which the Church
+looked forward to the festival, and the fame which its celebrations
+had acquired in the popular mind. And in later times, after the
+fulness of festivity at Christmas had resulted in some excesses,
+Bishop Gregory Nazianzen (who died in 389), fearing the spiritual
+thanksgiving was in danger of being subordinated to the temporal
+rejoicing, cautioned all Christians "against feasting to excess,
+dancing, and crowning the doors (practices derived from the heathens);
+urging the celebration of the festival after an heavenly and not an
+earthly manner."
+
+In the Council, generally called _Concilium Africanum_, held A.D. 408,
+"stage-playes and spectacles are forbidden on the Lord's-day,
+Christmas-day, and other solemn Christian festivalls." Theodosius the
+younger, in his laws _de Spectaculis_, in 425, forbade shows or games
+on the Nativity, and some other feasts. And in the Council of Auxerre,
+in Burgundy, in 578, disguisings are again forbidden, and at another
+Council, in 614, it was found necessary to repeat the prohibitory
+canons in stronger terms, declaring it to be unlawful to make any
+indecent plays upon the Kalends of January, according to the profane
+practices of the pagans. But it is also recorded that the more devout
+Christians in these early times celebrated the festival without
+indulging in the forbidden excesses.
+
+ [1] Notes to "Life of Christ."
+
+ [2] "Commentary on the Prophecies of Daniel."
+
+ [3] Introduction to "Christmas Carols," 1833.
+
+ [4] The Emperor Nero himself is known to have presided at
+ the _Saturnalia_, having been made by lot the _Rex
+ bibendi_, or Master of the Revels. Indeed it was at one of
+ these festivals that he instigated the murder of the young
+ Prince Britannicus, the last male descendant of the family
+ of the Claudii, who had been expelled from his rights by
+ violence and crime; and the atrocious act was committed
+ amid the revels over which Nero was presiding as master.
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER III._
+
+EARLY CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS IN BRITAIN.
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+EARLY CELEBRATIONS IN BRITAIN.
+
+It is recorded that there were "saints in Caesar's household," and we
+have also the best authority for saying there were converts among
+Roman soldiers. Cornelius, a Roman centurion, "was a just man and one
+that feared God," and other Roman converts are referred to in
+Scripture as having been found among the officers of the Roman Empire.
+And although it is not known who first preached the Gospel in Britain,
+it seems almost certain that Christianity entered with the Roman
+invasion in A.D. 43. As in Palestine some of the earlier converts
+served Christ secretly "for fear of the Jews," so, in all probability,
+did they in Britain for fear of the Romans. We know that some
+confessed Christ and closed their earthly career with the crown of
+martyrdom. It is also certain that very early in the Christian era
+Christmas was celebrated in Britain, mingling in its festivities some
+of the winter-festival customs of the ancient Britons and the Roman
+invaders, for traces of those celebrations are still seen in some of
+the Christmas customs of modern times. Moreover, it is known that
+Christians were tolerated in Britain by some of the Roman governors
+before the days of Constantine. It was in the time of the fourth Roman
+Emperor, Claudius, that part of Britain was first really conquered.
+Claudius himself came over in the year 43, and his generals afterwards
+went on with the war, conquering one after another of the British
+chiefs, Caradoc, whom the Romans called Caractacus, holding out the
+longest and the most bravely. This intrepid King of the Silurians, who
+lived in South Wales and the neighbouring parts, withstood the Romans
+for several years, but was at last defeated at a great battle,
+supposed to have taken place in Shropshire, where there is a hill
+still called Caer Caradoc. Caradoc and his family were taken prisoners
+and led before the Emperor at Rome, when he made a remarkable speech
+which has been preserved for us by Tacitus. When he saw the splendid
+city of Rome, he wondered that an Emperor who lived in such splendour
+should have meddled with his humble home in Britain; and in his
+address before the Emperor Claudius, who received him seated on his
+throne with the Empress Agrippina by his side, Caradoc said: "My fate
+this day appears as sad for me as it is glorious for thee. I had
+horses, soldiers, arms, and treasures; is it surprising that I should
+regret the loss of them? If it is thy will to command the universe, is
+it a reason we should voluntarily accept slavery? Had I yielded
+sooner, thy fortune and my glory would have been less, and oblivion
+would soon have followed my execution. If thou sparest my life, I
+shall be an eternal monument of thy clemency." Although the Romans had
+very often killed their captives, to the honour of Claudius be it said
+that he treated Caradoc kindly, gave him his liberty, and, according
+to some historians, allowed him to reign in part of Britain as a
+prince subject to Rome. It is surprising that an emperor who had shown
+such clemency could afterwards become one of Rome's sanguinary
+tyrants; but Claudius was a man of weak intellect.
+
+There were several of the Roman Emperors and Governors who befriended
+the Christians, took part in their Christmas festivities, and
+professed faith in Christ. The Venerable Bede says: "In the reign of
+Marcus Aurelius Antonius, and his partner in the Empire, Lucius Verus,
+when Eleutherius was Bishop of Rome, Lucius, a British king, sent a
+letter to his prelate, desiring his directions to make him a
+Christian. The holy bishop immediately complied with this pious
+request; and thus the Britons, being brought over to Christianity,
+continued without warping or disturbance till the reign of the Emperor
+Diocletian." And Selden says: "Howsoever, by injury of time, the
+memory of this great and illustrious Prince King Lucy hath been
+embezzled and smuggled; this, upon the credit of the ancient writers,
+appears plainly, that the pitiful fopperies of the Pagans, and the
+worship of their idol devils, did begin to flag, and within a short
+time would have given place to the worship of the true God." As this
+"illustrious Prince King Lucy"--Lucius Verus--flourished in the latter
+part of the second century, and is credited with the erection of our
+first Christian Church on the site of St. Martin's, at Canterbury, it
+seems clear that even in those early days Christianity was making
+progress in Britain. From the time of Julius Agricola, who was Roman
+Commander from 78 to 84, Britain had been a Roman province, and
+although the Romans never conquered the whole of the island, yet
+during their occupation of what they called their province (the whole
+of Britain, excepting that portion north of the Firths of Forth and
+Clyde), they encouraged the Christmas festivities and did much to
+civilise the people whom they had conquered and whom they governed for
+more than three hundred years. They built towns in different parts of
+the country and constructed good roads from one town to another, for
+they were excellent builders and road-makers. Some of the Roman
+emperors visited Britain and others were chosen by the soldiers of
+Britain; and in the reigns of Constantine the Great and other tolerant
+emperors the Britains lived like Romans, adopted Roman manners and
+customs, and some of them learned to speak the Latin language.
+Christian churches were built and bishoprics founded; a hierarchy was
+established, and at the Council of Arles, in 314, three British
+bishops took part--those of York, London, and Camulodunum (which is
+now Colchester or Malden, authorities are divided, but Freeman says
+Colchester). The canons framed at Arles on this occasion became the
+law of the British Church, and in this more favourable period for
+Christians the Christmas festival was kept with great rejoicing. But
+this settled state of affairs was subsequently disturbed by the
+departure of the Romans and the several invasions of the Anglo-Saxons
+and the Danes which preceded the Norman Conquest.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+CHRISTMAS AGAIN IN TROUBLOUS TIMES: THE DEPARTURE OF THE ROMANS AND
+THE INVASION OF THE ANGLO-SAXONS.
+
+The outgoing of the Romans and the incoming of the Angles, the Saxons,
+and the Jutes disastrously affected the festival of Christmas, for the
+invaders were heathens, and Christianity was swept westward before
+them. They had lived in a part of the Continent which had not been
+reached by Christianity nor classic culture, and they worshipped the
+false gods of Woden and Thunder, and were addicted to various
+heathenish practices, some of which now mingled with the festivities
+of Christmastide. Still, as these Angles came to stay and have given
+their name to our country, it may be well to note that they came over
+to Britain from the one country which is known to have borne the name
+of Angeln or the Engle-land, and which is now called Sleswick, a
+district in the middle of that peninsula which parts the Baltic from
+the North Sea or German Ocean. The Romans having become weakened
+through their conflicts with Germany and other nations, at the
+beginning of the fifth century, the Emperor Honorius recalled the
+Roman legions from Britain, and this made it much easier for the
+Angles and Saxons (who had previously tried to get in) to come and
+remain in this country. Thus our Teuton forefathers came and conquered
+much the greater part of Britain, the Picts and Scots remaining in the
+north and the Welsh in the west of the island. It was their custom to
+kill or make slaves of all the people they could, and so completely
+did they conquer that part of Britain in which they settled that they
+kept their own language and manners and their own heathenish religion,
+and destroyed or desecrated Christian churches which had been set up.
+Hence Christian missionaries were required to convert our ancestral
+worshippers of Woden and Thunder, and a difficult business it was to
+Christianise such pagans, for they stuck to their false gods with the
+same tenacity that the northern nations did.
+
+In his poem of "King Olaf's Christmas" Longfellow refers to the
+worship of Thor and Odin alongside with the worship of Christ in the
+northern nations:--
+
+ "At Drontheim, Olaf the King
+ Heard the bells of Yule-tide ring,
+ As he sat in his banquet-hall.
+ Drinking the nut-brown ale,
+ With his bearded Berserks hale
+ And tall.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ O'er his drinking horn, the sign
+ He made of the Cross divine
+ As he drank, and muttered his prayers;
+ But the Berserks evermore
+ Made the sign of the Hammer of Thor
+ Over theirs."
+
+In England, too, Christ and Thor were worshipped side by side for at
+least 150 years after the introduction of Christianity, for while some
+of the English accepted Christ as their true friend and Saviour, He
+was not accepted by all the people. Indeed, the struggle against Him
+is still going on, but we anticipate the time when He shall be
+victorious all along the line.
+
+The Christmas festival was duly observed by the missionaries who came
+to the South of England from Rome, headed by Augustine, and in the
+northern parts of the country the Christian festivities were revived
+by the Celtic missionaries from Iona, under Aidan, the famous
+Columbian monk. At least half of England was covered by the Columbian
+monks, whose great foundation upon the rocky island of Iona, in the
+Hebrides, was the source of Christianity to Scotland. The ritual of
+the Celtic differed from that of the Romish missionaries, and caused
+confusion, till at the Synod of Whitby (664) the Northumbrian Kingdom
+adopted the Roman usages, and England obtained ecclesiastical unity as
+a branch of the Church of Rome. Thus unity in the Church preceded by
+several centuries unity in the State.
+
+[Illustration: QUEEN BERTHA.]
+
+In connection with Augustine's mission to England, a memorable story
+(recorded in Green's "History of the English People") tells how, when
+but a young Roman deacon, Gregory had noted the white bodies, the fair
+faces, the golden hair of some youths who stood bound in the
+market-place of Rome. "From what country do these slaves come?" he
+asked the traders who brought them. "They are English, Angles!" the
+slave-dealers answered. The deacon's pity veiled itself in poetic
+humour. "Not Angles, but Angels," he said, "with faces so angel-like!
+From what country come they?" "They come," said the merchants, "from
+Deira." "De ira!" was the untranslatable reply; "aye, plucked from
+God's ire, and called to Christ's mercy! And what is the name of their
+king?" "AElla," they told him, and Gregory seized on the words as of
+good omen. "Alleluia shall be sung in AElla's land!" he cried, and
+passed on, musing how the angel-faces should be brought to sing it.
+Only three or four years had gone by when the deacon had become Bishop
+of Rome, and the marriage of Bertha, daughter of the Frankish king,
+Charibert of Paris, with AEthelberht, King of Kent, gave him the
+opening he sought; for Bertha, like her Frankish kinsfolk, was a
+Christian.
+
+And so, after negotiations with the rulers of Gaul, Gregory sent
+Augustine, at the head of a band of monks, to preach the gospel to the
+English people. The missionaries landed in 597, on the very spot where
+Hengest had landed more than a century before, in the Isle of Thanet;
+and the king received them sitting in the open air on the chalk-down
+above Minster, where the eye nowadays catches, miles away over the
+marshes, the dim tower of Canterbury. Rowbotham, in his "History of
+Music," says that wherever Gregory sent missionaries he also sent
+copies of the Gregorian song as he had arranged it in his
+"Antiphonary." And he bade them go singing among the people. And
+Augustine entered Kent bearing a silver cross and a banner with the
+image of Christ painted on it, while a long train of choristers walked
+behind him chanting the _Kyrie Eleison_. In this way they came to the
+court of AEthelberht, who assigned them Canterbury as an abode; and
+they entered Canterbury with similar pomp, and as they passed through
+the gates they sang this petition: "Lord, we beseech Thee to keep Thy
+wrath away from this city and from Thy holy Church, Alleluia!"
+
+As papal Rome preserved many relics of heathen Rome, so, in like
+manner, Pope Gregory, in sending Augustine over to convert the
+Anglo-Saxons, directed him to accommodate the ceremonies of the
+Christian worship as much as possible to those of the heathen, that
+the people might not be much startled at the change; and, in
+particular, he advised him to allow converts to kill and eat at the
+Christmas festival a great number of oxen to the glory of God, as they
+had formerly done to the honour of the devil. The clergy, therefore,
+endeavoured to connect the remnants of Pagan idolatry with
+Christianity, and also allowed some of the practices of our British
+ancestors to mingle in the festivities of Christmastide. The religion
+of the Druids, the priests of the ancient Britons, is supposed to have
+been somewhat similar to that of the Brahmins of India, the Magi of
+Persia, and the Chaldeans of Syria. They worshipped in groves,
+regarded the oak and mistletoe as objects of veneration, and offered
+sacrifices. Before Christianity came to Britain December was called
+"Aerra Geola," because the sun then "turns his glorious course." And
+under different names, such as Woden (another form of Odin), Thor,
+Thunder, Saturn, &c., the pagans held their festivals of rejoicing at
+the winter solstice; and so many of the ancient customs connected with
+these festivals were modified and made subservient to Christianity.
+
+Some of the English even tried to serve Christ and the older gods
+together, like the Roman Emperor, Alexander Severus, whose chapel
+contained Orpheus side by side with Abraham and Christ. "Roedwald of
+East Anglia resolved to serve Christ and the older gods together, and
+a pagan and a Christian altar fronted one another in the same royal
+temple."[5] Kent, however, seems to have been evangelised rapidly, for
+it is recorded that on Christmas Day, 597, no less than ten thousand
+persons were baptized.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Before his death Augustine was able to see almost the whole of Kent
+and Essex nominally Christian.
+
+Christmas was now celebrated as the principal festival of the year,
+for our Anglo-Saxon forefathers delighted in the festivities of the
+Halig-Monath (holy month), as they called the month of December, in
+allusion to Christmas Day. At the great festival of Christmas the
+meetings of the Witenagemot were held, as well as at Easter and
+Whitsuntide, wherever the Court happened to be. And at these times the
+Anglo-Saxon, and afterwards the Danish, Kings of England lived in
+state, wore their crowns, and were surrounded by all the great men of
+their kingdoms (together with strangers of rank) who were sumptuously
+entertained, and the most important affairs of state were brought
+under consideration. There was also an outflow of generous hospitality
+towards the poor, who had a hard time of it during the rest of the
+year, and who required the Christmas gifts to provide them with such
+creature comforts as would help them through the inclement season of
+the year.
+
+Readers of Saxon history will remember that chieftains in the festive
+hall are alluded to in the comparison made by one of King Edwin's
+chiefs, in discussing the welcome to be given to the Christian
+missionary Paulinus: "The present life of man, O King, seems to me, in
+comparison of that time which is unknown to us, like to the swift
+flight of a sparrow through the hall where you sit at your meal in
+winter, with your chiefs and attendants, warmed by a fire made in the
+middle of the hall, while storms of rain or snow prevail without."
+
+[Illustration: AN ANCIENT FIREPLACE.]
+
+The "hall" was the principal part of a gentleman's house in Saxon
+times--the place of entertainment and hospitality--and at
+Christmastide the doors were never shut against any who appeared to be
+worthy of welcome. And with such modes of travelling as were in vogue
+in those days one can readily understand that, not only at Christmas,
+but also at other seasons, the rule of hospitality to strangers was a
+necessity.
+
+To this period belong the princely pageants and the magnificent
+
+
+CHRISTMAS ENTERTAINMENTS OF KING ARTHUR
+
+and the Knights of his Round Table. We know that some people are
+inclined to discredit the accounts which have come down to us of this
+famous British King and Christian hero, but for our own part we are
+inclined to trust the old chroniclers, at all events so far as to
+believe that they give us true pictures
+
+[Illustration: TRAVELLING IN THE OLDEN TIME, WITH A "CHRISTMAS FOOL"
+ON THE FRONT SEAT.]
+
+of the manners and customs of the times of which they write; and in
+this prosaic age it may surely be permitted to us at Christmastide to
+linger over the doings of those romantic days,
+
+ "When every morning brought a noble chance,
+ And every chance brought out a noble knight."[6]
+
+Sir John Froissart tells us of the princely pageants which King Arthur
+held at Windsor in the sixth century, and of the sumptuous Christmas
+banquetings at his Round Table--the very Round Table (so we are to
+believe, on the authority of Dr. Milner)[7] which has been preserved
+in the old chapel, now termed the county hall, at Winchester. It
+consists of stout oak plank, perforated with many bullets, supposed to
+have been shot by Cromwell's soldiers. It is painted with a figure to
+represent King Arthur, and with the names of his twenty-four knights
+as they are stated in the romances of the old chroniclers. This famous
+Prince, who instituted the military order of the Knights of the Round
+Table, is also credited with the reintroduction of Christianity at
+York after the Saxon invaders had destroyed the first churches built
+there. He was unwearying in his warfare against enemies of the
+religion of Christ. His first great enterprise was the siege of a
+Saxon army at York, and, having afterwards won brilliant victories in
+Somersetshire and other parts of southern England, he again marched
+northward and penetrated Scotland to attack the Picts and Scots, who
+had long harassed the border. On returning from Scotland, Arthur
+rested his wearied army at York and kept Christmas with great
+bountifulness. Geoffrey of Monmouth says he was a prince of
+"unparalleled courage and generosity," and his Christmas at York was
+kept with the greatest joy and festivity. Then was the round table
+filled with jocund guests, and the minstrels, gleemen, harpers,
+pipe-players, jugglers, and dancers were as happy round about their
+log-fires as if they had shone in the blaze of a thousand gas-lights.
+
+[Illustration: THE WILD BOAR HUNT: KILLING THE BOAR.]
+
+King Arthur and his Knights also indulged in out-door amusements, as
+hunting, hawking, running, leaping, wrestling, jousts, and tourneys.
+"So," says Sir Thomas Malory,[8] "passed forth all the winter with all
+manner of hunting and hawking, and jousts and tourneys were many
+between many great lords. And ever, in all manner of places, Sir
+Lavaine got great worship, that he was nobly renowned among many of
+the knights of the Round Table. Thus it passed on until Christmas, and
+every day there were jousts made for a diamond, that whosoever joust
+best should have a diamond. But Sir Launcelot would not joust, but if
+it were a great joust cried; but Sir Lavaine jousted there all the
+Christmas passing well, and most was praised; for there were few that
+did so well as he; wherefore all manner of knights deemed that Sir
+Lavaine should be made a Knight of the Round Table, at the next high
+feast of Pentecost."
+
+
+THE ANGLO-SAXON EXCESSES
+
+are referred to by some of the old chroniclers, intemperance being a
+very prevalent vice at the Christmas festival. Ale and mead were their
+favourite drinks; wines were used as occasional luxuries. "When all
+were satisfied with dinner," says an old chronicler, "and their tables
+were removed, they continued drinking till the evening." And another
+tells how drinking and gaming went on through the greater part of the
+night. Chaucer's one solitary reference to Christmastide is an
+allegorical representation of the jovial feasting which was the
+characteristic feature of this great festival held in "the colde
+frosty season of December."
+
+ "Janus sits by the fire with double beard,
+ And drinketh of his bugle horn the wine:
+ Before him stands the brawn of tusked swine,
+ And 'Nowel' cryeth every lusty man."[9]
+
+The Saxons were strongly attached to field sports, and as the "brawn
+of the tusked swine" was the first Christmas dish, it was provided by
+the pleasant preliminary pastime of hunting the wild boar; and the
+incidents of the chase afforded interesting table talk when the boar's
+head was brought in ceremoniously to the Christmas festival.
+
+Prominent among the Anglo-Saxon amusements of Christmastide, Strutt
+mentions their propensity for gaming with dice, as derived from their
+ancestors, for Tacitus assures us that the ancient Germans would not
+only hazard all their wealth, but even stake their liberty, upon the
+turn of the dice: "and he who loses submits to servitude, though
+younger and stronger than his antagonist, and patiently permits
+himself to be bound and sold in the market; and this madness they
+dignify by the name of honour." Chess and backgammon were also
+favourite games with the Anglo-Saxons, and a large portion of the
+night was appropriated to the pursuit of these sedentary amusements,
+especially at the Christmas season of the year, when the early
+darkness stopped out-door games.
+
+ "When they had dined, as I can you say,
+ Lords and ladies went to play;
+ Some to tables, and some to chess,
+ With other games more and less."[10]
+
+Our Saxon forefathers were very superstitious. They had many
+pretenders to witchcraft. They believed in the powers of philtres and
+spells, and invocated spirits; and they relished a blood-curdling
+ghost story at Christmas quite as much as their twentieth-century
+descendants. They confided in prognostics, and believed in the
+influence of particular times and seasons; and at Christmastide they
+derived peculiar pleasure from their belief in the immunity of the
+season from malign influences--a belief which descended to Elizabethan
+days, and is referred to by Shakespeare, in "Hamlet":--
+
+ "Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes,
+ Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated,
+ The bird of dawning singeth all night long:
+ And then, they say, no spirit dares stir abroad;
+ The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike,
+ No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,
+ So hallowed and so gracious is the time."
+
+[Illustration: ADORATION OF THE MAGI
+OLD GLASS WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL]
+
+We cannot pass over this period without mentioning a great Christmas
+in the history of our Teutonic kinsmen on the Continent, for the
+Saxons of England and those of Germany have the same Teutonic origin.
+We refer to
+
+
+THE CROWNING OF CHARLEMAGNE EMPEROR OF THE ROMANS ON CHRISTMAS DAY.
+
+The coronation took place at Rome, on Christmas Day, in the year 800.
+Freeman[11] says that when Charles was King of the Franks and Lombards
+and Patrician of the Romans, he was on very friendly terms with the
+mighty Offa, King of the Angles that dwelt in Mercia. Charles and Offa
+not only exchanged letters and gifts, but each gave the subjects of
+the other various rights in his dominions, and they made a league
+together, "for that they two were the mightiest of all the kings that
+dwelt in the Western lands." As conqueror of the old Saxons in
+Germany, Charles may be regarded as the first King of all Germany, and
+he was the first man of any Teutonic nation who was called Roman
+Emperor. He was crowned with the diadem of the Caesars, by Pope Leo, in
+the name of Charles Augustus, Emperor of the Romans. And it was held
+for a thousand years after, down to the year 1806, that the King of
+the Franks, or, as he was afterwards called, the King of Germany, had
+a right to be crowned by the Pope of Rome, and to be called Emperor of
+the Romans. In the year 1806, however, the Emperor Francis the Second,
+who was also King of Hungary and Archduke of Austria, resigned the
+Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Germany. Since that time no Emperor of
+the Romans has been chosen; but a new German Emperor has been created,
+and the event may be regarded as one of Christmastide, for the
+victorious soldiers who brought it about spent their Christmas in the
+French capital, and during the festival arranged for the
+re-establishment of the German Empire. So it happens, that while
+referring to the crowning of the first German Emperor of the Roman
+Empire, on Christmas Day, 800, we are able to record that more than a
+thousand years afterwards the unification of the German Empire and the
+creation of its first Emperor also occurred at Christmastide, under
+the influence of the German triumphs over the French in the war of
+1870. The imposing event was resolved upon by the German Princes on
+December 18, 1870, the preliminaries were completed during the
+Christmas festival, and on January 18, 1871, in the Galerie des Glaces
+of the chateau of Versailles, William, King of Prussia, was crowned
+and proclaimed first Emperor of the new German Empire.
+
+Now, going back again over a millennium, we come to
+
+
+CHRISTMAS IN THE TIME OF ALFRED THE GREAT.
+
+During the reign of Alfred the Great a law was passed with relation to
+holidays, by virtue of which the twelve days after the Nativity of our
+Saviour were set apart for the celebration of the Christmas festival.
+Some writers are of opinion that, but for Alfred's strict observance
+of the "full twelve holy days," he would not have been defeated by the
+Danes in the year 878. It was just after Twelfth-night that the Danish
+host came suddenly--"bestole," as the old Chronicle says--to
+Chippenham. Then "they rode through the West Saxons' land, and there
+sat down, and mickle of the folk over sea they drove, and of others
+the most deal they rode over; all but the King Alfred; he with a
+little band hardly fared after the woods and on the moor-fastnesses."
+But whether or not Alfred's preparations for the battle just referred
+to were hindered by his enjoyment of the festivities of Christmastide
+with his subjects, it is quite certain that the King won the hearts of
+his people by the great interest he took in their welfare. This good
+king--whose intimacy with his people we delight to associate with the
+homely incident of the burning of a cottager's cakes--kept the
+Christmas festival quite as heartily as any of the early English
+kings, but not so boisterously as some of them. Of the many beautiful
+stories told about him, one might very well belong to Christmastide.
+It is said that, wishing to know what the Danes were about, and how
+strong they were, King Alfred one day set out from Athelney in the
+disguise of a Christmas minstrel, and went into the Danish camp, and
+stayed there several days, amusing the Danes with his playing, till he
+had seen all he wanted, and then went back without any one finding him
+out.
+
+Now, passing on to
+
+
+CHRISTMAS UNDER THE DANISH KINGS OF ENGLAND,
+
+we find that in 961 King Edgar celebrated the Christmas
+festival with great splendour at York; and in 1013 Ethelred
+kept his Christmas with the brave citizens of London who had
+defended the capital during a siege and stoutly resisted Swegen,
+the tyrant king of the Danes. Sir Walter Scott, in his beautiful
+poem of "Marmion," thus pictures the "savage Dane" keeping
+the great winter festival:--
+
+ "Even, heathen yet, the savage Dane
+ At Iol more deep the mead did drain;
+ High on the beach his galleys drew,
+ And feasted all his pirate crew;
+ Then in his low and pine-built hall,
+ Where shields and axes deck'd the wall,
+ They gorged upon the half-dress'd steer;
+ Caroused in seas of sable beer;
+ While round, in brutal jest, were thrown
+ The half-gnaw'd rib, and marrow bone:
+ Or listen'd all, in grim delight.
+ While Scalds yell'd out the joys of fight.
+ Then forth, in frenzy, would they hie,
+ While wildly-loose their red locks fly,
+ And dancing round the blazing pile,
+ They make such barbarous mirth the while,
+ As best might to the mind recall
+ The boisterous joys of Odin's hall."
+
+When the citizens of London saw that Swegen had succeeded all over
+England except their own city, they thought it was no use holding out
+any longer, and they too, submitted and gave hostages. And so Swegen
+was the first Dane who was king, or (as Florence calls him) "Tyrant
+over all England;" and Ethelred, sometimes called the "Unready," King
+of the West Saxons, who had struggled unsuccessfully against the
+Danes, fled with his wife and children to his brother-in-law's court
+in Normandy. On the death of Swegen, the Danes of his fleet chose his
+son Cnut to be King, but the English invited Ethelred to return from
+Normandy and renew the struggle with the Danes. He did so, and the
+Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says: "He held his kingdom with great toil and
+great difficulty the while that his life lasted." After his death and
+that of his son Edmund, Cnut was finally elected and crowned.
+Freeman,[12] in recording the event, says that: "At the Christmas of
+1016-1017, Cnut was a third time chosen king over all England, and one
+of the first things that he did was to send to Normandy for the
+widowed Lady Emma, though she was many years older than he was. She
+came over; she married the new king; and was again Lady of the
+English. She bore Cnut two children, Harthacnut and Gunhild. Her three
+children by Ethelred were left in Normandy. She seems not to have
+cared at all for them or for the memory of Ethelred; her whole love
+passed to her new husband and her new children. Thus it came about
+that the children of Ethelred were brought up in Normandy, and had the
+feelings of Normans rather than Englishmen, a thing which again
+greatly helped the Norman Conquest."
+
+Cnut's first acts of government in England were a series of murders;
+but he afterwards became a wise and temperate king. He even identified
+himself with the patriotism which had withstood the stranger. He
+joined heartily in the festivities of Christmastide, and atoned for
+his father's ravages by costly gifts to the religious houses. And his
+love for monks broke out in the song which he composed as he listened
+to their chant at Ely: "Merrily sang the monks in Ely when Cnut King
+rowed by" across the vast fen-waters that surrounded their Abbey.
+"Row, boatmen, near the land, and hear we these monks sing."[13]
+
+ "'All hail!' the monks at Christmas sang;
+ The merry monks who kept with cheer
+ The gladdest day of all the year."[14]
+
+It is said that Cnut, who is also called Canute, "marked one of his
+royal Christmases by a piece of sudden retributive justice: bored
+beyond all endurance by the Saxon Edric's iteration of the traitorous
+services he had rendered him, the King exclaimed to Edric, Earl of
+Northumberland: 'Then let him receive his deserts, that he may not
+betray us as he betrayed Ethelred and Edmund!' upon which the ready
+Norwegian disposed of all fear on that score by cutting down the
+boaster with his axe, and throwing his body into the Thames."[15]
+
+In the year 1035, King Cnut died at Shaftesbury, and was buried in
+Winchester Cathedral. His sons, Harold and Harthacnut, did not possess
+the capacity for good government, otherwise the reign of the Danes
+might have continued. As it was, their reigns, though short, were
+troublesome. Harold died at Oxford in 1040, and was buried at
+Westminster (being the first king who was buried there); Harthacnut
+died at Lambeth at a wedding-feast in 1042, and was buried beside his
+father in Winchester Cathedral. And thus ended the reigns of the
+Danish kings of England.
+
+Now we come to
+
+
+THE REIGN OF EDWARD THE CONFESSOR,
+
+who, we are told, was heartily chosen by all the people, for the two
+very good reasons, that he was an Englishman by birth, and the only
+man of either the English or the Danish royal families who was at
+hand. He was the son of Ethelred and Emma, and at the Christmas
+festival of his coronation there was great rejoicing. As his early
+training had been at the court of his uncle, Richard the Good, in
+Normandy, he had learnt to prefer Norman-French customs and life to
+those of the English. During his reign, therefore, he brought over
+many strangers and appointed them to high ecclesiastical and other
+offices, and Norman influence and refinement of manners gradually
+increased at the English court, and this, of course, led to the more
+stately celebration of the Christmas festival. The King himself, being
+of a pious and meditative disposition, naturally took more interest in
+the religious than the temporal rejoicings, and the administration of
+state affairs was left almost entirely to members of the house of
+Godwin during the principal part of his reign. Many disturbances
+occurred during Edward's reign in different parts of the country,
+especially on the Welsh border. At the Christmas meeting of the King
+and his Wise Men, at Gloucester, in 1053, it was ordered that Rhys,
+the brother of Gruffydd, the South Welsh king, be put to death for his
+great plunder and mischief. The same year, the great Earl Godwine,
+while dining with the king at Winchester at the Easter feast, suddenly
+fell in a fit, died four days after, and was buried in the old
+cathedral. A few years later (1065), the Northumbrians complained that
+Earl Tostig, Harold's brother, had caused Gospatric, one of the chief
+Thanes, to be treacherously murdered when he came to the King's court
+the Christmas before. King Edward kept his last Christmas (1065), and
+had the meeting of his Wise Men in London instead of Gloucester as
+usual. His great object was to finish his new church at Westminster,
+and to have it hallowed before he died. He lived just long enough to
+have this done. On Innocent's Day the new Minster was consecrated, but
+the King was too ill to be there, so the Lady Edith stood in his
+stead. And on January 5, 1066, King Edward, the son of Ethelred, died.
+On the morning of the day following his death, the body of the
+Confessor was laid in the tomb, in his new church; and on the same
+day--
+
+
+HAROLD WAS CROWNED KING
+
+in his stead. Thus three very important events--the consecration of
+Westminster Abbey, the death of Edward the Confessor, and the crowning
+of Harold--all occurred during the same Christmas festival.
+
+In the terrible year 1066 England had three kings. The reign of
+Harold, the son of Godwine, who succeeded Edward the Confessor,
+terminated at the battle of Senlac, or Hastings, and on the following
+
+
+CHRISTMAS DAY WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR WAS CROWNED KING
+
+by Archbishop Ealdred. He had not at that time conquered all the land,
+and it was a long while before he really possessed the whole of it.
+Still, he was the king, chosen, crowned, and anointed, and no one ever
+was able to drive him out of the land, and the crown of England has
+ever since been held by his descendants.
+
+ [5] Green's "History of the English People."
+
+ [6] Tennyson.
+
+ [7] "History of Winchester."
+
+ [8] "History of King Arthur and His Noble Knights."
+
+ [9] "The Franklin's Tale."
+
+ [10] "Romance of Ipomydon."
+
+ [11] "Old English History."
+
+ [12] "Short History of the Norman Conquest."
+
+ [13] "History of the English People."
+
+ [14] J. G. Whittier.
+
+ [15] "Chambers's Journal," Dec. 28, 1867.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+CHRISTMAS, FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST
+TO MAGNA CHARTA.
+
+(1066 to 1215.)
+
+
+Now we come to the
+
+
+CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS UNDER THE NORMANS.
+
+[Illustration: A KING AT DINNER.]
+
+Lord Macaulay says "the polite luxury of the Normans presented a
+striking contrast to the coarse voracity and drunkenness of their
+Saxon and Danish neighbours." And certainly the above example of a
+royal dinner scene (from a manuscript of the fourteenth century) gives
+an idea of stately ceremony which is not found in any manuscripts
+previous to the coming over of the Normans. They "loved to display
+their magnificence, not in huge piles of food and hogsheads of strong
+drink, but in large and stately edifices, rich armour, gallant horses,
+choice falcons, well-ordered tournaments, banquets delicate rather
+than abundant, and wines remarkable rather for their exquisite flavour
+than for their intoxicating power." Quite so. But even the Normans
+were not all temperate. And, while it is quite true that the refined
+manners and chivalrous spirit of the Normans exercised a powerful
+influence on the Anglo-Saxons, it is equally true that the conquerors
+on mingling with the English people adopted many of the ancient
+customs to which they tenaciously clung, and these included the
+customs of Christmastide.
+
+The Norman kings and nobles displayed their taste for magnificence in
+the most remarkable manner at their coronations, tournaments, and
+their celebrations of Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide. The great
+councils of the Norman reigns which assembled at Christmas and the
+other great festivals, were in appearance a continuation of the
+Witenagemots, but the power of the barons became very formal in the
+presence of such despotic monarchs as William the Conqueror and his
+sons. At the Christmas festival all the prelates and nobles of the
+kingdom were, by their tenures, obliged to attend their sovereign to
+assist in the administration of justice and in deliberation on the
+great affairs of the kingdom. On these occasions the King wore his
+crown, and feasted his nobles in the great hall of his palace, and
+made them presents as marks of his royal favour, after which they
+proceeded to the consideration of State affairs. Wherever the Court
+happened to be, there was usually a large assemblage of gleemen, who
+were jugglers and pantomimists as well as minstrels, and were
+accustomed to associate themselves in companies, and amuse the
+spectators with feats of strength and agility, dancing, tumbling, and
+sleight-of-hand tricks, as well as musical performances. Among the
+minstrels who came into England with William the Conqueror was one
+named Taillefer, who was present at the battle of Hastings, and rode
+in front of the Norman army, inspiriting the soldiers by his songs. He
+sang of Roland, the heroic captain of Charlemagne, tossing his sword
+in the air and catching it again as he approached the English line. He
+was the first to strike a blow at the English, but after mortally
+wounding one or two of King Harold's warriors, he was himself struck
+down.
+
+At the Christmas feast minstrels played on various musical instruments
+during dinner, and sang or told tales afterwards, both in the hall and
+in the chamber to which the king and his nobles retired for amusement.
+Thus it is written of a court minstrel:--
+
+ "Before the King he set him down
+ And took his harp of merry soun,
+ And, as he full well can,
+ Many merry notes he began.
+ The king beheld, and sat full still,
+ To hear his harping he had good will.
+ When he left off his harping,
+ To him said that rich king,
+ Minstrel, we liketh well thy glee,
+ What thing that thou ask of me
+ Largely I will thee pay;
+ Therefore ask now and asay." (_Sir Orpheo._)
+
+[Illustration: BLIND MINSTREL AT A FEAST.]
+
+After the Conquest the first entertainments given by William the
+Conqueror were those to his victorious warriors:--
+
+ "Every warrior's manly neck
+ Chains of regal honour deck,
+ Wreathed in many a golden link:
+ From the golden cup they drink
+ Nectar that the bees produce,
+ Or the grape's extatic juice.
+ Flush'd with mirth and hope they burn."
+
+ _The Gododin._
+
+In 1067 the Conqueror kept a grand Christmas in London. He had spent
+eight months of that year rewarding his warriors and gratifying his
+subjects in Normandy, where he had held a round of feasts and made a
+grand display of the valuable booty which he had won by his sword. A
+part of his plunder he sent to the Pope along with the banner of
+Harold. Another portion, consisting of gold, golden vases, and richly
+embroidered stuffs, was distributed among the abbeys, monasteries, and
+churches of his native duchy, "neither monks nor priests remaining
+without a guerdon." After spending the greater part of the year in
+splendid entertainments in Normandy, apparently undisturbed by the
+reports which had reached him of discontent and insurrection among his
+new subjects in England, William at length embarked at Dieppe on the
+6th of December, 1067, and returned to London to celebrate the
+approaching festival of Christmas. With the object of quieting the
+discontent which prevailed, he invited a considerable number of the
+Saxon chiefs to take part in the Christmas festival, which was kept
+with unusual splendour; and he also caused a proclamation to be read
+in all the churches of the capital declaring it to be his will that
+"all the citizens of London should enjoy their national laws as in the
+days of King Edward." But his policy of friendship and conciliation
+was soon changed into one of cruelty and oppression.
+
+At the instigation of Swein, the King of Denmark, who appeared in the
+Humber with a fleet, the people in the north of England and in some
+other parts rose in revolt against the rule of the Conqueror in 1068.
+So skilfully had the revolt been planned that even William was taken
+by surprise. While he was hunting in the Forest of Dean he heard of
+the loss of York and the slaughter of his garrison of 3,000 Normans,
+and resolved to avenge the disaster. Proceeding to the Humber with his
+horsemen, by a heavy bribe he got the King of Denmark to withdraw his
+fleet; then, after some delay, spent in punishing revolters in the
+Welsh border, he attacked and took the city of York. The land in
+Durham and Northumberland was still quite unsubdued, and some of
+William's soldiers had fared badly in their attempts to take
+possession. At the Christmas feast of 1068 William made a grant of the
+earldom of Northumberland to Robert of Comines, who set out with a
+Norman army to take possession. But he fared no better than his
+predecessors had done. The men of the land determined to withstand
+him, but through the help of Bishop AEthelwine he entered Durham
+peaceably. But he let his men plunder, so the men of the city rose and
+slew him and his followers. And now, says Freeman,[16] William "did
+one of the most frightful deeds of his life. He caused all Northern
+England, beginning with Yorkshire, to be utterly laid waste, that its
+people might not be able to fight against him any more. The havoc was
+fearful; men were starved or sold themselves as slaves, and the land
+did not recover for many years. Then King William wore his crown and
+kept his Christmas at York" (1069).
+
+Now the Conqueror set barons in different parts of the country, and
+each of them kept his own miniature court and celebrated Christmas
+after the costly Norman style. In his beautiful poem of "The Norman
+Baron" Longfellow pictures one of these Christmas celebrations, and
+tells how--
+
+ "In the hall, the serf and vassal
+ Held, that night, their Christmas wassail;
+ Many a carol, old and saintly,
+ Sang the minstrels and the waits.
+
+ And so loud these Saxon gleemen
+ Sang to slaves the songs of freemen,
+ That the storm was heard but faintly
+ Knocking at the castle-gates.
+
+ Till at length the lays they chaunted
+ Reached the chamber terror-haunted,
+ Where the monk, with accents holy,
+ Whispered at the baron's ear.
+
+ Tears upon his eyelids glistened
+ As he paused awhile and listened,
+ And the dying baron slowly
+ Turned his weary head to hear.
+
+ 'Wassail for the kingly stranger
+ Born and cradled in a manger!
+ King, like David, priest, like Aaron,
+ Christ is born to set us free!'"
+
+[Illustration: MINSTRELS' CHRISTMAS SERENADE AT AN OLD BARONIAL HALL.]
+
+According to Strutt, the popular sports and pastimes prevalent at the
+close of the Saxon era were not subjected to any material change by
+the coming of the Normans. But William and his immediate successors
+restricted the privileges of the chase, and imposed great penalties on
+those who presumed to destroy the game in the royal forests without a
+proper license. The wild boar and the wolf still afforded sport at the
+Christmas season, and there was an abundance of smaller game. Leaping,
+running, wrestling, the casting of darts, and other pastimes which
+required bodily strength and agility were also practised, and when the
+frost set in various games were engaged in upon the ice. It is not
+known at what time skating made its first appearance in England, but
+we find some traces of such an exercise in the thirteenth century, at
+which period, according to Fitzstephen, it was customary in the
+winter, when the ice would bear them, for the young citizens of London
+to fasten the leg bones of animals under the soles of their feet by
+tying them round their ankles; and then, taking a pole shod with iron
+into their hands, they pushed themselves forward by striking it
+against the ice, and moved with celerity equal, says the author, to a
+bird flying through the air, or an arrow from a cross-bow; but some
+allowance, we presume, must be made for the poetical figure: he then
+adds, "At times, two of them thus furnished agree to start opposite
+one to another, at a great distance; they meet, elevate their poles,
+attack, and strike each other, when one or both of them fall, and not
+without some bodily hurt; and, even after their fall, are carried a
+great distance from each other, by the rapidity of the motion, and
+whatever part of the head comes upon the ice it is sure to be laid
+bare."
+
+The meetings of the King and his Wise Men for the consideration of
+state affairs were continued at the great festivals, and that held at
+Christmas in 1085 is memorable on account of the resolution then
+passed to make the Domesday survey, in reference to which Freeman
+says: "One of the greatest acts of William's reign, and that by which
+we come to know more about England in his time than from any other
+source, was done in the assembly held at Gloucester at the Christmas
+of 1085. Then the King had, as the Chronicle says, 'very deep speech
+with his Wise Men.' This 'deep speech' in English is in French
+_parlement_; and so we see how our assemblies came by their later
+name. And the end of the deep speech was that commissioners were sent
+through all England, save only the Bishopric of Durham and the earldom
+of Northumberland, to make a survey of the land. They were to set down
+by whom every piece of land, great and small, was held then, by whom
+it was held in King Edward's day, what it was worth now, and what it
+had been worth in King Edward's day. All this was written in a book
+kept at Winchester, which men called _Domesday Book_. It is a most
+wonderful record, and tells us more of the state of England just at
+that moment than we know of it for a long time before or after."
+
+The Domesday Book was completed in 1086, and the following year
+(1087) William the Conqueror died, and his son, William Rufus,
+succeeded him.
+
+[Illustration: WESTMINSTER HALL.]
+
+
+THE CORONATION OF WILLIAM THE RED
+
+took place at Westminster on September 26, 1087, Archbishop Lanfranc
+officiating. The King kept his first Christmas sumptuously at
+Westminster, and, Freeman says, "it seems to have been then that he
+gave back the earldom of Kent to his uncle, Bishop Odo." The character
+of the Royal Christmases degenerated during the reign of Rufus, whose
+licentiousness fouled the festivities. In the latter part of his reign
+Rufus reared the spacious hall at Westminster, where so many Royal
+Christmases were afterwards kept, and which Pope calls
+
+ "Rufus's roaring hall."
+
+It is a magnificent relic of the profuse hospitality of former times.
+Richard the Second heightened its walls and added its noble roof of
+British oak, which shows the excellence of the wood carving of that
+period. Although Sir Charles Barry has shortened the Hall of its
+former proportions to fit it as a vestibule to the New Houses of
+Parliament, it is still a noble and spacious building, and one cannot
+walk through it without in imagination recalling some of the Royal
+Christmases and other stately scenes which have been witnessed there.
+The last of these festal glories was the coronation of George the
+Fourth, which took place in 1821. This grand old hall at Westminster
+was the theatre of Rufus's feasting and revelry; but, vast as the
+edifice then was, it did not equal the ideas of the extravagant
+monarch. An old chronicler states that one of the King's courtiers,
+having observed that the building was too large for the purposes of
+its construction, Rufus replied, "This halle is not begge enough by
+one half, and is but a bedchamber in comparison of that I mind to
+make." Yet this hall was for centuries the largest of its kind in
+Europe, and in it the Christmas feasts were magnificently kept.
+
+After a reign of thirteen years the vicious life of William Rufus met
+with a tragical close. His dead body was found by peasants in a glade
+of the New Forest with the arrow either of a hunter or an assassin in
+his breast. Sir Walter Tyrrel, a Norman knight, who had been hunting
+with the king just before his death, fled to Normandy immediately
+afterwards, and was suspected of being a regicide. The body of Rufus
+was buried in Winchester Cathedral.
+
+
+CHRISTMAS IN THE REIGN OF HENRY I.
+
+Henry the First's Christmas festival at Windsor, in 1126, was a
+memorable one. In that year Henry's daughter Matilda became a widow by
+the death of her husband, Henry V. of Germany, and King Henry
+determined to appoint her his successor to the throne of England and
+the Dukedom of Normandy. On Christmas Day, 1126, a general assembly of
+the nobles and higher ecclesiastics of the kingdom was held at Windsor
+for the purpose of declaring the Empress Matilda (as she was still
+called) the legitimate successor of Henry I., and the clergy and
+Norman barons of both countries swore allegiance to her in the event
+of the king's death. This appointment of Matilda was made by Henry in
+consequence of the calamity which occurred just before Christmas, in
+1120, when he lost his much-loved son, Prince William--the only male
+legitimate issue of Henry--through the wreck of _La Blanche Nef_ (the
+White Ship). On board the vessel were Prince William, his half-brother
+Richard, and Henry's natural daughter the Countess of Perche, as well
+as about a hundred and forty young noblemen of the most distinguished
+families in England and Normandy, all of whom were lost in their
+passage home, only a few hours after the safe arrival of the king in
+England. Henry is said to have swooned at the intelligence, and was
+never afterwards seen to smile. He had returned home anticipating a
+joyous Christmas festival, a season of glad tidings, but he was
+closely followed by this sad news of the death of the heir apparent.
+The incident has called forth one of the most beautiful poems of Mrs.
+Hemans, from which we quote two verses:--
+
+ "The bark that held a prince went down,
+ The sweeping waves rolled on;
+ And what was England's glorious crown
+ To him that wept a son?
+ He lived--for life may long be borne,
+ Ere sorrow break its chain:
+ Why comes not death to those who mourn?
+ He never smiled again!
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ He sat where festal bowls went round,
+ He heard the minstrel sing;
+ He saw the tourney's victor crowned,
+ Amidst the kingly ring;
+ A murmur of the restless deep
+ Was blent with every strain,
+ A voice of winds that would not sleep,--
+ He never smiled again!"
+
+In 1127 Henry invited the king of the Scots to Windsor to join in the
+royal celebration of Christmas, but the festivities were marred by an
+unseemly quarrel between the two primates. Thurstan, Archbishop of
+York, encroaching upon the privileges of his brother of Canterbury
+(William de Corbeuil), insisted upon placing the crown upon the king's
+head ere he set out for church. This the partisans of Canterbury would
+not allow, settling the matter by turning Thurstan's chaplain and
+followers out of doors, and thereby causing such strife between the
+heads of the Church that they both set off to Rome to lay their
+grievances before the Pope. And, subsequently, appeals to Rome became
+frequent, until a satisfactory adjustment of the powers and privileges
+of the two archbishops was arrived at. The Archbishop of Canterbury
+was acknowledged Primate of all England and Metropolitan; but, while
+the privilege of crowning the sovereign was reserved for the
+Archbishop of Canterbury, that of crowning the Queen Consort was given
+to the Archbishop of York.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+STRANGE OLD STORIES OF CHRISTMASTIDE.
+
+The progress of literature under the Conqueror and his sons was very
+great, many devoting themselves almost entirely to literary pursuits.
+Lanfranc and Anselm, the Archbishops of Canterbury, had proved
+themselves worthy of their exalted station. Their precepts and
+examples had awakened the clergy and kindled an ardour for learning
+unknown in any preceding age. Nor did this enthusiasm perish with its
+authors: it was kept alive by the honours which were lavished on all
+who could boast of literary acquirements. During the reign of Henry I.
+Geoffrey of Monmouth published his History of the Britons, and William
+of Malmesbury assures us that every poet hastened to the court of
+Henry's Queen Matilda, at Westminster, to read his verses to the Queen
+and partake of her bounty. William of Malmesbury carefully collected
+the lighter ballads which embodied the popular traditions of the
+English kings, and he tells an amusing story which is connected with
+the festival of Christmas. In early times dancing developed into a
+sort of passion, men and women continually dancing and singing
+together, holding one another by the hands, and concluding the dances
+with kisses. These levities were at first encouraged by the Church,
+but afterwards, seeing the abuse of them, the priests were compelled
+to reprimand and restrain the people. And the story told by William of
+Malmesbury describes the singular punishment which came upon some
+young men and women for disturbing a priest who was performing mass on
+the eve of Christmas. "I, Othbert, a sinner," says the story, "have
+lived to tell the tale. It was the vigil of the Blessed Virgin, and in
+a town where was a church of St. Magnus. And the priest, Rathbertus,
+had just begun the mass, and I, with my comrades, fifteen young women
+and seventeen young men, were dancing outside the church. And we were
+singing so loud that our songs were distinctly heard inside the
+building, and interrupted the service of the mass. And the priest came
+out and told us to desist; and when we did not, he prayed God and St.
+Magnus that we might dance as our punishment for a year to come. A
+youth, whose sister was dancing with us, seized her by the arm to drag
+her away, but it came off in his hand, and she danced on. For a whole
+year we continued. No rain fell on us; cold, nor heat, nor hunger, nor
+thirst, nor fatigue affected us; neither our shoes nor our clothes
+wore out; but still we went on dancing. We trod the earth down to our
+knees, next to our middles, and at last were dancing in a pit. At the
+end of the year release came."
+
+Giraldus Cambrensis, amongst many ridiculous Christmas stories of
+miracles, visions, and apparitions, tells of one devil who acted a
+considerable time as a gentleman's butler with great prudence and
+probity; and of another who was a very diligent and learned clergyman,
+and a mighty favourite of his archbishop. This last clerical devil
+was, it seems, an excellent historian, and used to divert the
+Archbishop with telling him old stories, some of which referred to the
+incarnation of our Saviour, and were related at the Christmas season.
+"Before the incarnation of our Saviour," said the Archbishop's
+historian, "the devils had great power over mankind, but after that
+event their power was much diminished and they were obliged to fly.
+Some of them threw themselves into the sea; some concealed themselves
+in hollow trees, or in the clefts of rocks; and I myself plunged into
+a certain fountain. As soon as he had said this, finding that he had
+discovered his secret, his face was covered with blushes, he went out
+of the room, and was no more seen."
+
+The following cut (taken from MS. Harl., No. 4751, of the end of the
+twelfth century) represents an elephant, with its castle and armed
+men, engaged in battle. The bestiaries relate many strange things of
+the elephant. They say that, though so large and powerful, and so
+courageous against larger animals, it is afraid of a mouse; that its
+nature is so cold that it will never seek the company of the female
+until, wandering in the direction of Paradise, it meets with the plant
+called the mandrake, and eats of it, and that each female bears but
+one young one in her life.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Absurd as we consider such stories, they were believed by the Normans,
+who were no less credulous than the Anglo-Saxons. This is evident
+from the large number of miracles, revelations, visions, and
+enchantments which are related with great gravity by the old
+chroniclers.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+THE MISRULE OF KING STEPHEN.
+
+Stephen of Blois was crowned at Westminster Abbey during the Christmas
+festival (December 26, 1135). As a King of Misrule, he was fitly
+crowned at Christmastide, and it would have been a good thing for the
+nation if his reign had been of the ephemeral character which was
+customary to Lords of Misrule. The nineteen years of his reign were
+years of disorder unparalleled in any period of our history. On the
+landing of Henry the First's daughter, "the Empress Matilda," who
+claimed the English crown for her son Henry, a long struggle ensued,
+and the country was divided between the adherents of the two rivals,
+the West supporting Matilda, and London and the East Stephen. For a
+time the successes in war alternated between the two parties. A defeat
+at Lincoln left Stephen a prisoner in the hands of his enemies; but
+after his escape he laid siege to the city of Oxford, where Matilda
+had assembled her followers. "The Lady" of the English (as Matilda was
+then called) had retreated into the castle, which, though a place of
+great strength, proved to be insufficiently victualled. It was
+surrounded and cut off from all supplies without, and at Christmastide
+(1142), after a siege of three months, Matilda consulted her own
+safety by taking flight. On a cold December night, when the ground was
+covered with snow, she quitted the castle at midnight, attended by
+four knights, who as well as herself were clothed in white, in order
+that they might pass unobserved through the lines of their enemies.
+The adventurous "Lady" made good her escape, and crossing the river
+unnoticed on the ice, found her way to Abingdon. The long anarchy was
+ended by the Treaty of Wallingford (1153), Stephen being recognised as
+king during his life, and the succession devolving upon Matilda's son
+Henry. A year had hardly passed from the signing of the treaty, when
+Stephen's death gave Henry the crown, and his coronation took place at
+Christmastide, 1154, at Westminster.
+
+
+THE REIGN OF HENRY II.,
+
+it has been truly said, "initiated the rule of law," as distinct from
+despotism, whether personal or tempered by routine, of the Norman
+kings. And now the despotic barons began gradually to be shorn of
+their power, and the dungeons of their "Adulterine" castles to be
+stripped of their horrors, and it seemed more appropriate to celebrate
+the season of glad tidings. King Henry the Second kept his first
+Christmas at Bermondsey with great solemnity, marking the occasion by
+passing his royal word to expel all foreigners from the kingdom,
+whereupon William of Ypres and his Flemings decamped without waiting
+for further notice. In 1158 Henry, celebrating the Christmas festival
+at Worcester, took the crown from his head and placed it upon the
+altar, after which he never wore it. But he did not cease to keep
+Christmas. In 1171 he went to Ireland, where the chiefs of the land
+displayed a wonderful alacrity in taking the oath of allegiance, and
+were rewarded by being entertained in a style that astonished them.
+Finding no place in Dublin large enough to contain his own followers,
+much less his guests, Henry had a house built in Irish fashion of
+twigs and wattles in the village of Hogges, and there held high
+revelry during Christmastide, teaching his new subjects to eat cranes'
+flesh, and take their part in miracle plays, masques, mummeries, and
+tournaments. And a great number of oxen were roasted, so that all the
+people might take part in the rejoicings.
+
+
+CHRISTMAS ENTERTAINMENTS AT CONSTANTINOPLE.
+
+In his description of Christian Constantinople, Benjamin of Tudela, a
+Spanish Jew, who travelled through the East in the twelfth century
+(1159 or 1160), describes a "place where the king diverts himself,
+called the hippodrome, near to the wall of the palace. There it is
+that every year, on the day of the birth of Jesus the Nazarene, the
+king gives a grand entertainment. There are represented by magic arts
+before the king and queen, figures of all kinds of men that exist in
+the world; thither also are taken lions, bears, tigers, and wild
+asses, which are made to fight together; as well as birds. There is no
+such sight to be seen in all the world." At Constantinople, on the
+marriage of the Emperor Manuel with Mary, daughter of the Prince of
+Antioch, on Christmas Day, 1161, there were great rejoicings, and
+similar spectacular entertainments to those described by Benjamin of
+Tudela.
+
+
+AN ARCHBISHOP MURDERED AT CHRISTMASTIDE.
+
+During the Christmas festival of 1170 (December 29th) occurred an
+event memorable in ecclesiastical history--the murder of Thomas
+Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1162 Becket (who had previously
+been Chancellor to Henry II.) was made Archbishop, in succession to
+Archbishop Theobald. The King soon found that he who had served him
+faithfully as Chancellor would oppose him doggedly as Archbishop.
+Henry determined to subject the Church as well as the State to the
+supremacy of the law; and Becket determined to resist the King to the
+end, thus manifesting his desire for martyrdom in the cause of the
+Church. Henry had greatly offended the Archbishop by causing his
+eldest son to be crowned by the Archbishop of York. For this violation
+of the rights of Canterbury Becket threatened to lay the country under
+an interdict, which he had the power from the Pope to pronounce. A
+sort of reconciliation was effected between the King and the
+Archbishop at Freteval on July 21, 1170, but a further dispute arose
+on Becket delaying his return to England, the King being anxious to
+get him out of France. The Archbishop was full of complaints against
+Henry for the injuries he had done to his see, and the King stood upon
+his dignity, regardless of the threatened interdiction. The Archbishop
+returned to England on the 1st of December, and was joyfully received
+by the people. His enemies, however, and especially the family of De
+Broc, did all they could to annoy him; and on Christmas Day he uttered
+a violent anathema against them. He preached from the text, "I come to
+die among you," evidently anticipating what might be the personal
+consequences of his action. He told his congregation that one of the
+archbishops had been a martyr, and they would probably soon see
+another; but before he departed home he would avenge some of the
+wrongs the Church had suffered during the previous seven years. Then
+he thundered forth his sentence of excommunication against Ranulph and
+Robert de Broc, and Nigellus, rector of Harrow. Meanwhile news had
+reached the King that Becket had excommunicated certain bishops who
+had taken part in his son's coronation. In a fit of exasperation the
+King uttered some hasty words of anger against the Archbishop. Acting
+upon these, four of Henry's knights--Hugh de Morville, Reginald
+FitzUrse, William de Tracy, and Richard Brito--crossed to England,
+taking with them Ranulf de Broc and a band of men, and murdered the
+Archbishop in Canterbury Cathedral. In the altercation which took
+place before the consummation of the terrible deed, the Primate was
+asked to absolve the bishops whom he had excommunicated, but he
+refused in a defiant and insulting manner. "Then die," exclaimed
+FitzUrse, striking at Becket's head with his weapon; but the devoted
+cross-bearer warded off the blow with his own arm, which was badly
+cut, so that the Archbishop was but slightly injured. One of the
+attacking party then called out, "Fly, or thou diest!" The Archbishop,
+however, clasped his hands, and, with the blood streaming down his
+face, fervently exclaimed, "To God, to St. Mary, to the holy patrons
+of this Church, and to St. Denis I commend my soul and the Church's
+cause." He was then struck down by a second blow, and the third
+completed the tragedy; whereupon one of the murderers, putting his
+foot on the dead prelate's neck, cried, "Thus dies a traitor!" In 1173
+the Archbishop was canonised, and his festival was appointed for the
+day of his martyrdom; and for three centuries after his death the
+shrine of St. Thomas at Canterbury was a favourite place of
+pilgrimage, so great was the impression that his martyrdom made on the
+minds of the English people. As early as the Easter of 1171 Becket's
+sepulchre was the scene of many miracles, if Matthew Paris, the
+historian, is to be believed. What must have been the credulity of the
+people in an age when an historian could gravely write, as Matthew
+Paris did in 1171? "In this year, about Easter, it pleased the Lord
+Jesus Christ to irradiate his glorious martyr Thomas Becket with many
+miracles, that it might appear to all the world he had obtained a
+victory suitable to his merits. None who approached his sepulchre in
+faith returned without a cure. For strength was restored to the lame,
+hearing to the deaf, sight to the blind, speech to the dumb, health to
+the lepers, and life to the dead. Nay, not only men and women, but
+even birds and beasts were raised from death to life."
+
+
+ROYAL CHRISTMASES AT WINDSOR.
+
+Windsor Castle appears to have been the favourite residence of Henry
+II. When, in 1175, he had united with him his son Henry in his crown
+and prerogatives, the two kings held an assembly at Windsor, attended
+by the judges, deputies of counties and districts, and all the great
+officers of state. Henry also kept his ensuing Christmas with the
+magnificence and display peculiar to the times, and all the ancient
+sports and usages; in which the nobles and gentry of the surrounding
+country assisted with much splendour at the hunt and tourney, and
+bestowed lavish gifts on the spectators and the people. After the
+kingdom was parcelled out into four jurisdictions, another assembly
+was held at the castle, in 1179, by the two kings; and, in 1184, Henry
+for the last time celebrated his Christmas in the same hall of state:
+his son, who had shared the throne with him, being then dead.
+
+For the festivals of this period the tables of princes, prelates, and
+great barons were plentifully supplied with many dishes of meat
+dressed in various ways. The Normans sent agents into different
+countries to collect the most rare dishes for their tables, by which
+means, says John of Salisbury, this island, which is naturally
+productive of plenty and variety of provisions, was overflowed with
+everything that could inflame a luxurious appetite. The same writer
+says he was present at an entertainment which lasted from three
+o'clock in the afternoon to midnight; at which delicacies were served
+up which had been brought from Constantinople, Babylon, Alexandria,
+Palestine, Tripoli, Syria, and Phoenicia. The sumptuous
+entertainments which the kings of England gave to their nobles and
+prelates at the festivals of Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide
+diffused a taste for profuse and expensive banqueting; for the wealthy
+barons, prelates, and gentry, in their own castles and mansions,
+imitated the splendour of the royal entertainments. Great men had some
+kinds of provisions at their tables which are not now to be found in
+Britain. When Henry II. entertained his own court, the great officers
+of his army, and all the kings and great men in Ireland, at the feast
+of Christmas, 1171, the Irish princes and chieftains were quite
+astonished at the profusion and variety of provisions which they
+beheld, and were with difficulty prevailed on by Henry to eat the
+flesh of cranes, a kind of food to which they had not been accustomed.
+Dellegrout, maupigyrum, karumpie, and other dishes were then used, the
+composition of which is now unknown, or doubtful. Persons of rank and
+wealth had variety of drinks, as well as meats; for, besides wines of
+various kinds, they had pigment, morat, mead, hypocras, claret, cider,
+perry, and ale. The claret of those times was wine clarified and mixed
+with spices, and hypocras was wine mixed with honey.
+
+[Illustration: A COOK OF THE PERIOD.]
+
+The profusion of viands and drinks, obtained at great expense from
+different parts of the world for the gratification of the animal
+appetites at such festivals as have been described, naturally led to
+
+
+EXCESSES IN EATING AND DRINKING,
+
+and from the statements and illustrations in old manuscripts it would
+appear that "the merry monks" were prominent in gastronomical circles.
+And extant records also state that the abbots of some of the
+monasteries found it necessary to make regulations restraining the
+monks, and to these regulations the monks objected. Consequently the
+monks of St. Swithin at Winchester made a formal complaint to Henry
+II. against their abbot for taking away three of the thirteen dishes
+they used to have at dinner. The monks of Canterbury were still more
+luxurious, for they had at least seventeen dishes every day besides a
+dessert; and these dishes were dressed with spices and sauces which
+excited the appetite as well as pleased the taste. And of course the
+festive season of Christmas was an occasion of special indulgence.
+Sometimes serious excesses were followed by severe discipline,
+administered after the manner shown in the ancient illustration which
+is reproduced here.
+
+[Illustration: MONK UNDERGOING DISCIPLINE.]
+
+But these excesses were by no means confined to the monks. The Norman
+barons and gentry adopted many of the manners of the English among
+whom they lived, and especially was this the case in regard to the
+drinking customs of Christmastide. Instead of commending the Normans
+of his time for their sobriety, as he might have done their ancestors,
+Peter of Blois, who was chaplain to Henry II., says: "When you behold
+our barons and knights going upon a military expedition you see their
+baggage horses loaded, not with iron but wine, not with lances but
+cheeses, not with swords but bottles, not with spears but spits. You
+would imagine they were going to prepare a great feast rather than to
+make war. There are even too many who boast of their excessive
+drunkenness and gluttony, and labour to acquire fame by swallowing
+great quantities of meat and drink." The earliest existing carol known
+to antiquaries is in the Anglo-Norman language, and contains
+references to the drinking customs of the period:--
+
+ "To English ale, and Gascon wine,
+ And French, doth Christmas much incline--
+ And Anjou's too;
+ He makes his neighbour freely drink,
+ So that in sleep his head doth sink
+ Often by day.
+ May joys flow from God above
+ To all those who Christmas love.
+
+ Lords, by Christmas and the host
+ Of this mansion hear my toast--
+ Drink it well--
+ Each must drain his cup of wine,
+
+ And I the first will toss off mine:
+ Thus I advise,
+ Here then I bid you all _Wassail_,
+ Cursed be he who will not say Drinkhail."[17]
+
+[Illustration: WASSAILING AT CHRISTMASTIDE.]
+
+Proceeding with our historical narrative we come now to
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+THE ROMANTIC REIGN OF RICHARD THE FIRST,
+
+surnamed Coeur de Lion, the second son of Henry II. and Eleanor of
+Aquitaine, who succeeded to the English throne on the death of his
+father in 1189. Richard is generally supposed to have derived his
+surname from a superiority of animal courage; but, if the metrical
+romance bearing his name, and written in the thirteenth century, be
+entitled to credit, he earned it nobly and literally, by plucking out
+the heart of a lion, to whose fury he had been exposed by the Duke of
+Austria for having slain his son with a blow of his fist. In the
+numerous descriptions afforded by the romance Richard is a most
+imposing personage. He is said to have carried with him to the
+Crusades, and to have afterwards presented to Tancred, King of Sicily,
+the wonder-working sword of King Arthur--
+
+ "The gude sword Caliburne
+ that Arthur luffed so well."
+
+He is also said to have carried a shaft, or lance, 14 feet in length,
+and
+
+ "An axe for the nones,
+ To break therewith the Sarasyns bones.
+ The head was wrought right wele,
+ Therein was twenty pounds of steel."
+
+But, without attempting to follow Richard through all the brilliant
+episodes of his romantic career, there can be no doubt that he was a
+king of great strength and courage, and that his valorous deeds won
+the admiration of poets and chroniclers, who have surrounded him with
+a splendid halo of romance. Contemporary writers tell us that while
+Richard kept magnificent Christmases abroad with the King of Sicily
+and other potentates, his justiciars (especially the extravagant
+William Longchamp, Bishop of Ely) were no less lavish in their
+expenditure for festive entertainments at home. And the old romance of
+"Richard Coeur de Lion" assures us that--
+
+ "Christmas is a time full honest;
+ Kyng Richard it honoured with gret feste.
+ All his clerks and barouns
+ Were set in their pavylouns,
+ And seryed with grete plente
+ Of mete and drink and each dainte."
+
+There is no doubt that the Crusades had a vast influence upon our
+literary tastes, as well as upon the national manners and the
+festivities of Christmastide. On their return from the Holy Land the
+pilgrims and Crusaders brought with them new subjects for theatrical
+representation, founded on the objects of their devotion and the
+incidents in their wars, and these found expression in the early
+mysteries and other plays of Christmastide--that of St. George and the
+Dragon, which survived to modern times, probably owing its origin to
+this period. It is to Richard Coeur de Lion that we are indebted for
+the rise of chivalry in England. It was he who developed tilts and
+tournaments, and under his auspices these diversions assumed a
+military air, the genius of poetry flourished, and the fair sex was
+exalted in admiration. How delightful was it then, beneath the
+inspiring gaze of the fair--
+
+ "Sternly to strike the quintin down;
+ Or fiercely storm some turf-formed town;
+ To rush with valour's doughty sway,
+ Against a Babylon of clay;
+ A Memphis shake with furious shock,
+ Or raze some flower-built Antioch!"[18]
+
+On the death of Richard, in 1199, his brother
+
+
+JOHN WAS CROWNED KING OF ENGLAND.
+
+The youngest and favourite son of Henry II., John, was humoured in
+childhood and grew to be an arrogant and petulant man, and was one of
+the worst of English kings. He possessed ability, but not discipline.
+He could neither govern himself nor his kingdom. He was tyrannical and
+passionate, and spent a good deal of time in the gratification of his
+animal appetites. He was fond of display and good living, and
+extravagant in his Christmas entertainments. When, in 1201, he kept
+Christmas at Guildford he taxed his purse and ingenuity in providing
+all his servitors with costly apparel, and he was greatly annoyed
+because the Archbishop of Canterbury, in a similar fit of sumptuary
+extravagance, sought to outdo his sovereign. John, however, cunningly
+concealed his displeasure at the time, but punished the prelate by a
+costly celebration of the next Easter festival at Canterbury at the
+Archbishop's expense. In consequence of John's frequent quarrels with
+his nobles the attendance at his Christmas feasts became smaller every
+year, until he could only muster a very meagre company around his
+festive board, and it was said that he had almost as many enemies as
+there were nobles in the kingdom.
+
+In 1205 John spent his Christmas at the ancient town of Brill, in the
+Vale of Aylesbury, and in 1213 he kept a Royal Christmas in the great
+hall at Westminster.
+
+
+MAGNA CHARTA DEMANDED AT A CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL.
+
+The Christmas of 1214 is memorable in English history as the festival
+at which the barons demanded from King John that document which as the
+foundation of our English liberties is known to us by the name of
+_Magna Charta_, that is, the Great Charter. John's tyranny and
+lawlessness had become intolerable, and the people's hope hung on the
+fortunes of the French campaign in which he was then engaged. His
+defeat at the battle of Bouvines, fought on July 27, 1214, gave
+strength to his opponents; and after his return to England the barons
+secretly met at St. Edmundsbury and swore to demand from him, if
+needful by force of arms, the restoration of their liberties by
+charter under the king's seal. Having agreed to assemble at the Court
+for this purpose during the approaching festival of Christmas they
+separated. When Christmas Day arrived John was at Worcester, attended
+only by a few of his immediate retainers and some foreign mercenaries.
+None of his great vassals came, as was customary at Christmas, to
+offer their congratulations. His attendants tried in vain to assume an
+appearance of cheerfulness and festivity; but John, alarmed at the
+absence of the barons, hastily rode to London and there shut himself
+up in the house of the Knights Templars. On the Feast of the Epiphany
+the barons assembled in great force at London and presenting
+themselves in arms before the King formally demanded his confirmation
+of the laws of Edward the Confessor and Henry I. At first John assumed
+a bold and defiant air and met the barons with an absolute refusal
+and threats; but, finding the nobles were firm, he sank to the
+meanness of subterfuge, and pleaded the necessity of time for the
+consideration of demands so weighty. With some reluctance the barons
+granted the delay, and ultimately, in 1215, the tyrant bowed to the
+inevitable, called the barons to a conference at Runnymede, and there
+signed the Great Charter, whose most important clauses protect the
+personal liberty and property of every freeman in the kingdom by
+giving security from arbitrary imprisonment and unjust exactions.
+
+ [16] "Short History of the Norman Conquest."
+
+ [17] Wassail and Drinkhail are both derived from the
+ Anglo-Saxon. They were the common drinking pledges of the
+ age. Wassail is equivalent to the phrase, "Your health,"
+ of the present day. Drinkhail, which literally signifies
+ "drink health," was the usual acknowledgment of the other
+ pledge. The carol from which the verses are quoted was
+ evidently sung by the wandering minstrels who visited the
+ castles of the Norman nobility at the festive season of
+ Christmas.
+
+ [18] Grattan.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+CHRISTMAS, FROM MAGNA CHARTA TO THE END OF THE WARS OF THE ROSES.
+
+(1215-1485.)
+
+Soon after the disaster which overtook John's army at the Wash the
+King ended his wretched career by death. He died on October 18, 1216,
+in the castle of Newark on the Trent, and the old chroniclers describe
+him as dying in an extremity of agony and remorse.
+
+
+HENRY THE THIRD,
+
+sometimes called "Henry of Winchester," came to the throne in
+troublous times, before he was ten years of age. The tyranny of his
+father had alienated every class of his subjects, and the barons who
+had obtained Magna Charta from King John had called in Louis of
+France. But through the conciliatory measures of the Regent Pembroke
+towards the barons, and the strong support which the Roman Church gave
+the boy-king (whose father had meanly done homage to the Pope), the
+foreigners were expelled, and the opposition of the barons was
+suppressed for a time, though in later years they again struggled with
+the crown for supremacy of power. When Henry had grown to manhood and
+the responsibility of government rested upon his own shoulders, he
+still exulted in the protection of the Holy See, which found in him a
+subservient vassal. He fasted during Lent, but feasted right royally
+both at Christmas and Easter. In 1234 he kept a grand Christmas in the
+Great Hall at Westminster, and other royal Christmases were celebrated
+at Windsor Castle and at his palace at Winchester. He made large
+additions to Windsor Castle, and some of his mandates giving minute
+directions for the decoration of his palace at Winchester are still
+preserved. He enjoyed the old plays and ballets of Christmastide
+introduced from France at this period.
+
+[Illustration: ROYAL PARTY DINING IN STATE.]
+
+Henry the Third's most splendid Christmas was in the twentieth year of
+his reign, when he welcomed Eleanor, daughter of the Count of
+Provence, to whom he was married on January 14, 1236. The youthful
+princess left Provence amidst the rejoicings of the whole kingdom.
+She was accompanied by Henry's ambassadors and a grand cavalcade, in
+which were more than three hundred ladies on horseback. Her route lay
+through Navarre and France. On reaching England, at Dover, the
+princess and her train proceeded to Canterbury, where Henry awaited
+their coming. It was in that ancient city that the royal pair were
+married by the Archbishop Edmund and the prelates who accompanied
+Eleanor. From Canterbury the newly-wedded king and queen set out for
+London, attended by a splendid array of nobles, prelates, knights and
+ladies. On the 20th of January, Eleanor was crowned at Westminster
+with great splendour. Matthew Paris, the historian, gives an
+interesting description of the royal procession, and the loyal welcome
+of the citizens of London: "There had assembled together so great a
+number of the nobility of both sexes, so great a number of religious
+orders, so great a concourse of the populace, and so great a variety
+of players, that London could scarcely contain them in her capacious
+bosom. Therefore was the city adorned with silk hangings, and with
+banners, crowns, palls, tapers, and lamps, and with certain marvellous
+ingenuities and devices; all the streets being cleaned from dirt, mud,
+sticks and everything offensive. The citizens of London going to meet
+the king and queen, ornamented and trapped and wondrously sported
+their swift horses; and on the same day they went from the City to
+Westminster, that they might discharge the service of butler to the
+king in his coronation, which is acknowledged to belong to them of
+ancient right. They went in well-marshalled array, adorned in silken
+vestments, wrapped in gold-woven mantles, with fancifully-devised
+garments, sitting on valuable horses refulgent with new bits and
+saddles: and they bore three hundred and sixty gold and silver cups,
+the king's trumpeters going before and sounding their trumpets; so
+that so wonderful a novelty produced a laudable astonishment in the
+spectators." The literary monk of St. Albans also describes the
+splendour of the feast, and the order of the service of the different
+vassals of the crown, many of whom were called upon at the coronation
+to perform certain peculiar services. According to the ancient City
+records, "these served in order in that most elegant and unheard-of
+feast: the Bishop of Chichester, the Chancellor, with the cup of
+precious stones, which was one of the ancient regalia of the king,
+clothed in his pontificals, preceded the king, who was clad in royal
+attire, and wearing the crown. Hugh de Pateshall walked before with
+the patine, clothed in a dalmatica; and the Earls of Chester, Lincoln,
+and Warren, bearing the swords, preceded him. But the two renowned
+knights, Sir Richard Siward and Sir Nicholas de Molis, carried the two
+royal sceptres before the king; and the square purple cloth of silk,
+which was supported upon four silver lances, with four little bells of
+silver gilt, held over the king wherever he walked, was carried by the
+barons of the Cinque Ports; four being assigned to each lance, from
+the diversity of ports, that one port should not seem to be preferred
+before the other. The same in like manner bore a cloth of silk over
+the queen, walking behind the king, which said cloths they claimed to
+be theirs by right, and obtained them. And William de Beauchamp of
+Bedford, who had the office of almoner from times of old, found the
+striped cloth or _burel_, which was laid down under the king's feet as
+he went from the hall as far as the pulpit of the Church of
+Westminster; and that part of the cloth that was _within_ the Church
+always fell to the sexton in whatever church the king was crowned; and
+all that was _without_ the church was distributed among the poor, by
+the hands of William the almoner." The ancient records contain many
+other particulars respecting the ceremonies which graced the marriage
+feast of Henry and Eleanor of Provence, but enough has been quoted to
+show the magnificence of the celebration.
+
+Year by year, as the Christmas festival came round, it was royally
+celebrated wherever the Court happened to be, even though the king had
+to pledge his plate and jewels with the citizens of London to
+replenish his exchequer. But Henry's Royal Christmases did not allay
+the growing disaffection of his subjects on account of his showing too
+much favour to foreigners; and some of the barons who attended the
+Royal Christmas at Westminster in 1241, left in high dudgeon, because
+the place of honour at the banquet was occupied by the papal legate,
+then about to leave England, "to the sorrow of no man but the king."
+In 1252, Henry gave in marriage his beautiful daughter Margaret, to
+Alexander, King of the Scots, and held his Christmas at the same time.
+The city of York was the scene of the regal festivities. The marriage
+took place on Christmas Day, the bridegroom and many of his nobles
+receiving knighthood at the hands of the English king. Henry seems to
+have conciliated the English barons for a time, for most of them were
+present at the marriage festivities, and he counted a thousand knights
+in his train; while Alexander brought sixty splendidly-attired
+Scottish knights with him. That the banqueting was on no mean scale is
+evident from the fact that six hundred fat oxen were slaughtered for
+the occasion, the gift of the Archbishop of York, who also subscribed
+four thousand marks (L2,700) towards the expenses. The consumption of
+meats and drinks at such feasts was enormous. An extant order of
+Henry's, addressed to his keeper of wines, directs him to deliver two
+tuns of white and one of red wine, to make garhiofilac and claret 'as
+usual,' for the king at Christmas; and upon another occasion the
+Sheriffs of Gloucestershire and Sussex were called upon to supply part
+of the necessary provisions; the first named being directed to get
+twenty salmon, and make pies of them; while the latter was instructed
+to send ten peacocks, ten brawns with their heads, and other things.
+And all this provision was necessary, for while Henry feasted the
+rich, he did not forget the poor. When he kept his Christmas at
+Winchester in 1248, he ordered his treasurer to fill Westminster Hall
+with poor people, and feast them there for a week. Twenty years
+afterwards, he kept his Royal Christmas in London for fifteen days,
+opening a fair meantime at Westminster, and forbidding any shop to be
+opened in London as long as the festival lasted. This prohibition of
+business naturally displeased the citizens of London, but the king
+would not withdraw his prohibition until they agreed to make him a
+present of two thousand pounds, upon the receipt of which the
+prohibition was withdrawn.
+
+We cannot pass over this period without reference to the summoning of
+
+
+THE FIRST ENGLISH PARLIAMENT,
+
+which was a great event of Christmastide.
+
+The Barons' Wars interfered seriously with the Christmas festivities,
+but they solved the problem of how to ensure the government of the
+realm in accordance with the provisions of the Great Charter. The King
+(Henry III.) had sworn again and again to observe the Charter, but his
+oath was no sooner taken than it was unscrupulously broken. The
+barons, with the patriotic Simon de Montfort at their head, were
+determined to uphold the rights of the people, and insisted on the
+king's compliance with the provisions of the Charter; and this
+struggle with the Crown yielded one of the greatest events of
+Christmastide: the summoning of the first national Parliament. By
+summoning the representatives of the cities and boroughs to sit beside
+the knights of the shires, the barons and the bishops in the
+Parliament of the realm, Simon de Montfort created a new force in
+English politics. This first national assembly met at Westminster, in
+January, 1265, while the king was a prisoner of Earl Simon. The form
+of national representation thus inaugurated had an immense influence
+on the rising liberties of the people, and has endured to our own
+times. It is not surprising, therefore, that the adoption of this
+measure by the great Earl of Leicester invested his memory with a
+lustre which has not been dimmed by the lapse of centuries. The
+paltering of the king called forth the patriotism of the people. "So
+may a glory from defect arise." The sevenfold lustre of the rainbow is
+only seen when there is rain as well as sun.
+
+ "Only the prism's obstruction shows aright
+ The secret of a sunbeam, breaks its light
+ Into the jewelled bow from blankest white;
+ So may a glory from defect arise."[19]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+THE DEATH OF ROBIN HOOD ON CHRISTMAS EVE.
+
+The famous freebooter, Robin Hood, who, according to tradition,
+flourished in Sherwood Forest in the distracted reign of Henry the
+Third, is said to have died on Christmas Eve, in the year 1247. The
+career of this hero of many popular ballads is not part of our
+subject, though Hone[20] records his death as a Christmas event; and
+Stowe, writing in 1590, evidently believes in Robin Hood as an
+historical personage, for he says, "he suffered no woman to be
+oppressed ... poor men's goods he spared, abundantly relieving them
+with that which by theft he got from the abbeys, and the houses of
+rich old earles."
+
+From the doubtful doings of the romantic chief and his band of
+freebooters, we now pass on to the
+
+
+REIGN OF EDWARD THE FIRST.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Edward the First was in the truest sense a national king. He was
+English to the core, and he won the love of his people by his bravery,
+justice, and good government. He joined freely in the national sports
+and pastimes, and kept the Christmas festival with great splendour.
+There was much of the chivalric in his character, and he shared to the
+full his people's love of hard fighting. He was invested with the
+honour of knighthood and went to foreign courts to display his
+prowess. Matthew of Westminster states that while Edward was
+travelling in France, he heard that a lord of Burgundy was continually
+committing outrages on the persons and property of his neighbours. In
+the true spirit of chivalry Edward attacked the castle of the
+uncourteous baron. His prowess asserted the cause of justice, and he
+bestowed the domains which he had won upon a nobler lord. For the sake
+of acquiring military fame he exposed himself to great dangers in the
+Holy Land, and, during his journey homeward, saved his life by sheer
+fighting in a tournament at Challon. At his "Round Table of
+Kenilworth" a hundred lords and ladies "clad all in silk" renewed the
+faded glories of Arthur's Court, and kept Christmas with great
+magnificence. In 1277, Llewellyn, Prince of Wales, bidden from his
+mountain fastnesses "with a kiss of peace," sat a guest at the
+Christmas feast of Edward, but he was soon to fall the last defender
+of his weeping country's independence in unequal battle with the
+English King. In 1281-2, Edward kept his feast of Christmas at
+Worcester, and there was "such a frost and snow as no man living could
+remember the like." Rivers were frozen over, even including the Thames
+and Severn; fish in ponds, and birds in woods died for want of food;
+and on the breaking up of the ice five of the arches of old London
+bridge were carried away by the stream, and the like happened to many
+other bridges. In 1286 Edward kept his Christmas at Oxford, but the
+honour was accompanied by an unpleasant episode in the hanging of the
+Mayor by the King's command. In 1290, 1292, and 1303, Edward the
+First kept Royal Christmases in the great hall at Westminster. On
+his way to Scotland, in the year 1299, the King witnessed the
+Christmas ceremonial of the Boy Bishop. He permitted one of the
+boy bishops to say vespers before him in his chapel at Heton, near
+Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and made a present to the performers of forty
+shillings, no inconsiderable sum in those days. During his Scotch
+wars, in 1301, Edward, on the approach of winter, took up his quarters
+in Linlithgow, where he built a castle and kept his Christmas; and
+during his reign he celebrated the festival at other places not
+usually so honoured--namely, Bury, Ipswich, Bristol, Berwick,
+Carlisle, and Lincoln.
+
+
+EDWARD THE SECOND
+
+succeeded his father in 1307, being the fourth son of Edward I. and
+Eleanor of Castile. He took great delight in the Christmas revels and
+expended large sums of money in the entertainment of his court
+favourites. In 1311 he kept his Christmas at York, rejoicing in the
+presence of Piers Gaveston, whom he had recalled from banishment in
+utter disregard of advice given to him by his father (Edward I.) on
+his death-bed. Edward II. kept his Christmas in the great hall at
+Westminster in 1317, when, however, few nobles were present, "because
+of discord betwixt them and the King;" but in 1320 the Royal Christmas
+was kept at Westminster "with great honour and glorie." In 1324-5 the
+King's Christmas was sumptuously observed at Nottingham, but the
+following year found Edward a prisoner at Kenilworth, while his wife,
+who had successfully intrigued with Roger Mortimer, leader of the
+Barons, observed the Christmas festivities with her son at
+Wallingford, glad at the downfall of her husband. Edward was an
+irresolute and weak-minded king. He displayed singular incapacity for
+government, wasting almost all his time in frivolous amusements. The
+chief characteristics of his reign were defeat and disgrace abroad,
+and misrule ending in misery at home. Instead of following the example
+of his noble father, Edward I., who has been deservedly styled "the
+greatest of the Plantagenets," he proved himself the weakest of that
+line of kings, spending his time in such trifling diversions as "cross
+and pile," a game of chance with coins. He was so utterly devoid of
+self-respect that he even borrowed money of his barber to carry on
+this frivolous pastime, such items as the following being found in his
+wardrobe rolls:--"Item, paid to Henry, the king's barber, for money
+which he lent the king to play at cross and pile, five shillings.
+Item, paid to Pires Barnard, usher of the king's chamber, money which
+he lent the king, and which he lost at cross and pile; to Monsieur
+Robert Wattewille eightpence." At length the barons, tired of
+Edward's misgovernment, revolted, and made the king a prisoner. During
+the Christmas festival of 1326, Edward was imprisoned in Kenilworth
+Castle. While there he was informed that in a Parliament held at
+Westminster, during Christmas 1326-7, he was deposed, and his son
+Edward, then only fourteen years of age, elected in his stead. On the
+21st of September in the same year Edward II. ended his miserable
+career in Berkeley Castle, being, it is supposed, cruelly murdered by
+his keepers.
+
+
+EDWARD THE THIRD'S CORONATION
+
+festivities were a sumptuous enlargement of the Christmas celebration,
+which usually extended over Twelfth Night. It is said that the
+banqueting cost the equivalent of forty thousand pounds of our money;
+and before the young king there appeared quite a multitude of
+minstrels, mimics, and gleemen. Professor Henry Morley[21] gives a
+specimen of the metrical romances which were translated from the
+French for recitation at the royal and noble banquets of this period.
+They were "busy with action, and told with a lively freedom;" and, in
+the one quoted, "The Fabliau of Sir Cleges," we catch some interesting
+references to the celebration of Christmas:--
+
+ "Every year Sir Cleges would
+ At Christmas a great feast hold
+ In worship of that day,
+ As royal in alle thing
+ As he hadde been a king
+ For sooth as I you say.
+ Rich and poor in the country about
+ Should be there withouten doubt;
+ There would no man say nay.
+ Minstrels would not be behind,
+ For there they might most mirthes find
+ There would they be aye.
+
+ "Minstrels when the feast was done
+ Withouten giftes should not gon,
+ And that both rich and good:
+ Horse, robes and riche ring,
+ Gold, silver, and other thing,
+ To mend with their mood.
+ Ten yeare such feast be held,
+ In the worship of Mary mild
+ And for Him that died on the rood.
+ By that his good began to slake
+ For the great feasts that he did make.
+ The knight gentil of blood."
+
+
+"KEPE OPEN COURT" AT CHRISTMAS.
+
+Froissart, in Cap. XIIII. of his "Chronicles,"[22] gives the
+following account of the Christmas Celebration at which Edward the
+Third was crowned:--
+
+"After that the most part of the company of Heynaulte were departed,
+and syr John Heynaulte lorde of Beamonde taryed, the Quene gave leve
+to her people to departe, savynge a certayne noble knightis the whiche
+she kept styl about her and her s[=o]ne, to counsell them, and
+commaunded all them that departed, to be at London the next Christmas,
+for as than she was determyned to kepe open court, and all they
+promysed her so to do. And whan Christmas was come, she helde a great
+court. And thyther came dukes, erles, barons, knightis, and all the
+nobles of the realme, with prelates, and burgesses of good townes, and
+at this assemble it was advised that the realme coud nat long endure
+without a head and a chief lord. Than they put in wrytynge all the
+dedis of the kyng who was in prison, and all that he had done by evyll
+counsell, and all his usages, and evyll behavyngis, and how evyll he
+had governed his realme, the which was redde openly in playn audience,
+to thentent that the noble sagis of the realme might take therof good
+advyce, and to fall at acorde how the realme shuld be governed from
+thensforth; and whan all the cases and dedis that the kyng had done
+and c[=o]sented to, and all his behavyng and usages were red, and wel
+understand, the barons and knightis and al ye co[=u]sels of the
+realme, drew them aparte to co[=u]sell, and the most part of them
+accorded, and namely the great lordes and nobles, with the burgesses
+of ye good townes, accordyng as they had hard say, and knew themselfe
+the most parte of his dedis. Wherfore they c[=o]cluded that such a man
+was nat worthy to be a kyng. But they all accorded that Edward his
+eldeste son who was ther present, and was ryghtful heyre, shuld be
+crowned kyng in stede of his father, so that he would take good
+counsell, sage and true about hym, so that the realme from thensforth
+myght be better governed than it was before, and that the olde kyng
+his father shuld be well and honestly kept as long as he lyved
+accordyng to his astate; and thus as it was agreed by all the nobles,
+so it was accomplysshed, and than was crowned with a crowne royall at
+the palaice of Westminster, beside L[=o]don, the yong kyng Edward the
+III. who in his dayes after was right fortunate and happy in armes.
+This coronacion was in the yere of our Lorde MCCCXXVI, on Christymas
+day, and as than the yong kyng was about the age of XVI., and they
+held the fest tyl the c[=o]vercion of saynt Paule followyng: and in
+the mean tyme greatly was fested sir John of Heynaulte and all the
+princis and nobles of his co[=u]tre, and was gyven to hym, and to his
+company, many ryche jewels. And so he and his company in great feast
+and solas both with lordis and ladyes taried tyll the XII. day."
+
+
+EDWARD BALLIOL, OF SCOTLAND, DEFEATED AT CHRISTMAS.
+
+The Christmas of 1332 is memorable in Scottish annals as the time of
+the defeat of Edward Balliol, the "phantom king" of Scotland. His
+success was as unreal as a dream. He was solemnly crowned at Scone in
+the month of September, 1332, fondly imagining that he had permanently
+conquered the patriotic Scottish nobles who had opposed him. His
+reign, however, only lasted for a few months. The leaders of the
+national party suddenly assembled a force, and attacked him, while he
+was feasting at Annan, in Dumfriesshire, where he had gone to keep his
+Christmas. A body of horse under Sir Archibald, the young Earl of
+Moray, and Sir Simon Fraser, made a dash into the town to surprise
+Balliol, and he escaped only by springing upon a horse without any
+saddle, leaving behind him his brother Henry slain. Balliol escaped to
+England and was kindly received by Edward III., who afterwards made
+fresh expeditions into Scotland to support him. "Whenever the English
+king appeared the Scots retired to their mountain fastnesses, while
+Edward and his army overran the country with little opposition, burnt
+the houses, and laid waste the lands of those whom he styled rebels;
+but whenever he returned to England they came forth again, only the
+more embittered against the contemptible minion of the English king,
+the more determined against the tyranny of England. The regent, Sir
+Andrew Murray, pursued, with untiring activity, Balliol and his
+adherents. When Edward marched homeward to spend in London the
+Christmas of 1336, he left Scotland to all appearance prostrate, and
+flattered himself that it was completely subdued. Never was it further
+from such a condition. Only one spirit animated the Scottish
+nation--that of eternal resistance to the monarch who had inflicted on
+it such calamities, and set a slave on its throne."[23]
+
+
+COTTAGE CHRISTMAS-KEEPING IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY.
+
+At this period the greatest of the Bishops of Winchester, William of
+Wykeham, was a schoolboy. He was born of humble parents, educated at
+Winchester school, and afterwards became secretary to Uvedale, Lord of
+Wickham Manor, through whom he was introduced to King Edward III. In
+his interesting "Story of the Boyhood of William of Wykeham," the Rev.
+W. A. C. Chevalier thus pictures William's Christmas holidays:--
+
+"Three days after William's arrival home was Christmas-eve. There were
+great preparations in the cottage for spending Christmas worthily, for
+if there was one thing more than another that John Longe believed in,
+it was the proper keeping of Christmas. It was a part of the worthy
+yeoman's faith. He was a humble and thorough believer in all the
+tenets of Christianity, he worshipped the Saviour and adored His
+Nativity, but his faith was a cheerful one, and he thought he best
+honoured his Master by enjoying the good gifts which He sent. Hence
+it was a part of his creed to be jovial at Christmas-tide. And so
+Dame Alice had been busy all that day, and a part of the day before,
+making Christmas pies, dressing Christmas meats, and otherwise making
+ready for the great festival. John Longe, too, had not been idle. He
+and his men had been working hard all day getting in huge Yule-logs
+for the great kitchen fire, whilst William and little Agnes had been
+employed in decorating the kitchen with evergreens and mistletoe,
+displaying in great profusion the red berries of the holly bushes.
+Everything was decked with evergreens, from the cups and platters on
+the shelves to the hams and bacon hanging from the ceiling."
+
+At length the preparations were completed; then came the telling of
+tales and cheerful gossip round the blazing fire on Christmas Eve, and
+the roasting of chestnuts on the embers. "Christmas Day passed at the
+little homestead with all the social and religious honours that the
+honest yeoman could think of. The little household attended the
+service of Mass in the morning, and then, with clear consciences and
+simple hearts, spent the rest of the day in domestic and convivial
+enjoyment."
+
+Returning to royalty, we next see illustrated Froissart's statement
+that "Edward the third was right fortunate and happy in armes."
+
+
+EDWARD THE THIRD'S VICTORIES AND FESTIVITIES.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+During the invasion of France, Edward III. raised the martial glory of
+England by his splendid victories at Crecy, Poictiers, and other
+places; and he kept Christmas right royally with his soldiers on
+French soil. After the battle of Crecy, at which the Prince of Wales
+gained the celebrated title of the Black Prince, Edward marched upon
+Calais, and laid siege to it; and at length he took the place. During
+Edward's absence, England was invaded by David II. of Scotland, who
+was defeated and taken prisoner by the army under Philippa, Edward's
+Queen. The brave Queen then joined King Edward on the French
+battle-ground, and they kept the Christmas of 1346 with much
+rejoicing.
+
+During the Christmas festivities of this period the most noble Order
+of the Garter was instituted by King Edward III. to excite emulation
+amongst the aristocratic warriors of the time, in imitation of orders
+of a similar kind, both religious and military, which had been
+instituted by different monarchs of Europe; and that those who were
+admitted to the order were enjoined to exalt the religion of Christ
+is evident from some lines which Chaucer addressed to the Lords and
+Knights--
+
+ "Do forth, do forth, continue your succour,
+ Hold up Christ's banner, let it not fall."
+
+And again--
+
+ "Ye Lordis eke, shining in noble fame,
+ To which appropered is the maintenance
+ Of Christ 'is cause; in honour of his name,
+ Shove on, and put his foes to utterance."
+
+In imitation of King Arthur, Edward III. set up at Windsor a Round
+Table, which was consecrated with feasts and tournaments, and baptized
+with the blood of the brave. On New Year's Day, 1344, he issued his
+royal letters of protection for the safe-coming and return of foreign
+knights to the solemn jousts which he appointed to be held at Windsor
+on St. Hilary's Day, in extension of the Christmas festivities. The
+festival was opened with a splendid supper; and the next day, and
+until Lent, all kinds of knightly feats of arms were performed. "The
+queen and her ladies," says an old historian, "that they might with
+more convenience behold this spectacle, were orderly seated upon a
+firm ballustrade, or scaffold, with rails before it, running all round
+the lists. And certainly their extraordinary beauties, set so
+advantageously forth with excessive riches of apparel, did prove a
+sight as full of pleasant encouragement to the combatants, as the
+fierce hacklings of men and horses, gallantly armed, were a delightful
+terror to the feminine beholders."
+
+[Illustration: LADIES LOOKING FROM THE HUSTINGS UPON THE TOURNAMENT.]
+
+In 1348 Edward III. kept a grand Christmas at Guildford. "Orders were
+given to manufacture for the Christmas sports eighty tunics of buckram
+of different colours, and a large number of masks--some with faces of
+women, some with beards, some like angel heads of silver. There were
+to be mantles embroidered with heads of dragons, tunics wrought with
+heads and wings of peacocks, and embroidered in many other fantastic
+ways. The celebration of Christmas lasted from All Hallow's Eve, the
+31st of October, till the day after the Purification, the 3rd of
+February. At the court a lord of misrule was appointed, who reigned
+during the whole of this period, and was called 'the master of merry
+disports.' He ruled over and organised all the games and sports, and
+during the period of his rule there was nothing but a succession of
+masques, disguisings, and dances of all kinds. All the nobles, even
+the Mayor of London, had an officer of this kind chosen in their
+households. Dancing was a very favourite amusement. It was practised
+by the nobility of both sexes. The damsels of London spent their
+evenings in dancing before their masters' doors, and the country
+lasses danced upon the village green."[24]
+
+[Illustration: THE LORD OF MISRULE.]
+
+A Royal Christmas was kept at Westminster, with great splendour, in
+1358, when King Edward had two crowned guests at his feast; but these
+were present from no choice of their own: they were the victims to the
+fortune of war at Poictiers and Neville's Cross. And in
+1362, King David of Scotland and the King of Cyprus met at King
+Edward's grand entertainments. The later years of his life were spent
+by this great warrior-king in partial retirement from public affairs,
+and under the influence of his mistress, Alice Perrers, while John of
+Gaunt took a leading part in the government of the state. In 1376
+Edward the Black Prince died, and the same year King Edward III. kept
+his last Christmas at Westminster, the festival being made memorable
+by all the nobles of the realm attending to swear fealty to the son of
+the Black Prince, who, by the King's desire, took precedence of his
+uncles at the banquet as befitted the heir apparent to the crown. The
+King died on the 21st of June, 1377, having reigned for just over half
+a century.
+
+The old chronicler, Stowe, refers to a
+
+
+TERRIBLE CHRISTMAS TEMPEST,
+
+which he says occurred in 1362: "The King held his Christmas at
+Windsore, and the XV. day following a sore and vehement south-west
+winde brake forth, so hideous that it overthrew high houses, towers,
+steeples, and trees, and so bowed them, that the residue which fell
+not, but remained standing, were the weaker."
+
+King Edward the Third's wardrobe accounts witness to the
+
+
+COSTLY CHRISTMAS ROBES
+
+that were worn at this period. And these accounts also show that Alice
+Perrers was associated with the King's daughter and granddaughter in
+the Christmas entertainments. There are items in 1376 stating that the
+King's daughter Isabella (styled Countess of Bedford), and her
+daughter (afterwards wife of Vere, Earl of Oxford), were provided with
+rich garments trimmed with ermine, in the fashion of the robes of the
+Garter, and with others of shaggy velvet, trimmed with the same fur,
+for the Christmas festival; while articles of apparel equally costly
+are registered as sent by the King to his chamber at Shene, to be
+given to Alice Perrers. And at a festival at Windsor the King caused
+twelve ladies (including his daughters and Alice Perrers) to be
+clothed in handsome hunting suits, with ornamented bows and arrows, to
+shoot at the King's deer; and a very attractive band of foresters they
+made. We have also seen that eighty costly tunics were provided for
+the Christmas sports and disguisings at Guildford.
+
+We now come to a
+
+
+COMICALLY CRUEL CHRISTMAS INCIDENT,
+
+recorded by Sir John Froissart, and which he says gave "great joye" to
+the hilarious "knightes and squyers" who kept the festival with "the
+Erle of Foiz":--
+
+"So it was on a Christmas day the Erle of Foiz helde a great feest,
+and a plentifull of knightes and squyers, as it is his usage; and it
+was a colde day, and the erle dyned in the hall, and with him great
+company of lordes; and after dyner he departed out of the hall, and
+went up into a galarye of xxiiii stayres of heyght, in which galarye
+ther was a great chymney, wherin they made fyre whan therle was ther;
+and at that tyme there was but a small fyre, for the erle loved no
+great fyre; howbeit, he hadde woode ynoughe there about, and in Bierne
+is wode ynoughe. The same daye it was a great frost and very colde:
+and when the erle was in the galarye, and saw the fyre so lytell, he
+sayde to the knightes and squiers about hym, Sirs, this is but a small
+fyre, and the day so colde: than Ernalton of Spayne went downe the
+stayres, and beneth in the courte he sawe a great meny of asses, laden
+with woode to serve the house: than he went and toke one of the
+grettest asses, with all the woode, and layde hym on his backe, and
+went up all the stayres into the galary, and dyde cast downe the asse
+with all the woode into the chymney, and the asses fete upward;
+wherof the erle of Foiz had great joye, and so hadde all they that
+were there, and had marveyle of his strength howe he alone came up all
+the stayres with the asse and the woode in his necke."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Passing on to
+
+
+THE REIGN OF RICHARD THE SECOND,
+
+the son of Edward the Black Prince and Joan of Kent, who came to the
+throne (in tutelage) on the death of his grandfather, Edward III.
+(1377), we find that costly banquetings, disguisings, pageants, and
+plays continued to be the diversions of Christmastide at court. From
+the rolls of the royal wardrobe, it appears that at the Christmas
+festival in 1391, the sages of the law were made subjects for
+disguisements, this entry being made: "Pro XXI _coifs_ de tela linea
+pro hominibus de lege contrafactis pro Ludo regis tempore natalis
+Domini anno XII." That is, for twenty-one linen coifs for
+counterfeiting men of the law in the King's play at Christmas. And
+Strutt[25] says that in the same year (1391) the parish clerks of
+London put forth a play at Skinners' Wells, near Smithfield, which
+continued three days: the king, queen, and many of the nobility, being
+present at the performance.
+
+[Illustration: [On one side is the legend, MONETA NOVA ADRIANI
+STVLTORV PAPE, the last E being in the field of the piece, on which is
+represented the Pope, with his double cross and tiara, with a fool in
+full costume approaching his bauble to the pontifical cross, and two
+persons behind, who form part of his escort. On the reverse is a
+"mother fool," with her bauble, attended by a grotesque person with a
+cardinal's hat, with the oft-recurring legend, STVLTORV INFINITVS EST
+NVMERVS.]]
+
+But the miracle plays and mysteries performed by the Churchmen
+differed greatly from the secular plays and interludes which at this
+period "were acted by strolling companies of minstrels, jugglers,
+tumblers, dancers, bourdours, or jesters, and other performers
+properly qualified for the different parts of the entertainment, which
+admitted of a variety of exhibitions. These pastimes are of higher
+antiquity than the ecclesiastical plays; and they were much relished
+not only by the vulgar part of the people, but also by the nobility.
+The courts of the kings of England, and the castles of the great earls
+and barons, were crowded with the performers of the secular plays,
+where they were well received and handsomely rewarded; vast sums of
+money were lavishly bestowed upon these secular itinerants, which
+induced the monks and other ecclesiastics to turn actors themselves,
+in order to obtain a share of the public bounty. But to give the
+better colouring to their undertaking, they took the subjects of their
+dialogues from the holy writ, and performed them in the churches. The
+secular showmen, however, retained their popularity notwithstanding
+the exertions of their clerical rivals, who diligently endeavoured to
+bring them into disgrace, by bitterly inveighing against the
+filthiness and immorality of their exhibitions. On the other hand, the
+itinerant players sometimes invaded the province of the churchmen, and
+performed their mysteries, or others similar to them, as we find from
+a petition presented to Richard II. by the scholars of St. Paul's
+School, wherein complaint is made against the secular actors, because
+they took upon themselves to act plays composed from the Scripture
+history, to the great prejudice of the clergy, who had been at much
+expense to prepare such performances for public exhibition at the
+festival of Christmas."
+
+[Illustration: A COURT FOOL.]
+
+In his Christmas feasts Richard the Second outdid his predecessors in
+prodigal hospitality. He delighted in the neighbourhood of Eltham,
+and spent much of his time in feasting with his favourites at the
+royal palace there. In 1386 (notwithstanding the still prevalent
+distress, which had continued from the time of the peasant revolt)
+Richard kept the Christmas festivities at Eltham with great
+extravagance, at the same time entertaining Leon, King of Armenia, in
+a manner utterly unjustified by the state of the royal exchequer,
+which had been replenished by illegal methods. And, on the completion
+of his enlargements and embellishments of Westminster Hall, Richard
+reopened it with "a most royal Christmas feast" of twenty-eight oxen
+and three hundred sheep, and game and fowls without number, feeding
+ten thousand guests for many days. Yet but a few years afterwards
+(such is the fickleness of fortune and the instability of human
+affairs) this same king, who had seen the "Merciless Parliament," who
+had robbed Hereford of his estates, who had been robed in cloth of
+gold and precious stones, and who had alienated his subjects by his
+own extravagance, was himself deposed and sentenced to lifelong
+banishment, his doom being pronounced in the very hall which he had
+reared to such magnificence for his own glory. Thus ingloriously
+Richard disappears from history, for nothing certain is known of the
+time, manner, or place of his death, though it is conjectured that he
+was speedily murdered. How history repeats itself! Richard's
+ignominious end recalls to mind the verse in which an English poet
+depicts the end of an Eastern king who was too fond of revelling:--
+
+ "That night they slew him on his father's throne,
+ The deed unnoticed and the hand unknown:
+ Crownless and sceptreless Belshazzar lay,
+ A robe of purple round a form of clay!"
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+GRAND CHRISTMAS TOURNAMENT.
+
+An example of the tournaments which were favourite diversions of kings
+and nobles at this period is found in that held at Christmastide in
+London in 1389. Richard II., his three uncles, and the greater barons
+having heard of a famous tournament at Paris at the entry of Isabel,
+Queen of France, resolved to hold one of equal splendour at London, in
+which sixty English knights, conducted to the scene of action by sixty
+ladies, should challenge all foreign knights. They therefore sent
+heralds into all parts of England, Scotland, Germany, Italy, Flanders,
+Brabant, Hainault, and France to proclaim the time, place, and other
+circumstances of the proposed gathering, and to invite all valorous
+knights and squires to honour it with their presence. This, says the
+historian, excited a strong desire in the knights and squires of all
+these countries to attend to see the manners and equipages of the
+English, and others to tourney. The lists were prepared in Smithfield,
+and chambers erected around them for the accommodation of the king,
+queen, princes, lords, ladies, heralds, and other spectators. As the
+time approached many important personages of both sexes, attended by
+numerous retinues, arrived in London. On the first day of the
+tournament (Sunday) sixty-five horses, richly furnished for the
+jousts, issued one by one from the Tower, each conducted by a squire
+of honour, and proceeded in a slow pace through the streets of London
+to Smithfield, attended by a numerous band of trumpeters and other
+minstrels. Immediately after, sixty young ladies, elegantly attired
+and riding on palfreys, issued from the same place, and each lady
+leading a knight completely armed by a silver chain, they proceeded
+slowly to the field. When they arrived there the ladies were lifted
+from the palfreys and conducted to the chambers provided for them; the
+knights mounted their horses and began the jousts, in which they
+exhibited such feats of valour and dexterity as won the admiration of
+the spectators. When the approach of night put an end to the jousts
+the company repaired to the palace of the Bishop of London, in St.
+Paul's Street, where the king and queen then staying, the supper was
+prepared. The ladies, knights, and heralds who had been appointed
+judges awarded one of the prizes, a crown of gold, to the Earl of St.
+Paul as the best performer among the foreign knights, and the other, a
+rich girdle adorned with gold and precious stones, to the Earl of
+Huntingdon as the best performer of the English. After a sumptuous
+supper the ladies and knights spent the remainder of the night in
+dancing. The tournaments were continued in a similar manner on Monday,
+Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and on Saturday the Court,
+with all the company, removed to Windsor, where the jousts, feasting,
+and other diversions were renewed, and lasted several days longer.
+Subsequently the king presented the foreign ladies, lords, and knights
+with valuable gifts, and they returned to their own countries highly
+pleased with the entertainment which they had enjoyed in England.
+
+
+KING HENRY THE FOURTH
+
+was born at Bolingbroke, in Lincolnshire, being the eldest son of John
+of Gaunt and of his first wife, the heiress of the house of Lancaster,
+and a grandson of Edward III. On the death of John of Gaunt in 1399,
+Richard II. seized his lands, having in the previous year banished
+Henry of Bolingbroke. On Henry hearing what had occurred, knowing his
+own popularity and Richard's unpopularity, Henry returned from
+banishment, and succeeded in an attack on Richard, whom he made a
+prisoner. Then summoning a Parliament, at which Richard was formally
+deposed and himself made king, Henry came to the throne with the title
+of Henry IV. Soon, however, he found himself menaced by danger. Some
+of the lords who had been stripped of the honours and wealth heaped
+upon them by Richard entered into a conspiracy to assassinate Henry
+the usurper. During the Christmas holidays they met frequently at the
+lodgings of the Abbot of Westminster to plan the king's destruction.
+After much deliberation they agreed to hold a splendid tournament at
+Oxford on the 3rd of January, 1400. Henry was to be invited to
+preside, and while intent on the spectacle a number of picked men were
+to kill him and his sons. The king was keeping his Christmas at
+Windsor, whither the Earl of Huntingdon presented himself and gave him
+the invitation. Henry accepted it, but on the 2nd of January, the day
+previous to the tournament, the Earl of Rutland, who was privy to the
+plot, went secretly to Windsor and informed the king of the
+arrangements which had been made for his assassination. The same
+evening, after dusk, the king proceeded to London; and the next day
+when the conspirators assembled at Oxford they were surprised to find
+that neither the king nor their own accomplice, Rutland, had arrived.
+Suspecting treachery they resolved to proceed at once to Windsor and
+surprise Henry, but arrived only to find that he had escaped. They
+afterwards raised the standard of revolt, but their insurrection
+proved abortive, and the fate of the leaders was summary and
+sanguinary.
+
+The favourite palace of Henry the Fourth was at Eltham, where, in the
+second year of his reign, he kept a grand Christmas, and entertained
+the Emperor of Constantinople. At this festival the men of London made
+a "gret mummyng to him of XII. Aldermen and theire sones, for which
+they had gret thanke." Similar festivities were observed at several
+subsequent festivals; then the king's health gave way, and he passed
+the last Christmas of his life in seclusion at Eltham, suffering from
+fits of epilepsy, and lying frequently for hours in an unconscious
+state. After Candlemas he was so much better as to be able to return
+to his palace at Westminster, but he died there on the 20th of March
+the same year (1413). The final scene and the parting words of the
+king to his son, who became Henry V., have been beautifully depicted
+by Shakespeare.
+
+
+KING HENRY THE FIFTH.
+
+In connection with the Christmas festival in 1414 a conspiracy to
+murder the king is alleged against the Lollards, but the charge has
+never been satisfactorily proved. "If we are to believe the
+chroniclers of the times the Lollards resolved to anticipate their
+enemies, to take up arms and to repel force by force. Seeing clearly
+that war to the death was determined against them by the Church, and
+that the king had yielded at least a tacit consent to this iniquitous
+policy, they came to the conclusion to kill not only the bishops, but
+the king and all his kin. So atrocious a conspiracy is not readily to
+be credited against men who contended for a greater purity of gospel
+truth, nor against men of the practical and military knowledge of Lord
+Cobham. But over the whole of these transactions there hangs a veil of
+impenetrable mystery, and we can only say that the Lollards are
+charged with endeavouring to surprise the king and his brother at
+Eltham, as they were keeping their Christmas festivities there, and
+that this attempt failed through the Court receiving intimation of the
+design and suddenly removing to Westminster."[26] Lord Cobham was put
+to death by cruel torture in St. Giles's Fields, London, on Christmas
+Day, 1418.
+
+In the early part of his reign Henry invaded France and achieved a
+series of brilliant successes, including the famous victory at
+Agincourt. The hero of this great battle did not allow the holiday
+season to interfere with his military operations; but he did
+generously suspend proceedings against Rouen upon Christmas Day and
+supply his hungry foes with food for that day only, so that they might
+keep the feast of Christmas. After his military successes in France
+Henry married the Princess Katherine, the youngest daughter of Charles
+VI., King of France, and the king and queen spent their first
+Christmas of wedded life at Paris, the festival being celebrated by a
+series of magnificent entertainments. Henry's subsequent journey to
+England was "like the ovation of an ancient conqueror." He and his
+queen were received with great festivity at the different towns on
+their way, and on the 1st of February they left Calais, and landed at
+Dover, where, according to Monstrelet, "Katherine was received as if
+she had been an angel of God." All classes united to make the
+reception of the hero of Agincourt and his beautiful bride a most
+magnificent one. They proceeded first to Eltham, and thence, after due
+rest, to London, where Katherine was crowned with great rejoicing on
+the 24th of February, 1421. Henry's brilliant career was cut short by
+his death on the last day of August, 1422.
+
+ "Small time, but, in that small, most greatly liv'd
+ This star of England: fortune made his sword;
+ By which the world's best garden he achiev'd,
+ And of it left his son imperial lord."[27]
+
+Fabian's account of the stately feast at the coronation of
+Henry the Fifth's newly-wedded consort is an interesting
+picture of the
+
+
+COURT LIFE AND CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES OF THE PERIOD.
+
+Queen Katherine was conveyed to the great hall at Westminster and
+there set to dinner. Upon her right hand, at the end of the table, sat
+the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Henry, surnamed the rich Cardinal of
+Winchester; and upon her left hand the King of Scotland in his royal
+robes; near the end sat the Duchess of York and the Countess of
+Huntingdon. The Earl of March, holding a sceptre, knelt upon her right
+side, and the Earl-Marshal upon her left; his Countess sat at the
+Queen's left foot under the table, and the Countess of Kent at her
+right foot. Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, was overlooker, and stood
+before the Queen bareheaded; Sir Richard Nevill was carver, the Earl
+of Suffolk's brother cupbearer, Sir John Steward server, Lord Clifford
+panterer, Lord Willoughby butler, Lord Grey de Ruthyn naperer, the
+Lord Audley almoner, and the Earl of Worcester, Earl-Marshal, rode
+about the hall during dinner on a charger, with a number of constables
+to keep order.
+
+The bill of fare consisted of: _First course_--Brawn and mustard,
+dedells in burneaux, frument with balien, pike in erbage (pike stuffed
+with herbs), lamprey powdered, trout, codling, fried plaice and
+marling, crabs, leche lumbard flourished, and tarts. Then came a
+subtlety representing a pelican sitting on her nest with her young and
+an image of St. Katherine bearing a book and disputing with the
+doctors, bearing a reason (motto) in her right hand, saying, in the
+French apparently of Stratford-at-the-Bow, "Madame le Royne," and the
+pelican as an answer--
+
+ "Ce est la signe
+ Et lu Roy
+ Pur tenir ioy
+ Et a tout sa gent,
+ Elle mete sa entent."
+
+_Second course_--Jelly coloured with columbine flowers, white potage,
+or cream of almonds, bream of the sea, conger, soles, cheven, barbel
+with roach, fresh salmon, halibut, gurnets, broiled roach, fried
+smelt, crayfish or lobster, leche damask with the king's word or
+proverb flourished "_une sanz plus_." Lamprey fresh baked, flampeyn
+flourished with an escutcheon royal, therein three crowns of gold,
+planted with flowers de luce, and flowers of camomile wrought of
+confections. Then a subtlety representing a panther with an image of
+St. Katherine having a wheel in one hand and a roll with a reason in
+the other, saying--
+
+ "La royne ma file,
+ In ceste ile,
+ Par bon reson
+ Alues renoun."
+
+_Third course_--Dates in composite, cream mottled, carp, turbot,
+tench, perch, fresh sturgeon with whelks, porpoise roasted, memis
+fried, crayfish, prawns, eels roasted with lamprey, a leche called the
+white leche flourished with hawthorn leaves and red haws, and a march
+pane, garnished with figures of angels, having among them an image of
+St. Katherine holding this reason--
+
+ "Il est ecrit,
+ Pour voir et dit
+ Per mariage pur
+ C'est guerre ne dure."
+
+And lastly, a subtlety representing a tiger looking into a mirror, and
+a man sitting on horseback fully armed, holding in his arms a tiger's
+whelp, with this reason, "Par force sanz reson il ay pryse ceste
+beste," and with his one hand making a countenance of throwing mirrors
+at the great tiger, the which held this reason--
+
+ "Gile de mirror,
+ Ma fete distour."
+
+[Illustration: "Marble Panel Florentine 1420,
+S. Kensington museum."]
+
+
+KING HENRY THE SIXTH
+
+became king in 1422, before he was nine months old, and although the
+regency of the two kingdoms to which he was heir had been arranged by
+Henry V. before his death, the reign of the third king of the House of
+Lancaster saw the undoing of much that had been accomplished in the
+reigns of his father and grandfather. It was during the reign of
+Henry VI. that Joan of Arc came forward alleging her Divine commission
+to rescue France from the English invader. But it is not part of our
+subject to describe her heroic career. The troublous times which made
+the French heroine a name in history were unfavourable to Christmas
+festivities. The Royal Christmases of Henry the Sixth were less costly
+than those of his immediate predecessors. But as soon as he was old
+enough to do so he observed the festival, as did also his soldiers,
+even in time of war. Mills[28] mentions that, "during the memorable
+siege of Orleans [1428-9], at the request of the English the
+festivities of Christmas suspended the horrors of war, and the
+nativity of the Saviour was commemorated to the sound of martial
+music. Talbot, Suffolk, and other ornaments of English chivalry made
+presents of fruits to the accomplished Dunois, who vied with their
+courtesy by presenting to Suffolk some black plush he wished for as a
+lining for his dress in the then winter season. The high-spirited
+knights of one side challenged the prowest knights of the other, as
+their predecessors in chivalry had done. It is observable, however,
+that these jousts were not held in honour of the ladies, but the
+challenge always declared that if there were in the other host a
+knight so generous and loving of his country as to be willing to
+combat in her defence, he was invited to present himself."
+
+[Illustration: Henry IV.'s Cradle]
+
+In 1433 Henry kept his Christmas at Bury, and in 1436 at Kenilworth
+Castle. Nothing remarkable, however, is recorded respecting these
+festivities. But some interesting particulars have been preserved of a
+
+
+CHRISTMAS PLAY PERFORMED IN 1445
+
+at Middleton Tower, Norfolk, the family seat of Lord Scales, one of
+the early owners of Sandringham, which is now a residence of the
+Prince of Wales. Mrs. Herbert Jones[29] says:--
+
+"One winter, when he was about forty-six years old, in a quiet
+interval soon after Henry the Sixth's marriage to Margaret of Anjou,
+Lord Scales and his wife were living at Middleton. In a south-east
+direction lay the higher ground where rose the Blackborough Priory of
+nuns, founded by a previous Lady Scales; west of them, at three miles'
+distance, bristling with the architecture of the Middle Ages in all
+its bloom and beauty, before religious disunion had defaced it,
+prosperous in its self-government, stood the town of Lynn.
+
+"The mayor and council had organised a play to be acted on Christmas
+Day, 1445, before the Lord Scales at Middleton, representing scenes
+from the Nativity of our Lord. Large sums were paid by order of the
+mayor for the requisite dresses, ornaments, and scenery, some of which
+were supplied by the 'Nathan' of Lynn, and others prepared and bought
+expressly. 'John Clerk' performed the angel Gabriel, and a lady of the
+name of Gilbert the Virgin Mary. Their parts were to be sung. Four
+other performers were also paid for their services, and the whole
+party, headed by the mayor, set off with their paraphernalia in a
+cart, harnessed to four or more horses, for Middleton on Christmas
+morning. The breakfast of the carters was paid for at the inn by the
+town, but the magnates from Lynn and the actors were entertained at
+the castle.[30]
+
+"It was in the courtyard that this quaint representation took place;
+the musical dialogues, the songs and hymns, the profusion of
+ornaments, personal and otherwise, recorded as pressed on to the
+stage, the grotesque angel and virgin, must have furnished a lively
+hour under the castle walls on that long-ago Christmas Day."
+
+
+THE WARS OF THE ROSES.
+
+During the destructive wars of York and Lancaster the festivities of
+Christmas were frequently interrupted by hostilities, for some of the
+most bloody encounters (as, for example, the terrible battle of
+Wakefield) occurred at Christmastide. The wars of the contending
+factions continued throughout the reign of Henry VI., whose personal
+weakness left the House of Lancaster at the mercy of the Parliament,
+in which the voice of the Barons was paramount. That the country was
+in a state of shameful misgovernment was shown by the attitude of the
+commercial class and the insurrection under John Cade; yet Henry could
+find time for amusement. "Under pretence of change of air the court
+removed to Coventry that the king might enjoy the sports of the
+field."[31]
+
+The Christmases of Henry were not kept with the splendour which
+characterised those of his rival and successor, Edward IV. Henry's
+habits were religious, and his house expenses parsimonious--sometimes
+necessarily so, for he was short of money. From the introduction to
+the "Paston Letters" (edited by Mr. James Gairdner) it appears that
+the king was in such impecunious circumstances in 1451 that he had to
+borrow his expenses for Christmas: "The government was getting
+paralysed alike by debt and by indecision. 'As for tidings here,'
+writes John Bocking, 'I certify you all that is nought, or will be
+nought. The king borroweth his expenses.'" Henry anticipated what Ben
+Jonson discovered in a later age, that--
+
+ "Christmas is near;
+ And neither good cheer,
+ Mirth, fooling, nor wit,
+ Nor any least fit
+ Of gambol or sport
+ Will come at the Court,
+ If there be no money."
+
+And so rather than leave Christmas unobserved the poor king "borrowed
+his expenses." Subsequently Henry's health failed, and then later
+comes the record: "At Christmas [1454], to the great joy of the
+nation, the king began to recover from his painful illness. He woke
+up, as it were, from a long sleep. So decidedly had he regained his
+faculties that on St. John's Day (27th December) he commanded his
+almoner to ride to Canterbury with an offering, and his secretary to
+present another at the shrine of St. Edward."[32]
+
+The terrible battle of Wakefield at Christmastide, 1460, was one of
+the most important victories won by the Lancastrians during the Wars
+of the Roses. The king, Henry VI., had secretly encouraged Richard,
+Duke of York, that the nation would soon be ready to assent to the
+restoration of the legitimate branch of the royal family. Richard was
+the son of Anne Mortimer, who was descended from Philippa, the only
+daughter of the Duke of Clarence, second son of Edward III.; and
+consequently he stood in the order of succession before the king
+actually on the throne, who was descended from John of Gaunt, a
+younger son of Edward III. The Duke of York at length openly advanced
+his title as the true heir to the crown, and urged Parliament to
+confer it upon him. As, however, the Lancastrian branch of the royal
+family had enjoyed the crown for three generations it was resolved
+that Henry VI. should continue to reign during his life and that
+Richard should succeed him. This compromise greatly displeased the
+queen, Margaret, who was indignant at the injury it inflicted on her
+son. She therefore urged the nobles who had hitherto supported her
+husband to take up arms on behalf of his son. Accordingly the Earl of
+Northumberland, with Lords Dacre, Clifford, and Nevil, assembled an
+army at York, and were soon joined by the Duke of Somerset and the
+Earl of Devon. "Parliament being prorogued in December, the Duke of
+York and the Earl of Salisbury hastened from London with a large armed
+force towards York, but coming unexpectedly upon the troops of the
+Duke of Somerset at Worksop, their vanguard was destroyed. On the 21st
+of December, however, they reached Sandal Castle with six thousand
+men, and kept their Christmas there, notwithstanding that the enemy
+under the Duke of Somerset and the Earl of Northumberland were close
+by at Pontefract" (_William Wyrcester_). On the 30th of December the
+opposing forces met at Wakefield, and in the terrible battle which
+ensued Richard, Duke of York was slain, his son, Lord Rutland, was
+murdered by Lord Clifford while escaping from the battlefield, and the
+Earl of Salisbury and others were taken as prisoners to Pontefract,
+where they were beheaded.
+
+Edward, son of Richard Duke of York, was afterwards joined by his
+cousin, Richard, Earl of Warwick, the famous "kingmaker." They
+hastened northwards and met the Lancastrians at Towton, where a
+decisive battle was fought, and won by the Yorkists. Edward was then
+recognised by Parliament and proclaimed king as Edward IV., and Henry
+VI. was attainted of high treason.
+
+
+IN 1461 EDWARD THE FOURTH
+
+called his first Parliament at Westminster, and concluded the session
+by the unusual but popular measure of a speech from the throne to the
+Commons delivered by himself. It was during this session that the
+statute was passed prohibiting the great and rich from giving or
+wearing any liveries or signs of companionship, except while serving
+under the king; from receiving or maintaining plunderers, robbers,
+malefactors, or unlawful hunters; and from allowing dice and cards in
+their houses beyond the twelve days of Christmas (Parl. Rolls, 488).
+
+The Christmas festival was kept by Edward IV. with great magnificence,
+the king's natural inclinations leading him to adopt whatever was
+splendid and costly. "At the Christmas festivities he appeared in a
+variety of most costly dresses, of a form never seen before, which he
+thought displayed his person to considerable advantage" (_Croyland
+Chronicler_). Sir Frederick Madden's narrative of the visit of the
+Lord of Granthuse, Governor of Holland, to Edward, in 1472, paints in
+glowing colours the luxury of the English Court. On his arrival at
+Windsor he was received by Lord Hastings, who conducted him to the
+chambers of the King and Queen. These apartments were richly hung with
+cloth of gold arras. When he had spoken with the King, who presented
+him to the Queen's Grace, the Lord Chamberlain, Hastings, was ordered
+to conduct him to his chamber, where supper was ready for him. "After
+he had supped the King had him brought immediately to the Queen's own
+chamber, where she and her ladies were playing at the marteaux [a
+game played with small balls of different colours]; and some of her
+ladies were playing at closheys [ninepins] of ivory, and dancing, and
+some at divers other games: the which sight was full pleasant to them.
+Also the King danced with my Lady Elizabeth, his eldest daughter. In
+the morning when Matins was done, the King heard, in his own chapel,
+Our Lady-Mass, which was most melodiously chaunted, the Lord Granthuse
+being present. When the Mass was done, the King gave the said Lord
+Granthuse a cup of gold, garnished with pearl. In the midst of the cup
+was a great piece of unicorn's horn, to my estimation seven inches in
+compass; and on the cover of the cup a great sapphire." After
+breakfast the King came into the Quadrangle. "My Lord Prince, also,
+borne by his Chamberlain, called Master Vaughan, which bade the Lord
+of Granthuse welcome. Then the King had him and all his company into
+the little Park, where he made him have great sport; and there the
+King made him ride on his own horse, on a right fair hobby, the which
+the King gave him." The King's dinner was "ordained" in the Lodge,
+Windsor Park. After dinner they hunted again, and the King showed his
+guest his garden and vineyard of pleasure. Then "the Queen did ordain
+a great banquet in her own chamber, at which King Edward, her eldest
+daughter the Lady Elisabeth, the Duchess of Exeter, the Lady Rivers,
+and the Lord of Granthuse, all sat with her at one mess; and, at the
+same table, sat the Duke of Buckingham, my Lady, his wife, with divers
+other ladies, my Lord Hastings, Chamberlain to the King, my Lord
+Berners, Chamberlain to the Queen, the son of Lord Granthuse, and
+Master George Barthe, Secretary to the Duke of Burgundy, Louis Stacy,
+Usher to the Duke of Burgundy, George Martigny, and also certain
+nobles of the King's own court. There was a side table, at which sat a
+great view (_show_) of ladies, all on the one side. Also, in the outer
+chamber, sat the Queen's gentlewomen, all on one side. And on the
+other side of the table, over against them, as many of the Lord
+Granthuse's servants, as touching to the abundant welfare, like as it
+is according to such a banquet. And when they had supped my Lady
+Elizabeth, the King's eldest daughter, danced with the Duke of
+Buckingham and divers other ladies also. Then about nine of the clock,
+the King and the Queen, with her ladies and gentlewomen, brought the
+said Lord of Granthuse to three chambers of plesance, all hanged with
+white silk and linen cloth, and all the floors covered with carpets.
+There was ordained a bed for himself of as good down as could be
+gotten. The sheets of Rennes cloth and also fine fustians; the
+counterpane, cloth of gold, furred with ermines. The tester and ceiler
+also shining cloth of gold; the curtains of white sarcenet; as for his
+head-suit and pillows, they were of the Queen's own ordonnance. In the
+second chamber was likewise another state-bed, all white. Also, in the
+same chamber, was made a couch with feather beds, and hanged with a
+tent, knit like a net, and there was a cupboard. In the third chamber
+was ordained a bayne (_bath_) or two, which were covered with tents of
+white cloth. And, when the King and the Queen with all her ladies and
+gentlemen had showed him these chambers, they turned again to their
+own chambers, and left the said Lord Granthuse there, accompanied with
+the Lord Chamberlain (Hastings), who undressed him, and they both went
+together to the bath.--And when they had been in their baths as long
+as was their pleasure, they had green ginger, divers syrups, comfits,
+and ipocras, and then they went to bed. And in the morning he took his
+cup with the King and Queen, and returned to Westminster again."
+
+In 1465 Edward the Fourth and his Queen kept Christmas in the Abbey at
+Coventry, and for six days (says _William Wyrcester_) "the Duke of
+Clarence dissembled there."
+
+In 1478 the King celebrated the Christmas festival at Westminster with
+great pomp, wearing his crown, feasting his nobles, and making
+presents to his household; and in 1482-3 he kept a splendid Christmas
+at Eltham, more than two thousand people being fed at his expense
+every day. Edward almost entirely rebuilt Eltham Palace, of which the
+hall was the noblest part. In that hall he kept the Christmas
+festival, "with bountiful hospitality for high and low, and abundance
+of mirth and sport."
+
+One of the continental visitors who participated in the royal
+festivities of this period was Leo von Rozmital, brother of George,
+King of Bohemia. His retinue included Tetzel, who, in describing the
+Court of Edward the Fourth, after remarking upon Edward's own handsome
+person, says, "The king has the finest set of courtiers that a man may
+find in Christendom. He invited my Lord Leo and all his noble
+companions, and gave them a very costly feast, and also he gave to
+each of them the medal of his order, to every knight a golden one, and
+to every one who was not a knight a silver one; and he himself hung
+them upon their necks. Another day the king called us to court. In the
+morning the queen (Elizabeth Woodville) went from child-bed to church
+with a splendid procession of many priests, bearing relics, and many
+scholars, all singing, and carrying burning candles. Besides there was
+a great company of women and maidens from the country and from London,
+who were bidden to attend. There were also a great number of
+trumpeters, pipers, and other players, with forty-two of the king's
+singing men, who sang very sweetly. Also, there were four and twenty
+heralds and pursuivants, and sixty lords and knights. Then came the
+queen, led by two dukes, and with a canopy borne over her. Behind her
+followed her mother and above sixty ladies and maidens. Having heard
+the service sung, and kneeled down in the church, she returned with
+the same procession to her palace. Here all who had taken part in the
+procession were invited to a feast, and all sat down, the men and the
+women, the clergy and the laity, each in his rank, filling four large
+rooms. Also, the king invited my lord and all his noble attendants to
+the table where he usually dined with his courtiers. And one of the
+king's greatest lords must sit at the king's table upon the king's
+stool, in the place of the king; and my lord sat at the same table
+only two steps below him. Then all the honours which were due to the
+king had to be paid to the lord who sat in his place, and also to my
+lord; and it is incredible what ceremonies we observed there. While we
+were eating, the king was making presents to all the trumpeters,
+pipers, players, and heralds; to the last alone he gave four hundred
+nobles, and every one, when he received his pay, came to the tables
+and told aloud what the king had given him. When my lord had done
+eating, he was conducted into a costly ornamented room, where the
+queen was to dine, and there he was seated in a corner that he might
+see all the expensive provisions. The queen sat down on a golden stool
+alone at her table, and her mother and the queen's sister stood far
+below her. And when the queen spoke to her mother or to the king's
+sister, they kneeled down every time before her, and remained kneeling
+until the queen drank water. And all her ladies and maids, and those
+who waited upon her, even great lords, had to kneel while she was
+eating, which continued three hours(!). After dinner there was
+dancing, but the queen remained sitting upon her stool, and her mother
+kneeled before her. The king's sister danced with two dukes, and the
+beautiful dances and reverences performed before the queen--the like I
+have never seen, nor such beautiful maidens. Among them were eight
+duchesses, and above thirty countesses and others, all daughters of
+great people. After the dance the king's singing men came in and sang.
+When the king heard mass sung in his private chapel my lord was
+admitted: then the king had his relics shown to us, and many sacred
+things in London. Among them we saw a stone from the Mount of Olives,
+upon which there is the footprint of Jesus Christ, our Lady's girdle,
+and many other relics."
+
+
+CARDS AND OTHER CHRISTMAS DIVERSIONS IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.
+
+The amusements of the people in the fifteenth century are referred to
+by Thomas Wright, Esq., M.A., F.S.A., who says: "In England, in the
+third year of the reign of Edward IV. (1463), the importation of
+playing-cards, probably from Germany, was forbidden, among other
+things, by Act of Parliament; and as that Act is understood to have
+been called for by the English manufacturers, who suffered by the
+foreign trade, it can hardly be doubted that cards were then
+manufactured in England on a rather extensive scale. Cards had then,
+indeed, evidently become very popular in England; and only twenty
+years afterwards they are spoken of as the common Christmas game, for
+Margery Paston wrote as follows to her husband, John Paston, on the
+24th of December in 1483:--'Please it you to weet (_know_) that I sent
+your eldest son John to my Lady Morley, to have knowledge of what
+sports were used in her house in the Christmas next following after
+the decease of my lord her husband; and she said that there were none
+disguisings, nor harpings, nor luting, nor singing, nor none loud
+disports, but playing at the tables, and the chess, and _cards_--such
+disports she gave her folks leave to play, and none other.... I sent
+your younger son to the lady Stapleton, and she said according to my
+lady Morley's saying in that, and as she had seen used in places of
+worship (_gentlemen's houses_) there as she had been.' ... After the
+middle of the fifteenth century, cards came into very general use; and
+at the beginning of the following century, there was such a rage for
+card-playing, that an attempt was made early in the reign of Henry
+VIII. to restrict their use by law to the period of Christmas. When,
+however, people sat down to dinner at noon, and had no other
+occupation for the rest of the day, they needed amusement of some sort
+to pass the time; and a poet of the fifteenth century observes truly--
+
+ 'A man may dryfe forthe the day that long tyme dwellis
+ With harpyng and pipyng, and other mery spellis,
+ With gle, and wyth game.'"
+
+[Illustration: LADY MUSICIAN OF THE 15TH CENTURY.]
+
+Another book well known to bibliomaniacs ("Dives and Pauper," ed. W.
+de Worde; 1496) says: "For to represente in playnge at Crystmasse
+herodes and the thre kynges and other processes of the gospelles both
+then and at Ester and other tymes also it is lefull and
+c[=o]mendable."
+
+[Illustration: RUSTIC CHRISTMAS MINSTREL WITH PIPE AND TABOR.]
+
+
+EDWARD THE FIFTH
+
+succeeded his father, Edward IV., in the dangerous days of 1483. He
+was at Ludlow when his father died, being under the guardianship of
+his uncle, Earl Rivers, and attended by other members of the Woodville
+family. Almost immediately he set out for London, but when he reached
+Stony Stratford, on April 29th, he was met by his uncle Richard, Duke
+of Gloucester, who had arrested Lord Rivers and Lord Richard Grey. The
+young king (a boy of thirteen) renewed his journey under Gloucester's
+charge, and on reaching London was lodged in the Tower. His mother, on
+hearing of the arrest of Rivers and Grey, had taken sanctuary at
+Westminster. Lord Hastings, a supporter of the king, was arrested and
+executed because he would not sanction Gloucester's nefarious schemes
+for obtaining the throne. About the same time Rivers and Grey were
+beheaded at Pontefract, whither they had been taken by Gloucester's
+orders. Soon afterwards the Queen was compelled to deliver up the
+young Duke of York to Richard, who sent him to join his brother in the
+Tower. On June 22nd, at the request of Richard, Dr. Shaw, brother of
+the Lord Mayor of London, delivered a sermon at St. Paul's Cross, in
+which he insisted on the illegitimacy of Edward V. and his brother. On
+June 25th a deputation of nobles and citizens of London offered the
+crown to Richard. He accepted it, and began to reign as Richard III.
+And, according to a confession afterwards made by Sir James Tyrell,
+one of Richard's officers, the two young princes remained in the
+Tower, being put to death by their Uncle Richard's orders. Thus,
+atrociously, began the reign of the murderous usurper,
+
+
+RICHARD THE THIRD.
+
+The King kept his first Christmas at Kenilworth Castle, having
+previously visited the city of Coventry, at the festival of _Corpus
+Christi_, to see the plays. The accounts of Kenilworth Castle show
+that in 1484 John Beaufitz was paid L20 "for divers reparacions made
+in the Castell of Kyllingworth" by order of Richard III. At this time,
+says Philip de Comines, "he was reigning in greater splendour and
+authority than any king of England for the last hundred years." The
+following year Richard kept Christmas in the great hall at
+Westminster, celebrating the festival with great pomp and splendour,
+encouraging the recreations usual at the season, and so attentively
+observing the ancient customs that a warrant is entered for the
+payment of "200 marks for certain new year's gifts bought against the
+feast of Christmas." The festivities continued without interruption
+until the day of the Epiphany, when they terminated with an
+entertainment of extraordinary magnificence given by the monarch to
+his nobles in Westminster Hall--"the King himself wearing his crown,"
+are the words of the Croyland historian, "and holding a splendid feast
+in the great hall, similar to that of his coronation." "Little did
+Richard imagine that this would be the last feast at which he would
+preside--the last time he would display his crown in peace before his
+assembled peers."[33] An allusion to this Christmas festival, and to
+the King's wicked nature, is contained in a note to Bacon's "Life of
+King Henry VII.," which says: "Richard's wife was Anne, the younger
+daughter of Warwick the King-maker. She died 16th March, 1485. It was
+rumoured that her death was by poison, and that Richard wished to
+marry his niece Elizabeth of York, eldest daughter of Edward IV. It is
+said that in the festivities of the previous Christmas the Princess
+Elizabeth had been dressed in robes of the same fashion and colour as
+those of the Queen. Ratcliffe and Catesby, the King's confidants, are
+credited with having represented to Richard that this marriage of so
+near a kinswoman would be an object of horror to the people, and bring
+on him the condemnation of the clergy."
+
+At a Christmas festival at Rhedon, in Brittany, Henry of Richmond met
+English exiles to the number of 500, and swore to marry Elizabeth of
+York as soon as he should subdue the usurper; and thereupon the exiles
+unanimously agreed to support him as their sovereign. On the 1st of
+August, 1485, Henry set sail from Harfleur with an army of 3,000 men,
+and a few days afterwards landed at Milford Haven. He was received
+with manifest delight, and as he advanced through Wales his forces
+were increased to upwards of 6,000 men. Before the close of the month
+he had encountered the royal army and slain the King at Bosworth
+Field, and by this memorable victory had terminated the terrible Wars
+of the Roses and introduced into England a new dynasty.
+
+ [19] Browning.
+
+ [20] "Every-day Book," vol. ii. p. 1635.
+
+ [21] "Shorter Poems."
+
+ [22] Sir John Froissart's Chronicles of England, France,
+ Spain, Portugal, Scotland, Brittany, Flanders, and the
+ adjoining countries; translated from the original French,
+ at the command of King Henry the Eighth, by John
+ Bourchier, Lord Berners. London edition, 1812.
+
+ [23] Cassell's "History of England."
+
+ [24] Creighton's "Life of Edward the Black Prince."
+
+ [25] "Sports and Pastimes."
+
+ [26] Cassell's "History of England."
+
+ [27] Shakespeare.
+
+ [28] "History of Chivalry."
+
+ [29] "Sandringham Past and Present, 1888."
+
+ [30] King's Lynn Chamberlains' Accounts Rolls, 23rd of
+ Henry VI.
+
+ [31] "Chronicles of the White Rose of York."
+
+ [32] "Paston Letters."
+
+ [33] Halstead's "Life of Richard III."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+CHRISTMAS UNDER HENRY VII. AND HENRY VIII.
+
+(1485-1547.)
+
+
+HENRY THE SEVENTH
+
+Was the son of Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond, son of Owen Tudor, a
+Welsh gentleman who had married the widow of Henry V. His mother,
+Margaret, was a great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt by Catherine
+Swynford. In early life Henry was under the protection of Henry VI.;
+but after the battle of Tewkesbury he was taken by his uncle, Jasper
+Tudor, Earl of Pembroke, to Brittany for safety. Edward IV. made
+several unsuccessful attempts to get him into his power, and Richard
+III. also sent spies into Brittany to ascertain his doings. On
+Christmas Day, 1483, the English exiles, who gathered round Henry in
+Brittany, took an oath in the Cathedral of Rheims to support him in
+ousting Richard and succeeding him to the English throne. Henry, on
+his part, agreed to reconcile the contending parties by marrying
+Elizabeth of York, eldest daughter and co-heir of Edward IV., and this
+promise he faithfully kept. After his defeat of Richard the Third at
+Bosworth he assumed the royal title, advanced to London, and had
+himself crowned King of England; and at the following Christmas
+festival he married Elizabeth of York. The Archbishop who married them
+(Archbishop Bourchier) had crowned both Richard III. and Henry VII.,
+and Fuller quaintly describes this last official act of marrying King
+Henry to Elizabeth of York as the holding of "the posie on which the
+White Rose and the Red Rose were tied together." And Bacon says, "the
+so-long-expected and so-much-desired marriage between the King and the
+Lady Elizabeth was celebrated with greater triumph and demonstrations,
+especially on the people's part, of joy and gladness, than the days
+either of his entry or coronation."
+
+The Christmas festivities were attended to with increasing zest during
+the reign of Henry VII., for the King studied magnificence quite as
+much as his predecessors had done. His riding dress was "a doublet of
+green or white cloth of gold satin, with a long gown of purple velvet,
+furred with ermine, powdered, open at the sides, and purpled with
+ermine, with a rich sarpe (scarf) and garter." His horse was richly
+caparisoned, and bore a saddle of estate, covered with gold. His
+Majesty was attended by seven henchmen, clothed in doublets of crimson
+satin, with gowns of white cloth of gold. The Queen appeared with
+equal splendour, "wearing a round circle of gold, set with pearls and
+precious stones, arrayed in a kirtle of white damask cloth of gold,
+furred with miniver pure, garnished, having a train of the same, with
+damask cloth of gold, furred with ermine, with a great lace, and two
+buttons and tassels of white silk, and gold at the breast above." And
+the royal apartments were kept with great splendour. At his ninth
+Christmas festival (Dec. 31, 1494) the King established new rules for
+the government of the royal household (preserved among the Harleian
+MSS.), which he directed should be kept "in most straightest wise."
+The Royal Household Book of the period, in the Chapter-house at
+Westminster, contains numerous disbursements connected with Christmas
+diversions. In the seventh year of this reign is a payment to Wat Alyn
+(Walter Alwyn) in full payment for the disguising made at Christmas,
+L14 13s. 4d., and payments for similar purposes occur in the following
+years. Another book, also in the Chapter-house, called "The Kyng's
+boke of paymentis," contains entries of various sums given to players
+and others who assisted to amuse the King at Christmas, and among the
+rest, to the Lord of Misrule (or Abbot as he is sometimes called), for
+several years, "in rewarde for his besynes in Crestenmes holydays, L6
+13s. 4d." The plays at this festival seem to have been acted by the
+"gentlemen of the King's Chapell," as there are several liberal
+payments to certain of them for playing on Twelfth Night; for
+instance, an entry on January 7th, 23 Henry VII., of a reward to five
+of them of L6 13s. 4d., for acting before the King on the previous
+night; but there was a distinct set of players for other times.
+
+Leland, speaking of 1489, says: "This Cristmas I saw no disgysyngs,
+and but right few plays. But ther was an Abbot of Misrule, that made
+much sport and did right well his office." In the following year,
+however, "on neweres day at nyght, there was a goodly disgysyng," and
+"many and dyvers pleyes."
+
+That the Christmas festival did not pass unobserved by the men of this
+period who navigated the high seas we know from the name of a Cuban
+port which was
+
+
+A CHRISTMAS DISCOVERY BY CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
+
+On Christmas Day, 1492, Christopher Columbus, the celebrated Genoese
+navigator, landed at a newly-discovered port in Cuba, which he named
+Navidad, because he landed there on Christmas Day.
+
+
+THE FIRE AT THE ROYAL RESIDENCE, SHENE,
+
+was the event of Christmas, 1497. It broke out in the palace,
+on the evening of December 21st, while the royal family were
+there, and for three hours raged fiercely, destroying, with the
+fairest portion of the building, the rich furniture, beds, tapestry,
+and other decorations of the principal chambers. Fortunately
+an alarm was given in time, and the royal and noble personages
+of the Court escaped to a place of safety. In consequence of
+this fire the King built the fine new palace of Richmond.
+
+
+ROYAL CHRISTMASES
+
+were kept by Henry VII. at Westminster Hall with great hospitality,
+the King wearing his crown, and feasting numerous guests, loading the
+banquet-table with peacocks, swans, herons, conger, sturgeon, brawn,
+and all the delicacies of the period. At his ninth Christmas festival
+the Mayor and Aldermen of London were feasted with great splendour at
+Westminster, the King showing them various sports on the night
+following in the great hall, which was richly hung with tapestry:
+"which sports being ended _in the morning_, the king, queen, and court
+sat down at a table of stone, to 120 dishes, placed by as many knights
+and esquires, while the Mayor was served with twenty-four dishes and
+abundance of wine. And finally the King and Queen being conveyed with
+great lights into the palace, the Mayor, with his company in barges,
+returned to London by break of the next day."
+
+From the ancient records of the Royal Household it appears that on the
+morning of New Year's Day, the King "sitting in his foot-sheet,"
+received according to prescribed ceremony a new year's gift from the
+Queen, duly rewarding the various officers and messengers, according
+to their rank. The Queen also "sat in her foot-sheet," and received
+gifts in the same manner, paying a less reward. And on this day, as
+well as on Christmas Day, the King wore his kirtle, his surcoat and
+his pane of arms; and he walked, having his hat of estate on his head,
+his sword borne before him, with the chamberlain, steward, treasurer,
+comptroller, preceding the sword and the ushers; before whom must walk
+all the other lords except those who wore robes, who must follow the
+King. The highest nobleman in rank, or the King's brother, if present,
+to lead the Queen; another of the King's brothers, or else the Prince,
+to walk with the King's train-bearer. On Twelfth Day the King was to
+go "crowned, in his royal robes, kirtle, and surcoat, his furred hood
+about his neck, and his ermines upon his arms, of gold set full of
+rich stones with balasses, sapphires, rubies, emeralds, and pearls."
+This ornament was considered so sacred, that "no temporal man" (none
+of the laity) but the King was to presume to touch it; an esquire of
+the body was to bring it in a fair handkerchief, and the King was to
+put it on with his own hands; he must also have his sceptre in his
+right hand, the ball with the cross in his left hand, and must offer
+at the altar gold, silver, and incense, which offering the Dean of the
+Chapel was to send to the Archbishop of Canterbury, and this was to
+entitle the Dean to the next vacant benefice. The King was to change
+his mantle when going to meat, and to take off his hood and lay it
+about his neck, "clasping it before with a rich _owche_." The King and
+the Queen on Twelfth Night were to take the _void_ (evening repast) in
+the hall; as for the wassail, the steward and treasurer were to go for
+it, bearing their staves; the chapel choir to stand on the side of the
+hall, and when the steward entered at the hall door he was to cry
+three times, "Wassail! Wassail! Wassail!" and the chapel to answer
+with a good song; and when all was done the King and Queen retired to
+their chamber.
+
+Among the special features of the banquets of this period were the
+devices for the table called subtleties, made of paste, jelly, or
+blanc-mange, placed in the middle of the board, with labels describing
+them; various shapes of animals were frequent; and on a saint's day,
+angels, prophets, and patriarchs were set upon the table in plenty.
+Certain dishes were also directed as proper for different degrees of
+persons; as "conies parboiled, or else rabbits, for they are better
+for a lord"; and "for a great lord take squirrels, for they are better
+than conies"; a whole chicken for a lord; and "seven mackerel in a
+dish, with a dragge of fine sugar," was also a dish for a lord. But
+the most famous dish was "the peacock enkakyll, which is foremost in
+the procession to the king's table." Here is the recipe for this royal
+dish: Take and flay off the skin with the feathers, tail, and the neck
+and head thereon; then take the skin, and all the feathers, and lay it
+on the table abroad, and strew thereon ground cinnamon; then take the
+peacock and roast him, and baste him with raw yolks of eggs; and when
+he is roasted, take him off, and let him cool awhile, and take him and
+sew him in his skin, and gild his comb, and so serve him with the last
+course.
+
+
+CARD-PLAYING WAS FORBIDDEN EXCEPT AT CHRISTMAS,
+
+by a statute passed in the reign of Henry VII. A Scotch writer,[34]
+referring to this prohibition, says: "A universal Christmas custom of
+the olden time was playing at cards; persons who never touched a card
+at any other season of the year felt bound to play a few games at
+Christmas. The practice had even the sanction of the law. A
+prohibitory statute of Henry VII.'s reign, forbade card-playing save
+during the Christmas holidays. Of course, this prohibition extended
+only to persons of humble rank; Henry's daughter, the Princess
+Margaret, played cards with her suitor, James IV. of Scotland; and
+James himself kept up the custom, receiving from his treasurer, at
+Melrose, on Christmas Night, 1496, thirty-five unicorns, eleven French
+crowns, a ducat, a _ridare_, and a _leu_, in all about equal to L42 of
+modern money, to use at the card-table." Now, as the Scottish king was
+not married to the English princess until 1503, it is quite clear that
+he had learned to play cards long before his courtship with Margaret;
+for in 1496, when he received so much card-money from his treasurer,
+the English princess was but seven years of age. James had evidently
+learned to play at cards with the Scottish barons who frequented his
+father's Court, and whose lawlessness led to the revolt which ended in
+the defeat and melancholy fate of James III. (1488), and gave the
+succession to his son, James IV., at the early age of fifteen years.
+The no less tragic end of James IV. at Flodden Field, in 1513, is
+strikingly depicted by Sir Walter Scott, who tells:--
+
+ "Of the stern strife, and carnage drear,
+ Of Flodden's fatal field,
+ Where shiver'd was fair Scotland's spear,
+ And broken was her shield."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+THE REIGN OF HENRY THE EIGHTH.
+
+On the death of Henry VII., who had given England peace and
+prosperity, and established firmly his own house on the English
+throne, in 1509, his son Henry became king as Henry VIII. He was a
+handsome and accomplished young man, and his accession was an occasion
+of great rejoicing. Henry kept his first
+
+
+ROYAL CHRISTMAS AT RICHMOND,
+
+with great magnificence. Proclaimed king on the 22nd of April at the
+age of eighteen, and married on the 3rd of June to Katherine of
+Arragon, widow of his deceased brother Arthur, Prince of Wales, the
+youthful Monarch and his Queen were afterwards crowned at Westminster
+Abbey by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and spent the first Christmas
+of their wedded life at Richmond. "And a very pleasant time it ought
+to have been to the Queen, for every species of entertainment was
+there got up by the handsome young king and his gallant company of
+courtiers, for her particular gratification. There was a grand
+tournament on the green, before the palace, which was rendered
+brilliant with pavilions, and the other gay structures always erected
+for these chivalrous ceremonies. The King and Queen took their places
+in the customary elevated position, surrounded by the nobles and
+beauties of the Court, to witness the feats of arms of the many
+gallant knights who had thronged to display their prowess before their
+sovereign; these, with their esquires, the heralds, pages, and other
+attendants, mounted and on foot, clad in their gay apparel, the
+knights wearing handsome suits of armour, and careering on gaily
+caparisoned horses, made a very inspiriting scene, in which the
+interest deepened when the usual combats between individuals or select
+companies commenced."[35]
+
+ "For every knight that loved chivalry,
+ And would his thanks have a passant name,
+ Hath prayed that he might be of that game,
+ And well was him that thereto chosen was."[36]
+
+The spectacle presented was one of great splendour; for "the
+commencement of the reign of Henry VIII., who was then styled by his
+loving subjects 'the rose without a thorn,' witnessed a remarkable
+revival of magnificence in personal decoration. So brilliant were the
+dresses of both sexes at the grand entertainment over which the King
+and Queen presided at Richmond, that it is difficult to convey an
+adequate idea of their splendour. But in the first half of the
+sixteenth century the principal Courts of Europe were distinguished by
+a similar love of display, which, though it fostered habits of luxury,
+afforded an extraordinary impulse towards art."[37] In England the
+love of finery became so general among the people that several
+statutes were passed during Henry's reign to restrain it. But while
+the King was quite willing that his subjects should observe due
+propriety in regard to their own dress and adornments, not exceeding
+the regulations laid down for their particular rank or station in
+life, he was lavish in his own expenditure, and it pleased the people
+to see Henry dressed in kingly fashion. He greatly increased his own
+popularity by taking part in the tournaments, in which "he did
+exceedingly well"; and he also assisted in the several curious and
+picturesque masques of Christmastide.
+
+On one occasion the King with some of the chief nobles of his Court
+appeared apparelled as Robin Hood and his foresters, in which disguise
+he entered unexpectedly into the Queen's chamber, "whereat," says
+Holinshed, "the Queen and her ladies were greatly amazed, as well for
+the strange sight as for the sudden appearance."
+
+The splendour of the Court festivities necessitated
+
+
+INCREASED EXPENDITURE FOR CHRISTMAS-KEEPING,
+
+notwithstanding that the King's domestic affairs were managed by "a
+good number of honourable, virtuous, wise, expert, and discreet
+persons of his Council." The preserved bills of fare show that the
+Court diet was liberal generally, but especially sumptuous at the
+grand entertainments of Christmas. And the Royal Household Accounts
+also show increased expenditure for the diversions, as well as for the
+banquetings, of the festival. For instance, the payments to the Lord
+of Misrule, which in Henry the Seventh's time never exceeded L6 13s.
+4d., were raised by Henry the Eighth in his first year to L8 6s. 8d.,
+and subsequently to L15 6s. 8d. In the first year is a payment to "Rob
+Amadas upon his bill for certain plate of gold stuf bought of him for
+the disguisings," L451 12s. 2d.; and another to "Willm. Buttry upon
+his bill for certen sylks bought of him for the disguisings," L133 7s.
+5d. In the sixth year are charges "To Leonard Friscobald for diverse
+velvets, and other sylks, for the disguising," L247 12s. 7d.; and "To
+Richard Gybson for certen apparell, &c., for the disguysing at the
+fest of Cristemes last," L137 14s. 1/2d. Considerable payments are
+made to the same Gybson in after years for the same purpose,
+particularly in the eleventh, for revels, called a Maskelyn. In the
+tenth year large rewards were given to the gentlemen and children of
+the King's Chapel; the former having L13 6s. 8d. "for their good
+attendance in Xtemas"; and "Mr. Cornisse for playing affore the King
+opon newyeres day at nyght with the children," L6 13s. 4d.
+
+Hall, in his Chronicle, Henry VIII. folio 15b, 16a, gives the
+following account of a
+
+
+ROYAL MASQUERADE AT GREENWICH,
+
+where the King was keeping his Christmas in 1512: "On the daie of the
+Epiphanie, at night, the King with XI others, wer disguised after the
+maner of Italie, called a maske, a thing not seen afore in England;
+thei were appareled in garments long and brode, wrought all with gold,
+with visers and cappes of gold; and after the banket doen, these
+maskers came in with six gentlemen disguised in silke, bearing staffe
+torches, and desired the ladies to daunce: some were content, and some
+that new the fashion of it refused, because it was a thing not
+commonly seen. And after thei daunced and communed together, as the
+fashion of the maske is, thei tooke their leave and departed, and so
+did the quene and all the ladies."
+
+In 1521 the King kept his Christmas at Greenwich "with great nobleness
+and open court," and again in 1525. In 1527, he received the French
+Embassy here, and also kept his Christmas "with revels, masks,
+disguisings, and banquets royal;" as he did again in 1533, in 1537,
+and in 1543; the last-mentioned year "he entertained twenty-one of the
+Scottish nobility whom he had taken prisoners at Salom Moss, and gave
+them their liberty without ransom."[38]
+
+On all these occasions Henry diverted his guests right royally,
+spending vast sums on the masques and disguisings; but none of the
+Christmas diversions proved greater attractions than
+
+
+THE KING'S TOURNAMENT DISPLAYS.
+
+To these splendid exercises Henry gave unremitting attention, and not
+to display proficiency in them was almost to lose his favour; yet some
+discretion was required to rival, but not to excel the King, whose
+ardent temper could not brook superiority in another. But, although
+victory was always reserved for royalty, it is but fair to allow that
+the King was no mean adept in those pursuits for which his bodily
+powers and frequent exercise had qualified him.
+
+Among the most distinguished Knights of Henry's Court Charles Brandon
+was pre-eminent, not only for his personal beauty and the elegance
+that attended every movement which the various evolutions of the game
+required, but for his courage, judgment, and skill, qualities which he
+displayed to great advantage at the royal festivities. This celebrated
+man was the son of Sir William Brandon, who, bearing the standard of
+Henry the Seventh, was slain by Richard the Third at Bosworth Field.
+Three sons of the Howard family were also distinguished at the royal
+tournaments. Lord Thomas Howard was one of the most promising
+warriors, and, unfortunately, one of the most dissolute men at the
+Court of Henry. Sir Edward and Sir Edmund Howard, the one famed for
+naval exploits, the other less remarkable, but not without celebrity
+for courage. Sir Thomas Knevet, Master of the Horse, and Lord Neville,
+brother to the Marquis of Dorset, were also prominent in the lists of
+combat. The trumpets blew to the field the fresh, young gallants and
+noblemen, gorgeously apparelled with curious devices of arts and of
+embroideries, "as well in their coats as in trappers for their horses;
+some in gold, some in silver, some in tinsel, and divers others in
+goldsmith's work goodly to behold." Such was the array in which the
+young knights came forth at Richmond, in the splendid tournament which
+immediately succeeded Henry's coronation, "assuming the name and
+devices of the knights or scholars of Pallas, clothed in garments of
+green velvet, carrying a crystal shield, on which was pourtrayed the
+goddess Minerva, and had the bases and barbs of their horses
+embroidered with roses and pomegranates of gold; those of Diana were
+decorated with the bramble-bush, displayed in a similar manner. The
+prize of valour was the crystal shield. Between the lists the
+spectators were amused with a pageant, representing a park enclosed
+with pales, containing fallow deer, and attended by foresters and
+huntsmen. The park being moved towards the place where the queen sat,
+the gates were opened, the deer were let out, pursued by greyhounds,
+killed and presented by Diana's champions to the Queen and the ladies.
+Thus were they included in the amusement, not only as observers, but
+as participators; nor were the populace without their share of
+enjoyments; streams of Rhenish wine and of claret, which flowed from
+the mouths of animals sculptured in stone and wood, were appropriated
+to their refreshment. Night closed on the joyous scene; but before its
+approach the King, perceiving that the ardour of the combatants had
+become intemperate and dangerous, wisely limited the number of
+strokes, and closed the tourney.
+
+"It was about this period that the tournament ceased to be merely a
+chivalric combat; and, united with the pageant, acquired more of the
+dramatic character. The pageant consisted of a temporary building,
+moved on biers, generally representing castles, rocks, mountains,
+palaces, gardens, or forests. The decoration of these ambulating
+scenes was attended with considerable expense, but was seldom
+conducted with taste or consistency. They generally contained figures,
+personating a curious medley of nymphs, savages, heathen gods, and
+Christian saints, giants and the nine worthies, who descended and
+danced among the spectators.
+
+"On the night of the Epiphany (1516) a pageant was introduced into the
+hall at Richmond, representing a hill studded with gold and precious
+stones, and having on its summit a tree of gold, from which hung roses
+and pomegranates. From the declivity of the hill descended a lady
+richly attired, who, with the gentlemen, or, as they were then called,
+children of honour, danced a morris before the King.
+
+"On another occasion, in the presence of the Court, an artificial
+forest was drawn in by a lion and an antelope, the hides of which were
+richly embroidered with golden ornaments; the animals were harnessed
+with chains of gold, and on each sat a fair damsel in gay apparel. In
+the midst of the forest, which was thus introduced, appeared a gilded
+tower, at the gates of which stood a youth, holding in his hands a
+garland of roses, as the prize of valour in a tournament which
+succeeded the pageant."[39]
+
+
+CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES OF NOBLEMEN AND OTHERS.
+
+The royal magnificence was imitated by the nobility and gentry of the
+period, who kept the Christmas festival with much display and
+prodigality, maintaining such numerous retinues as to constitute a
+miniature court. The various household books that still exist show the
+state in which they lived. From that of the Northumberland family
+(1512), it appears that the "Almonar" was often "a maker of
+Interludys," and had "a servaunt to the intent for writynge the
+parts." The persons on the establishment of the Chapel performed plays
+from some sacred subject during Christmas; as "My lorde usith and
+accustomyth to gyf yerely, if his lordship kepe a chapell and be at
+home, them of his lordschipes chapell, if they doo play the Play of
+the Nativitie uppon Cristynmes day in the mornnynge in my lords
+chapell befor his lordship, xxs." Other players were also permitted
+and encouraged, and a Master of the Revells appointed to superintend.
+And "My lorde useth and accustomyth yerly to gyf hym which is ordynede
+to be Master of the Revells yerly in my lordis hous in Cristmas for
+the overseyinge and orderinge of his lordschips Playes, Interludes,
+and Dresinge that is plaid befor his lordship in his hous in the XII
+dayes of Christenmas, and they to have in rewarde for that caus yerly,
+xxs." Another entry shows that 13s. 4d. was the price paid to the
+chaplain, William Peres, in the 17th Henry VIII., "for makyng an
+Enterlued to be playd this next Christenmas."
+
+In this reign the working classes were allowed greater privileges at
+Christmas than at any other part of the year. The Act of 11 Henry VII.
+c. 2, against unlawful games, expressly forbids Artificers, Labourers,
+Servants, or Apprentices, to play at any such games, except at
+Christmas, and then only in their masters' houses by the permission of
+the latter; and a penalty of 6s. 8d. was incurred by any householder
+allowing such games, except during those holidays; which, according to
+Stow, extended from All-hallows evening to the day after Candlemas
+Day. The Act of 33 Henry VIII. c. 9, enacts more particularly, "That
+no manner of Artificer or Craftsman of any handicraft or occupation,
+Husbandman, Apprentice, Labourer, Servant at husbandry, Journeyman, or
+Servant of Artificer, Mariners, Fishermen, Watermen, or any
+Serving-man, shall from the said feast of the Nativity of _St. John
+Baptist_, play at the Tables, Tennis, Dice, Cards, Bowls, Clash,
+Coyting, Logating, or any other unlawful Game, out of _Christmas_,
+under the pain of xxs. to be forfeit for every time; and in
+_Christmas_ to play at any of the said Games in their Masters' houses,
+or in their Masters' presence."
+
+In his description of the "mummings and masquerades" of this period,
+Strutt[40] says that the "mummeries" practised by the lower classes
+of the people usually took place at the Christmas holidays; and such
+persons as could not procure masks rubbed their faces over with soot,
+or painted them; hence Sebastian Brant, in his "Ship of Fools"
+(translated by Alexander Barclay, and printed by Pynson, in 1508)
+alluding to this custom, says:
+
+ "The one hath a visor ugley set on his face,
+ Another hath on a vile counterfaite vesture,
+ Or painteth his visage with fume in such case,
+ That what he is, himself is scantily sure."
+
+Sandys,[41] in reference to this period, says: "The lower classes,
+still practising the ceremonies and superstitions of their
+forefathers, added to them some imitations of the revelries of their
+superiors, but, as may be supposed, of a grosser description; and many
+abuses were committed. It was, therefore, found necessary by an Act
+passed in the 3rd year of Henry VIII. to order that no person should
+appear abroad like mummers, covering their faces with vizors, and in
+disguised apparel, under pain of three months' imprisonment; and a
+penalty of 20s. was declared against such as kept vizors in their
+house for the purpose of mumming. It was not intended, however, to
+debar people from proper recreations during this season, but, on the
+contrary, we have reason to believe that many indulgencies were
+afforded them, and that landlords and masters assisted them with the
+means of enjoying the customary festivities; listening to their tales
+of legendary lore, round the yule block, when weary of more boisterous
+sports, and encouraging them by their presence."
+
+
+KING HENRY VIII.'S "STILL CHRISTMAS."
+
+In the 17th year of his reign, in consequence of the prevalence of the
+plague in London, the King kept his Christmas quietly in the old
+palace at Eltham, whence it was called the "still Christmas." This
+suppression of the mirth and jollity which were the usual concomitants
+of the festive season did not satisfy the haughty Cardinal Wolsey, who
+"laye at the Manor of Richemond, and there kept open householde, to
+lordes, ladies, and all other that would come, with plaies and
+disguisyng in most royall maner; whiche sore greved the people, and in
+especiall the Kynges servauntes, to se hym kepe an open Court and the
+Kyng a secret Court."[42]
+
+
+THE ROYAL CHRISTMASES
+
+subsequently kept, however, made amends for the cessation of
+festivities at the Kyng's "Still Christmas," especially the royal
+celebrations at Greenwich. In 1527 the "solemne Christmas" held there
+was "with revels, maskes, disguisings, and banquets; and on the
+thirtieth of December and the third of January were solemne Justs
+holden, when at night the King and fifteen other with him, came to
+Bridewell, and there putting on masking apparell, took his barge, and
+rowed to the Cardinall's (Woolsey) place, where were at supper many
+Lords and Ladyes, who danced with the maskers, and after the dancing
+was made a great Banquet."[43]
+
+During the girlhood of the Princess (afterwards Queen) Mary,
+entertainments were given for her amusement, especially at
+Christmastide; and she gave presents to the King's players, the
+children of the Chapel, and others. But, Sandys says, that "as she
+grew up, and her temper got soured, she probably lost all enjoyment of
+such scenes." Ellis, in his "Original Letters," gives a curious
+application from the Council for the household of the Lady Mary to the
+Cardinal Wolsey, to obtain his directions and leave to celebrate the
+ensuing Christmas. In this letter the reader is reminded of the long
+train of sports and merriment which made Christmas cheerful to our
+ancestors. The Cardinal, at the same time that he established a
+household for the young Duke of Richmond, had also "ordained a
+council, and stablished another household for the Lady Mary, then
+being _Princess of the Realm_."[44] The letter which seems to have
+been written in the same year in which the household was established,
+1525, is as follows:--
+
+"Please it youre Grace for the great repaire of straungers supposed
+unto the Pryncesse honorable householde this solempne fest of
+Cristmas, We humbly beseche the same to let us knowe youre gracious
+pleasure concernyng as well a ship of silver for the almes disshe
+requysite for her high estate, and spice plats, as also for trumpetts
+and a rebek to be sent, and whither we shall appoynte any Lord of
+Mysrule for the said honorable householde, provide for enterluds,
+disgysyngs, or pleyes in the said fest, or for banket on twelf nyght.
+And in likewise whither the Pryncesse shall sende any newe yeres gifts
+to the Kinge, the Quene, your Grace, and the Frensshe Quene, and of
+the value and devise of the same. Besechyng yowre Grace also to pardon
+oure busy and importunate suts to the same in suche behalf made. Thus
+oure right syngler goode lorde we pray the holy Trynyte have you in
+his holy preservacion. At Teoxbury, the xxvij day of November.
+
+ Youre humble orators,
+ John Exon
+"To the most reverent Father Jeilez Grevile
+in God the Lord Cardinall Peter Burnell
+his good Grace." John Salter
+ G. Bromley
+ Thomas Audeley."
+
+
+CHRISTMAS AND THE REFORMATION.
+
+The great Reformer, Martin Luther, took much interest in the
+festivities of Christmastide, including, of course, the
+Christmas-tree. One of his biographers[45] tells how young Luther,
+with other boys of Mansfeld, a village to the north-west of Eisleben,
+sang Christmas carols "in honour of the Babe of Bethlehem." And the
+same writer says, "Luther may be justly regarded as the central
+representative of the Reformation in its early period, for this among
+other reasons--that he, more powerfully than any other, impressed upon
+the new doctrine the character of glad tidings of great joy." On
+Christmas Day, 1521, Martin Luther "administered the communion in both
+kinds, and almost without discrimination of applicants," in the parish
+church of Eisenach, his "beloved town."
+
+[Illustration: MARTIN LUTHER AND THE CHRISTMAS TREE.]
+
+In England, the desire for some reform in the Church was recognised
+even by Cardinal Wolsey, who obtained from the Pope permission to
+suppress thirty monasteries, and use their revenues for educational
+purposes; and Wolsey's schemes of reform might have progressed further
+if Henry VIII. had not been fascinated by Anne Boleyn. But the King's
+amour with the "little lively brunette" precipitated a crisis in the
+relations between Church and State.
+
+[Illustration: THE LITTLE ORLEANS MADONNA OF RAPHAEL]
+
+Henry, who, by virtue of a papal dispensation, had married his
+brother's widow, Katherine, now needed papal consent to a divorce,
+that he might marry Anne Boleyn, and when he found that he could not
+obtain it, he resolved to be his own Pope, "sole protector and supreme
+head of the Church and clergy of England." And among the events of
+Christmastide may be mentioned the resolution of the King's minister,
+Thomas Cromwell, and his party, in 1533, to break the ecclesiastical
+connection with Rome, and establish an independent Church in England.
+The necessary Bills were framed and introduced to Parliament soon
+after the Christmas holidays by Cromwell, who for his successful
+services was made Chancellor of the Exchequer for life. Authority in
+all matters ecclesiastical, as well as civil, was vested solely in the
+Crown, and the "courts spiritual" became as thoroughly the King's
+courts as the temporal courts at Westminster. The enslavement of the
+clergy, the dissolution of the monasteries, and the gagging of the
+pulpits followed, the years of Cromwell's administration being an
+English reign of terror. But the ruthless manner in which he struck
+down his victims sickened the English people, and they exhibited their
+disapprobation in a manner which arrested the attention of the King.
+The time of Cromwell himself was coming, for the block was the goal to
+which Henry's favourite minister was surely hastening; and it is only
+anticipating events by very few years, to say that he was beheaded on
+Tower Hill, July 28, 1540.
+
+
+ANOTHER ROYAL CHRISTMAS.
+
+That following the execution of Anne Boleyn (1536), Henry spent in the
+company of his third Queen, Jane Seymour, at Richmond Palace, with a
+merry party, and subsequently crossed the frozen Thames to Greenwich.
+During the following summer the Queen went with her husband on a
+progress, and in the autumn retired to Hampton Court, where she gave
+birth to a son (who became Edward VI.), and died twelve days
+afterwards, on the 14th of October, 1537.
+
+During the married life of Queen Jane, the Princess Mary was often
+with the Court at Richmond, affecting affectionate attachment for the
+Queen, apparently to conciliate her father. The birth of a prince,
+followed by the death of the queen, it might have been thought would
+have a chastening effect upon Mary, as somewhat altering her
+prospects; but after acting as chief mourner to her friendly
+stepmother, she spent a pleasant Christmas at Richmond, where she
+remained till February. Her losses at cards during the Christmas
+festivities were very considerable, for she was fond of gambling. And
+she appears to have also amused herself a good deal with her
+attendant, "Jane the Fool," to whose maintenance she contributed while
+staying at Richmond. One curious entry in the Household Book of the
+Princess Mary is: "Item, for shaving Jane fooles hedde, iiiid."
+Another is: "Item, geven Heywood, playeng an enterlude with his
+children before my Ladye's grace xls."
+
+The great event of Christmas, 1539, was
+
+
+THE LANDING OF ANNE OF CLEVES,
+
+at Deal, on the 27th of December. King Henry had become alarmed at the
+combination between France and Spain, and his unprincipled Chancellor,
+Cromwell, desirous of regaining his lost influence with the King,
+recommended a Protestant marriage. He told Henry that Anne, daughter
+of John III., Duke of Cleves, was greatly extolled for her beauty and
+good sense, and that by marrying her he would acquire the friendship
+of the Princes of Germany, in counterpoise to the designs of France
+and Spain. Henry despatched Hans Holbein to take the lady's portrait,
+and, being delighted with the picture produced, soon concluded a
+treaty of marriage, and sent the Lord Admiral Fitzwilliam, Earl of
+Southampton, to receive the Princess at Calais, and conduct her to
+England. On her arrival Henry was greatly disappointed. He did not
+think the Princess as charming as her portrait; and, unfortunately for
+her, she was unable to woo him with winning words, for she could speak
+no language but German, and of that Henry did not understand a word.
+Though not ugly (as many contemporaries testify), she was plain in
+person and manners, and she and her maidens, of whom she brought a
+great train, are said to have been as homely and awkward a bevy as
+ever came to England in the cause of Royal matrimony. The Royal
+Bluebeard, who had consorted with such celebrated beauties as Anne
+Boleyn and Jane Seymour, recollecting what his queens had been, and
+what Holbein and Cromwell had told him should again be, entered the
+presence of Anne of Cleves with great anticipation, but was
+thunderstruck at the first sight of the reality. Lord John Russell,
+who was present, declared "that he had never seen his highness so
+marvellously astonished and abashed as on that occasion." The marriage
+was celebrated on the 6th of January, 1540, but Henry never became
+reconciled to his German queen; and he very soon vented his anger upon
+Cromwell for being the means of bringing him, not a wife, but "a great
+Flanders mare."
+
+
+CHRISTMAS AT THE COLLEGES.
+
+The fine old tower of Magdalen College, embowered in verdure (as
+though decorated for Christmas), is one of the most picturesque of the
+venerable academical institutions of Oxford. It stands on the east
+side of the Cherwell, and is the first object of interest to catch the
+eye of the traveller who enters the city from the London Road. This
+college was the scene of many Christmas festivities in the olden time,
+when it was the custom of the several colleges to elect a "Christmas
+Lord, or Lord of Misrule, styled in the registers _Rex Fabarum_ and
+_Rex Regni Fabarum_; which custom continued till the Reformation of
+Religion, and then that producing Puritanism, and Puritanism
+Presbytery, the profession of it looked upon such laudable and
+ingenious customs as Popish, diabolical and anti-Christian."[46]
+Queen's College, Oxford (whose members have from time immemorial been
+daily summoned to dine in hall by sound of trumpet, instead of by
+bell as elsewhere), is noted for its ancient Christmas ceremony of
+ushering in the boar's head with the singing of the famous carol--
+
+ "_Caput afri differo
+ Reddens laudes Domino._
+ The boar's head in hand bring I,
+ With garlands gay and rosemary,
+ I pray you all sing merrily
+ _Qui estis in convivio_."
+
+Tradition says that this old custom commemorates the deliverance of a
+student of the college, who, while walking in the country, studying
+Aristotle, was attacked by a wild boar from Shotover Forest, whereupon
+he crammed the philosopher down the throat of the savage, and thus
+escaped from its tusks.
+
+[Illustration: MAGDALEN COLLEGE, OXFORD.]
+
+Warton[47] mentions that, "in an original draught of the Statutes of
+Trinity College, at Cambridge, founded in 1546, one of the chapters is
+entitled _De Praefecto Ludorum qui Imperator dicitur_, under whose
+direction and authority Latin Comedies and Tragedies are to be
+exhibited in the hall at Christmas. With regard to the peculiar
+business and office of Imperator it is ordered that one of the Masters
+of Arts shall be placed over the juniors, every Christmas, for the
+regulation of their games and diversions at that season of festivity.
+At the same time, he is to govern the whole society in the hall and
+chapel, as a republic committed to his special charge by a set of laws
+which he is to frame in Latin and Greek verse. His sovereignty is to
+last during the twelve days of Christmas, and he is to exercise the
+same power on Candlemas." His fee amounted to forty shillings. Similar
+customs were observed at other colleges during Christmastide. In a
+subsequent chapter of this work will be found an account of a grand
+exhibition of the Christmas Prince, at St. John's College, Oxford, in
+the year 1607.
+
+[Illustration: BRINGING IN THE BOAR'S HEAD WITH MINSTRELSY.]
+
+
+CHRISTMAS AT THE INNS OF COURT AND GREAT HOUSES.
+
+In the time of Henry the Eighth the Christmases at the Inns of Court
+became celebrated, especially those at Lincoln's Inn, which had kept
+them as early as the reign of Henry VI. The Temples and Gray's Inn
+afterwards disputed the palm with it. Every Corporation appointed a
+Lord of Misrule or Master of Merry Disports, and, according to Stow,
+there was the like "in the house of every nobleman of honour or good
+worship, were he spiritual or temporal." And during the period of the
+sway of the Lord of Misrule, "there were fine and subtle disguisings,
+masks, and mummeries, with playing at cards for counters, nails, and
+points in every house, more for pastime than for gain." Town and
+country would seem to have vied with each other as to which should
+exhibit the greatest extravagance in the Christmas entertainments, but
+(as in the days of Massinger the poet), the town carried off the
+palm:--
+
+ "Men may talk of country Christmasses--
+ Their thirty-pound buttered eggs, their pies of carps' tongues,
+ Their pheasants drenched with ambergris, the carcases
+ Of three fat wethers bruised for gravy; to
+ Make sauce for a single peacock; yet their feasts
+ Were fasts, compared with the city's."
+
+The earliest particular account of the regulations for conducting one
+of these grand Christmases is in the 9th of Henry VIII.,[48] when,
+besides the King for Christmas Day, the Marshal and the Master of the
+Revels, it is ordered that the King of Cockneys, on Childermas Day,
+should sit and have due service, and "that Jack Straw, and all his
+adherents, should be thenceforth utterly banished, and no more to be
+used in this house, upon pain to forfeit for every time five pounds,
+to be levied on every fellow hapning to offend against this rule."
+"Jack Straw" was a kind of masque, which was very much disliked by the
+aristocratic and elder part of the community, hence the amount of the
+fine imposed. The Society of Gray's Inn, however, in 1527, got into a
+worse scrape than permitting Jack Straw and his adherents, for they
+acted a play (the first on record at the Inns of Court) during this
+Christmas, the effect whereof was, that Lord Governance was ruled by
+Dissipation and Negligence, by whose evil order Lady Public Weal was
+put from Governance. Cardinal Wolsey, conscience-smitten, thought this
+to be a reflection on himself, and deprived the author, Sergeant Roe,
+of his coif, and committed him to the Fleet, together with Thomas
+Moyle, one of the actors, until it was satisfactorily explained to
+him.
+
+It was found necessary from time to time to make regulations to limit
+the extent of these revels and plays, and to provide for the expenses,
+which were considerable, and they were therefore not performed every
+year. In 1531 the Lincoln's Inn Society agreed that if the two Temples
+kept Christmas, they would also do so, not liking to be outdone. And
+later an order was made in Gray's Inn that no Comedies, commonly
+called Interludes, should be acted in the refectory in the intervals
+of vacation, except at the celebration of Christmas; and that then the
+whole body of students should jointly contribute towards the dresses,
+scenes, and decorations.
+
+As an example of the Christmas hospitality of the period, we refer to
+the establishment of John Carminow, whose family was of high repute in
+the county of Cornwall in the time of Henry the Eighth. Hals says that
+"he kept open house for all comers and goers, drinkers, minstrells,
+dancers, and what not, during the Christmas time, and that his usual
+allowance of provision for those twelve days, was twelve fat bullocks,
+twenty Cornish bushels of wheat (_i.e._, fifty Winchesters),
+thirty-six sheep, with hogs, lambs, and fowls of all sort, and drink
+made of wheat and oat-malt proportionable; for at that time
+barley-malt was little known or used in those parts."
+
+That the beneficed clergy of this period also "made merry" with their
+parishioners is quite clear from the writings of "Master Hugh
+Latimer," who, in Henry's reign, held the benefice of West Kington, in
+Wiltshire. A citation for heresy being issued against Latimer, he
+wrote with his peculiar medley of humour and pathos: "I intend to make
+merry with my parishioners this Christmas, for all the sorrow, lest
+perchance I may never return to them again."
+
+One of the most celebrated personages of this period was
+
+
+WILL SOMERS, THE KING'S JESTER.
+
+This famous fool enlivened the Christmas festivities at the Court of
+Henry the Eighth, and many quaint stories are told of his drolleries
+and witticisms. Though a reputed fool, his sarcastic wit and sparkling
+talents at repartee won him great celebrity. Very little is known of
+his actual biography, but some interesting things are told about him
+in a scarce tract, entitled "A pleasant History of the Life and Death
+of Will Somers," &c. (which was first published in 1676, and a great
+part of which is said to have been taken from Andrew Borde's
+collection of "The Merry Jests and Witty Shifts of Scoggin"). "And now
+who but Will Sommers, the King's Fool? who had got such an interest in
+him by his quick and facetious jests, that he could have admittance to
+his Majesty's Chamber, and have his ear, when a great nobleman, nay, a
+privy counsellor, could not be suffered to speak with him: and
+farther, if the King were angry or displeased with anything, if no man
+else durst demand the cause of his discontent, then was Will Sommers
+provided with one pleasant conceit or another, to take off the edge of
+his displeasure. Being of an easy and tractable disposition he soon
+found the fashions of the court, and obtained a general love and
+notice of the nobility; for he was no carry-tale, nor flattering
+insinuator to breed discord and dissension, but an honest, plain,
+downright [man], that would speak home without halting, and tell the
+truth of purpose to shame the devil--so that his plainness, mixed with
+a kind of facetiousness, and tartness with pleasantry, made him
+acceptable into the company of all men." There cannot, perhaps, be a
+greater proof of the estimation in which Somers was held by King
+Henry, than the circumstance of his portrait having been twice
+introduced into the same piece with that of the King; once in the fine
+picture by Holbein of Henry VIII. and his family, and again, in an
+illuminated Psalter which was expressly written for the King, by John
+Mallard, his chaplain and secretary ("_Regis Orator et Calamo_"), and
+is now preserved in the British Museum. According to an ancient
+custom, there is prefixed to Psalm lii., "_dixit incipens_" in the
+Psalter, a miniature illumination of King David and a Fool, whose
+figures, in this instance, are portraits of Henry VIII. and his
+favourite Will Somers. The King is seated at a kind of altar table,
+and playing on the harp, whilst Somers who is standing near him, with
+his hands clasped over his breast, appears to listen with admiration.
+The King wears a round flat cap, furred, and a vest of imperial purple
+striped with gold, and fluted at bottom; his doublet is red, padded
+with white; his hose crimson; on his right leg is a blue garter.
+Somers is in a vest, with a hood thrown over the back; his stockings
+are blue; at his girdle is a black pouch.
+
+When Henry VIII. became old and inactive, his Christmases grew
+gradually duller, until he did little more than sit out a play or two,
+and gamble with his courtiers, his Christmas play-money requiring a
+special draught upon the treasury, usually for a hundred pounds. He
+died on January 28, 1547.
+
+ [34] "Book of Days," Edinburgh.
+
+ [35] Williams's "Domestic Memoirs of the Royal Family and
+ of the Court of England."
+
+ [36] Chaucer.
+
+ [37] "William's Domestic Memoirs."
+
+ [38] Nichols's "Progresses of Queen Elizabeth."
+
+ [39] "Recollections of Royalty," by Mr. Charles C. Jones,
+ 1828.
+
+ [40] "Sports and Pastimes."
+
+ [41] Introduction to "Christmas Carols."
+
+ [42] Hall's "Chronicle."
+
+ [43] Baker's "Chronicle."
+
+ [44] Hall's "Chronicle."
+
+ [45] Peter Bayne, LL. D.
+
+ [46] Wood's "Athenae Oxonienses."
+
+ [47] "History of English Poetry."
+
+ [48] Dugdale, "Origines Juridiciales."
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER VII._
+
+CHRISTMAS UNDER EDWARD VI., MARY, AND ELIZABETH.
+
+(1547-1603.)
+
+
+CHRISTMAS UNDER KING EDWARD VI.--GEORGE FERRERS
+"MASTER OF THE KING'S PASTIMES."
+
+During the short reign of the youthful monarch Edward the Sixth
+(1547-1553), the splendour of the Royal Christmases somewhat abated,
+though they were still continued; and the King being much grieved at
+the condemnation of the Duke of Somerset, his uncle and Protector, it
+was thought expedient to divert his mind by additional pastimes at the
+Christmas festival, 1551-2. "It was devised," says Holinshed, "that
+the feast of Christ's nativitie, commonlie called Christmasse, then at
+hand, should be solemnlie kept at Greenwich, with open houshold, and
+franke resort to Court (which is called keeping of the hall), what
+time of old ordinarie course there is alwaise one appointed to make
+sport in the court, commonlie Lord of Misrule; whose office is not
+unknown to such as have been brought up in noblemen's houses, and
+among great housekeepers, who use liberall feasting in that season.
+There was therefore by order of the Councell, a wise gentleman, and
+learned, named George Ferrers, appointed to that office for this
+yeare; who, being of better credit and estimation than comonlie his
+predecessors had been before, received all his commissions and
+warrants by the name of the maister of the King's pastimes. Which
+gentleman so well supplied his office, both in show of sundry sights
+and devices of rare inventions, and in act of diverse interludes, and
+matters of pastime plaied by persons, as not onlie satisfied the
+common sort, but also were verie well liked and allowed by the
+Councell, and other of skill in the like pastimes; but best of all by
+the young King himselfe, as appeered by his princelie liberalitie in
+rewarding that service." The old chronicler quaintly adds, that
+"Christmas being thus passed with much mirth and pastime, it was
+thought now good to proceed to the execution of the judgment against
+the Duke of Somerset." The day of execution was the 22nd of January,
+1552, six weeks after the passing of the sentence.
+
+King Edward took part in some of the Christmas masques performed at
+his Court, with other youths of his age and stature, all the
+performers being suitably attired in costly garments. Will Somers also
+figured in some of these masques. The young King seems to have found
+more amusement in the pageants superintended by Master Ferrers than he
+had gained from some of the solemnities of the state in which he had
+been obliged to play a prominent part; but none of the diversions
+restored him to good health. Large sums of money were expended on
+these Christmas entertainments, and the King handsomely rewarded the
+Master of his pastimes.
+
+George Ferrers, who was a lawyer, a poet, and an historian, was
+certainly well qualified for his task, and well supplied with the
+means of making sport, as "Master of the King's Pastimes." He
+complained to Sir Thomas Cawarden that the dresses provided for his
+assistants were not sufficient, and immediately an order was given for
+better provision. He provided clowns, jugglers, tumblers, men to dance
+the fool's dance, besides being assisted by the "Court Fool" of the
+time--John Smyth. This man was newly supplied for the occasion, having
+a long fool's coat of yellow cloth of gold, fringed all over with
+white, red, and green velvet, containing 71/2 yards at L2 per yard,
+guarded with plain yellow cloth of gold, 4 yards at 33s. 4d. per yard;
+with a hood and a pair of buskins of the same figured gold containing
+21/2 yards at L5, and a girdle of yellow sarsenet containing one
+quarter 16d., the whole value of "the fool's dress" being L26 14s. 8d.
+Ferrers, as the "Lord of Misrule" wore a robe of rich stuff made of
+silk and golden thread containing 9 yards at 16s. a yard, guarded with
+embroidered cloth of gold, wrought in knots, 14 yards at 11s. 4d. a
+yard; having fur of red feathers, with a cape of camlet thrum. A coat
+of flat silver, fine with works, 5 yards at 50s., with an embroidered
+garb of leaves of gold and coloured silk, containing 15 yards at 20s.
+a yard. He wore a cap of maintenance, hose buskins, panticles of
+Bruges satin, a girdle of yellow sarsenet with various decorations,
+the cost of his dress being L52 8s. 8d., which, considering the
+relative value of money, must be considered a very costly dress.
+
+The office which George Ferrers so ably filled had been too often held
+by those who possessed neither the wit nor the genius it required;
+but, originally, persons of high rank and ability had been chosen to
+perform these somewhat difficult duties. Ferrers received L100 for the
+charges of his office; and afterwards the Lord Mayor, who probably had
+been at the Royal festival, entertained him in London. The cost of the
+Royal festivities exceeded L700.
+
+Stowe, in his "Annals," thus refers to the celebration: "The King kept
+his Christmasse with open houshold at Greenwich, George Ferrers,
+Gentleman of Lincolnes Inne, being Lord of the merry Disports all the
+12 dayes, who so pleasantly and wisely behaved himselfe, that the King
+had great delight in his pastimes. On Monday the fourth of January,
+the said Lord of Merry Disports came by water to London, and landed at
+the Tower-wharfe, entered the Tower, and then rode through the
+Tower-streete, where he was received by Sergeant Vawce, Lord of
+Misrule to John Mainard, one of the Sheriffes of London, and so
+conducted through the Citie with a great company of young Lords and
+gentlemen, to the house of Sir George Barne, Lord Maior; where he,
+with the chiefe of his company dined, and after had a great banquet;
+and, at his departure, the Lord Maior gave him a standing cup, with a
+cover of silver and gilt, of the value of ten pounds, for a reward;
+and also set a hogs-head of wine, and a barrell of beere, at his
+gate, for his traine that followed him; the residue of his gentlemen
+and servants dined at other Aldermen's houses, and with the sheriffes,
+and so departed to the Tower wharfe againe, and to the Court by water,
+to the great commendation of the Maior and Aldermen, and highly
+accepted of the King and Councell."
+
+
+RELIGIOUS MATTERS
+
+occupied public attention throughout the reign of Edward VI.
+The young king was willing to support the reforming projects of
+Archbishop Cranmer, and assented to the publication of the new Liturgy
+in the Prayer Book of 1549, and the Act of Uniformity. And with the
+sanction of the sovereign, Cranmer, in 1552, issued a revised Liturgy,
+known as the Second Prayer Book of King Edward VI., and the Forty-two
+Articles, which were markedly Protestant in tendency. On his health
+failing, the King, acting on the advice of the Duke of Northumberland,
+altered the settlement of the crown as arranged in the will of Henry
+VIII., and made a will excluding Mary and Elizabeth from the
+succession in favour of Lady Jane Grey, daughter-in-law of
+Northumberland, which was sanctioned by Archbishop Cranmer and the
+Privy Council. Although Cranmer had sanctioned this act with great
+reluctance, and on the assurance of the judges, it sufficed to secure
+his condemnation for high treason on Mary's accession. Edward sank
+rapidly and died on July 6, 1553.
+
+The Duke of Northumberland then
+
+
+PROCLAIMED LADY JANE GREY QUEEN,
+
+but the people refused to recognise the usurpation. After a brief
+reign of eleven days,
+
+
+THE CROWN WAS TRANSFERRED TO MARY,
+
+daughter of Henry VIII. and Catherine of Arragon, and Lady Jane Grey
+and her husband were sent to the Tower, and subsequently condemned to
+death. They were kept in captivity for some time, and were not
+executed until after Wyatt's rebellion in 1554.
+
+[Illustration: Virgin & Child, Chirbury.]
+
+Mary was a firm Roman Catholic, and she looked to her uncle, Charles
+V. of Spain, for assistance and support. In January, 1554, much to the
+disappointment of her subjects, she concluded a treaty of marriage
+with Philip of Spain, son of Charles V. Afterwards her reign was
+disturbed by insurrections, and also by the persecution of Protestants
+by Cardinal Pole, who came over to England to push forward the Roman
+Catholic reaction.
+
+
+THIS TROUBLED REIGN
+
+was not congenial to Christmas festivities, though they were still
+kept up in different parts of the country. During the Christmas
+festival (January 2, 1554) a splendid embassy, sent by the Emperor,
+Charles the Fifth, headed by the Counts Egmont and Lalain, the Lord of
+Courrieres, and the Sieur de Nigry, landed in Kent, to arrange the
+marriage between Queen Mary and Philip. The unpopularity of the
+proceeding was immediately manifested, for the men of Kent, taking
+Egmont for Philip, rose in fury and would have killed him if they
+could have got at him. Although an attempt was made to allay the fears
+of the English, within a few days three insurrections broke out in
+different parts of the kingdom, the most formidable being that under
+Sir Thomas Wyatt, who fixed his headquarters at Rochester. In city and
+court alike panic prevailed. The lawyers in Westminster Hall pleaded
+in suits of armour hidden under their robes, and Dr. Weston preached
+before the Queen in Whitehall Chapel, on Candlemas Day, in armour
+under his clerical vestments. Mary alone seemed calm and
+self-possessed. She mounted her horse, and, attended by her ladies and
+her Council, rode into the City, where, summoning Sir Thomas White,
+Lord Mayor, and the Aldermen, who all came clad in armour under their
+civic livery, she ascended a chair of State, and with her sceptre in
+her hand addressed them, declaring she would never marry except with
+the leave of her Parliament. Her courage gained the day. The rebellion
+was speedily quelled and the ringleaders put to death; and the
+following July the marriage took place. Mary's subsequent reign was a
+"reign of terror, a time of fire and blood, such as has no parallel in
+the history of England."[49]
+
+
+CHRISTMAS DIVERSIONS OF QUEEN MARY.
+
+During her "reign of terror" Queen Mary was diverted by Christmas
+plays and pageants, and she showed some interest in the amusements of
+the people. Strutt's "Sports and Pastimes," in an article on the
+"Antiquity of Tumbling," says: "It would seem that these artists were
+really famous mirth-makers; for one of them had the address to excite
+the merriment of that solemn bigot Queen Mary. 'After her Majesty,'
+observes Strype, 'had reviewed the royal pensioners in Greenwich Park,
+there came a tumbler, and played many pretty feats, the Queen and
+Cardinal Pole looking on; whereat she was observed to laugh
+heartily.'" Strutt also mentions that "when Mary visited her sister,
+the Princess Elizabeth, during her confinement at Hatfield House, the
+next morning, after mass, a grand exhibition of bear-baiting was made
+for their amusement, with which, it is said, 'their highnesses were
+right well content.'" The idle pageantry of the Boy-bishop, which had
+been formally abrogated by proclamation from the King, in the
+thirty-third year of Henry VIII., was revived by his daughter Mary.
+Strutt says that "in the second year of her reign an edict, dated
+November 13, 1554, was issued from the Bishop of London to all the
+clergy of his diocese, to have a Boy-bishop in procession. The year
+following, 'the child Bishop, of Paules Church, with his company,'
+were admitted into the Queen's privy chamber, where he sang before her
+on Saint Nicholas Day, and upon Holy Innocents Day. After the death of
+Mary this silly mummery was totally discontinued."
+
+The Christmas entertainments of Philip and Mary at Richmond are thus
+described by Folkstone Williams:[50] "The Queen strove to entertain
+her Royal husband with masques, notwithstanding that he had seen many
+fair and rich beyond the seas; and Nicholas Udall, the stern
+schoolmaster, was ordered to furnish the drama. An idea of these
+performances may be gathered from the properties of a masque of
+patrons of gallies like Venetian senators with galley-slaves for their
+torch-bearers, represented at Court in Christmas of the first and
+second years of Philip and Mary, with a Masque of six Venuses, or
+amorous ladies, with six Cupids, and as many torch-bearers. Among them
+were lions' heads, sixteen other headpieces, made in quaint fashion
+for the Turkish magistrates, as well as eight falchions for them, the
+sheaths covered with green velvet, and bullioned with copper. There
+were eight headpieces for women-masks, goddesses and huntresses. A
+masque of eight mariners, of cloth of gold and silver, and six pairs
+of chains for the galley slaves. Another mask of goddesses and
+huntresses, with Turks, was performed on the following Shrovetide; and
+one of six Hercules, or men of war, coming from the sea with six
+Mariners to their torch-bearers, was played a little later. Besides
+which, we find mention of a masque of covetous men with long noses--a
+masque of men like Argus--a masque of women Moors--a masque of
+Amazons--one of black and tawney tinsel, with baboons' faces--one of
+Polanders, and one of women with Diana hunting."
+
+Nichols ("Progresses," vol. i. p. 18) says that in 1557 the Princess
+Elizabeth was present at a Royal Christmas kept with great solemnity
+by Queen Mary and King Philip at Hampton Court. "On Christmas Eve, the
+great hall of the palace was illuminated with a thousand lamps
+curiously disposed. The Princess supped at the same table in the hall
+with the King and Queen, next the cloth of state; and after supper,
+was served with a perfumed napkin and plates of confects by the Lord
+Paget. But she retired to her ladies before the revels, maskings, and
+disguisings began. On St. Stephen's day she heard mattins in the
+Queen's closet adjoining to the chapel, where she was attired in a
+robe of white sattin, strung all over with large pearls. On the 29th
+day of December she sate with their majesties and the nobility at a
+grand spectacle of justing, when two hundred spears were broken. Half
+of the combatants were accoutred in the Almaine and half in the
+Spanish fashion. Thus our chronicler, who is fond of minute
+description. But these and other particularities, insignificant as
+they seem, which he has recorded so carefully, are a vindication of
+Queen Mary's character in the treatment of her sister; they prove that
+the Princess, during her residence at Hatfield, lived in splendour and
+affluence; that she was often admitted to the diversions of the Court;
+and that her present situation was by no means a state of oppression
+and imprisonment, as it has been represented by most of our
+historians."
+
+[Illustration: Saints and angels.]
+
+
+THE ROMISH PRIESTLY PRACTICES
+
+on "Christmass-daye," at this period, are referred to in the
+following translation from Naogeorgus, by Barnaby Googe:--
+
+ "Then comes the day wherein the Lorde did bring his birth to passe;
+ Whereas at midnight up they rise, and every man to Masse,
+ This time so holy counted is, that divers earnestly
+ Do think the waters all to wine are chaunged sodainly;
+ In that same houre that Christ Himselfe was borne, and came to light,
+ And unto water streight againe transformde and altred quight.
+ There are beside that mindfully the money still do watch,
+ That first to aultar commes, which then they privily do snatch.
+ The priestes, least other should it have, take oft the same away,
+ Whereby they thinke throughout the yeare to have good lucke in play,
+ And not to lose: then straight at game till day-light do they strive,
+ To make some present proofe how well their hallowde pence wil thrive.
+ Three Masses every priest doth singe upon that solemn day,
+ With offrings unto every one, that so the more may play.
+ This done, a woodden childe in clowtes is on the aultar set,
+ About the which both boyes and gyrles do daunce and trymly jet;
+ And Carrols sing in prayse of Christ, and, for to helpe them heare,
+ The organs aunswere every verse with sweete and solemne cheare.
+ The priestes do rore aloude; and round about the parentes stande
+ To see the sport, and with their voyce do helpe them and their hande."
+
+
+THE CHRISTMAS MUMMERS
+
+played a prominent part in the festivities of this period, and the
+following illustration shows how they went a-mumming.
+
+[Illustration: RIDING A-MUMMING AT CHRISTMASTIDE.]
+
+Queen Mary died on November 17, 1558, and her half-sister,
+
+
+ELIZABETH, CAME TO THE THRONE
+
+in perilous times, for plots of assassination were rife, and England
+was engaged on the side of Spain in war with France. But the alliance
+with Spain soon came to an end, for Queen Elizabeth saw that the
+defence of Protestantism at home and peace with France abroad were
+necessary for her own security and the good of her subjects. She began
+her reign by regarding the welfare of her people, and she soon won and
+never lost their affection.
+
+With the accession of Queen Elizabeth there was a revival of the
+courtly pomp and pageantry which were marked characteristics of her
+father's reign. Just before the Christmas festival (1558) the new
+queen made a state entry into the metropolis, attended by a
+magnificent throng of nobles, ladies, and gentlemen, and a vast
+concourse of people from all the country round. At Highgate she was
+met by the bishops, who kneeled by the wayside and offered their
+allegiance. She received them graciously and gave them all her hand to
+kiss, except Bonner, whom she treated with marked coldness, on account
+of his atrocious cruelties: an intimation of her own intentions on the
+score of religion which gave satisfaction to the people. In the
+pageantry which was got up to grace her entry into London, a figure
+representing "Truth" dropped from one of the triumphal arches, and
+laid before the young Queen a copy of the Scriptures. Holinshed says
+she revived the book with becoming reverence, and, pressing it to her
+bosom, declared that of all the gifts and honours conferred upon her
+by the loyalty of the people this was the most acceptable. Yet
+Green,[51] in describing Elizabeth's reign, says: "Nothing is more
+revolting in the Queen, but nothing is more characteristic, than her
+shameless mendacity. It was an age of political lying, but in the
+profusion and recklessness of her lies Elizabeth stood without a peer
+in Christendom."
+
+Sir William Fitzwilliam, writing to Mr. More, of Loseley, Surrey, a
+few weeks after the accession of Elizabeth, as an important piece of
+Court news, says: "You shall understand that yesterday, being
+Christmas Day, the Queen's Majesty repaired to her great closet with
+her nobles and ladies, as hath been accustomed in such high feasts;
+and she, perceiving a bishop preparing himself to mass, all in the old
+form, tarried there until the gospel was done, and when all the people
+looked for her to have offered according to the old fashion, she with
+her nobles returned again from the closet and the mass, on to her
+privy chamber, which was strange unto divers. Blessed be God in all
+His gifts."
+
+During the Christmas festival (1558) preparations went on for the
+coronation of Elizabeth, which was to take place on the 15th of
+January. On the 12th of that month she proceeded to the Tower by
+water, attended by the lord mayor and citizens, and greeted with peals
+of ordnance, with music and gorgeous pageantry--a marked contrast to
+her previous entrance there as a suspected traitor in imminent peril
+of her life. Two days later the Queen rode in state from the Tower to
+Westminster, "most honourably accompanied, as well with gentlemen,
+barons, and other the nobility of this realm, as also with a notable
+train of godly and beautiful ladies, richly appointed," and all riding
+on horseback. The streets through which the procession passed were
+adorned with stately pageants, costly decorations, and various
+artistic devices, and were crowded with enthusiastic spectators, eager
+to welcome their new sovereign, and to applaud "the signs they noticed
+in her of a most prince-like courage, and great readiness of wit." On
+the following day (Sunday, the 15th of January) Elizabeth was crowned
+in Westminster Abbey, by Dr. Oglethorpe, Bishop of Carlisle, "Queen of
+England, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith." The ceremonials
+of the coronation were regulated according to ancient custom, and the
+entertainment in Westminster Hall was on a scale of great
+magnificence.
+
+[Illustration: A DUMB SHOW IN THE TIME OF ELIZABETH.
+(_From Messrs Cassell & Co.'s "English Plays," by permission_)]
+
+Elizabeth was particularly fond of dramatic displays, and her first
+Royal Christmas was celebrated with plays and pageants of a most
+costly description. Complaints, however, being made of the expense of
+these entertainments, she determined to control them, and directed an
+estimate to be made in the second year of her reign for the masques
+and pastimes to be shown before her at Christmas and Shrovetide. Sir
+Thomas Cawarden was then, as he had for some time previous been,
+Master of the Revels. According to Collier, the estimate amounted to
+L227 11s. 2d., being nearly L200 less than the expenses in the former
+year. The control over the expenses, however, must soon have ceased,
+for in subsequent years the sums were greatly enlarged.
+
+Nichols[52] mentions that on Twelfth Day, 1559, in the afternoon, the
+Lord Mayor and Aldermen, and all the crafts of London, and the
+Bachelors of the Mayor's Company, went in procession to St. Paul's,
+after the old custom, and there did hear a sermon. The same day a
+stage was set up in the hall for a play; and after the play was over,
+there was a fine mask; and, afterwards, a great banquet which lasted
+till midnight.
+
+In this reign a more decorous and even refined style of entertainment
+had usurped the place of the boisterous feastings of former times, but
+there was no diminution in that ancient spirit of hospitality, the
+exercise of which had become a part of the national faith. This is
+evident from the poems of Thomas Tusser (born 1515--died 1580) and
+other writers, who show that the English noblemen and yeomen of that
+time made hospitality a prominent feature in the festivities of the
+Christmas season. In his "Christmas Husbandry Fare," Tusser says:--
+
+ "Good husband and housewife, now chiefly be glad
+ Things handsome to have, as they ought to be had,
+ They both do provide against Christmas do come,
+ To welcome their neighbour, good cheer to have some;
+ Good bread and good drink, a good fire in the hall,
+ Brawn pudding and souse, and good mustard withal.
+
+ Beef, mutton, and pork, shred pies of the best,
+ Pig, veal, goose, and capon, and turkey well dressed;
+ Cheese, apples, and nuts, jolly carols to hear,
+ As then in the country is counted good cheer.
+
+ What cost to good husband is any of this?
+ Good household provision only it is;
+ Of other the like I do leave out a many,
+ That costeth the husbandman never a penny."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+GRAND CHRISTMAS OF THE INNER TEMPLE, 1561-2.
+
+Professor Henry Morley[53] says the first English tragedy, "Gorboduc,"
+was written for the Christmas festivities of the Inner Temple in the
+year 1561 by two young members of that Inn--Thomas Norton, then
+twenty-nine years old, and Thomas Sackville, then aged twenty-five.
+And the play was performed at this "Grand Christmass" kept by the
+members of the Inner Temple. Before a "Grand Christmas" was kept the
+matter was discussed in a parliament of the Inn, held on the eve of
+St. Thomas's Day, December 21st. If it was resolved upon, the two
+youngest of those who served as butlers for the festival lighted two
+torches, with which they preceded the benchers to the upper end of the
+hall. The senior bencher there made a speech; officers were appointed
+for the occasion, "and then, in token of joy and good liking, the
+Bench and company pass beneath the hearth and sing a carol."[54] The
+revellings began on Christmas Eve, when three Masters of the Revels
+sat at the head of one of the tables. All took their places to the
+sound of music played before the hearth. Then the musicians withdrew
+to the buttery, and were themselves feasted. They returned when dinner
+was ended to sing a song at the highest table. Then all tables were
+cleared, and revels and dancing were begun, to be continued until
+supper and after supper. The senior Master of the Revels, after dinner
+and after supper, sang a carol or song, and commanded other gentlemen
+there present to join him. This form of high festivity was maintained
+during the twelve days of Christmas, closing on Twelfth Night. On
+Christmas Day (which in 1561 was a Thursday), at the first course of
+the dinner, the boar's head was brought in upon a platter, followed by
+minstrelsy. On St. Stephen's Day, December the 26th, the Constable
+Marshal entered the hall in gilt armour, with a nest of feathers of
+all colours on his helm, and a gilt pole-axe in his hand; with him
+sixteen trumpeters, four drums and fifes, and four men armed from the
+middle upward. Those all marched three times about the hearth, and the
+Constable Marshal, then kneeling to the Lord Chancellor, made a
+speech, desiring the honour of admission into his service, delivered
+his naked sword, and was solemnly seated. That was the usual
+ceremonial when a Grand Christmas was kept. At this particular
+Christmas, 1561, in the fourth year of Elizabeth, it was Lord Robert
+Dudley, afterwards Earl of Leicester, who was Constable Marshal, and
+with chivalrous gallantry, taking in fantastic style the name of
+Palaphilos, Knight of the Honourable Order of Pegasus, Pegasus being
+the armorial device of the Inner Temple, he contributed to the
+splendour of this part of the entertainment. After the seating of the
+Constable Marshal, on the same St. Stephen's Day, December the 26th,
+the Master of the Game entered in green velvet, and the Ranger of the
+Forest in green satin; these also went three times about the fire,
+blowing their hunting-horns. When they also had been ceremoniously
+seated, there entered a huntsman with a fox and a cat bound at the end
+of a staff. He was followed by nine or ten couple of hounds, who
+hunted the fox and the cat to the glowing horns, and killed them
+beneath the fire. After dinner, the Constable Marshal called a
+burlesque Court, and began the Revels, with the help of the Lord of
+Misrule. At seven o'clock in the morning of St. John's Day, December
+the 27th (which was a Saturday in 1561) the Lord of Misrule was afoot
+with power to summon men to breakfast with him when service had closed
+in the church. After breakfast, the authority of this Christmas
+official was in abeyance till the after-dinner Revels. So the
+ceremonies went on till the Banqueting Night, which followed New
+Year's Day. That was the night of hospitality. Invitations were sent
+out to every House of Court, that they and the Inns of Chancery might
+see a play and masque. The hall was furnished with scaffolds for the
+ladies who were then invited to behold the sports. After the play,
+there was a banquet for the ladies in the library; and in the hall
+there was also a banquet for the Lord Chancellor and invited ancients
+of other Houses. On Twelfth Day, the last of the Revels, there were
+brawn, mustard, and malmsey for breakfast after morning prayer, and
+the dinner as on St. John's Day.
+
+The following particulars of this "Grand Christmas" at the Inner
+Temple are from Nichols's "Progresses of Queen Elizabeth":--
+
+"In the fourth year of Queen Elizabeth's reign there was kept
+a magnificent Christmas here; at which the Lord Robert Dudley
+(afterwards Earl of Leicester) was the chief person (his title
+Palaphilos), being Constable and Marshall; whose officers were
+as followeth:
+
+ Mr. Onslow, Lord Chancellour.
+ Anthony Stapleton, Lord Treasurer.
+ Robert Kelway, Lord Privy Seal.
+ John Fuller, Chief Justice of the King's Bench.
+ William Pole, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.
+ Roger Manwood, Chief Baron of the Exchequer.
+ Mr. Bashe, Steward of the Household.
+ Mr. Copley, Marshall of the Household.
+ Mr. Paten, Chief Butler.
+ Christopher Hatton, Master of the Game. (He was afterwards Lord
+ Chancellor of England.)
+ Mr. Blaston }
+ Mr. Yorke }
+ Mr. Pension } Masters of the Revells.
+ Mr. Jervise }
+ Mr. Parker, Lieutenant of the Tower.
+ Mr. Kendall, Carver.
+ Mr. Martin, Ranger of the Forests.
+ Mr. Stradling, Sewer.
+
+"And there were fourscore of the Guard; beside divers others not here
+named.
+
+"Touching the particulars of this Grand Feast, Gerard Leigh, in his
+'Accidence of Armory,' p. 119, &c., having spoken of the Pegasus borne
+for the armes of this Society, thus goes on: 'After I had travelled
+through the East parts of the unknown world, to understand of deedes
+of armes, and so arriving in the fair river of Thames, I landed within
+half a league from the City of London, which was (as I conjecture) in
+December last; and drawing neer the City, suddenly heard the shot of
+double canons, in so great a number, and so terrible, that it darkened
+the whole ayr; wherewith, although I was in my native country, yet
+stood I amazed, not knowing what it meant. Thus, as I abode in
+despair, either to return or to continue my former purpose, I chanced
+to see coming towards me an honest citizen, clothed in a long garment,
+keeping the highway, seeming to walk for his recreation, which
+prognosticated rather peace than perill; of whom I demanded the cause
+of this great shot; who friendly answered, "It is," quoth he, "a
+warning shot to the Constable Marshall of the Inner Temple, to prepare
+to dinner."
+
+"'"Why," said I, "what, is he of that estate that seeketh no other
+means to warn his officers than with so terrible shot in so peaceable
+a country?" "Marry," saith he, "he uttereth himself the better to be
+that officer whose name he beareth."
+
+"'I then demanded, "What province did he govern, that needed such an
+officer?" He answered me, "The province was not great in quantity, but
+antient in true nobility. A place," said he, "privileged by the most
+excellent Princess the High Governor of the whole Island, wherein are
+store of Gentlemen of the whole Realm, that repair thither to learn to
+rule and obey by Law, to yield their fleece to their Prince and
+Commonweal; as also to use all other exercises of body and mind
+whereunto nature most aptly serveth to adorn, by speaking,
+countenance, gesture, and use of apparel the person of a Gentleman;
+whereby amity is obtained, and continued, that Gentlemen of all
+countries, in their young years, nourished together in one place, with
+such comely order, and daily conference, are knit by continual
+acquaintance in such unity of minds and manners as lightly never after
+is severed, than which is nothing more profitable to the Commonweale."
+
+"'And after he had told me thus much of honour of the place, I
+commended in mine own conceit the policy of the Governour, which
+seemed to utter in itself the foundation of a good Commonweal; for
+that, the best of their people from tender years trained up in
+precepts of justice, it could not choose but yield forth a profitable
+People to a wise Commonweal; wherefore I determined with myself to
+make proof of what I heard by report.
+
+"'The next day I thought of my pastime to walk to this Temple, and
+entring in at the gates, I found the building nothing costly; but many
+comely Gentlemen of face and person, and thereto very courteous, saw I
+to pass to and fro, so as it seemed a Prince's port to be at hand; and
+passing forward, entred into a Church of antient building, wherein
+were many monuments of noble personages armed in knightly habit, with
+their cotes depainted in ancient shields, whereat I took pleasure to
+behold. Thus gazing as one bereft with the rare sight, there came unto
+me an Hereaught, by name Palaphilos, a King of Armes, who courteously
+saluted me, saying, "For that I was a stranger, and seeming by my
+demeanour a lover of honour, I was his guest of right," whose courtesy
+(as reason was) I obeyed; answering, "I was at his commandment."
+
+"'"Then," said he, "ye shall go to mine own lodging here within the
+Palace, where we will have such cheer as the time and country will
+yield us;" where, I assure you I was so entertained, and no where I
+met with better cheer or company, &c.
+
+"'--Thus talking, we entred the Prince his Hall, where anon we heard
+the noise of drum and fyfe. "What meaneth this drum?" said I. Quoth
+he, "This is to warn Gentlemen of the Houshold to repair to the
+dresser; wherefore come on with me, and ye shall stand where ye may
+best see the Hall served:" and so from thence brought me into a long
+gallery, that stretched itself along the Hall neer the Prince's table,
+where I saw the Prince set: a man of tall personage, a manly
+countenance, somewhat brown of visage, strongly featured, and thereto
+comely proportioned in all lineaments of body. At the nether end of
+the same table were placed the Embassadors of sundry Princes. Before
+him stood the carver, sewer, and cupbearer, with great number of
+gentlemen-wayters attending his person; the ushers making place to
+strangers, of sundry regions that came to behold the honour of this
+mighty Captain. After the placing of these honourable guests, the Lord
+Steward, Treasurer, and Keeper of Pallas Seal, with divers honourable
+personages of that Nobility, were placed at a side-table neer
+adjoining the Prince on the right hand: and at another table, on the
+left side, were placed the Treasurer of the Houshold, Secretary, the
+Prince his Serjeant at the Law, four Masters of the Revels, the King
+of Arms, the Dean of the Chappel, and divers Gentlemen Pensioners to
+furnish the same.
+
+"'At another table, on the other side, were set the Master of the
+Game, and his Chief Ranger, Masters of Houshold, Clerks of the Green
+Cloth and Check, with divers other strangers to furnish the same.
+
+"'On the other side against them began the table, the Lieutenant of
+the Tower, accompanied with divers Captains of foot-bands and shot.
+At the nether end of the Hall began the table, the High Butler, the
+Panter, Clerks of the Kitchen, Master Cook of the Privy Kitchen,
+furnished throughout with the souldiers and Guard of the Prince: all
+which, with number of inferior officers placed and served in the Hall,
+besides the great resort of strangers, I spare to write.
+
+"'The Prince so served with tender meats, sweet fruits, and dainty
+delicates confectioned with curious cookery, as it seemed wonder a
+world to observe the provision: and at every course the trumpetters
+blew the couragious blast of deadly war, with noise of drum and fyfe,
+with the sweet harmony of violins, sack-butts, recorders, and
+cornetts, with other instruments of musick, as it seemed Apollo's harp
+had tuned their stroke.
+
+"'Thus the Hall was served after the most ancient order of the Island;
+in commendation whereof I say, I have also seen the service of great
+Princes, in solemn seasons and times of triumph, yet the order hereof
+was not inferior to any.
+
+"'But to proceed, this Herehaught Palaphilos, even before the second
+course came in, standing at the high table, said in this manner: "The
+mighty Palaphilos, Prince of Sophie, High Constable Marshall of the
+Knights Templars, Patron of the Honourable Order of Pegasus:" and
+therewith cryeth, "A Largess." The Prince, praysing the Herehaught,
+bountifully rewarded him with a chain to the value of an hundred
+talents.
+
+"'I assure you I languish for want of cunning ripely to utter that I
+saw so orderly handled appertaining to service; wherefore I cease, and
+return to my purpose.
+
+"'The supper ended, and tables taken up, the High Constable rose, and
+a while stood under the place of honour, where his achievement was
+beautifully embroidered, and devised of sundry matters, with the
+Ambassadors of foreign nations, as he thought good, till Palaphilos,
+King of Armes, came in, his Herehaught Marshal, and Pursuivant before
+him; and after followed his messenger and Calligate Knight; who
+putting off his coronal, made his humble obeysance to the Prince, by
+whom he was commanded to draw neer, and understand his pleasure;
+saying to him; in few words, to this effect: "Palaphilos, seeing it
+hath pleased the high Pallas, to think me to demerit the office of
+this place; and thereto this night past vouchsafed to descend from
+heavens to increase my further honour, by creating me Knight of her
+Order of Pegasus; as also commanded me to join in the same Society
+such valiant Gentlemen throughout her province, whose living honour
+hath best deserved the same, the choice whereof most aptly belongeth
+to your skill, being the watchman of their doings, and register of
+their deserts; I will ye choose as well throughout our whole armyes,
+as elsewhere, of such special gentlemen, as the gods hath appointed,
+the number of twenty-four, and the names of them present us:
+commanding also those chosen persons to appear in our presence in
+knightly habit, that with conveniency we may proceed in our purpose."
+This done, Palaphilos obeying his Prince's commandement, with
+twenty-four valiant Knights, all apparelled in long white vestures,
+with each man a scarf of Pallas colours, and them presented, with
+their names, to the Prince; who allowed well his choise, and commanded
+him to do his office. Who, after his duty to the Prince, bowed towards
+these worthy personages, standing every man in his antienty, as he had
+borne armes in the field, and began to shew his Prince's pleasure;
+with the honour of the Order.'"
+
+"_Other Particulars touching these Grand Christmasses, extracted
+out of the Accompts of the House_.
+
+"First, it hath been the duty of the Steward, to provide five fat
+brawns, vessels, wood, and other necessaries belonging to the kitchen:
+as also all manner of spices, flesh, fowl, and other cates for the
+kitchen.
+
+"The office of the Chief Butler, to provide a rich cupboard of plate,
+silver and parcel gilt: seaven dozen of silver and gilt spoons: twelve
+fair salt-cellers, likewise silver and gilt: twenty candlesticks of
+the like.
+
+"Twelve fine large table cloths, of damask and diaper. Twenty dozen of
+napkins suitable at the least. Three dozen of fair large towels;
+whereof the Gentleman Sewers, and Butlers of the House, to have every
+of them one at mealtimes, during their attendance. Likewise to provide
+carving knives; twenty dozen of white cups and green potts: a carving
+table; torches; bread, beer, and ale. And the chief of the Butlers was
+to give attendance on the highest table in the Hall, with wine, ale
+and beer: and all the other Butlers to attend at the other tables in
+like sort.
+
+"The cupboard of plate is to remain in the Hall on Christmas Day, St.
+Stephen's Day and New Year's Day, from breakfast time ended untill
+after supper. Upon the banquetting night it was removed into the
+buttry; which in all respects was very laudably performed.
+
+"The office of the Constable Marshall to provide for his employment, a
+fair gilt compleat harneys, with a nest of fethers in the helm; a fair
+pole-axe to bear in his hand, to be chevalrously ordered on Christmas
+Day and other days, as afterwards is shewed; touching the ordering and
+settling of all which ceremonies, during the said Grand Christmas, a
+solemn consultation was held at their Parliament in this house; in the
+form following:
+
+"First, at the Parliament kept in their Parliament Chamber in this
+House, on the even at night of St. Thomas the Apostle, officers are to
+attend, according as they had been long before that time, at a former
+Parliament named and elected to undergo several offices for this time
+of solemnity, honour, and pleasance; of which officers these are the
+most eminent; namely, the Steward, Marshall, Constable Marshall,
+Butler and Master of the Game. These officers are made known and
+elected in Trinity Term next before; and to have knowledg thereof by
+letters, in the country, to the end they may prepare themselves
+against All-Hallow-tide; that, if such nominated officers happen to
+fail, others may then be chosen in their rooms. The other officers are
+appointed at other times nearer Christmas Day.
+
+"If the Steward, or any of the said officers named in Trinity Term,
+refuse or fail, he or they were fined every one, at the discretion of
+the Bench; and the officers aforenamed agreed upon. And at such a
+Parliament, if it be fully resolved to proceed with such a Grand
+Christmas, then the two youngest Butlers must light two torches, and
+go before the Bench to the upper end of the Hall; who being set down,
+the antientest Bencher delivereth a speech briefly, to the whole
+society of Gentlemen then present, touching their consent as afore:
+which ended, the eldest Butler is to publish all the officers' names,
+appointed in Parliament; and then in token of joy and good-liking, the
+Bench and Company pass beneath the harth, and sing a carol, and so to
+boyer.
+
+"_Christmas Eve._--The Marshall at dinner is to place at the highest
+table's end, and next to the Library, all on one side thereof, the
+most antient persons in the company present: the Dean of the Chappel
+next to him; then an antient or Bencher, beneath him. At the other end
+of the table, the Sewer, Cup-bearer, and Carver. At the upper end of
+the bench-table, the King's Serjeant and Chief Butler; and when the
+Steward hath served in, and set on the table the first mess, then he
+is also to sit down.
+
+"Also at the supper end of the other table, on the other side of the
+Hall, are to be placed the three Masters of the Revels; and at the
+lower end of the bench-table are to sit, the King's Attorney, the
+Ranger of the Forest, and the Master of the Game. And at the lower end
+of the table, on the other side of the Hall, the fourth Master of the
+Revels, the Common Serjeant, and Constable-Marshall. And at the upper
+end of the Utter Barrister's table, the Marshal sitteth, when he hath
+served in the first mess; the Clark of the Kitchen also, and the Clark
+of the Sowce-tub, when they have done their offices in the kitchen,
+sit down. And at the upper end of the Clark's table, the Lieutenant of
+the Tower, and the attendant to the Buttery are placed.
+
+"At these two tables last rehersed, the persons they may sit upon both
+sides of the table; but of the other three tables all are to sit upon
+one side. And then the Butlers or Christmas Servants, are first to
+cover the tables with fair linnen table-cloths; and furnish them with
+salt-cellers, napkins, and trenchers, and a silver spoon. And then the
+Butlers of the House must place at the salt-celler, at every the said
+first three highest tables, a stock of trenchers and bread; and at the
+other tables, bread onely without trenchers.
+
+"At the first course the minstrels must sound their instruments, and
+go before; and the Steward and Marshall are next to follow together;
+and after them the Gentleman Sewer; and then cometh the meat. Those
+three officers are to make altogether three solemn curtesies, at three
+several times, between the skreen and the upper table; beginning with
+the first at the end of the Bencher's table; the second at the midst;
+and the third at the other end; and then standing by the Sewer
+performeth his office.
+
+"When the first table is set and served, the Steward's table is next
+to be served. After him the Master's table of the Revells; then that
+of the Master of the Game. The High Constable-Marshall; then the
+Lieutenant of the Tower; then the Utter Barrister's table; and lastly
+the Clerk's table; all which time the musick must stand right above
+the harth side, with the noise of their musick; their faces direct
+towards the highest table; and that done, to return into the buttry,
+with their music sounding.
+
+"At the second course every table is to be served as at the first
+course, in every respect; which performed the Servitors and Musicians
+are to resort to the place assigned for them to dine at; which is the
+Valects or Yeoman's table, beneath the skreen. Dinner ended the
+musicians prepare to sing a song, at the highest table: which ceremony
+accomplished, then the officers are to address themselves every one in
+his office, to avoid the tables in fair and decent manner, they
+beginning at the Clerk's table; thence proceed to the next; and thence
+to all the others till the highest table be solemnly avoided.
+
+"Then, after a little repose, the persons at the highest table arise
+and prepare to revells: in which time, the Butlers, and other
+Servitors with them, are to dine in the Library.
+
+"At both the doors in the hall are porters, to view the comers in and
+out at meal times; to each of them is allowed a cast of bread, and a
+caudle nightly after supper.
+
+"At night before supper are revels and dancing, and so also after
+supper during the twelve daies of Christmas. The antientest Master of
+the Revels is, after dinner and supper, to sing a caroll or song; and
+command other gentlemen then there present to sing with him and the
+company; and so it is very decently performed.
+
+"A repast at dinner is 8d.
+
+"_Christmas Day._--Service in the Church ended, the Gentlemen
+presently repair into the hall to breakfast, with brawn, mustard and
+malmsey.
+
+"At dinner, the Butler appointed for the Grand Christmas, is to see
+the tables covered and furnished: and the Ordinary Butlers of the
+House are decently to set bread, napkins, and trenchers in good form,
+at every table; with spoones and knives.
+
+"At the first course is served in a fair and large bore's-head, upon a
+silver platter, with minstralsye. Two Gentlemen in gowns are to
+attend at supper, and to bear two fair torches of wax, next before the
+Musicians and Trumpetters, and to stand above the fire with the musick
+till the first course be served in through the Hall. Which performed,
+they, with the musick, are to return into the buttery. The like course
+is to be observed in all things, during the time of Christmas. The
+like at supper.
+
+"At service time, this evening, the two youngest Butlers are to bear
+two torches _Genealogia_.
+
+"A repast at dinner is 12d. which strangers of worth are admitted to
+take in the Hall; and such are to be placed at the discretion of the
+Marshall.
+
+"_St. Stephen's Day._--The Butler, appointed for Christmas, is to see
+the tables covered, and furnished with salt-sellers, napkins, bread,
+trenchers, and spoons. Young Gentlemen of the House are to attend and
+serve till the latter dinner, and then dine themselves.
+
+"This day the Sewer, Carver, and Cup-bearer are to serve as afore.
+After the first course served in, the Constable-Marshall cometh into
+the Hall, arrayed with a fair rich compleat harneys, white and bright,
+and gilt, with a nest of fethers of all colours upon his crest or
+helm, and a gilt pole-axe in his hand: to whom is associate the
+Lieutenant of the Tower, armed with a fair white armour, a nest of
+fethers in his helm, and a like pole-axe in his hand; and with them
+sixteen Trumpetters; four drums and fifes going in rank before them;
+and with them attendeth four men in white harneys, from the middle
+upwards, and halberds in their hands, bearing on their shoulders the
+Tower: which persons, with the drums, trumpets and musick, go three
+times about the fire. Then the Constable-Marshall, after two or three
+curtesies made, kneeleth down before the Lord Chancellor; behind him
+the Lieutenant; and they kneeling, the Constable-Marshall pronounceth
+an oration of a quarter of an hour's length, therby declaring the
+purpose of his coming; and that his purpose is to be admitted into his
+Lordship's service.
+
+"The Lord Chancellor saith, 'He will take further advice therein.'
+
+"Then the Constable-Marshall, standing up, in submissive manner
+delivereth his naked sword to the Steward; who giveth it to the Lord
+Chancellor: and thereupon the Lord Chancellor willeth the Marshall to
+place the Constable-Marshall in his seat: and so he doth, with the
+Lieutenant also in his seat or place. During this ceremony the Tower
+is placed beneath the fire.
+
+"Then cometh the Master of the Game, apparelled in green velvet, and
+the Ranger of the Forest also, in a green suit of satten; bearing in
+his hand a green bow and divers arrows, with either of them a hunting
+horn about their necks; blowing together three blasts of venery, they
+pace round about the fire three times. Then the Master of the Game
+maketh three curtesies; as aforesaid; and kneeleth down before the
+Lord Chancellor, declaring the cause of his coming; and desireth to be
+admitted into his service, &c. All this time the Ranger of the Forest
+standeth directly behind him. Then the Master of the Game standeth up.
+
+"This ceremony also performed, a Huntsman cometh into the Hall, with a
+fox and a purse-net; with a cat, both bound at the end of a staff; and
+with them nine or ten couple of hounds, with the blowing of hunting
+hornes. And the fox and cat are by the hounds set upon, and killed
+beneath the fire. This sport finished the Marshall placeth them in
+their several appointed places.
+
+"Then proceedeth the second course; which done, and served out, the
+Common Serjeant delivereth a plausible speech to the Lord Chancellour,
+and his company at the highest table, how necessary a thing it is to
+have officers at this present; the Constable-Marshall and Master of
+the Game, for the better honour and reputation of the Commonwealth;
+and wisheth them to be received, &c.
+
+"Then the King's Serjeant at Law declareth and inferreth the
+necessity; which heard the Lord Chancellor desireth respite of farther
+advice. Then the antientest of the Masters of the Revels singeth a
+song with the assistance of others there present.
+
+"At Supper the Hall is to be served in all solemnity, as upon
+Christmas Day, both the first and second course to the highest table.
+Supper ended the Constable-Marshall presenteth himself with drums
+afore him, mounted upon a scaffold, born by four men; and goeth three
+times round about the harthe, crying out aloud, 'A Lord, a lord,' &c.
+Then he descendeth and goeth to dance, &c. And after he calleth his
+Court every one by name, one by one, in this manner:
+
+"Sir _Francis Flatterer_ of _Fowlehurst_, in the county of
+_Buckingham_.
+
+"Sir _Randle Rakabite_, of _Rascall-Hall_, in the county of
+_Rakehell_.
+
+"Sir _Morgan Mumchance_, of _Much Monkery_, in the county of _Mad
+Mopery_.
+
+"Sir _Bartholomew Baldbreech_, of _Buttocks-bury_, in the county of
+_Brekeneck_.
+
+"This done the Lord of Misrule addresseth himself to the banquet;
+which ended with some minstralsye, mirth and dancing every man
+departeth to rest.
+
+"At every mess is a pot of wine allowed.
+
+"Every repast is 6d.
+
+"_St. John's Day._--About seaven of the clock in the morning, the Lord
+of Misrule is abroad, and if he lack any officer or attendant, he
+repaireth to their chambers, and compelleth them to attend in person
+upon him after service in the church, to breakfast, with brawn,
+mustard, and malmsey. After breakfast ended, his Lordship's power is
+in suspense, until his personal presence at night; and then his power
+is most potent.
+
+"At dinner and supper is observed the diet and service performed on
+St. Stephen's Day. After the second course served in, the King's
+Serjeant, orator-like, declareth the disorder of the
+Constable-Marshall, and of the Common-Serjeant: which complaint is
+answered by the Common-Serjeant; who defendeth himself and the
+Constable-Marshall with words of great efficacy. Hereto the King's
+Serjeant replyeth. They rejoyn, &c., and who so is found faulty is
+committed to the Tower, &c.
+
+"If any officer be absent at dinner or supper times; if it be
+complained of, he that sitteth in his place is adjudged to have like
+punishment as the officer should have had being present: and then
+withal he is enjoyned to supply the office of the true absent officer,
+in all pointe. If any offendor escape from the Lieutenant into the
+Buttery, and bring into the Hall a manchet upon the point of a knife,
+he is pardoned: for the buttry in that case is a sanctuary. After
+cheese served to the table not any is commanded to sing.
+
+"_Childermas Day._--In the morning, as afore on Monday, the Hall is
+served; saving that the Sewer, Carver, and Cup-bearer, do not attend
+any service. Also like ceremony at supper.
+
+"_Thursday._--At breakfast, brawn, mustard, and malmsey. At dinner,
+roast beef, venison-pasties, with like solemnities as afore. And at
+supper, mutton and hens roasted.
+
+"_New Year's Day._--In the morning, breakfast as formerly. At dinner
+like solemnity as on Christmas Eve.
+
+"_The Banquetting Night._--It is proper to the Butler's office, to
+give warning to every House of Court, of this banquet; to the end that
+they and the Innes of Chancery, be invited thereto to see a play and
+mask. The hall is to be furnished with scaffolds to sit on, for Ladies
+to behold the sports, on each side. Which ended the ladyes are to be
+brought into the Library, unto the Banquet there; and a table is to be
+covered and furnished with all banquetting dishes, for the Lord
+Chancellor, in the Hall; where he is to call to him the Ancients of
+other Houses, as many as may be on the one side of the table. The
+Banquet is to be served in by the Gentlemen of the House.
+
+"The Marshall and Steward are to come before the Lord Chancellour's
+mess. The Butlers for Christmas must serve wine; and the Butlers of
+the House beer and ale, &c. When the banquet is ended, then cometh
+into the Hall the Constable-Marshall, fairly mounted on his mule; and
+deviseth some sport for passing away the rest of the night.
+
+"_Twelf Day._--At breakfast, brawn, mustard, and malmsey, after
+morning prayer ended. And at dinner, the Hall is to be served as upon
+St. John's Day."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+The performance of "Gorboduc" at the Inner Temple was received with
+such great applause, and the services of Lord Robert Dudley, first
+favourite of the Queen, so highly appreciated at that particular
+"grand Christmasse," that Queen Elizabeth commanded a repetition of
+the play about a fortnight later, before herself, at her Court at
+Whitehall. A contemporary MS. note (Cotton MSS., Vit. F. v.) says of
+
+
+THE PERFORMANCE BEFORE THE QUEEN,
+
+that "on the 18th of January, 1562, there was a play in the Queen's
+Hall at Westminster by the gentlemen of the Temple after a great mask,
+for there was a great scaffold in the hall, with great triumph as has
+been seen; and the morrow after, the scaffold was taken down." An
+unauthorised edition of the play was first published, in September of
+that year, by William Griffith, a bookseller in St. Dunstan's
+Churchyard; but nine years afterwards an authorised and "true copy" of
+the play was published by John Day, of Aldersgate, the title being
+then altered from "Gorboduc" (in which name the spurious edition had
+been issued) to "Ferrex and Porrex." The title of this edition set
+forth that the play was "without addition or alteration, but
+altogether as the same was shewed on stage before the Queen's
+Majestie, by the gentlemen of the Inner Temple." The argument of the
+play was taken from Geoffrey of Monmouth's "History of British Kings,"
+and was a call to Englishmen to cease from strife among themselves and
+become an united people, obedient to one undisputed rule:--
+
+ "Within one land one single rule is best:
+ Divided reigns do make divided hearts;
+ But peace preserves the country and the prince."
+
+It recalled the horrors of the civil wars, and forbade the like
+again:--
+
+ "What princes slain before their timely hour!
+ What waste of towns and people in the land!
+ What treasons heap'd on murders and on spoils!
+ Whose just revenge e'en yet is scarcely ceas'd:
+ Ruthful remembrance is yet raw in mind.
+ The gods forbid the like to chance again."
+
+A good description of the play, with copious extracts, is published in
+Morley's "English Plays," from which it also appears that "Queen
+Mary's expenditure on players and musicians had been between two and
+three thousand pounds a year in salaries. Elizabeth reduced this
+establishment, but still paid salaries to interlude players and
+musicians, to a keeper of bears and mastiffs, as well as to the
+gentlemen and children of the chapel. The Master of the Children had a
+salary of forty pounds a year; the children had largesse at high
+feasts, and when additional use was made of their services; and each
+Gentleman of the Chapel had nineteenpence a day, with board and
+clothing. The Master of the Chapel who at this time had the training
+of the children was Richard Edwards, who had written lighter pieces
+for them to act before her Majesty, and now applied his skill to the
+writing of English comedies, and teaching his boys to act them for the
+pleasure of the Queen. The new form of entertainment made its way at
+Court and through the country."
+
+[Illustration: THE FOOL OF THE OLD PLAY.
+(_From a Print by Breughel._)]
+
+At this period
+
+
+THE CHRISTMAS REVELS AT THE INNS OF COURT
+
+were observed with much zest and jollity. Sandys (writing in 1833 of
+Elizabeth's time) says:--
+
+"The order of the usual Christmas amusements at the Inns of Court at
+this period would cause some curious scenes if carried into effect in
+the present day. Barristers singing and dancing before the judges,
+serjeants and benchers, would 'draw a house' if spectators were
+admitted. Of so serious import was this dancing considered, that by an
+order in Lincoln's Inn of February, 7th James I., the under barristers
+were by decimation put out of commons because the whole bar offended
+by not dancing on Candlemas Day preceding, according to the ancient
+order of the society, when the judges were present; with a threat that
+if the fault were repeated, they should be fined or disbarred."
+
+Sir William Dugdale makes the following reference to
+
+
+THE CHRISTMAS REVELS OF THE INNER TEMPLE:--
+
+"First, the solemn Revells (after dinner, and the play ended,) are
+begun by the whole House, Judges, Sergeants at Law, Benchers; the
+Utter and Inner Barr; and they led by the _Master of the Revells_: and
+one of the Gentlemen of the Utter Barr are chosen to sing a song to
+the Judges, Serjeants, or Masters of the Bench; which is usually
+performed; and in default thereof, there may be an amerciament. Then
+the Judges and Benchers take their places, and sit down at the upper
+end of the Hall. Which done, the _Utter-Barristers_ and
+_Inner-Barristers_, perform a second solemn Revell before them. Which
+ended, the _Utter-Barristers_ take their places and sit down. Some of
+the Gentlemen of the _Inner-Barr_, do present the House with dancing,
+which is called the _Post Revells_, and continue their Dances, till
+the Judges or Bench think meet to rise and depart."
+
+
+THE HARD FROST OF 1564
+
+gave the citizens of London an opportunity of keeping Christmas on the
+ice. An old chronicler says: "From 21st December, 1564, a hard frost
+prevailed, and on new year's eve, people went over and alongst the
+Thames on the ise from London Bridge to Westminster. Some plaied at
+the football as boldlie there, as if it had been on the drie land;
+divers of the Court, being then at Westminster shot dailie at prickes
+set upon the Thames, and tradition says, Queen Elizabeth herself
+walked upon the ise. The people both men and women, went on the Thames
+in greater numbers than in any street of the City of London. On the
+third daie of January, 1565, at night it began to thaw, and on the
+fifth there was no ise to be seene between London Bridge and Lambeth,
+which sudden thaw caused great floods, and high waters, that bore
+downe bridges and houses and drowned Manie people in England."
+
+
+HOW QUEEN ELIZABETH WENT TO WORSHIP, CHRISTMAS, 1565.
+
+Nichols[55] gives the following particular account of Queen
+Elizabeth's attendance at Divine worship, at the "Chappell of
+Whitehall, Westminster," Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, 1565:--
+
+"Item, on Monday, the 24th of December, the Officers of Arms being
+there present, the Queen's Majesty came to the evening prayer, the
+sword borne by the Earle of Warwick, her trayn borne by the Lady
+Strange.
+
+"Item, on Christmas Day her Majesty came to service very richly
+apparelled in a gown of purple velvet embroidered with silver very
+richly set with stones, with a rich collar set with stones; the Earl
+of Warwick bare the sword, the Lady Strange the trayn. After the
+Creed, the Queene's Majesty went down to the offering, and having a
+short forme with a carpet, and a cushion laid by a gentleman usher,
+the ... taken by the Lord Chamberlain, her Majesty kneeled down, her
+offering given her by the Marquis of Northampton; after which she went
+into her traverse, where she abode till the time of the communion, and
+then came forth, and kneeled down at the cushion and carpet aforesaid;
+the Gentlemen Ushers delivered the towel to the Lord Chamberlain, who
+delivered the same to be holden by the Earl of Sussex on the right
+hand, and the Earl of Leicester on the left hand; the Bishop of
+Rochester served the Queen both of wine and bread; then the Queen went
+into the traverse again; and the Ladie Cicilie, wife of the Marquis of
+Baden, came out of the traverse, and kneeled at the place where the
+Queen kneeled, but she had no cushion, but one to kneel on; after she
+had received she returned to the traverse again; then the Archbishop
+of Canterbury and the Lord Chamberlain received the Communion with the
+Mother of the Maids; after which the service proceeded to the end, and
+the Queen returned again to the Chamber of presence strait, and not
+the closet. Her Majesty dined not abroad; the said Officers of Arms
+had a mess of meat of seven dishes, with bread, beer, ale, and wine."
+
+
+ROYAL CHRISTMASES AT HAMPTON COURT.
+
+In 1568, the Earl of Shrewsbury, writing from Hampton Court to his
+countess, says, "The Plage is disposed far abrode in London, so that
+the Queene kepes hur Kyrsomas her, and goth not to Grenwych as it was
+mete." Meet or not, Elizabeth kept many Christmases at Hampton Court,
+banqueting, dancing, and dicing--the last being a favourite amusement
+with her, because she generally won, thanks to her dice being so
+loaded as to throw up the higher numbers. Writing from Hampton Court
+at Christmas, 1572, Sir Thomas Smith says: "If ye would what we do
+here, we play at tables, dance, and keep Christmasse."
+
+[Illustration: Coat of Arms.]
+
+
+QUEEN ELIZABETH'S SINGERS AND PLAYERS.
+
+The Christmas entertainments of Queen Elizabeth were enlivened by the
+beautiful singing of the children of her Majesty's Chapel. From the
+notes to Gascoigne's _Princely Pleasures_ (1821) it appears that Queen
+Elizabeth retained on her Royal establishment four sets of singing
+boys; which belonged to the Cathedral of St. Paul, the Abbey of
+Westminster, St. George's Chapel, Windsor, and the Household Chapel.
+For the support and reinforcement of her musical bands, Elizabeth,
+like the other English Sovereigns, issued warrants for taking "up
+suche apt and meete children, as are fitt to be instructed and framed
+in the Art and Science of Musicke and Singing." Thomas Tusser, the
+well-known author of "Five Hundreth Points of Good Husbandrye," was in
+his youth a choir boy of St. Paul's. Nor is it astonishing, that
+although masses had ceased to be performed, the Queen should yet
+endeavour to preserve sacred melody in a high state of perfection;
+since, according to Burney, she was herself greatly skilled in musical
+learning. "If her Majesty," says that eminent author, "was ever able
+to execute any of the pieces that are preserved in a MS. which goes
+under the name of Queen Elizabeth's Virginal-book, she must have been
+a very great player, as some of the pieces which were composed by
+Tallis, Bird, Giles, Farnaby, Dr. Bull, and others, are so difficult
+that it would be hardly possible to find a master in Europe who would
+undertake to play any of them at the end of a month's practice."[56]
+But the children of the chapel were also employed in the theatrical
+exhibitions represented at Court, for which their musical education
+had peculiarly qualified them. Richard Edwards, an eminent poet and
+musician of the sixteenth century, had written two comedies; Damon and
+Pythias, and Palemon and Arcite, which, according to Wood, were often
+acted before the Queen, both at Court and at Oxford.
+
+[Illustration: THE ACTING OF ONE OF SHAKESPEARE'S PLAYS IN THE TIME OF
+QUEEN ELIZABETH.
+(_By permission, from Messrs Cassell & Co's "Illustrated History of
+England_")]
+
+With the latter of these Queen Elizabeth was so much delighted that
+she promised Edwards a reward, which she subsequently gave him by
+making him first Gentleman of her Chapel, and in 1561 Master of the
+Children on the death of Richard Bowyer. As the Queen was particularly
+attached to dramatic entertainments, about 1569 she formed the
+children of the Royal Chapel into a company of theatrical performers,
+and placed them under the superintendence of Edwards. Not long after
+she formed a second society of players under the title of the
+"Children of the Revels," and by these two companies all Lyly's plays,
+and many of Shakespeare's and Jonson's, were first performed. Jonson
+has celebrated one of the chapel children, named Salathiel Pavy, who
+was famous for his performance of old men, but who died about 1601,
+under the age of thirteen. In his beautiful epitaph of Pavy, Jonson
+says:--
+
+ "'Twas a child that did so thrive
+ In grace and feature,
+ As heaven and nature seem'd to strive
+ Which own'd the creature.
+ Years he number'd scarce thirteen
+ When fates turn'd cruel,
+ Yet three fill'd Zodiacs had he been
+ The stage's jewel;
+ And did act, what now we moan.
+ Old men so duly,
+ That the Parcoe thought him one
+ He played so truly."
+
+The Shakespearian period had its grand Christmases, for
+
+
+THE CHRISTMAS PLAYERS
+
+at the Court of Queen Elizabeth included England's greatest dramatist,
+William Shakespeare; and the Queen not only took delight in witnessing
+Shakespeare's plays, but also admired the poet as a player. The
+histrionic ability of Shakespeare was by no means contemptible, though
+probably not such as to have transmitted his name to posterity had he
+confined himself exclusively to acting. Rowe informs us that "the
+tip-top of his performances was the ghost in his own _Hamlet_;" but
+Aubrey states that he "did act exceedingly well"; and Cheetle, a
+contemporary of the poet, who had seen him perform, assures us that he
+was "excellent in the quality he professed." An anecdote is preserved
+in connection with Shakespeare's playing before Queen Elizabeth. While
+he was taking the part of a king, in the presence of the Queen,
+Elizabeth rose, and, in crossing the stage, dropped her glove as she
+passed the poet. No notice was taken by him of the incident; and the
+Queen, desirous of finding out whether this was the result of
+inadvertence, or a determination to preserve the consistency of his
+part, moved again towards him, and again dropped her glove.
+Shakespeare then stooped down to pick it up, saying, in the character
+of the monarch whom he was playing--
+
+ "And though now bent on this high embassy,
+ Yet stoop we to take up our cousin's glove."
+
+He then retired and presented the glove to the Queen, who was highly
+pleased with his courtly performance.
+
+
+GRAND CHRISTMAS AT GRAY'S INN.
+
+In 1594 there was a celebrated Christmas at Gray's Inn, of which an
+account was published in 1688 under the following title:--
+
+"Gesta Grayorum: or the History of the High and Mighty Prince, Henry
+Prince of Purpoole, Arch-Duke of Stapulia and Bernardia, Duke of High
+and Nether Holborn, Marquis of St. Giles and Tottenham, Count
+Palatine of Bloomsbury and Clerkenwell, Great Lord of the Cantons of
+Islington, Kentish-Town, Paddington, and Knights-bridge, Knight of the
+most Heroical Order of the Helmet, and Sovereign of the same; Who
+Reigned and Died, A.D. 1594. Together with a Masque, as it was
+presented (by his Highness's Command) for the entertainment of Q.
+Elizabeth; who, with the Nobles of both Courts, was present thereat.
+London, Printed for W. Canning, at his shop in the Temple-Cloysters,
+MDCLXXXVIII. Price one shilling." 4to nine sheets, dedicated "To the
+most honourable Matthew Smyth, Esq., Comptroller of the honourable
+society of the Inner Temple."
+
+The Prince of Purpoole was Mr. Henry Helmes, a Norfolk gentleman, "who
+was thought to be accomplished with all good parts, fit for so great a
+dignity; and was also a very proper man of personage, and very active
+in dancing and revelling." His coffers were filled by voluntary
+contributors, amongst whom the lord treasurer, Sir William Cecil, sent
+him ten pounds, and a purse of rich needlework.
+
+The performers were highly applauded by Queen Elizabeth, who expressed
+satisfaction in her own peculiar style. When the actors had performed
+their Masque, some of her Majesty's courtiers danced a measure,
+whereupon the Queen exclaimed: "What! shall we have bread and cheese
+after a banquet?" Finally the Prince and his Officers of State were
+honoured by kissing her fair hands, and receiving the most flattering
+commendations. The whole amusement terminated in fighting at barriers;
+the Earl of Essex, and others, challengers; the Earl of Cumberland and
+company defendants, "into which number," says the narrator, "our
+Prince was taken, and behaved himself so valiantly and skilfully
+therein, that he had the prize adjudged due unto him, which it pleased
+her Majesty to deliver him with her own hands; telling him, that it
+was not her gift, for if it had, it should have been better; but she
+gave it to him, as that prize which was due to his desert, and good
+behaviour in those exercises; and that hereafter he should be
+remembered with a better reward from herself. The prize was a jewel,
+set with seventeen diamonds and four rubies; in value accounted worth
+a hundred marks."
+
+The following is the Gray's Inn list of performers, which included
+some gentlemen who were afterwards "distinguished members in the law."
+
+[From "Gesta Grayorum," page 6.]
+
+"The order of the Prince of Purpoole's proceedings, with his
+officers and attendants at his honourable inthronization; which
+was likewise observed in all his solemn marches on grand days,
+and like occasions; which place every officer did duly attend,
+during the reign of his highness's government.
+
+ A Marshal.} {A Marshal.
+ Trumpets. } {Trumpets.
+
+Pursuevant at Arms _Lanye._
+
+Townsmen in the Prince's Livery} {Yeomen of the Guard
+ with Halberts. } {three couples.
+
+Captain of the Guard _Grimes._
+
+Baron of the Grand Port _Dudley._
+
+Baron of the Base Port _Grante._
+
+Gentlemen for Entertainment, three couples _Binge, &c._
+
+Baron of the Petty Port _Williams._
+
+Baron of the New Port _Lovel._
+
+ {_Wentworth._
+Gentlemen for Entertainment, three couples {_Zukenden._
+ {_Forrest._
+
+Lieutenant of the Pensioners _Tonstal._
+
+Gentlemen Pensioners, twelve couples, viz.:
+ Lawson. } {Rotts. } {Davison.
+ Devereux. } {Anderson.} {
+ Stapleton.} {Glascott.} {
+ Daniel. } {Elken. } {cum reliquis.
+
+Chief Ranger and Master of the Game _Forrest._
+
+Master of the Revels _Lambert._
+
+Master of the Revellers _Tevery._
+
+Captain of the Pensioners _Cooke._
+
+Sewer _Archer._
+
+Carver _Moseley._
+
+Another Sewer _Drewery._
+
+Cup-bearer _Painter._
+
+Groom-porter _Bennet._
+
+Sheriff _Leach._
+
+Clerk of the Council _Jones._
+
+Clerk of the Parliament.
+
+Clerk of the Crown _Downes._
+
+Orator _Heke._
+
+Recorder _Starkey._
+
+Solicitor _Dunne._
+
+Serjeant _Goldsmith._
+
+Speaker of the Parliament _Bellen._
+
+Commissary _Greenwood._
+
+Attorney _Holt._
+
+Serjeant _Hitchcombe._
+
+Master of the Requests _Faldo._
+
+Chancellor of the Exchequer _Kitts._
+
+Master of the Wards and Idiots _Ellis._
+
+Reader _Cobb._
+
+Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer _Briggs._
+
+Master of the Rolls _Hetlen._
+
+Lord Chief Baron of the Common Pleas _Damporte._
+
+Lord Chief Justice of the Princes Bench _Crew._
+
+Master of the Ordnance _Fitz-Williams._
+
+Lieutenant of the Tower _Lloyd._
+
+Master of the Jewel-house _Darlen._
+
+Treasurer of the House-hold _Smith._
+
+Knight Marshal _Bell._
+
+Master of the Ward-robe _Conney._
+
+Comptroller of the House-hold _Bouthe._
+
+Bishop of St. Giles's in the Fie _Dandye._
+
+Steward of the House-hold _Smith._
+
+Lord Warden of the four Ports _Damporte._
+
+Secretary of State _Jones._
+
+Lord Admiral _Cecil (Richard)._
+
+Lord Treasurer _Morrey._
+
+Lord Great Chamberlain _Southworth._
+
+Lord High Constable.
+
+Lord Marshal _Knapolck._
+
+Lord Privy Seal _Lamphew._
+
+Lord Chamberlain of the House-hold _Markham._
+
+Lord High Steward _Kempe._
+
+Lord Chancellor _Johnson._
+
+Archbishop of St. Andrews in Holborn _Bush._
+
+Serjeant at Arms, with the Mace _Flemming._
+
+Gentleman-Usher _Chevett._
+
+The Shield of Pegasus, for the Inner-Temple _Scevington._
+
+Serjeant at Arms, with the Sword _Glascott._
+
+Gentleman-Usher _Paylor._
+
+The Shield of the Griffin, for Gray's-Inn _Wickliffe._
+
+The King at Arms _Perkinson._
+
+The great Shield of the Prince's Arms _Cobley._
+
+The Prince of Purpoole _Helmes._
+
+A Page of Honour _Wandforde._
+
+Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber, six couples.
+
+A Page of Honour _Butler (Roger)._
+
+Vice-Chamberlain _Butler (Thomas)._
+
+Master of the Horse _Fitz-Hugh._
+
+Yeomen of the Guard, three couples.
+Townsmen in Liveries.
+
+ The Family and Followers."
+
+
+CHRISTMAS'S LAMENTATION
+
+is the subject of an old song preserved in the Roxburgh Collection of
+Ballads in the British Museum. The full title is: "Christmas's
+Lamentation for the losse of his acquaintance; showing how he is forst
+to leave the country and come to London." It appears to have been
+published at the end of the sixteenth or the beginning of the
+seventeenth century. The burden of the song is that Christmas "charity
+from the country is fled," and the first verse will sufficiently
+indicate the style of the writing:--
+
+ Christmas is my name, far have I gone,
+ Have I gone, have I gone, have I gone, without regard,
+ Whereas great men by flocks there be flown,
+ There be flown, there be flown, there be flown, to London-ward;
+ Where they in pomp and pleasure do waste
+ That which Christmas was wonted to feast, Welladay!
+ Houses where music was wont for to ring
+ Nothing but bats and owlets do sing.
+ Welladay! Welladay! Welladay! where should I stay?
+
+
+OLD CHRISTMAS RETURNED
+
+is the title of a lively Christmas ditty which is a kind of reply to
+the preceding ballad. It is preserved in the collection formed by
+Samuel Pepys, some time Secretary to the Admiralty, and author of the
+famous diary, and by him bequeathed to Magdalene College, Cambridge.
+The full title and first verse of the old song are as follows:--
+
+"Old Christmas returned, or Hospitality revived; being a Looking-glass
+for Rich Misers, wherein they may see (if they be not blind) how much
+they are to blame for their penurious house-keeping, and likewise an
+encouragement to those noble-minded gentry, who lay out a great part
+of their estates in hospitality, relieving such persons as have need
+thereof:
+
+ 'Who feasts the poor, a true reward shall find,
+ Or helps the old, the feeble, lame, and blind.'"
+
+ "All you that to feasting and mirth are inclined,
+ Come, here is good news for to pleasure your mind;
+ Old Christmas is come for to keep open house,
+ He scorns to be guilty of starving a mouse;
+ Then come, boys, and welcome, for diet the chief,
+ Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minc'd pies, and roast beef."
+
+
+CHRISTMAS-KEEPING IN THE COUNTRY
+
+was revived in accordance with the commands of Queen Elizabeth, who
+listened sympathetically to the "Lamentations" of her lowlier
+subjects. Their complaint was that the royal and public pageants at
+Christmastide allured to the metropolis many country gentlemen, who,
+neglecting the comforts of their dependents in the country at this
+season, dissipated in town part of their means for assisting them, and
+incapacitated themselves from continuing that hospitality for which
+the country had been so long noted. In order to check this practice,
+the gentlemen of Norfolk and Suffolk were commanded by Queen Elizabeth
+to depart from London before Christmas, and "to repair to their
+counties, and there to keep hospitality amongst their neighbours." The
+presence of the higher classes was needed among the country people to
+give that assistance which was quaintly recommended by Tusser in his
+"Hundreth good Points of Husbandrie":
+
+ "At Christmas be mery, and thanke God of all:
+ And feast thy pore neighbours, the great with the small.
+ Yea al the yere long have an eie to the poore:
+ And God shall sende luck to kepe open thy doore."
+
+Henry Lord Berkeley, who had a seat in Warwickshire,
+appears to have set a good example in this respect to the
+noblemen of the period, for, according to Dugdale, "the greatest
+part of this lord's abydinge after his mother's death, happenynge
+in the sixth yeare of Queen Elizabeth, was at Callowdon, till his
+own death in the eleventh of Kinge James, from whence, once
+in two or three yeares, hee used in July to come to Berkeley."
+The historic house of Berkeley essentially belongs to Gloucestershire;
+but on the death of Edward VI., Henry Lord Berkeley,
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ "With a good old fashion, when Christmas was come,
+ To call in all his old neighbours with bagpipe and drum."]
+
+by descent from the Mowbrays and the Segraves, became possessed of the
+ancient Manor and castellated mansion of Caludon, near Coventry, where
+he lived in splendour, and kept a grand retinue, being profuse in his
+hospitalities at Christmas, as well as in his alms to the poor
+throughout the year. "As touchinge the Almes to the poore of 5 & six
+country p'ishes & villages hard adjoyninge to Callowdon were relieved,
+with each of them a neepe of holsome pottage, with a peece of beoffe
+or mutton therin, halfe a cheate loafe, & a kan of beere, besides the
+private Almes that dayly went out of his purse never without eight or
+ten shillings in single money of ijd iijd & groates, & besides
+his Maundy & Thursday before Ester day, wherein many poore men and
+women were clothed by the liberality of this lord and his first wife,
+whilest they lived; and besides twenty markes, or twenty pound, or
+more, which thrice each yeare, against the feaste of Christmas, Ester,
+and Whitsontide, was sent by this Lord to two or three of the chiefest
+Inhabitants of these villages, and of Gosford Street at Coventry, to
+bee distributed amongst the poore accordinge to their discretions.
+Such was the humanity of this Lord, that in tymes of Christmas and
+other festyvalls, when his neighbor townships were invited and feasted
+in his Hall, hee would, in the midst of their dynner, ryse from his
+owne, & goynge to each of their tables in his Hall, cheerfully bid
+them welcome. And his further order was, having guests of Honour or
+remarkable ranke that filled his owne table, to seate himselfe at the
+lower end; and when such guests filled but half his bord, & a meaner
+degree the rest of his table, then to seate himselfe the last of the
+first ranke, & the first of the later, which was about the midst of
+his large tables, neare the salt."
+
+Another home of Christmas hospitality in the days of "Good Queen Bess"
+was Penshurst in Kent, the birthplace of the distinguished and
+chivalrous Sir Philip Sidney. "All who enjoyed the hospitality of
+Penshurst," says Mills's _History of Chivalry_, "were equal in
+consideration of the host; there were no odious distinctions of rank
+or fortune; 'the dishes did not grow coarser as they receded from the
+head of the table,' and no huge salt-cellar divided the noble from the
+ignoble guests." That hospitality was the honourable distinction of
+the Sidney family in general is also evident from Ben Jonson's lines
+on Penshurst:
+
+ "Whose liberal board doth flow
+ With all that hospitality doth know!
+ Where comes no guest but is allow'd to eat,
+ Without his fear, and of thy Lord's own meat
+ Where the same beer and bread, and self-same wine,
+ That is His Lordship's, shall be also mine."[57]
+
+A reviewer of "The Sidneys of Penshurst," by Philip Sidney, says there
+is a tradition that the Black Prince and his Fair Maid of Kent once
+spent their Christmastide at Penshurst, whose banqueting hall, one of
+the finest in England, dates back to that age of chivalry. At
+Penshurst Spenser wrote part of his "Shepherd's Calendar," and Ben
+Jonson drank and rhymed and revelled in this stateliest of English
+manor houses.
+
+[Illustration: CHRISTMAS IN THE HALL.
+
+ "A man might then behold,
+ At Christmas, in each hall,
+ Good fires to curb the cold,
+ And meat for great and small."]
+
+Queen Elizabeth died on March 23, 1603, after nominating James VI. of
+Scotland as her successor, and
+
+
+THE ACCESSION OF KING JAMES,
+
+as James I. of England, united the crowns of England and Scotland,
+which had been the aim of Mary Queen of Scots before her death.
+
+ [49] Cassell's "History of England."
+
+ [50] "Domestic Memoirs of the Royal Family."
+
+ [51] "History of the English People."
+
+ [52] "Progresses."
+
+ [53] "English Plays."
+
+ [54] Sir William Dugdale's "Origines Juridiciales."
+
+ [55] "Progresses."
+
+ [56] "History of Music," vol iii. p. 15.
+
+ [57] Gifford's "Ben Jonson," vol. viii. p. 254.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER VIII._
+
+CHRISTMAS UNDER JAMES I.
+
+(1603-1625.)
+
+
+COURT MASQUES.
+
+The Court entertainments of Christmastide in the reign of James the
+First consisted chiefly of the magnificent masques of Ben Jonson and
+others, who, by their training in the preceding reign, had acquired a
+mastery of the dramatic art. The company to which Shakespeare belonged
+(that of Lord Chamberlain's players) became the King's players on the
+accession of James, and several of Shakespeare's plays were produced
+at Court. But very early in this reign plays gave place to the more
+costly and elaborate entertainments called masques, but which were
+very different from the dumb-show masques of Elizabeth's reign, the
+masquerades of Henry the Eighth, and the low-buffoonery masques of
+earlier times. At the Court of James thousands of pounds were
+sometimes expended on the production of a single masque. To the aid of
+poetry, composed by poets of the first rank, came the most skilful
+musicians and the most ingenious machinists. Inigo Jones, who became
+architect to the Court in 1606, shared honours with Ben Jonson in the
+production of the Court masques, as did also Henry Lawes, the eminent
+musician. In some of the masques the devices of attire were the work
+of "Master Jones," as well as the invention and the architecture of
+the whole of the scenery. D'Israeli[58] says:--"That the moveable
+scenery of these masques formed as perfect a scenical illusion as any
+that our own age, with all its perfection and decoration, has attained
+to, will not be denied by those who have read the few masques that
+have been printed. They usually contrived a double division of the
+scene; one part was for some time concealed from the spectator, which
+produced surprise and variety. Thus in the Lord's Masque, at the
+marriage of the Palatine, the scene was divided into two parts from
+the roof to the floor; the lower part being first discovered, there
+appeared a wood in perspective, the innermost part being of "releeve
+or whole round," the rest painted. On the left a cave, and on the
+right a thicket from which issued Orpheus. At the back of the scene,
+at the sudden fall of a curtain, the upper part broke on the
+spectators, a heaven of clouds of all hues; the stars suddenly
+vanished, the clouds dispersed; an element of artificial fire played
+about the house of Prometheus--a bright and transparent cloud reaching
+from the heavens to the earth, whence the eight maskers descended with
+the music of a full song; and at the end of their descent the cloud
+broke in twain, and one part of it, as with a wind, was blown athwart
+the scene. While this cloud was vanishing, the wood, being the under
+part of the scene, was insensibly changing: a perspective view opened,
+with porticoes on each side, and female statues of silver, accompanied
+with ornaments of architecture, filled the end of the house of
+Prometheus, and seemed all of goldsmith's work. The women of
+Prometheus descended from their niches till the anger of Jupiter
+turned them again into statues. It is evident, too, that the size of
+the procenium accorded with the magnificence of the scene; for I find
+choruses described, 'and changeable conveyances of the song,' in
+manner of an echo, performed by more than forty different voices and
+instruments in various parts of the scene."
+
+The masque, as Lord Bacon says, was composed for princes, and by
+princes it was played. The King and Queen, Prince Henry, and Prince
+Charles (afterwards Charles the First) all appeared in Court masques,
+as did also the nobility and gentry of the Court, foreign ambassadors,
+and other eminent personages.
+
+In his notes to "The Masque of Queens," Ben Jonson refers several
+times to "the King's Majesty's book (our sovereign) of Demonology."
+The goat ridden was said to be often the devil himself, but "of the
+green cock, we have no other ground (to confess ingenuously) than a
+vulgar fable of a witch, that with a cock of that colour, and a bottom
+of blue thread, would transport herself through the air; and so
+escaped (at the time of her being brought to execution) from the hand
+of justice. It was a tale when I went to school."
+
+That there was no lack of ability for carrying out the Court commands
+in regard to the Christmas entertainments of this period is evident
+from the company of eminent men who used to meet at the "Mermaid."
+"Sir Walter Raleigh," says Gifford,[59] "previously to his unfortunate
+engagement with the wretched Cobham and others, had instituted a
+meeting of _beaux esprits_ at the Mermaid, a celebrated tavern in
+Friday Street. Of this club, which combined more talent and genius,
+perhaps, than ever met together before or since, Jonson was a member;
+and here, for many years, he regularly repaired with Shakespeare,
+Beaumont, Fletcher, Selden, Cotton, Carew, Martin, Donne, and many
+others, whose names, even at this distant period, call up a mingled
+feeling of reverence and respect." Here, in the full flow and
+confidence of friendship, the lively and interesting "wit-combats"
+took place between Shakespeare and Jonson; and hither, in probable
+allusion to them, Beaumont fondly lets his thoughts wander in his
+letter to Jonson from the country.
+
+ "What things have we seen,
+ Done at the Mermaid? heard words that have been,
+ So nimble, and so full of subtle flame,
+ As if that every one from whom they came,
+ Had meant to put his whole wit in a jest," &c.
+
+Masques, however, were not the only Christmas diversions of royalty at
+this period, for James I. was very fond of hunting, and Nichols[60]
+says that, in 1604, the King kept
+
+
+A ROYAL CHRISTMAS AT ROYSTON,
+
+at his new hunting seat there, and "between the 18th of December and
+22nd of January he there knighted Sir Richard Hussey, of Salop; Sir
+Edward Bushell, of Gloucestershire; Sir John Fenwick, of
+Northumberland; Sir John Huet, of London; Sir Robert Jermyn, of
+Suffolk; Sir Isaac Jermyn, of Suffolk; Sir John Rowse; Sir Thomas
+Muschamp, of Surrey. Mr. Chamberlaine, in a letter to Mr. Winwood from
+London, December 18th, says: 'The King came back from Royston on
+Saturday; but so far from being weary or satisfyed with those sports,
+that presently after the holy-days he makes reckoning to be there
+againe, or, as some say, to go further towards Lincolnshire, to a
+place called _Ancaster Heath_.'"
+
+In this letter Mr. Chamberlaine also refers to
+
+
+OTHER COURT AMUSEMENTS OF CHRISTMASTIDE,
+
+for, proceeding, he says:--
+
+"In the meantime here is great provision for Cockpit, to entertaine
+him at home, and of Masks and Revells against the marriage of Sir
+Philip Herbert and the Lady Susan Vere, which is to be celebrated on
+St. John's Day. The Queen hath likewise a great Mask in hand against
+Twelfth-tide, for which there was L3,000 delivered a month ago. Her
+brother, the Duke of Holst, is here still, procuring a levy of men to
+carry into Hungary. The Tragedy of 'Gowry,' with all the action and
+actors, hath been twice represented by the King's Players, with
+exceeding concourse of all sorts of people; but whether the matter or
+manner be not well handled, or that it be thought unfit that Princes
+should be played on the stage in their lifetime, I hear that some
+great Councellors are much displeased with it, and so 'tis thought
+shall be forbidden. And so wishing a merry Christmas and many a good
+year to you and Mrs. Winwood, I committ you to God. Yours, most
+assuredly, John Chamberlaine."
+
+"On the 26th of January, Mr. Chamberlaine writes thus to Mr. Winwood:
+'I doubt not but Dudley Carleton hath acquainted you with all their
+Christmas-games at Court, for he was a spectator of all the sports and
+shows. The King went to Royston two days after Twelfth-tide, where and
+thereabout he hath continued ever since, and finds such felicity in
+that hunting life, that he hath written to the Councill that it is the
+only means to maintain his health, which being the health and welfare
+of us all, he desires them to take the charge and burden of affairs,
+and foresee that he be not interrupted or _troubled with too much
+business_.'"
+
+Campion's Masque in honour of Lord Hayes and his bride was presented
+before King James, at Whitehall, on Twelfth Night, 1606; and in
+reference to the Christmas festivities at Court the following year
+(1607), Mr. Chamberlaine, writing to Sir D. Carleton, on the 5th of
+January, says:
+
+"The Masque goes forward at Court for Twelfth-day, though I doubt the
+New Room will be scant ready. All the Holidays there were Plays; but
+with so little concourse of strangers, that they say they wanted
+company. The King was very earnest to have one on Christmas-night; but
+the Lords told him it was not the fashion. Which answer pleased him
+not a whit; but he said, 'What do you tell me of the fashion? I will
+make it a fashion.' Yesterday he dined in the Presence in great pomp,
+with two rich cupboards of plate, the one gold, the other that of the
+House of Burgundy pawned to Queen Elizabeth by the States of Brabant,
+and hath seldom been seen abroad, being exceeding massy, fair, and
+sumptuous. I could learn no reason of this extraordinary bravery, but
+that he would show himself in glory to certain Scots that were never
+here before, as they say there be many lately come, and that the Court
+is full of new and strange faces. Yesterday there were to be shewn
+certain rare fire-works contrived by a Dane, two Dutchmen, and Sir
+Thomas Challoner, in concert."
+
+On January 8th, another letter of Mr. Chamberlaine thus refers to
+gaming at Court: "On the Twelfth-eve there was great golden play at
+Court. No Gamester admitted that brought not L300 at least. Montgomery
+played the King's money, and won him L750, which he had for his
+labour. The Lord Montegle lost the Queen L400. Sir Robert Cary, for
+the Prince, L300; and the Earl Salisbury, L300; the Lord Buckhurst,
+L500; _et sic de caeteris_. So that I heard of no winner but the King
+and Sir Francis Wolley, who got above L800. The King went a
+hawking-journey yesterday to Theobalds and returns to-morrow.
+
+"Above Westminster the Thames is quite frozen over; and the Archbishop
+came from Lambeth, on Twelfth-day, over the ice to Court. Many
+fanciful experiments are daily put in practice; as certain youths
+burnt a gallon of wine upon the ice, and made all the passengers
+partakers. But the best is, of an honest woman (they say) that had a
+great longing to encrease her family on the Thames" (Nichols's
+"Progresses").
+
+
+THE REIGN OF JAMES I.'S FAVOURITES
+
+dates from Christmas Day, 1607, when he knighted Robert Carr, or Ker,
+a young border Scot of the Kers of Fernihurst, the first of the
+favourites who ruled both the King and the kingdom. Carr had been some
+years in France, and being a handsome youth--"straight-limbed,
+well-formed, strong-shouldered, and smooth-faced"--he had been led to
+believe that if he cultivated his personal appearance and a
+courtliness of address, he was sure of making his fortune at the Court
+of James. "Accordingly he managed to appear as page to Lord Dingwall
+at a grand tilting match at Westminster, in 1606. According to
+chivalric usage it became his duty to present his lord's shield to his
+Majesty; but in manoeuvring his horse on the occasion it fell and
+broke his leg. That fall was his rise. James was immediately struck
+with the beauty of the youth who lay disabled at his feet, and had him
+straightway carried into a house near Charing Cross, and sent his own
+surgeon to him.... On Christmas Day, 1607, James knighted him and made
+him a gentleman of the bedchamber, so as to have him constantly about
+his person. Such was his favour that every one pressed around him to
+obtain their suits with the King. He received rich presents; the
+ladies courted his attention; the greatest lords did him the most
+obsequious and disgusting homage."[61] He afterwards formed that
+connection with Frances Howard, Countess of Essex, which resulted in
+her divorce from her husband, and, subsequently, on his marrying Lady
+Essex, the King made him Earl of Somerset, that the lady might not
+lose in rank. On the circumstances attending the murder of Sir Thomas
+Overbury being brought to light, the complicity of Somerset was
+thought to be involved in the ascertained guilt of his wife. In May,
+1616, the Countess was convicted; a week later her husband shared her
+fate. After a long imprisonment Somerset was pardoned, and ended his
+life in obscurity.
+
+In this reign the Court revels and shows of Christmas were imitated at
+the country seats of the nobility and gentry, and at the Colleges of
+Oxford and Cambridge. An account has been preserved of one of the most
+remarkable exhibitions of this kind, entitled--
+
+
+"THE CHRISTMAS PRINCE."
+
+It took place in the year 1607, at St. John's College, Oxford, and the
+authentic account was published from the original manuscript, in 1816,
+by Robert Tripbook, of 23, Old Bond Street, London: "To the
+President, Fellows, and Scholars of St. John Baptist College, in the
+University of Oxford, this curious Record of an ancient custom in
+their Society, is respectfully inscribed by the Publisher." Of the
+authenticity of this description the Publisher says "no doubt can
+possibly exist, it was written by an eye-witness of, and performer in,
+the sports; and is now printed, for the first time, from the original
+manuscript preserved in the College Library.
+
+"From the Boy Bishop, the Christmas Prince may be supposed to derive
+his origin. Whilst the former was bearing sway in the ecclesiastical
+foundations, the latter was elected to celebrate the festivities of
+Christmas in the King's palace, at the seats of the nobility, at the
+universities, and in the Inns of Court. The custom prevailed till the
+ascendancy of the Puritans during the civil war; and some idea of the
+expense, and general support it received, may be formed from the
+account of the Gray's Inn Prince and an extract from one of the
+Strafford Papers. The latter is from a letter written by the Rev. G.
+Garrard to the Earl of Strafford, dated Jan. 8, 1635: 'The Middle
+Temple House have set up a prince, who carries himself in great state;
+one Mr. Vivian a Cornish gentleman, whose father Sir Francis Vivian
+was fined in the Star-Chamber about a castle he held in Cornwall,
+about three years since. He hath all his great officers attending him,
+lord keeper, lord treasurer, eight white staves at the least, captain
+of his pensioners, captain of his guard, two chaplains, who on Sunday
+last preached before him, and in the pulpit made three low legs to his
+excellency before they began, which is much laughed at. My lord
+chamberlain lent him two fair cloths of state, one hung up in the hall
+under which he dines, the other in his privy chamber; he is served on
+the knee, and all that come to see him kiss his hand on their knee. My
+lord of Salisbury hath sent him pole-axes for his pensioners. He sent
+to my lord of Holland, his justice in Eyre, for venison, which he
+willingly sends him; to the lord mayor and sheriffs of London for
+wine, all obey. Twelfth-day was a great day, going to the chapel many
+petitions were delivered him, which he gave to his masters of the
+requests. He hath a favourite, whom with some others, gentlemen of
+great quality, he knighted at his return from church, and dined in
+great state; at the going out of the chambers into the garden, when he
+drank the King's health, the glass being at his mouth he let it fall,
+which much defaced his purple satten suit, for so he was clothed that
+day, having a cloak of the same down to his foot, for he mourns for
+his father who lately died. It cost this prince L2,000 out of his own
+purse. I hear of no other design, but that all this is done to make
+them fit to give the prince elector a royal entertainment with masks,
+dancings, and some other exercises of wit, in orations or
+arraignments, that day that they invite him.'
+
+"The writer, or narrator, of the events connected with the Christmas
+Prince of St. John's was Griffin Higgs, who was descended of a
+respectable and opulent family in Gloucestershire, though he was
+himself born at Stoke Abbat, near Henley on Thames, in 1589. He was
+educated at St. John's, and thence, in 1611, elected fellow of Merton
+college, where he distinguished himself, in the execution of the
+procuratorial duties, as a man of great courage, though, says Wood, of
+little stature. In 1627 he was appointed chaplain to the Queen of
+Bohemia, by her brother Charles the First, and during his absence, in
+the performance of his duties, was created a doctor of divinity at
+Leyden by the learned Andrew Rivet. He returned, after a residence
+abroad of about twelve years, when he had the valuable rectory of
+Clive or Cliff, near Dover, and shortly after the deanery of
+Lichfield, conferred upon him. During the civil wars he was a sufferer
+for the royal cause, and, losing his preferment, retired to the place
+of his birth, where he died in the year 1659, and was buried in the
+chancel of the church of South Stoke.
+
+"Thomas Tucker, the elected Prince, was born in London, in 1586,
+entered at St. John's in 1601, became fellow of that house and took
+holy orders. He afterwards had the vicarage of Pipping-burge, or
+Pemberge, in Kent, and the rectory of Portshead, near Bristol, and
+finally obtained the third stall in the cathedral church of Bristol,
+in which he was succeeded, August 25, 1660, by Richard Standfast."
+
+The following explanation is given of "the apparently strange titles
+of the Prince of St. John's: 'The most magnificent and renowned
+Thomas, by the favour of Fortune, Prince of _Alba Fortunata_, Lord St.
+Johns, high Regent of the Hall, Duke of St. Giles, Marquis of
+Magdalens, Landgrave of the Grove, County Palatine of the Cloisters,
+Chief Bailiff of the Beaumonts, High Ruler of Rome, Master of the
+Manor of Waltham, Governor of Gloucester Green, Sole Commander of all
+Tilts,' &c. The Prince of _Alba Fortunata_ alludes, as may be readily
+conjectured, to the name of the founder, Sir Thomas _White_; St.
+John's, and the Hall, are equally clear; Magdalens is the parish in
+which a portion of the college stands, and a part of which belongs to
+the society; the Grove and the Cloisters are again parts of the home
+domain of the college; Beaumonts is the name of a portion of land
+belonging to the college, on which stands the ruin of the palace of
+Beaumonts, built about the year 1128 by King Henry the First; Rome is
+a piece of land so called, near to the end of the walk called _Non
+Ultra_, on the north side of Oxford. The manor of Waltham, or Walton,
+is situate in the north suburb of Oxford, and is the property of the
+college, as is a considerable portion of Gloucester-green, which
+though now better known as the site of an extensive bridewell, was in
+1607 literally a meadow, and without any building more contiguous than
+Gloucester-hall, from which house it derived its name."
+
+Then follows "A true and faithfull relation of the rising and fall of
+Thomas Tucker, Prince of _Alba Fortunata_, Lord St. Johns, &c., with
+all the occurrents which happened throughout his whole domination."
+
+"It happened in the yeare of our Lord 1607, the 31 of October, beinge
+All Sayntes Eve, that at night a fier was made in the Hall of St. John
+Baptist's Colledge, in Oxon, accordinge to the custome and statuts of
+the same place, at which time the whole companye or most parte of the
+Students of the same house mette together to beginne their Christmas,
+of which some came to see sports, to witte the Seniors as well
+Graduates, as Under-graduates. Others to make sports, viz., Studentes
+of the seconde yeare, whom they call Poulderlings, others to make
+sporte with all, of this last sorte were they whome they call
+Fresh-menn, Punies of the first yeare, who are by no meanes admitted
+to be agents or behoulders of those sports, before themselves have
+been patient perfourmers of them. But (as it often falleth out) the
+Freshmen or patients, thinkinge the Poulderlings or Agentes too buysie
+and nimble, They them too dull and backwarde in theyr duety, the
+standers by findinge both of them too forwarde and violente, the
+sportes for that night for feare of tumultes weare broken upp, everye
+mann betakinge himself to his reste.
+
+"The next night followinge, beinge the feast of All Sayntes, at nighte
+they mett agayne together; And whereas it was hoped a night's sleepe
+would have somewhat abated their rage, it contraryewise sett a greater
+edge on theyr furye, they havinge all this while but consulted how to
+gett more strength one agaynst another, and consequently to breed newe
+quarrells and contradictions, in so much that the strife and
+contentions of youthes and children had like to have sett Men together
+by the eares, to the utter annihilatinge of all Christmas sportes for
+the whole yeare followinge.
+
+"Wherfore for the avoydinge both the one, and the other, some who
+studied the quiet of all, mentioned the choosinge of a Christmas Lord,
+or Prince of the Revells, who should have authorytie both to appoynt &
+moderate all such games, and pastimes as should ensue, & to punishe
+all offenders which should any way hinder or interrupte the free &
+quiet passage of any antient & allowed sporte.
+
+"This motion (for that the person of a Prince or Lorde of the Revells
+had not been knowen amongst them for thirty yeares before, and so
+consequentlye the danger, charge and trouble of such jestinge was
+cleane forgotten) was presentlye allowed and greedilye apprehended of
+all; Wher upon 13 of the senior Under graduates (7 of the bodye of the
+House & 6 Comoners, Electors in such a case) withdrew themselves into
+the parlour, where after longe debatinge whether they should chouse a
+Graduate or an Under Graduate, thinkinge the former would not
+vouchsafe to undertake it at theyr appoyntmentes, the latter should
+not be upheld & backed as it was meete & necessary for such a place,
+they came forth rather to make triall what would be done, than to
+resolve what should be done. And therefore at their first entrance
+into the Hall meeting Sir Towse a younge man (as they thought) fitt
+for the choyse, they laid handes on him, and by maine strength
+liftinge him upp, _viva voce_, pronounced him Lord. But hee as
+stronglye refusinge the place as they violentlye thrust it upon him,
+shewing with all reasons why hee could by no meanes undergoe such a
+charge, they gott onlye this good by their first attempt, that they
+understood heer by how that the whole Colledge was rather willinge a
+Seniour Batchelour at least, if not a junior Master should be chosen
+in to the place rather than any Under graduate, because they would
+rather an earnest sporte than a scoffinge jest should be made of it.
+Wher fore the Electors returninge againe into the Parlour and
+shuttinge the dore close upon themselves begaune more seriously to
+consult of the matter, and findinge some unable, some unwillinge to
+take the place, at length they concluded to make the 2 weird printing
+error?] assay but with more formalitie and deliberation; resolvinge,
+if they were not now seconded of all handes, to meddle no more with
+it. Wherfore, enteringe the second time in to the Hall they desired
+one of the 10 Seniors & one of the Deanes of the Colledge to hold the
+Scrutinye and the Vice-President to sitt by as overseer, who willingly
+harkeninge to their request, sate all 3 downe at the highe table: Then
+the Electors went up one by one in senioritye to give their voyce by
+writinge. In the meane time there was great expectation who should bee
+the Man. Some in the lower ende of the Hall, to make sporte, had theyr
+Names loudest in their mouthes whome they least thought of in their
+mindes, & whome they knew should come shortest of the place. At length
+all the voyces being given and, accordinge to custome, the Scrutinie
+at large being burned, the Vice-president with the rest stoode upp,
+and out of the abstract the Deane read distinctly in the hearinge of
+all present as followeth
+
+ "_Nominantur in hoc Scrutinio duo quorum_
+ { 1 Joanes Towse, _habet suffragia sex_.
+ { 2us Thomas Tucker, _habet suffragia septem_.
+
+"These wordes were not out of his mouthe before a generall and loud
+crie was made of Tucker, Tucker, Vivat, Vivat, &ct. After which all
+the younger sorte rane forth of the Colledge crieinge the same in the
+streets; which Sir Tucker beinge then howsde not farr from the
+Colledge, over hearinge, kept himself close till the companye were
+past, and then, as soone and secretly as he could, gott him to his
+Chamber; where (after he had been longe sought for abroad in the
+Towne, and at home in the Colledge, haste and desire out runinge it
+self, and seekinge there last where it might first finde) he was in a
+manner surprised, and more by violence than any will of his owne,
+taken upp & with continuall & joyfull outcries, carried about the
+Hall, and so backe to his Chamber, as his owne request was, where for
+that night he rested, dismissinge the Company and desiringe some time
+to think of their loves and goodwill, and to consider of his owne
+charge and place.
+
+"About 3 or 4 dayes after, on the 5 of November the Lord Elect with
+the Batchelours, and some of the Senior Under-graduates came into the
+Hall where every man beinge seated in his order, many speaches were
+made by diverse of diverse matters, some commendinge a monarchicall
+state of Governmente, and the sometimes suddayne necessitye of
+Dictators, others discommendinge both. Some again extollinge sportes &
+revells, others mainely disallowinge them, all of them drawinge some
+conclusion concerninge the like or dislike of the government newly
+begune, and like for a little space to continue amongst them. In the
+ende the Lord Elect himselfe, to conclude all, delivered his owne
+minde in manner followinge:--
+
+"Quae beneficia (Viri Electores clarissimi) plus difficultatis atque,
+oneris apportant collacata, qu[=a] debite administrata; poterunt honoris,
+caute magis primo in limine credo excipienda qu[=a] aut imensae dignitatis
+expectatione appetenda auide, aut boni incogniti coeco appetitu
+app'hendenda temere. Quor[=u] in albo (Electores conscripti) c[=u] semper
+dignitates istiusmodi serio retulerim, Vos (pace dic[=a] vestrae
+diligentiae) non tam mihi videmini gratias debere expectare, qua ipse istud
+onus suscepturus videor promereri. N[=a] illud demum gratijs excipitur
+benefici[=u] (pro tempor[=u] ratione loquor) quod nec sollicitudo vrget nec
+offici[=u]--Infinitae autem adeo sunt anxietates, quae vel istam dominatus
+[Greek: anatyposin] circumcingunt, vt pauci velint ipsas c[=u] dominatu
+lubenter amplecti, nulli possint euitare, nulli sustinere. N[=a] vbi veri
+imperij facies est repraesentanda expectanda semper est aliqua curar[=u]
+proportio. Veru cum dignitas Electoria, amicitia suffragatoria, populi
+applausus, [=o]ni[=u] consensus Democratiae tollendae causa ad primatum
+euocauerint, lubens animi nostri strenuae renuentis temperabo impet[=u],
+et sedulo impenda curam, vt Reip: (si vobis minus possim singulis) toti
+satisfaci[=a]. Hic ego non ita existimo opportun[=u] progressu[=u]
+nostror[=u] aduersarijs cur[=a] imperij promiscuam et indigestam
+collaudantibus respondere, aut status Monarchici necessitat[=e]
+efferentibus assentari: Disceptation[=u] vestrar[=u] non accessi judex,
+accersor imperator; Amori vestro (Viri nobis ad prime chari) lubens
+tribuo gloriae nostrae ort[=u]; progress[=u] august[=u] atque, gloriosu a
+vobis ex officio vestro exigere, praeter amor[=e] nostrum fore no arbitror.
+Tyra[=u]idem non profiteor, imperi[=u] exercebo. Cujus foeliciores
+processus vt promoueantur, atque indies stabiliant aeris magis quam oris
+debetis esse prodigi. Quare primitias amoris, atque officij vestri statuo
+extemplo exigendas, ne aut ipse sine authoritate imperare, aut imperium
+sine gloria capessisse videar [Greek: Politeian] Atheniensem sequimur,
+cujus ad norman Ego ad munus regui jam suffectus, Mineruae, Vulcano et
+Prometheo sacra c[=u] ludorum curatoribus pro moris vsu, prima mea in his
+sacris authoritate fieri curabo. Interim vero (Viri nostra authoritate
+adhuc majores) juxta praedictae Reipublicae jmagin[=e] choragos, seu
+adjutores desidero, qui n[=o] tantum ludis praeponantur, sed et
+liberalitate pro op[=u] ratione in Reipublicae impensas vtentes, ex aere
+publico praemia partim proponant, partim de suo insumant, hoc nomine
+quod illor[=u] sint praefecti. Quae alia vestri sunt officij moniti
+praestabitis, quae amoris, vltro (vti Spero) offeretis.
+
+"This was counted sufficient for his private installmente, but with
+all it was thought necessary that some more publicke notice hereof
+should be given to the whole Universitie, with more solemnitie and
+better fashion; yet before they would venter to publish their private
+intendements, they were desirous to knowe what authoritie and
+jurisdiction would be graunted to them, what money allowed them
+towards the better going through with that they had begune. And not
+long after the whole company of the Batchelours sent 2 bills to the
+Masters fire, the one cravinge duety and alleageance, the other money
+and maintenance in manner & forme followinge:
+
+ "The coppye of a Bill sent by the Lord Elect, and the whole
+ Company of the Batchelours to the Masters fire, cravinge their
+ duety and alleageance.
+
+"Not doubtinge of those ceremonious and outward duetyes which
+yourselves (for example sake) will performe, Wee _Thomas Tucker_ with
+the rest of the Bacchelours are bold to entreat, but as _Thomas, Lord
+Elect_, with the rest of our Councell are ready to expect, that no
+Tutor or Officer whatsoever shall at any time, or upon any occasion,
+intermeddle, or partake with any scholler, or youth whatsoever, but
+leavinge all matters to the discretion of our selves, stand to those
+censures and judgementes which wee shall give of all offenders that
+are under our govermente in causes appertaininge to our government.
+All wayes promisinge a carefull readinesse to see schollerlike
+excercise performed, and orderly quietnesse mayntained in all sortes;
+This as Wee promise for our owne partes, so Wee would willingly desire
+that you should promise the performance of the rest of your partes,
+accordinge to that bountye & love which allready you have shewed us.
+
+ Yours, Thomas Tucker
+ Joseph Fletcher Thomas Downer
+ John Smith Rouland Juxon
+ Richard Baylye John Huckstepp
+ Richard Holbrooke James Bearblocke
+ John Towse John English
+
+"This Bill subscribed with all their handes was seene and allowed by
+all the Masters, who promised rather more than lesse than that which
+was demanded. But concerninge the other Bill for Subsidyes, it was
+answered that it was not in their power to grant it without the
+President, whose cominge home was every day expected: against which
+time it was provided, and delivered unto him; who together with the 10
+Seniors, was loath to grant any thinge till they were certified what
+sportes should bee, of what quality & charge, that so they might the
+better proportion the one to the other, the meanes to the matter: They
+were allso willinge to knowe what particular Men would take upon them
+the care of furnishinge particular nightes. For they would by no
+meanes relye upon generall promises because they were not ignorant how
+that which concerneth all in generall is by no man in speciall
+regarded. Wherfore they beinge somewhat, although not fully, satisfied
+in their demaundes by some of the Masters, whom they seemed cheefly to
+trust with the whole businesse, the Bill was againe perused, and every
+man ceazed in manner and forme followinge:
+
+ "'The coppye of an auncient Act for taxes and subsidyes made in the
+ raygne of our Predecessor of famous memorye, in this Parliament
+ held in Aula Regni the vi^{th} of November 1577 and now for Our
+ Self new ratified and published, anno regni j November 7 1607.
+
+"'Because all lovinge & loyall Subjects doe owe not onely themselves,
+but allso their landes, livinges, goodes, and what soever they call
+theirs, to the good of the Commonwealth, and estate under which they
+peaceably enjoy all, It is further enacted that no man dissemble his
+estate, or hide his abilitye, but be willinge at all times to pay such
+duetyes, taxes, and subsidies, as shall be lawfully demaunded &
+thought reasonable without the hinderance of his owne estate, upon
+payne of forfettinge himself and his goodes whatsoever.'
+
+ [List of contributions amounting to 52^{li} xiii^{s.} vii]
+
+"Though the whole company had thus largely contributed towards the
+ensuinge sportes, yet it was found that when all thinges necessary
+should be layed toegether, a great sum of money would be wantinge, and
+therfore a course was thought upon of sendinge out privie Seales to
+able & willinge Gentlemen which had been sometimes Fellowes or
+commoners of the Colledge that it would please them to better the
+stocke, and out of their good will contribute somewhat towardes the
+Prince's Revells."
+
+Then followed the form of the writ issued, "To our trustye and
+welbeloved Knight, or Esquire," &c. "Given under our privye Seale at
+our Pallace of St. John's in Oxen, the seventh of December in the
+first yeare of our rayne, 1607." Then follow "the names of those who
+were served with this writt, and who most willingly obeyed upon the
+receipt thereof," contributing altogether xvi^{li} x^{s} 0.
+"Others were served and bragd of it, as though they had given, but
+sent nothing."
+
+"For all these Subsidies at home, and helpes abroad, yet it was founde
+that in the ende there would rather be want (as indeed it happened)
+than any superfluitye, and therfore the Prince tooke order with the
+Bowsers to send out warrantes to all the Tenantes & other friendes of
+the Colledge, that they should send in extraordinary provision against
+every Feast, which accordingly was performed; some sendinge money,
+some wine, some venison, some other provision, every one accordinge to
+his abilitye.
+
+"All thinges beinge thus sufficiently (as it was thought) provided
+for, the Councell table, with the Lord himself, mett together to
+nominate officers & to appoint the day of the Prince's publike
+installment which was agreed should be on St. Andrews Day at night;
+because at that time the Colledge allso was to chouse their new
+officers for the yeare followinge.
+
+"Now for that they would not playnely and barely install him without
+any farther ceremonies, it was thought fitt that his whole ensuinge
+Regiment (for good lucke sake) should be consecrated to the _Deitie of
+Fortune_, as the sole Mistres and Patronesse of his estate, and
+therfore a schollerlike devise called _Ara Fortunae_ was provided for
+his installment; which was performed in manner & forme followinge:
+
+
+ARA FORTUNAE.
+
+_Inter-locutores._
+
+Princeps.
+Fortuna.
+Tolmaea.
+Thesaurarius.
+Camerarius.
+Jurisconsultus.
+Philosophus.
+Rusticus.
+Stultus.
+Rebellis Primus.
+---- Secundus.
+---- Tertius.
+---- Quartus.
+Nuncius.
+
+* * * * *
+
+[The Drama is not given on account of its length. And it will be
+remarked that, whenever asterisks are substituted, some portion of the
+MS. has been omitted.]
+
+"This showe by ourselves was not thought worthye of a stage or
+scaffoldes, and therfore after supper the tables were onlye sett
+together, which was not done with out great toyle & difficulty, by
+reason of the great multitude of people (which, by the default of the
+dorekeepers, and divers others, every man bringinge in his friends)
+had filled the Hall before wee thought of it. But for all this it
+began before 8 of clock, and was well liked by the whole audience,
+who, how unrulye so ever they meante to bee afterwardes, resolved I
+think at first with their good applause and quiet behaviour to drawe
+us on so farr, as wee should not bee able to returne backwardes
+without shame & discreditt. They gave us at the ende 4 severall &
+generall plaudites; at the 2 wherof the Canopie which hunge over the
+Altare of Fortune (as it had been frighted with the noise, or meante
+to signifie that 2 plaudites were as much as it deserved) suddenly
+fell downe; but it was cleanly supported by some of the standers by
+till the company was voyded, that none but our selves took notice of
+it.
+
+"Some upon the sight of this Showe (for the better enoblinge of his
+person, and drawinge his pedigree even from the Godes because the
+Prince's name was Tucker, and the last Prince before him was Dr. Case)
+made this conceipt that _Casus et Fortuna genuerunt [Greek: Tycheron]
+Principem Fortunatum_--so the one his father, and the other his
+mother.
+
+"Another accident worthy observation (and which was allso then
+observed) was that the Foole carelesly sittinge downe at the Prince's
+feete brake his staff in the midst, whence wee could not but directly
+gather a verye ill omen, that the default and follye of some would bee
+the very breaknecke of our ensueing sports, which how it fell out, I
+leave to the censures of others; our selves (I am sure) were guilty to
+our selves of many weaknesses and faultes, the number wherof were
+increased by the crossinge untowardnesse, and backwardnesse of divers
+of the Prince's neerest followers, nay the Prince himself had some
+weaknesses which did much prejudice his state, wherof the chiefest
+weere his openesse, and familiaritye with all sortes, beinge
+unwillinge to displease eny, yet not able to please all. But to
+proceede:--On St. Thomas day at night the officers before elect were
+solemnly proclaimed by a Sergeant at armes, and an Herauld, the
+trumpetts soundinge beetwixt every title. This proclamation after it
+was read, was for a time hunge up in the Hall, that every man might
+the better understande the qualitie of his owne place, and they that
+were of lower, or no place, might learne what duety to performe to
+others.
+
+"The manner wherof was as followeth:
+
+ "Whereas by the contagious poyson, and spreadinge malice
+ of some ill disposed persons, hath been threatned not
+ onelye the danger of subvertinge peaceable & orderlye proceedinges,
+ but the allmost utter annihilatinge of auncient &
+ laudable customes--It hath been thought convenient, or
+ rather absolutely necessarye for the avoydinge of a most
+ dangerous ensuinge Anarchie, a more settled order of
+ goverment, for the better safetye of all well meaninge
+ Subjects, and curbinge of discontented, headstronge persons,
+ should bee established. And whereas through wante of good
+ lawes by wise and discreet Magistrates to bee duely and
+ truely executed, a giddye conceipt hath possest the
+ mindes of manye turbulent spirites, of endueringe no
+ superiour, hardly an equall, whereby the common-wealth
+ might growe to bee a manye-headed monster--It hath
+ been provided by the staide and mature deliberations of
+ well-experienced governours and provident counsellours, that
+ one whose highe deserts might answere his high advancement
+ should bee sett over all to the rulinge and directinge
+ of all--Therefore by these presentes bee it knowne unto
+ all of what estate or condicion soever whome it shall
+ concerne that Thomas Tucker, an honorable wise & learned
+ Gentleman to the great comeforte of the weale-publique from
+ hence-forth to be reputed, taken and obayed for the true,
+ onely and undoubted Monarche of this revellinge Climate,
+ whom the generall consent and joynte approbation of the
+ whole Common-wealth hath invested and crowned with
+ these honours and titles followinge:
+
+ "The most magnificent and renowned Thomas by the favour
+ of Fortune, Prince of Alba Fortunata, Lord St. Johns,
+ high Regent of the Hall, Duke of St. Giles, Marquesse
+ of Magdalens, Landgrave of the Grove, County Palatine
+ of the Cloisters, Chiefe Bailiffe of the Beaumonts, high
+ Ruler of Rome, Maister of the Manor of Waltham, Governour
+ of Gloster-greene, sole Commaunder of all Titles, Tourneaments,
+ and Triumphes, Superintendent in all Solemnities
+ whatsoever.
+
+"Now because they whom the unknowne cares, & unweildie burdens of a
+sole regiment shall relie upon, neede extraordinary helpe in the more
+than ordinarye affaires, Hee hath as well for the better discharge &
+ease of those royall duetyes (as it were) which attend on his place,
+as for the avoidinge the odious & ingratefull suspition of a single
+dominion, and private Tyranye, selected and chosen unto himself a
+grave and learned assistance both for Councell and government, whom,
+and every of which, his princely will is, shall in their severall
+places & dignities bee both honoured and obeid, with no lesse respect
+and observance than if himself were there present in person. And that
+carelesse ignorance may bee no lawfull excuse for the breach of his
+will therin hee hath appointed their severall names and titles, with
+their subordinate officers and deputies to be signified & proclaimed
+to all his lovinge and leige Subjects, in manner followinge:
+
+"The right gracious John Duke of Groveland, Earle de Bello-Monte,
+ Baron Smith, chiefe Ranger of the Woods & Forests, great Master of
+ the Prince's Game, hath for his subordinate officers--
+
+ Sir Frauncis Hudson, Keeper of the Parkes, & Warder of the
+ Warrens.
+
+ Sir Thomas Grice, Forrester & Sargeaunt of the Woodhowse.
+
+"The right honourable Rowland Lord Juxon, Lord Chauncelour, Keeper of
+ the Great Seale, Signer of all publicke Charters, Allower of all
+ Priviledges, hath for his subordinate officers.
+
+ Sir William Dickenson, Master of the Requests, & the Prince's
+ Remembrancer.
+
+ Sir Owen Vertue, Clerke of the Signet, and Chafer of Waxe.
+
+"The right honourable Thomas Lord Downer, Lord high Treasurer,
+ Receaver General of all Rents, Revenues, Subsidies, belonginge by
+ Nature, custome or accident to the Prince; the great Payemaster
+ of all necessary charges appertayninge to the Court, hath for his
+ subordinate Officers--
+
+ Sir John Williamson, Steward of the Household, Disburser for the
+ Familye.
+
+ Sir Christopher Wren, Cofferer, and Clerke of the Exchequer.
+
+"The right honourable Joseph Lord Fletcher, Lord high Admirall,
+ great Commaunder of all the narrow seas, floods and passages;
+ Surveyor of the Navye, Mayster of the Ordinance, hath for his
+ subordinate Officers,
+
+ Sir Stephen Angier, Warden of the Cinque Ports, and
+ Victualler of the Fleet.
+
+ Sir Anthony Steevens, Captayne of the Guard.
+
+"The right honourable Richard Lord Baylie, Lord high Marshall,
+ President of all Titles, and Tourneaments, Commander in all
+ Triumphes, Suppressor of suddayne tumultes, Supervisor of all
+ games, and publique pastimes, hath for his subordinate Officers,
+
+ Sir William Blagrove, Master of the Revells.
+
+ Sir John Hungerford, Knight Marshall, severe Commander of the
+ Wayes for the Prince's passage.
+
+"The right honourable John Lord Towse, Lord high Chamberlayne,
+ Purveyor for the Prince's pallace, Overseer of all feasts and
+ banquets, furnisher of all Chambers, and Galleries, Examiner
+ of all private pastimes, hath for his subordinate Officers,
+
+ Sir Richard Swinerton} the Prince's Wards and
+ Sir William Cheyney } Squiers of his bodye.
+
+ Mr. Edward Cooper, Groome-Porter.
+
+"The right honourable Richard Lord Holbrooke, Comptroller
+ Generall, Chiefe overseer of all Purseavants, Orderer of all
+ household Servaunts, hath for his subordinate officers,
+
+ Sir Thomas Stanley} Sergeaunts at Armes & Gentlemen Ushers
+ Mr. John Alford } to the Prince
+
+ Mr. Brian Nailor, Master of the Robes of State, Keeper of the
+ Wardrobe, and Surveyor of Liveries.
+
+"The right honourable James Lord Berbloke, principall Secretarye,
+ Lord privye Seale, designer of all Embasies, Drawer of all Edicts
+ and Letters, Scribe to the State, hath for his subordinate Officers,
+
+ Sir Thomas Clarke, Master of the Roles, & Prothonotarye.
+
+ Mr. Marcheaumount Nedham, Clerke of the Councell-table.
+
+"The right honourable John Lord English, Lord Chiefe Justice, Examiner
+ of all causes Capitall; Sessor upon life and death, Judge of
+ controversies criminall, hath for his subordinate Officers,
+
+ Sir John Alder, Attourney Generall, and the Prince's Solicitor.
+
+ Mr. John Sackevile, Baylife Erraunt.
+
+"Now because good Governours without good laws, carefull Magistrates
+without wholesome Statutes are like dumb (though paynted) images, or
+unweapon'd soldiers--Hee of his absolute authoritye, conferred upon
+him in the late free election, doth ratifie and establish all such
+Decrees and Statutes, as Hee now findeth wisely and warely ordayned of
+his famous Predecessor; promisinge onely by a full and severe
+execution to put life in their dead remembrance, Adding moreover some
+few cautions to be observed in his ensuinge Triumphs."
+
+These statutes were ratified and established by the Prince "at our
+Manor of Whites-Hall, December the 21st in the first of our Raygne."
+
+"The same night the Prince, with the rest of his Councell meetinge at
+the high table in the Hall, a Bill was preferred by the Lord Treasurer
+for the advancement of Mr. Henery Swinarton to the Earldome of
+Cloyster-sheere, and the over-seeinge of the Princes great Librarye."
+After due consideration, "the Prince at length graunted the request,
+and his title was presently drawne by the Clerke of the
+Councell-table, and pronounced in manner followinge:
+
+"The right honourable Henry Lord Swinarton, Earle of Cloister-Sheer,
+ Barron of the Garden, chiefe Master of the Presse, and overseer of
+ the Prince's great Librarye, hath for his subordinate Officers,
+
+ Mr. William Rippin, Surveyor of the Walkes.
+
+ Mr. Christopher Riley, Corrector of the Printe.
+
+"From this time forward, and not before, the Prince was thought fully
+to be instal'd, and the forme of government fully established,
+in-so-much that none might or durst contradict anything which was
+appoynted by himself, or any of his officers.
+
+"The Holy-dayes beinge now at hand, his privye-chamber was provided
+and furnisht, wherein a chayre of state was placed upon a carpett with
+a cloth of state hanged over it, newly made for the same purpose. On
+Christmas Day in the morninge he was attended on to prayers by the
+whole companye of the Bacchelours, and some others of his Gentlemen
+Ushers, bare before him. At dinner beinge sett downe in the Hall at
+the high table in the Vice-president's place (for the President
+himself was then allso present) he was served with 20 dishes to a
+messe, all which were brought in by Gentlemen of the Howse attired in
+his Guard's coats, ushered in by the Lord Comptroller, and other
+Officers of the Hall. The first messe was a Boar's Head, which was
+carried by the tallest and lustiest of all the Guard, before whom (as
+attendants) wente first, one attired in a horseman's coate, with a
+Boars-speare in his hande, next to him an other Huntsman in greene,
+with a bloody faucion drawne; next to him 2 Pages in tafatye sarcenet,
+each of them with a messe of mustard; next to whome came hee that
+carried the Boares-head crost with a greene silk scarfe, by which
+hunge the empty scabbard of the faulcion which was carried before him.
+As they entered the Hall, he sang this Christmas Caroll, the three
+last verses of everie staffe beinge repeated after him by the whole
+companye:
+
+ 1. The Boare is dead,
+ Loe, here is his head,
+ What man could have done more
+ Than his head off to strike,
+ Meleager like,
+ And bringe it as I doe before?
+
+ 2. He livinge spoyled
+ Where good men toyled,
+ Which made kinde Ceres sorrye;
+ But now dead and drawne,
+ Is very good brawne,
+ And wee have brought it for you.
+
+ 3. Then sett downe the Swineyard,
+ The foe to the Vineyard,
+ Lett Bacchus crowne his fall,
+ Lett this Boare's-head and mustard
+ Stand for Pigg, Goose, and Custard,
+ And so you are wellcome all.
+
+"At this time, as on all other Holy-dayes, the Princes allowed
+Musitions (which were sent for from Readinge, because our owne Town
+Musick had given us the slipp, as they use to doe at that time when we
+had most need of them) played all dinner time, and allso at supper.
+The Prince as ofte as hee satt in the Hall was attended on by a
+Commoner and Scholler of the Colledge in tafaty sarcenett. After
+supper there was a private Showe performed in the manner of an
+Interlude, contayninge the order of the Saturnalls, and shewinge the
+first cause of Christmas-candles, and in the ende there was an
+application made to the Day and Nativitie of Christ, all which was
+performed in manner followinge:
+
+SATURNALIA.
+
+Hercules
+Curius
+Doulus
+
+* * * * *
+
+"This shew was very well liked of our selves, and the better: first,
+because itt was the voluntary service of a younge youth; nexte,
+because there were no strangers to trouble us.
+
+"St. Steevens day was past over in silence, and so had St. John's day
+also; butt that some of the Prince's honest neighbours of St. Giles's
+presented him with a maske, or morris, which though it were but
+rudely performed, yet itt being so freely and lovingly profered, it
+could not but bee as lovingly received.
+
+"The same nighte, the twelve daies were suddenly, and as it were
+extempore, brought in, to offer their service to the Prince, the
+holy-daies speaking Latine, and the working-daies English, the
+transition was this:
+
+ Yee see these working-daies they weare no satten,
+ And I assure you they can speake no Latten;
+ But if you please to stay a-while,
+ Some shepheard for them will change the style.
+
+"After some few daunces the Prince, not much liking the sporte (for
+that most of them were out both in their speeches and measures, having
+but thought of this devise some few houres before) rose, and lefte the
+hall, after whose departure, an honest fellow to breake of the sportes
+for that night, and to void the company made suddenly this Epilogue:
+
+ These daunces were perform'd of yore
+ By many worthy Elfes,
+ Now if you will have any more
+ Pray shake your heeles your selves.
+
+"The next day being Innocents-day, it was expected, and partly
+determined by our selves, that the Tragedy of _Philomela_ should have
+been publickly acted, which (as wee thought) would well have fitted
+the day, by reason of the murder of Innocent Itis. But the carpenters
+being no way ready with the stage, or scaffolds (whereof
+notwithstanding some were made before Christmas), wee were constrained
+to deferre it till the nexte day, which was the 29th of December.
+
+PHILOMELA.
+
+Tereus, Rex Thraciae.
+Progne, Regina, Uxor Terei,
+Eugenes, a consilijs Terei.
+Phaulus, Seruus Terei,
+Tres Socii Terei a Classe,
+Ancilla Prognes.
+Philomela, Soror Prognes
+Itis, Filius Pronges et Terei
+Ancilla Philomelae.
+Faustulus, Pastor Regius.
+Faustula, Pastoris Filia.
+
+Chorus.
+
+Terra
+Mare.
+
+* * * * *
+
+"The whole play was wel acted and wel liked.
+
+"New-yeare's eve was wholly spent in preparation for the Prince's
+triumphs, so that nothing was done or expected that night.
+
+"Next day in the morning (beeing New-yeare's-day) the Prince sent Mr.
+Richard Swinnerton, one of the Squires of his body to Mr. President
+with a paire of gloves, charging him to say nothing but these two
+verses:
+
+ The Prince and his Councell, in signe of their loves,
+ Present you, their President, with these paire of gloves.
+
+"There was some what else written in the paper which covered them, but
+what it is uncertaine.
+
+"At night were celebrated the Prince's triumphs, at which time onely
+and never before nor after he was carryed in full state from his
+pallace to the hall, where in the sight of the whole University a
+supplication was presented unto him by Time and seconded with a shew
+called _Times Complaint_. It was performed in manner and forme
+following:
+
+TIME'S COMPLAINT.
+
+Time.
+Veritas, the Daughter of Time.
+Opinion } Seducers of Veritas.
+Error }
+Studioso, a Scholler.
+Manco, a lame Souldiour.
+Clinias, a poore Country-man.
+Humphry Swallow, a drunken Cob
+Goodwife Spiggot, an Ale-wife.
+Philonices, a rangling Lawyer.
+Seruus Philonices.
+Bellicoso, a Casheere Corporall.
+
+PROLOGUE.[62]
+
+ "Worthelie heere wee bring you Time's Complaint
+ Whom we have most just cause for to complaine of,
+ For hee hath lent us such a little space
+ That what wee doe wants much of its true grace.
+ Yet let your wonted love that kindelie take,
+ Which we could wish were better for your sake.
+
+_Enter_ Time _with the Musicians to place them._
+
+Time.
+
+ O wellsaid, wellsaid; wellcome, wellcome, faith!
+ It doth mee good to see I have some friends.
+ Come, true observers of due time, come on:
+ A fitt of musicke, but keepe time, keepe time
+ In your remembrance still, or else you jarre:
+ These for my sake too much neglected are.
+ The world termes them beggars, fidling roagues,
+ But come my fidling friends, I like you well,
+ And for my sake I hope this company,
+ Naie more the Prince himselfe, will like your tunes.
+ Here take your place and shew your greatest skill,
+ All now is well that is not verie ill.
+
+Time _expecting the comming of the Prince (to whom hee preferreth a
+petition) placeth himselfe on the stage till the traine bee past._
+
+ This waie hee comes, here will I place my selfe,
+ They saie hee is an honourable Prince,
+ Respectfull, curteous, liberall, and learn'd:
+ If hee bee soe hee will not choose but heare mee.
+ Poore aged Time was never so abused,
+ And in these daies Princes themselves are wrong'd.
+ If not for my sake, yet for his owne good,
+ Hee will read over my petition.
+ Oft hath the like beene drawne and given up
+ To his nobilitie; But carelesse they
+ In theire deepe pockets swallow good men's praiers.
+ This his owne hand shall have, or I will keepe it:--
+ But here they come, stand close and viewe the traine.
+
+Enter first six Knighte Marshalls men in suitable liveries with
+ links and truncheons two by two.
+
+Next the Knighte Marshall alone in armour and bases with a truncheon.
+
+Then fower other of his men as before.
+
+After these fower Knightes in rich apparell with hats and feathers,
+ rapiers and daggers, bootes and spurres, everie one his Lackie
+ attending on him with torch-light, all two by two.
+
+After these the Master of the Requests, the Master of the Robes in
+ vaste velvet gownes, with Lackies and torches before them.
+
+After these fower Barons in velvet cloakes, likewise attended with
+ Lackies and torches.
+
+After these an Herald at Armes bare, with two Lackies attendant
+ bearing torches.
+
+After these six of the privie Counsell in Schollars gownes and civill
+ hoods, everie one attended on by a Footman bearing on his jacket both
+ behind and before his Lord's armes according to his office (as it is
+ before mentioned) with torches alsoe in theire hands.
+
+After those two Sergeants at armes, with great Maces, and two Squiers
+ before them with torches, all bare.
+
+After these two Hench-men, the one with a sword, the other with a
+ scepter, likewise attended by two Squiers with torch lights, all
+ bare.
+
+After these the Prince himselfe in a scholler's gowne and civill hood,
+ with a coronett of laurell about his hat, attended on by fower
+ footmen in suitable liveries with torches.
+
+After these the Captaine of the guard alone in hose and dublett, hatt
+ and feather, etc., and following him, twenty of the guard in suitable
+ guards' coats and halberds in their hands, and lightes intermingled
+ here and there.
+
+"When this traine first entered out of the Prince's palace there was a
+volye of shotte to the number of fiftie or three-score gunnes, and
+once againe as it passed through the quadrangle, and the third time
+when the Prince was readie to enter uppon the stage in the hall, after
+which third peale ended, the nobilitie having past along some parte of
+the stage, the rest of the traine disposed in places provided for
+them, and the Prince himselfe newlie entered, the showe went forward.
+
+* * * * *
+
+"It hath beene observed if they which performe much in these kinde of
+sportes must needs doe something amisse, or at the least such is the
+danger and trouble of them, that something in the doing will miscarry,
+and so be taken amisse, and such was our fortune at this time; for the
+Prologue (to the great prejudice of that which followed) was most
+shamefully out, and having but halfe a verse to say, so that by the
+very sense the audience was able to prompt him in that which followed,
+yet hee could not goe forward, but after long stay and silence, was
+compelled abruptly to leave the stage, whereupon beeing to play
+another part, hee was so dasht, that hee did nothing well that night.
+
+"After him Good-wife Spiggot, comming forth before her time, was most
+miserably at a non plus & made others so also, whilst her selfe
+staulked in the middest like a great Harry-Lion (as it pleased the
+audience to terme it), either saying nothing at all, or nothing to the
+purpose.
+
+"The drunken-man, which in the repetitions had much pleased and done
+very well, was now so ambitious of his action, that he would needs
+make his part much longer than it was, and stood so long upon it all,
+that he grew most tedious, whereuppon it was well observed and said by
+one that
+
+ ----'twas pitty there should bee
+ In any pleasing thing satiety.
+
+"To make up the messe of absurdities the company had so fil'd the
+stage, that there was no roome to doe any thing well, to bee sure many
+thinges were mistaken and therefore could not but bee very
+distastfull, for it was thought that particular men were aymed at, and
+disciphered by the drunken-man, and Justice Bryar, though it was fully
+knowne to our-selves that the author had no such purpose.
+
+"In fine, expectation the devourer of all good endeavours had
+swallowed more in the very name and title of the interlude than was
+either provided or intended in the whole matter, for wee onely
+proposed to our selves a shew, but the towne expected a perfect and
+absolute play, so that all things mett to make us unhappy that night,
+and had not Time him selfe (whose lines and actions were thought good)
+somewhat pleased them, they would never have endured us without
+hissing, howsoever in the end they gave us two or three cold
+plaudites, though they departed no way satisfyed, unlesse it were in
+the shew about the quadrangle, wherein the Prince was carryd to his
+chamber in the same state that hee came from thence in the beginning
+(as is above mentioned), the whole company of actors beeing added to
+his traine who immediately followed him before the guard in this
+order:
+
+First, Time alone, attended, with two pages and lightes.
+
+Next, Veritas alone, likewise attended.
+
+Then Error and Opinion, which all the way they went pull'd Veritas by
+ the sleeve, one by one and the other by the other, but shee would not
+ harken to them.
+
+After these came Studioso and Philonices, both pleading the case, one
+ upon his ringers and the other with both his hands.
+
+Then came Manco, the lame souldiour and Philonices his man; the
+ souldiour haulting without his cruch, the other beating him with the
+ cruch for counterfeyting.
+
+After these came Clinias and Bellicoso houlding the halter betwixt
+ them, which Bellicoso had found in Clinias his pocket.
+
+Last after these came Humphry Swallow and good wife Spiggot, hee
+ reeling uppon her, she pulling and hayling him for the money he
+ ought her.
+
+After these came the guard as before, and so the Prince in full state
+ was conveyed to his pallace.
+
+"Here wee were all so discouraged that wee could have found in our
+heartes to have gone no farther. But then consulting with our selves
+wee thought it no way fitt to leave when thinges were at the worst,
+and therefore resolved by more industry and better care of those
+things which should follow, to sue out a fine of recovery for our
+credites. Whereuppon the comedy which was already a foote and
+appointed to bee done on 12 day, was revewed and corrected by the best
+judgments in the house, & a Chorus by their direction inserted, to
+excuse former faults, all which was a cause that Twelfe eve & Twelfe
+day past away in silence, because the comedy beeing wholy altered
+could not bee so soone acted, neyther could any other thing bee so
+suddenly provided to furnish those nights.
+
+"Heere the Lord-treasurer made a complaint to the King and the rest of
+his councell that his treasure was poore and almost exhausted, so that
+without a fresh supply or new subsidy nothing more could bee done. And
+that this might not seem an idle complaint, a bill of some of the
+particulars and chiefe expences was exhibited, wherein it might
+appeare how costly the presedent revels had beene."
+
+The "Bill of Expences" amounted to lxiiij^{li} v^{s} o^{d}.
+
+"This bill beeing seene and allowed, they begane to cast about for
+more money, whereuppon a new privy seale was drawn in Latin." "Those
+which were served with this writte and obey'd" contributed a total sum
+of 5^{li}.
+
+"This beeing not as yet sufficient there was a new subsedy levyed by
+the Junior Masters and the rest of the Colledge to the summe of Six
+Poundes three shillings, whereuppon finding themselves againe before
+hand, and resolving to save nothing for a deare yeare, they proceeded
+to new expences and new troubles.
+
+"The Suneday after, beeing the last day of the Vacation and tenth day
+of the moneth, two shewes were privately performed in the Lodging, the
+one presently after dinner called _Somnium Fundatoris_, viz., the
+tradition that wee have concearning the three trees that wee have in
+the President his garden. This interlude by the reason of the death of
+him that made it, not long after was lost, and so could not bee heere
+inserted; but it was very well liked, and so wel deserved, for that it
+was both wel penned and well acted.
+
+"Now because before were divers youths whose voyces or personages
+would not suffer them to act any thing in publicke, yet withall it was
+thought fitt, that in so publicke a buisnes every one should doe some
+thing, therefore a mocke play was provided called _The 7 Dayes of the
+Weeke_, which was to be performed by them which could do nothing in
+earnest, and, that they should bee sure to spoyle nothing, every man's
+part was sorted to his person, and it was resolved that the worse it
+was done, the better it would be liked, and so it fell out; for the
+same day after supper it was presented by one who bore the name of the
+Clerke of St. Gyleses, and acted privately in the lodging in manner
+and forme following:
+
+
+THE SEVEN DAYES OF THE WEEKE.
+
+
+_Interloqutores._
+
+The Clerke of St. Gyleses.
+Mooneday.
+Tuseday.
+Wenesday.
+Thurseday.
+Frieday.
+Satterday.
+Suneday.
+Night.
+
+
+Chorus.
+
+A Woman
+A Paire of Snuffers.
+
+_Enter the Clerke with all his Acteurs._
+
+
+Prologue
+
+Clerke.
+
+ "I am the poore, though not unlettered, Clerke,
+ And these your subjects of St. Gyles his parishe,
+ Who in this officious season would not sharke
+ But thought to greet your highnesse with a morrice,
+ Which since my riper judgement thought not fitt,
+ They have layd down their wisedomes to my witt.
+
+ And that you might perceive (though seeminge rude)
+ Wee savour somewhat of the Academie,
+ Wee had adventur'd on an enterlude
+ But then of actors wee did lacke a manye;
+ Therefore we clipt our play into a showe,
+ Yet bigg enough to speake more than wee knowe.
+
+ The subject of it was not farr to seeke
+ Fine witts worke mickle matter out of nifle:
+ Nam'd it I have _The Seven Dayes of the Weeke_,
+ Which though perchaunce grave heads may judge a trifle,
+ Yet if their action answere but my penninge,
+ You shall heare that, that will deserve a hemminge.
+
+ To tell the argument, were to forstalle
+ And sour the licquour of our sweete conceate;
+ Here are good fellowes that will tell you all
+ When wee begin once, you shall quickely ha'te,
+ Which if your grace will grace with your attention,
+ You shall soone sounde the depth of our invention."
+
+[Then follows the mock play in seven Acts.]
+
+"Nothing, throughout the whole yeare, was better liked and more
+pleasant than this shewe, in so much that, although it were more
+privately done before our selves onely or some few friends, yet the
+report of it went about all the towne, till it came to the
+Vice-chauncellours and L. Clifford's eares, who were very desyrous to
+see it acted againe, and so it was as heereafter shal bee specifyed.
+
+"The next day beeing Munday the 11 of January the terme should have
+begun in the house, but because of the extreame cold and froast which
+had now continued full six weekes and better without any intermission,
+as also by reason the hall was still pestered with the stage and
+scaffolds which were suffered to stand still in expectation of the
+Comedy, therefore it was agreed by the President and the officers that
+the terme should bee prorogued for 7 dayes longer in which time it was
+agreed the Comedy should bee publickely acted on Friday, the 15th day
+of January.
+
+"But heere the President and some of the Seniors in abundance of care
+were affrayd to put any thing againe to the publicke view of the
+University, because their last paines at _The Complaint of Time_ had
+so ill thriving. Besides the season was so severe and tempestuous with
+wind and snow, which had continued some dayes without ceasing, and the
+complaint of the poore was so grievious for want of wood and meate,
+which by this time were growne very scant and deere, that they urged
+it was a time rather to lament and weepe than make sports in,
+whereupon a streight inhibition was sent out from the officers, that
+no man should thinke of playing that night or any time after, till the
+weather should breake up and bee more temperate, for they thought it
+no way fitt publickly to revell at a time of such generall wo and
+calamity.
+
+"But yet because all thinges were in a readinesse and the expectation
+of the whole towne was set uppon that night, the younger men of the
+Colledge went forward with their buisnes, intending to take no notice
+of what the officers had aggreed uppon, wherefore some of the officers
+were fayne to come in person to forbid the worke-men, and to undo some
+things which were already done, to the great griefe and discouragement
+of all the youth, who, though the weather was extreame cold, were
+themselves most hotte uppon the matter in hand, resolving now or never
+to recover their losse credit.
+
+"And, as though the heavens had favoured their designes, so it
+happened that about noone the weather brake up and it begann to thaw,
+whereuppon the President was agayne importun'd by the Prince himselfe
+and his councell for the performance of the Comedy that night; who
+(seeing they were all so earnest) did not so much graunt, as not deny
+them, their request, whereuppon they begann againe to sett forward the
+buisnes, and what they wanted in time they made up by their
+willingnesse and paynes, so that for all these crosses they begann the
+play before 7 a clocke and performed it in manner following:
+
+
+PHILOMATHES.
+
+INTERLOQUTORES.
+
+Chorus.
+
+Janus.
+Tempus.
+
+Motus Locus.
+Quies Vacuum.
+
+Philomathes. Sophia.
+Chrysophilos, Senex Avarus. Antarchia.
+Phantasta, Stolidus Generosus. Anthadia.
+[Greek: Aphronios], Filius Chrysophili. Anaea, Mulier Inepta.
+
+Chrestophilos, Socius Philomathis.
+Crito, Senex, Pater Sophiae.
+Critonis Seruus.
+Cerdoos, Seruus Chrysophili.
+Petinus, Seruus Phantastae.
+
+* * * * *
+
+"This play was very well acted, but especially the Chorus, the stage
+was never more free, the audience never more quiett and contented, so
+that they went away many of them crieing--_Abunde satisfactum est!_
+itt was so well liked and applauded of all that saw itt.
+
+"Here the stage & scaffold were pul'd downe which had stood from
+Cristmas, and it was resolved that upon the chaunge of the weather,
+the terme should begin on the Munday following.
+
+"But in the meane time on Sunday nighte, being the Seventeenth of
+January, the Vice-chancelor, and the L. Clifford, with many other
+Doctors and Gentlemen were invited to supper in the President's
+lodging, where after supper they were entertained with a shew before
+mentioned, to witt, _The Seven Dayes in the Weeke_, to which, by this
+time, there was somewhat added, but not much: all was most kindly
+accepted, and the nighte was spent in great mirth. For the straungenes
+of the matter, and rarity of the fashion of their action pleased above
+expectation.
+
+"At the end of this shew for the more rarity, there was one brought in
+my Lord's Stockes with this speech made uppon itt:
+
+"'My Lord, I which am the lowest, am now become the lowdest, though
+(I hope) not the lewdest of your Lordshippe's servauntes. And though I
+come _pridie Calendas_, before I am cald, yet (I hope) my audacity
+shall have audience, and my faithfulnes favor. I am your Lordshippe's
+Elephaunt and heere is your castell, so that where other Lords are
+brought to their castells, heere your castell is brought to you. _Est
+locus in carcere_, there is a locke upon your Lordshippe's castell,
+which was committed unto my trust, how faithfull I have been therein
+they can tell who have taken an exact measure of my office by the
+foote: the matter of which your castell is builded is so precious,
+that there is none amongst company but is contented to wear of it
+within his buttons, the end for which it was builded is very
+commendable, that they may bee kepte in order with wood, which
+otherwise would not bee kepte in order, heere is _fons latus pedibus
+tribus_, a fountaine to wash three mens legs, that they which have
+bene _aurium tenus_, over shoes, heere may be _crurum tenus_ over
+bootes too, This your Lordshippe's oracle or Tripos, out of which
+malefactors tell the truth and foretell of their amendment. Nay, I wil
+bee bould to compare it to your Lordshippe's braine, for what is there
+designed is heere executed. In these sells or ventricles are fancy,
+understanding, and memory. For such as your Lordshippe doth not fancy
+are put in the first hole, such as were dull and without understanding
+were put in the second hole, but such as your Lordshippe threatned
+(remember this) or I'le remember you, were put in the last and lowest
+dungeon, _cum nemini obtrudi potest itur ad me_. When they cannot bee
+ruled otherwise they are brought unto mee, and my entertainment is
+_strato discumbitur ostro_, they straite sett downe att this oister
+table, where they are fast and doe fast, ffor _vinitur exiguo melius_,
+they make small meales, till the flames of clemency doe mitigate the
+Salamanders of your Lordshippe's severity. Now, my Lord, since I have
+told you what I am, I will bee bold to tell you what you may bee--You
+are mortall--Ergo you must die, the three sisters will not spare you,
+though you were their owne brother, and therefore while you have your
+good witts about you, _fac quid vobis_, make your will, that wee may
+know amongst so many well deserving men, that doe lay claime to this
+your castell, to whome as rightfull heire itt shall lawfully descend,
+that so all controversies being ended, before your Lordshippe's
+deceasse, hereafter your bones may ly, and wee your subjects live, in
+all rest and quietnes.
+
+"'Dixi.'
+
+"To make an end of this nighte's sporte, all departed merry and very
+well pleased, the actors were much commended, and the terme for their
+sakes prorogued one day longer.
+
+"On the Thursday following the Prince was solemnly invited by the
+Canons of Christchurch to a comedy called _Yuletide_, where many
+thinges were either ill ment by them, or ill taken by us, but wee had
+very good reason to think the former, both for that the whole towne
+thought so, and the whole play was a medley of Christmas sportes, by
+which occasion Christmas Lords were much jested at, and our Prince was
+soe placed that many thinges were acted upon him, but yet, Mr. Deane
+himselfe, then vice-chancelor, very kindly sent for the Prince and
+some others of our howse, and laboured to satisfie us, protesting that
+no such thing was mente, as was reported, whereupon wee went away
+contented, and forebore the speaking of many things which otherwise
+were afterwards intended, for aunswering of them in their owne kind.
+
+"On Candlemas nighte it was thoughte by our selves, and reported in
+the towne, that the Prince should resigne his place, but nothing being
+in readines for that purpose itt was deferred, but yet, least nothing
+should bee done, there was a Vigilate (as they terme it) a watching
+nighte procured by the Prince and his Counsell, and graunted by the
+officers of the Colledge, which was performed in manner following.
+
+
+"THE VIGILATE.
+
+"First, about eighte of the Clocke (for then itt was to begin, and to
+continue till fowre in the morning) the Colledge gates were shutt, and
+all the students summon'd by the sounding of a Trumpett three times,
+to make their personall appearance in the greate Hall, where after
+they were all come together, that the Prince's pleasure might bee the
+better knowne, this proclamation was publikely pronounced by a
+Serjeant att Armes, in the hearing of them all.
+
+"The high and mighty Thomas by the favour of Fortune Prince of Alba
+ Fortunata, Lord St. Johns, High Regent of the Hall, &c. To all
+ Presidents, Vice Presidents, Officers, Readers, Masters, Batchelors,
+ Felowes, Schollers, Commoners, Under-commoners, Servaunts, Scruitors,
+ sendeth greeting.
+
+Whereas of late by the turbulent spirits of seditious minded persons
+hath bene buzzed into the eares of many of our loving and liege
+subjectes a fearefull and dangerous report of our sudden downefall,
+which according to their libelling speeches should att this nighte
+fall upon us--We have thought it necessary not so much for our owne
+feares which are none at all, as for satisfieing and strengthening our
+welmeaning friends in their love and duty, to publish and by these
+presents to all our loyal subjects of what state and condicion soever,
+that they make their personall appearance to the setting and
+furnishing of a most strong guarde and carefull watch as well for
+their security as the safety of our owne royall person, & the whole
+Common-wealth; In the which generall watch for the better comfort and
+ease of all men, our selfe, with our honourable privy Counsell, and
+the rest of our Nobility, intend to bee personally present.
+
+"But because wee are no way minded to oppresse any man above his
+power, on our princely bounty, wee give licence to such as (for age or
+infirmity) are not able to perform that duty, to forfaite for their
+absence, yf they plead age ijs. vi^{d}.; if infirmity, xii^{d}., towards
+the furnishing of his Highnes with a tall and sufficient watchman.
+
+"Now because that which wee have wisely thought, and for our peace and
+safety, may not proove the cause of new troubles and dissentions, wee
+have thought good to adjoine some few cautions, in way of admonitions
+to bee observed.
+
+"First, for that the disorders of an unruly and mutinous watch
+ doe often open as it were the gate of danger and outrage,
+ our princely will and pleasure is, that each man keepe his
+ station with out murmuring, performing cheerefully all such
+ offices and duties, as shal bee lawfully enjoin'd by us, or
+ our offices, upon paine of forfeiting ijs. vi^{d}., as for age.
+
+"Secondly, because sloth is a kind of disease in a well-ordered
+ Common-wealth wee further charge and command by the
+ vertue of our absolute authority, that no man bee found
+ winking, or pincking, or nodding, much lesse snorting,
+ upon paine of forfaiting twelve pence, as for infirmity.
+
+"Thirdly, for the avoiding of a sudden dearth, or lingring famine
+ which may ensue and justly follow the free and undoubted
+ liberty of a riotous and luxurious time, yt is by us thought
+ necessary that no man should in hugger mugger eate or
+ drincke more than is publickly seene and allowed by the
+ face of the body civill and politicke, upon paine of paieing
+ twise, for such is in a manner stolen provision, and the
+ second paiement to bee arbitrary.
+
+ "Given att our Mannor of Whites-hall, the seacond of
+ February, and in the first of our Raigne.
+
+"This proclamation being read and set up in the great hall, the Prince
+called for his officers and servants about him, charging every man
+carefully to execute his office. First the steward and buttler (who
+for their auncient fidelity kept their places according as they had
+long before beene appointed by the Colledge) were commaunded to bring
+their bookes, and by them to call up all the howse, whereupon (every
+one beeing first charged to aunswere to his name) it presently
+appeared who were present and who were absent.
+
+"After this the Master of the Revels and the Knight Marshall were
+willed to appoint severall sportes that no man might bee seene idle
+upon payne of the Prince's high displeasure whereupon presently some
+went to cardes, some to dice, some to dauncing, every one to some
+thing.
+
+"Not long after, for more variety sake, there was brought in a maske;
+the devise was sudden and extempore, videl: a little page attired in
+his long coats, with these six verses which were spoke as soone as he
+entered the hall.
+
+ "These are six carpet knights, and I one page
+ Can easily bring in six that bee of age,
+ They come to visite this your highnes court,
+ And if they can, to make your honour sport.
+ Nay, this is all, for I have seene the day
+ A richer maske had not so much to say.
+
+"After these maskers had finished the measures, and some few other
+daunces, the said page waved them forth with his wan, and spake these
+two verses:
+
+ "There are three they say would shew you an anticke,
+ But when you see them, you'll thinke them franticke.
+
+"Then there came in three in an anticke which were well attyred for
+that purpose, and daunced well to the great delite of the beholders.
+
+"After these had stollen away one by one, as the manner is, it pleased
+the Prince to aske what was a clocke, it beeing aunswered almost
+twelve hee presently called in for supper. But first the bill of those
+which were before noted to bee absent was called, to see whether any
+of them would yet appeare, and the Prince would deale favourably with
+them. It was also examined whether any of those which were present
+before were now gon to bed, and accordingly authority was given by the
+Prince to the marshalls of the hall and other officers to search the
+chambers for sleepers, and where they made aunswere to aske the reason
+of their slothfull neglect or wilfull contempt of the Prince's
+commands, and if they pleaded either infirmity or age to take their
+fine, and so quietly to depart, first causing them faithfull to give
+their words that they harboured no other idle or suspicious parsons.
+But if they knoct at any of the chambers of those that were absent and
+nobody would answer, then they had full authority to breake open the
+dores and to make a privy search, and if they found any abed they
+tooke them as they were in their shirts and carryed them downe in
+state to the hall after this manner:--
+
+"First went the marshals with lights to make room.
+
+Then came one squire carrying the goune of him whom they
+ brought and another that carryed his hatt & band.
+
+Then came two other squires whereof one carryed his dublet
+ the other his breeches.
+
+Then came two with lights.
+
+Next came he that was in his shirt carryed by two in a chaire
+ and covered with a blanket.
+
+Last behind came one squire more that carryed his shoes &
+ stockings.
+
+"All these beeing entered the hall, the squires made their attendance
+about him, with great observance, every one reaching him his apparrell
+as it pleased him to call for it, and then also helping him on with
+it. And this was the punishment of those that were found a bed.
+
+"Others which were found up in their chambers & would not answer were
+violently brought downe with bills and staves as malefactors and by
+the Knight Marshals appointment were committed close prisoners to the
+Prince's castle, videl. the stocks, which were placed upon a table to
+that purpose, that those which were punished might bee seene to the
+terrour of others.
+
+"By this time supper was ready and the sewer called to the
+dresser whereupon the buttery bell was presently rung, as it
+uses to bee at other ordinary meales, besides a trumpet was
+sounded at the kitchen hatch to call the wayters together.
+
+"After the first messe was served in, the Prince with the rest
+of his councell satt downe, then all the rest of the howse in
+seniority.
+
+"Towardes the end of supper two gentlemen of the second table fell out,
+wee could never distinctly know about what, it was verely supposed
+themselves scarsly knew, but from wordes they fell suddenly to blowes,
+and ere any man was aware, one of them had stabbed the other into the
+arme with his knife to the great prejudice of the mirth, which should or
+would have followed that night. But the offender was presently
+apprehended (and though a gentleman of some worth) put into my Lord's
+stocks, where hee lay most part of that night with shame and blame
+enough. And yet for all that punishment the next day he was convented
+before the officers of the Colledge, and there agayne more grievously
+punished; for the fault was much agravated by the circumstances of the
+time, place and person that was hurt, who was a very worshipfull
+knight's sonne and heyre.
+
+"After this the Prince with some of the better sort of the
+howse beeing much disconted with the mischaunce that had
+happened, retyred themselves into the president lodging, where
+privatly they made themselves merry, with a wassall called the
+five bells of Magdalen Church, because it was an auncient note
+of those bells, that they were almost never silent. This shew
+for the better grace of the night was performed by some of the
+Masters and officers themselves in manner following:
+
+"_Enter the Clerke of Magdalens alone,_
+
+ "Your kind acceptance of the late devise
+ Presented by St. Gyles's clerke, my neighbour,
+ Hath hartned mee to furnish in a trice
+ This nights up sitting with a two houres labour:
+ For any thing I hope, though ne're so naghty
+ Wil be accepted in a Vigilate.
+
+ I have observed as your sportes did passe all
+ (A fault of mine to bee too curious)
+ The twelfe night slipt away without a wassall,
+ A great defect, to custome most injurious:
+ Which I to mend have done my best endeavour
+ To bring it in, for better late than never.
+
+ And more, for our more tuneable proceeding,
+ I have ta'ne downe the five bells in our towre,
+ Which will performe it, if you give them heeding,
+ Most musically, though they ring an houre.--
+ Now I go in to oyle my bells and pruin them,
+ When I come downe Ile bring them downe & tune them.
+
+_Exit._
+
+"After a while he returned with five others presenting his five bells,
+and tyed with five bell-ropes, which after he had pulled one by one,
+they all began a peale, and sang in Latin as followeth:--
+
+
+ "Jam sumus laetis dapibus repleti,
+ Copiam vobis ferimus fluentem,
+ Gaudium vobis canimus jocose
+ Vivite laeti.
+
+ Te deum dicunt (venerande Bacche)
+ Te deum dicunt (reverenda mater)
+ Vos graves vobis removete luctus:
+ Vivite laeti.
+
+ Dat Ceres vires, hominumque firmat
+ Corpora, et Bacchus pater ille vini
+ Liberat curis animos molestis:
+ Vivite laeti.
+
+ Ne dolor vestros animos fatiget,
+ Vos jubet laeta haec removere curas
+ Turba, laetari feriaeque suadent
+ Vivite laeti.
+
+ En Ceres laetae segetis creatrix,
+ Et pater vini placidique somni
+ Pocula haec vobis hilares ministrant
+ (monarcha
+ Sume (
+ (magister.
+
+
+_Bibunt omnes ordine dum, actores haec ultima carmina saepius repetunt;
+max singuli toti conventui sic ordine gratulantur._
+
+_Tenor._
+
+ Reddere faelicem si quemquam copia possit
+ Copia faelicis nomen habere jubet,
+ Copia laete jubet tristes depellere curas,
+ Copia quam cingit Bacchus et alma Ceres.
+
+_Counter._
+
+ Quem non delectant moderate pocula sumpta?
+
+_Tenor._
+
+ Cujus non animum dulcia vina juvant?
+ Dulcia vina juvant dulcem dant vina soporem,
+ Magnificas ornant dulcia vina dapes.
+
+_Meane._
+
+ Frugibus alma Ceres mortalia pectora nutrit,
+ Exornant campurn frugibus alma Ceres.
+ Si cuiquam desint Cerelia dona, nec illi
+ Lenaei patris munera grata placent.
+
+ Nec vobis Cereris nec Bacchi munera desint,
+ Annuat et votis Jupiter ipse meis.
+
+_Treble._
+
+ Alma Ceres vestris epulis laetatur, et ecce
+ Copia cum Baccho gaudia laeta canunt
+ _Mox omnes cantantes Exeunt._
+
+ Gaudium laetum canimus, canemus
+ Hoc idem semper, nec enim dolere
+ Jam licet, laetae feriae hic aguntur
+ Vivite laeti.
+
+ Saepius nobis reriae revertant,
+ Saepius vinum liceat potare,
+ Saepius vobis hilares canamus
+ Vivite laeti.
+
+"This then was suddenly and extempore clapt together for want of a
+better, but notwithstanding was as willingly and chearefully receaved
+as it was proferd.
+
+"By this time it was foure a clocke and liberty was given to every one
+to goe to bed or stay up as long as they pleased. The Prince with his
+councell brake up their watch, so did most of the Masters of the
+house, but the younger sort stayed up till prayers time, and durst not
+goe to bed for feare of one another. For some, after they had licence
+to depart, were fetcht out of their beds by their fellowes, and not
+suffered to put on their clothes till they came into the hall. And
+thus the day came and made an end of the night's sport.
+
+"On the sixt of February, beeing egge Satterday, it pleased some
+gentlemen schollers in the towne to make a dauncing night of it. They
+had provided many new and curious daunces for the maske of Penelope's
+Woers, but the yeare beeing far spent and Lent drawing on and many
+other thinges to bee performed, the Prince was not able to bestow that
+state upon them which their love & skill deserved. But their good will
+was very kindely received by the Prince in this night's private
+travels. They had some apparell suddenly provided for them, and these
+few Latin verses for their induction:
+
+ "Isti fuere credo Penelopes proci
+ Quos justa forsan ira Telemachi domo
+ Expulit Ulyssis.
+
+"After all this sport was ended the Prince entertayned them very
+royally with good store of wine and a banquet, where they were very
+merry and well pleased all that night.
+
+"Against the next Tuesday following, beeing Shrovetuesday, the great
+stage was againe set up and the scaffolds built about the hall for the
+Prince's resignation, which was performed that night with great state
+and solemnity in manner and forme following:
+
+IRA SEU TUMULUS FORTUNE.
+
+INTERLOCUTORES.
+
+Princeps.
+Admiralius.
+Thesaurarius.
+Comptrollarius.
+Cancellarius.
+Justitiarius.
+Marescallus.
+Camerarius.
+Philosophus.
+Cynicus.
+Momus.
+Polycrates.
+Philadelphus.
+Juridicus.
+Magister Ludorem.
+Anteambulo Primus.
+Anteambulo Secundus.
+Stultus.
+
+CHORUS.
+
+Minerva
+Euphemia
+Fortuna.
+Tolmaea.
+
+* * * * *
+
+"Many straungers of all sorts were invited to this shew, and many more
+came together, for the name's sake only of a resignacon, to see the
+manner and solemnity of it, for that it was reported (and truly) that
+there was nothing els to bee done or seene beside the resignacon and
+no man thought so much could have beene said of so little matter.
+
+"The stage was never so oppressed with company, insomuch that it was
+verely thought it could not bee performed that night for want of
+roome; but the audience was so favourable as to stand as close and
+yeeld as much backe as was possible; so that for all tumults it began
+about 7 a clocke, and was very well liked of all.
+
+"Only some few, more upon their owne guilty suspicion than our plaine
+intention, thinking themselves toucht at that verse of _Momus_:
+
+ "Dixi et quem dederat cursum fortuna peregi,
+
+laboured to raise an hissing, but it was soon smothered, and the whole
+company in the end gave us good applause and departed very well
+pleased.
+
+"After the shew was ended, the sometimes Lord was carried in state to
+his owne private chamber after this manner:
+
+First went two Squires with lights.
+
+Next Euphemia and Tolmaea.
+
+Then 2 other Squires with lightes.
+
+Next Minerva and Fortuna.
+
+Then came 4 other Squires with lightes, and in the midst of
+ them 4 schollers bearing on their shoulders a tombe
+ or sepulcher adorned with scutchions and little flagges,
+ wherein all the Prince's honours had bene buried before.
+
+After this came the Prince alone in his schollers gowne and
+ hood as the chiefe mourner.
+
+Then all the rest of his Counsell and company likewise in
+ blacke gownes and hoodes, like mourners, two by two.
+
+"All these were said to goe to the Temple of Minerva there to
+consecrate and erecte the sepulcher, and this state was very well
+liked of all that saw itt.
+
+"Heere wee thought to have made an end of all, and to have puld downe
+the scaffolds and stage, but then many said that so much preparacon
+was too much for so small a show. Besides there was an English Tragedy
+almost ready, which they were very earnest should bee performed, but
+many arguments were alledged against it: first, for the time, because
+it was neere Lent, and consequently a season unfitt for
+plaies--Secondly, the stile for that itt was English, a language
+unfitt for the Universitie, especially to end so much late sporte with
+all--Thirdly, the suspicon of some did more hinder it than all the
+rest, for that it was thought that some particulars were aimed att in
+the Chorus, which must needs bee distastfull--Lastly, the ill lucke,
+which wee had before with English, made many very loth to have any
+thing done againe in that straine.
+
+"But these objections being aunswered all well as might bee, and
+faithfull promise being made and taken that if any word were thought
+personall, it should be presently put out, the stage was suffered to
+stand, and the scaffolds somewhat enlarged against the Saturday
+following. Att which time such a concourse of people from all places,
+and of all sorts came together presently after dinner, that itt was
+thought impossible any thing should have beene done that night for
+tumults. Yet in the beginning such order and care was taken (every one
+being willing att the last cast to helpe towardes the making a good
+end,) that the stage was kept voide of all company, and the scaffoldes
+were reserved for straungers and men sorte, better than ever they were
+before, so that it began very peaceably somewhat before six a clocke,
+and was performed in manner following:
+
+PERIANDER.
+
+CHORUS
+
+The Master of the Revels. Detraction.
+The Master of the Revels Boy. Resolution.
+ Ingenuity a Doctor of Physicke.
+
+INTERLOCUTORES.
+
+Periander, Tyrannus Corinthi.
+Cypsilus, Haeres Periandri, Stultus.
+Lycophron Frater Cypsili.
+Neotinos, Puer, Satelles Lycoph.
+Lysimachos}
+Aristhaeus } Nobiles et a Consilijs Periandri.
+
+Philarches}
+Eriterus } Juuenes Nobiles in Aula Periandri.
+Symphilus }
+
+Crataea Mater Periandri.
+Melissa Uxor Periandri.
+Melissae Umbra.
+Eugenia Filia Periandri.
+
+Pronaea }
+Zona } Duae Meritriculae Periandri.
+
+Larissaea Soror Philarchis.
+Europe Aristhaei Filia.
+Faeminae Quatuor Corinthiae cum 4 or Pueris Inseruientibus.
+Arion Celebris Musicus.
+Nantae Quatuor.
+Cines Duo Togati.
+Vigiles Duo.
+Calistus }
+Stratocles } Satellites Periandri.
+Borius }
+Tres Aut 4 or Alij Satellites.
+Epilogus.
+
+* * * * *
+
+"EPILOGUE.
+
+ "Gentlemen, welcome! our great promises
+ Wee would make upp, your selves must needs confesse,
+ But our small timbred actors, narrow roome,
+ Necessity of thrifte make all short come
+ Of our first apprehensions; wee must keepe
+ Our auntient customes though wee after creepe.
+ But wee forgett times limitts, Nowe tis Lente--
+ Old store this weeke may lawfully be spente
+ Our former shewes were giv'n to our cal'd Lorde,
+ This, and att his request, for you was storde.
+ By many hands was Periander slaine,
+ Your gentler hands will give him live againe.
+
+FINIS.
+
+"A certain gentlewoman, upon the hearing of these two last verses,
+made two other verses, and in way of an aunswer sent them to the
+Prince, who having first plaied Periander afterwards himselfe also
+pronounced the Epilogue.
+
+"The verses were these
+
+ If that my hand or hart him life could give,
+ By hand and hart should Periander live.
+
+"But it is almost incredible to thinke how well this Tragedy was
+performed of all parties, and how well liked of the whole, which (as
+many of them as were within the hall) were very quiet and attentive.
+But those that were without and could not get in made such an hideous
+noice, and raised such a tumult with breaking of windows all about the
+colledge, throwinge of stones into the hall and such like ryott, that
+the officers of the coll: (beeing first dar'd to appeare) were faine
+to rush forth in the beginning of the play, with about a dozen
+whiflers well armed and swords drawne, whereat the whole company
+(which were gathered together before the chapell doore to try whether
+they could breake it open) seeing them come behind them out of the
+lodging, presently gave backe, and ranne away though itt was thought
+they were not so few as 4 or 500.
+
+"The officers gave some faire words and some fowle as they saw
+occasion, the whiflers were very heedfull to marke who were the
+ringleaders of the rest, and having some notice given of them by some
+of our friendes, they took some of them and committed them to the
+Porter's lodge, where they lay close prisoners till the play was done,
+and then they were brought forth and punished, and so sente home.
+
+"After this all was quiet only some were so thrust in the hall, that
+they were carried forth for dead but soone recovered, when they came
+into the aire.
+
+"The Chorus of this Tragedy much pleased for the rarity of it.
+_Detraction_ beeing taken from among the company, where hee had liked
+to have been beaten for his sawsines (as it was supposed) for nobody
+at first toke him for an actor. The chiefest in the hall commaunded
+that notice should be taken of him, that hee might afterwards bee
+punished for his boldnes;--but as soone as it at once appeared that he
+was an actor, their disdaine and anger turned to much pleasure and
+content.
+
+"All were so pleased att the whole course of this play, that there
+were at least eight generall plaudites given in the midst of it in
+divers places and to divers persons.
+
+"In the end, they clapped their hands so long, that they went forth of
+the colledge clapping.
+
+"But in the midst of all this good liking wee were neere two
+mischaunces, the one from Lycophron who lost a faire gold ring from
+his finger, which notwithstanding all the hurleburly in the end of the
+play, was soone found againe; the other from Periander, who, going to
+kill his daughter Eugenia, did not so couch his dagger within his
+hand, but that hee prickt her through all her attire, but (as God
+would have it) it was onely a scratch and so it passed.
+
+
+THE CONCLUSION.
+
+"Many other thinges were in this yeare intended which neither were nor
+could be performed. As the maske of Penelope's Wooer, with the State
+of Telemachus, with a Controversie of Jrus and his ragged Company,
+whereof a great parte was made. The devise of the Embassage from
+Lubber-land, whereof also a parte was made. The Creation of White
+Knights of the order of Aristotle's Well, which should bee sworne to
+defend Aristotle against all authors, water against wine, footemen
+against horsemen, and many more such like injunctions. A lottery for
+those of the colledge or straungers as itt pleased them to draw, not
+for matters of wealth, but only of mirth and witt. The triumph of all
+the founders of the colledges in Oxford, a devise much thought on, but
+it required more invention, more cost than the time would affoord. The
+holding of a court leet and baron for the Prince, wherein there should
+have beene leasses drawne, copies taken, surrenders made, all which
+were not so much neglected as prevented by the shortnes of time and
+want of money, better wits and richer daies may hereafter make upp
+which was then lefte unperfect.
+
+"Here some letters might be inserted, and other gratulatory messages
+from divers friends to the Prince, but it is high time to make an end
+of this tedious and fruitelesse relation, unlesse the knowledge of
+trouble and vanity bee fruitefull.
+
+"Wee intended in these exercises the practise and audacity of our
+youth, the credit and good name of our colledge, the love and favor of
+the University; but instead of all these (so easie a thing it is to be
+deceived in a good meaning) wee met with peevishnesse at home,
+perversnes abroad, contradictions everywhere; some never thought
+themselves entreated enough to their owne good and creditt; others
+thought themselves able to doe nothing if they could not thwarte and
+hinder something; most stood by and gave aime, willing to see much and
+doe nothing, nay perchaunce they were ready to procure most trouble,
+which would bee sure to yield least helpe. And yet wee may not so much
+grudge at faults at home as wee may justly complaine of hard measure
+abroad; for instead of the love and favour of the Universitie, wee
+found our selves (wee will say justly) taxed for any the least error
+(though ingenious spirits would have pardoned many things, where all
+things were intended for their owne pleasure) but most unjustly
+censured, and envied for that which was done (wee dare say)
+indifferently well: so that, in a word, wee paide deere for trouble,
+and in a manner hired and sent for men to doe us wrong.
+
+"Let others herafter take heed how they attempte the like, unlesse
+they find better meanes at home, and better mindes abroad. And yet wee
+cannot complaine of all, some ment well and said well, and those tooke
+good will for good paiment, good endevors for good performaunce, and
+such (in this kind) shall deserve a private favour, when other shal
+bee denied a common benefitt.
+
+ "_Seria vix recte agnoscit, qui ludicra nescit._
+
+FINIS."
+
+
+CHRISTMAS TOURNAMENTS.
+
+During the reign of James the First there was a revival of chivalric
+exercises, especially in connection with the training of the young
+Prince Henry. Almost as soon as he could wield a lance and manage his
+horse when clothed in complete armour, he insisted on taking his place
+at the lists; and from this time no great tournament took place in
+England in which his Royal Highness did not take part. The most
+important of these exhibitions was
+
+
+THE GRAND "FEAT OF ARMES"
+
+which took place on Twelfth Night, 1610, at the palace of Whitehall,
+in the presence of King James I. and his queen, and a brilliant
+assemblage of lords, ladies, and gentlemen, among whom were several
+foreign ambassadors, when the heir-apparent, Prince Henry, was in the
+16th year of his age, and therefore arrived at the period for claiming
+the principality of Wales and the duchy of Cornwall. It was granted to
+him by the king and the High Court of Parliament, and the 4th of June
+following appointed for his investiture: "the Christmas before which,"
+Sir Charles Cornwallis says, "his highnesse, not onely for his owne
+recreation, but also that the world might know what a brave prince
+they were likely to enjoy, under the name of Meliades, lord of the
+isles, (an ancient title due to the first born of Scotland,) did, in
+his name, by some appointed for the same purpose, strangely attired,
+accompanied with drummes and trumpets, in the presence, before the
+king and queene, and in the presence of the whole Court, deliver a
+challenge to all knights of Great Britaine." The challenge was to this
+effect, "That Meliades, their noble master, burning with an earnest
+desire to trie the valour of his young yeares in foraigne countryes,
+and to know where vertue triumphed most, had sent them abroad to espy
+the same, who, after their long travailes in all countreys, and
+returne," had nowhere discovered it, "save in the fortunate isle of
+Great Britaine: which ministring matter of exceeding joy to their
+young Meliades, who (as they said) could lineally derive his pedegree
+from the famous knights of this isle, was the cause that he had now
+sent to present the first fruits of his chivalrie at his majesties'
+feete: then after returning with a short speech to her majestie, next
+to the earles, lords, and knights, excusing their lord in this their
+so sudden and short warning, and, lastly, to the ladies; they, after
+humble delivery of their chartle concerning time, place, conditions,
+number of weapons and assailants, tooke their leave, departing
+solemnly as they entered."
+
+Then preparations began to be made for this great fight, and each was
+happy who found himself admitted for a defendant, much more an
+assailant. "At last to encounter his highness, six assailants, and
+fifty-eight defendants, consisting of earles, barons, knights, and
+esquires, were appointed and chosen; eight defendants to one
+assailant, every assailant being to fight by turnes eight several
+times fighting, two every time with push and pike of sword, twelve
+strokes at a time; after which, the barre for separation was to be let
+downe until a fresh onset." The summons ran in these words:
+
+"To our verie loving good ffreind sir Gilbert Loughton, knight, geave
+theis with speed:
+
+"After our hartie commendacions unto you. The prince, his highnes,
+hath commanded us to signifie to you that whereas he doth intend to
+make a challenge in his owne person at the Barriers, with six other
+assistants, to bee performed some tyme this Christmas; and that he
+hath made choice of you for one of the defendants (whereof wee have
+comandement to give you knowledge), that theruppon you may so repaire
+hither to prepare yourselfe, as you may bee fitt to attend him.
+Hereunto expecting your speedie answer wee rest, from Whitehall this
+25th of December, 1609. Your very loving friends,
+
+Nottingham. T. Suffolke. E. Worcester."
+
+On New Year's Day, 1610, or the day after, the Prince's challenge was
+proclaimed at court, and "his highnesse, in his own lodging, in the
+Christmas, did feast the earles, barons, and knights, assailants and
+defendants, until the great Twelfth appointed night, on which this
+great fight was to be performed."
+
+On the 6th of January, in the evening, "the barriers" were held at the
+palace of Whitehall, in the presence of the king and queen, the
+ambassadors of Spain and Venice, and the peers and ladies of the land,
+with a multitude of others assembled in the banquetting-house: at the
+upper end whereof was the king's chair of state, and on the right a
+sumptuous pavilion for the prince and his associates, whence, "with
+great bravery and ingenious devices, they descended into the middell
+of the roome, and there the prince performed his first feates of
+armes, that is to say, at _Barriers_, against all commers, being
+assisted onlie with six others, viz., the duke of Lenox, the earle of
+Arundell, the earle of Southampton, the lord Hay, sir Thomas Somerset,
+and sir Richard Preston, who was shortly afterwards created lord
+Dingwell."
+
+To answer these challengers came fifty-six earles, barons, knights,
+and esquiers. They were at "the lower end of the roome, where was
+erected a very delicat and pleasant place, where in privat manner they
+and their traine remained, which was so very great that no man
+imagined that the place could have concealed halfe so many." Thence
+they issued in comely order, "to the middell of the roome, where sate
+the king and the queene, and the court, to behold the barriers, with
+the several showes and devices of each combatant." Every challenger
+fought with eight several defendants two several combats at two
+several weapons, viz. at push of pike, and with single sword. "The
+prince performed this challenge with wonderous skill and courage, to
+the great joy and admiration of the beholders," he "not being full
+sixteene yeeres of age until the 19th of February." These feats, and
+other "triumphant shewes," began before ten o'clock at night, and
+continued until three o'clock in the morning, "being Sonday." The
+speeches at "the barriers" were written by Ben Jonson. The next day
+(Sunday) the prince rode in great pomp to convoy the king to St.
+James', whither he had invited him and all the court to supper, the
+queen alone being absent; and then the prince bestowed prizes to the
+three combatants best deserving; namely, the Earl of Montgomery, Sir
+Thomas Darey (son of Lord Darey), and Sir Robert Gourdon. Thus ended
+the Twelftide court festivities in 1610.
+
+During the early years of James's reign tournaments divided with
+masques the favour of the Court; and, as we have just seen when Prince
+Henry reached his sixteenth year, he put himself forth in a more
+heroic manner than usual with princes of his time to engage in "feats
+of armes" and chivalric exercises; but after his death (1612) these
+sports fell quite out of fashion, and George Wither, a poet of the
+period, expresses, in the person of Britannia, the feelings of the
+nation:--
+
+ "Alas! who now shall grace my tournaments,
+ Or honour me with deeds of chivalry?
+ What shall become of all my merriments,
+ My ceremonies, shows of heraldry,
+ And other rites?"
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Religious matters received a good deal of attention from James I. in
+the later years of his reign, and his Majesty's proposals raised the
+question of the observance of
+
+
+THE CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL IN SCOTLAND.
+
+In 1617 the King made a journey to Scotland with the object of
+establishing the English Church in all its forms and authority as the
+State Church of Scotland for ever. One of the famous Five Articles in
+which the King set forth his will proposed "That the festivals of
+Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, Ascension Day, and Whit Sunday, should
+be observed in Scotland just as in England." The Articles were
+received with unequivocal marks of displeasure, many of the churches
+refusing to obey the royal command, and the revival of the festival of
+Christmas was denounced as the return of the ancient Saturnalia. Three
+years later the King obtained an Act of Parliament enforcing the
+Articles on the repugnant spirit of the people. "Dr. Laud, whose name
+we now meet for the first time, afterwards to become so notorious,
+even urged James to go further lengths; but his fatal advice was
+destined to act with more force on the next generation."[63]
+
+The King returned to London very much displeased with the religious
+views of his Scotch subjects, and his sourness seems to have
+manifested itself even at Christmastide, for on December 20th of this
+year Mr. Chamberlaine thus wrote to Sir Dudley Carleton: "The King
+hath been at Theobald's ever since Wednesday, and came to town this
+day. I am sorry to hear that he grows every day more froward, and with
+such a kind of morosity, that doth either argue a great discontent in
+mind, or a distemper of humours in his body. Yet he is never so out of
+tune but the very sight of my Lord of Buckingham doth settle and quiet
+all."[64]
+
+So soothed and softened was the King by "my Lord of Buckingham" that
+Mr. Chamberlaine, writing again on the 3rd of January, says that on
+New Year's Day the earl was created "Marquis of Buckingham, a dignity
+the King hath not bestowed since his coming to this crown." And, says
+the same writer, "This night was the Lord Marquiss's [Buckingham's]
+great
+
+
+FEAST, WHERE WERE THE KING AND PRINCE,
+
+with Lords and Ladies _sans nombre_. You may guess at the rest of the
+cheer by this scantling, that there were said to be seventeen dozen of
+pheasants, and twelve partridges in a dish throughout; which methinks
+was rather spoil than largess; yet for all the plenty of presents, the
+supper cost L600. Sir Thomas Edmondes undertook the providing and
+managing of all, so that it was much after the French. The King was
+exceedingly pleased, and could not be satisfied with commending the
+meat and the Master; and yet some stick not to say, that young Sir
+Henry Mildmay, a son of George Brooke, that was executed at
+Winchester, and a son of Sir William Monson's, begins to come into
+consideration."
+
+
+THE FAILING HEALTH OF THE KING
+
+interfered somewhat with the celebration of the subsequent Royal
+Christmases of this reign; and Nichols, referring to the Court
+celebrations of Twelfth Day, 1620-1, says:
+
+"'On Twelfth Day the King went to Chappel, but they had much ado to
+support him. He offered gold, frankincence, and myrrhe, and touched 80
+of the evil.'[65] In the evening 'the French Ambassador and his choise
+followers were brought to court by the Earle of Warwick to be present
+at a Maske; he seated as before with the King, the better sort of the
+other on a fourme behind the Lords, the Lord Treasurer onely and the
+Marquesse of Hamilton sitting at the upper end of it, and all the rest
+in a box, and in the best places of the scaffolds on the right hand of
+his Majesty. No other Ambassadors were at that time present or
+invited.'"
+
+As to
+
+
+THE CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES
+
+of the next year (1621-2) Nichols[66] says Mr. Meade wrote thus to Sir
+Martin Stuteville:--
+
+"'The Lieutenant of Middle Temple played a game this Christmas-time,
+whereat his Majesty was highly displeased. He made choise of some
+thirty of the civillest and best-fashioned gentlemen of the House to
+sup with him; and, being at supper, took a cup of wine in one hand,
+and held his sword drawn in the other, and so began a health to the
+distressed Lady Elizabeth [the Queen of Bohemia], and having drunk,
+kissed his sword, and laying his hand upon it, took an oath to live
+and die in her service; then delivered the cup and sword to the next,
+and so the health and ceremonie went round.
+
+"'The Gentlemen of Graye's Inne, to make an end of Christmas on
+Twelfe-night, in the dead time of the night, shot off all the chambers
+they had borrowed from the Tower, being as many as filled four carts.
+The King, awakened with this noise, started out of his bed, and cryed,
+"Treason, treason," &c., and that the Cittie was in an uprore, in such
+sort (as it is told) that the whole court was raised and almost in
+armes, the Earle of Arundell running to the Bed-chamber with his sword
+drawne as to rescue the King's person.'"
+
+In this reign many accomplished writers assisted in the Christmas
+festivities. Professor Henry Morley[67] mentions that in December,
+1623, the name of Philip Massinger, poet and dramatist, first appeared
+in the office book of the Master of the Revells, when his "Bondman"
+was acted, and the play was first printed in 1624.
+
+King James I. died at Theobald's, Herts, on the 27th March, 1625, and
+was buried in Westminster Abbey.
+
+
+KING JAMES I. AND BISHOP ANDREWES ON CHRISTMAS DAYS.
+
+The remarkable fact that Bishop Andrewes preached seventeen sermons on
+the Nativity before James I. gives an unusual interest to the
+Christmas Day services of this reign. Nichols makes the following
+references to them:--
+
+1605. "On Christmas Day the King attended Divine Service at Whitehall,
+where Dr Lancelot Andrews, then recently promoted to the Bishoprick of
+Chichester, preached before his Majesty, on the Epistle of St. Paul to
+the Hebrews, ii. 16."
+
+1606. "On Christmas Day, the King attended Divine Service at
+Whitehall, where Bishop Andrews, now decidedly the King's favourite
+Preacher, discoursed on Esaias ix. 6."
+
+1607. "On Thursday, being Christmas Day, the King attended Divine
+Service at Whitehall, and there heard Bishop Andrews preach on 1 Tim.
+iii. 16."
+
+1609. "Monday, December 25, being Christmas Day, the King attended
+Divine Service at Whitehall, and there heard the Bishop of Ely, Dr.
+Andrews, on Galat. iv. 4, 5." In a note Nichols says: "This sermon was
+much admired by the King. This was probably the reason that it was
+printed in 1610, together with that the Bishop preached on the same
+occasion in that year, under the following title: 'Two Sermons
+preached before the King's Majestie at Whitehall; of the Birth of
+Christ; the one on Christmas Day, anno 1609, the other on Christmas
+Day last, anno 1610. By the Bishop of Elie, his Majestie's Almoner.
+Imprinted at London by Robert Barker, Printer to the King's most
+excellent Majestie, anno 1610.'"
+
+1610. "On Tuesday, the 25th December, Christmas Day, the King attended
+Divine Service at Whitehall, where Bishop Andrews preached on Luke ii.
+9, 10."
+
+1611. "On Christmas Day the King attended Divine Service at Whitehall,
+and Bishop Andrews preached on John. i. 14."
+
+1612. "On Friday, 25th December, Christmas Day was kept as usual at
+Whitehall; where the King attended Divine Service, and Bishop Andrews
+(as usual) preached."
+
+1613. "Saturday, 25th December, being Christmas Day, was kept with the
+usual solemnities; the King attended Divine service at Whitehall, and
+Bishop Andrews preached."
+
+1614. "His Majesty returned to keep Christmas Day, as was customary,
+at Whitehall. Bishop Andrews addressed him from the pulpit as usual."
+
+1615. "'On Christmas Day, the King, being sorely troubled with the
+gout, was not able to go to Divine service; but heard a sermon in
+private, and took the Sacrament.' The Preacher was, as usual, Bishop
+Andrews."
+
+1616. "On Christmas Day, Thomas, Earl of Arundel, who was educated
+from his youth in the Popish Religion, and had lately travelled all
+over Italy detesting the abuses of the Papists, embraced the
+Protestant religion, and received the Sacrament in the King's Chapel
+at Whitehall, where Bishop Andrews preached, as was customary, a
+sermon suited to the Festival of the Nativity."
+
+1618. "On the 25th [December], Bishop Andrews resumed his post as
+preacher on Christmas Day, before the King at Whitehall. His text was
+from Luke ii. 12, 13."
+
+1619. "Christmas was kept by the King at Whitehall, as had ever been
+his practice; and Bishop Andrews preached then before him, on
+Saturday, the 25th."
+
+1620. "During the month of December, before the King left the country,
+he knighted at Newmarket, Sir Francis Michell, afterward degraded in
+June 1621; and at Theobalds, Sir Gilbert Cornwall. On the 23rd, his
+Majestie 'came to Westminster, but went not to Chappel, being
+prevented by the gout.' On Monday, the 25th, however, being Christmas
+Day, Bishop Andrews preached before him at Whitehall, on Matt. ii. 1,
+2; and during Christmas, Sir Clement Cotterell and Sir Henry Carvell
+were there knighted."
+
+1622. "On the 25th [December] Bishop Andrews resumed his Christmas
+station in the pulpit at Whitehall, and thence preached to the King
+and his Court on the same text as he had adopted on the same occasion
+two years before, Matt. ii. 1, 2."
+
+1623. "The King kept inviolate his old custom of being at Whitehall on
+Christmas Day, and hearing there a sermon from Bishop Andrews, who
+this year preached on Ephes. i. 10."
+
+1624. "On Saturday, the 25th of December, Bishop Andrews preached
+before his Majesty at Whitehall, on Psalm ii. 7, it being at least the
+seventeenth, as it was the last, Christmas Day on which King James
+heard that favourite preacher."
+
+The unique series of "Seventeen Sermons on the Nativity, preached
+before King James I. at Whitehall, by the Right Honourable and
+Reverend Father in God, Lancelot Andrewes, sometime Lord Bishop of
+Winchester," were preserved to posterity by an order of Charles I.,
+who, after Bishop Andrewes's death, commanded Bishops Laud and
+Buckeridge to collect and publish his sermons. This series of sermons
+on the Nativity have recently been reprinted in "The Ancient and
+Modern Library of Theological Literature," and the editor, after
+referring to the ability and integrity of Bishop Andrewes, says: "An
+interest apart from that which must be created by his genius,
+learning, and character, belongs to him as the exponent of the mind
+and practice of the English Church in the years that intervened
+between the Reformation and the Revolution."
+
+
+THE POPULAR AMUSEMENTS OF CHRISTMASTIDE
+
+at this period are thus enumerated by Robert Burton in his "Anatomy of
+Melancholy," published in 1621:--
+
+"The ordinary recreations which we have in winter are cards, tables
+and dice, shovelboard, chess-play, the philosopher's game, small
+trunks, billiards, music, masks, singing, dancing, ule games, catches,
+purposes, questions; merry tales of errant knights, kings, queens,
+lovers, lords, ladies, giants, dwarfs, thieves, fairies, goblins,
+friars, witches, and the rest."
+
+The following curious cut is from the title-page of the amusing story
+of the great "Giant Gargantua" of this period:--
+
+[Illustration: "Giant Gargantua"]
+
+The legends of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, Bevis of
+Southampton, Guy of Warwick, Adam Bell, and Clymme of Clough, were
+favourites among the lovers of romance; but the people of this age,
+being very superstitious, were very fond of stories about ghosts and
+goblins, believing them to be founded on fact, and also attributing
+feats performed by conjurors and jugglers to supernatural agency. The
+King himself was equally superstitious, for Strutt in describing the
+tricks of jugglers says: "Our learned monarch, James I., was perfectly
+convinced that these, and other inferior feats exhibited by the
+tregetours, could only be performed by the agency of the devil, 'who,'
+says he, 'will learne them many juglarie tricks, at cardes and dice,
+to deceive men's senses thereby, and such innumerable false
+practiques, which are proved by over-many in this age.'"[68]
+
+Looking back to the ancient superstitions about ghosts and fairies,
+Dryden, the poet, has some lines which may fitly close this chapter:--
+
+ "I speak of ancient times, for now the swain
+ Returning late may pass the woods in vain,
+ And never hope to see the mighty train;
+ In vain the dairy now with mint is dressed,
+ The dairy-maid expects no fairy guest,
+ To skim the bowls and after pay the feast.
+ She sighs and shakes her empty shoes in vain,
+ No silver penny to reward her pain:
+ For priests, with prayers and other godly gear,
+ Have made the merry goblins disappear."
+
+ [58] "Curiosities of Literature."
+
+ [59] "Memoirs of Ben Jonson."
+
+ [60] "Progresses of King James the First."
+
+ [61] Cassell's "History of England."
+
+ [62] This portion is inserted to introduce _the Prince's
+ Triumph_, as they are termed.
+
+ [63] Cassell's "History of England."
+
+ [64] Nichols's "Progresses."
+
+ [65] "Camden's Annals."
+
+ [66] "Progresses."
+
+ [67] "Library of English Literature."
+
+ [68] "Daemonologie," by King James I.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+CHRISTMAS UNDER CHARLES I. AND THE
+COMMONWEALTH.
+
+(1625-1660.)
+
+
+KING CHARLES THE FIRST
+
+was the second son of James I. and of Anne, daughter of Frederick
+III., King of Denmark, and he came to the throne on the death of his
+father in March 1625. As Prince Charles he had taken part in the Court
+entertainments of Christmastide, and had particularly distinguished
+himself in Ben Jonson's masque, "The Vision of Delight." These
+magnificent Christmas masques were continued after Charles's accession
+to the throne until the troubles of his reign stopped them.
+Gifford[69] mentions that Jonson's "Masque of Owls" was presented at
+Kenilworth Castle, "By the Ghost of Captain Cox mounted on his
+Hobby-horse, in 1626":--
+
+"_Enter_ Captain Cox, _on his Hobby-horse._
+
+ Room! room! for my horse will wince,
+ If he come within so many yards of a prince;
+ And though he have not on his wings,
+ He will do strange things,
+ He is the Pegasus that uses
+ To wait on Warwick Muses;
+ And on gaudy-days he paces
+ Before the Coventry Graces;
+ For to tell you true, and in rhyme,
+ He was foal'd in Queen Elizabeth's time,
+ When the great Earl of Lester
+ In this castle did feast her."
+
+[Illustration: THE HOBBY-HORSE.]
+
+Jonson's "The Fortunate Isles, and Their Union," a masque designed for
+the Court, was presented on Twelfth Night, 1626; and "Love's Triumph
+through Callipolis" (a masque invented by Ben Jonson and Inigo Jones)
+was presented at Court in 1630.
+
+
+THE LORD OF MISRULE
+
+also made merry at Christmas at this period; but it sometimes happened
+that when he went forth with his band of merry men, they got into
+trouble. An instance of this, which occurred in 1627, is recorded in
+one of Meade's letters to Sir Martin Stuteville. The letter is worth
+reprinting as an illustration of the manners of the age, and as
+relating to what was probably the last Lord of Misrule elected by the
+barristers. Meade writes:--"On Saturday the Templars chose one Mr.
+Palmer their Lord of Misrule, who, on Twelfth-eve, late in the night,
+sent out to gather up his rents at five shillings a house in Ram-alley
+and Fleet Street. At every door they came to they winded the
+Temple-horn, and if at the second blast or summons they within opened
+not the door, then the Lord of Misrule cried out, 'Give fire, gunner!'
+His gunner was a robustious Vulcan, and the gun or petard itself was a
+huge overgrown smith's hammer. This being complained of to my Lord
+Mayor, he said he would be with them about eleven o'clock on Sunday
+night last; willing that all that ward should attend him with their
+halberds, and that himself, besides those that came out of his house,
+should bring the watches along with him. His lordship, thus attended,
+advanced as high as Ram-alley in martial equipage: when forth came the
+Lord of Misrule, attended by his gallants, out of the Temple-gate,
+with their swords all armed _in cuerpo_. A halberdier bade the Lord of
+Misrule come to my Lord Mayor. He answered, No! let the Lord Mayor
+come to me! At length they agreed to meet halfway: and, as the
+interview of rival princes is never without danger of some ill
+accident, so it happened in this: for first, Mr. Palmer being
+quarrelled with for not pulling off his hat to my Lord Mayor, and
+giving cross answers, the halberds began to fly about his ears, and he
+and his company to brandish their swords. At last being beaten to the
+ground, and the Lord of Misrule sore wounded, they were fain to yield
+to the longer and more numerous weapon. My Lord Mayor taking Mr.
+Palmer by the shoulder, led him to the Compter, and thrust him in at
+the prison-gate with a kind of indignation; and so, notwithstanding
+his hurts, he was forced to lie among the common prisoners for two
+nights. On Tuesday the King's attorney became a suitor to my Lord
+Mayor for their liberty: which his lordship granted, upon condition
+that they should repay the gathered rents, and do reparations upon
+broken doors. Thus the game ended. Mr. Attorney-General, being of the
+same house, fetched them in his own coach, and carried them to the
+court, where the King himself reconciled my Lord Mayor and them
+together with joining all hands; the gentlemen of the Temple being
+this Shrovetide to present a Mask to their majesties, over and besides
+the King's own great Mask, to be performed at the Banquetting-house by
+an hundred actors."
+
+We get other glances at
+
+
+THE CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES IN THE 17TH CENTURY
+
+through contemporary writers of the period. Nicholas Breton,[70]
+writing in merry mood, says: "It is now Christmas, and not a cup of
+drink must pass without a carol; the beasts, fowl, and fish come to a
+general execution, and the corn is ground to dust for the bakehouse
+and the pastry: cards and dice purge many a purse, and the youth show
+their agility in shoeing of the wild mare: now, good cheer, and
+welcome, and God be with you, and I thank you:--and against the New
+Year provide for the presents:--The Lord of Misrule is no mean man for
+his time, and the guests of the high table must lack no wine: the
+lusty bloods must look about them like men, and piping and dancing
+puts away much melancholy: stolen venison is sweet, and a fat coney is
+worth money: pit-falls are now set for small birds, and a woodcock
+hangs himself in a gin: a good fire heats all the house, and a full
+alms-basket makes the beggar's prayers:--the maskers and the mummers
+make the merry sport, but if they lose their money their drum goes
+dead: swearers and swaggerers are sent away to the ale-house, and
+unruly wenches go in danger of judgment; musicians now make their
+instruments speak out, and a good song is worth the hearing. In sum it
+is a holy time, a duty in Christians for the remembrance of Christ and
+custom among friends for the maintenance of good fellowship. In brief
+I thus conclude it: I hold it a memory of the Heaven's love and the
+world's peace, the mirth of the honest, and the meeting of the
+friendly. Farewell."
+
+In 1633, William Prynne, a Puritan lawyer, published his
+"Histriomastix," against plays, masques, balls, the decking of houses
+with evergreens at Christmas, &c., for which he was committed to the
+Tower, prosecuted in the Star Chamber, and sentenced to pay a fine to
+the King of L5,000, to be expelled from the University of Oxford, from
+the Society of Lincoln's Inn, and from his profession of the law; to
+stand twice in the pillory, each time losing an ear; to have his book
+burnt before his face by the hangman; and to suffer perpetual
+imprisonment: a most barbarous sentence, which Green[71] says, "showed
+the hard cruelty of the Primate."
+
+Milton's masque of "Comus" was produced the following year (1634) for
+performance at Ludlow Castle, in Shropshire, which was the seat of
+government for the Principality of Wales, the Earl of Bridgewater
+being then the Lord President, and having a jurisdiction and military
+command that comprised the English counties of Gloucester, Worcester,
+Hereford and Shropshire. Ludlow Castle was to the Lord President of
+Wales of that period what Dublin Castle is to the Lord Lieutenant of
+Ireland in the present day; and, as hospitality was one of the duties
+of the Lord President's office, the Earl and Countess of Bridgewater
+gave a grand entertainment to the country people, in which the masque
+of "Comus" was an important feature. The music was composed by the
+eminent musician Henry Lawes, and the masque was adapted for
+performance by the family of the earl and countess, who then had ten
+children--eight daughters and two sons.
+
+It is quite refreshing to think of the author of "Paradise Lost," with
+his friend Lawes, the musician, among the country dancers, listening
+to the song of the attendant spirit:--
+
+ "Back, shepherds, back; enough your play
+ Till next sun-shine holiday:
+ Here be, without duck or nod,
+ Other trippings to be trod
+ Of lighter toes, and such court guise
+ As Mercury did first devise
+ With the mincing Dryades,
+ On the lawns, and on the leas."
+
+"But Milton was a courtier when he wrote the Masque at Ludlow Castle,"
+says Charles Lamb, "and still more of a courtier when he composed the
+'Arcades'" (a masque, or entertainment presented to the Countess
+Dowager of Derby, at Harefield, by some noble persons of her family).
+"When the national struggle was to begin, he becomingly cast these
+varieties behind him."
+
+From "Archaeologia" (vol. xviii. p. 335), we learn that "Richard
+Evelyn, Esq., High Sheriff of Surrey and Sussex in 1634, held a
+splendid Christmas at his mansion at Wotton, having a regular Lord of
+Misrule for the occasion: and it appears it was then the custom for
+the neighbours to send presents of eatables to provide for the great
+consumption consequent upon such entertainments. The following is a
+list of those sent on this occasion: two sides of venison, two half
+brawns, three pigs, ninety capons, five geese, six turkeys, four
+rabbits, eight partridges, two pullets, five sugar loaves, half a
+pound of nutmeg, one basket of apples, two baskets of pears."
+
+Hone[72] states that "in the ninth year of King Charles I. the four
+Inns of Court provided a Christmas mask, which cost L2,400, and the
+King invited a hundred and twenty gentlemen of the four Inns to a mask
+at Whitehall on Shrove Tuesday following." And Sandys says that on the
+13th December, 1637, a warrant under Privy Seal was issued to George
+Kirke, for L150 to provide masking apparel for the King; and on the
+1st of the same month Edmund Taverner had a warrant for L1,400 towards
+the charge of a mask to be presented at Whitehall the next Twelfth
+Night. A similar sum for a similar purpose was granted to Michael
+Oldisworth on the 3rd of January, 1639.
+
+In connection with the entertainments at the Inns of Court, Sandys
+mentions that by an order, 17th November, 4th Charles I., all playing
+at dice, cards, or otherwise was forbidden at Gray's Inn, except
+during the 20 days in Christmas.
+
+As indicating the prolongation of the Christmas revels at this period,
+it is recorded that in February, 1633, there was a celebrated masque,
+called "The Triumph of Peace," presented jointly by the two Temples,
+Lincoln's Inn and Gray's Inn, which cost the Societies about L20,000.
+Evelyn, in his "Memoirs," relates, that on the 15th December, 1641, he
+was elected one of the Comptrollers of the Middle Temple revellers,
+"as the custom of ye young students and gentlemen was, the Christmas
+being kept this yeare with greate solemnity"; but he got excused.
+
+An order still existed directing the nobility and gentry who had
+mansions in the country "to repair to them to keep hospitality meet to
+their degrees;" for a note in Collier's History states that Sir J.
+Astley, on the 20th of March, 1637, in consequence of ill-health,
+obtained a license to reside in London, or where he pleased, at
+Christmas, or any other times; which proves such license to have been
+requisite.
+
+At this period noblemen and gentlemen lived like petty princes, and in
+the arrangement of their households copied their sovereign, having
+officers of the same import, and even heralds wearing their coat of
+arms at Christmas, and other solemn feasts, crying largesse thrice at
+the proper times. They feasted in their halls where many of the
+Christmas sports were performed. When coals were introduced the hearth
+was commonly in the middle, whence, according to Aubrey, is the
+saying, "Round about our coal-fire." Christmas was considered as the
+commemoration of a holy festival, to be observed with cheerfulness as
+well as devotion. The comforts and personal gratification of their
+dependants were provided for by the landlords, their merriment
+encouraged, and their sports joined. The working man looked forward to
+Christmas as the time which repaid his former toils; and gratitude for
+worldly comforts then received caused him to reflect on the eternal
+blessings bestowed on mankind by the event then commemorated.
+
+[Illustration: SERVANTS' CHRISTMAS FEAST.]
+
+Of all our English poets, Robert Herrick, a writer of the seventeenth
+century, has left us the most complete contemporary picture of the
+Christmas season. He was born in Cheapside, London, and received his
+early education, it is supposed, at Westminster School, whence he
+removed to Cambridge, and after taking his M.A. degree in 1620, left
+Cambridge. He afterwards spent some years in London in familiar
+intercourse with the wits and writers of the age, enjoying those
+"lyric feasts" which are celebrated in his "Ode to Ben Jonson":--
+
+ "Ah Ben!
+ Say how or when
+ Shall we, thy guests
+ Meet at those lyric feasts
+ Made at the Sun,
+ The Dog, the Triple Tun;
+ Where we such clusters had
+ As made us nobly wild, not mad?
+ And yet each verse of thine
+ Outdid the meat, outdid the frolic wine."
+
+In 1629 he accepted the living of Dean Prior, in Devonshire, where he
+lived as a bachelor Vicar, being ejected by the Long Parliament,
+returning on the Restoration under Charles the Second, and dying at
+length at the age of eighty-four. He was buried in the Church at Dean
+Prior, where a memorial tablet has latterly been erected to his
+memory. And it is fitting that he should die and be buried in the
+quiet Devonshire hamlet from which he drew so much of his happiest
+inspiration, and which will always be associated now with the endless
+charm of the "Hesperides."
+
+In "A New Year's Gift, sent to Sir Simeon Steward," included in his
+"Hesperides," Herrick refers to the Christmas sports of the time, and
+says:--
+
+ "No new device or late-found trick
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ We send you; but here a jolly
+ Verse crowned with ivy and with holly;
+ That tells of winter's tales and mirth,
+ That milk-maids make about the hearth,
+ Of Christmas sports, the Wassail bowl,
+ That's tossed up after Fox-i'-th'-hole;
+ Of Blind-man's-buff, and of the care
+ That young men have to shoe the Mare;
+ Of Twelfth-tide cake, of peas and beans,
+ Wherewith ye make those merry scenes,
+ When as ye choose your king and queen,
+ And cry out, 'Hey for our town green.'
+ Of ash-heaps in the which ye use
+ Husbands and wives by streaks to choose:
+ Of crackling laurel, which fore-sounds
+ A plenteous harvest to your grounds;
+ Of these, and such like things, for shift,
+ We send instead of New-year's gift.
+ Read then, and when your faces shine
+ With bucksome meat and cap'ring wine,
+ Remember us in cups full crowned,
+ And let our city's health go round,
+ Quite through the young maids and the men,
+ To the ninth number, if not ten,
+ Until the fired chestnuts leap
+ For joy to see the fruits ye reap,
+ From the plump chalice and the cup
+ That tempts till it be tossed up.
+ Then as ye sit about your embers,
+ Call not to mind those fled Decembers;
+ But think on these, that are t' appear,
+ As daughters to the instant year;
+ Sit crowned with rose-buds and carouse,
+ Till _Liber Pater_ twirls the house
+ About your ears, and lay upon
+ The year, your cares, that's fled and gone.
+ And let the russet swains the plough
+ And harrow hang up resting now;
+ And to the bagpipe all address
+ Till sleep takes place of weariness.
+ And thus, throughout, with Christmas plays,
+ Frolic the full twelve holy-days."
+
+
+SIR ISAAC NEWTON'S BIRTH, ON CHRISTMAS DAY,
+
+at Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, was the most important Christmas event
+of the memorable year which saw the outbreak of the Civil War (1642).
+In the year of the Restoration he entered Cambridge, where the
+teaching of Isaac Barrow quickened his genius for mathematics, and
+from the time he left College his life became a series of wonderful
+physical discoveries. As early as 1666, he discovered the law of
+gravitation, but it was not till the eve of the Revolution that his
+"Principia" revealed to the world his new theory of the universe.
+
+
+THE CUSTOMS OF CHRISTMASTIDE IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
+
+"A Christmas Carol," by George Wither, a well-known poet of this
+period, contains many allusions to the customs of Christmastide:--
+
+ So, now is come our joyful'st feast;
+ Let every man be jolly;
+ Each room with ivy leaves is drest,
+ And every post with holly.
+ Though some churls at our mirth repine,
+ Round your foreheads garlands twine;
+ Drown sorrow in a cup of wine,
+ And let us all be merry.
+
+ Now all our neighbours' chimneys smoke,
+ And Christmas blocks are burning;
+ Their ovens they with baked meats choke,
+ And all their spits are turning.
+ Without the door let sorrow lie;
+ And if for cold it hap to die,
+ We'll bury 't in a Christmas pie,
+ And ever more be merry.
+
+ Now every lad is wondrous trim,
+ And no man minds his labour;
+ Our lasses have provided them
+ A bag-pipe and a tabour;
+ Young men and maids, and girls and boys,
+ Give life to one another's joys;
+ And you anon shall by their noise
+ Perceive that they are merry.
+
+ Rank misers now do sparing shun;
+ Their hall of music soundeth;
+ And dogs thence with whole shoulders run,
+ So all things there aboundeth.
+ The country folks themselves advance
+ With crowdy-muttons[73] out of France;
+ And Jack shall pipe, and Jill shall dance,
+ And all the town be merry.
+
+ Ned Squash hath fetched his bands from pawn,
+ And all his best apparel;
+ Brisk Nell hath bought a ruff of lawn
+ With droppings of the barrel;
+ And those that hardly all the year
+ Had bread to eat, or rags to wear,
+ Will have both clothes and dainty fare,
+ And all the day be merry.
+
+ Now poor men to the justices
+ With capons make their errants;
+ And if they hap to fail of these;
+ They plague them with their warrants;
+ But now they feed them with good cheer.
+ And what they want they take in beer;
+ For Christmas comes but once a year,
+ And then they shall be merry.
+
+ Good farmers in the country nurse
+ The poor that else were undone;
+ Some landlords spend their money worse,
+ On lust and pride at London.
+ There the roys'ters they do play,
+ Drab and dice their lands away,
+ Which may be ours another day;
+ And therefore let's be merry.
+
+ The client now his suit forbears,
+ The prisoner's heart is eased:
+ The debtor drinks away his cares,
+ And for the time is pleased.
+ Though other purses be more fat,
+ Why should we pine or grieve at that?
+ Hang sorrow! care will kill a cat,
+ And therefore let's be merry.
+
+ Hark! how the wags abroad do call
+ Each other forth to rambling:
+ Anon you'll see them in the hall
+ For nuts and apples scrambling.
+ Hark! how the roofs with laughter sound!
+ Anon they'll think the house goes round,
+ For they the cellar's depth have found,
+ And there they will be merry.
+
+ The wenches with their wassail bowls
+ About the streets are singing;
+ The boys are come to catch the owls,
+ The wild mare in is bringing.
+ Our kitchen-boy hath broke his box,[74]
+ And to the dealing of the ox
+ Our honest neighbours come by flocks,
+ And here they will be merry.
+
+ Now kings and queens poor sheep cotes have,
+ And mate with everybody;
+ The honest now may play the knave,
+ And wise men play the noddy.
+ Some youths will now a mumming go,
+ Some others play at Rowland-ho
+ And twenty other gambols mo,
+ Because they will be merry.
+
+ Then wherefore in these merry days
+ Should we, I pray, be duller?
+ No, let us sing some roundelays,
+ To make our mirth the fuller.
+ And, whilst thus inspired we sing,
+ Let all the streets with echoes ring,
+ Woods and hills, and everything,
+ Bear witness we are merry.
+
+The preceding poem was evidently written by Wither before the Civil
+War troubles of the reign of Charles the First had interfered to damp
+the national hilarity, or check the rejoicings at the festive season
+of Christmas.
+
+
+THE DEFEAT OF THE ROYALISTS,
+
+the overthrow of the monarchy, and the changes resulting therefrom at
+Christmastide are alluded to in "The Complaint of Christmas, written
+after Twelftide, and printed before Candlemas, 1646," by old John
+Taylor, the Water Poet, who says: "All the liberty and harmless
+sports, the merry gambols, dances and friscols, with which the toiling
+ploughman and labourer once a year were wont to be recreated, and
+their spirits and hopes revived for a whole twelvemonth, are now
+extinct and put out of use, in such a fashion as if they never had
+been. Thus are the merry lords of bad rule at Westminster; nay, more,
+their madness hath extended itself to the very vegetables; senseless
+trees, herbs, and weeds, are in a profane estimation amongst
+them--holly, ivy, mistletoe, rosemary, bays, are accounted ungodly
+branches of superstition for your entertainment. And to roast a
+sirloin of beef, to touch a collar of brawn, to take a pie, to put a
+plum in the pottage pot, to burn a great candle, or to lay one block
+the more in the fire for your sake, Master Christmas, is enough to
+make a man to be suspected and taken for a Christian, for which he
+shall be apprehended for committing high Parliament Treason and mighty
+malignancy against the general Council of the Directorian private
+Presbyterian Conventicle."
+
+With the success of the Parliamentarians, certain changes came in the
+ruling manners of the age; but
+
+
+THE ATTEMPT TO ABOLISH CHRISTMAS DAY
+
+was, of course, a signal failure. The event commemorated made it
+impossible for the commemoration to cease. Men may differ as to the
+mode of celebration, but the Christ must and will be celebrated.
+
+"In 1642," says Sandys, "the first ordinances were issued to suppress
+the performance of plays, and hesitation was expressed as to the
+manner of keeping Christmas. Some shops in London were even opened on
+Christmas Day, 1643, part of the people being fearful of a Popish
+observance of the day. The Puritans gradually prevailed, and in 1647
+some parish officers were committed for permitting ministers to preach
+upon Christmas Day, and for adorning the church. On the 3rd of June in
+the same year, it was ordained by the Lords and Commons in Parliament
+that the feast of the Nativity of Christ, with other holidays, should
+be no longer observed, and that all scholars, apprentices, and other
+servants, with the leave and approbation of their masters, should have
+such relaxation from labour on the second Tuesday in every month as
+they used to have from such festivals and holy days; and in
+Canterbury, on the 22nd of December following, the crier went round by
+direction of the Mayor, and proclaimed that Christmas Day and all
+other superstitious festivals should be put down, and a market kept
+upon that day."
+
+In describing "The First Christmas under the Puritan Directory," the
+_Saturday Review_ (December 27, 1884) says:--"It must have been taken
+as a piece of good luck by the Parliamentary and Puritanical masters
+of England, or, as they would have said, as 'a providence,' that the
+Christmas Day of 1645 fell upon a week-day. It was the first Christmas
+Day after the legislative abolition of the Anglican Prayer-book and
+the establishment of 'the Directory' in its stead; and, if it had
+fallen upon a Sunday, the Churches must have been opened. A 'Sabbath'
+could not be ignored, even though it chanced to be the 25th of
+December. There can be small doubt that, if the Presbyterian and
+Independent preachers who held all the English parishes subject to the
+Parliament had been obliged to go into the pulpits on the 25th of
+December 1645, they would again have irritated the masses of the
+people by ferociously 'improving the occasion.' The Parliament had not
+the courage to repeat the brutal experiment of the previous year. It
+was easy to abolish the feast by an ordinance; but it was risky to
+insist by an ordinance that the English people and English families
+should keep the dearest and most sacred of their festivals as a fast.
+The rulers knew that such an ordinance would not be obeyed. They
+resolved simply to ignore the day, or treat it as any ordinary
+Thursday. Doubtless many of the members kept up some sort of
+celebration of the old family festival in their own private houses.
+But the legislators marched solemnly to the Lower House, and the
+'divines' marched as solemnly to the Assembly in the Jerusalem
+Chamber, affecting to take no notice of the unusual aspect of the
+shops and streets, which everywhere bore witness to the fact that
+there was a deep and fundamental estrangement between 'the State' and
+'the people,' and that the people were actually keeping the festival
+which the 'Synod' had declared to be profane and superstitious, and
+which the Parliament to please the Scots, the Nonconformists, and the
+Sectaries, had abolished by law. 'Notwithstanding the Ordinance,'
+wrote a Member of the House of Commons, the Erastian Whitelock, in his
+'Memorials,' 'yet generally this day, in London, the shops were shut
+and the day observed.' The Christmas number of the _Mercurius
+Academicus_ (December 25 to 31, 1645), states that General Browne, who
+was a Presbyterian zealot, 'proclaimed' the abolition of Christmas
+Day at Abingdon, and 'sent out his warrants for men to work on
+that day especially.' ... The Parliamentary newspaper, _The Weekly
+Account_, (LIII. week, 1645), has the bald record: 'Thursday, Decemb.
+25. The Commons sate in a Grand Committee concerning the privileges of
+members of their House.' The news in the Tuesday paper, _The
+Kingdome's Weekly Intelligencer_ (No. 152), is equally thin:
+'Thursday, Decemb. 25, vulgarly known by the name of Christmas Day,
+both Houses sate. The House of Commons more especially debated some
+things in reference to the privileges of that House, and made some
+orders therein.' ... The Presbyterian and Independent divines spent
+Christmas Day in the 'Synod' of Westminster. December the 25th, 1645,
+was entered in their minutes as 'Session 561.' ... The City newspaper
+of that period, _Mercurius Civicus, or London's Intelligencer_, in
+what we may call its Christmas number (No. 135, December 18 to
+December 24, 1645), printed an article explaining to the citizens of
+London the absurdity, if not the impiety, of keeping Christmas Day.
+Every good citizen was expected to open his shop as usual on the
+coming Thursday, and compel his apprentices to keep behind the
+counter. The City newspaper stated, that it was more probable that the
+Saviour was born in September than in December, and quotes 'a late
+reverend minister's opinion, that God did conceale the time when
+Christ was borne, upon the same reason that He tooke away the body of
+Moses, that they might not put an holinesse upon that day.' If the
+apprentices want a holiday, 'let them keep the fift of November, and
+other dayes of that nature, or the late great mercy of God in the
+taking of Hereford, which deserves an especiall day of thanksgiving.'
+The mass of the English folk meanwhile protested by all such ways as
+were open to them against the outlandish new religion which was being
+invented for them. The _Mercuricus Civicus_ complained that, 'Many
+people in these times are too much addicted to the superstitious
+observance of this day, December 25th, and other saints days, as they
+are called.' It was asked in a 'Hue and Cry after Christmas,'
+published anonymously at the end of the year 1645, 'Where may
+Christmas be found?' The answer is, 'In the corner of a translator's
+shop, where the cobbler was wont so merrily to chant his carols.' _The
+Moderate Intelligencer_, which devoted itself to 'impartially
+communicating martiall affaires,' in its forty-third number (December
+25, 1645, to January 1, 1646), expressed itself as scandalized at the
+zeal with which the English people, in spite of Parliament and the
+Assembly, had kept their Christmas. Social phenomena lay beyond the
+usual ken of the military chroniclers; but 'we shall only observe,'
+they wrote, 'the loathnesse of the People to part with it, which
+certainly argues a greater adoration than should have been. Hardly
+forty shops were open within the lines upon that day. The State hath
+done well to null it out of this respect, as Moses did the Brazen
+Serpent.' The Scriptural knowledge of the Puritan military newsmen was
+curiously at fault; they evidently confounded Moses with Hezekiah,
+unless they substituted the lawgiver for the king, because they
+thought it unwise to represent the King as the foe of idolatry. The
+traditional scorn of the Pharisee for the common people which know not
+the law comes out in the ironical passage with which the 'martiall'
+organ concludes its reference to the distressing social symptom; 'Sure
+if there were an ordinance for recreation and labour upon the Lord's
+Day, or Sabbath (like the prelatical Book of Sports), these would want
+no observers. Unwillingness to obey, in a multitude, argues generally
+the goodnesse of a law, readinesse the contrary, especially in those
+laws which have anything of religion in them.' Hence the puritanical
+tyrants thought the observation of Christmas Day should be visited in
+future years with more severe penalties. A few days after Christmas a
+pamphlet was issued under the title of 'The Arraignment, Conviction,
+and Imprisonment of Christmas.' A letter from a 'Malignant scholar' in
+Oxford, where Christmas had been observed as usual, to 'a Malignant
+lady in London,' had contained the promise or threat, according to the
+pamphleteer, that the King would shortly appear in London, and restore
+to his poor people their old social and religious liberties. 'We shall
+soon be in London, and have all things as they were wont.' There was
+small chance, six months after Naseby, of the fulfilment of the
+prediction. The puritanical pamphleteer, however, owns that it would
+be welcome to 'every 'prentice boy,' because the return of the King
+would have meant the return of a free Christmas, which he sorely
+missed. 'All popish, prelatical, Jesuitical, ignorant, Judaical, and
+superstitious persons,' said he, 'ask after the old, old, old, very
+old grey-bearded gentleman called Christmas, who was wont to be a very
+familiar ghest (_sic_). Whoever finds him again shall be rewarded with
+a benediction from the Pope, a hundred oaths from the Cavaliers, forty
+kisses from the wanton wenches, and be made pursuivant to the next
+Archbishop.' 'The poor,' he added, 'are sorry for it. They go to every
+door a-begging, as they were wont to do, 'Good Mistress, somewhat
+against this good time.' Instead of going to the alehouse to be
+drunke, they are fain to work all the holy dayes.' Again, 'The
+schollars come into the hall, where their hungry stomacks had thought
+to have found good brawne and Christmas pie, roast-beef and
+plum-porridge. But no such matter. Away, ye profane! These are
+superstitious meats; your stomacks must be fed with sound doctrine.'"
+
+In the _National Magazine_ (1857), Dr. Doran, on "The Ups and Downs of
+Christmas," remarks upon the stout resistance given by the citizens of
+London to the order of the Puritan Parliament, that shops should be
+opened and churches closed on Christmas Day. "We may have a sermon on
+any other day," said the London apprentices, who did not always go to
+hear it, "why should we be deprived on this day?" "It is no longer
+lawful for the day to be kept," was the reply. "Nay," exclaimed the
+sharp-witted fellows, "you keep it yourselves by thus distinguishing
+it by desecration." "They declared," says Dr. Doran, "they would go to
+church; numerous preachers promised to be ready for them with prayer
+and lecture; and the porters of Cornhill swore they would dress up
+their conduit with holly, if it were only to prove that in that
+orthodox and heavily-enduring body there was some respect yet left for
+Christianity and hard drinking--for the raising of the holly was ever
+accompanied by the lifting of tankards.
+
+"Nor was the gallant Christmas spirit less lively in the country than
+in the capital. At Oxford there was a world of skull-breaking; and at
+Ipswich the festival was celebrated by some loss of life. Canterbury
+especially distinguished itself by its violent opposition to the
+municipal order to be mirthless. There was a combat there, which was
+most rudely maintained, and in which the mayor got pummelled until he
+was as senseless as a pocket of hops. The mob mauled him terribly,
+broke all his windows, as well as his bones, and, as we are told,
+'burnt the stoupes at the coming in of his door.' So serious was the
+riot, so complete the popular victory, and so jubilant the exultation,
+that thousands of the never-conquered men of Kent and Kentish men met
+in Canterbury, and passed a solemn resolution that if they could not
+have their Christmas Day, they were determined to have the King on his
+throne again."
+
+Of the Canterbury riot an account is given in a rare tract, published
+in 1647 (preserved in the British Museum), and entitled--
+
+"The Declaration of many thousands of the city of Canterbury, or
+county of Kent. Concerning the late tumult in the city of Canterbury,
+provokt by the Mayor's violent proceedings against those who desired
+to continue the celebration of the Feast of Christ's Nativity, 1,500
+years and upwards maintained in the Church. Together with their
+Resolutions for the restitution of His Majestie to his Crown and
+dignity, whereby Religion may be restored to its ancient splendour,
+and the known Laws of this Kingdom maintained. As also their desires
+to all His Majesties loyall subjects within his Dominions, for their
+concurrence and assistance in this so good and pious a work."
+
+The resolutions of the Canterbury citizens were not couched in the
+choicest terms, for the tract states that the two Houses of Parliament
+"have sate above seven years to hatch Cocatrices and Vipers, they have
+filled the kingdom with Serpents, bloodthirsty Souldiers, extorting
+Committees, Sequestrators, Excisemen; all the Rogues and scumme of the
+kingdom have they set on work to torment and vex the people, to rob
+them, and to eat the bread out of their mouthes; they have raised a
+causelesse and unnaturall Warre against their own Soveraigne Lord and
+King, a most pious Christian Prince, contrary to their allegiance and
+duty, and have shed innocent blood in this Land. Religion is onely
+talkt of, nothing done; they have put down what is good," &c., &c. And
+further on the tract says:--"The cause of this so sudden a posture of
+defence which we have put our selves into was the violent proceedings
+of the Mayor of this city of Canterbury and his uncivill carriage in
+persuance of some petty order of the House of Commons for hindering
+the celebration of Christ's Nativity so long continued in the Church
+of God. That which we so much desired that day was but a Sermon, which
+any other day of the weeke was tollerable by the orders and practise
+of the two Houses and all their adherents, but that day (because it
+was Christ's birth day) we must have none; that which is good all the
+yeer long, yet is this day superstitious. The Mayor causing some of us
+to be beaten contrary to his oath and office, who ought to preserve
+the peace, and to that purpose chiefly is the sword of justice put
+into his hands, and wrongfully imprisoned divers of us, because we did
+assemble ourselves to hear the Word of God, which he was pleased to
+interpret a Ryot; yet we were unarmed, behaved ourselves civilly,
+intended no such tumult as afterwards we were forc'd unto; but at
+last, seeing the manifest wrong done to our children, servants, and
+neighbours, by beating, wounding, and imprisoning them, and to release
+them that were imprisoned, and did call unto our assistance our
+brethren of the county of Kent, who very readily came in to us, as
+have associated themselves to us in this our just and lawfull defence,
+and do concurre with us in this our Remonstrance concerning the King
+Majestie, and the settlement of the peace in this Kingdome." And the
+tract afterwards expresses the desire that "all his Majesties loyall
+subjects within his Dominions" will "readily and cheerfully concurre
+and assist in this so good and pious a work."
+
+Among the single sheets in the British Museum is an order of
+Parliament, dated the 24th of December, 1652, directing,
+
+"That no observation shall be had of the five and twentieth day of
+December, commonly called Christmas Day; nor any solemnity used or
+exercised in churches upon that day in respect thereof."
+
+Referring to the celebration of Christmas Day in 1657, Evelyn says:--
+
+"I went to London with my wife to celebrate Christmas Day, Mr. Gunning
+preaching in Exeter Chapel, on Micah vii. 2. Sermon ended; as he was
+giving us the Holy Sacrament the chapel was surrounded with soldiers,
+and all the communicants and assembly surprised and kept prisoners by
+them, some in the house, others carried away. It fell to my share to
+be confined to a room in the house, where yet I was permitted to dine
+with the master of it, the Countess of Dorset, Lady Hatton, and some
+others of quality who invited me. In the afternoon came Colonel
+Whalley, Goffe, and others from Whitehall to examine us one by one;
+some they committed to the Marshal, some to prison. When I came before
+them they took my name and abode, examined me why, contrary to the
+ordinance made that none should any longer observe the superstitious
+time of the Nativity (as esteemed by them), I durst offend, and
+particularly be at Common Prayers, which they told me was but the mass
+in English, and particularly pray for Charles Stuart, for which we had
+no Scripture. I told them we did not pray for Charles Stuart, but for
+all Christian kings, princes, and governors. They replied, in so doing
+we prayed for the King of Spain too, who was their enemy and a Papist;
+with other frivolous and ensnaring questions and much threatening,
+and, finding no colour to detain me, they dismissed me with much pity
+of my ignorance. These were men of high flight and above ordinances,
+and spake spiteful things of our Lord's Nativity. As we went up to
+receive the sacrament the miscreants held their muskets against us, as
+if they would have shot us at the altar, but yet suffering us to
+finish the office of communion, as perhaps not having instructions
+what to do in case they found us in that action; so I got home late
+the next day, blessed be God!"
+
+Notwithstanding the adverse acts of the Puritans, however, and the
+suppression of Christmas observances in high places, the old customs
+and festivities were still observed in different parts of the country,
+though with less ostentation than formerly; and various publications
+appeared which plainly showed that the popular sentiments were in
+favour of the festivities. The motto of No. 37 of _Mercurius
+Democritus_, from December 22, 1652, begins:
+
+ "Old Christmas now is come to town
+ Though few do him regard,
+ He laughs to see them going down
+ That have put down his Lord."
+
+In "The Vindication of Father Christmas," 1653, a mock complaint in
+the character of Father Christmas, he laments the treatment he had
+received for the last twelve years, and that he was even then but
+coolly received. "But welcome, or not welcome, I am come," he says,
+and then states that his "best and freest welcome was with some kinde
+of country farmers in Devonshire," thus describing his entertainment
+among them:--"After dinner we arose from the boord, and sate by the
+fire, where the harth was imbrodered all over with roasted apples,
+piping hot, expecting a bole of ale for a cooler, which immediately
+was transformed into warm lamb wool. After which we discoursed merily,
+without either prophaneness or obscenity; some went to cards; others
+sung carols and pleasant songs (suitable to the times), and then the
+poor laboring Hinds, and maid-servants, with the plow-boys, went
+nimbly to dancing; the poor toyling wretches being glad of my
+company, because they had little or no sport at all till I came
+amongst them; and therefore they skipped and leaped for joy, singing a
+carol to the tune of hey,
+
+ "Let's dance and sing, and make good chear,
+ For Christmas comes but once a year:
+ Draw hogsheads dry, let flagons fly,
+ For now the bells shall ring;
+ Whilst we endeavour to make good
+ The title 'gainst a King.
+
+"Thus at active games, and gambols of hot cockles, shooing the wild
+mare, and the like harmless sports, some part of the tedious night was
+spent."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+THE NATIONAL TROUBLES
+
+were not brought to an end by the execution of Charles I. on the 30th
+of January, 1649. In addition to the rioting caused by the attempt to
+abolish the festival of Christmas by law, the Lord Protector (Oliver
+Cromwell) had to struggle against discontented republicans and also
+against fresh outbreaks of the Royalists; and, although able to carry
+on the Protectorate to the end of his own life, Cromwell was unable to
+secure a strong successor. He died on September 3, 1658, having on his
+deathbed nominated his son Richard to succeed him. Richard Cromwell
+was accepted in England and by the European Powers, and carried
+himself discreetly in his new position. A Parliament was assembled on
+January 17, 1659, which recognised the new Protector, but the
+republican minority, headed by Vane and Haselrig, united with the
+officers of the army, headed by Lambert, Fleetwood, and Desborough, to
+force him to dissolve Parliament (April 22, 1659). The Protector's
+supporters urged him to meet force by force, but he replied, "I will
+not have a drop of blood spilt for the preservation of my greatness,
+which is a burden to me." He signed a formal abdication (May, 1659),
+in return for which the restored Rump undertook the discharge of his
+debts. After the Restoration Richard Cromwell fled to the Continent,
+where he remained for many years, returning to England in 1680. A
+portion of his property was afterwards restored to him. He died at
+Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, in 1712.
+
+On Richard Cromwell declining to uphold the Protectorate by force of
+arms, the only hope of establishing a settled form of government and
+of saving the country from a military despotism seemed to be in the
+restoration of the monarchy; therefore, chiefly through the
+instrumentality of General Monk, Charles, the son of Charles I. and
+Henrietta Maria, was invited to return to England. He at once
+responded, and entered London in triumph as Charles II., on May 29,
+1660, having previously signed the declaration of Breda. By this
+declaration the King granted a free and general pardon to all "who
+within forty days after the publishing hereof shall lay hold upon this
+our grace and favour, and shall by any public act declare their doing
+so," except such as the Parliament of both houses should except.
+
+ [69] "Works of Ben Jonson."
+
+ [70] "Fantasticks," 1626.
+
+ [71] "History of the English People."
+
+ [72] "Year Book."
+
+ [73] Fiddlers.
+
+ [74] An allusion to the Christmas money-box, made of
+ earthenware which required to be broken to obtain
+ possession of the money it held.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+CHRISTMAS FROM THE RESTORATION TO
+THE DEATH OF GEORGE II.
+
+(1660-1760.)
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+THE RESTORATION OF THE MONARCHY
+
+under Charles II., sometimes styled the "Merry Monarch," was an
+occasion of great rejoicing, and the spirit in which the
+so-long-fugitive Prince, who once eluded his pursuers by hiding in an
+oak, was now welcomed as "Charles our King" by "the roaring, ranting"
+portion of the populace is set forth in the following ballad, written
+for the first Christmas after the Restoration, printed in London, the
+same year, and now copied from a collection of illustrated broadsides
+preserved in the Library of the British Museum:--
+
+
+MERRY BOYS OF CHRISTMAS,
+
+OR
+
+The Milk-maid's New Year's Gift.
+
+ When Lads and Lasses take delight,
+ together for to be;
+ They pass away the Winter night,
+ and live most merrily.
+
+ To the tune of, _Hey boys up go we_.
+
+ Come, come my roaring ranting boys
+ lets never be cast down,
+ We'l never mind the female toys,
+ but Loyal be to th' Crown:
+ We'l never break our hearts with care,
+ nor be cast down with fear,
+ Our bellys then let us prepare
+ to drink some Christmas Beer.
+
+ Then here's a health to Charles our King,
+ throughout the world admir'd,
+ Let us his great applauses sing,
+ that we so much desir'd,
+ And wisht amongst us for to reign,
+ when Oliver rul'd here,
+ But since he's home return'd again,
+ come fill some Christmas Beer.
+
+ These holidays we'l briskly drink,
+ all mirth we will devise,
+ No Treason we will speak or think,
+ then bring us brave minc'd pies
+ Roast Beef and brave Plum porridge,
+ our Loyal hearts to chear,
+ Then prithee make no more ado,
+ but bring us Christmas Beer.
+
+[Illustration: "THE HACKIN"]
+
+[In these Times all the Spits were sparkling the _Hackin_ must be boiled
+by Daybreak or else two young Men took the Maiden by the Arms and run
+her round the Market Place till she was ashamed of her laziness.--_Round
+about our Coal Fire or Christmas Entertainments_ published in 1740.]
+
+Many of the popular songs of this period complain of the decline of
+the Christmas celebrations during the time of the Commonwealth, and
+some of them contrast the present with former celebrations. In a
+ballad called "The Old and Young Courtier," printed in 1670, comparing
+the times of Queen Elizabeth with those of her successors, the fifth
+and twelfth verses contain the following parallel respecting
+Christmas--
+
+V
+
+ "With a good old fashion, when Christmasse was come,
+ To call in all his old neighbours with bagpipe and drum,
+ With good chear enough to furnish every old room,
+ And old liquor, able to make a cat speak, and man dumb
+ Like an old Courtier of the Queen's,
+ And the Queen's old Courtier"
+
+XII
+
+ "With a new fashion, when Christmas is drawing on,
+ On a new journey to London straight we all must begone,
+ And leave none to keep house, but our new porter John,
+ Who relieves the poor with a thump on the back with a stone,
+ Like a young courtier of the King's,
+ And the King's young courtier"
+
+(_Percy's Reliques_)
+
+Another called "Time's Alteration, or, the Old Man's Rehearsal, what
+brave dayes he knew a great while agone, when his old cap was new,"
+says--
+
+ "A man might then behold,
+ At Christmas, in each hall,
+ Good fires to curb the cold
+ And meat for great and small;
+ The neighbours were friendly bidden,
+ And all had welcome true,
+ The poor from the gates were not chidden,
+ When this old cap was new
+
+ Black jacks to every man
+ Were filled with wine and beer,
+ No pewter pot nor can
+ In those days did appear
+ Good cheer in a nobleman's house
+ Was counted a seemly shew,
+ We wanted no brawn nor souse,
+ When this old cap was new."
+
+(_Evans's Ballads_)
+
+Referring to the Restoration of the monarchy, and contrasting it with
+the Protectorate period, _Poor Robin's Almanack_, 1685, says--
+
+ "Now thanks to God for Charles' return,
+ Whose absence made old Christmas mourn,
+ For then we scarcely did it know,
+ Whether it Christmas were or no
+
+* * * * *
+
+ To feast the poor was counted sin,
+ When treason that great praise did win
+ May we ne'er see the like again,
+ The roguish Rump should o'er us reign."
+
+After the Restoration an effort was made to revive the Christmas
+entertainments of the Court at Whitehall, but they do not appear to
+have recovered their former splendour. The habits of Charles the
+Second were of too sensual a nature to induce him to interest himself
+in such pursuits; besides which the manners of the country had been
+changed during the sway of the Puritans. Pepys states that Charles II.
+visited Lincoln's Inn to see the Christmas revels of 1661, "there
+being, according to an old custom, a Prince and all his nobles, and
+other matters of sport and charge." And the diary of the Rev. John
+Ward, vicar of Stratford-upon-Avon, extending from 1648 to 1679,
+states: "The Duke of Norfolk expended L20,000 in keeping Christmas.
+Charles II. gave over keeping that festival on this account; his
+munificence gave great offence at Court." Sandys mentions that a
+pastoral called _Calisto_, written by Crowne, was acted by the
+daughters of the Duke of York and the young nobility. About the same
+time the Lady Anne, afterwards Queen, acted the part of Semandra in
+Lee's "Mithridates." Betterton and his wife instructed the performers,
+in remembrance of which, when Anne came to the throne, she gave the
+latter a pension of L100 a year.
+
+The Inns of Court also had their Christmas feasts; but the conduct of
+them was evidently not so much coveted as in former times, for there
+is an entry in the records of Gray's Inn on November 3, 1682, "That
+Mr. Richard Gipps, on his promise to perform the office of Master of
+the Revels, this and the next Term, be called to the Bar of Grace,"
+_i.e._, without payment of the usual fees: thus holding out a reward
+for his services, instead of allowing him, as in former times, to
+spend a large portion of his private fortune unrequited, except by the
+honour of the temporary office.
+
+Among the principal of the royal amusements in the time of Charles the
+Second were horse-racing and theatrical performances. The King kept an
+establishment at Newmarket, where, according to Strutt, "he entered
+horses and ran them in his name." And the author of some doggerel
+verses, referring to Burford Downs, says:--
+
+ "Next for the glory of the place,
+ Here has been rode many a race,--
+ King Charles the Second I saw here;
+ But I've forgotten in what year."
+
+
+CHRISTMAS AT SEA IN 1675.
+
+The Rev. Henry Teonge, chaplain of an English ship of war, gives in
+his diary a description of the manner in which the Christmas was spent
+on board, in 1675:--"Dec. 25, 1675.--Crismas day wee keepe thus. At 4
+in the morning our trumpeters all doe flatt their trumpetts, and begin
+at our Captain's cabin, and thence to all the officers' and
+gentlemen's cabins; playing a levite at each cabine door, and bidding
+good morrow, wishing a merry Crismas. After they goe to their station,
+viz., on the poope, and sound 3 levitts in honour of the morning. At
+10 wee goe to prayers and sermon; text, Zacc. ix. 9. Our Captaine had
+all his officers and gentlemen to dinner with him, where wee had
+excellent good fayre: a ribb of beife, plumb-puddings, minct pyes, &c.
+and plenty of good wines of severall sorts; dranke healths to the
+King, to our wives and friends, and ended the day with much civill
+myrth."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+CHRISTMAS-KEEPING IN THE COUNTRY,
+
+at this period, is referred to by different writers.
+
+Among the Garrick Plays in the British Museum is "_The Christmas
+Ordinary, a Private Show_; wherein is expressed the jovial Freedom of
+that Festival: as it was acted at a Gentleman's House among other
+Revels. By W. R., Master of Arts, 4 to. London, 1682."
+
+The Memoirs of the hospitable Sir John Reresby (Camden Society)
+contain references to the Christmas festivities at Thrybergh. In 1682,
+there assembled on Christmas Eve nineteen of the poorer tenants from
+Denby and Hooton; on Christmas Day twenty-six of the poorer tenants
+from Thrybergh, Brinsford, and Mexborough; on St. Stephen's Day
+farmers and better sort of tenants to the number of fifty-four; on St.
+John's-day forty five of the chief tenants; on the 30th of December
+eighteen gentlemen of the neighbourhood with their wives; on the 1st
+of January sixteen gentlemen; on the 4th twelve of the neighbouring
+clergymen; and on the 6th seven gentlemen and tradesmen. Among the
+guests who lodged at the house were "Mr. Rigden, merchant of York, and
+his wife, a handsome woman," and "Mr. Belton, an ingenious clergyman,
+but too much a good fellow." How the "ingenious clergyman" became "too
+much of a good fellow" may be easily guessed from Sir John's further
+observation that "_the expense of liquor_, _both of wine & others, was
+considerable_, as of other provisions, and my friends appeared well
+satisfied." In 1684, writes Sir John, "I returned to Thrybergh, by
+God's mercy, in safety, to keep Christmas amongst my neighbours and
+tenants. I had more company this Christmas than heretofore. The four
+first days of the new year all my tenants of Thrybergh, Brinsford,
+Denby, Mexborough, Hooton Roberts, and Rotterham dined with me; the
+rest of the time some four-score of gentlemen and yeomen with their
+wives were invited, besides some that came from York; so that all the
+beds in the house and most in the town were taken up. There were
+seldom less than four-score, counting all sorts of people, that dined
+in the house every day, and some days many more. On New Year's-day
+chiefly there dined above three hundred, so that whole sheep were
+roasted and served up to feed them. For music I had four violins,
+besides bagpipes, drums, and trumpets."
+
+At Houghton Chapel, Nottinghamshire, says an old writer, "the good Sir
+William Hollis kept his house in great splendour and hospitality. He
+began Christmas at All Hallowtide, and continued it till Candlemas,
+during which time any man was permitted to stay three days without
+being asked who he was, or from whence he came." This generous knight
+had many guests who rejoiced in the couplet:--
+
+ "If I ask'not my guest whence and whither his way,
+ 'Tis because I would have him here with me to stay."
+
+It is no part of our purpose to enter into details of the events which
+led up to the Revolution. Suffice it to say, that during the reign of
+Charles II. began the great struggle between the King and the people,
+but Charles steadily refused to alter the succession by excluding his
+brother James. He died on the 6th of February, 1685, and
+
+
+JAMES II. CAME TO THE THRONE
+
+in the midst of an unsettled state of affairs. James made a bold, but
+unsuccessful, attempt to restore the power of Romanism in England,
+and, ultimately, consulted his own safety by fleeing to France,
+landing at Ambleteuse, in Brittany, on Christmas Day, 1688,
+
+
+THE CHRISTMAS OF THE REVOLUTION.
+
+The flight of James put an end to the struggle between Crown and
+people, and the offering of the Crown, with constitutional
+limitations, to William, Prince of Orange, and his wife Mary, daughter
+of King James II. and granddaughter of King Charles I. of England,
+speedily followed.
+
+
+WILLIAM AND MARY
+
+accepted the invitation of the English people, and began their reign
+on February 13, 1689. They both took an interest in the sports and
+pastimes of the people. Strutt says William patronised horse-racing,
+"and established an academy for riding; and his queen not only
+continued the bounty of her predecessors, but added several plates to
+the former donations." The death of Queen Mary, from small-pox, on the
+28th of December, 1694, cast a gloom over the Christmas festivities,
+and left King William almost heart-broken at her loss. As to
+
+
+THE CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES
+
+Brand says that in "Batt upon Batt," a Poem by a Person of Quality
+(1694), speaking of Batt's carving knives and other implements, the
+author asks:--
+
+
+ "Without their help, who can good Christmas keep?
+ Our teeth would chatter and our eyes would weep;
+ Hunger and dullness would invade our feasts,
+ Did not Batt find us arms against such guests.
+ He is the cunning engineer, whose skill
+ Makes fools to carve the goose, and shape the quill:
+ Fancy and wit unto our meals supplies:
+ Carols, and not minc'd-meat, make Christmas pies.
+ 'Tis mirth, not dishes, sets a table off;
+ Brutes and Phanaticks eat, and never laugh.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ When _brawn, with powdred wig_, comes swaggering in,
+ And mighty serjeant ushers in the Chine,
+ What ought a wise man first to think upon?
+ Have I my Tools? if not, I am undone:
+ For 'tis a law concerns both saint and sinner,
+ He that hath no knife must have no dinner.
+ So he falls on; pig, goose, and capon, feel
+ The goodness of his stomach and Batt's steel.
+ In such fierce frays, alas! there no remorse is;
+ All flesh is grass, which makes men feed like horses:
+ But when the battle's done, _off goes the hat_,
+ And each man sheaths, with God-a-mercy Batt.'"
+
+"Batt upon Batt" also gives the following account of the Christmas
+Gambols in 1694:--
+
+ "O mortal man! is eating all you do
+ At Christ-Tide? or the making Sing-songs? No:
+ Our Batt can _dance_, play at _high Jinks with Dice_,
+ At any primitive, orthodoxal Vice.
+ _Shooing the wild Mare, tumbling the young Wenches,
+ Drinking all Night_, and sleeping on the Benches.
+ Shew me a man can _shuffle fair and cut_,
+ Yet always _have three Trays in hand at Putt_:
+ Shew me a man can _turn up Noddy_ still,
+ And _deal himself three Fives too_ when he will:
+ Conclude with _one and thirty, and a Pair_,
+ Never fail _Ten in stock_, and yet play fair,
+ If Batt be not that Wight, I lose my aim."
+
+Another enumeration of the festive sports of this season occurs (says
+Brand) in a poem entitled Christmas--
+
+ "Young Men and Maidens, now
+ At _Feed the Dove_ (with laurel leaf in mouth)
+ Or _Blindman's Buff_, or _Hunt the Slipper_ play,
+ Replete with glee. Some, haply, _Cards_ adopt;
+ Of it to _Forfeits_ they the Sport confine,
+ The happy Folk, adjacent to the fire,
+ Their Stations take; excepting one alone.
+ (Sometimes the social Mistress of the house)
+ Who sits within the centre of the room,
+ To cry the pawns; much is the laughter, now,
+ Of such as can't the Christmas Catch repeat,
+ And who, perchance, are sentenc'd to salute
+ The jetty beauties of the chimney black,
+ Or Lady's shoe: others, more lucky far,
+ By hap or favour, meet a sweeter doom,
+ And on each fair-one's lovely lips imprint
+ The ardent kiss."
+
+_Poor Robin's Almanack_ (1695) thus rejoices at the return of the
+festival:--
+
+ "Now thrice welcome, Christmas,
+ Which brings us good cheer,
+ Minc'd-pies and plumb-porridge,
+ Good ale and strong beer;
+ With pig, goose, and capon,
+ The best that may be,
+ So well doth the weather
+ And our stomachs agree.
+
+ Observe how the chimneys
+ Do smoak all about,
+ The cooks are providing
+ For dinner, no doubt;
+ But those on whose tables
+ No victuals appear,
+ O may they keep Lent
+ All the rest of the year!
+
+ With holly and ivy
+ So green and so gay;
+ We deck up our houses
+ As fresh as the day,
+ With bays and rosemary,
+ And laurel compleat,
+ And every one now
+ Is a king in conceit.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ But as for curmudgeons,
+ Who will not be free,
+ I wish they may die
+ On the three-legged tree."
+
+At Christmastide, 1696, an Act of Attainder was passed against Sir
+John Fenwick, one of the most ardent of the Jacobite conspirators who
+took part in the plot to assassinate the King. He was executed on
+Tower Hill, January 28, 1697. This was the last instance in English
+history in which a person was attainted by Act of Parliament, and
+Hallam's opinion of this Act of Attainder is that "it did not, like
+some acts of attainder, inflict a punishment beyond the offence, but
+supplied the deficiency of legal evidence."
+
+Peter the Great, of Russia, kept the Christmas of 1697 in England,
+residing at Sayes Court, a house of the celebrated John Evelyn, close
+to Deptford Dockyard.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+CHRISTMAS, 1701.
+
+[From _Poor Robin's Almanack_.]
+
+ Now enter Christmas like a man,
+ Armed with spit and dripping-pan,
+ Attended with pasty, plum-pie,
+ Puddings, plum-porridge, furmity;
+ With beef, pork, mutton of each sort
+ More than my pen can make report;
+ Pig, swan, goose, rabbits, partridge, teal,
+ With legs and loins and breasts of veal:
+ But above all the minced pies
+ Must mention'd be in any wise,
+ Or else my Muse were much to blame,
+ Since they from Christmas take their name.
+ With these, or any one of these,
+ A man may dine well if he please;
+ Yet this must well be understood,--
+ Though one of these be singly good,
+ Yet more the merrier is the best
+ As well of dishes as of guest.
+ But the times are grown so bad
+ Scarce one dish for the poor is had;
+ Good housekeeping is laid aside,
+ And all is spent to maintain pride;
+ Good works are counted popish, and
+ Small charity is in the land.
+ A man may sooner (truth I tell ye)
+ Break his own neck than fill his belly.
+ Good God amend what is amiss
+ And send a remedy to this,
+ That Christmas day again may rise
+ And we enjoy our Christmas pies.
+
+The Christmas customs of this period are thus referred to by the
+"Bellman, on Christmas Eve":--
+
+ "This night (you may my Almanack believe)
+ Is the return of famous Christmas Eve:
+ Ye virgins then your cleanly rooms prepare,
+ And let the windows bays and laurels wear;
+ Your _Rosemary_ preserve to dress your _Beef_,
+ Not forget me, which I advise in chief."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+CHRISTMAS, AT HADDON HALL,
+
+was magnificently kept in the early part of the eighteenth century.
+The amount of good cheer that was required for the table may be
+readily imagined from the magnitude of the culinary furniture in the
+kitchen--two vast fireplaces, with irons for sustaining a surprising
+number of spits, and several enormous chopping-blocks--which survived
+to the nineteenth century. John, the ninth Earl and first Duke of
+Rutland (created Marquis of Granby and Duke of Rutland in 1703),
+revived in the ancient spirit the hospitality of Christmastide. He
+kept sevenscore servants, and his twelve days' feasts at Christmas
+recalled the bountiful celebrations of the "King of the Peak," Sir
+George Vernon--the last male heir of the Vernon family in Derbyshire
+who inherited the manor of Haddon, and who died in the seventh year of
+Queen Elizabeth's reign. "The King of the Peak" was the father of the
+charming Dorothy Vernon, the fair heiress, whose romantic elopement is
+thus depicted in "Picturesque Europe":--"In the fullness of time
+Dorothy loved, but her father did not approve. She determined to
+elope; and now we must fill, in fancy, the Long Gallery with the
+splendour of a revel and the stately joy of a great ball in the time
+of Elizabeth. In the midst of the noise and excitement the fair young
+daughter of the house steals unobserved away. She issues from _her_
+door, and her light feet fly with tremulous speed along the darkling
+Terrace, flecked with light from the blazing ball-room, till they
+reach a postern in the wall, which opens upon the void of the night
+outside dancing Haddon. At that postern some one is waiting eagerly
+for her; waiting with swift horses. That some one is young Sir John
+Manners, second son of the House of Rutland, and her own true love.
+The anxious lovers mount, and ride rapidly and silently away; and so
+Dorothy Vernon transfers Haddon to the owners of Belvoir; and the
+boar's head of Vernon becomes mingled, at Haddon, with the peacock of
+Manners. We fancy with sympathetic pleasure that night-ride and the
+hurried marriage; and--forgetting that the thing happened 'ages long
+agone'--we wish, with full hearts, all happiness to the dear and
+charming Dorothy!"
+
+From the boar's head of Vernon and the peacock of Manners, thought
+passes quite naturally to the boar's head and peacock, which were
+principal items of Christmas fare in the olden time.
+
+In her "Collected Writings," Janetta, Duchess of Rutland, gives an
+interesting account of a revival of some of the ancient glories of
+Haddon:
+
+"In the winter of 1872 the late Duke entertained the Prince and
+Princess of Wales in the banqueting hall at luncheon, when the boar's
+head and peacock in pride were carried in, and formed part of the
+fare, as in olden days: while once more musicians filled the
+minstrels' gallery, great logs blazed in the huge fireplace, and
+scarlet hangings were spread over the walls."
+
+[Illustration: AN ANCIENT FIREPLACE.]
+
+On the 20th of February, 1702, King William III. fell from his horse,
+breaking his collar-bone and sustaining other serious injuries, which
+terminated fatally on Sunday, the 8th of March. He was succeeded by
+Queen Anne, who was the second daughter of King James II., and the
+last of the Stuart sovereigns.
+
+
+QUEEN ANNE KEPT A ROYAL CHRISTMAS
+
+at Windsor, in 1703, and entertained the new King of Spain, who
+arrived at Spithead on the 26th of December. "The Queen dispatched the
+Dukes of Somerset and Marlborough to conduct him to Windsor, and
+Prince George met him on the way at Petworth, the seat of the Duke of
+Somerset, and conducted him to Windsor on the 29th. The King was
+entertained in great state for three days at Windsor, during which
+time he was politic enough to ingratiate himself with the Duchess of
+Marlborough. When the Duchess presented the basin and napkin after
+supper to the Queen for her to wash her hands, the King gallantly took
+the napkin and held it himself, and on returning it to the Queen's
+great favourite, he presented her with a superb diamond ring. After
+three days the King returned to Portsmouth, and on the 4th of January,
+1704, he embarked on board the fleet commanded by Sir George Rooke,
+for Portugal, accompanied by a body of land forces under the Duke of
+Schomberg. The voyage was, however, a most stormy one, and when the
+fleet had nearly reached Cape Finisterre, it was compelled to put back
+to Spithead, where it remained till the middle of February. His next
+attempt was more successful, and he landed in Lisbon amid much popular
+demonstration, though the court itself was sunk in sorrow by the death
+of the Infanta, whom he went to marry."[75]
+
+At the Christmas festivities the following year (1704) there were
+great rejoicings over the return home of the Duke of Marlborough from
+the continental wars. "He arrived in England in the middle of
+December, carrying with him Marshal Tallard and the rest of the
+distinguished officers, with the standards and other trophies of his
+victories. He was received with acclaim by all classes, except a few
+Ultra Tories, who threatened to impeach him for his rash march to the
+Danube. As Parliament had assembled, Marlborough took his seat in the
+House of Peers the day after his arrival, where he was complimented on
+his magnificent success by the Lord Keeper. This was followed by a
+deputation with a vote of thanks from the Commons, and by similar
+honours from the City. But perhaps the most palpable triumph of
+Marlborough was the transferring of the military trophies which he had
+taken from the Tower, where they were first deposited, to Westminster
+Hall. This was done by each soldier carrying a standard or other
+trophy, amid the thunders of artillery and the hurrahs of the people;
+such a spectacle never having been witnessed since the days of the
+Spanish Armada. The Royal Manor of Woodstock was granted him, and
+Blenheim Mansion erected at the cost of the nation."
+
+
+CHRISTMAS-KEEPING IN THE COUNTRY.
+
+The country squire of three hundred a year, an independent gentleman
+in the reign of Queen Anne, is described as having "never played at
+cards but at Christmas, when the family pack was produced from the
+mantle-piece." "His chief drink the year round was generally ale,
+except at this season, the 5th of November, or some gala days, when he
+would make a bowl of strong brandy punch, garnished with a toast and
+nutmeg. In the corner of his hall, by the fireside, stood a large
+wooden two-armed chair, with a cushion, and within the chimney corner
+were a couple of seats. Here, at Christmas, he entertained his
+tenants, assembled round a glowing fire, made of the roots of trees,
+and other great logs, and told and heard the traditionary tales of the
+village, respecting ghosts and witches, till fear made them afraid to
+move. In the meantime the jorum of ale was in continual
+circulation."[76]
+
+ "This is Yuletide! Bring the holly boughs,
+ Deck the old mansion with its berries red;
+ Bring in the mistletoe, that lover's vows
+ Be sweetly sealed the while it hangs o'erhead.
+ Pile on the logs, fresh gathered from the wood,
+ And let the firelight dance upon the walls,
+ The while we tell the stories of the good,
+ The brave, the noble, that the past recalls."[77]
+
+Many interesting tales respecting the manners and customs of the
+eighteenth century are given by Steele and Addison in their well-known
+series of papers entitled the _Spectator_. Charity and hospitality are
+conspicuous traits of the typical country gentleman of the period, Sir
+Roger de Coverley. "Sir Roger," says the _Spectator_, "after the
+laudable custom of his ancestors, always keeps open house at
+Christmas. I learned from him, that he had killed eight fat hogs for
+this season; that he had dealt about his chines very liberally amongst
+his neighbours; and that in particular he had sent a string of hog's
+puddings with a pack of cards to every poor family in the parish. 'I
+have often thought,' says Sir Roger, 'it happens well that Christmas
+should fall out in the middle of winter. It is the most dead
+uncomfortable time of the year, when the poor people would suffer very
+much from their poverty and cold, if they had not good cheer, warm
+fires, and Christmas gambols to support them. I love to rejoice their
+poor hearts at this season, and to see the whole village merry in my
+great hall. I allow a double quantity of malt to my small beer, and
+set it running for twelve days to every one that calls for it. I have
+always a piece of cold beef and a mince-pie upon the table, and am
+wonderfully pleased to see my tenants pass away a whole evening in
+playing their innocent tricks, and smutting one another. Our friend
+Will Wimble is as merry as any of them, and shows a thousand roguish
+tricks upon these occasions."
+
+Puppet-shows and other scenic exhibitions with moving figures were
+among the Christmas amusements in the reign of Queen Anne. Strutt
+quotes a description of such an exhibition "by the manager of a show
+exhibited at the great house in the Strand, over against the Globe
+Tavern, near Hungerford Market; the best places at one shilling and
+the others at sixpence each: 'To be seen, the greatest Piece of
+Curiosity that ever arrived in England, being made by a famous
+engineer from the camp before Lisle, who, with great labour and
+industry, has collected into a moving picture the following figures:
+first, it doth represent the confederate camp, and the army lying
+intrenched before the town; secondly, the convoys and the mules with
+Prince Eugene's baggage; thirdly, the English forces commanded by the
+Duke of Marlborough; likewise, several vessels laden with provisions
+for the army, which are so artificially done as to seem to drive the
+water before them. The city and the citadel are very fine, with all
+its outworks, ravelins, horn-works, counter-scarps, half-moons, and
+palisades; the French horse marching out at one gate, and the
+confederate army marching in at the other; the prince's travelling
+coach with two generals in it, one saluting the company as it passes
+by; then a trumpeter sounds a call as he rides, at the noise whereof a
+sleeping sentinel starts, and lifts up his head, but, not being
+espied, lies down to sleep again; beside abundance more admirable
+curiosities too tedious to be inserted here.' He then modestly adds,
+'In short, the whole piece is so contrived by art that it seems to be
+life and nature.'"
+
+[Illustration: A DRUID PRIESTESS BEARING MISTLETOE.]
+
+Tumbling and feats of agility were also fashionable during the
+Christmas festival at this period, for in one of the _Tatlers_ (No.
+115, dated January 3, 1709) the following passage occurs: "I went on
+Friday last to the Opera, and was surprised to find a thin house at
+so noble an entertainment, 'till I heard that the tumbler was not to
+make his appearance that night." The sword-dance--dancing "among the
+points of swords and spears with most wonderful agility, and even with
+the most elegant and graceful motions"--rope-dancing, feats of
+balancing, leaping and vaulting, tricks by horses and other animals,
+and bull-baiting and bear-baiting were also among the public
+amusements. And _Hot Cockles_ was one of the favourite indoor
+amusements of Christmastide. Strutt, in his "Sports and Pastimes,"
+says, _Hot Cockles_ is from the French _hautes-coquilles_, "a play in
+which one kneels, and covering his eyes, lays his head in another's
+lap and guesses who struck him." John Gay, a poet of the time, thus
+pleasantly writes of the game:--
+
+ "As at Hot Cockles once I laid me down,
+ And felt the weighty hand of many a clown,
+ Buxoma gave a gentle tap, and I
+ Quick rose, and read soft mischief in her eye."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+On the death of Queen Anne (August 11, 1714) Prince George Louis of
+Hanover was proclaimed King of England as
+
+
+GEORGE THE FIRST.
+
+There was little change in the Christmas festivities in this reign,
+for, as Mr. Thackeray says in his lively sketch of George I.: "He was
+a moderate ruler of England. His aim was to leave it to itself as much
+as possible, and to live out of it as much as he could. His heart was
+in Hanover." The most important addition to the plays of the period
+was
+
+
+THE CHRISTMAS PANTOMIME.
+
+[Illustration: A NEST OF FOOLS]
+
+In his "English Plays," Professor Henry Morley thus records the
+introduction of the modern English pantomime, which has since been the
+great show of Christmastide:--
+
+"The theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields, which Christopher Rich had been
+restoring, his son, John Rich, was allowed to open on the 18th of
+December, 1714. John Rich was a clever mimic, and after a year or two
+he found it to his advantage to compete with the actors in a fashion
+of his own. He was the inventor of the modern English form of
+pantomime, with a serious part that he took from Ovid's Metamorphosis
+or any fabulous history, and a comic addition of the courtship of
+harlequin and columbine, with surprising tricks and transformations.
+He introduced the old Italian characters of pantomime under changed
+conditions, and beginning with 'Harlequin Sorcerer' in 1717, continued
+to produce these entertainments until a year before his death in 1761.
+They have since been retained as Christmas shows upon the English
+stage."
+
+In a note to "The Dunciad," Pope complains of "the extravagancies
+introduced on the stage, and frequented by persons of the first
+quality in England to the twentieth and thirtieth time," and states
+that "_all_ the extravagances" in the following lines of the poem
+actually appeared on the stage:--
+
+ "See now, what Dulness and her sons admire!
+ See what the charms, that smite the simple heart
+ Not touch'd by nature, and not reach'd by art.
+ His never-blushing head he turn'd aside,
+ (Not half so pleased when Goodman prophesied)
+ And look'd, and saw a sable Sorcerer rise,
+ Swift to whose hand a winged volume flies:
+ All sudden, gorgons hiss, and dragons glare,
+ And ten-horn'd fiends and giants rush to war.
+ Hell rises, Heaven descends, and dance on earth:
+ Gods, imps, and monsters, music, rage, and mirth,
+ A fire, a jig, a battle, and a ball,
+ Till one wide conflagration swallows all.
+ Thence a new world, to nature's laws unknown,
+ Breaks out refulgent, with a heaven its own:
+ Another Cynthia her new journey runs,
+ And other planets circle other suns.
+ The forests dance, the rivers upward rise,
+ Whales sport in woods, and dolphins in the skies;
+ And last, to give the whole creation grace,
+ Lo! one vast egg produces human race."
+
+David Garrick, the eminent actor, wrote in a similar strain, finding
+it hard to hold his own against the patrons of the pantomime:--
+
+ "They in the drama find no joys,
+ But doat on mimicry and toys.
+ Thus, when a dance is in my bill,
+ Nobility my boxes fill;
+ Or send three days before the time,
+ To crowd a new-made pantomime."
+
+
+"OLD MERRY PLENTIFUL CHRISTMAS,"
+
+at this period, is sketched by a writer in _Poor Robin's Almanack_,
+for 1723, thus:--"Now comes on old merry plentiful Christmas. The
+Husbandman lays his great Log behind the fire, and with a few of his
+neighbours, over a good fire, taps his Christmas beer, cuts his
+Christmas cheese, and sets forward for a merry Christmas. The Landlord
+(for we hope there are yet some generous ones left) invites his
+Tenants and Labourers, and with a good Sirloin of Roast Beef, and a
+few pitchers of nappy ale or beer, he wisheth them all a merry
+Christmas. The beggar begs his bread, sells some of it for money to
+buy drink, and without fear of being arrested, or call'd upon for
+parish duties, has as merry a Christmas as any of them all."
+
+[Illustration: "THE MASK DANCE."]
+
+So the people made merry at Christmas throughout the reign of George
+I., who died on June 10, 1727, and was succeeded by his son,
+
+
+GEORGE THE SECOND.
+
+In this reign the customs of Christmas were kept up with unabated
+heartiness, and liberality to the poor was not forgotten. The
+customary distributions of creature comforts on Christmas Eve were
+continued, and, in some instances, provision for the maintenance of
+them was made in the wills of worthy parishioners. An instance of this
+kind is recorded in Devonshire. "It appears, from a statement of
+charities in an old book, that John Martyn, by will, 28th of November,
+1729, gave to the churchwardens and overseers of the poor of the
+parish of St. Mary Major, Exeter, twenty pounds, to be put out at
+interest, and the profits thereof to be laid out every Christmas Eve
+in twenty pieces of beef, to be distributed to twenty poor people of
+the parish, such as had no relief on that day, for ever."[78]
+
+That
+
+
+CHRISTMAS HOUSEKEEPING IN LONDON,
+
+at this period, was excellent, both as to quantity and quality, is
+evident, from a contribution made to _Read's Weekly Journal_, of
+Saturday, January 9, 1731, by Mr. Thomas North, who thus describes the
+Christmas entertainment and good cheer he met with in London at the
+house of a friend: "It was the house of an eminent and worthy
+merchant, and tho', sir, I have been accustomed in my own country to
+what may very well be called good housekeeping, yet I assure you I
+should have taken this dinner to have been provided for a whole
+parish, rather than for about a dozen gentlemen: 'Tis impossible for
+me to give you half our bill of fare, so you must be content to know
+that we had turkies, geese, capons, puddings of a dozen sorts more
+than I had ever seen in my life, besides brawn, roast beef, and many
+things of which I know not the names, minc'd pyes in abundance, and a
+thing they call plumb pottage, which may be good for ought I know,
+though it seems to me to have 50 different tastes. Our wines were of
+the best, as were all the rest of our liquors; in short, the God of
+plenty seemed to reign here, and to make everything perfect, our
+company was polite and every way agreeable; nothing but mirth and
+loyal healths went round. If a stranger were to have made an estimate
+of London from this place, he would imagine it not only the most rich
+but the most happy city in the world."
+
+Another interesting item of this period is the following--
+
+
+CURIOUS CHRISTMAS ADVERTISEMENT,
+
+which has been cut from some publication and (by the late Mr. Joseph
+Haslewood) inserted between pages 358 and 359 of the British Museum
+large paper copy of Brand's "Antiquities," and dated December, 1739:--
+
+"This day is published, Price 6d.
+
+"THE TRIAL OF OLD FATHER CHRISTMAS for encouraging his Majesty's
+subjects in Idleness, Drunkenness, Gaming, Rioting, and all manner of
+Extravagance and Debauchery, at the Assizes held in the city of
+Profusion before the Lord Chief Justice Churchman, Mr. Justice Feast,
+Mr. Justice Gambol, and several other his Majesty's Justices of Oyer
+and Terminer, and Gaol-Delivery.
+
+"To which is added a Diary found in the Pocket of Old Father
+Christmas, with Directions to all Lovers of him how to welcome their
+neighbours; likewise the Judge's sentence and Opinion how Christmas
+ought to be kept; and further Witty Tales and Merry Stories designed
+for Christmas Evenings Diversion, when round about our Coal Fire.
+
+By Josiah King,
+
+Printer for T. Cooper, at the Globe in Pater-noster Row; and sold by
+the Pamphlet-shops of London and Westminster."
+
+Now we come to a quaintly interesting account of
+
+
+CHRISTMAS ENTERTAINMENT IN THE OLDEN TIME.
+
+The manner of observing the Christmas festival in the time of George
+the Second is described in an amusing little book entitled "Round
+about our Coal Fire, or Christmas Entertainments," published in 1740,
+and "illustrated with many diverting cuts." We quote the following
+extracts:--
+
+
+PROLOGUE.
+
+I.
+
+ "O you merry, merry souls,
+ Christmas is a coming,
+ We shall have flowing Bowls,
+ Dancing, piping, drumming.
+
+II.
+
+ "Delicate minced Pies,
+ To feast every Virgin,
+ Capon and Goose likewise,
+ Brawn and a dish of Sturgeon.
+
+III.
+
+ "Then for your Christmas Box,
+ Sweet Plumb-cakes and money,
+ Delicate Holland Smocks,
+ Kisses sweet as Honey.
+
+IV.
+
+ "Hey for the Christmas Ball,
+ Where we shall be jolly,
+ Jigging short and tall,
+ Kate, Dick, Ralph, and Molly.
+
+V.
+
+ "Then to the Hop we'll go,
+ Where we'll jig and caper,
+ Maidens all-a-row,
+ Will shall pay the Scraper.
+
+VI.
+
+ "Hodge shall dance with Prue,
+ Keeping Time with Kisses
+ We'll have a jovial Crew,
+ Of sweet smirking Misses.
+
+[Illustration: THE CHRISTMAS MUMMERS.]
+
+"First acknowledging the sacredness of the Holy Time of _Christmas_, I
+proceed to set forth the Rejoicings which are generally made at that
+great Festival.
+
+"You must understand, good People, that the manner of celebrating this
+great Course of Holydays is vastly different now to what it was in
+former days: There was once upon a time Hospitality in the land; an
+_English_ gentleman at the opening of the great Day, had all his
+Tenants and Neighbours enter'd his Hall by Day-break, the strong Beer
+was broach'd, and the Black Jacks went plentifully about with Toast,
+Sugar, Nutmeg, and good Cheshire Cheese; the Rooms were embower'd with
+Holly, Ivy, Cypress, Bays, Laurel, and Missleto, and a bouncing
+_Christmas_ Log in the Chimney glowing like the cheeks of a country
+Milk-maid; then was the pewter as bright as _Clarinda_, and every bit
+of Brass as polished as the most refined Gentleman; the Servants were
+then running here and there, with merry Hearts and jolly Countenances;
+every one was busy welcoming of Guests, and look'd as smug as
+new-lick'd Puppies; the Lasses as blithe and buxom as the maids in
+good Queen _Bess's_ Days, when they eat Sir-Loins of Roast Beef for
+Breakfast; _Peg_ would scuttle about to make a Toast for _John_, while
+_Tom_ run _harum scarum_ to draw a Jug of Ale for _Margery_: Gaffer
+_Spriggins_ was bid thrice welcome by the 'Squire, and Gooddy _Goose_
+did not fail of a smacking Buss from his Worship while his Son and
+Heir did the Honours of the House: in a word, the Spirit of Generosity
+ran thro' the whole House.
+
+"In these Times all the Spits were sparkling, the _Hackin_ must be
+boiled by Day-break, or else two young Men took the Maiden by the
+Arms, and run her round the Market-place, till she was ashamed of her
+Laziness. And what was worse than this, she must not play with the
+Young Fellows that Day, but stand Neuter, like a Girl doing penance in
+a Winding-sheet at a Church-door.
+
+"But now let us enquire a little farther, to arrive at the Sense of
+the Thing; this great Festival was in former Times kept with so much
+Freedom and Openness of Heart, that every one in the Country where a
+Gentleman resided, possessed at least a Day of Pleasure in the
+_Christmas_ Holydays; the Tables were all spread from the first to the
+last, the Sir-Loyns of Beef, the Minc'd-Pies, the Plumb-Porridge, the
+Capons, Turkeys, Geese, and Plumb-Puddings, were all brought upon the
+board; and all those who had sharp stomachs and sharp Knives eat
+heartily and were welcome, which gave rise to the Proverb--
+
+ _Merry in the Hall, when Beards wag all._"
+
+"There were then Turnspits employed, who by the time Dinner was over,
+would look as black and as greasy as a Welch Porridge-pot, but the
+Jacks have since turned them all out of Doors. The Geese which used to
+be fatted for the honest Neighbours, have been of late sent to
+_London_, and the Quills made into Pens to convey away the Landlord's
+Estate; the Sheep are drove away to raise Money to answer the Loss of
+a Game at Dice or Cards, and their Skins made into Parchment for Deeds
+and Indentures; nay even the poor innocent Bee, who used to pay its
+Tribute to the Lord once a Year at least in good Metheglin, for the
+Entertainment of the Guests, and its Wax converted into beneficial
+Plaisters for sick Neighbours, is now used for the sealing of Deeds to
+his Disadvantage.
+
+"But give me the Man _who has a good Heart_, and has Spirit enough to
+keep up the Old way of Hospitality, feeds his People till they are as
+plump as Partridges, and as fat as Porpoises that every Servant may
+appear as jolly as the late Bishop of _Winchester's_ Porter at
+_Chelsea_.
+
+"The News-Papers however inform us, that the Spirit of Hospitality has
+not quite forsaken us; for three or four of them tell us, that several
+of the Gentry are gone down to their respective Seats in the Country,
+in order to keep their _Christmas_ in the Old Way, and entertain their
+Tenants and Trades-folks as their Ancestors used to do and I wish them
+a merry _Christmas_ accordingly. I must also take notice to the stingy
+Tribe, that if they don't at least make their Tenants or Tradesmen
+drink when they come to see them in the Christmas Holydays, they have
+Liberty of retaliating which is a Law of very ancient Date.
+
+"A merry Gentleman of my Acquaintance desires I will insert, that the
+old Folks in Days of yore kept open House at _Christmas_ out of
+Interest; for then, says he, they receive the greatest Part of their
+Rent in Kind; such as Wheat, Barley or Malt, Oxen, Calves, Sheep,
+Swine, Turkeys, Capon, Geese, and such like; and they not having Room
+enough to preserve their Grain, or Fodder enough to preserve their
+Cattle or Poultry, nor Markets to sell off the Overplus, they were
+obliged to use them in their own Houses; and by treating the People of
+the Country, gained Credit amongst them, and riveted the Minds and
+Goodwill of their Neighbours so firmly in them, that no one durst
+venture to oppose them. The 'Squire's Will was done whatever came on
+it; for if he happened to ask a Neighbour what it was a Clock, they
+returned with a low Scrape, it is what your Worship pleases.
+
+"The Dancing and Singing of the Benchers in the great Inns of Court in
+_Christmas_, is in some sort founded upon Interest; for they hold, as
+I am informed, some Priviledge by Dancing about the Fire in the middle
+of their Hall, and singing the Song of _Round about our Coal Fire_,
+&c.
+
+"This time of year being cold and frosty generally speaking, or when
+Jack-Frost commonly takes us by the Nose, the Diversions are within
+Doors, either in Exercise or by the Fire-side.
+
+"Country-Dancing is one of the chief Exercises....
+
+"Then comes Mumming or Masquerading, when the 'Squire's Wardrobe is
+ransacked for Dresses of all Kinds, and the coal-hole searched
+around, or corks burnt to black the Faces of the Fair, or make
+Deputy-Mustaches, and every one in the Family except the 'Squire
+himself must be transformed from what they were....
+
+"Or else there is a Match at _Blind-Man's-Buff_, and then it is lawful
+to set anything in the way for Folks to tumble over....
+
+"As for _Puss in the Corner_, that is a very harmless Sport, and one
+may romp at it as much as one will....
+
+"The next game to this is _Questions and Commands_, when the Commander
+may oblige his Subject to answer any lawful Question, and make the
+same obey him instantly, under the penalty of being smutted, or paying
+such Forfeit as may be laid on the Aggressor; but the Forfeits being
+generally fixed at some certain Price, as a Shilling, Half a Crown,
+&c., so every one knowing what to do if they should be too stubborn to
+submit, make themselves easy at discretion.
+
+"As for the Game of _Hoop and Hide_, the Parties have the Liberty of
+hiding where they will, in any part of the House; and if they happen
+to be caught, the Dispute ends in Kissing, &c.
+
+"Most of the other Diversions are Cards and Dice, but they are seldom
+set on foot, unless a Lawyer is at hand, to breed some dispute for him
+to decide, or at least have some Party in.
+
+"And now I come to another Entertainment frequently used, which is of
+the Story-telling Order, _viz._ of Hobgoblins, Witches, Conjurers,
+Ghosts, Fairies, and such like common Disturbers."
+
+At this period
+
+
+DAVID GARRICK'S CHRISTMAS ACTING
+
+won him great applause. At Christmas, 1741, he brought out at
+Goodman's Fields a Christmas Farce, written by himself, entitled "The
+Lying Valet," wherein the great actor took the part of "Sharp." It was
+thought the most diverting farce ever performed. "There was a general
+roar from beginning to end. So great was his versatility that people
+were not able to determine whether he was best in tragedy or comedy."
+On his benefit, when his real name was placed on the bills for the
+first time, there was an immense gathering, and the applause was quite
+extraordinary.
+
+The Christmas festivities of 1745 were marred by the
+
+
+DISTURBANCES OF THE JACOBITES,
+
+under the romantic "Prince Charlie," whose attempted invasion of
+England speedily collapsed.
+
+Pointer, in his _Oxoniensis Academia_ (1749) refers to
+
+
+AN OLD CHRISTMAS CUSTOM
+
+of this period. He states that at Merton College, Oxford, the Fellows
+meet together in the Hall, on Christmas Eve, to sing a Psalm and drink
+a grace-cup to one another (called _Poculum Charitatis_), wishing one
+another health and happiness.
+
+The Christmas of 1752 was
+
+
+THE FIRST CHRISTMAS UNDER THE "NEW STYLE,"
+
+and many refused to observe the festival eleven days earlier than
+usual, but insisted on keeping "Old Christmas Day." Why should they be
+robbed of eleven days by a new Act of Parliament? It was of no use to
+tell them that it had been discovered that the fractional few minutes
+which are tailed on to the days and hours which make up the year had,
+by neglect through many centuries, brought us into a wrong condition,
+and that to set us right it would be necessary to give credit for
+eleven days which nobody was conscious of having enjoyed. The law,
+however, had said that it should be so. Accordingly, the day after the
+2nd of September, 1752, was called the 14th, to the great indignation
+of thousands, who reckoned that they had thus been cut off from nearly
+a fortnight of life which honestly belonged to them. These persons
+sturdily refused to acknowledge the Christmas Eve and Day of the new
+calendar. They averred that the true festival was that which now began
+on the 5th of January _next year_. They would go to church, they said,
+on no other day; nor eat mince-pies nor drink punch but in reference
+to this one day. The clergy had a hard time of it with these
+recusants. It will be well, therefore, to quote one singular example
+to show how this recusancy was encountered. It is from a collection of
+pamphlet-sermons preserved by George III., none of which, however,
+have anything curious or particularly meritorious about them save this
+one, which was preached on Friday, January 5, 1753, "Old Christmas
+Day." Mr. Francis Blackburne, "one of the candid disquisitors," opened
+his church on that day, which was crowded by a congregation anxious to
+see the day celebrated as that of the anniversary of the Nativity. The
+service for Christmas Day, however, was not used. "I will answer your
+expectations so far," said the preacher in his sermon, "as to give you
+a _sermon on the day_; and the rather because I perceive you are
+disappointed of _something else_ that you expected." The purport of
+the discourse is to show that the change of style was desirable, and
+that it having been effected by Act of Parliament, with the sanction
+of the King, there was nothing for it but acquiescence. "For," says
+the preacher, "had I, to oblige you, disobeyed this Act of Parliament,
+it is very probable I might have lost my benefice, which, you know, is
+all the subsistence I have in the world; and I should have been
+rightly served; for who am I that I should fly in the face of his
+Majesty and the Parliament? These things are left to be ordered by the
+higher powers; and in any such case as that, I hope not to think
+myself wiser than the King, the whole nobility, and principal gentry
+of Great Britain"!!
+
+The peasants of Buckinghamshire, however, pitched upon a very pretty
+method to settle the question of Christmas, left so meekly by Mr.
+Blackburne to the King, nobility, and most of the gentry. They
+bethought themselves of a blackthorn near one of their villages; and
+this thorn was for the nonce declared to be the growth of a slip from
+the Christmas-flowering thorn at Glastonbury. If the Buckinghamshire
+thorn, so argued the peasants, will only blossom in the night of the
+24th of December, we will go to church next day, and allow that the
+Christmas by Act of Parliament is the true Christmas; but no blossom
+no feast, and there shall be no revel till the eve of old Christmas
+Day. They watched the thorn and drank to its budding; but as it
+produced no promise of a flower by the morning, they turned to go
+homewards as best they might, perfectly satisfied with the success of
+the experiment. Some were interrupted in their way by their respective
+"vicars," who took them by the arm and would fain have persuaded them
+to go to church. They argued the question by field, stile, and
+church-gate; but not a Bucks peasant would consent to enter a pew till
+the parson had promised to preach a sermon to, and smoke a pipe with,
+them on the only Christmas Day they chose to acknowledge.
+
+Now, however, this old prejudice has been conquered, and the "new
+style" has maintained its ground. It has even done more, for its
+authors have so arranged the years and leap years that a confusion in
+the time of Christmas or any other festival is not likely to occur
+again.
+
+ [75] Cassell's "History of England."
+
+ [76] Grose.
+
+ [77] Herbert H. Adams.
+
+ [78] "Old English Customs and Charities," 1842.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XI._
+
+MODERN CHRISTMASES AT HOME.
+
+[Illustration: THE WAITS.]
+
+
+KING GEORGE THE THIRD
+
+came to the throne on the death of his grandfather, George II.
+(October 25, 1760), and the first Christmas of his reign "was a high
+festival at Court, when his Majesty, preceded by heralds, pursuivants,
+&c., went with their usual state to the Chapel Royal, and heard a
+sermon preached by his Grace the Archbishop of York; and it being a
+collar day, the Knights of the Garter, Thistle and Bath, appeared in
+the collars of their respective orders. After the sermon was over,
+his Majesty, Prince Edward and Princess Augusta went into the Chapel
+Royal, and received the sacrament from the hands of the Bishop of
+Durham; and the King offered the byzant, or wedge of gold, in a purse,
+for the benefit of the poor, and the royal family all made offerings.
+His Majesty afterwards dined with his royal mother at Leicester House,
+and in the evening returned to St. James's."[79]
+
+At this period
+
+
+THE FAVOURITE CHRISTMAS DIVERSION
+
+was card-playing. The King himself spent a great deal of his time in
+playing at cards with the ladies and gentlemen of his court. In doing
+so, however, he was but following the example of George II., of whom
+the biographer already quoted (Mr. Huish) says:--
+
+"After the death of Queen Caroline, the King was very fond of a game
+at cards with the Countess of Pembroke, Albemarle, and other
+distinguished ladies. His attachment to cards was transferred to his
+attachment for the ladies, and it was said that what he gained by the
+one he lost by the other." Cards were very much resorted to at the
+family parties and other social gatherings held during the twelve days
+of Christmas. Hone makes various allusions to card-playing at
+Christmastide, and Washington Irving, in his "Life of Oliver
+Goldsmith," pictures the poet "keeping the card-table in an uproar."
+Mrs. Bunbury invited Goldsmith down to Barton to pass the Christmas
+holidays. Irving regrets "that we have no record of this Christmas
+visit to Barton; that the poet had no Boswell to follow at his heels,
+and take notes of all his sayings and doings. We can only picture him
+in our minds, casting off all care; enacting the Lord of Misrule;
+presiding at the Christmas revels; providing all kinds of merriment;
+keeping the card-table in an uproar, and finally opening the ball on
+the first day of the year in his spring-velvet suit, with the Jessamy
+Bride for a partner."
+
+From the reprint additions made in the British Museum large paper copy
+of Brand's "Antiquities," by the late Mr. Joseph Haslewood, and dated
+January, 1779, we quote the following verses descriptive of the
+concluding portion of the Christmas festivities at this period:--
+
+TWELFTH DAY.
+
+ Now the jovial girls and boys,
+ Struggling for the cake and plumbs,
+ Testify their eager joys,
+ And lick their fingers and their thumbs.
+
+ Statesmen like, they struggle still,
+ Scarcely hands kept out of dishes,
+ And yet, when they have had their fill,
+ Still anxious for the loaves and fishes.
+
+ Kings and Queens, in petty state,
+ Now their sovereign will declare,
+ But other sovereigns' plans they hate,
+ Full fond of peace--detesting war.
+
+ One moral from this tale appears,
+ Worth notice when a world's at stake;
+ That all our hopes and all our fears,
+ Are but a _struggling for the_ Cake.
+
+Other particulars of the
+
+
+POPULAR CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES
+
+in the latter part of the eighteenth century are gleaned from
+contemporary writers:--
+
+"At Ripon, on Christmas Eve, the grocers, send each of their customers
+a pound or half of currants and raisins to make a Christmas pudding.
+The chandlers also send large mould candles, and the coopers logs of
+wood, generally called _Yule clogs_, which are always used on
+Christmas Eve; but should it be so large as not to be all burnt that
+night, which is frequently the case, the remains are kept till old
+Christmas Eve."[80]
+
+In Sinclair's Account of Scotland, parish of Kirkden, county of Angus
+(1792), Christmas is said to be held as a great festival in the
+neighbourhood. "The servant is free from his master, and goes about
+visiting his friends and acquaintance. The poorest must have beef or
+mutton on the table, and what they call a dinner with their friends.
+Many amuse themselves with various diversions, particularly with
+shooting for prizes, called here _wad-shooting_; and many do but
+little business all the Christmas week; the evening of almost every
+day being spent in amusement." And in the account of Keith, in
+Banffshire, the inhabitants are said to "have no pastimes or holidays,
+except dancing on Christmas and New Year's Day."
+
+Boyhood's Christmas Breaking-up is thus described in a poem entitled
+"Christmas" (Bristol, 1795):--
+
+ "A school there was, within a well-known town,
+ (Bridgwater call'd), in which the boys were wont,
+ At _breaking-up_ for Christmas' lov'd recess,
+ To meet the master, on the happy morn,
+ At early hour; the custom, too, prevail'd,
+ That he who first the seminary reach'd
+ Should, instantly, perambulate the streets
+ With sounding horn, to rouse his fellows up;
+ And, as a compensation for his care,
+ His flourish'd copies, and his chapter-task,
+ Before the rest, he from the master had.
+ For many days, ere breaking-up commenced,
+ Much was the clamour, 'mongst the beardless crowd,
+ Who first would dare his well-warm'd bed forego,
+ And, round the town, with horn of ox equipp'd,
+ His schoolmates call. Great emulation glow'd
+ In all their breasts; but, when the morning came,
+ Straightway was heard, resounding through the streets,
+ The pleasing blast (more welcome far, to them,
+ Than is, to sportsmen, the delightful cry
+ Of hounds on chase), which soon together brought
+ A tribe of boys, who, thund'ring at the doors
+ Of those, their fellows, sunk in Somnus' arms,
+ Great hubbub made, and much the town alarm'd.
+ At length the gladsome, congregated throng,
+ Toward the school their willing progress bent,
+ With loud huzzas, and, crowded round the desk,
+ Where sat the master busy at his books,
+ In reg'lar order, each receiv'd his own,
+ The youngsters then, enfranchised from the school,
+ Their fav'rite sports pursued."
+
+A writer in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for February, 1795, gives the
+following account of a Christmas Eve custom at the house of Sir ----
+Holt, Bart., of Aston, near Birmingham:
+
+"As soon as supper is over, a table is set in the hall. On it is
+placed a brown loaf, with twenty silver threepences stuck on the top
+of it, a tankard of ale, with pipes and tobacco; and the two oldest
+servants have chairs behind it, to sit as judges if they please. The
+steward brings the servants, both men and women, by one at a time,
+covered with a winnow-sheet, and lays their right hand on the loaf,
+exposing no other part of the body. The oldest of the two judges
+guesses at the person, by naming a name, then the younger judge, and
+lastly the oldest again. If they hit upon the right name, the steward
+leads the person back again; but, if they do not, he takes off the
+winnow-sheet, and the person receives a threepence, makes a low
+obeisance to the judges, but speaks not a word. When the second
+servant was brought, the younger judge guessed first and third; and
+this they did alternately, till all the money was given away. Whatever
+servant had not slept in the house the preceding night forfeited his
+right to the money. No account is given of the origin of this strange
+custom, but it has been practised ever since the family lived there.
+When the money is gone, the servants have full liberty to drink,
+dance, sing, and go to bed when they please."
+
+Brand quotes the foregoing paragraph and asks: "Can this be what
+Aubrey calls the sport of 'Cob-loaf stealing'?"
+
+THE DELIGHTS OF CHRISTMAS.
+
+A New Song by R. P.
+
+(Tune--"Since Love is my Plan.")
+
+_In the Poor Soldier._
+
+ When Christmas approaches each bosom is gay,
+ That festival banishes sorrow away,
+ While Richard he kisses both Susan and Dolly,
+ When tricking the house up with ivy and holly;
+ For never as yet it was counted a crime,
+ To be merry and cherry at that happy time.
+ For never as yet, &c.
+
+ Then comes turkey and chine, with the famous roast beef,
+ Of English provisions still reckon'd the chief;
+ Roger whispers the cook-maid his wishes to crown,
+ O Dolly! pray give me a bit of the brown;
+ For never as yet it was counted a crime,
+ To be merry and cherry at that happy time.
+ For never as yet, &c.
+
+ The luscious plum-pudding does smoking appear,
+ And the charming mince pye is not far in the rear,
+ Then each licks his chops to behold such a sight,
+ But to taste it affords him superior delight;
+ For never as yet it was counted a crime,
+ To be merry and cherry at that happy time.
+ For never as yet, &c.
+
+ Now the humming October goes merrily round,
+ And each with good humour is happily crown'd,
+ The song and the dance, and the mirth-giving jest,
+ Alike without harm by each one is expressed;
+ For never as yet it was counted a crime,
+ To be merry and cherry at that happy time.
+ For never as yet, &c.
+
+ Twelfth Day next approaches, to give you delight,
+ And the sugar'd rich cake is display'd to the sight,
+ Then sloven and slut and the king and the queen,
+ Alike must be present to add to the scene;
+ For never as yet it was counted a crime,
+ To be merry and cherry at that happy time.
+ For never as yet, &c.
+
+ May each be found thus as the year circles round,
+ With mirth and good humour each Christmas be crown'd,
+ And may all who have plenty of riches in store
+ With their bountiful blessings make happy the poor;
+ For never as yet it was counted a crime,
+ To be merry and cherry at that happy time.
+ For never as yet, &c.[81]
+
+
+CHARLES LAMB ON CHRISTMAS.
+
+In his essay on "Recollections of Christ's Hospital," Charles Lamb
+thus refers to the Christmas festivities of his schoolboy days:--
+
+"Let me have leave to remember the festivities at Christmas, when the
+richest of us would club our stock to have a gaudy day, sitting round
+the fire, replenished to the height with logs, and the pennyless, and
+he that could contribute nothing, partook in all the mirth, and in
+some of the substantialities of the feasting; the carol sung by night
+at that time of the year, which, when a young boy, I have so often
+lain awake to hear from seven (the hour of going to bed) till ten when
+it was sung by the older boys and monitors, and have listened to it,
+in their rude chaunting, till I have been transported in fancy to the
+fields of Bethlehem, and the song which was sung at that season, by
+angels' voices to the shepherds."
+
+In a sonnet sent to Coleridge, in 1797, Lamb says:--
+
+ "It were unwisely done, should we refuse
+ To cheer our path, as featly as we may--
+ Our lonely path to cheer, as travellers use,
+ With merry song, quaint tale, or roundelay.
+ And we will sometimes talk past troubles o'er,
+ Of mercies shown, and all our sickness heal'd,
+ And in His judgments God remembering love:
+ And we will learn to praise God evermore,
+ For those 'glad tidings of great joy,' reveal'd
+ By that sooth messenger, sent from above."
+
+
+[Illustration: THE CHRISTMAS PLUM-PUDDING.
+(_From an old print._)]
+
+Writing to Southey, in 1798, Lamb tells the poet that Christmas is a
+"glorious theme"; and addressing his "dear old friend and absentee,"
+Mr. Manning, at Canton, on December 25, 1815, Lamb says:--"This is
+Christmas Day, 1815, with us; what it may be with you I don't know,
+the 12th of June next year perhaps; and if it should be the
+consecrated season with you, I don't see how you can keep it. You have
+no turkeys; you would not desecrate the festival by offering up a
+withered Chinese bantam, instead of the savoury grand Norfolcian
+holocaust, that smokes all around my nostrils at this moment from a
+thousand firesides. Then what puddings have you? Where will you get
+holly to stick in your churches, or churches to stick your dried
+tea-leaves (that must be the substitute) in? Come out of Babylon, O my
+friend."
+
+[Illustration: ITALIAN MINSTRELS IN LONDON, AT CHRISTMAS, 1825.
+(_From a sketch of that period._)]
+
+ "Ranged in a row, with guitars slung
+ Before them thus, they played and sung:
+ Their instruments and choral voice
+ Bid each glad guest still more rejoice;
+ And each guest wish'd again to hear
+ Their wild guitars and voices clear."[82]
+
+
+THE CHRISTMAS GAMES
+
+at the beginning of the nineteenth century include the old Christmas
+game of _Forfeits_, for every breach of the rules of which the players
+have to deposit some little article as a forfeit, to be redeemed by
+some sportive penalty, imposed by the "Crier of the Forfeits" (usually
+a bonnie lassie). The "crying of the forfeits" and paying of the
+penalties creates much merriment, particularly when a bashful youth is
+sentenced to "kiss through the fire-tongs" some beautiful romp of a
+girl, who delights playing him tricks while the room rings with
+laughter.
+
+Some of the old pastimes, however, have fallen into disuse, as, for
+instance, the once popular game of _Hot Cockles_, _Hunt the Slipper_,
+and "the vulgar game of _Post and Pair_"; but _Cards_ are still
+popular, and Snapdragon continues such Christmas merriment as is set
+forth in the following verses:--
+
+[Illustration]
+
+SNAP DRAGON.
+
+ "Here he comes with flaming bowl,
+ Don't he mean to take his toll,
+ Snip! Snap! Dragon!
+ Take care you don't take too much,
+ Be not greedy in your clutch,
+ Snip! Snap! Dragon!
+
+ With his blue and lapping tongue
+ Many of you will be stung,
+ Snip! Snap! Dragon!
+ For he snaps at all that comes
+ Snatching at his feast of plums,
+ Snip! Snap! Dragon!
+
+ But old Christmas makes him come,
+ Though he looks so fee! fa! fum!
+ Snip! Snap! Dragon!
+ Don't 'ee fear him, be but bold--
+ Out he goes, his flames are cold,
+ Snip! Snap! Dragon!"
+
+"Don't 'ee fear him, be but bold," accords with the advice of a writer
+in "Pantalogia," in 1813, who says that when the brandy in the bowl is
+set on fire, and raisins thrown into it, those who are unused to the
+sport are afraid to take out, but the raisins may be safely snatched
+by a quick motion and put blazing into the mouth, which being closed,
+the fire is at once extinguished. The game requires both courage and
+rapidity of action, and a good deal of merriment is caused by the
+unsuccessful efforts of competitors for the raisins in the flaming
+bowl.
+
+
+BLINDMAN'S BUFF.
+
+A favourite game of Christmastide, is thus described by Thomas
+Miller, in his "Sports and Pastimes of Merry England":--
+
+"The very youngest of our brothers and sisters can join in this old
+English game: and it is selfish to select only such sports as they
+cannot become sharers of. Its ancient name is 'hoodman-blind'; and
+when hoods were worn by both men and women--centuries before hats and
+caps were so common as they are now--the hood was reversed, placed
+hind-before, and was, no doubt, a much surer way of blinding the
+player than that now adopted--for we have seen Charley try to catch
+his pretty cousin Caroline, by chasing her behind chairs and into all
+sorts of corners, to our strong conviction that he was not half so
+well blinded as he ought to have been. Some said he could see through
+the black silk handkerchief; others that it ought to have been tied
+clean over his nose, for that when he looked down he could see her
+feet, wherever she moved; and Charley had often been heard to say that
+she had the prettiest foot and ankle he had ever seen. But there he
+goes, head over heels across a chair, tearing off Caroline's gown
+skirt in his fall, as he clutches it in the hope of saving himself.
+Now, that is what I call retributive justice; for she threw down the
+chair for him to stumble over, and, if he has grazed his knees, she
+suffers under a torn dress, and must retire until one of the maids
+darn up the rent. But now the mirth and glee grow 'fast and furious,'
+for hoodman blind has imprisoned three or four of the youngest boys in
+a corner, and can place his hand on whichever he likes. Into what a
+small compass they have forced themselves! But the one behind has the
+wall at his back, and, taking advantage of so good a purchase, he
+sends his three laughing companions sprawling on the floor, and is
+himself caught through their having fallen, as his shoulder is the
+first that is grasped by Blindman-buff--so that he must now submit to
+be hooded."
+
+[Illustration: BLINDMAN'S BUFF.
+(_In the last century_.)]
+
+
+THE CHRISTMAS DANCE.
+
+ "Again the ball-room is wide open thrown,
+ The oak beams festooned with the garlands gay;
+ The red dais where the fiddlers sit alone,
+ Where, flushed with pride, the good old tunes they play.
+ Strike, fiddlers, strike! we're ready for the set;
+ The young folks' feet are eager for the dance;
+ We'll trip Sir Roger and the minuet,
+ And revel in the latest games from France."[83]
+
+"Man should be called a dancing animal," said _Old Florentine_; and
+Burton, in his "Anatomy of Melancholy," says, "Young lasses are never
+better pleased than when, upon a holiday, after _even-song_, they may
+meet their sweethearts and dance." And dancing is just as popular at
+Christmas in the present day, as it was in that mediaeval age when
+(according to William of Malmesbury) the priest Rathbertus, being
+disturbed at his Christmas mass by young men and women dancing outside
+the church, prayed God and St. Magnus that they might continue to
+dance for a whole year without cessation--a prayer which the old
+chronicler gravely assures us was answered.
+
+[Illustration: THE CHRISTMAS DANCE.]
+
+
+CHRISTMAS EVE IN THE OLDEN TIME.
+
+ And well our Christian sires of old
+ Loved when the year its course had roll'd,
+ And brought blithe Christmas back again,
+ With all his hospitable train.
+ Domestic and religious rite
+ Gave honour to the holy night:
+
+ On Christmas Eve the bells were rung;
+ On Christmas Eve the mass was sung:
+ That only night in all the year,
+ Saw the stoled priest the chalice rear.
+ The damsel donn'd her kirtle sheen;
+ The hall was dress'd with holly green;
+ Forth to the wood did merry-men go,
+ To gather in the mistletoe.
+ Then open'd wide the Baron's hall
+ To vassal, tenant, serf, and all;
+ Power laid his rod of rule aside,
+ And Ceremony doffed his pride.
+ The heir, with roses in his shoes,
+ That night might village partner choose.
+ The lord, underogating, share
+ The vulgar game of "post and pair."
+
+ All hail'd, with uncontroll'd delight,
+ And general voice, the happy night
+ That to the cottage, as the crown,
+ Brought tidings of salvation down!
+
+ The fire, with well-dried logs supplied,
+ Went roaring up the chimney wide;
+ The huge hall-table's oaken face,
+ Scrubb'd till it shone, the day to grace
+ Bore then upon its massive board
+ No mark to part the squire and lord.
+
+ Then was brought in the lusty brawn
+ By old blue-coated serving man;
+ Then the grim boar's-head frowned on high,
+ Crested with bays and rosemary.
+ Well can the green-garbed ranger tell
+ How, when, and where the monster fell;
+ What dogs before his death he tore,
+ And all the baiting of the boar.
+ The wassail round in good brown bowls,
+ Garnish'd with ribbons, blithely trowls.
+ There the huge sirloin reek'd; hard by
+ Plum-porridge stood, and Christmas-pye;
+ Nor fail'd old Scotland to produce,
+ At such high tide, her savoury goose.
+ Then came the merry masquers in,
+ And carols roar'd with blithesome din
+ If unmelodious was the song,
+ It was a hearty note, and strong.
+ Who lists may in their mumming see
+ Traces of ancient mystery;
+ White shirts supplied the masquerade,
+ And smutted cheeks the visors made;
+ But oh! what masquers, richly dight,
+ Can boast of bosoms half so light!
+ England was merry England when
+ Old Christmas brought his sports again.
+ 'Twas Christmas broached the mightiest ale,
+ 'Twas Christmas told the merriest tale;
+ A Christmas gambol oft could cheer
+ The poor man's heart through half the year.
+
+ SIR WALTER SCOTT, 1808.
+
+Lyson's "Magna Britannia" (1813) states the following as an
+
+
+OLD ENGLISH CUSTOM.
+
+"At Cumnor the parishioners, who paid vicarial tithes, claimed a
+custom of being entertained at the vicarage on the afternoon of
+Christmas Day, with four bushels of malt brewed into ale and beer, two
+bushels of wheat made into bread, and half a hundred weight of cheese.
+The remainder was given to the poor the next morning after divine
+service."
+
+Mason ("Statistical Account of Ireland," 1814) records the following
+
+IRISH CHRISTMAS CUSTOMS:--
+
+"At Culdaff, previous to Christmas, it is customary with the labouring
+classes to raffle for mutton, when a sufficient number can subscribe
+to defray the cost of a sheep. During the Christmas holidays they
+amuse themselves with a game of kamman, which consists in impelling a
+wooden ball with a crooked stick to a given point, while an adversary
+endeavours to drive it in a contrary direction."
+
+YORKSHIRE.
+
+A writer in "Time's Telescope" (1822) states that in Yorkshire at
+eight o'clock on Christmas Eve the bells greet "Old Father Christmas"
+with a merry peal, the children parade the streets with drums,
+trumpets, bells, or perhaps, in their absence, with the poker and
+shovel, taken from their humble cottage fire; the yule candle is
+lighted, and--
+
+ "High on the cheerful fire
+ Is blazing seen th' enormous Christmas brand."
+
+Supper is served, of which one dish, from the lordly mansion to the
+humblest shed, is invariably furmety; yule cake, one of which is
+always made for each individual in the family, and other more
+substantial viands are also added.
+
+
+SOME SOCIAL FESTIVITIES
+
+of Christmastide are sketched by a contributor to the _New Monthly
+Magazine_, December 1, 1825, who says:--
+
+"On the north side of the church at M. are a great many holly-trees.
+It is from these that our dining and bed-rooms are furnished with
+boughs. Families take it by turns to entertain their friends. They
+meet early; the beef and pudding are noble; the mince-pies--peculiar;
+the nuts half play-things and half-eatables; the oranges as cold and
+acid as they ought to be, furnishing us with a superfluity which we
+can afford to laugh at; the cakes indestructible; the wassail bowls
+generous, old English, huge, demanding ladles, threatening overflow as
+they come in, solid with roasted apples when set down. Towards
+bed-time you hear of elder-wine, and not seldom of punch. At the
+manorhouse it is pretty much the same as elsewhere. Girls, although
+they be ladies, are kissed under the mistletoe. If any family among us
+happen to have hit upon an exquisite brewing, they send some of it
+round about, the squire's house included; and he does the same by the
+rest. Riddles, hot-cockles, forfeits, music, dances sudden and not to
+be suppressed, prevail among great and small; and from two o'clock in
+the day to midnight, M. looks like a deserted place out of doors, but
+is full of life and merriment within. Playing at knights and ladies
+last year, a jade of a charming creature must needs send me out for a
+piece of ice to put in her wine. It was evening and a hard frost. I
+shall never forget the cold, cutting, dreary, dead look of every thing
+out of doors, with a wind through the wiry trees, and the snow on the
+ground, contrasted with the sudden return to warmth, light, and
+joviality.
+
+"I remember we had a discussion that time as to what was the great
+point and crowning glory of Christmas. Many were for mince-pie; some
+for the beef and plum-pudding; more for the wassail-bowl; a maiden
+lady timidly said the mistletoe; but we agreed at last, that although
+all these were prodigious, and some of them exclusively belonging to
+the season, the _fire_ was the great indispensable. Upon which we all
+turned our faces towards it, and began warming our already scorched
+hands. A great blazing fire, too big, is the visible heart and soul
+of Christmas. You may do without beef and plum-pudding; even the
+absence of mince-pie may be tolerated; there must be a bowl,
+poetically speaking, but it need not be absolutely wassail. The bowl
+may give place to the bottle. But a huge, heaped-up, _over_ heaped-up,
+all-attracting fire, with a semicircle of faces about it, is not to be
+denied us. It is the _lar_ and genius of the meeting; the proof
+positive of the season; the representative of all our warm emotions
+and bright thoughts; the glorious eye of the room; the inciter to
+mirth, yet the retainer of order; the amalgamater of the age and sex;
+the universal relish. Tastes may differ even on a mince-pie; but who
+gainsays a fire? The absence of other luxuries still leaves you in
+possession of that; but
+
+ 'Who can hold a fire in his hand
+ With thinking on the frostiest twelfth-cake?'
+
+"Let me have a dinner of some sort, no matter what, and then give me
+my fire, and my friends, the humblest glass of wine, and a few
+penn'orths of chestnuts, and I will still make out my Christmas. What!
+Have we not Burgundy in our blood? Have we not joke, laughter,
+repartee, bright eyes, comedies of other people, and comedies of our
+own; songs, memories, hopes? [An organ strikes up in the street at
+this word, as if to answer me in the affirmative. Right thou old
+spirit of harmony, wandering about in that ark of thine, and touching
+the public ear with sweetness and an abstraction! Let the multitude
+bustle on, but not unarrested by thee and by others, and not
+unreminded of the happiness of renewing a wise childhood.] As to our
+old friends the chestnuts, if anybody wants an excuse to his dignity
+for roasting them, let him take the authority of Milton. 'Who now,'
+says he lamenting the loss of his friend Deodati,--'who now will help
+to soothe my cares for me, and make the long night seem short with his
+conversation; while the roasting pear hisses tenderly on the fire, and
+the nuts burst away with a noise,--
+
+ 'And out of doors a washing storm o'erwhelms
+ Nature pitch-dark, and rides the thundering elms?'"
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+CHRISTMAS IN THE HIGHLANDS.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+From Grant's "Popular Superstitions of the Highlands" Hone gathered
+the following account:--
+
+"As soon as the brightening glow of the eastern sky warns the anxious
+house-maid of the approach of Christmas Day, she rises full of
+anxiety at the prospect of her morning labours. The meal, which was
+steeped in the _sowans-bowie_ a fortnight ago, to make the
+_Prechdachdan sour_, or _sour scones_, is the first object of her
+attention. The gridiron is put on the fire, and the sour scones are
+soon followed by hard cakes, soft cakes, buttered cakes, brandered
+bannocks, and pannich perm. The baking being once over, the sowans pot
+succeeds the gridiron, full of new sowans, which are to be given to
+the family, agreeably to custom, this day in their beds. The
+sowans are boiled into the consistence of molasses, when the
+_Lagan-le-vrich_, or yeast bread, to distinguish it from boiled
+sowans, is ready. It is then poured into as many bickers as there are
+individuals to partake of it, and presently served to the whole, old
+and young. It would suit well the pen of a Burns, or the pencil of a
+Hogarth, to paint the scene which follows. The ambrosial food is
+despatched in aspiring draughts by the family, who soon give evident
+proofs of the enlivening effects of the _Lagan-le-vrich_. As soon as
+each despatches his bicker, he jumps out of bed--the elder branches to
+examine the ominous signs of the day,[84] and the younger to enter on
+its amusements. Flocking to the swing, a favourite amusement on this
+occasion, the youngest of the family get the first '_shoulder_,' and
+the next oldest in regular succession. In order to add the more to the
+spirit of the exercise, it is a common practice with the person in the
+_swing_, and the person appointed to swing him, to enter into a very
+warm and humorous altercation. As the swinged person approaches the
+swinger, he exclaims, _Ei mi tu chal_, 'I'll eat your kail.' To this
+the swinger replies, with a violent shove, _Cha ni u mu chal_, 'You
+shan't eat my kail.' These threats and repulses are sometimes carried
+to such a height, as to break down or capsize the threatener, which
+generally puts an end to the quarrel.
+
+"As the day advances, those minor amusements are terminated at the
+report of the gun, or the rattle of the ball clubs--the gun inviting
+the marksman to the '_Kiavamuchd_,' or prize-shooting, and the latter
+to '_Luchd-vouil_,' or the ball combatants--both the principal sports
+of the day. Tired at length of the active amusements of the field,
+they exchange them for the substantial entertainments of the table.
+Groaning under the '_sonsy haggis_,'[85] and many other savoury
+dainties, unseen for twelve months before, the relish communicated to
+the company, by the appearance of the festive board, is more easily
+conceived than described. The dinner once despatched, the flowing bowl
+succeeds, and the sparkling glass flies to and fro like a weaver's
+shuttle. As it continues its rounds, the spirits of the company become
+more jovial and happy. Animated by its cheering influence, even old
+decrepitude no longer feels his habitual pains--the fire of youth is
+in his eye, as he details to the company the exploits which
+distinguished him in the days of '_auld langsyne_;' while the young,
+with hearts inflamed with '_love and glory_,' long to mingle in the
+more lively scenes of mirth, to display their prowess and agility.
+Leaving the patriarchs to finish those professions of friendship for
+each other, in which they are so devoutly engaged, the younger part of
+the company will shape their course to the ball-room, or the
+card-table, as their individual inclinations suggest; and the
+remainder of the evening is spent with the greatest pleasure of which
+human nature is susceptible."
+
+
+SWORD DANCING AT CHRISTMAS.
+
+Hone's "Table Book" (vol. i.), 1827, contains a letter descriptive of
+the pitmen of Northumberland, which says:--
+
+"The ancient custom of sword-dancing at Christmas is kept up in
+Northumberland exclusively by these people. They may be constantly
+seen at that festive season with their fiddler, bands of swordsmen,
+Tommy and Bessy, most grotesquely dressed, performing their annual
+routine of warlike evolutions."
+
+And the present writer heard of similar festivities at Christmastide
+in the Madeley district of Shropshire, accompanied by grotesque
+imitations of the ancient hobby-horse.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+CUMBERLAND.
+
+"A. W. R.," writing to Hone's "Year Book," December 8,
+1827, says:--
+
+"Nowhere does the Christmas season produce more heart-inspiring
+mirth than among the inhabitants of Cumberland.
+
+"With Christmas Eve commences a regular series of 'festivities and
+merry makings.' Night after night, if you want the farmer or his
+family, you must look for them anywhere but at home; and in the
+different houses that you pass at one, two, or three in the morning,
+should you happen to be out so late, you will find candles and fires
+still unextinguished. At Christmas, every farmer gives two 'feasts,'
+one called 't' ould foaks neet,' which is for those who are married,
+and the other 't' young foaks neet,' for those who are single. Suppose
+you and I, sir, take the liberty of attending one of these feasts
+unasked (which by the bye is considered no liberty at all in
+Cumberland) and see what is going on. Upon entering the room we behold
+several card parties, some at 'whist,' others at 'loo' (there called
+'lant'), or any other game that may suit their fancy. You will be
+surprised on looking over the company to find that there is no
+distinction of persons. Masters and servants, rich and poor, humble
+and lofty, all mingle together without restraint--all cares are
+forgotten--and each one seems to glory in his own enjoyment and in
+that of his fellow-creatures. It is pleasant to find ourselves in such
+society, especially as it is rarely in one's life that such
+opportunities offer. Cast your eyes towards the sideboard, and there
+see that large bowl of punch, which the good wife is inviting her
+guests to partake of, with apples, oranges, biscuits, and other
+agreeable eatables in plenty. The hospitable master welcomes us with a
+smiling countenance and requests us to take seats and join one of the
+tables.
+
+"In due time some one enters to tell the company that supper is
+waiting in the next room. Thither we adjourn, and find the raised and
+mince pies, all sorts of tarts, and all cold--except the welcomes and
+entreaties--with cream, ale, &c., in abundance; in the midst of all a
+large goose pie, which seems to say 'Come and cut again.'
+
+"After supper the party return to the card room, sit there for two or
+three hours longer, and afterwards make the best of their way home, to
+take a good long nap, and prepare for the same scene the next night.
+At these 'feasts' intoxication is entirely out of the question--it
+never happens.
+
+"Such are the innocent amusements of these people."
+
+ "With gentle deeds and kindly thoughts,
+ And loving words withal,
+ Welcome the merry Christmas in
+ And hear a brother's call."[86]
+
+
+PROVISION FOR THE POOR ON CHRISTMAS DAY.
+
+[Illustration: THE GIVING AWAY OF CHRISTMAS DOLES.]
+
+By the will of John Popple, dated the 12th of March, 1830, L4 yearly
+is to be paid unto the vicar, churchwardens, and overseers of the poor
+of the parish of Burnham, Buckinghamshire, to provide for the poor
+people who should be residing in the poorhouse, a dinner, with a
+proper quantity of good ale and likewise with tobacco and snuff on
+Christmas Day.[87]
+
+This kindly provision of Mr. Popple for the poor shows that he wished
+to keep up the good old Christmas customs which are so much admired by
+the "old man" in Southey's "The Old Mansion" (a poem of this period).
+In recalling the good doings at the mansion "in my lady's time" the
+"old man" says:--
+
+ "A woful day
+ 'Twas for the poor when to her grave she went!
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ Were they sick?
+ She had rare cordial waters, and for herbs
+ She could have taught the doctors. Then at winter,
+ When weekly she distributed the bread
+ In the poor old porch, to see her and to hear
+ The blessings on her! And I warrant them
+ They were a blessing to her when her wealth
+ Had been no comfort else. At Christmas, sir!
+ It would have warmed your heart if you had seen
+ Her Christmas kitchen; how the blazing fire
+ Made her fine pewter shine, and holly boughs
+ So cheerful red; and as for mistletoe,
+ The finest bough that grew in the country round
+ Was mark'd for madam. Then her old ale went
+ So bountiful about! a Christmas cask,--
+ And 'twas a noble one!--God help me, sir!
+ But I shall never see such days again."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+THE ROYAL CHRISTMASES
+
+In the reigns of George IV. and William IV., though not kept with the
+grandeur of earlier reigns, were observed with much rejoicing and
+festivity, and the Royal Bounties to the poor of the metropolis and
+the country districts surrounding Windsor and the other Royal Palaces
+were dispensed with the customary generosity. In his "Sketch Book,"
+Washington Irving, who was born in the reign of George III. (1783),
+and lived on through the reigns of George IV., and William IV., and
+the first two decades of the reign of Queen Victoria, gives delightful
+descriptions of the
+
+
+FESTIVITIES OF THE NOBILITY AND GENTRY
+
+of the period, recalling the times when the old halls of castles and
+manor houses resounded with the harp and the Christmas Carol and their
+ample boards groaned under the weight of hospitality. He had travelled
+a good deal on both sides of the Atlantic and he gives a picturesque
+account of an old English stage coach journey "on the day preceding
+Christmas." The coach was crowded with passengers. "It was also loaded
+with hampers of game, and baskets and boxes of delicacies; and hares
+hung dangling their long ears about the coachman's box, presents from
+distant friends for the impending feast. I had three fine rosy-cheeked
+schoolboys for my fellow-passengers inside, full of the buxom health
+and manly spirit which I have observed in the children of this
+country. They were returning home for the holidays in high glee, and
+promising themselves a world of enjoyment. It was delightful to hear
+the gigantic plans of the little rogues, and the impracticable feats
+they were to perform during their six weeks' emancipation from the
+abhorred thraldom of book, birch, and pedagogue."
+
+Then follows Irving's graphic sketch of the English stage coachman,
+and the incidents of the journey, during which it seemed "as if
+everybody was in good looks and good spirits.
+
+"Game, poultry, and other luxuries of the table, were in brisk
+circulation in the villages; the grocers,' butchers,' and fruiterers'
+shops were thronged with customers. The house-wives were stirring
+briskly about, putting their dwellings in order; and the glossy
+branches of holly, with their bright red berries, began to appear at
+the windows."
+
+* * * * *
+
+"In the evening we reached a village where I had determined to pass
+the night. As we drove into the great gateway of the inn, I saw on one
+side the light of a rousing kitchen fire beaming through a window. I
+entered, and admired, for the hundredth time, that picture of
+convenience, neatness, and broad, honest enjoyment, the kitchen of an
+English inn. It was of spacious dimensions, hung round with copper and
+tin vessels highly polished, and decorated here and there with a
+Christmas green.... The scene completely realised poor Robin's [1684]
+humble idea of the comforts of mid-winter:
+
+ 'Now trees their leafy hats do bare
+ To reverence winter's silver hair;
+ A handsome hostess, merry host,
+ A pot of ale now and a toast,
+ Tobacco and a good coal fire,
+ Are things this season doth require.'"
+
+Mr. Irving afterwards depicts, in his own graphic style, the Christmas
+festivities observed at an old-fashioned English hall, and tells how
+the generous squire pointed with pleasure to the indications of good
+cheer reeking from the chimneys of the comfortable farmhouses, and low
+thatched cottages. "I love," said he, "to see this day well kept by
+rich and poor; it is a great thing to have one day in the year, at
+least, when you are sure of being welcome wherever you go, and of
+having, as it were, the world all thrown open to you; and I am almost
+disposed to join with poor Robin, in his malediction on every churlish
+enemy to this honest festival:
+
+ "'Those who at Christmas do repine,
+ And would fain hence despatch him,
+ May they with old Duke Humphry dine,
+ Or else may Squire Ketch catch 'em.'
+
+"The squire went on to lament the deplorable decay of the games and
+amusements which were once prevalent at this season among the lower
+orders, and countenanced by the higher; when the old halls of castles
+and manor-houses were thrown open at daylight; when the tables were
+covered with brawn, and beef, and humming ale; when the harp and the
+carol resounded all day long, and when rich and poor were alike
+welcome to enter and make merry. 'Our old games and local customs,'
+said he, 'had a great effect in making the peasant fond of his home,
+and the promotion of them by the gentry made him fond of his lord.
+They made the times merrier, and kinder and better; and I can truly
+say with one of our old poets:
+
+ "'I like them well--the curious preciseness
+ And all-pretended gravity of those
+ That seek to banish hence these harmless sports,
+ Have thrust away much ancient honesty.'"
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+THE CHRISTMASES OF QUEEN VICTORIA
+
+have been kept with much bountifulness, but after the gracious manner
+of a Christian Queen who cares more for the welfare of her beloved
+subjects than for ostentatious display. Her Majesty's Royal bounties
+to the poor of the metropolis and its environs, and also to others in
+the country districts surrounding the several Royal Palaces are well
+known, the ancient Christmas and New Year's gifts being dispensed with
+great generosity. The number of aged and afflicted persons usually
+relieved by the Lord High Almoner in sums of 5s. and 13s. exceeds an
+aggregate of 1,200. Then there is the distribution of the beef--a most
+interesting feature of the Royal Bounty--which takes place in the
+Riding School at Windsor Castle, under the superintendence of the
+several Court officials. The meat, divided into portions of from three
+pounds to seven pounds, and decorated with sprigs of holly, is
+arranged upon a table placed in the middle of the Riding School, and
+covered with white cloths from the Lord Steward's department of the
+palace. During the distribution the bells of St. John's Church ring a
+merry peal. There are usually many hundreds of recipients and the
+weight of the beef allotted amounts to many thousands of pounds. Coals
+and clothing and other creature comforts are liberally dispensed,
+according to the needs of the poor. In times of war and seasons of
+distress hospitable entertainments, Christmas-trees, &c., are also
+provided for the wives and children of soldiers and sailors on active
+service; and in many other ways the Royal Bounty is extended to the
+poor and needy at Christmastide.
+
+
+THE CHRISTMAS AT WINDSOR CASTLE, IN 1841,
+
+is thus referred to in the "Life of the Prince Consort" (by Theodore
+Martin):--
+
+"When Christmas came round with its pleasant festivities and its
+shining Christmas-trees, it had within it a new source of delight for
+the Royal parents. 'To think,' says the Queen's 'Journal,' 'that we
+have two children now, and one who enjoys the sight already, is like a
+dream!' And in writing to his father the Prince expresses the same
+feeling. 'This,' he says, 'is the dear Christmas Eve, on which I have
+so often listened with impatience for your step, which was to usher us
+into the present-room. To-day I have two children of my own to give
+presents to, who, they know not why, are full of happy wonder at the
+German Christmas-tree and its radiant candles.'
+
+"The coming year was danced into in good old English fashion. In the
+middle of the dance, as the clock finished striking twelve, a flourish
+of trumpets was blown, in accordance with a German custom. This, the
+Queen's 'Journal' records, 'had a fine solemn effect, and quite
+affected dear Albert, who turned pale, and had tears in his eyes, and
+pressed my hand very warmly. It touched me too, for I felt that he
+must think of his dear native country, which he has left for me.'"
+
+
+CHRISTMAS AT OSBORNE.
+
+Writing from Cowes, on Christmas Eve, in reference to the Christmas
+festivities at Osborne in the last decade of the nineteenth century, a
+correspondent says:--
+
+"After transacting business the Queen drove out this afternoon,
+returning to Osborne just as the setting sun illumines with its rosy
+rays the Paladin Towers of her Majesty's marine residence. The Queen
+desires to live, as far as the cares of State permit, the life of a
+private lady. Her Majesty loves the seclusion of this lordly estate,
+and here at Christmas time she enjoys the society of her children and
+grandchildren, who meet together as less exalted families do at this
+merry season to reciprocate the same homely delights as those which
+are experienced throughout the land.
+
+"This afternoon a pleasant little festivity has been celebrated at
+Osborne House, where her Majesty, with an ever-kindly interest in her
+servants and dependants, has for many years inaugurated Christmas in a
+similar way, the children of her tenantry and the old and infirm
+enjoying by the Royal bounty the first taste of Christmas fare. The
+Osborne estate now comprises 5,000 acres, and it includes the Prince
+Consort's model farm. The children of the labourers--who are housed in
+excellent cottages--attend the Whippingham National Schools, a pretty
+block of buildings, distant one mile from Osborne. About half the
+number of scholars live upon the Queen's estate, and, in accordance
+with annual custom, the mistresses of the schools, the Misses Thomas,
+accompanied by the staff of teachers, have conducted a little band of
+boys and girls--fifty-four in all--to the house, there to take tea and
+to receive the customary Christmas gifts. Until very recently the
+Queen herself presided at the distribution; but the Princess Beatrice
+has lately relieved her mother of the fatigue involved; for the
+ceremony is no mere formality, it is made the occasion of many a
+kindly word the remembrance of which far outlasts the gifts. All sorts
+of rumours are current on the estate for weeks before this Christmas
+Eve gathering as to the nature of the presents to be bestowed, for no
+one is supposed to know beforehand what they will be; but there was a
+pretty shrewd guess to-day that the boys would be given gloves, and
+the girls cloaks. In some cases the former had had scarves or cloth
+for suits, and the latter dresses or shawls. Whatever the Christmas
+presents may be, here they are, arranged upon tables in two long
+lines, in the servants' hall. To this holly-decorated apartment the
+expectant youngsters are brought, and their delighted gaze falls upon
+a huge Christmas-tree laden with beautiful toys. Everybody knows that
+the tree will be there, and moreover that its summit will be crowned
+with a splendid doll. Now, the ultimate ownership of this doll is a
+matter of much concern; it needs deliberation, as it is awarded to the
+best child, and the judges are the children themselves. The trophy is
+handed to the keeping of Miss Thomas, and on the next 1st of May the
+children select by their votes the most popular girl in the school to
+be elected May Queen. To her the gift goes, and no fairer way could be
+devised. The Princess Beatrice always makes a point of knowing to whom
+the prize has been awarded. Her Royal Highness is so constantly a
+visitor to the cottagers and to the school that she has many an
+inquiry to make of the little ones as they come forward to receive
+their gifts.
+
+"The girls are called up first by the mistress, and Mr. Andrew Blake,
+the steward, introduces each child to the Princess Beatrice, to whom
+Mr. Blake hands the presents that her Royal Highness may bestow them
+upon the recipients with a word of good will, which makes the day
+memorable. Then the boys are summoned to participate in the
+distribution of good things, which, it should be explained, consist
+not only of seasonable and sensible clothing, but toys from the tree,
+presented by the Queen's grandchildren, who, with their parents, grace
+the ceremony with their presence and make the occasion one of family
+interest. The Ladies-in-Waiting also attend. Each boy and girl gets in
+addition a nicely-bound story-book and a large slice of plum pudding
+neatly packed in paper, and if any little one is sick at home its
+portion is carefully reserved. But the hospitality of the Queen is not
+limited to the children. On alternate years the old men and women
+resident on the estate are given, under the same pleasant auspices,
+presents of blankets or clothing. To-day it was the turn of the men,
+and they received tweed for suits. The aged people have their pudding
+as well. For the farm labourers and boys, who are not bidden to this
+entertainment, there is a distribution of tickets, each representing a
+goodly joint of beef for the Christmas dinner. The festivity this
+afternoon was brought to a close by the children singing the National
+Anthem in the courtyard.
+
+"The Queen is accustomed to spend Christmas Day very quietly,
+attending service at the Chapel at Osborne in the morning, and in the
+evening the Royal family meeting at dinner. There are Christmas trees
+for the children, and for the servants too, but the houshold reserves
+its principal festivity for the New Year--a day which is specially set
+aside for their entertainment."
+
+
+THE CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES AT SANDRINGHAM
+
+are observed with generous hospitality by their Royal Highnesses the
+Prince and Princess of Wales, who take special interest in the
+enjoyment of their tenants, and also remember the poor. A
+time-honoured custom on Christmas Eve is the distribution of prime
+joints of meat to the labourers employed on the Royal estate, and to
+the poor of the five parishes of Sandringham, West Newton, Babingley,
+Dersingham, and Wolferton. From twelve to fifteen hundred pounds of
+meat are usually distributed, and such other gifts are made as the
+inclemency of the season and the necessities of the poor require. In
+Sandringham "Past and Present," 1888, Mrs. Herbert Jones
+says:--"Sandringham, which is the centre of a generous hospitality,
+has not only been in every way raised, benefited, and enriched since
+it passed into the royal hands, which may be said to have created it
+afresh, but rests under the happy glow shed over it by the preference
+of a princess
+
+ "'Whose peerless feature joined with her birth,
+ Approve her fit for none but for a king.'
+ Shakespeare's _Henry VI_."
+
+The Christmas Generosity of the late Duke of Edinburgh.
+
+In a letter to the press a lieutenant of Marines makes the following
+reference to a Christmas entertainment given by H.R.H. the Duke of
+Edinburgh, in 1886: "Last night a large party, consisting of many
+officers of the Fleet, including all the 'old ships' of the Duke, and
+three or four midshipmen from every ship in the Fleet, were invited to
+a Christmas-tree at S. Antonio Palace. In the course of the evening
+two lotteries were drawn, all the numbers being prizes, each guest
+consequently getting two. I have had an opportunity of seeing many of
+these, and they are all most beautiful and useful objects, ranging in
+value from five shillings to perhaps three or four pounds. I should
+think that at least half the prizes I have seen were worth over one
+pound."
+
+
+OTHER SEASONABLE HOSPITALITY AND BENEVOLENCE.
+
+The good example set by royalty is followed throughout the land.
+Friendly hospitalities are general at Christmastide, and in London and
+other large centres of population many thousands of poor people are
+provided with free breakfasts, dinners, teas, and suppers on Christmas
+Day, public halls and school-rooms being utilised for purposes of
+entertainment; children in hospitals are plentifully supplied with
+toys, and Christmas parties are also given to the poor at the private
+residences of benevolent people. As an illustrative instance of
+generous Christmas hospitality by a landowner we cite the following:--
+
+
+CHRISTMAS DINNER TO FIVE THOUSAND POOR.
+
+On Christmas Eve, 1887, Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, Bart., the largest
+landowner in the Principality of Wales, gave his annual Christmas
+gifts to the aged and deserving poor throughout the extensive mining
+districts of Ruabon, Rhosllanerchrugog, Cern, and Rhosymedre,
+Denbighshire, where much distress prevailed in consequence of the
+depression in trade. Several fine oxen were slain in Wynnstay Park,
+and the beef was distributed in pieces ranging from 4lb. to 7lb.,
+according to the number of members in each family. A Christmas dinner
+was thus provided for upwards of 5,000 persons. In addition to this,
+Lady Williams Wynn provided thousands of yards of flannel and cloth
+for clothing, together with a large number of blankets, the aged men
+and women also receiving a shilling with the gift. The hon. baronet
+had also erected an elaborate spacious hospital to the memory of his
+uncle, the late Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, M.P., and presented it to
+the parish.
+
+
+DISTRIBUTIONS OF CHRISTMAS FARE TO THE POOR
+
+are liberally made from various centres in different parts of London,
+and thus many thousands of those who have fallen below the poverty
+line share in the festivities of Christmastide.
+
+This illustration of Christian caterers dispensing creature comforts
+to the poor children may be taken as representative of many such
+Christmas scenes in the metropolis. For over forty years the St.
+Giles' Christian Mission, now under the superintendence of Mr. W. M.
+Wheatley, has been exercising a beneficial influence among the needy
+poor, and, it is stated, that at least 104,000 people have through
+this Mission been enabled to make a fresh start in life. Many other
+Church Missions are doing similar work. In addition to treats to poor
+children and aged people at Christmastide, there are also great
+distributions of Christmas fare:--Joints of roasting meat,
+plum-puddings, cakes, groceries, warm clothing, toys, &c., &c.
+
+[Illustration: POOR CHILDREN'S TREAT IN MODERN TIMES.]
+
+At a recent distribution of a Christmas charity at Millbrook,
+Southampton, the Rev. A. C. Blunt stated that one of the recipients
+had nearly reached her 102nd year. She was born in Hampshire, and down
+to a very recent period had been able to do needlework.
+
+In many cities and towns Christmas gifts are distributed on St.
+Thomas's Day, and as an example we cite the Brighton distribution in
+1886, on which occasion the Brighton Police Court was filled by a
+congregation of some of the "oldest inhabitants." And there was a
+distribution from the magistrates poor-box of a Christmas gift of half
+a sovereign to 150 of the aged poor whose claims to the bounty had
+been inquired into by the police. Formerly 100 used to be cheered in
+this way, but the contributions to the box this year enabled a wider
+circle to share in the dole. There was a wonderful collection of old
+people, for the average age was over 83 years. The oldest was a
+venerable widow, who confessed to being 96 years old, the next was
+another lady of 94 years, and then came two old fellows who had each
+attained 93 years. Many of the recipients were too infirm to appear,
+but the oldest of them all, the lady of 96 came into court despite the
+sharpness of the wind and the frozen roads.
+
+
+THE CHRISTMAS AT BELVOIR CASTLE,
+
+kept with generous liberality by the Duke of Rutland, in 1883, may be
+cited as an example of Christmas customs continued by the head of a
+noble house:
+
+"The usual Christmas gifts were given to the poor of Knipton,
+Woolsthorpe, and Redmile--nearly two hundred in number--consisting of
+calico, flannel dresses, stockings, and handkerchiefs, each person at
+the same time receiving a loaf of bread and a pint of ale. Twenty-one
+bales of goods, containing counterpanes, blankets, and sheets, were
+also sent to the clergy of as many different villages for distribution
+amongst the poor. The servants at the Castle and workmen of the
+establishment had their Christmas dinner, tea, and supper, the servants'
+hall having been beautifully decorated. At one end of the room was a
+coronet, with the letter 'R'; and at the opposite end three coronets,
+with the 'peacock in pride,' being the crest of the Rutland family.
+The following mottoes, in large letters, were conspicuous, 'Long live
+the Duke of Rutland,' 'Long live Lord and Lady John Manners and
+family,' and 'A Merry Christmas to you all.' These were enclosed in a
+neat border. From the top of the room were suspended long festoons of
+linked ribbons of red, white, blue, and orange. All present thoroughly
+enjoyed themselves, as it was the wish of his Grace they should do."
+
+Similar hospitalities are dispensed by other noblemen and gentlemen in
+different parts of the country at Christmas.
+
+* * * * *
+
+The lordly hospitality of Lincolnshire is depicted in
+
+
+"THE BARON'S YULE FEAST:
+
+A Christmas Rhyme; by Thomas Cooper, the Chartist" (1846); which is
+inscribed to the Countess of Blessington, and in the advertisement the
+author offers "but one apology for the production of a metrical essay,
+composed chiefly of imperfect and immature pieces: The ambition to
+contribute towards the fund of Christmas entertainment." The scene of
+the Baron's Yule Feast is depicted in Torksey's Hall, Torksey being
+one of the first towns in Lincolnshire in the Saxon period. After some
+introductory verses the writer says:
+
+ "It is the season when our sires
+ Kept jocund holiday;
+ And, now, around our charier fires,
+ Old Yule shall have a lay:--
+ A prison-bard is once more free;
+ And, ere he yields his voice to thee,
+ His song a merry-song shall be!
+
+ Sir Wilfrid de Thorold freely holds
+ What his stout sires held before--
+ Broad lands for plough and fruitful folds,--
+ Though by gold he sets no store;
+ And he saith, from fen and woodland wolds
+ From marish, heath, and moor,--
+ To feast in his hall
+ Both free and thrall,
+ Shall come as they came of yore.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ Now merrily ring the lady-bells
+ Of the nunnery by the Fosse:--
+ Say the hinds their silver music swells
+ 'Like the blessed angels' syllables,
+ At His birth who bore the cross.'
+
+ And solemnly swells Saint Leonard's chime
+ And the great bell loud and deep:--
+ Say the gossips, 'Let's talk of the holy time
+ When the shepherds watched their sheep;
+ And the Babe was born for all souls' crime
+ In the weakness of flesh to weep.'--
+ But, anon, shrills the pipe of the merry mime
+ And their simple hearts upleap.
+
+ 'God save your souls, good Christian folk!
+ God save your souls from sin!--
+ Blythe Yule is come--let us blythely joke!'--
+ Cry the mummers ere they begin.
+
+ Then, plough-boy Jack, in kirtle gay,--
+ Though shod with clouted shoon,--
+ Stands forth the wilful maid to play
+ Who ever saith to her lover, 'Nay'--
+ When he sues for a lover's boon.
+
+ While Hob the smith with sturdy arm
+ Circleth the feigned maid;
+ And, spite of Jack's assumed alarm,
+ Busseth his lips, like a lover warm,
+ And will not 'Nay' be said
+
+ Then loffe the gossips, as if wit
+ Were mingled with the joke:
+ Gentles,--they were with folly smit,--
+ Natheless, their memories acquit
+ Of crime--these simple folk!
+
+ No harmful thoughts their revels blight,--
+ Devoid of bitter hate and spite,
+ They hold their merriment;--
+ And, till the chimes tell noon at night,
+ Their joy shall be unspent!
+
+ Come haste ye to bold Thorold's hall,
+ And crowd his kitchen wide;
+ For there, he saith, both free and thrall
+ Shall sport this good Yule-tide."
+
+In subsequent verses the writer depicts the bringing in of the yule
+log to the Baron's Hall,
+
+ "Where its brave old heart
+ A glow shall impart
+ To the heart of each guest at the festival.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ They pile the Yule-log on the hearth,--
+ Soak toasted crabs in ale;
+ And while they sip, their homely mirth
+ Is joyous as if all the earth
+ For man were void of bale!
+
+ And why should fears for future years,
+ Mix jolly ale with thoughts of tears
+ When in the horn 'tis poured?
+ And why should ghost of sorrow fright
+ The bold heart of an English knight
+ When beef is on the board?
+
+ De Thorold's guests are wiser than
+ The men of mopish lore;
+ For round they push the smiling can
+ And slice the plattered store.
+
+ And round they thrust the ponderous cheese,
+ And the loaves of wheat and rye;
+ None stinteth him for lack of ease--
+ For each a stintless welcome sees
+ In the Baron's blythesome eye.
+
+ The Baron joineth the joyous feast--
+ But not in pomp or pride;
+ He smileth on the humblest guest
+ So gladsomely--all feel that rest
+ Of heart which doth abide
+ Where deeds of generousness attest
+ The welcome of the tongue professed
+ Is not within belied."
+
+* * * * *
+
+In subsequent verses a stranger minstrel appears on the festive scene,
+and tells his tale of love in song, acquitting himself
+
+ "So rare and gentle, that the hall
+ Rings with applause which one and all
+ Render who share the festival."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Some of the poets of this period have dealt playfully with the
+festivities of Christmastide, as, for example, Laman Blanchard (1845)
+in the following effusion:--
+
+
+CHRISTMAS CHIT-CHAT.
+
+In a Large Family Circle.
+
+ "The day of all days we have seen
+ Is Christmas," said Sue to Eugene;
+ "More welcome in village and city
+ Than Mayday," said Andrew to Kitty.
+ "Why 'Mistletoe's' twenty times sweeter
+ Than 'May,'" said Matilda to Peter;
+ "And so you will find it, if I'm a
+ True prophet," said James to Jemima.
+ "I'll stay up to supper, no bed,"
+ Then lisped little Laura to Ned.
+ "The girls all good-natured and dressy,
+ And bright-cheeked," said Arthur to Jessie;
+ "Yes, hoping ere next year to marry,
+ The madcaps!" said Charlotte to Harry.
+ "So steaming, so savoury, so juicy,
+ The feast," said fat Charley to Lucy.
+ "Quadrilles and Charades might come on
+ Before dinner," said Martha to John.
+ "You'll find the roast beef when you're dizzy,
+ A settler," said Walter to Lizzy.
+ "Oh, horrid! one wing of a wren,
+ With a pea," said Belinda to Ben.
+ "Sublime!" said--displaying his leg--
+ George Frederick Augustus to Peg.
+ "At Christmas refinement is all fuss
+ And nonsense," said Fan to Adolphus.
+ "Would romps--or a tale of a fairy--
+ Best suit you," said Robert to Mary.
+ "At stories that work ghost and witch hard,
+ I tremble," said Rosa to Richard.
+ "A ghostly hair-standing dilemma
+ Needs 'bishop,'" said Alfred to Emma;
+ "What fun when with fear a stout crony
+ Turns pale," said Maria to Tony;
+ "And Hector, unable to rally,
+ Runs screaming," said Jacob to Sally.
+ "While you and I dance in the dark
+ The polka," said Ruth unto Mark:
+ "Each catching, according to fancy,
+ His neighbour," said wild Tom to Nancy;
+ "Till candles, to show what we can do,
+ Are brought in," said Ann to Orlando;
+ "And then we all laugh what is truly a
+ Heart's laugh," said William to Julia.
+ "Then sofas and chairs are put even,
+ And carpets," said Helen to Stephen;
+ "And so we all sit down again,
+ Supping twice," said sly Joseph to Jane.
+ "Now bring me my clogs and my spaniel,
+ And light me," said Dinah to Daniel.
+ "My dearest, you've emptied that chalice
+ Six times," said fond Edmund to Alice.
+ "We are going home tealess and coffeeless
+ Shabby!" said Soph to Theophilus;
+ "To meet again under the holly,
+ _Et cetera_," said Paul to fair Polly.
+ "Dear Uncle, has ordered his chariot;
+ All's over," said Matthew to Harriet.
+ "And pray now be all going to bedward,"
+ Said kind Aunt Rebecca to Edward!
+
+
+CHRISTMAS EVE, 1849,
+
+is the time of Robert Browning's beautiful poem of "Christmas Eve and
+Easter Day," in which the poet sings the song of man's immortality,
+proclaiming, as Easter Day breaks and Christ rises, that
+
+ "Mercy every way is infinite."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+And, in his beautiful poem of "In Memoriam," Lord Tennyson
+associates some of his finest verses with the ringing of
+
+
+THE CHRISTMAS BELLS.
+
+ "Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
+ The flying cloud, the frosty light:
+ The year is dying in the night;
+ Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.
+
+ Ring out the old, ring in the new,
+ Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
+ The year is going, let him go;
+ Ring out the false, ring in the true.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ Ring out old shapes of foul disease;
+ Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
+ Ring out the thousand wars of old,
+ Ring in the thousand years of peace.
+
+ Ring in the valiant man and free,
+ The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
+ Ring out the darkness of the land,
+ Ring in the Christ that is to be."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration: THE CHRISTMAS BELLS.]
+
+As the poet Longfellow stood on the lofty tower of Bruges
+Cathedral the belfry chimes set him musing, and of those
+chimes he says:
+
+ "Then most musical and solemn, bringing back the olden times,
+ With their strange, unearthly changes, rang the melancholy chimes,
+ Like the psalms from some old cloister, when the nuns sing in the
+ choir;
+ And the great bell tolled among them, like the chanting of a friar.
+ Visions of the days departed, shadowy phantoms filled my brain:
+ They who live in history only seemed to walk the earth again."
+
+
+CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR CARDS
+
+were first circulated in England in 1846. That year not more than a
+thousand copies were printed, and that was considered a large sale.
+The numbers distributed annually soon increased to tens and hundreds
+of thousands, and now there are millions of them. Mr. J. C. Horsley,
+a member of the Royal Academy, designed this first card which
+was sent out in 1846. It represents a family party of three
+generations--grandfather and grandmother, father and mother, and
+little children--and all are supposed to be joining in the sentiment,
+"A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you." The card was issued
+from the office of one of the periodicals of the time, _Felix
+Summerley's Home Treasury_. It was first lithographed, and then it was
+coloured by hand.
+
+Christmas and New Year Cards became very popular in the decade
+1870-1880. But then, however, simple cards alone did not suffice. Like
+many other things, they felt the influence of the latter-day
+_renaissance_ of art, and by a sort of evolutionary process developed
+cards monochrome and coloured, "Christmas Bell" cards, palettes,
+scrolls, circular and oval panels, stars, fans, crescents, and other
+shaped novelties; embossed cards, the iridescent series, the rustic
+and frosted cards, the folding series, the jewel cards, the crayons,
+and private cards on which the sender's name and sentiments are
+printed in gold, silver, or colours; hand-painted cards with
+landscapes, seascapes, and floral decorations; paintings on porcelain;
+satin cards, fringed silk, plush, Broche, and other artistically
+made-up novelties; "art-gem" panels; elaborate booklets, and other
+elegant souvenirs of the festive season. Many of the Christmas
+booklets are beautifully illustrated editions of popular poems and
+carols.
+
+"Quartette" cards, "Snap" cards, and other cards of games for the
+diversion of social gatherings are also extensively used at
+Christmastide.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+RUSTIC CHRISTMAS MASQUE.
+
+In compliance with a wish expressed by the Lady Londesborough, a
+Masque, entitled, "Recollections of Old Christmas," was performed at
+Grimston at Christmas, 1850, the following prologue being contributed
+by Barry Cornwall:--
+
+ "When winter nights grow long,
+ And winds without blow cold,
+ We sit in a ring round the warm wood-fire,
+ And listen to stories old!
+ And we try to look grave (as maids should be),
+ When the men bring in boughs of the laurel tree.
+ O the laurel, the evergreen tree!
+ The poets have laurels--and why not we?
+
+ How pleasant when night falls down,
+ And hides the wintry sun,
+ To see them come in to the blazing fire,
+ And know that their work is done;
+ Whilst many bring in, with a laugh or rhyme,
+ Green branches of holly for Christmas time!
+ O the holly, the bright green holly!
+ It tells (like a tongue) that the times are jolly!
+
+ Sometimes--(in _our_ grave house
+ Observe this happeneth not;)
+ But at times, the evergreen laurel boughs,
+ And the holly are all forgot!
+ And then! what then? Why the men laugh low,
+ And hang up a branch of--the misletoe!
+ Oh, brave is the laurel! and brave is the holly!
+ But the misletoe banisheth melancholy!
+ Ah, nobody knows, nor ever _shall_ know,
+ What is done under the misletoe!"
+
+A printed copy of the Masque, which bears date, "Tuesday, XXIV
+December, MDCCCL.," is preserved in the British Museum.
+
+
+"CHARACTERS
+
+(Which speak)
+
+"Old Father Christmas Hon. Mr. Thelluson
+Young Grimston Hon. Mr. Denison
+Baron of Beef Hon. Miss Thelluson
+Plum-Pudding Hon. Miss Denison
+Mince-Pie Hon. Miss Selina Denison
+Wassail-Bowl Hon. Miss Isabella Denison
+
+"CHARACTERS
+
+(Which do not speak, or say as little as possible--all that they are
+requested to do)
+
+Ursa Minor Hon. Miss Ursula Denison
+Baby Cake Hon. Henry Charles Denison."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+UNDER THE HOLLY BOUGH.
+
+ Ye who have scorn'd each other
+ Or injured friend or brother,
+ In this fast fading year;
+ Ye who, by word or deed,
+ Have made a kind heart bleed,
+ Come gather here.
+ Let sinn'd against and sinning,
+ Forget their strife's beginning;
+ Be links no longer broken,
+ Be sweet forgiveness spoken,
+ Under the holly bough.
+
+ Ye who have lov'd each other,
+ Sister and friend and brother,
+ In this fast fading year:
+ Mother, and sire, and child,
+ Young man and maiden mild,
+ Come gather here;
+ And let your hearts grow fonder,
+ As memory shall ponder
+ Each past unbroken vow.
+ Old loves and younger wooing,
+ Are sweet in the renewing,
+ Under the holly bough.
+
+ Ye who have nourished sadness,
+ Estranged from hope and gladness,
+ In this fast fading year.
+ Ye with o'er-burdened mind
+ Made aliens from your kind,
+ Come gather here.
+ Let not the useless sorrow
+ Pursue you night and morrow,
+ If e'er you hoped--hope now--
+ Take heart: uncloud your faces,
+ And join in our embraces
+ Under the holly bough.
+
+_Charles Mackay, LL.D._
+
+The author of this beautiful poem (Dr. Charles Mackay) was born at
+Perth in 1814, and died on Christmas Eve, 1889, at his residence,
+Longridge Road, Earl's Court, Brompton.
+
+
+GHOST STORIES.
+
+Everybody knows that Christmas is the time for ghost stories, and that
+Charles Dickens and other writers have supplied us with tales of the
+true blood-curdling type. Thomas Hood's "Haunted House," S. T.
+Coleridge's "Ancient Mariner," and some other weird works of poetry
+have also been found serviceable in producing that strange chill of
+the blood, that creeping kind of feeling all over you, which is one of
+the enjoyments of Christmastide. Coleridge (says the late Mr. George
+Dawson)[88] "holds the first place amongst English poets in this
+objective teaching of the vague, the mystic, the dreamy, and the
+imaginative. I defy any man of imagination or sensibility to have
+'The Ancient Mariner' read to him, by the flickering firelight on
+Christmas night, by a master mind possessed by the mystic spirit of
+the poem, and not find himself taken away from the good regions of
+'ability to account for,' and taken into some far-off dreamland, and
+made even to start at his own footfall, and almost to shudder at his
+own shadow. You shall sit round the fire at Christmas time, good men
+and true every one of you; you shall come there armed with your patent
+philosophy; that creak you have heard, it is only the door--the list
+is not carefully put round the door, and it is the wintry wind that
+whistles through the crevices. Ghosts and spectres belong to the olden
+times; science has waved its wand and laid them all. We have no
+superstition about us; we walk enlightened nineteenth-century men; it
+is quite beneath us to be superstitious. By and bye, one begins to
+tell tales of ghosts and spirits; and another begins, and it goes all
+round; and there comes over you a curious feeling--a very
+unphilosophical feeling, in fact, because the pulsations of air from
+the tongue of the storyteller ought not to bring over you that
+peculiar feeling. You have only heard words, tales--confessedly by the
+storyteller himself only tales, such as may figure in the next monthly
+magazine for pure entertainment and amusement. But why do you feel so,
+then? If you say that these things are mere hallucinations, vague
+air-beating or tale-telling, why, good philosopher, do you feel so
+curious, so all-overish, as it were? Again, you are a man without the
+least terror in you, as brave and bold a man as ever stepped: living
+man cannot frighten you, and verily the dead rise not with you. But
+you are brought, towards midnight, to the stile over which is gained a
+view of the village churchyard, where sleep the dead in quietness.
+Your manhood begins just to ooze away a little; you are caught
+occasionally whistling to keep your courage up; you do not expect to
+see a ghost, but you are ready to see one, or to make one." At such a
+moment, think of the scene depicted by Coleridge:--
+
+"'Twas night, calm night, the moon was high;
+ The dead men stood together.
+
+ All stood together on the deck,
+ For a charnel-dungeon fitter:
+ All fixed on me their stony eyes,
+ That in the moon did glitter.
+
+ The pang, the curse, with which they died,
+ Had never passed away:
+ I could not draw my eyes from theirs,
+ Nor turn them up to pray."
+
+With this weird tale in his mind in the mystic stillness of midnight
+would an imaginative man be likely to deny the reality of the spirit
+world? The chances are that he would be spellbound; or, if he had
+breath enough, would cry out--
+
+ "Angels and ministers of grace, defend us!"
+
+"In the year 1421, the widow of Ralph Cranbourne, of Dipmore End, in
+the parish of Sandhurst, Berks, was one midnight alarmed by a noise in
+her bedchamber, and, looking up, she saw at her bedfoot the appearance
+of a skeleton (which she verily believed was her husband) nodding and
+talking to her upon its fingers, or finger bones, after the manner of
+a dumb person. Whereupon she was so terrified, that after striving to
+scream aloud, which she could not, for her tongue clave to her mouth,
+she fell backward as in a swoon; yet not so insensible withal but she
+could see that at this the figure became greatly agitated and
+distressed, and would have clasped her, but upon her appearance of
+loathing it desisted, only moving its jaw upward and downward, as if
+it would cry for help but could not for want of its parts of speech.
+At length, she growing more and more faint, and likely to die of fear,
+the spectre suddenly, as if at a thought, began to swing round its
+hand, which was loose at the wrist, with a brisk motion, and the
+finger bones being long and hard, and striking sharply against each
+other, made a loud noise like to the springing of a watchman's rattle.
+At which alarm, the neighbours running in, stoutly armed, as against
+thieves or murderers, the spectre suddenly departed."[89]
+
+ "His shoes they were coffins, his dim eye reveal'd
+ The gleam of a grave-lamp with vapours oppress'd;
+ And a dark crimson necklace of blood-drops congeal'd
+ Reflected each bone that jagg'd out of his breast."[90]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+WELCOME TO CHRISTMAS.
+
+By MARY HOWITT.
+
+ He comes--the brave old Christmas!
+ His sturdy steps I hear;
+ We will give him a hearty welcome,
+ For he comes but once a year!
+
+ And of all our old acquaintance
+ 'Tis he we like the best;
+ There's a jolly old way about him--
+ There's a warm heart in his breast.
+
+ He is not too proud to enter
+ Your house though it be mean;
+ Yet is company fit for a courtier,
+ And is welcomed by the Queen!
+
+ He can tell you a hundred stories
+ Of the Old World's whims and ways,
+ And how they merrily wish'd him joy
+ In our fathers' courting days.
+
+ He laughs with the heartiest laughter
+ That does one good to hear;
+ 'Tis a pity so brave an old fellow
+ Should come but once a year!
+
+ But once, then, let us be ready,
+ With all that he can desire--
+ With plenty of holly and ivy,
+ And a huge log for the fire;
+
+ With plenty of noble actions,
+ And plenty of warm good-will;
+ With our hearts as full of kindness
+ As the board we mean to fill.
+
+ With plenty of store in the larder,
+ And plenty of wine in the bin;
+ And plenty of mirth for the kitchen;
+ Then open and let him in!
+
+ Oh, he is a fine old fellow--
+ His heart's in the truest place;
+ You may know that at once by the children,
+ Who glory to see his face.
+
+ For he never forgets the children,
+ They all are dear to him;
+ You'll see that with wonderful presents
+ His pockets are cramm'd to the brim.
+
+ Nor will he forget the servants,
+ Whether you've many or one;
+ Nor the poor old man at the corner;
+ Nor the widow who lives alone.
+
+ He is rich as a Jew, is Old Christmas,
+ I wish he would make me his heir;
+ But he has plenty to do with his money,
+ And he is not given to spare.
+
+ Not he--bless the good old fellow!
+ He hates to hoard his pelf;
+ He wishes to make all people
+ As gay as he is himself.
+
+ So he goes to the parish unions--
+ North, south, and west and east--
+ And there he gives the paupers,
+ At his own expense a feast.
+
+ He gives the old men tobacco,
+ And the women a cup of tea;
+ And he takes the pauper children,
+ And dances them on his knee.
+
+ I wish you could see those paupers
+ Sit down to his noble cheer,
+ You would wish, like them, and no wonder,
+ That he stay'd the livelong year.
+
+ Yes, he is the best old fellow
+ That ever on earth you met;
+ And he gave us a boon when first he came
+ Which we can never forget.
+
+ So we will give him a welcome
+ Shall gladden his old heart's core!
+ And let us in good and gracious deeds
+ Resemble him more and more!
+
+_December 21, 1850._
+
+
+WASSAILING THE APPLE-TREES.
+
+Writing on this subject, in the _Antiquary_, March, 1895, Mr. Harry
+Hems, of Exeter, introduces the reduced copy of an illustration which
+appears on the following page, and which he states was published in
+the _Illustrated London News_, January 11, 1851.
+
+The picture (says Mr. Hems) "presents, as will be seen, a frosty,
+moonlight night, with a brilliantly-lit old farmhouse in the
+background. In the fore are leafless fruit-trees, and three men firing
+guns at them, whilst the jovial farmer and another man drink success
+to the year's crop from glasses evidently filled from a jug of cider,
+which the latter also holds a-high. A crowd of peasants--men, women
+and children--are gathered around, and the following description is
+appended:--
+
+"'Amongst the scenes of jocund hospitality in this holiday season,
+that are handed down to us, is one which not only presents an
+enlivening picture, but offers proof of the superstition that still
+prevails in the Western counties. On Twelfth-even, in Devonshire, it
+is customary for the farmer to leave his warm fireside, accompanied by
+a band of rustics, with guns, blunderbusses, &c., presenting an
+appearance which at other times would be somewhat alarming. Thus
+armed, the band proceeds to an adjoining orchard, where is selected
+one of the most fruitful and aged of the apple-trees, grouping round
+which they stand and offer up their invocations in the following
+quaint doggerel rhyme:--
+
+ "'Here's to thee,
+ Old apple-tree!
+ Whence thou mayst bud,
+ And whence thou mayst blow,
+ And whence thou mayst bear
+ Apples enow:
+ Hats full,
+ Caps full,
+ Bushels, bushels, sacks full,
+ And my pockets full too!
+ Huzza! huzza!'"
+
+[Illustration: WASSAILING THE APPLE-TREES IN DEVONSHIRE.]
+
+The cider-jug is then passed round, and, with many a hearty shout, the
+party fire off their guns, charged with powder only, amidst the
+branches, sometimes frightening the owl from its midnight haunt. With
+confident hopes they return to the farmhouse, and are refused
+admittance, in spite of all weather, till some lucky wight guesses
+aright the peculiar roast the maidens are preparing for their comfort.
+This done, all enter, and soon right merrily the jovial glass goes
+round, that man who gained admittance receiving the honour of King for
+the evening, and till a late hour he reigns, amidst laughter, fun, and
+jollity. The origin of this custom is not known, but it is supposed to
+be one of great antiquity.
+
+"'The illustration is from a sketch by Mr. Colebrooke, Stockdale.'"
+
+We may add that, in the seventeenth century, a similar custom seems to
+have been observed in some places on Christmas Eve, for in Herrick's
+_Hesperides_ the wassailing of fruit trees is among the Christmas Eve
+ceremonies:--
+
+ "Wassail the trees, that they may beare
+ You many a plum, and many a peare;
+ For more or less fruits they will bring,
+ As you do give them wassailing."
+
+CHRISTMAS MORNING IN EXETER CATHEDRAL.
+
+Writing from Exeter, in 1852, a correspondent says "the custom of
+welcoming this season of holy joy with 'psalms and hymns and spiritual
+songs' lingers in the cathedral city of Exeter; where, during
+Christmas Eve, the parish choirs perambulate the streets singing
+anthems, with instrumental accompaniments. The singing is protracted
+through the night, when the celebration often assumes a more secular
+character than is strictly in accordance with the festival. A more
+sacred commemoration is, however, at hand.
+
+"At a quarter-past seven o'clock on Christmas morning the assemblage
+of persons in the nave of Exeter Cathedral is usually very numerous:
+there are the remnants of the previous vigil, with unwashed faces and
+sleepy eyes; but a large number are early risers, who have left their
+beds for better purposes than a revel. There is a great muster of the
+choir, and the fine Old Hundredth Psalm is sung from the gallery to a
+full organ, whose billows of sound roll through the vaulted edifice.
+The scene is strikingly picturesque: all is dim and shadowy; the red
+light from the flaring candles falling upon upturned faces, and here
+and there falling upon a piece of grave sculpture, whilst the grey
+light of day begins to stream through the antique windows, adding to
+the solemnity of the scene. As the last verse of the psalm peals
+forth, the crowd begins to move, and the spacious cathedral is soon
+left to the more devout few who remain to attend the morning service
+in the Lady-chapel."
+
+
+A WELSH CHRISTMAS.
+
+From the "Christmas Chronicles of Llanfairpwllycrochon," by R. P.
+Hampton Roberts, in _Notes and Queries_, December 21, 1878, we quote
+the following:
+
+"Now Thomas Thomas, and Mary Jones, and all their neighbours, had
+great veneration for Christmas, and enjoyed much pleasure in
+looking forward to the annual recurrence of the feast. Not that
+they looked upon it as a feast in any ecclesiastical sense, for
+Llanfairpwllycrochon was decidedly Calvinistically Methodist, and
+rejected all such things as mere popish superstition.
+
+"The Christmas goose was a great institution at Llanfairpwllycrochon.
+The annual goose club had no existence there, it is true, but the
+annual goose had nevertheless. Thomas Thomas, after his memorable
+visit to London, came home imbued with one English idea which startled
+the villagers more than anything had done since the famous bonfire on
+the outlying hill when the heir came of age, and it was a long time
+before they recovered from their surprise. It was nothing less
+than a proposition to substitute beef for the Christmas dinner
+instead of a goose. Here was a sad falling off from the ways of
+Llanfairpwllycrochon! And Thomas Thomas was a man who persisted in an
+idea once it entered his mind--an event of rare occurrence, it is
+true, and consequently all the more stubborn whenever it did occur.
+Thomas Thomas had, however, sufficient respect for the opinion of his
+neighbours to make him compromise matters by providing for himself
+alone a small beefsteak as an adjunct to the time-honoured goose.
+
+"Another Christmas institution at Llanfairpwllycrochon was the
+universal pudding, mixed as is wont by every member of the family.
+Then there was the bun-loaf, or _barabrith_, one of the grand
+institutions of Llanfairpwllycrochon. Many were the pains taken over
+this huge loaf--made large enough to last a week or fortnight,
+according to the appetites of the juvenile partakers--and the combined
+"Christmas-boxes" of the grocer and baker went to make up the
+appetising whole, with much more in addition.
+
+"Christmas Eve was a day of exceeding joy at Llanfairpwllycrochon. The
+manufacture of paper ornaments and 'kissing bushes,' radiant with
+oranges, apples, paper roses, and such like fanciful additions as
+might suit the taste or means of the house-holder, occupied most of
+the day. And then they had to be put up, and the house in its
+Christmas decorations looked more resplendent than the imagination of
+the most advanced villager--at present at school, and of the mature
+age of five and a half years, the rising hope of the schoolmaster, and
+a Lord Chancellor in embryo in fine--could have pictured. As a reward
+for the day's toil came the night's sweet task of making _cyflath_,
+_i.e._, toffee. Thomas Thomas, and those who spoke the Saxon tongue
+among the villagers, called it 'taffy.' Once had Thomas Thomas been
+corrected in his pronunciation, but the hardy Saxon who ventured on
+the bold proceeding was silenced when he heard that he was not to
+think he was going to persuade a reasonable man into mutilating the
+English tongue. 'Taffy it iss, and taffy I says,' and there was an end
+of the matter. Without taffy the inhabitants of Llanfairpwllycrochon,
+it was firmly believed by the vicar, would not have known the
+difference between Christmas and another time, and it is not therefore
+matter for surprise that they should so tenaciously cling to its
+annual making. At midnight, when the syrupy stuff was sufficiently
+boiled, it would be poured into a pan and put into the open air to
+cool. Here was an opportunity for the beaux of the village which could
+not be missed. They would steal, if possible, the whole, pan and all,
+and entail a second making on the unfortunate victims of their
+practical joke.
+
+"Sometimes the Christmas Eve proceedings would be varied by holding a
+large evening party, continued all night, the principal amusement of
+which would be the boiling of toffee, one arm taking, when another was
+tired, the large wooden spoon, and turning the boiling mass of sugar
+and treacle, this process being continued for many hours, until
+nothing would be left to partake of but a black, burnt sort of crisp,
+sugary cinder. Sometimes the long boiling would only result in a soft
+mass, disagreeable to the taste and awkward to the hand, the combined
+efforts of each member of the party failing to secure consistency or
+strength in the mixed ingredients.
+
+"And then there were the carols at midnight, and many more were the
+Christmas customs at Llanfairpwllycrochon."
+
+
+EFFECTS OF THE SEASON.
+
+ "These Christmas decorations are _so_ jolly!"
+ She cried, zeal shining in her orbs of blue.
+ "_Don't_ you like laurel gleaming under holly?"
+ He answered, "_I_ love mistletoe over _yew_!"--_Punch._
+
+[Illustration: "ST. GEORGE" IN COMBAT WITH "ST. PETER."]
+
+
+YORKSHIRE SWORD-ACTORS.
+
+Under this title, Mr. T. M. Fallow, M.A., F.S.A., writing in the
+_Antiquary_, May, 1895, gives an account of rustic performances which
+were witnessed at Christmastide in the neighbourhood of Leeds about
+fifteen years earlier, and he illustrates the subject with a series of
+pictures from photographs taken at the time, which are here
+reproduced. The play depicted is that of the "Seven Champions of
+Christendom," and in the picture on the preceding page "St. George" is
+shown engaged in combat with "St. Peter," while "St. Andrew" and "St.
+Denys" are each kneeling on one knee, a sign of their having been
+vanquished.
+
+"It may be well to point out," says Mr. Fallow, "that in the West
+Riding, or at any rate in the neighbourhood of Leeds, the sword-actors
+were quite distinct from the 'mummers.' They generally numbered nine
+or ten lads, who, disguised by false beards as men, were dressed in
+costume as appropriate to the occasion as their knowledge and finances
+would permit, and who acted, with more or less skill, a short play,
+which, as a rule, was either the 'Peace Egg' or the 'Seven Champions
+of Christendom.' The following illustration shows two of the
+'champions,' as photographed at the time stated:--
+
+[Illustration: "ST. PETER." "ST. DENYS."]
+
+"There was a little indefiniteness," says Mr. Fallow, "as to the
+characters represented in the play, but usually they were the King of
+Egypt, his daughter, a fool or jester, St. George, St. Andrew, St.
+Patrick, St. David, St. Denys, St. James, and a St. Thewhs, who
+represented a Northern nation--Russia, or sometimes Denmark--and whose
+exact identity seems obscure. The seven champions occasionally
+included St. Peter of Rome, as in the group whose photograph is given.
+St. George engaged in mortal combat with each champion in succession,
+fighting for the hand of the King of Egypt's daughter. When at length
+each of the six was slain, St. George, having vanquished them all, won
+the fair lady, amid the applause of the bystanders. Then, at the
+conclusion, after a general clashing and crossing of swords, the fool
+or jester stepped forward, and wound up the performance with an appeal
+for pecuniary recognition."
+
+
+OTHER CHRISTMAS PERFORMANCES.
+
+In a Christmas article, published in 1869, Dr. Rimbault mentions the
+performance of "St. George and the Dragon" in the extreme western and
+northern parts of the country. The following five characters are
+given: Father Christmas, Turkish Knight, King of Egypt, St. George,
+Doctor. Other writers mention similar plays, with variations of
+characters, as seen in the rural parts of Northamptonshire,
+Warwickshire, and Staffordshire, and the present writer has himself
+seen such plays at Madeley, in Shropshire.
+
+S. Arnott, of Turnham Green, writing in _Notes and Queries_, December
+21, 1878, says: "When I was living at Hollington, near Hastings, in
+the year 1869, the village boys were in the habit of visiting the
+houses of the gentry at Christmas time to perform a play, which had
+been handed down by tradition." The description of the play which then
+followed shows that it was another variation of the well-known
+Christmas play, and included the "Turkish Knight," the "Bold Slasher,"
+and other familiar characters.
+
+
+A SCOTCH FIRST FOOTING.
+
+Writing on "Mid-winter Customs in the North," Mr. Edward Garrett says
+"it is not easy to write of 'Christmas customs in the North,' because
+many of them, even though connected with the Christmas festival, do
+not take place till January 6th, that being Christmas Day, Old Style,
+while most of them are associated with the New Year, either Old or New
+Style, one of the most striking celebrations coming off on January
+11th, regarded as 'New Year's Eve.'
+
+"Christmas itself has never been a national Scottish festival since
+the Reformation. On its purely festive side, it has become somewhat of
+a 'fashion' of late years, but its ancient customs have only lingered
+on in those districts where Episcopacy has taken deep root. Such a
+district is 'Buchan'--a track of country in the north-east of
+Aberdeenshire--a place which cannot be better described than in the
+words of one of its own gifted sons, Dr. Walter Smith:--
+
+ "'A treeless land, where beeves are good,
+ And men have quaint, old-fashioned ways,
+ And every burn has ballad lore,
+ And every hamlet has its song,
+ And on its surf-beat, rocky shore
+ The eerie legend lingers long.
+ Old customs live there, unaware
+ That they are garments cast away,
+ And what of light is lingering there
+ Is lingering light of yesterday.'"
+
+[Illustration: A SCOTCH FIRST FOOTING.]
+
+
+YULETIDE CUSTOMS IN SHETLAND.
+
+The inherent Scandinavianism of the Shetlander, which leads him to
+repudiate the appellation of Scotchman, and to cherish in secret the
+old customs and superstitions of his ancestors, asserts itself yearly
+in the high jinks with which he continues to honour the old holy days
+of Yule. Until within the last two or three years, he pertinaciously
+adhered to the old style in his observance of these festivities. On
+Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve, and Uphelya--the twenty-fourth day
+after Yule, and that on which the holy or holidays are supposed to be
+"up"--the youths of Lerwick, attired in fantastic dresses, go
+"guising" about the town in bands, visiting their friends and
+acquaintances and reproducing in miniature the carnival of more
+southern climes. On one or other of these occasions a torchlight
+procession forms part of the revelry. Formerly blazing tar barrels
+were dragged about the town, and afterwards, with the first break of
+morning, dashed over the Knab into the sea. But this ancient and
+dangerous custom has very properly been discontinued. The dresses of
+the guisers are often of the most expensive and fanciful description.
+Highlanders, Spanish cavaliers, negro minstrels, soldiers in the
+peaked caps, kerseymere breeches, and scarlet coats turned up with
+buff, of the reign of George II., Robin Hoods, and Maid Marians were
+found in the motley throng. Some, with a boldness worthy of
+Aristophanes himself, caricature the dress, the walk, or some other
+eccentricity of leading personages in the town; others--for the spirit
+of "the Happy Land" has reached these hyperborean regions--make
+pleasant game of well-known political characters. Each band of guisers
+has its fiddler, who walks before it, playing "Scalloway Lasses," or
+"The Foula Reel," or "The Nippin' Grund," or some other archaic tune.
+Thus conducted, and blowing a horn to give notice of their approach,
+the maskers enter the doors of all houses which they find open, dance
+a measure with the inmates, partake of and offer refreshment, and then
+depart to repeat the same courtesies elsewhere. At daylight the horn
+of the Most Worthy Grand Guiser, a mysterious personage, whose
+personality and functions are enveloped in the deepest concealment, is
+heard summoning all the bands to end their revels, and when, in the
+cold grey dawn of the winter morning, the worthy citizens of Lerwick
+awake to pursue their wonted avocations, not a trace remains of the
+saturnalia of the night before.--Sheriff Rampini, in _Good Words_.
+
+Now, passing from the islands to the sea itself, it is pleasant to
+note that in recent years Christian hearts have carried
+
+
+CHRISTMAS CHEER TO THE NORTH SEA FISHERMEN.
+
+Through the "Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen" twelve thousand brave and
+hardy fishermen have been cheered at Christmastide, for to their
+fleets the Mission's vessels now take medical and surgical aid, books
+and magazines, woollen garments and tobacco, which, as adjuncts to
+higher religious aid, are turning the once wild and desperate
+ocean roughs into clean-living sailors and good husbands and
+fathers--therefore are these days on the North Sea better far than
+those that are gone. Thousands of these brave men turn at Christmas to
+the M.D.S.F. flag as to the one bright link which binds them to
+friendly hearts ashore, assuring them that in England's Christmas
+festivities they and their like have a real part, and are no longer
+forgotten.
+
+Some facts recorded by the Rev. John Sinclair[91] illustrate the
+dangers of the wild winter sea, and also set forth some
+
+
+CHRISTMAS EXPERIENCES IN THE ORKNEY ISLES.
+
+They were related to Mr. Sinclair by Mr. Traill, chief of the clan,
+with whom he stayed on the occasion of his visit to the island of
+Pappa Westra. The first of the two incidents was as follows:--"One
+Christmas Day," says Mr. Traill, "during a heavy gale, I wrapped my
+cloak about me, and started off with my telescope to walk upon the
+cliffs. Coming to the other side of the island, on which the surf was
+beating violently, I observed a vessel a few miles off fire a signal
+of distress. I hastened to the nearest point, and with the help of my
+glass perceived that she was Dutch built, and that, having lost her
+rudder, she was quite unmanageable. She fired several guns at short
+intervals, and my people came in large numbers to give assistance. But
+the surf was so fearful that nothing could be done. No boat could have
+lived a moment in such a sea. We were all utterly helpless. As the
+vessel drifted towards us, I could see the whole tragedy as distinctly
+as if it had been acted on the stage. Immediately below me were a
+number of my fellow-creatures, now alive and in health, and in a few
+moments they would all be mangled corpses. I could make out the
+expression of their features, and see in what manner each was
+preparing for inevitable death. But whether they climbed up into the
+shrouds, or held by ropes on deck while the sea was washing over the
+bulwarks, their fate was the same. The first wave lifted the vessel so
+high that I almost thought it would have placed her upon the land. She
+fell back, keel upwards. The next wave struck her with such terrific
+force against the cliffs that she was shivered at once into a thousand
+pieces; hardly two planks held together. It seemed as if she had been
+made of glass. Not a soul escaped. One or two bodies, with a few
+planks and casks, were all that ever reached the shore." Well might
+Mr. Traill add, "I was haunted for months by the remembrance of that
+heartrending sight."
+
+The other story related by Mr. Traill shows that a Christmas party may
+be detained indefinitely in one of these remote islands, should the
+weather prove unfavourable. At Christmastide, a former Laird of Westra
+"collected a numerous party from all the neighbouring islands to
+celebrate the christening of his eldest son." His hospitalities cost
+him dear. A storm arose; his guests could not get away; instead of
+enjoying their society for a few days, he was obliged to entertain
+them at a ruinous expense for many weeks. His larder, his cellar, and
+his barns, were by degrees exhausted. His farm stock had all
+
+been slaughtered, except the old bull, which he was reserving as a
+last resource, when at length the wind abated, and a calm delivered
+him from this ruinous situation.
+
+Thus it appears that in these remote islands of Scotland Christmas is
+not forgotten. But a writer in a well-known Scotch journal says the
+surest sign of the general joy is "Christmas in the Workhouse":--
+
+ "Christmas was gay in the old squire's hall,
+ Gay at the village inn,
+ Cheery and loud by the farmer's fire,
+ Happy the manse within;
+ But the surest signs of the general joy,
+ And that all the world was happy--very,
+ Were the sounds that proved at the workhouse door
+ That even 'the paupers' were merry."
+
+
+A REMARKABLE CHRISTMAS GATHERING.
+
+The Greenwich Hospital for Sick Seamen of all Nations presented on
+Christmas Day, 1880, a remarkable gathering of national
+representatives. There were 179 sailors, representing 31
+nationalities, belonging to ships of 19 distinct nations. They were
+summed up thus:--England, 77; Wales, 3; Scotland, 9; Ireland, 11;
+Norway, 10; Sweden, 9; Finland, 6; United States, 5; Denmark, 5;
+British India, 4; France, 3; Germany, 3; Nova Scotia, 3; Russia, 2;
+Austria, 2; Italy, 2; Cape de Verd Islands, 2; Chili, 2; Jamaica, 2;
+Barbadoes, 2; St. Thomas, 2; Spain, 1; Portugal, 1; Canada, 1; New
+Brunswick, 1; Transvaal, 1; Gold Coast, 1; Brazil, 1; St. Kitts, 1;
+Mauritius, 1; Society Islands, 1. The mercantile marines represented
+were no bad index to the proportion of the carrying trade of the world
+each nation undertakes:--England, 96 vessels; Ireland, 3; Scotland,
+16; Wales, 4; Norway, 7; Sweden, 5; United States, 6; Denmark, 2;
+France, 2; Germany, 3; Nova Scotia, 7; Russia, 2; Netherlands, 4;
+Channel Islands, 2; New Brunswick, 2; Italy, 1; Zanzibar, 1; Spain, 1.
+
+The early morning brought warm Christmas wishes to the patients. Each
+found by his bedside a packet addressed to him by name. Some good lady
+had taken the enormous pains to work a pretty, and, at the same time,
+stout and serviceable wallet, with the inscription, "My letters,"
+embroidered thereupon, and to accompany this little gift, in every
+case, with a short and seasonable letter of Christmas wishes, using
+other languages than English, to suit the convenience of every
+recipient. The initials under which these offerings came were "N. C.
+H." Other gifts, Christmas cards and Christmas reading, in the shape
+of magazines and illustrated papers were gladly welcomed.
+
+The decorations of the corridors and rooms had given occupation to the
+sick sailors for several days, and sentiments of loyalty to the Queen
+and the Royal Family were abundantly displayed, together with
+portraits of members of the Royal Family which had been drawn from
+fancy.
+
+The officers and nurses had dedicated to them some specimens of real
+sailor poetry, combining the names of the staff. With grim humour, the
+"operation room" bore above it "Nil desperandum"; and the decorated
+walls of the hospital told the onlookers that "small vessels should
+keep in shore," that "windmills are not turned by a pair of bellows,"
+that "good things are not found in heaps," that "hasty people fish in
+empty ponds," that "plenty, like want, ruins many," &c.
+
+The dinner at one o'clock was a great success. All who could get out
+of bed made it a point of honour to be present. But for adverse winds
+keeping ships from entering the Thames, the guests would have been
+more numerous. But, as it was, the patients under the roof numbered
+179. There were, of course, difficulties of language; but no "Jack"
+ever ploughed the sea who does not understand a Christmas dinner; and,
+besides, the hospital in its nurses and staff possesses the means of
+conversing in seventeen different languages.
+
+The scene was a thoroughly Christmas one; and many other festive
+scenes, almost as interesting, were seen in all parts of England.
+Whether recorded or unrecorded, who does not rejoice in such efforts
+to promote "goodwill amongst men," and long for the time--
+
+ "When peace shall over all the earth
+ Its ancient splendours fling,
+ And the whole world send back the song,
+ Which now the angels sing."
+
+
+CHRISTMAS CRACKERS.
+
+One of the popular institutions inseparable from the festivities of
+Christmastide has long been the "cracker." The satisfaction which young
+people especially experience in pulling the opposite ends of a gelatine
+and paper cylinder is of the keenest, accompanied as the operation is by
+a mixed anticipation--half fearful as to the explosion that is to
+follow, and wholly delightful with regard to the bonbon or motto which
+will thus be brought to light. Much amusement is afforded to the lads
+and lassies by the fortune-telling verses which some of the crackers
+contain. But the cracker of our early days was something far different
+from what it is now. The sharp "crack" with which the article exploded,
+and from which it took its name, was then its principal, and, in some
+cases, its only feature; and the exclamation, "I know I shall scream,"
+which John Leech, in one of his sketches, puts into the mouth of two
+pretty girls engaged in cracker-pulling, indicated about the all of
+delight which that occupation afforded. Since then, however, the cracker
+has undergone a gradual development. Becoming by degrees a receptacle
+for bon-bons, rhymed mottoes, little paper caps and aprons, and similar
+toys, it has passed on to another and higher stage, and is even made a
+vehicle for high art illustrations. Considerable artistic talent has
+been introduced in the adornment of these novelties. For instance, the
+"Silhouette" crackers are illustrated with black figures, comprising
+portraits of well-known characters in the political, military, and
+social world, exquisitely executed, while appropriate designs have been
+adapted to other varieties, respectively designated "Cameos,"
+"Bric-a-brac," "Musical Toys," &c.; and it is quite evident that the
+education of the young in matters of good taste is not overlooked in the
+provision of opportunities for merriment.
+
+SANTA CLAUS AND THE STOCKING.
+
+ Hang up the baby's stocking! Be
+ sure you don't forget! The dear
+ little dimpled darling, she never
+ saw Christmas yet! But I've
+ told her all about it, and she opened
+ her big blue eyes; and I'm sure
+ she understood it--she looked so
+ funny and wise. * * * Dear, what
+ a tiny stocking! It doesn't take
+ much to hold such little pink toes
+ as baby's away from the frost and
+ cold. But then, for the baby's
+ Christmas, it will never do at all.
+ Why! Santa wouldn't be looking
+ for anything half so
+ small. * * * I know what
+ will do for the baby. I've
+ thought of the very best
+ plan. I'll borrow a
+ stocking of Grandma's,
+ the longest that ever
+ I can. And you'll
+ hang it by mine,
+ dear mother, right
+ here in the corner,
+ so! And leave a
+ letter to Santa, and
+ fasten it on to the
+ toe. * * * Write--this
+ is the baby's stocking,
+ that hangs in the corner
+ here. You never have
+ seen her, Santa, for
+ she only came this
+ year. But she's
+ just the blessed'st
+ baby. And now
+ before you go,
+ just cram her
+ stocking with
+ goodies, from
+ the top clean
+ down to
+ the
+ toe!
+
+
+FATALLY BURNT IN CHRISTMAS COSTUMES.
+
+The Christmastide of 1885-6 was marred by two fatal accidents which
+again illustrate the danger of dressing for entertainments in
+highly-inflammable materials. In the first case a London lady, on
+Boxing Night, was entertaining some friends, and appeared herself in
+the costume of _Winter_. She was dressed in a white robe of thin
+fabric, and stood under a canopy from which fell pieces of cotton wool
+to represent snowflakes, and in their descent one of them caught light
+at the candelabra, and fell at deceased's feet. In trying to put it
+out with her foot her dress caught fire, and she was immediately
+enveloped in flames. So inflammable was the material that, although
+prompt assistance was rendered, she was so severely burnt as to become
+unconscious. A medical man was sent for, and everything possible was
+done for her; but she sank gradually, and died from exhaustion. The
+second of these tragical incidents plunged a Paris family in deep
+sorrow. The parents, who lived in a beautiful detached house in the
+Rue de la Bienfaisance, had arranged that their children and some
+youthful cousins were to play before a party of friends on New Year's
+Night on the stage of a little theatre which had just been added to
+their house. The play was to represent the decrepit old year going out
+and the new one coming in. The eldest daughter, a charming girl of
+fourteen, was to be the good genius of 1886, and to be dressed in a
+loose transparent robe. On the appointed evening, after the company
+had assembled, she donned her stage costume and ran into her mother's
+bedroom to see how it became her. While looking at herself in a mirror
+on the toilette table her loose sleeve came in contact with the flame
+of a candle and blazed up. She screamed for help and tried to roll
+herself in the bed clothes; but the bed, being covered with a lace
+coverlet and curtained with muslin was also set on fire, and soon the
+whole room was ablaze. By the time help arrived the girl's clothes
+were all burning into the flesh; but such was her vitality that, in
+spite of the dreadful state in which every inch of her body was, she
+survived the accident many hours.
+
+Similar disasters occurred at Christmas festivities in 1889, at
+Detroit, and in 1891, at Wortley, Leeds. In the former several little
+children were fatally burnt, and in the latter fifteen children were
+set on fire, eleven of them fatally.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+CHRISTMAS LITERATURE
+
+is too large a subject to enter upon at length, for a bulky volume
+would scarcely suffice to describe the numerous Christmas annuals,
+illustrated Christmas numbers, newspaper supplements and variety
+papers which have become popular at Christmastide since the first
+appearance of Dickens's "Christmas Stories." The development of the
+Christmas trade in this light literature has been marvellous, and it
+is increasing year by year. And the same may be said of the charming
+gift-books which are published annually just before Christmas.
+
+
+CHRISTMAS LETTER MISSIONS.
+
+Through the various letter missions that have been established
+thousands of Christmas letters and illustrated missives, bright with
+anecdote, are despatched annually to the inmates of convalescent homes
+and hospitals, and are heartily welcomed by the recipients, for every
+one likes to be remembered on Christmas Day.
+
+
+THE POST-OFFICE OFFICIALS AND POSTMEN
+
+have, however, been very heavily weighted with these new Christmas
+customs. They have inflicted upon postmen and letter-sorters an amount
+of extra labour that is almost incredible. The postal-parcel work is
+also very heavy at the festive season.
+
+
+THE RAILWAYS AT CHRISTMAS.
+
+ "Home for the holidays, here we go;
+ Bless me, the train is exceedingly slow!
+ Pray, Mr. Engineer, get up your steam,
+ And let us be off, with a puff and a scream!
+ We have two long hours to travel, you say;
+ Come, Mr. Engineer, gallop away!"[92]
+
+This familiar verse recalls the eagerness of the schoolboy to be home
+for the Christmas holidays. And adults are no less eager to join their
+friends at the festive season; many travel long journeys in order to
+do so. Hence the great pressure of work on railway employes, and the
+congested state of the traffic at Christmastide. Two or three days
+before Christmas Day the newspapers publish what are called "railway
+arrangements," detailing the privileges granted by this and that
+company, and presenting the holiday traveller with a sort of
+appetising programme; and any one who will spend an hour at any of the
+great termini of the metropolis at this period can see the remarkable
+extent to which the public avail themselves of the facilities offered.
+The growth of railway travelling at Christmastide has, indeed, been
+marvellous in recent years, and it becomes greater every year. The
+crowded state of the railway stations, and the trains that roll out of
+them heavily laden with men, women, and children, wedged together by
+parcels bursting with good cheer, show most unmistakably that we have
+not forgotten the traditions of Christmas as a time of happy
+gatherings in the family circles of Old England.
+
+* * * * *
+
+But, as there is also much Christmas-keeping in other parts of the
+world, we pass now to--
+
+ [79] Huish's "Life of George the Third."
+
+ [80] _Gentleman's Magazine_, 1790.
+
+ [81] Copied from an undated leaflet inserted in the
+ British Museum copy of Brand's "Antiquities," by the late
+ Mr Joseph Hazlewood.
+
+ [82] Hone's "Every-day Book," 1826.
+
+ [83] Herbert H. Adams.
+
+ [84] "A black Christmas makes a fat kirk-yard." A windy
+ Christmas and a calm Candlemas are signs of a good year.
+
+ [85] The "savoury haggis" (from _hag_ to chop) is a dish
+ commonly made in a sheep's maw, of its lungs, heart, and
+ liver, mixed with suet, onions, salt, and pepper; or of
+ oatmeal mixed with the latter, without any animal food.
+
+ [86] F. Lawrence.
+
+ [87] "Old English Customs and Charities," 1842.
+
+ [88] "Biographical Lectures."
+
+ [89] "History of Berks," vol. xxv.
+
+ [90] "Grim, King of the Ghosts."
+
+ [91] "Old Times and Distant Places," 1875.
+
+ [92] Eliza Cook.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XII._
+
+MODERN CHRISTMASES ABROAD.
+
+
+CHRISTMAS-KEEPING IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS, 1850-1.
+
+"The bluejackets are generally better hands than the red-coats at
+improvising a jollification--Jack, at any rate, does not take his
+pleasures sadly. The gallant bands that have from time to time gone
+forth to a bloodless campaign in the icy north, have always managed to
+keep their Christmas right joyously. Certainly they could not complain
+of uncongenial skies or unseasonable temperatures; while, so far as
+snow and ice are necessary to thorough enjoyment, the supply in the
+Arctic regions is on a scale sufficient to satisfy the most ardent
+admirer of an old-fashioned Christmas. The frozen-in Investigators
+under McClure kept their first Arctic Christmas soberly, cheerfully,
+and in good fellowship, round tables groaning with good cheer, in the
+shape of Sandwich Island beef, musk veal from the Prince of Wales's
+Strait, mince-meat from England, splendid preserves from the Green
+Isle, and dainty dishes from Scotland. Every one talked of home, and
+speculated respecting the doings of dear ones there; and healths were
+drunk, not omitting those of their fellow-labourers sauntering
+somewhere in the regions about, but how near or how far away none
+could tell. When the festival came round again, the _Investigator_ and
+_Enterprise_ were alone in their glory, and they were separated by
+miles of frozen sea; but they had solved the great problem.[93] On
+board the _Investigator_, frost-bound in the Bay of Mercy, things went
+as merry as the proverbial marriage-bell. After divine service,
+everybody took a constitutional on the ice until dinner-time; then the
+officers sat down to a meal of which the _piece de resistance_ was a
+haunch of Banks' Island reindeer, weighing twenty pounds, with fat two
+inches thick, and a most delicious flavour; while the crew were
+regaling upon venison and other good things, double allowance of grog
+included; and dinner discussed, dancing, singing, and skylarking
+filled up the holiday hours till bedtime; the fun being kept up with
+unflagging humour, and with such propriety withal as to make their
+leader wish the anxious folks at home could have witnessed the scene
+created amidst so many gloomy influences, by the crew of a ship after
+two years' sojourn in those ice-bound regions upon their own
+resources. Another Christmas found the brave fellows still confined in
+their snowy prison; but their table boasted plum-pudding rich enough
+for Arctic appetites, Banks' Land venison, Mercy Bay hare-soup,
+ptarmigan pasties, and musk-ox beef--hung-beef, surely, seeing it had
+been dangling in the rigging above two years. The poets among the men
+wrote songs making light of the hardships they had endured; the
+painters exhibited pictures of past perils; comic actors were not
+wanting; and the whole company, casting all anxiety to the winds,
+enjoyed themselves to the utmost."[94]
+
+In the spring of 1870, before the breaking out of the Franco-German
+war, Germany sent out two ships, the _Germania_ and the _Hansa_, with
+the hope of reaching the North Pole. As is usually the case in Arctic
+expeditions, little could be done during the first season, and the
+ships were obliged to take up their winter-quarters off the east coast
+of Greenland. They had already been separated, so that the crew of one
+vessel, had no idea of the condition of the other. An officer upon the
+_Germania_ gives the following interesting account of their Christmas
+festivities in the Arctic regions:--
+
+"To the men who have already lived many weary months among the
+icebergs, Christmas signifies, in addition to its other associations,
+that the half of their long night--with its fearful storms, its
+enforced cessation of all energy, its discomfort and sadness--has
+passed, and that the sun will soon again shed its life and
+warmth-giving beams on the long-deserted North. From this time the
+grim twilight, during which noon has been hardly distinguishable from
+the other hours, grows daily lighter, until at length all hearts are
+gladdened, and a cheerful activity is once again called forth by the
+first glimpse of the sun. Christmas, the midnight of the Arctic
+explorer, thus marks a period in his life which he has good cause to
+consider a joyful one.
+
+"For days before the festival, an unusual activity was observable all
+over the ship; and as soon as the severe storm which raged from
+December 16th to the 21st had abated, parties were organised, under
+our botanist, Dr. Pansch, to certain points of Sabine Island, near to
+which we were anchored, where, in a strangely sheltered nook, several
+varieties of a native Greenland evergreen plant, _Andromeda
+tetragona_, were to be found. A great quantity of this plant was
+conveyed on board, to be converted into a Christmas-tree. Under the
+orders of Dr. Pansch, the Andromeda was wound round small pieces of
+wood, several of which were attached, like fir-twigs, to a large
+bough; and when these boughs were fastened to a pole, they formed a
+very respectable fir-tree.
+
+"After dinner on Christmas Day, the cabin was cleared for the
+completion of the preparations; and on our recall at six o'clock, we
+found that all had assumed an unwontedly festive appearance. The walls
+were decorated with the signal-flags and our national eagle; and the
+large cabin table, somewhat enlarged to make room to seat seventeen
+men, was covered with a clean white cloth, which had been reserved for
+the occasion. On the table stood the 'fir' tree, shining in the
+splendour of many little wax-lights, and ornaments with all sorts of
+little treasures, some of which, such as the gilded walnuts, had
+already seen a Christmas in Germany; below the tree was a small
+present for each of us, provided long beforehand, in readiness for
+the day, by loving friends and relatives at home. There was a packet
+too for each of the crew, containing some little joking gift, prepared
+by the mirth-loving Dr. Pansch, and a useful present also; while the
+officers were each and all remembered.
+
+"When the lights burned down, and the resinous Andromeda was beginning
+to take fire, the tree was put aside, and a feast began, at which full
+justice was done to the costly Sicilian wine with which a friend had
+generously supplied us before we left home. We had a dish of roast
+seal! Some cakes were made by the cook, and the steward produced his
+best stores. For the evening, the division between the fore and aft
+cabins was removed, and there was free intercourse between officers
+and men; many a toast was drunk to the memory of friends at home, and
+at midnight a polar ball was improvised by a dance on the ice. The
+boatswain, the best musician of the party, seated himself with his
+hand-organ between the antlers of a reindeer which lay near the ship,
+and the men danced two and two on their novel flooring of hard ice!
+
+"Such was our experience of a Christmas in the north polar circle; but
+the uncertainties of Arctic voyaging are great, and the two ships of
+our expedition made trial of the widely different fates which await
+the travellers in those frozen regions: and while we on the _Germania_
+were singularly fortunate in escaping accidents and in keeping our
+crew, in spite of some hardships, in sound health and good spirits,
+the _Hansa_ was crushed by the ice, and her crew, after facing
+unheard-of dangers, and passing two hundred days on a block of ice,
+were barely rescued to return home."
+
+Yet even to the crew of the ill-fated _Hansa_ Christmas brought some
+festivities. The tremendous gale which had raged for many days ceased
+just before the day, and the heavy fall of snow with which it
+terminated, and which had almost buried the black huts that the
+shipwrecked men had constructed for themselves upon the drifting
+icebergs from the _debris_ of the wreck, had produced a considerable
+rise in the temperature, and there was every indication that a season
+of calm might now be anticipated.
+
+The log-book of the _Hansa_ thus describes the celebration of the
+festival:--"The tree was erected in the afternoon, while the greater
+part of the crew took a walk; and the lonely hut shone with wonderful
+brightness amid the snow. Christmas upon a Greenland iceberg! The tree
+was artistically put together of firwood and mat-weed, and Dr. Laube
+had saved a twist of wax-taper for the illumination. Chains of
+coloured paper and newly-baked cakes were not wanting, and the men had
+made a knapsack and a revolver case as a present for the captain. We
+opened the leaden chests of presents from Professor Hochstetter and
+the Geological Society, and were much amused by their contents. Each
+man had a glass of port wine; and we then turned over the old
+newspapers which we found in the chests, and drew lots for the
+presents, which consisted of small musical instruments such as fifes,
+jew's-harps, trumpets, &c., with draughts and other games, puppets,
+crackers, &c. In the evening we feasted on chocolate and gingerbread."
+
+"We observed the day very quietly," writes Dr. Laube in his diary. "If
+this Christmas be the last we are to see, it was at least a cheerful
+one; but should a happy return home be decreed for us, the next will,
+we trust, be far brighter. May God so grant!"
+
+
+CHRISTMAS IN THE CRIMEA.
+
+The Christmas of 1854 was a dismal one for the soldiers in the Crimea,
+witnessing and enduring what Lord John Russell spoke of as "the
+horrible and heartrending scenes of that Crimean winter."
+
+"Thanks to General Muddle," says a journal of the period, "the Crimean
+Christmas of 1854 was anything but what it ought to and might have
+been; and the knowledge that plenty of good things had been provided
+by thoughtful hearts at home, but which were anywhere but where they
+were wanted, did not add to the merriment of our poor overworked,
+underfed army; and although some desperate efforts were made to be
+jolly on dreary outpost and in uncomfortable trenches, they only
+resulted in miserable failure. The following Christmas was doubly
+enjoyable by comparison. The stubborn fortress (Sebastopol) had fallen
+at last to its more stubborn assailants; habit had deprived frost and
+snow of their terrors, and every hut ran over with hams, preserves,
+vegetables, and mysterious tins, till it resembled a grocer's store.
+The valleys of Miscomia, too, were rich in mistletoe, to be had for
+the trouble of gathering; but few cared to undergo that trouble for
+the sake of what only reminded them of unattainable sweets, and made
+them sigh for the girls they had left behind them."
+
+In 1855, Messrs. Macmillan & Co. published a poem by H. R. F.,
+entitled "Christmas Dawn, 1854," in which the writer pictures the
+festivities marred by war:--
+
+ "A happy Christmas!
+ Happy! to whom? Perchance to infancy,
+ And innocent childhood, while the germ of sin,
+ Yet undeveloped, leaves a virgin soil
+ For joy, and Death and Sorrow are but names.
+ But who, that bears a mind matured to thought,
+ A heart to feel, shall look abroad this day
+ And speak of happiness? The church is deckt
+ With festive garlands, and the sunbeams glance
+ From glossy evergreens; the mistletoe
+ Pearl-studded, and the holly's lustrous bough
+ Gleaming with coral fruitage; but we muse
+ Of laurel blent with cypress. Gaze we down
+ Yon crowded aisle? the mourner's dusky weeds
+ Sadden the eye; and they who wear them not
+ Have mourning in their hearts, or lavish tears
+ Of sympathy on griefs too deeply lodged
+ For man's weak ministry.
+ A happy Christmas!
+ Ah me! how many hearths are desolate!
+ How many a vacant seat awaits in vain
+ The loved one who returns not! Shall we drain
+ The cheerful cup--a health to absent friends?
+ Whom do we pledge? the living or the dead?"
+
+Thus did the poet, "sick at heart," explore "the realm of sorrow"; and
+then again he mused:
+
+ "In humbler mood to hail the auspicious day,
+ Shine forth rejoicing in thy strength, O sun,
+ Shine through the dubious mists and tearful show'rs
+ That darken Hope's clear azure! Christ is born,
+ The life of those who wake, and those who sleep--
+ The Day-spring from on high hath looked on us;
+ And we, who linger militant on earth,
+ Are one in Him, with those, the loved and lost,
+ Whose early graves keep the red field they won
+ Upon a stranger shore. Ah! not in vain
+ Went up from many a wild Crimean ridge
+ The soldier's pray'r, responsive to the vows
+ Breathed far away in many an English home.
+ Not vain the awakened charities, that gush
+ Through countless channels--Christian brotherhoods
+ Of mercy; and that glorious sister-band
+ Who sow by Death's chill waters!--Not in vain,
+ My country! ever loved, but dearest now
+ In this thine hour of sorrow, hast thou learnt
+ To bow to Him who chastens. We must weep--
+ We may rejoice in weeping"
+
+
+CHRISTMAS IN ABYSSINIA.
+
+Wherever Englishmen are on the 25th of December, there is Christmas.
+Whether it be in the icy regions of the Arctic zone, or in the
+sweltering heat of tropical sunshine, the coming round of the great
+feast brings with it to every Englishman a hearty desire to celebrate
+it duly. And if this cannot be done in exactly home-fashion, the
+festival is kept as happily as circumstances will allow. In this
+spirit did our soldiers keep Christmas in Abyssinia, in 1867, with the
+thermometer at seventy-five in the shade, and even here the edibles
+included at least one traditional dish--a joint of roast beef. There
+was also an abundance of spur-fowls, guinea-fowls, venison, mutton,
+&c., and the place in which the festive board was spread was decorated
+with branches of fir and such other substitutes for holly and
+mistletoe as could be found.
+
+
+CHRISTMAS-KEEPING IN INDIA
+
+at different periods shows the same determination of our British
+soldiers to honour the Christmas festival.
+
+In 1857, the saviours of our Indian Empire very nearly lost their
+Christmas. The army was encamped at Intha, within sight of Nepaul,
+waiting for the rain to clear off and the tents to dry, ere it moved
+on to drive the Sepoys into the Raptee. The skies cleared on Christmas
+morning, and Lord Clyde was for marching at once, but relented in time
+to save the men's puddings from being spoiled--not only relented, but
+himself gave a Christmas banquet, at which the favoured guests sat
+down to well-served tables laden with barons of beef, turkeys, mutton,
+game, fish, fowls, plum-puddings, mince-pies, &c. To allay the thirst
+such substantial fare created, appeared beakers of pale ale from
+Burton and Glasgow; porter from London and Dublin; champagne, moselle,
+sherry, and old port, 'rather bothered by travelling twenty miles a
+day on a camel back.' Following the chief's example, each regiment had
+a glorious spread, and throughout the wide expanse of tents sounds of
+rejoicing were heard, for the soldiers kept Christmas right merrily.
+
+Similarly,
+
+
+THE BRITISH SOLDIERS AND SAILORS IN SOUTH AFRICA
+
+did their best to observe the Christmas festival in good old English
+style, even during the sieges of Ladysmith, Kimberley, and Mafeking,
+when provisions were to be had only at famine prices. The ingenious
+Tommy Atkins, in distant lands, has often found sylvan substitutes for
+mistletoe and holly, and native viands to take the place of
+plum-puddings and mince-pies, but it is not so easy to find
+substitutes for the social circles in old England, and when the time
+comes round for the Christmas dance Tommy's thoughts "Return again to
+the girl I've left behind me."
+
+Moreover, it sometimes falls to the lot of soldiers and war
+correspondents to spend their Christmas in most outlandish places. Mr.
+Archibald Forbes has left on record (in the _English Illustrated
+Magazine_, 1885) an interesting account of his own Christmastide in
+the Khyber Pass.
+
+In his graphic style the intrepid war correspondent describes the
+"ride long and hard" which Kinloch and he had through the Khyber to
+Jelalabad plain to fulfil "the tryst they had made to spend Christmas
+Day with the cheery comrades of Sir Sam Browne's headquarter staff."
+They had an adventurous journey together from the Dakka camp to
+Jumrood, where Forbes left Kinloch with Maude's division.
+
+Further on, Mr. Forbes says: "I am not prepared to be definite, after
+five years, as to the number of plum-puddings forming that little
+hillock on the top of my dak-gharry between Jhelum and Peshawur, on
+the apex of which sat the faithful John amidst a whirl of dust. At
+Peshawur the heap of Christmas gifts were loaded into the panniers of
+a camel, and the ship of the desert started on its measured solemn
+tramp up through the defiles of the Khyber." Then Mr. Forbes tells us
+how he joined Kinloch again at General Maude's headquarters at
+Jumrood. Kinloch "had not forgotten his tryst, but meanwhile there
+were military duties to be done." After the discharge of these
+"military duties," which included a night march to surprise a
+barbarous clan called Zukkur-Kehls, Forbes and Kinloch joined General
+Tytler's column on its return march to Dakka, because at Dakka they
+would be nearer to their friends of Sir Sam Browne's headquarters.
+"Tytler determined to make his exit from the Zukkur-Kahl Valley by a
+previously unexplored pass, toward which the force moved for its
+night's bivouac. About the entrance to the glen there was a fine
+forest of ilex and holly, large, sturdy, spreading trees, whence
+dangled long sprays of mistletoe; the mistletoe bough was here indeed,
+and Christmas was close, but where the fair ones whom, under other
+circumstances, the amorous youth of our column would have so
+enthusiastically led under that spray which accords so sweet a
+license? The young ones prattled of those impossible joys; but the
+seniors, less frivolous, were concerned by the increasing narrowness
+of the gorge, and by the dropping fire that hung on our skirts as we
+entered it. However, there was but one casualty--a poor fellow of the
+17th Regiment had his thigh smashed by a bullet--and we spent the
+night under the ilex trees without further molestation.... It was
+Christmas Eve when we sat chatting with young Beatson in his lonely
+post by the Chardai streamlet; but a few hours of morning riding would
+carry us to Jellalabad whither Sir Sam Browne's camp had been
+advanced, and we were easy on the score of being true to tryst. As in
+the cold grey dawn we resumed our journey, leaving the young officer
+who had been our host to concern himself with the watchfulness of his
+picquets and the vigilance of his patrols, there was a sound of
+unintentional mockery in the conventional wish of a 'Merry Christmas'
+to the gallant lad, and there was a wistfulness in his answering
+smile.... The road to the encampment, the white canvas of whose
+tents showed through the intervening hills, was traversed at a hand
+gallop; and presently Kinloch and myself found ourselves in the street
+of the headquarter camp, shaking hands with friends and comrades, and
+trying to reply to a medley of disjointed questions. The bugles were
+sounding for the Christmas Day Church Parade as we finished a hurried
+breakfast. Out there on the plain the British troops of the division
+were standing in hollow square, the officers grouped in the centre....
+The headquarter street we found swept and garnished, the flagstaff
+bedecked with holly, and a regimental band playing 'Home, Sweet Home.'
+Dear old Sir Sam Browne did not believe in luxury when on campaign,
+but now for the first time I saw him at least comfortable.... The mess
+anteroom was the camp street outside the dining tent; and at the
+fashionable late hour of eight we 'went in' to dinner, to the strains
+of the _Roast Beef of Old England_. It was a right jovial feast, and
+the most cordial good-fellowship prevailed. He would have been a
+cynical epicurean who would have criticised the appointments; the
+banquet itself was above all cavil. Rummaging among some old papers
+the other day, I found the _menu_, which deserves to be quoted:
+'Soup--Julienne. Fish--Whitebait (from the Cabul River).
+Entrees--Cotelettes aux Champignons, Poulets a la Mayonaise.
+Joints--Ham and fowls, roast beef, roast saddle of mutton, boiled
+brisket of beef, boiled leg of mutton and caper sauce. Curry--chicken.
+Sweets--Lemon jelly, blancmange, apricot tart, plum-pudding. Grilled
+sardines, cheese fritters, cheese, dessert.' Truth compels the avowal
+that there was no table-linen, nor was the board resplendent with
+plate or gay with flowers. Table crockery was deficient, or to be more
+accurate, there was none. All the dishes were of metal, and the soup
+was eaten, or rather drunk, out of mugs and iron teacups. But it
+tasted none the worse on this account, and let it be recorded that
+there _were_ champagne glasses, while between every two guests a
+portly magnum reared its golden head. Except 'The Queen,' of course,
+there were but two toasts after the feast--one was 'Absent Friends,'
+drunk in a wistful silence, and the other, the caterer's health,
+greeted with vociferous enthusiasm. A few fields off the wood had been
+collecting all day for the Christmas camp-fire of the 10th Hussars,
+and by ten o'clock the blaze of it was mounting high into the murky
+gloom. A right merry and social gathering it was round the bright glow
+of this Yule log in a far-off land. The flames danced on the wide
+circle of bearded faces, on the tangled fleeces of the postheens, on
+the gold braid of the forage caps, on the sombre hoods of beshliks....
+The songs ranged from gay to grave; the former mood in the ascendency.
+But occasionally there was sung a ditty, the associations with which
+brought it about that there came something strangely like a tear into
+the voice of the singer, and that a yearning wistfulness fell upon the
+faces of the listeners. The bronzed troopers in the background shaded
+with their hands the fire-flash from their eyes; and as the familiar
+homely strain ceased that recalled home and love and trailed at the
+heart strings till the breast felt to heave and the tears to rise,
+there would be a little pause of eloquent silence which told how
+thoughts had gone astraying half across the globe to the loved ones in
+dear old England, and were loath to come back again to the rum and the
+camp fire in Jellalabad plain. Ah, how many stood or sat around that
+camp fire that were never to see old England more? The snow had not
+melted on the Sufed Koh when half a squadron of the troopers were
+drowned in the treacherous Cabul river. No brighter soul or sweeter
+singer round that fire than Monty Slade; but the life went out of
+Monty Slade with his face to the foe and his wet sword grasped in a
+soldier-grip; and he lies under the palm trees by the wells of El
+Teb."
+
+
+CHRISTMAS IN CANADA.
+
+In Canada the severe and long-continued frosts convert a good deal of
+land and water into fields of ice, and skating is a very popular
+amusement of Christmastide. Sleighing is also very fashionable, and
+the large tracts of country covered with snow afford ample scope for
+the pastime. The jingle of the sleigh bells is heard in all the
+principal thoroughfares which at the season of the great winter
+festival present quite an animated appearance. The ears of the sleigh
+drivers are usually covered either by the cap or with a comforter,
+which in very cold weather is also wrapped over the mouth and nose.
+
+"Christmas Day," says an English Colonist, "is spent quietly in our
+own houses. New Year's Day is the day of general rejoicing, when every
+one either visits or receives their friends: and so, thinking of the
+merry times we have had in Old England, and comparing them with the
+quietness of to-day, we feel more like strangers in a strange land
+than ever before.
+
+"As a special treat, we are to have a real English Christmas dinner
+to-day, and our housekeeper has made a wonderful plum-pudding. The
+turkey is already steaming upon the table, and we soon fall to work
+upon him. He is well cooked, but there seems to be something wrong
+with his legs, which are so tough and sinewy that we come to the
+conclusion that he must have been training for a walking match. The
+rest of the dinner passes off very well, with the exception of the
+plum-pudding, which has to be brought to the table in a basin, as it
+firmly refuses to bind.
+
+"After dinner we retire to the sitting-room, and sit round the stove
+talking, while those of us addicted to the fragrant weed have a quiet
+smoke. Thus passes Christmas afternoon.
+
+"Tea-time soon comes round, and after we have refreshed ourselves, we
+resolve to end the day by paying a visit to a neighbour who possesses
+an American organ, and Christmas evening closes in to the music of
+those sweet old carols which that evening are heard over the whole
+world wherever an English colony is to be found."
+
+
+CHRISTMAS IN AUSTRALIA.
+
+Christmas festivities in Australia are carried on in what we should
+call "summer weather." There is no lack of good cheer and good living,
+but cold and snow are at this season unknown, and skating and
+snowballing, as a consequence, are sports unheard of at Christmastide
+by the youth in the Antipodes. Large parties and excursions are often
+arranged for spending a short time in the parks and fields, and
+Christmas picnics partake much of the character of English
+"gipsy-parties." The inhabitants being chiefly English, many of the
+ceremonies customary in English homes are observed, and the changes
+that are made are enforced for the most part by the difference in
+climate, and by the altered circumstances under which the various
+festivities are arranged.
+
+In "A Summer Christmas," Douglas B. W. Sladen thus describes the
+Australian festivities:--
+
+ "The Christmas dinner was at two,
+ And all that wealth or pains could do
+ Was done to make it a success;
+ And marks of female tastefulness,
+ And traces of a lady's care,
+ Were noticeable everywhere.
+ The port was old, the champagne dry,
+ And every kind of luxury
+ Which Melbourne could supply was there.
+ They had the staple Christmas fare,
+ Roast beef and turkey (this was wild),
+ Mince-pies, plum-pudding, rich and mild,
+ One for the ladies, one designed
+ For Mr. Forte's severer mind,
+ Were on the board, yet in a way
+ It did not seem like Christmas day
+ With no gigantic beech yule-logs
+ Blazing between the brass fire-dogs,
+ And with 100 deg. in the shade
+ On the thermometer displayed.
+ Nor were there Christmas offerings
+ Of tasteful inexpensive things,
+ Like those which one in England sends
+ At Christmas to his kin and friends,
+ Though the Professor with him took
+ A present of a recent book
+ For Lil and Madge and Mrs. Forte,
+ And though a card of some new sort
+ Had been arranged by Lil to face
+ At breakfast everybody's place.
+ When dinner ended nearly all
+ Stole off to lounges in the hall.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ All save the two old folks and Lil,
+ Who made their hearts expand and thrill
+ By playing snatches, slow and clear,
+ Of carols they'd been used to hear
+ Some half a century ago
+ At High Wick Manor, when the two
+ Were bashful maidens: they talked on,
+ Of England and what they had done
+ On byegone Christmas nights at home,
+ Of friends beyond the Northern foam,
+ And friends beyond that other sea,
+ Yet further--whither ceaselessly
+ Travellers follow the old track,
+ But whence no messenger comes back."
+
+
+CHRISTMAS IN NEW ZEALAND.
+
+In 1887, we received a letter from Mr. W. M. Stanton, of Nelson, New
+Zealand, giving the following interesting account of the colonists'
+observance of Christmas:--
+
+"And now, as to Christmas, I wish I could express all I feel on this
+peculiarly English season of 'peace and goodwill.' I remember the
+picturesque snow (seen here only on the distant blue mountain tops),
+the icy stalactites pendant from the leafless branches, the twitter of
+the robin redbreast, the holly, and the mistletoe, decorated homes,
+redolent with the effects of the festive cooking, and the warm blazing
+firelight, the meeting of families and of friends, the waits, the
+grand old peals from the belfries; but, alas, here these childhood
+associations are dispelled, half broken, and we acclimatised denizens
+adapt our festivities to other modes--not that we forget the Christmas
+season, but enjoy it differently, as I will briefly tell you, as you
+ask, 'how we spend Christmas in New Zealand.' First, our ladies
+decorate the churches for the Christmas services, not with the
+evergreens of old exclusively; they do indeed affect the holly, ivy,
+and (New Zealand) mistletoe, but they make up with umbrageous and rich
+ferns, lachipoden, lauristinas, Portugal laurels, and our own
+beautiful evergreen, Ngaio, and with all the midsummer flowers at
+command; then the clerk, the storeman, the merchant, and the mechanic
+indulge in 'trips,' or day excursions, in small steamboats, to the
+neighbouring bays surrounding small townships, and villages on the
+coast. Others again, take the train for a day's outing and play
+quoits, rounders, lawn tennis, and the like; the sportsman, perhaps,
+preferring his gun and his dog; families, again, are picnic-mad, for
+your colonist can rival the Cockney any day for making his holiday in
+the country. It may be to 'the rocks' he goes to watch his youngsters
+paddling in the rolling tide, or to the toil of clambering up the 'dim
+mountain,' which seems to suit their hardy lungs better than the shade
+of the 'fern glen,' and a journey of eighteen miles to the Maori Pa is
+as nothing. The Union Company's fine coasting steamships run
+passengers at half fares at this season, and the result is an
+interchange of visits between the dwellers in Nelson, Wellington,
+Marlboro', and Wanjani, amongst whom there is much rivalry and more
+friendship. Then there is the Christmas regatta, the performance of
+the 'Messiah' by the musical societies, and the inevitable evening
+dances, and thus the New Zealand Christmas is spent.
+
+"I am reminded, by my young clerk, that the mail is about closing, and
+that this letter must also close, if it is to go to-day, and thus I
+must omit the mention of the new year's festivities, which properly
+belong to our numerous Scottish fellow settlers who in their own
+country ignore Christmas as a popish superstition; they are, however,
+now becoming anglicised ('Englified' they call it) in their habits,
+and similarly the Midland county men of England enter into their
+Caledonian custom, from the harmless orgies of 'Hagmenae' to the
+frantic capers of 'Gillie Cullum,' to the skirl of the panting piper."
+
+
+CHRISTMAS AT THE SANDWICH ISLANDS.
+
+In "A Voyage in the _Sunbeam_," Lady Brassey gives an interesting
+account of the keeping of Christmas, 1876, on the Sandwich Islands. We
+quote the following extracts:--
+
+"Twenty minutes' hard riding brought us to the door of the 'Volcano
+House,' from which issued the comforting light of a large wood fire,
+reaching half way up the chimney.
+
+"Everything at this inn is most comfortable, though the style is rough
+and ready. The interior is just now decorated for Christmas, with
+wreaths, and evergreens, and ferns, and branches of white plumes, not
+unlike _reva-reva_, made from the path of the silver grass.
+
+"The grandeur of the view in the direction of the volcano increased as
+the evening wore on. The fiery cloud above the present crater grew in
+size and depth of colour; the extinct crater glowed red in thirty or
+forty different places; and clouds of white vapour issued from every
+crack and crevice in the ground, adding to the sulphurous smell with
+which the atmosphere was laden. Our room faced the volcano: there were
+no blinds, and I drew back the curtains and lay watching the splendid
+scene until I fell asleep.
+
+"_Sunday, December 24th (Christmas Eve)_--I was up at four o'clock to
+gaze once more on the wondrous spectacle that lay before me. The
+molten lava still glowed in many places, the red cloud over the fiery
+lake was bright as ever, and steam was slowly ascending in every
+direction over hill and valley, till, as the sun rose, it became
+difficult to distinguish clearly the sulphurous vapours from the
+morning mists. We walked down to the Sulphur Banks, about a quarter of
+a mile from the 'Volcano House,' and burnt our gloves and boots in our
+endeavours to procure crystals, the beauty of which generally
+disappeared after a very short exposure to the air. We succeeded,
+however, in finding a few good specimens, and, by wrapping them at
+once in paper and cotton-wool and putting them into a bottle, hope to
+bring them home uninjured.
+
+"_Monday, December 25th (Christmas Day)_--Turning in last night was
+the work of a very few minutes, and this morning I awoke perfectly
+refreshed and ready to appreciate anew the wonders of the prospect
+that met my eyes. The pillar of fire was still distinctly visible,
+when I looked out from my window, though it was not so bright as when
+I had last seen it, but even as I looked it began to fade and
+gradually disappeared. At the same moment a river of glowing lava
+issued from the side of the bank we had climbed with so much
+difficulty yesterday, and slowly but surely overflowed the ground we
+had walked over. You may imagine the feelings with which we gazed upon
+this startling phenomenon, which had it occurred a few hours earlier,
+might have caused the destruction of the whole party.
+
+* * * * *
+
+"It would, I think, be difficult to imagine a more interesting and
+exciting mode of spending Christmas Eve than yesterday has taught us,
+or a stranger situation in which to exchange our Christmas greetings
+than beneath the grass roof of an inn on the edge of a volcano in the
+remote Sandwich Islands.
+
+* * * * *
+
+"The ride down to Hilo was as dull and monotonous as our upward
+journey had been. At last we reached the pier, where we found the
+usual little crowd waiting to see us off. The girls who had followed
+us when we first landed came forward shyly when they thought they were
+unobserved, and again encircled me with _leis_ of gay and fragrant
+flowers. The custom of decorating themselves with wreaths on every
+possible occasion is in my eyes a charming one, and I like the
+inhabitants of Polynesia for their love of flowers.
+
+"The whole town was _en fete_ to-day. Natives were riding about in
+pairs, in the cleanest of bright cotton dresses and the freshest of
+_leis_ and garlands. Our own men from the yacht contributed not a
+little to the gaiety of the scene. They were all on shore, and the
+greater part of them were galloping about on horseback, tumbling off,
+scrambling on again, laughing, flirting, joking, and enjoying
+themselves generally after a fashion peculiar to English sailors. As
+far as we know the only evil result of all this merriment was that the
+doctor received a good many applications for diachylon plaster in the
+course of the evening, to repair various 'abrasions of the cuticle,'
+as he expressed it.
+
+"I think at least half the population of Hilo had been on board the
+yacht in the course of the day, as a Christmas treat. At last we took
+a boat and went off too, accompanied by Mr. Lyman. The appearance of
+the 'Sunbeam' from the shore was very gay, and as we approached it
+became more festive still. All her masts were tipped with sugar-canes
+in bloom. Her stern was adorned with flowers, and in the arms of the
+figurehead was a large bouquet. She was surrounded with boats, the
+occupants of which cheered us heartily as we rode alongside. The whole
+deck was festooned with tropical plants and flowers, and the
+decorations of the cabins were even more beautiful and elaborate. I
+believe all hands had been hard at work ever since we left to produce
+this wonderful effect, and every garden in Hilo had furnished a
+contribution to please and surprise us on our return.
+
+"The choir from Hilo came out in boats in the evening, sang all sorts
+of songs, sacred and secular, and cheered everybody till they were
+hoarse. After this, having had a cold dinner, in order to save
+trouble, and having duly drunk the health of our friends at home, we
+all adjourned to the saloon, to assist in the distribution of some
+Christmas presents--a ceremony which afforded great delight to the
+children, and which was equally pleasing to the elder people and to
+the crew, if one may judge from their behaviour on the occasion.
+
+"Then we sat on deck, gazing at the cloud of fire over Kilauea, and
+wondering if the appearance of the crater could ever be grander than
+it was last night, when we were standing on its brim.
+
+"So ended Christmas Day, 1876, at Hilo, in Hawaii. God grant that
+there may be many more as pleasant for us in the future!"
+
+
+CHRISTMAS ON BOARD THE "SUNBEAM," 1879.
+
+ "The wind is chill,
+ But let it whistle as it will
+ We'll keep our Christmas merry still."
+
+In "Sunshine and Storm in the East, or Cruises to Cyprus and
+Constantinople," Lady Brassey gives an interesting account of the
+celebration of Christmas on board the _Sunbeam_, between Malta and
+Marseilles, December 25, 1879:--"We had service early and then spent a
+long busy morning in arranging all the presents for the children,
+servants, and crew, and in decorating the cabin. We could not manage
+any holly, but we had carefully preserved one bough of mistletoe from
+Artaki Bay, and had brought on board at Malta baskets full of flowers,
+so that all the pictures, lamps, and even walls, were wreathed with
+festoons of bougainvillaea, ivy, and other creeping plants; while in
+every available corner were placed, vases, bowls, and soup-plates,
+containing flowers. If not exactly 'gay with holly-berries,' so dear
+to English hearts from their association with yule-tide at home, the
+general appearance of the cabins was highly satisfactory. In the
+meantime they had been busy in the kitchen and pantry departments,
+preparing all sorts of good things for dinner, and pretty things for
+dessert, in order that the crew and servants might enjoy a more
+sumptuous repast than usual. A Christmas tree, a snow man, or an ice
+cave, for the distribution of presents, was not within the limit of
+our resources; but we decorated our tables and sideboards with bright
+shawls and scarves, and wreathed and divided the surface of each with
+garlands of flowers, placing in every division a pretty Christmas
+card, bearing the name of the recipient of the present, which was
+hidden away among the flowers beneath.... For the men there was plenty
+of tobacco, besides books and useful things; for the children toys;
+and for ourselves, slippers and little remembrances of various kinds,
+some sent from home to meet us, others recent purchases. The
+distribution over, one or two speeches were made, and mutual
+congratulations and good wishes were exchanged. Then the crew and
+servants retired to enjoy the, to them, all-important event of the
+day--dinner and dessert. After our own late dinner, we thought of
+those near and dear to us at home, and drank to the health of 'absent
+friends.'"
+
+
+A MISSIONARY'S CHRISTMAS IN CHINA.
+
+In a letter from Tsing Cheu Fu Chefoo, December 24, 1887, the Rev. A.
+G. Jones, Baptist missionary, says:--
+
+"Mr. Dawson asks how Englishmen spend Christmas in China. Well, it
+depends. Some spend it at the ports dog-racing and eating
+pudding--having a night of it. The missionaries generally take no
+notice of it. In our mission we hold one of the semi-annual
+dedication-of-children services on Christmas. We think it a very
+appropriate day for the recognition of the sacredness of the gift of
+trust of children. The idea is a Chinese one, originating with one of
+our Christians, and we adopted it as the day for the custom.
+Tomorrow will be Christmas Day, and I have come out twenty miles
+this evening to hold a service of that kind with the semi-annual
+communion as it happens. It will be a cold, cheerless room in a
+clay-built cabin down in the corner of a bare valley in a trap and
+basalt district with sparse vegetation and a bare aspect. A cold spot
+with a handful of Christians, bearing their testimony alone out on the
+margin of our field of work. I hope to see 40 or 50 patients up to
+sundown, and then have worship with them at night. That will be my
+Christmas. This evening--in the city--all the children and our wives
+are having a Christmas tree in the theological lecture-room, and on
+Tuesday next I guess we'll have our dinner. John Bull, Paddy, Sandy,
+and Taffy all seem to agree in _that_ feature. My Sunday will only be
+a sample of others. So it goes--working away. Now I must say goodbye.
+Many thanks and many good wishes."
+
+
+A VISIT TO CHRISTMAS ISLAND.
+
+Letters were received in December, 1887, from H.M.S. _Egeria_,
+Commander Pelham Aldrich, containing particulars of a visit she had
+recently made to Christmas Island, which she was ordered to explore
+for scientific purposes. Christmas Island is situated in the Indian
+Ocean, in latitude 11 deg. south, longitude 105 deg. 30' east; it is 1,100
+feet above the sea, is twelve miles long and eight miles broad. The
+officers and men told off for exploring purposes found that the whole
+place was composed of coral and rock; notwithstanding this, however,
+it is covered almost completely with trees and shrubs, the trees,
+which are of large dimensions, seeming to grow literally out of the
+rock itself, earth surfaces being conspicuous by their absence. It is
+uninhabited by human beings, nor could any traces of animals be
+discovered, but seabirds swarm over every part of the island, and
+about four hundred wood pigeons were shot by the explorers while they
+remained there. No fruits or vegetable matter fit for consumption
+could, however, be found, nor the existence of any supply of fresh
+water, and the belief is that the vegetation of the island is
+dependent for nourishment on the dews and the heavy rains that fall.
+
+
+CHRISTMAS IN AMERICA.
+
+Writing just before the Christmas festival of 1855, Mr. Howard Paul
+says the general manner of celebrating Christmas Day is much the same
+wherever professors of the Christian faith are found; and the United
+States, as the great Transatlantic offshoot of Saxon principles, would
+be the first to conserve the traditional ceremonies handed down from
+time immemorial by our canonical progenitors of the East. But every
+nation has its idiocratic notions, minute and otherwise, and it is not
+strange that the Americans, as a creative people, have peculiar and
+varied ways of their own in keeping this, the most remarkable day in
+the calendar. Now and then they add a supplemental form to the
+accepted code--characteristic of the mutable and progressive spirit of
+the people--though there still exists the Church service, the
+conventional carol, the evergreen decorations, the plum-puddings, the
+pantomime, and a score of other "demonstrations" that never can
+legitimately be forgotten.
+
+Society generally seems to apportion the day thus: Church in the
+morning, dinner in the afternoon, and amusements in the evening. The
+Christmas dinners concentrate the scattered members of families, who
+meet together to break bread in social harmony, and exchange those
+home sentiments that cement the happiness of kindred. To-day the
+prodigal once more returns to the paternal roof; the spendthrift
+forsakes his boon companions; the convivialist deserts the wine-cup.
+The beautiful genius of domestic love has triumphed, and who can
+foresee the blessed results?
+
+Parties, balls, and fetes, with their endless routine of gaieties, are
+looked forward to, as pleasures are, the wide world over; and all
+classes, from highest to lowest, have their modes of enjoyment marked
+out. Preparation follows preparation in festal succession. Sorrow
+hides her Gorgon head, care may betake itself to any dreary recesses,
+for Christmas must be a gala!
+
+There is generally snow on the ground at this time; if Nature is
+amiable, there is sure to be; and a Christmas sleigh-ride is one of
+those American delights that defy rivalry. There is no withstanding
+the merry chime of the bells and a fleet passage over the snow-skirted
+roads. Town and country look as if they had arisen in the morning in
+robes of unsullied white. Every housetop is spangled with the bright
+element; soft flakes are coquetting in the atmosphere, and a pure
+mantle has been spread on all sides, that fairly invites one to
+disport upon its gleaming surface.
+
+We abide quietly within our pleasant home on either the eve or night
+of Christmas. How the sleighs glide by in rapid glee, the music of the
+bells and the songs of the excursionists falling on our ears in very
+wildness. We strive in vain to content ourselves. We glance at the
+cheerful fire, and hearken to the genial voices around us. We
+philosophise, and struggle against the tokens of merriment without;
+but the restraint is torture. We, too, must join the revellers, and
+have a sleigh-ride. Girls, get on your fur; wrap yourselves up warmly
+in the old bear-skin; hunt up the old guitar; the sleigh is at the
+door, the moon is beaming. The bells tinkle and away we go!
+
+An old English legend was transplanted many years ago on the shores of
+America, that took root and flourished with wonderful luxuriance,
+considering it was not indigenous to the country. Probably it was
+taken over to New York by one of the primitive Knickerbockers, or it
+might have clung to some of the drowsy burgomasters who had forsaken
+the pictorial tiles of dear old Amsterdam about the time of Peter de
+Laar, or Il Bombaccia, as the Italians call him, got into disgrace in
+Rome. However this may be, certain it is that Santa Claus, or St.
+Nicholas, the kind Patron-saint of the Juveniles, makes his annual
+appearance on Christmas Eve, for the purpose of dispensing gifts to
+all good children. This festive elf is supposed to be a queer little
+creature that descends the chimney, viewlessly, in the deep hours of
+night, laden with gifts and presents, which he bestows with no sparing
+hand, reserving to himself a supernatural discrimination that he seems
+to exercise with every satisfaction. Before going to bed the children
+hang their newest stockings near the chimney, or pin them to the
+curtains of the bed. Midnight finds a world of hosiery waiting for
+favours; and the only wonder is that a single Santa Claus can get
+around among them all. The story goes that he never misses one,
+provided it belongs to a deserving youngster, and morning is sure to
+bring no reproach that the Christmas Wizard has not nobly performed
+his wondrous duties. We need scarcely enlighten the reader as to who
+the real Santa Claus is. Every indulgent parent contributes to the
+pleasing deception, though the juveniles are strong in their faith of
+their generous holiday patron. The following favourite lines
+graphically describe a visit of St. Nicholas, and, being in great
+vogue with the young people of America, are fondly reproduced from
+year to year:--
+
+"'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house,
+ Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
+ The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
+ In the hope that St. Nicholas soon would be there.
+ The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
+ While visions of sugar plums danced through their heads;
+ And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
+ Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap,
+ When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
+ I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
+ The way to the window, I flew like a flash,
+ Tore open the shutters, and threw up the sash;
+ The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
+ Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
+ When what to my wondering eyes should appear
+ But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer;
+ With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
+ I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
+ More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
+ And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name--
+ Now Dasher! now Dancer! Now Prancer! now Vixen!
+ On Comet! on Cupid! on Donder and Blixen!
+ To the top of the porch, to the top of the wall!
+ Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!'
+ As the leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
+ When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;
+ So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
+ With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.
+ And then in a twinkling I heard on the roof,
+ The prancing and pawing of each little hoof;
+ As I drew in my head and was turning around,
+ Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
+ He was dressed all in furs from his head to his foot
+ And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
+ A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
+ And he looked like a pedlar just opening his pack.
+ His eyes, how they twinkled! his dimples, how merry!
+ His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry;
+ His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
+ And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.
+ The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
+ And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
+ He had a broad face and a little round belly
+ That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.
+ He was chubby and plump--a right jolly old elf;
+ And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself.
+ A wink of his eye and a twist of his head
+ Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
+ He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
+ And filled all the stockings--then turned with a jerk,
+ And laying his finger aside of his nose,
+ And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
+ He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
+ And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
+ But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
+ 'Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!'"
+
+A curious feature of an American Christmas is the egg-nogg and free
+lunch, distributed at all the hotels and cafes. A week at least
+before the 25th fanciful signs are suspended over the fountains of the
+bars (the hotel-keepers are quite classic in their ideas) announcing
+superb lunch and egg-noggs on Christmas Day. This invitation is sure
+to meet with a large response from the amateur epicures about town,
+who, ever on the _qui vive_ for a banquet gratis, flock to the festive
+standard, since it has never been found a difficult matter to give
+things away, from the time old Heliogabalus gastronomed in Phoenicia
+up to the present hour. A splendid hall in one of the principal
+hotels, at this moment, occurs to us. A table, the length of the
+apartment, is spread and furnished with twenty made dishes peculiar to
+the Christmas _cuisine_. There are _chorodens_ and _fricassees_,
+_ragouts_ and _calipee_, of rapturous delicacy. Each dish is labelled,
+and attended by a black servant, who serves its contents on very small
+white gilt-edged plates. At the head of the table a vast bowl,
+ornamented with indescribable Chinese figures, contains the
+egg-nogg--a palatable compound of milk, eggs, brandy, and spices,
+nankeenish in colour, with froth enough on its surface to generate any
+number of Venuses, if the old Peloponnesian anecdote is worth
+remembering at all. Over the egg-nogg mine host usually officiates,
+all smiles and benignity, pouring the rich draught with miraculous
+dexterity into cut-glass goblets, and passing it to the surrounding
+guests with profuse hand. On this occasion the long range of fancy
+drinks are forgotten. Sherry-cobblers, mint-juleps, gin-slings, and
+punches, are set aside in order that the sway of the Christmas draught
+may be supreme. Free lunches are extremely common in the United
+States, what are called "eleven o'clock snacks" especially; but the
+accompaniment of egg-nogg belongs unequivocally to the death of the
+year.
+
+The presentation of "boxes" and souvenirs is the same in America as in
+England, the token of remembrance having an inseparable alliance with
+the same period. Everybody expects to give and receive. A month before
+the event the fancy stores are crowded all day long with old and young
+in search of suitable _souvenirs_, and every object is purchased, from
+costliest gems to the tawdriest _babiole_ that may get into the
+market. If the weather should be fine, the principal streets are
+thronged with ladies shopping in sleighs; and hither and thither sleds
+shoot by, laden with parcels of painted toys, instruments of mock
+music and septuagenarian dread, from a penny trumpet to a sheepskin
+drum.
+
+Christmas seems to be a popular period among the young folk for being
+mated, and a surprising number approach the altar this morning.
+Whether it is that orange-flowers and bridal gifts are admirably
+adapted to the time, or that a longer lease of happiness is ensured
+from the joyous character of the occasion, we are not sufficiently
+learned in hymeneal lore to announce. The Christmas week, however, is
+a merry one for the honeymoon, as little is thought of but mirth and
+gaiety until the dawning New Year soberly suggests that we should put
+aside our masquerade manners.
+
+In drawing-room amusements society has a wealth of pleasing indoor
+pastimes. We remember the sententious Question _reunions_, the
+hilarious Surprise parties, Fairy-bowl, and Hunt-the-slipper. We can
+never forget the vagabond Calathumpians, who employ in their bands
+everything inharmonious, from a fire-shovel to a stewpan, causing more
+din than the demons down under the sea ever dreamed of.
+
+What, then, between the sleigh-rides, the bell-melodies, old Santa
+Claus and his fictions, the egg-nogg and lunches, the weddings and the
+willingness to be entertained, the Americans find no difficulty in
+enjoying Christmas Day. Old forms and new notions come in for a share
+of observances; and the young country, in a glow of good humour, with
+one voice exclaims, "Le bon temps vienara!"
+
+
+PRESIDENT HARRISON AS "SANTA CLAUS."
+
+Writing from New York on December 22, 1891, a correspondent says:
+"President Harrison was seen by your correspondent at the White House
+yesterday, and was asked what he thought about Christmas and its
+religious and social influences. The President expressed himself
+willing to offer his opinions, and said: 'Christmas is the most sacred
+religious festival of the year, and should be an occasion of general
+rejoicing throughout the land, from the humblest citizen to the
+highest official, who, for the time being, should forget or put behind
+him his cares and annoyances, and participate in the spirit of
+seasonable festivity. We intend to make it a happy day at the White
+House--all the members of my family, representing four generations,
+will gather around the big table in the State dining-room to have an
+old-fashioned Christmas dinner. Besides Mrs. Harrison, there will be
+her father, Dr. Scott, Mr. and Mrs. M'Kee and their children, Mrs.
+Dimmick and Lieutenant and Mrs. Parker. I am an ardent believer in the
+duty we owe to ourselves as Christians to make merry for children at
+Christmas time, and we shall have an old-fashioned Christmas tree for
+the grandchildren upstairs; and I shall be their Santa Claus myself.
+If my influence goes for aught in this busy world let me hope that my
+example may be followed in every family in the land.'
+
+"Christmas is made as much of in this country as it is in England, if
+not more. The plum-pudding is not universal, but the Christmas tree is
+in almost every home. Even in the tenement districts of the East side,
+inhabited by the labouring and poorer classes, these vernal emblems of
+the anniversary are quite as much in demand as in other quarters, and
+if they and the gifts hung upon them are less elaborate than their
+West side congeners, the household enthusiasm which welcomes them is
+quite as marked. As in London, the streets are flooded with Christmas
+numbers of the periodicals, which, it may be remarked, are this year
+more elaborate in design and execution than ever. The use of Christmas
+cards has also obtained surprising proportions. A marked feature of
+this year's Christmas is the variety and elegance of offerings after
+the Paris fashion, which are of a purely ornamental and but slight
+utilitarian character. There are bonbonnieres in a variety of forms,
+some of them very magnificent and expensive; while the Christmas cards
+range in prices from a cent to ten dollars each. These bonbonnieres,
+decked with expensive ribbon or hand-painted with designs of the
+season, attain prices as high as forty dollars each, and are in great
+favour among the wealthy classes. Flowers are also much used, and,
+just now, are exceedingly costly.
+
+"While the usual religious ceremonies of the day are generally
+observed here, the mass of the community are inclined to treat the
+occasion as a festive rather than a solemn occasion, and upon
+festivity the whole population at the present time seems bent."
+
+
+"MERRY CHRISTMAS" WITH THE NEGROES.
+
+A journalist who has been amongst the negroes in the Southern States
+of America thus describes their Christmas festivities:--
+
+"Christmas in the South of the United States is a time-honoured
+holiday season, as ancient as the settlement of the Cavalier colonies
+themselves. We may imagine it to have been imported from 'merrie
+England' by the large-hearted Papist, Lord Baltimore, into Maryland,
+and by that chivalric group of Virginian colonists, of whom the
+central historical figure is the famous Captain John Smith, of
+Pocahontas memory. Perhaps Christmas was even the more heartily
+celebrated among these true Papist and Church of England settlers from
+the disgust which they felt at the stern contempt in which the Natal
+Day was held by 'stiff-necked Puritans' of New England. At least,
+while in New England the pilgrims were wont to work with exceptional
+might on Christmas Day, to show their detestation of it, traditions
+are still extant of the jovial Southern merrymaking of the festival.
+Christmas, with many of the Old England customs imported to the new
+soil, derived new spirit and enjoyment from customs which had their
+origin in the Colonies themselves. Above all was it the gala
+season--the period to be looked forward to and revelled in--of the
+negroes. Slavery, with all its horrors and wickedness, had at least
+some genial features; and the latitude which the masters gave to the
+slaves at Christmas time, the freedom with which the blacks were wont
+to concentrate a year's enjoyment into the Christmas week, was one of
+these. In Washington, where until the war slavery existed in a mild
+and more civilised form, the negro celebrations of Christmas were the
+peculiar and amusing feature of the season. And many of these customs,
+which grew up amid slavery, have survived that institution. The
+Washington negroes, free, have pretty much the same zest for their
+time-honoured amusements which they had when under the dominion of the
+oligarchy. Christmas is still their great gala and occasion for
+merry-making, and the sable creatures thoroughly understand the art of
+having a good time, being superior, at least in this respect, to many
+a _blase_ Prince and Court noble distracted with _ennui_. Those who
+have seen the 'Minstrels' may derive some idea, though but a slight
+one, of the negro pastimes and peculiarities. They are, above all, a
+social, enthusiastic, whole-souled race; they have their own ideas of
+rank and social caste, and they have a humour which is homely, but
+thoroughly genial, and quite the monopoly of their race. They insist
+on the whole of Christmas week for a holiday. 'Missus' must manage how
+she can. To insist on chaining them down in the kitchen during that
+halcyon time would stir up blank rebellion. Dancing and music are
+their favourite Christmas recreations; they manage both with a will.
+In the city suburbs there are many modest little frame-houses
+inhabited by the blacks; now and then a homely inn kept by a dusky
+landlord. Here in Christmas time you will witness many jolly and
+infectiously pleasant scenes. There is a 'sound of revelry by night.'
+You are free to enter, and observe near by the countless gyrations of
+the negro cotillon, the intricate and deftly executed jig, the rude
+melody of banjos and 'cornstalk fiddles.' They are always proud to
+have 'de white folks' for spectators and applauders, and will give
+you the best seat, and will outdo themselves in their anxiety to show
+off at their best before you. You will be astonished to observe the
+scrupulous neatness of the men, the gaudy and ostentatious habiliments
+of 'de ladies.' The negroes have an intense ambition to imitate the
+upper classes of white society. They will study the apparel of a
+well-dressed gentleman, and squander their money on 'swallow-tail'
+coats, high dickeys, white neckties, and the most elaborate arts of
+their dusky barbers. The women are even more imitative of their
+mistresses. Ribbons, laces, and silks adorn them, on festive
+occasions, of the most painfully vivid colours, and fashioned in all
+the extravagance of negro taste. Not less anxious are they to imitate
+the manners of aristocracy. The excessive chivalry and overwhelming
+politeness of the men towards the women is amazing. They make gallant
+speeches in which they insert as many of the longest and most learned
+words as they can master, picked up at random, and not always
+peculiarly adapted to the use made of them. Their excitement in the
+dance, and at the sound of music, grows as intense as does their furor
+in a Methodist revival meeting. They have, too, dances and music
+peculiar to themselves--jigs and country dances which seem to have no
+method, yet which are perfectly adapted to and rhythmic with the
+inspiring abrupt thud of the banjo and the bones. As they dance, they
+shout and sing, slap their hands and knees, and lose themselves in the
+enthusiasm of the moment. The negroes look forward to Christmas not
+less as the season for present-giving than that of frolicking and
+jollity. Early in the morning they hasten upstairs, and catch 'massa'
+and 'missus' and 'de chillun' with a respectful but eager 'Merry
+Christmas,' and are sure to get in return a new coat or pair of boots,
+a gingham dress, or ear-rings more showy than expensive. They have
+saved up, too, a pittance from their wages, to expend in a souvenir
+for 'Dinah' or 'Pompey,' the never-to-be-forgotten belle or
+sweetheart."
+
+
+CHRISTMAS IN FRANCE.
+
+The following account of Christmas in France, in 1823, is given by an
+English writer of the period:--
+
+"The habits and customs of Parisians vary much from those of our own
+metropolis at all times, but at no time more than at this festive
+season. An Englishman in Paris, who had been for some time without
+referring to his almanac, would not know Christmas Day from another
+day by the appearance of the capital. It is indeed set down as a _jour
+de fete_ in the calendar, but all the ordinary business life is
+transacted; the streets are as usual, crowded with waggons and
+coaches; the shops, with few exceptions, are open, although on other
+_fete_ days the order for closing them is rigorously enforced, and if
+not attended to, a fine levied; and at the churches nothing
+extraordinary is going forward. All this is surprising in a Catholic
+country, which professes to pay much attention to the outward rites of
+religion.
+
+"On _Christmas Eve_, indeed, there is some bustle for a midnight mass,
+to which immense numbers flock, as the priests, on this occasion, get
+up a showy spectacle which rivals the theatres. The altars are dressed
+with flowers, and the churches decorated profusely; but there is
+little in all this to please men who have been accustomed to the John
+Bull mode of spending the evening. The good English habit of meeting
+together to forgive offences and injuries, and to cement
+reconciliations, is here unknown. The French listen to the Church
+music, and to the singing of their choirs, which is generally
+excellent, but they know nothing of the origin of the day and of the
+duties which it imposes. The English residents in Paris, however, do
+not forget our mode of celebrating this day. Acts of charity from the
+rich to the needy, religious attendance at church, and a full
+observance of hospitable rites, are there witnessed. Paris furnishes
+all the requisites for a good pudding, and the turkeys are excellent,
+though the beef is not to be displayed as a prize production.
+
+"On _Christmas Day_ all the English cooks in Paris are in full
+business. The queen of cooks, however, is Harriet Dunn, of the
+Boulevard. As Sir Astley Cooper among the cutters of limbs, and
+d'Egville among the cutters of capers, so is Harriet Dunn among the
+professors of one of the most necessary, and in its results most
+gratifying professions in existence; her services are secured
+beforehand by special retainers; and happy is the peer who can point
+to his pudding, and declare that it is of the true Dunn composition.
+Her fame has even extended to the provinces. For some time previous to
+Christmas Day, she forwards puddings in cases to all parts of the
+country, ready cooked and fit for the table, after the necessary
+warming. All this is, of course, for the English. No prejudice can be
+stronger than that of the French against plum-pudding--a Frenchman
+will dress like an Englishman, swear like an Englishman, and get drunk
+like an Englishman; but if you would offend him for ever compel him to
+eat plum-pudding. A few of the leading restaurateurs, wishing to
+appear extraordinary, have _plomb-pooding_ upon their cartes, but in
+no instance is it ever ordered by a Frenchman. Everybody has heard the
+story of St. Louis--Henri Qautre, or whoever else it might be--who,
+wishing to regale the English ambassador on Christmas Day with a
+plum-pudding, procured an excellent recipe for making one, which he
+gave to his cook, with strict injunctions that it should be prepared
+with due attention to all particulars. The weight of the ingredients,
+the size of the copper, the quantity of water, the duration of time,
+everything was attended to except one trifle--the king forgot the
+cloth, and the pudding was served up, like so much soup in immense
+tureens, to the surprise of the ambassador, who was, however, too well
+bred to express his astonishment. Louis XVIII., either to show his
+contempt of the prejudices of his countrymen, or to keep up a custom
+which suits his palate, has always an enormous pudding on Christmas
+Day, the remains of which, when it leaves the table, he requires to be
+eaten by the servants, _bon gre, mauvais gre_; but in this instance
+even the commands of sovereignty are disregarded, except by the
+numerous English in his service, consisting of several valets, grooms,
+coachmen, &c., besides a great number of ladies' maids in the service
+of the duchesses of Angouleme and Berri, who very frequently partake
+of the dainties of the king's table."
+
+In his "Year Book, 1832," Hone says that at Rouen, after the _Te
+Deum_, in the nocturnal office or vigil of Christmas, the
+ecclesiastics celebrated the "office of the shepherds" in the
+following manner:--
+
+"The image of the Virgin Mary was placed in a stable prepared behind
+the altar. A boy from above, before the choir, in the likeness of an
+angel, announced the nativity to certain canons or vicars, who entered
+as shepherds through the great door of the choir, clothed in tunicks
+and amesses. Many boys in the vaults of the church, like angels, then
+began the '_gloria in excelsis_.' The shepherds, hearing this,
+advanced to the stable, singing '_peace, goodwill_,' &c. As soon as
+they entered it, two priests in dalmaticks, as if women (quasi
+obstetrices) who were stationed at the stable, said, 'Whom seek ye?'
+The shepherds answered, according to the angelic annunciation, 'Our
+Saviour Christ.' The women then opening the curtain exhibited the boy,
+saying, 'The little one is here as the Prophet Isaiah said.' They then
+showed the mother, saying, 'Behold the Virgin,' &c. Upon these
+exhibitions they bowed and worshipped the boy, and saluted his mother.
+The office ended by their returning to the choir, and singing,
+Alleluia, &c."[95]
+
+
+CHRISTMAS DAY IN BESIEGED PARIS.
+
+"Christmas, Paris,
+"_Sunday, Dec. 25, 1870, 98th day of the Siege._
+
+"Never has a sadder Christmas dawned on any city. Cold, hunger, agony,
+grief, and despair sit enthroned at every habitation in Paris. It is
+the coldest day of the season and the fuel is very short; and the
+government has had to take hold of the fuel question, and the
+magnificent shade-trees that have for ages adorned the avenues of this
+city are all likely to go in the vain struggle to save France. So says
+the Official Journal of this morning. The sufferings of the past week
+exceed by far anything we have seen. There is scarcely any meat but
+horse-meat, and the government is now rationing. It carries out its
+work with impartiality. The omnibus-horse, the cab-horse, the
+work-horse, and the fancy-horse, all go alike in the mournful
+procession to the butchery shops--the magnificent blooded steed of the
+Rothschilds by the side of the old plug of the cabman. Fresh beef,
+mutton, pork are now out of the question. A little poultry yet remains
+at fabulous prices. In walking through the Rue St. Lazare I saw a
+middling-sized goose and chicken for sale in a shop-window, and I had
+the curiosity to step in and inquire the price (rash man that I was).
+The price of the goose was $25, and the chicken $7."[96]
+
+
+CHRISTMAS IN PARIS IN 1886.
+
+The Paris correspondent of the _Daily Telegraph_ writes:--"Although
+New Year's Day is the great French festival, the fashion of
+celebrating Christmas something after the English custom is gaining
+ground in Paris every year. Thus a good deal of mistletoe now makes
+its appearance on the boulevards and in the shop windows, and it is
+evident that the famous Druidical plant, which is shipped in such
+large quantities every year to England from Normandy and Brittany, is
+fast becoming popular among Parisians. Another custom, that of
+decorating Christmas trees in the English and German style, has
+become quite an annual solemnity here since the influx of Alsatians
+and Lorrainers, while it is considered _chic_, in many quarters, to
+eat approximate plum-pudding on the 25th of December. Unfortunately,
+the Parisian 'blom budding,' unless prepared by British hands, is
+generally a concoction of culinary atrocities, tasting, let us say,
+like saveloy soup and ginger-bread porridge. In a few instances the
+'Angleesh blom budding' has been served at French tables in a soup
+tureen; and guests have been known to direct fearful and furtive
+glances towards it, just as an Englishman might regard with mingled
+feelings of surprise and suspicion a fricassee of frogs. But
+independently of foreign innovations, Parisians have their own way of
+celebrating Noel. To-night (Christmas Eve) for instance, there will be
+midnight masses in the principal churches, when appropriate canticles
+and Adam's popular 'Noel' will be sung. In many private houses the
+_boudin_ will also be eaten after the midnight mass, the rich
+baptising it in champagne, and the _petit bourgeois_, who has not a
+wine cellar, in a cheap concoction of bottled stuff with a Bordeaux
+label but a strong Paris flavour. The feast of Noel is, however, more
+archaically, and at the same time more earnestly, celebrated in
+provincial France. In the south the head of the family kindles the
+yule-log, or _buche-de-Noel_, which is supposed to continue burning
+until the arrival of spring. Paterfamilias also lights the _calen_, or
+Christmas lamp, which represents the Star of Bethlehem, and then all
+repair to the midnight mass in those picturesque groups which painters
+have delighted to commit to canvas. The inevitable _baraques_, or
+booths, which are allowed to remain on the great boulevards from
+Christmas Eve until the Feast of the Kings, on January 6, have made
+their appearance. They extend from the Place de la Madeleine to the
+Place de la Republique, and are also visible on some of the other
+boulevards of the metropolis. Their glittering contents are the same
+as usual, and, despite their want of novelty, crowds of people lounged
+along the boulevards this afternoon and inspected them with as much
+curiosity as if they formed part of a Russian fair which had been
+temporarily transported from Nijni Novgorod to Paris. What was more
+attractive, however, was the show of holly, mistletoe, fir-trees,
+camellias, tea-roses, and tulips in the famous flower-market outside
+the Madeleine. A large tent has been erected, which protects the
+sellers of winter flowers from the rain, and this gives the market a
+gayer and more brilliant appearance than usual. What strikes one more
+than anything else, however, is the number of French people whom one
+sees purchasing holly bushes and mistletoe, which they carry home in
+huge bundles, after the good old English fashion. Notwithstanding the
+dampness and gloom of the weather, which hovers between frost and
+rain, the general aspect of Paris to-day is one of cheerful and
+picturesque animation, and the laughing crowds with whom one jostles
+in the streets are thoroughly imbued with the festive character of the
+season."
+
+
+CHRISTMAS IN NORMANDY.
+
+In describing the old-custom-loving people of Lower Normandy, a writer
+on "Calvados," in 1884-5, thus refers to the season of Christmas and
+Twelfth-tide: "Now Christmas arrives, and young and old go up to greet
+the little child Jesus, lying on his bed of straw at the Virgin
+Mother's feet and smiling to all the world. Overhead the old cracked
+bell clangs exultant, answering to other bells faint and far on the
+midnight air; a hundred candles are burning and every church window
+shines through the darkness like the gates of that holy New Jerusalem
+'whose light was as a stone most precious--a jasper-stone clear as
+crystal.' With Twelfth-tide this fair vision suffers a metamorphosis,
+blazoning out into the paganish saturnalia of bonfires, which in
+Calvados is transferred from St. John's Eve _le jour des Rois_. Red
+flames leap skyward, fed by dry pine fagots, and our erstwhile devout
+peasants, throwing moderation to the winds, join hands, dance, and
+leap for good luck through blinding smoke and embers, shouting their
+rude doggerel:
+
+"'Adieu les Rois
+ Jusqu'a douze mois,
+ Douze mois passes
+ Les _bougelees_.'"
+
+
+CHRISTMAS IN PROVENCE.
+
+[Illustration: PROVENCAL PLAYS AT CHRISTMASTIDE.]
+
+Heinrich Heine delighted in the infantile childishness of a Provencal
+Christmas. He never saw anything prettier in his life, he said, than a
+Noel procession on the coast of the Mediterranean. A beautiful young
+woman and an equally lovely child sat on a donkey, which an old
+fisherman in a flowing brown gown was supposed to be leading into
+Egypt. Young girls robed in white muslin were supposed to be angels,
+and hovered near the child and its mother to supply to him sweetmeats
+and other refreshments. At a respectful distance there was a
+procession of nuns and village children, and then a band of vocalists
+and instrumentalists. Flowers and streaming banners were unsparingly
+used. Bright sunshine played upon them, and the deep blue sea formed a
+background. The seafaring people who looked on, not knowing whether to
+venerate or laugh, did both. Falling upon their knees they went
+through a short devotional exercise, and then rose to join the
+procession and give themselves up to unrestricted mirth. In the
+chateaux of the South of France _creches_ are still exhibited, and
+_creche_ suppers given to the poorer neighbours, and to some of the
+rich, who are placed at a table "above the salt." There are also
+"Bethlehem Stable" puppet-shows, at which the Holy Family, their
+visitors, and four-footed associates are brought forward as _dramatis
+personae_. St. Joseph, the wise men, and the shepherds are made to
+speak in _patois_. But the Virgin says what she has to say in
+classical French. In the refinement of her diction, her elevation
+above those with her is expressed. At Marseilles an annual fair of
+statuettes is held, the profits of which are spent in setting up
+Bethlehem _creches_ in the churches and other places. Each statuette
+represents a contemporaneous celebrity, and is contained in the hollow
+part of the wax bust of some saint. Gambetta, Thiers, Cavour, Queen
+Victoria, Grevy, the Pope, Paul Bert, Rouvier (who is a Marseillais),
+the late Czar and other celebrities have appeared among the
+_figurines_ hidden within the saintly busts.
+
+
+CHRISTMAS IN CORSICA.
+
+"A Winter in Corsica," by "Two Ladies," published in 1868, contains an
+interesting account of the celebration of Christmas in that
+picturesque island of the Mediterranean which is known as the
+birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte--"One day shortly before Christmas
+our hostess, or landlady, was very busy with an old body in the
+kitchen, who had come to make sundry cakes in preparation for that
+festive season. We were all called down to see what was going on, and
+our attention was particularly directed to the great oven which was
+heated on purpose to bake them. One kind of cake was made of chesnut
+flour, another of eggs and _broche_ (a kind of curds made from goats'
+milk), but the principal sort was composed chiefly of almonds,
+extremely good and not unlike macaroons, but thicker and more
+substantial. For several days previously, everybody in the house had
+been busy blanching and pounding almonds; not only the two servants,
+but Rose and Clara, the young work-women who were so often staying in
+the house, and who, indeed, at one time seemed to form part of the
+establishment. The old cook herself, a stout and dumpy person, was
+worth looking at, as she stood surrounded by these young women, who
+did very little but watch her operations; and the whole formed quite
+an animated picture of a foreign _menage_, which one rarely has the
+opportunity of seeing.
+
+* * * * *
+
+"Towards Christmas, considerable preparations began to be made in the
+shops for the coming season, but chiefly, perhaps, for New Year's Day,
+which is kept throughout France as a grand _fete_ day. Sweetmeats in
+great variety filled the windows, and especially what were called
+_pralines_--an almond comfit covered with rough sugar, and of a
+peculiar flavour. They are very good, and cost three francs per pound.
+
+* * * * *
+
+"It seemed strange writing to friends at home wishing them 'a happy
+Christmas,' when we seemed scarcely to have done with summer.
+
+"There was certainly a good deal of novelty in our mode of passing
+Christmas-time in Ajaccio.
+
+"We had expressed the wish to be present at midnight mass, in the
+cathedral, on Christmas Eve, and our kind hostess readily promised to
+take us, and also said we should have a _petit souper_ with her on our
+return. She told us afterwards that she had spoken to the organist,
+and obtained permission for us to go into the organ-loft, where we
+should have a good view over the church, and not be inconvenienced by
+the crowd. Accordingly, a little before eleven o'clock, we all went
+downstairs, and, accompanied by madame, as well as by a gentleman and
+his daughter, friends of hers, proceeded to the cathedral.
+
+"As there is no gas in Ajaccio, the church of course is lighted only
+with candles, and very dim and gloomy it looked, especially at first,
+and during a dull monotonous kind of chanting, which we were told were
+the offices to the Virgin.
+
+"By and by, as midnight drew near, and the mass was about to commence,
+a great number of candles were lighted on the high altar and in the
+side chapels, and the scene became more brilliant and animated. We
+looked down upon a perfect sea of heads, the women all wearing the
+national handkerchiefs, many of these of bright colours, and making
+them conspicuous among the men, of whom there were also a very large
+number.
+
+"At length the organ struck up, the higher priests entered, wearing
+their richest robes, followed by numerous attendants. Each bowed and
+knelt as he passed the altar, and took his allotted place, and then
+the service began. At one point, supposed to be the moment of our
+Saviour's birth, there was quite an uproar. The people clapped their
+hands, and stamped, and shouted, trumpets sounded, and the organ
+pealed forth its loudest tones.
+
+"Then there was a very sweet hymn-tune played, and some beautiful
+voices sang Adeste Fideles, which was by far the most pleasing part of
+the service to our minds. Next came the reading of the Gospel, with
+much formality of kissing and bowing, and incensing; the book was
+moved from side to side and from place to place; then one priest on
+his knees held it up above his head, while another, sitting, read a
+short passage, and a third came forward to the front of the enclosed
+space near the altar, flinging the censer round and about. Then the
+little bell tinkled, and all that mass of heads bowed down lower, the
+Host was raised, the communion taken by the priests, and at one
+o'clock all was over.
+
+"We gladly regained the fresh air, which, though rather cold, was much
+needed after the close atmosphere of the crowded cathedral. The moon
+was very bright, and we hastened home with appetites sharpened by our
+walk, for what proved to be a handsome dinner, rather than a _petit
+souper_.
+
+* * * * *
+
+"For ourselves, we did not forget the old home custom of Christmas
+decorations, and took some pains to dress our _salon_ with evergreens,
+which we brought down from the hills the previous day. Although we had
+neither holly nor mistletoe, we found good substitutes for them in the
+elegant-leaved lentiscus, the tree heath and sweetly perfumed myrtle;
+while round the mirror and a picture of the Virgin on the opposite
+wall we twined garlands of the graceful sarsaparilla. The whole looked
+extremely pretty, and gave quite a festive appearance to the room.
+
+"On Christmas Day we joined some English friends for a walk, about
+eleven o'clock. It was a charming morning, bright and hot, as we
+strolled along the shore to the orange-garden of Barbacaja, where we
+gathered oranges fresh from the trees.
+
+"On returning home to dinner no plum-pudding or mince-pies awaited us
+certainly, but we had tolerably good beef, for a wonder, and lamb,
+_merles_, and new potatoes.
+
+* * * * *
+
+"Christmas Day in Corsica is observed by the people as a religious
+festival, but not as a social one; and there are no family gatherings
+as in England and Germany. This arises, no doubt, from that
+non-existence of true domestic life which must strike all English
+taking up a temporary residence in France.
+
+"There was a succession of _fete_ days throughout Christmas week, when
+the shops were shut and the people dressed in holiday attire. But the
+great day to which every one seems to look forward is the first of the
+year, _le Jour de l'An_. Presents are then made by everybody to
+everybody, and visits of congratulation, or merely of ceremony,
+received and expected. The gifts are sometimes costly and handsome,
+but generally they are trifling, merely valuable as works of
+remembrance, consisting chiefly of bonbons, boxes of crystallised
+fruits, and other confectionery."
+
+
+CHRISTMAS IN CHIOS.
+
+[Illustration: From an ivory, Byzantine. British Museum ]
+
+The preceding illustration of Eastern art belongs to the same period
+as many of the Christmas customs which have survived in Chios, and it
+carries our thoughts back to the time when Byzantium was the capital
+of the Greek Empire in the east. From an interesting account by an
+English writer in the _Cornhill Magazine_, for December, 1886, who
+spent a Christmas amongst the Greeks of this once prosperous isle of
+Chios, it appears that, two days before Christmas, he took up his
+quarters at "the village of St. George, a good day's journey from the
+town, on the slopes of a backbone of mountains, which divides Chios
+from north to south." On the morning following the arrival at St.
+George, "echoes of home" were heard which caused the writer to
+exclaim: "Surely they don't have Christmas waits here." Outside the
+house stood a crowd of children singing songs and carrying baskets.
+From the window, the mistress of the house was seen standing amongst
+the children "talking hard, and putting handfuls of something into
+each basket out of a bag." "On descending," says the writer, "I
+inquired the cause of this early invasion, and learnt that it is
+customary on the day before Christmas for children to go round to the
+houses of the village early, before the celebration of the liturgy,
+and collect what is called 'the luck of Christ'--that is to say,
+walnuts, almonds, figs, raisins, and the like. Every housewife is
+careful to have a large stock of these things ready overnight, and if
+children come after her stock is exhausted she says, 'Christ has taken
+them and passed by.' The urchins, who are not always willing to accept
+this excuse, revile her with uncomplimentary remarks, and wish her
+cloven feet, and other disagreeable things."
+
+The writer visited the chief inhabitants of St. George, and was
+regaled with "spoonfuls of jam, cups of coffee, and glasses of mastic
+liquer"; and, in a farmyard, "saw oxen with scarlet horns," it being
+the custom, on the day before Christmas, for "every man to kill his
+pig, and if he has cattle to anoint their horns with blood, thereby
+securing their health for the coming year.
+
+"It is very interesting to see the birthplace of our own Christmas
+customs here in Greece, for it is an undoubted fact that all we see
+now in Greek islands has survived since Byzantine days. Turkish rule
+has in no way interfered with religious observances, and during four
+or five centuries of isolation from the civilised world the
+conservative spirit of the East has preserved intact for us customs as
+they were in the early days of Christianity; inasmuch as the Eastern
+Church was the first Christian Church, it was the parent of all
+Christian customs. Many of these customs were mere adaptations of the
+pagan to the Christian ceremonial--a necessary measure, doubtless, at
+a time when a new religion was forced on a deeply superstitious
+population. The saints of the Christian took the place of the gods of
+the "Iliad." Old customs attending religious observances have been
+peculiarly tenacious in these islands, and here it is that we must
+look for the pedigree of our own quaint Christian habits. We have seen
+the children of St. George collecting their Christmas-boxes, we have
+spoken of pig-killing, and we will now introduce ourselves to Chiote
+Christmas-trees, the _rhamnae_, as they are called here, which take the
+form of an offering of fruits of the earth and flowers by tenants to
+their landlords.
+
+"The form of these offerings is varied: one tenant we saw chose to
+make his in the shape of a tripod; others merely adorn poles, but all
+of them effect this decoration in a similar fashion, more gaudily than
+artistically. The pole is over a yard in height, and around it are
+bound wreaths of myrtle, olive, and orange leaves; to these are fixed
+any flowers that may be found, geraniums, anemones, and the like, and,
+by way of further decoration, oranges, lemons, and strips of gold and
+coloured paper are added.
+
+"On Christmas morning the tenants of the numerous gardens of Chios
+proceed to the houses of their landlords, riding on mules and carrying
+a _rhamna_ in front of them and a pair of fowls behind. As many as
+three hundred of these may be seen entering the capital of Chios on
+this day, and I was told the sight is very imposing. At St. George we
+had not so many of them, but sufficient for our purpose. On reaching
+his landlord's house the peasant sets up the trophy in the outer room,
+to be admired by all who come; the fowls he hands over to the
+housewife; and then he takes the large family jars or _amphorae_, as
+they still call them, to the well, and draws the drinking water for
+his landlord's Christmas necessities.
+
+"In the afternoon each landlord gives 'a table' to his tenants, a good
+substantial meal, at which many healths are drunk, compliments
+exchanged, and songs sung, and before returning home each man receives
+a present of money in return for his offerings. A Greek never gives a
+present without expecting an equivalent in return."
+
+Another Christmas custom in Chios which reminded the writer of the
+English custom of carol-singing is thus described: "There are five
+parishes in the village of St. George, each supplied with a church,
+priests, acolytes, and candle-lighters, who answer to our vergers, and
+who are responsible for the lighting of the many lamps and candles
+which adorn an Eastern church. These good people assemble together on
+Christmas Day, after the liturgy is over, and form what is called 'a
+musical company'; one man is secured to play the lyre, another the
+harp, another the cymbals, and another leads the singing--if the
+monotonous chanting in which they indulge can be dignified by the
+title of singing. The candle-lighter, armed with a brass tray, is the
+recognised leader of this musical company, and all day long he
+conducts them from one house to another in the parish to play, sing,
+and collect alms. These musicians of St. George have far more
+consideration for the feelings of their fellow-creatures than English
+carol-singers, for the candle-lighter is always sent on ahead to
+inquire of the household they propose to visit if there is mourning in
+the house, or any other valid reason why the musicians should not
+play, in which case the candle-lighter merely presents his tray,
+receives his offering, and passes on. Never, if they can help it, will
+a family refuse admission to the musicians. They have not many
+amusements, poor things, and their Christmas entertainment pleases
+them vastly.
+
+"The carols of these islands are exceedingly old-world and quaint.
+When permission is given the troupe advance towards the door, singing
+a sort of greeting as follows: 'Come now and open your gates to our
+party; we have one or two sweet words to sing to you.' The door is
+then opened by the master of the house; he greets them and begs them
+to come in, whilst the other members of the family place chairs at one
+end of the room, on which the musicians seat themselves. The first
+carol is a genuine Christmas one, a sort of religious recognition of
+the occasion, according to our notions fraught with a frivolity almost
+bordering on blasphemy; but then it must be remembered that these
+peasants have formed their own simple ideas of the life of Christ, the
+Virgin, and the saints, to which they have given utterance in their
+songs. A priest of St. George kindly supplied me with the words of
+some of their carols, and this is a translation of one of the
+prefatory songs with which the musical company commence:--
+
+
+"'Christmas, Christmas! Christ is born;
+ Saints rejoice and devils mourn.
+ Christmas, Christmas! Christ was fed
+ On sweet honey, milk, and bread,
+ Just as now our rulers eat
+ Bread and milk, and honey sweet.'
+
+After this the company sing a series of songs addressed to the various
+members of the family, to the father, to the mother, to the daughters,
+to the sons; if there chances to be a betrothed couple there, they are
+sure to be greeted with a special song; the little children, too, are
+exhorted in song to be good and diligent at school. Of these songs
+there are an infinite number, and many of them give us curious
+glimpses into the life, not of to-day, but of ages which have long
+since passed away.
+
+"The following song is addressed to the master of the house, and has
+doubtless been sung for centuries of Christmases since the old
+Byzantine days when such things as are mentioned in the song really
+existed in the houses. This is a word-for-word translation:--
+
+"'We have come to our venerable master;
+ To his lofty house with marble halls.
+ His walls are decorated with mosaic;
+ With the lathe his doors are turned.
+ Angels and archangels are around his windows,
+ And in the midst of his house is spread a golden carpet
+ And from the ceiling the golden chandelier sheds light.
+ It lights the guests as they come and go.
+ It lights our venerable master.'
+
+On the conclusion of their carols the musicians pause for rest, the
+cymbal-player throws his cymbal on the floor, and the candle-lighter
+does the same thing with his tray, and into these the master of the
+house deposits his gifts to his parish church, and if they are a
+newly-married couple they tie up presents of food for the musicians in
+a handkerchief--figs, almonds, &c., which the cymbal-player fastens
+round his neck or ties to his girdle.
+
+"Before the musicians take their departure the housewife hurries off
+to her cupboard and produces a tray with the inevitable jam thereon.
+Coffee and mastic are served, and the compliments of the season are
+exchanged. Whilst the candle-lighter is absent looking for another
+house at which to sing, the musicians sing their farewell, 'We wish
+health to your family, and health to yourself. We go to join the
+_pallicari_.'
+
+"In villages where the singing of carols has fallen into disuse the
+inhabitants are content with the priestly blessing only. To distribute
+this the priest of each parish starts off on Christmas morning with
+the candle-lighter and his tray, and an acolyte to wave the censer; he
+blesses the shops, he sprinkles holy water over the commodities, and
+then he does the same by the houses; the smell of incense perfumes the
+air, and the candle-lighter rattles his tray ostentatiously to show
+what a lot of coppers he has got."
+
+
+CHRISTMAS IN A GREEK CHURCH.
+
+"Swan's Journal of a Voyage up the Mediterranean, 1826," gives the
+following account of Christmas in a Greek Church:--
+
+"Thursday, January 6th, this being Christmas Day with the Greek
+Catholics, their 'churches are adorned in the gayest manner. I entered
+one, in which a sort of raree-show had been set up, illumed with a
+multitude of candles: the subject of it was the birth of Christ, who
+was represented in the background by a little waxen figure wrapped up
+in embroidery, and reclining upon an embroidered cushion, which rested
+upon another of pink satin. This was supposed to be the manger where
+he was born. Behind the image two paper bulls' heads looked
+unutterable things. On the right was the Virgin Mary, and on the left
+one of the eastern Magi. Paper clouds, in which the paper heads of
+numberless cherubs appeared, enveloped the whole; while from a
+pasteboard cottage stalked a wooden monk, with dogs, and sheep, and
+camels, goats, lions, and lambs; here walked a maiden upon a stratum
+of sods and dried earth, and there a shepherd flourishing aloft his
+pastoral staff. The construction of these august figures was chiefly
+Dutch: they were intermixed with china images and miserable daubs on
+paper. In the centre a real fountain, in miniature, squirted forth
+water to the ineffable delight of crowds of prostrate worshippers."
+
+
+CHRISTMAS IN ROME.
+
+Hone[97] states that after Christmas Day, during the remainder of
+December, there is a Presepio, or representation of the manger, in
+which our Saviour was laid, to be seen in many of the churches at
+Rome. That of the Ara Coeli is the best worth seeing, which church
+occupies the site of the temple of Jupiter, and is adorned with some
+of its beautiful pillars. On entering, we found daylight completely
+excluded from the church; and until we advanced, we did not perceive
+the artificial light, which was so managed as to stream in fluctuating
+rays, from intervening silvery clouds, and shed a radiance over the
+lovely babe and bending mother, who, in the most graceful attitude,
+lightly holds up the drapery which half conceals her sleeping infant
+from the bystanders. He lies in richly embroidered swaddling clothes,
+and his person, as well as that of his virgin mother, is ornamented
+with diamonds and other precious stones; for which purpose, we are
+informed, the princesses and ladies of high rank lend their jewels.
+Groups of cattle grazing, peasantry engaged in different occupations,
+and other objects, enliven the picturesque scenery; every living
+creature in the group, with eyes directed towards the Presepio, falls
+prostrate in adoration. In the front of this theatrical representation
+a little girl, about six or eight years old, stood on a bench,
+preaching extempore, as it appeared, to the persons who filled the
+church, with all the gesticulation of a little actress, probably in
+commemoration of those words of the psalmist, quoted by our blessed
+Lord--"Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected
+praise." In this manner the Scriptures are _acted_; not "read, marked,
+and inwardly digested." The whole scene had, however, a striking
+effect, well calculated to work upon the minds of a people whose
+religion consists so largely in outward show. [From "A Narrative of
+Three Years in Italy."]
+
+[Illustration: CALABRIAN SHEPHERDS PLAYING IN ROME AT CHRISTMAS.
+(_From Hone's "Every-day Book_," 1826)]
+
+As at the beginning, so in the latter part of the nineteenth century,
+the church celebrations of Christmas continue to be great Christmas
+attractions in the Eternal City.
+
+From the description of one who was present at the Christmas
+celebration of 1883, we quote the following extracts:--
+
+"On Christmas morning, at ten o'clock, when all the world was not only
+awake, but up and doing, mass was being said and sung in the principal
+churches, but the great string of visitors to the Imperial City bent
+their steps towards St. Peter's to witness the celebration of this the
+greatest feast in the greatest Christian Church.
+
+"As the heavy leather curtain which hangs before the door fell behind
+one, this sacred building seemed indeed the world's cathedral; for
+here were various crowds from various nations, and men and women
+followers of all forms of faiths, and men and women of no faith at
+all. The great church was full of light and colour--of light that came
+in broad yellow beams through the great dome and the high eastern
+windows, making the candles on the side altars and the hundred
+ever-burning lamps around the St. Peter's shrine look dim and yellow
+in the fulness of its radiance; and of colour combined of friezes of
+burnished gold, and brilliant frescoes, and rich altar pieces, and
+bronze statues, and slabs of oriental alabaster, and blocks of red
+porphyry and lapis lazuli, and guilded vaulted ceiling, and walls of
+inlaid marbles.
+
+"In the large choir chapel, containing the tomb of Clement IX., three
+successive High Masses were celebrated, the full choir of St. Peter's
+attending. In the handsomely carved old oak stalls sat bishops in
+purple and rich lace, canons in white, and minor canons in grey fur
+capes, priests and deacons, and a hundred acolytes wearing
+silver-buckled shoes and surplices. This chapel, with its life-size
+marble figures resting on the cornices, has two organs, and here the
+choicest music is frequently heard.
+
+"Of course the choir chapel was much too small to hold the great
+crowd, which, therefore, overflowed into the aisles and nave of the
+vast church, where the music could be heard likewise. This crowd broke
+up into groups, each worthy of a study, and all combining to afford an
+effect at once strange and picturesque. There are groups of Americans,
+English, French, Germans, and Italians promenading round the church,
+talking in their respective native tongues, gesticulating, and now and
+then pausing to admire a picture or examine a statue. Acquaintances
+meet and greet; friends introduce mutual friends; compliments are
+exchanged, and appointments made. Meanwhile masses are being said at
+all the side altars, which are surrounded by knots of people who fall
+on their knees at the sound of a little bell, and say their prayers
+quite undisturbed by the general murmur going on around them.
+
+"Presently there is a stir in the crowd surrounding the choir chapel;
+the organ is at its loudest, and then comes a long procession of
+vergers in purple and scarlet facings, and cross and torch bearers,
+and censer bearers, and acolytes and deacons and priests and canons
+and bishops, and a red-robed cardinal in vestments of cloth of gold
+wrought and figured with many a sacred sign, and, moreover, adorned
+with precious stones; and High Mass at St. Peter's, on Christmas Day,
+is at an end.
+
+"During the day most of the shops and all the Government offices were
+open. Soldiers were drilled all day long in the Piazza Vittorio
+Emanuele, and were formally marched to their various barracks, headed
+by bands discoursing martial music; whilst the postmen delivered their
+freight of letters as on ordinary days of the week. In the afternoon
+most of those who were at St. Peter's in the morning assembled to hear
+Grand Vespers at the handsome and famous church of San Maria Maggiore,
+one of the oldest in Christendom, the Mosaics on the chancel arch
+dating from the fifth century. The church was illuminated with
+hundreds of candles and hung with scarlet drapery, the effect being
+very fine; the music such as can alone be heard in Rome. On the high
+altar was exhibited in a massive case of gold and crystal two staves
+said to have been taken from the manger in which Christ was laid, this
+being carried round the church at the conclusion of Vespers. Almost
+every English visitor in Rome was present."
+
+
+CHRISTMAS AT MONTE CARLO.
+
+"Every one has heard of the tiny principality of Monaco, with its six
+square miles of territory facing the Mediterranean, and lying below
+the wonderful Corniche-road, which has been for ages the great highway
+south of the Alps, connecting the South of France with Northern Italy.
+Of course many visitors come here to gamble, but an increasing number
+are attracted by the beauty of the scenery and the charm of the
+climate; and here some hundreds of Englishmen and Englishwomen spent
+their Christmas Day and ate the conventional plum-pudding. Christmas
+had been ushered in by a salvo of artillery and a High Mass at the
+cathedral at eleven on Christmas Eve, and holly and mistletoe (which
+seemed strangely out of place amongst the yellow roses and hedges of
+geraniums) were in many hands. As illustrating the mildness of the
+climate and the natural beauty of the district, the following flowers
+were in full bloom in the open air on Christmas Day: roses of every
+variety, geraniums, primulas, heliotropes, carnations, anemones,
+narcissus, sweetwilliams, stocks, cactus, and pinks; and to these may
+be added lemon trees and orange trees laden with their golden fruit.
+As evening wore on a strong gale burst upon the shore, and Christmas
+Day closed amongst waving foliage and clanging doors and clouds of
+dust, and the fierce thud of angry surf upon the sea-shore below.
+
+"January 2, 1890. J. S. B."
+
+
+CHRISTMAS EVE FESTIVITIES IN GERMANY.
+
+In "The German Christmas Eve," 1846, Madame Apolline Flohr recalls her
+"childish recollections" of the Christmas festivities in the "happy
+family" of which she was a member. They met amid the glare of a
+hundred lights, and according to an old-established custom, they soon
+joined in chaunting the simple hymn which begins:--
+
+ "Now let us thank our God;
+ Uplift our hands and hearts:
+ Eternal be His praise,
+ Who all good things imparts!"
+
+After the singing (says the writer), I ventured for the first time, to
+approach the pile of Christmas gifts intended for my sisters, my
+brothers, and myself.
+
+The Christmas tree, always the common property of the children of the
+house, bore gilded fruits of every species; and as we gazed with
+childish delight on these sparkling treasures our dear parents wiped
+away the tears they had plentifully shed, while our young voices were
+ringing out the sweet hymn, led by our friend, Herr Von Clappart, with
+such deep and solemn emotion.
+
+Now, as the dear mother led each child to his or her own little
+table--for the gifts for each were laid out separately, and thus
+apportioned beforehand--all was joy and merriment.
+
+A large table stood in the midst, surrounded by smaller ones,
+literally laden with pretty and ingenious toys, the gifts of friends
+and kindred. We liked the toys very much indeed. We were, however, too
+happy to endure quiet pleasure very long, and all prepared to assemble
+around the Christmas tree. After a delightful dance around the tree,
+and around our dear parents, our presents were again examined; for the
+variety of offerings made on these occasions would much exceed the
+belief of a stranger to our customs. Every article for children's
+clothing was here to be found, both for ornament and use; nor were
+books forgotten. It was then I received my first Bible and
+Prayer-book; and at the moment the precious gift was placed in my
+hand, I resolved to accompany my parents to church the following
+morning at five o'clock. (This early attendance at public worship on
+Christmas morning is a custom observed in Central Germany, and is
+called Christ-Kirche.)
+
+The ceremony of withdrawing, in order to attire ourselves in some of
+our new dresses, having been performed, we re-entered the apartment,
+upon which the great folding-doors being thrown open, a second
+Christmas tree appeared, laden with hundreds of lights. This effect
+was produced by the tree being placed opposite some large
+looking-glasses, which reflected the lights and redoubled their
+brilliancy.
+
+Here hung the gifts prepared by the hands of the children for their
+beloved parents.
+
+My eldest sister, Charlotte, had knitted for her mother a beautiful
+evening cap, and a long purse for her father.
+
+Emily presented each one of the family with a pair of mittens; and the
+little Adolphine made similar offerings of open-worked stockings, her
+first attempt.
+
+Our parents were also surprised and delighted to receive some
+drawings, exceedingly well executed, by my brothers, accompanied by a
+letter of thanks from those dear boys, for the kind permission to take
+lessons which had been granted to them during the last half-year.
+
+The great bell had called us together at five o'clock in the
+afternoon, to receive our Christmas gifts; and though at eleven our
+eyes and hearts were still wide awake, yet were we obliged to retire,
+and leave all these objects of delight behind us. All remembered that,
+at least, the elder branches of the family must rise betimes the next
+morning to attend the Christ-Kirche, and to hear a sermon on the birth
+of the Saviour of Mankind.
+
+The great excitement of the previous evening, and the vision of
+delight that still hovered around my fancy, prevented my sleeping
+soundly; so that when the others were attempting to steal away the
+next morning to go to church, I was fully roused, and implored so
+earnestly to be taken with the rest of the family, that at length my
+prayer was granted; but on condition that I should keep perfectly
+still during the service.
+
+Arrived at the church we found it brilliantly illuminated, and
+decorated with the boughs of the holly and other evergreens.
+
+It is quite certain that a child of five years old could not
+understand the importance, beauty, and extreme fitness of the sublime
+service she so often witnessed in after life; yet I can recollect a
+peculiarly sweet, sacred, and mysterious feeling taking possession of
+me, as my infant mind received the one simple impression that this was
+the birthday of the Saviour I had been taught to love and pray to,
+since my infant lips could lisp a word.
+
+Since early impressions are likely to be permanent, it is considered
+most important in my fatherland to surround, Christmas with all joyous
+and holy associations. A day of days, indeed, it is with us--a day
+never to be forgotten.
+
+So far is this feeling carried, that it is no uncommon pastime, even
+at the beginning of the new year, to project plans and presents, happy
+surprises, and unlooked-for offerings, to be presented at the far-off
+time of Christmas festivity.
+
+* * * * *
+
+Another writer, at the latter end of the nineteenth century, gives the
+following account of the Christmas festivities at the German Court,
+from which it appears that the long-cherished Christmas customs are
+well preserved in the highest circle in Germany:--
+
+
+CHRISTMAS AT THE GERMAN COURT.
+
+In accordance with an old custom the Royal Family of Prussia celebrate
+Christmas in a private manner at the Emperor William's palace, where
+the "blue dining-hall" on the first floor is arranged as the Christmas
+room. Two long rows of tables are placed in this hall, and two smaller
+tables stand in the corners on either side of the pillared door
+leading to the ballroom. On these tables stand twelve of the finest
+and tallest fir-trees, reaching nearly to the ceiling, and covered
+with innumerable white wax candles placed in wire-holders, but without
+any other decoration.
+
+In the afternoon of the 24th great packages are brought into this room
+containing the presents for the members of the Imperial household, and
+in the presence of the Emperor his Chamberlain distributes them on the
+tables under the trees. The monarch always takes an active part in
+this work, and, walking about briskly from one table to the other,
+helps to place the objects in the most advantageous positions, and
+fastens on them slips of white paper on which he himself has written
+the names of the recipients. The Empress is also present, occupied
+with arranging the presents for the ladies of her own household. The
+two separate tables still remain empty, until the Emperor and the
+Empress have left the room, as they are destined to hold the presents
+for their Majesties.
+
+At four o'clock the entire Royal Family assemble in the large
+dining-hall of the Palace for their Christmas dinner. Besides all the
+Princes and Princesses without exception, the members of the Imperial
+household, the chiefs of the Emperor's military and civil Cabinets,
+and a number of adjutants are also present.
+
+Shortly after the termination of the dinner the double doors leading
+to the blue hall are thrown wide open at a sign from the Emperor, and
+the brilliant sight of the twelve great fir-trees bearing thousands of
+lighted tapers is disclosed to view. This is the great moment of the
+German Christmas Eve celebration. The Imperial couples then form in
+procession, and all proceed to the Christmas room. The Emperor and the
+Empress then personally lead the members of their households to the
+presents which are grouped in long rows on the tables, and which
+comprise hundreds of articles, both valuable and useful, objects of
+art, pictures, statuary, &c. Meanwhile, the two separate tables still
+remain hidden under white draperies. In other rooms all the officials
+and servants of the palace, down to the youngest stable-boy, are
+presented with their Christmas-boxes. At about nine o'clock the
+Imperial Family and their guests again return to the dining-room,
+where a plain supper is then served. According to old tradition, the
+menu always includes the following dishes: "Carp cooked in beer" (a
+Polish custom), and "Mohnpielen," an East Prussian dish, composed of
+poppy-seed, white bread, almonds and raisins, stewed in milk. After
+the supper all return once more to the Christmas room, where the
+second part of the celebration--the exchange of presents among the
+Royal Family--then comes off.
+
+The Emperor's table stands on the right side of the ballroom door, and
+every object placed on it bears a paper with an inscription intimating
+by whom the present is given. The presents for the Empress on the
+other table are arranged in the same manner. Among the objects never
+missing at the Emperor's Christmas are some large Nuremberg ginger
+cakes, with the inscription "Weihnachten" and the year. About
+half-an-hour later tea is taken, and this terminates the Christmas Eve
+of the first family of the German Empire.
+
+
+CHRISTMAS THROUGHOUT GERMANY,
+
+it may be added, is similarly observed in the year 1900. From the
+Imperial palace to the poor man's cottage there is not a family in
+Germany that has not its Christmas tree and "Weihnachts
+Bescheerung"--Christmas distribution of presents. For the very poor
+districts of Berlin provision is made by the municipal authorities or
+charitable societies to give the children this form of amusement,
+which they look forward to throughout the year.
+
+
+THE CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES IN AUSTRIA
+
+are similar to those in Germany, the prominent feature being the
+beautifully-adorned and splendidly-lighted Christmas-tree. At one of
+these celebrations, a few years ago, the numerous presents received by
+the young Princess Elizabeth included a speaking doll, fitted with a
+phonograph cylinder, which created no small astonishment. Among other
+things, the doll was able to recite a poem composed by the Archduchess
+Marie Valerie in honour of Christmas Eve.
+
+The poor and destitute of Vienna are not forgotten, for, in addition
+to the Christmas-tree which is set up at the palace for them, a large
+number of charitable associations in the various districts of Vienna
+have also Christmas-trees laden with presents for the poor.
+
+
+CHRISTMAS EVE IN ST. MARK'S, VENICE.
+
+You go into the Duomo late on Christmas Eve, and find the time-stained
+alabasters and dark aisles lit up with five hundreds of wax candles
+over seven feet high. The massive silver lamps suspended across the
+choir have the inner lamps all ablaze, as is also the graceful
+Byzantine chandelier in the centre of the nave that glitters like a
+cluster of stars from dozens of tiny glass cups with wick and oil
+within. In the solemn and mysterious gloom you pass figures of men and
+women kneeling in devotion before the many shrines. Some are
+accompanied by well-behaved and discreet dogs, who sit patiently
+waiting till their owners' prayer shall be over; whilst others less
+well trained, run about from group to group to smell out their friends
+or growl at foes. You slowly work your way through the throng to the
+high altar. That unique reredos, brought from Constantinople in early
+times--the magnificent "Pala d'Ora," an enamelled work wrought on
+plates of gold and silver, and studded with precious stones--is
+unveiled, and the front of the altar has a rich frontispiece of the
+thirteenth century, which is of silver washed with gold, and embossed
+figures. Numbers of ponderous candles throw a glimmer over the
+treasures with which St. Mark's is so richly endowed, that are
+profusely displayed on the altar. Bishops, canons and priests in full
+dress are standing and kneeling, and the handsome and much-beloved
+Patriarch of Venice officiates, in dress of gorgeous scarlet and
+cream-coloured old lace, and heavy-brocaded cope, that is afterwards
+exchanged for one of ermine, and flashing rings and jewelled cross.
+There is no music, but a deep quiet pervades the dim golden domes
+overhead and the faintly-lighted transepts. Stray rays of light catch
+the smooth surface of the mosaics, which throw off sparkles of
+brightness and cast deeper shadows beyond the uncertain radiance.
+After the midnight mass is celebrated you pass out with the stream of
+people into the cold, frosty night, with only the bright stars to
+guide you through the silent alleys to your rooms, where you wish each
+other "A Merry Christmas!" and retire to sleep, and to dream of the
+old home in England.--_Queen_.
+
+[Illustration: SASSOFERRATO (GIOVANNI BATTISTA SALVI) 1605-85
+museum naples]
+
+
+CHRISTMAS IN NAPLES.
+
+An English writer who spent a Christmas in Naples a few
+years ago, says:--
+
+"In the south Christmas is bright and gay, and in truth noisy. The
+_festa natalizie_, as it is called in Naples, is celebrated by fairs
+and bonfires and fireworks. In the Toledo, that famous street known
+to all the world, booths are erected beside the shops, flaming in
+colour, and filled with all sorts of tempting wares. Throughout
+Christmas Eve an immense crowd of men, women, and children throng this
+street, nearly a mile in length. The vendors shriek at the top of
+their voice, praising themselves and their goods, and then, with merry
+peals of laughter, exhibit with Neapolitan drollery all the arts of
+their trade. The crowd catch the contagious spirit of fun, and toss
+witticisms to and fro, until the welkin rings with shouts and
+laughter. A revolution in Paris could not create greater excitement,
+or greater noise, than the Christmas fair at Naples, the largest, and
+certainly the merriest, in the world. As night draws on the mirth
+grows uproarious; improvisations abound. Pulcinello attracts laughing
+crowds. The bagpipes strike with their ear-piercing sounds, and arise
+shrill above the universal din. Fireworks are let off at every street
+corner, flaming torches carried in procession parade the streets;
+rockets rise in the air, coloured lamps are hung over doorways, and in
+the midst of the blaze of light the church bells announce the midnight
+Mass, and the crowd leave the fair and the streets, and on bended knee
+are worshipping."
+
+[Illustration: Luis de Vargas 1502-1568 Seville Cathedral]
+
+
+CHRISTMAS IN SPAIN.
+
+Spain in winter must be divided into Spain the frigid and Spain the
+semi-tropic; for while snow lies a foot deep at Christmas in the
+north, in the south the sun is shining brightly, and flowers of spring
+are peeping out, and a nosegay of heliotrope and open-air geraniums is
+the Christmas-holly and mistletoe of Andalusia. There is no chill in
+the air, there is no frost on the window-pane.
+
+When Christmas Eve comes the two days' holiday commences. At twelve
+the labourers leave their work, repair home, and dress in their best.
+Then the shops are all ablaze with lights, ribbons and streamers, with
+tempting fare of sweets and sausages, with red and yellow serge to
+make warm petticoats; with cymbals, drums, and _zambombas_. The chief
+sweetmeats, peculiar to Christmas, and bought alike by rich and poor,
+are the various kinds of preserved fruits, incrusted with sugar, and
+the famous _turrni_. This last, which is of four kinds, and may be
+called in English phraseology, "almond rock," is brought to your door,
+and buy it you must. A coarse kind is sold to the poor at a cheap
+rate. Other comestibles, peculiar to Christmas, are almond soup,
+truffled turkey, roasted chestnuts, and nuts of every sort.
+
+Before the _Noche-buena_, or Christmas Eve, however, one or two good
+deeds have been done by the civil and military authorities. On the
+twenty-third or twenty-fourth the custom is for the military governor
+to visit all the soldier prisoners, in company with their respective
+defensores, or advocates; and, _de officio_, there and then, he
+liberates all who are in gaol for light offences. This plan is also
+pursued in the civil prisons; and thus a beautiful custom is kept up
+in classic, romantic, Old-world Spain, and a ray of hope enters into
+and illuminates even the bitter darkness of a Spanish prisoners' den.
+
+It is Christmas Eve. The poor man has his relations round him, over
+his humble _puchero_ (stew): the rich man likewise. _Friends_ have not
+come, "for it is not the custom." In Spain only blood relations eat
+and drink in the house as invited guests. Families meet as in England.
+Two per cent. of the soldiers get a fortnight's leave of absence and a
+free pass; and there is joy in peasant homes over peasant charcoal
+pans. The dusky shades of evening are stealing over olive grove and
+withering vineyard, and every house lights up its tiny oil lamp, and
+every image of the Virgin is illuminated with a taper. In Eija, near
+Cordova, an image or portrait of the Virgin and the Babe new-born,
+hangs in well-nigh every room in every house. And why? Because the
+beautiful belief is rooted in those simple minds, that, on Christmas
+Eve, ere the clock strikes twelve, the Virgin, bringing blessings in
+her train, visits every house where she can find an image or portrait
+of _her Son_. And many a girl kneels down in robes of white before her
+humble portrait of the Babe and prays; and hears a rustle in the room,
+and thinks, "the Virgin comes: she brings me my Christmas Eve
+blessing;" and turns, and lo! it is _her mother_, and the Virgin's
+blessing is the mother's kiss!
+
+In Northern Andalusia you have the _zambomba_, a flower-pot perforated
+by a hollow reed, which, wetted and rubbed with the finger, gives out
+a hollow, scraping, monotonous sound. In Southern Andalusia the
+_panderita_, or tambourine, is the chief instrument. It is wreathed
+with gaudy ribbons, and decked with bells, and beaten, shaken, and
+tossed in the air with graceful abandon to the strains of the
+Christmas hymn:
+
+ "This night is the good night,
+ And therefore is no night of rest!"
+
+Or, perhaps, the Church chant is sung, called "The child of God was
+born."
+
+Then also men click the castanet in wine-shop and cottage; and in such
+old-world towns as Eija, where no railway has penetrated, a
+breast-plate of eccentrically strung bones--slung round the neck and
+played with sticks--is still seen and heard.
+
+The turkeys have been slaughtered and are smoking on the fire. The
+night is drawing on and now the meal is over. Twelve o'clock strikes,
+and in one moment every bell from every belfrey clangs out its
+summons. Poltroon were he who had gone to bed before twelve on
+_Noche-buena_. From every house the inmates hurry to the gaily-lit
+church and throng its aisles, a dark-robed crowd of worshippers. The
+organ peals out, the priests and choir chant at this midnight hour the
+Christmas hymn, and at last (in some out-of-the-way towns) the
+priests, in gaudiest robes, bring out from under the altar and expose
+aloft to the crowds, in swaddling-clothes of gold and white, the Babe
+new-born, and all fall down and cross themselves in mute adoration.
+This service is universal, and is called the "Misa del Gallo," or
+Cock-crow Mass, and even in Madrid it is customary to attend it. There
+are three masses also on Christmas Day, and the Church rule, strictly
+observed, is that if a man fail to attend this Midnight Mass he must,
+to save his religious character, attend all three on Christmas Day. In
+antique towns, like Eija, there are two days' early mass (called "Misa
+di Luz") anterior to the "Misa del Gallo," at 4 a.m., and in the raw
+morning the churches are thronged with rich and poor. In that strange,
+old-world town, also, the chief dame goes to the Midnight Mass, all
+her men-servants in procession before her, each playing a different
+instrument.
+
+Christmas Eve is over. It is 1.30 a.m. on Christmas morning, and the
+crowds, orderly, devout, cheerful, are wending their way home. Then
+all is hushed; all have sought repose; there are no drunken riots; the
+dark streets are lit by the tiny oil lamps; the watchman's monotonous
+cry alone is heard, "Ave Maria purissima; las dos; y sereno."
+
+The three masses at the churches on Christmas Day are all chanted to
+joyous music. Then the poor come in to pay their rent of turkeys,
+pigs, olives, or what not, to their landlord, and he gives them a
+Christmas-box: such as a piece of salt fish, or money, or what may be.
+Then, when you enter your house, you will find on your table, with the
+heading, "A Happy Christmas," a book of little leaflets, printed with
+verses. These are the petitions of the postman, scavenger, telegraph
+man, newsboy, &c., asking you for a Christmas-box. Poor fellows! they
+get little enough, and a couple of francs is well bestowed on them
+once a year. After mid-day breakfast or luncheon is over, rich and
+poor walk out and take the air, and a gaudy, pompous crowd they form
+as a rule. As regards presents at Christmas, the rule is, in primitive
+Spain, to send a present to the _Cura_ (parish priest) and the doctor.
+Many Spaniards pay a fixed annual sum to their medical man, and he
+attends all the family, including servants. His salary is sent to him
+at Christmas, with the addition of a turkey, or a cake, or some fine
+sweetmeats.
+
+On Christmas Eve the provincial hospitals present one of their most
+striking aspects to the visitor. It is a feast-day, and instead of the
+usual stew, the soup called _caldo_--and very weak stuff it is--or the
+stir-about and fried bread, the sick have their good sound meats,
+cooked in savoury and most approved fashion, their tumbler of wine,
+their extra cigar. Visitors, kindly Spanish ladies, come in, their
+hands laden with sweets and tobacco, &c., and the sight of the black
+silk dresses trailing over the lowly hospital couches is most human
+and pathetic. At last _night_--the veritable Christmas Eve comes. The
+chapels in these hospitals are generally on the ground floor, and
+frequently sunk some feet below it, but open to the hospital; so that
+the poor inmates who can leave their beds can hobble to the railing
+and look down into the chapel--one mass of dazzling lights, glitter,
+colour, and music: and thus, without the fatigue of descending the
+stairs, can join in the service. At half-past eleven at night the
+chapel is gaily lit up; carriage after carriage, mule-cart after
+mule-cart rattles up to the hospital door, discharging crowds of
+ladies and gentlemen in evening dress; thus the common people, chiefly
+the young, with their tambourines and zambombas, pour into the chapel
+from _Campo_, and alley, and street, and soon the chapel is filled;
+while above, sitting, hobbling, lying all round the rails, and gazing
+down upon the motley and noisy throng below, are the inmates of the
+hospital. The priest begins the Midnight Mass, and the organs take up
+the service, the whole of which, for one hour, is chanted. Meanwhile,
+the tambourines and other musical instruments are busy, and join in
+the strains of the organ; and the din, glitter, and excitement are
+most exhilarating. And thus the occupants of the Spanish provincial
+hospitals join in the festivities of Christmastide, as seen by one
+who has dwelt "_Among the Spanish People_."
+
+
+CHRISTMAS CUSTOMS IN NORWAY.
+
+A writer who knows the manners and habits of the people of Norway, and
+their customs at Christmastide, says:--
+
+"At Christiania, and other Norwegian towns, there is, or used to be, a
+delicate Christmas custom of offering to a lady a brooch or a pair of
+earings in a truss of hay. The house-door of the person to be
+complimented is pushed open, and there is thrown into the house a
+truss of hay or straw, a sheaf of corn, or a bag of chaff. In some
+part of this "bottle of hay" envelope, there is a "needle" as a
+present to be hunted for. A friend of mine once received from her
+betrothed, according to the Christmas custom, an exceedingly large
+brown paper parcel, which, on being opened, revealed a second parcel
+with a loving motto on the cover. And so on, parcel within parcel,
+motto within motto, till the kernel of this paper husk--which was at
+length discovered to be a delicate piece of minute jewellery--was
+arrived at."
+
+One of the prettiest of Christmas customs is the Norwegian practice of
+giving, on Christmas Day, a dinner to the birds. On Christmas morning
+every gable, gateway, or barn-door, is decorated with a sheaf of corn
+fixed on the top of a tall pole, wherefrom it is intended that the
+birds should make their Christmas dinner. Even the peasants contrive
+to have a handful set by for this purpose, and what the birds do not
+eat on Christmas Day, remains for them to finish at their leisure
+during the winter.
+
+On New Year's Day in Norway, friends and acquaintances exchange calls
+and good wishes. In the corner of each reception-room is placed a
+little table, furnished all through the day with wine and cakes for
+the refreshment of the visitors; who talk, and compliment, and flirt,
+and sip wine, and nibble cake from house to house, with great
+perseverance.
+
+Between Christmas and Twelfth Day mummers are in season. They are
+called "Julebukker," or Christmas goblins. They invariably appear
+after dark, and in masks and fancy dresses. A host may therefore have
+to entertain in the course of the season, a Punch, Mephistopheles,
+Charlemagne, Number, Nip, Gustavus, Oberon, and whole companies of
+other fanciful and historic characters; but, as their antics are
+performed in silence, they are not particularly cheerful company.
+
+
+CHRISTMAS IN RUSSIA.
+
+With Christmas Eve begins the festive season known in Russia as
+_Svyatki_ or _Svyatuie Vechera_ (Holy Evenings), which lasts till the
+Epiphany. The numerous sportive ceremonies which are associated with
+it resemble, in many respects, those with which we are familiar, but
+they are rendered specially interesting and valuable by the relics of
+the past which they have been the means of preserving--the fragments
+of ritual song which refer to the ancient paganism of the land, the
+time-honoured customs which originally belonged to the feasts with
+which the heathen Slavs greeted each year the return of the sun. On
+Christmas Eve commences the singing of the songs called _Kolyadki_, a
+word, generally supposed to be akin to _Kalendae_, though reference is
+made in some of them to a mysterious being, apparently a solar
+goddess, named Kolyada. "Kolyada, Kolyada! Kolyada has come. We
+wandered about, we sought holy Kolyada in all the courtyards,"
+commences one of these old songs, for many a year, no doubt, solemnly
+sung by the young people who used in olden times to escort from
+homestead to homestead a sledge in which sat a girl dressed in white,
+who represented the benignant goddess. Nowadays these songs have in
+many places fallen into disuse, or are kept up only by the children
+who go from house to house, to congratulate the inhabitants on the
+arrival of Christmas, and to wish them a prosperous New Year. In every
+home, says one of these archaic poems, are three inner chambers. In
+one is the bright moon, in another the red sun, in a third many stars.
+The bright moon--that is the master of the house; the red sun--that is
+the housewife; the many stars--they are the little children.
+
+The Russian Church sternly sets its face against the old customs with
+which the Christmas season was associated, denouncing the "fiendish
+songs," and "devilish games," the "graceless talk," the "nocturnal
+gambols," and the various kinds of divination in which the faithful
+persisted in indulging. But, although repressed, they were not to be
+destroyed, and at various seasons of the year, but especially those of
+the summer and winter solstice, the "orthodox," in spite of their
+pastors, made merry with old heathenish sports, and, after listening
+to Christian psalms in church, went home and sang songs framed by
+their ancestors in honour of heathen divinities. Thus century after
+century went by, and the fortunes of Russia underwent great changes.
+But still in the villages were the old customs kept up, and when
+Christmas Day came round it was greeted by survivals of the ceremonies
+with which the ancient Slavs hailed the returning sun god, who caused
+the days to lengthen, and filled the minds of men with hopes of a new
+year rich in fruits and grain. One of the customs to which the Church
+most strongly objected was that of mumming. As in other lands, so in
+Russia it was customary for mummers to go about at Christmastide,
+visiting various homes in which the festivities of the season were
+being kept up, and there dancing, and performing all kinds of antics.
+Prominent parts were always played by human representatives of a goat
+and a bear. Some of the party would be disguised as "Lazaruses," that
+is, as the blind beggars who bear that name, and whose plaintive
+strains have resounded all over Russia from the earliest times to the
+present day. The rest disguised themselves as they best could, a
+certain number of them being generally supposed to play the part of
+thieves desirous to break in and steal. When, after a time, they were
+admitted into the room where the Christmas guests were assembled, the
+goat and the bear would dance a merry round together, the Lazaruses
+would sing their "dumps so dull and heavy," and the rest of the
+performers would exert themselves to produce exhilaration. Even among
+the upper classes it was long the custom at this time of year for the
+young people to dress up and visit their neighbours in disguise. Thus
+in Count Tolstoy's "Peace and War," a novel which aims at giving a
+true account of the Russia of the early part of the present century,
+there is a charming description of a visit of this kind paid by the
+younger members of one family to another. On a bright frosty night the
+sledges are suddenly ordered, and the young people dress up, and away
+they drive across the crackling snow to a country house six miles off,
+all the actors creating a great sensation, but especially the fair
+maiden Sonya, who proves irresistible when clad in her cousin's hussar
+uniform and adorned with an elegant moustache. Such mummers as these
+would lay aside their disguises with a light conscience, but the
+peasant was apt to feel a depressing qualm when the sports were over;
+and it is said that, even at the present day, there are rustics who do
+not venture to go to church, after having taken part in a mumming,
+until they have washed off their guilt by immersing themselves in the
+benumbing waters of an ice-hole.
+
+Next to the mumming, what the Church most objected to was the
+divination always practised at Christmas festivals. With one of its
+forms a number of songs have been associated, termed _podblyudnuiya_,
+as connected with a _blyudo_, a dish or bowl. Into some vessel of this
+kind the young people drop tokens. A cloth is then thrown over it, and
+the various objects are drawn out, one after another, to the sound of
+songs, from the tenor of which the owners deduce omens relative to
+their future happiness. As bread and salt are also thrown into the
+bowl, the ceremony may be supposed to have originally partaken of the
+nature of a sacrifice. After these songs are over ought to come the
+game known as the "burial of the gold." The last ring remaining in the
+prophetic bowl is taken out by one of the girls, who keeps it
+concealed in her hand. The others sit in a circle, resting their hands
+on their knees. She walks slowly round, while the first four lines are
+sung in chorus of the song beginning, "See here, gold I bury, I bury."
+Then she slips the ring into one of their hands, from which it is
+rapidly passed on to another, the song being continued the while. When
+it comes to an end the "gold burier" must try to guess in whose hand
+the ring is concealed. This game is a poetical form of our "hunt the
+slipper." Like many other Slavonic customs it is by some archaeologists
+traced home to Greece. By certain mythologists the "gold" is supposed
+to be an emblem of the sun, long hidden by envious wintry clouds, but
+at this time of year beginning to prolong the hours of daylight. To
+the sun really refer, in all probability, the bonfires with which
+Christmastide, as well as the New Year and Midsummer is greeted in
+Russia. In the Ukraine the sweepings from a cottage are carefully
+preserved from Christmas Day to New Year's Day, and are then burnt in
+a garden at sunrise. Among some of the Slavs, such as the Servians,
+Croatians, and Dalmatians, a _badnyak_, or piece of wood answering to
+the northern Yule-log, is solemnly burnt on Christmas Eve. But the
+significance originally attached to these practices has long been
+forgotten. Thus the grave attempts of olden times to search the
+secrets of futurity have degenerated into the sportive guesses of
+young people, who half believe that they may learn from omens at
+Christmas time what manner of marriages are in store for them.
+Divinings of this kind are known to all lands, and bear a strong
+family likeness; but it is, of course, only in a cold country that a
+spinster can find an opportunity of sitting beside a hole cut in the
+surface of a frozen river, listening to prophetic sounds proceeding
+from beneath the ice, and possibly seeing the image of the husband who
+she is to marry within the year trembling in the freezing water.
+Throughout the whole period of the _Svyatki_, the idea of marriage
+probably keeps possession of the minds of many Russian maidens, and on
+the eve of the Epiphany, the feast with which those Christmas holidays
+come to an end, it is still said to be the custom for the village
+girls to go out into the open air and to beseech the "stars, stars,
+dear little stars," to be so benignant as to
+
+ "Send forth through the christened world
+ Arrangers of weddings."
+
+W. R. S. Ralston, in _Notes and Queries_, Dec. 21, 1878.
+
+
+CHRISTMAS-KEEPING IN AFRICA.
+
+"A certain young man about town" (says _Chambers's Journal_, December
+25, 1869), "once forsook the sweet shady side of Pall Mall for the
+sake of smoking his cigar in savage Africa; but when Christmas came,
+he was seized with a desire to spend it in Christian company, and this
+is how he did spend it: 'We English once possessed the Senegal; and
+there, every Christmas Eve, the Feast of Lanterns used to be held. The
+native women picked up the words and airs of the carols; the custom
+had descended to the Gambia, and even to the Casemanche, where it is
+still preserved. A few minutes after I had ridden up, sounds of music
+were heard, and a crowd of blacks came to the door, carrying the model
+of a ship made of paper, and illuminated within; and hollowed pumpkins
+also lighted up for the occasion. Then they sang some of our dear old
+Christmas carols, and among others, one which I had heard years ago
+on Christmas Eve at Oxford:
+
+ Nowel, Nowel, the angels did say,
+ To certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay--
+ In fields as they lay keeping their sheep,
+ One cold winter's night, which was so deep.
+ Nowel, Nowel, Nowel, Nowel,
+ Born is the King of Israel.
+
+You can imagine with what feelings I listened to those simple words,
+sung by negresses who knew not a phrase of English besides. You can
+imagine what recollections they called up, as I sat under an African
+sky, the palm-trees rustling above my head, and the crocodiles moaning
+in the river beyond. I thought of the snow lying thick upon the
+ground; of the keen, clear, frosty air. I thought of the ruddy fire
+which would be blazing in a room I knew; and of those young faces
+which would be beaming still more brightly by its side; I thought
+of--oh, of a hundred things, which I can laugh at now, because I am in
+England, but which, in Africa, made me more wretched than I can well
+express.'
+
+"Next day, sadness and sentiment gave way, for a while at least, to
+more prosaical feelings. When Mr. Reade sat down to his Christmas
+dinner, he must have wished, with Macbeth, 'May good digestion wait on
+appetite,' as he contemplated the fare awaiting discussion, and to
+which a boar's head grinned a welcome. Snails from France, oysters
+torn from trees, gazelle cutlets, stewed iguana, smoked elephant,
+fried locusts, manati-breasts, hippopotamus steaks, boiled alligator,
+roasted crocodile eggs, monkeys on toast, land crabs and Africa soles,
+carp, and mullet--detestable in themselves, but triumphant proof of
+the skill of the cook--furnished forth the festival-table, in company
+with potatoes, plantains, pine-apples, oranges, papaws, bananas, and
+various fruits rejoicing in extraordinary shapes, long native names,
+and very nasty flavours; and last, but not least, palm-cabbage stewed
+in white sauce, 'the ambrosia of the gods,' and a bottle of good
+Bordeaux at every's man's elbow. When evening came, Mr. Reade and a
+special friend sought the river: 'The rosy wine had rouged our yellow
+cheeks, and we lay back on the cushions, and watched the setting sun
+with languid, half-closed eyes. Four men, who might have served as
+models to Appelles, bent slowly to their stroke, and murmured forth a
+sweet and plaintive song. Their oars, obedient to their voice, rippled
+the still water, and dropped from their blades pearls, which the sun
+made rubies with its rays. Two beautiful girls, who sat before us in
+the bow, raised their rounded arms and tinkled their bracelets in the
+air. Then, gliding into the water, they brought us flowers from
+beneath the dark bushes, and kissed the hands which took them, with
+wet and laughing lips. Like a dark curtain, the warm night fell upon
+us; strange cries roused from the forest; beasts of the waters plunged
+around us, and my honest friend's hand pressed mine. And Christmas
+Day was over. We might seek long for a stranger contrast to an
+Englishman's Christmas at home, although--to adapt some seasonable
+lines--
+
+ Where'er
+ An English heart exists to do and dare,
+ Where, amid Afric's sands, the lion roars,
+ Where endless winter chains the silent shores,
+ Where smiles the sea round coral islets bright,
+ Where Brahma's temple's sleep in glowing light--
+ In every spot where England's sons may roam,
+ Dear Christmas-tide still speaks to them of Home!"
+
+ [93] The discovery of the North-West Passage for
+ navigation from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, by the
+ northern coasts of the American continent; first
+ successfully traversed by Sir R. McClure in 1850-1.
+
+ [94] _Chambers's Journal_, December 25, 1869.
+
+ [95] Fosbroke's "British Monachism."
+
+ [96] "Reminiscences of the Siege and Commune of Paris," by
+ Ex-Minister E. B. Washburne.
+
+ [97] "Year Book."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration: SIMEON RECEIVED THE CHILD JESUS INTO HIS ARMS, AND
+BLESSED GOD
+
+_Luke_ 11 25-32]
+
+
+
+
+_CHAPTER XIII_
+
+
+CONCLUDING CAROL SERVICE OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
+
+Now, returning from the celebrations of Christmas in distant parts of
+the world, we conclude our historic account of the great Christian
+festival by recording the pleasure with which we attended the
+
+
+CONCLUDING CAROL SERVICE OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
+
+at a fine old English cathedral--the recently restored and beautiful
+cathedral at Lichfield, whose triple spires are seen and well known by
+travellers on the Trent valley portion of the London and North Western
+main line of railway which links London with the North.
+
+[Illustration: LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL
+(_By permission of Mr. A. C. Lomax's Successors
+Lichfield_)]
+
+Christmas carols have been sung at Lichfield from long before the time
+of "the mighty Offa," King of the Mercians, in whose days and by whose
+influence Lichfield became for a time an archiepiscopal see, being
+elevated to that dignity by Pope Adrian, in 785. And, in the
+seventeenth century, the Deanery of Lichfield was conferred upon the
+Rev. Griffin Higgs, the writer of the events connected with the
+exhibition of "The Christmas Prince" at St. John's College, Oxford, in
+1607, whose authentic account of these interesting historical events
+will be found in an earlier chapter of this work.
+
+The Christmas carols at Lichfield Cathedral, sung by the full choir at
+the special evening service on St. Stephen's Day (December 26th),
+have, for many years, attracted large and appreciative congregations,
+and the last of these celebrations in the nineteenth century (on
+December 26, 1900) was well sustained by the singers and attended by
+many hundreds of citizens and visitors. Eight Christmas Carols and an
+anthem were sung, the concluding Carol being "The First Nowell"; and
+the organist (Mr. J. B. Lott, Mus. Bac., Oxon) played the Pastoral
+Symphony from Sullivan's "Light of the World," Mendelssohn's March
+("Cornelius"), the Pastoral Symphony from Handel's "Messiah," and
+other exquisite voluntaries. From the anthem, E. H. Sears's beautiful
+verses beginning
+
+ "It came upon the midnight clear,
+ That glorious song of old,"
+
+set to Stainer's music and well sung, we quote the concluding
+predictive stanza:
+
+ "For lo, the days are hast'ning on,
+ By prophet-bards foretold,
+ When with the ever-circling years
+ Comes round the age of gold;
+ When peace shall over all the earth
+ Its ancient splendours fling,
+ And the whole world give back the song
+ Which now the angels sing."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+A
+
+Abbot of Misrule, 95 (_see_ also Lord of Misrule)
+
+Abbot of Westminster, 80
+
+Abdication of Richard Cromwell, 213
+
+Abingdon, 51, 208
+
+Aboard the _Sunbeam_, 307
+
+Abolition of Christmas celebration attempted, 206
+
+Abraham, 29
+
+Abyssinia, 298
+
+"Adam Bell," 195
+
+Adam's _Noel_, 319
+
+Adams, Herbert H., 227, 249
+
+Addison, 227
+
+_Adeste Fideles_, 323
+
+_Adieu les Rois_, 320
+
+Adrian, Pope, 350
+
+Advent of Christ, the, 5;
+ season of the, 12;
+ date of the, 14
+
+Advertisement, curious, 232
+
+"Aerra Geola" (December), 28
+
+Africa, 345
+
+Africa, South, 299
+
+Agincourt, 81
+
+Agrippina, wife of Claudius, 24
+
+Aidan, Columbian Monk, 27
+
+Ajaccio, 322
+
+Alban, St., 20
+
+Albert, Prince Consort, 261
+
+Albemarle, Lady, 241
+
+Aldrich, Commander Pelham, 308
+
+Ale, 26, 55, 57, 231, 251, 258, 259
+
+Alexander, King of the Scots, 64
+
+Alexander Severus, 29
+
+Alexandria, 54
+
+Alfred the Great, King, 36
+
+All Hallowtide, 73, 131
+
+Almaine accoutrements, 120
+
+"Almes" at Christmas, 148, 257-8
+
+Almoner, Lord High, 260
+
+Alsatians, 319
+
+Alwyn, Walter, 95
+
+Amadas, Rob, 100
+
+Ambassadors, foreign, 152
+
+Ambleteuse, Brittany, 220
+
+Ambrose, St., 21
+
+America, 309-316
+
+Amours of Henry VIII., 106
+
+Amusements, 33, 153, 195, 246-9
+
+Ancaster Heath, 153
+
+Andalusia, 339
+
+Andrew, St., 283
+
+Andrewes, Bishop, 193
+
+_Andromeda tetragona_, 295
+
+Angel, the, appears unto Joseph, 5;
+ unto the shepherds, 7
+
+Angels' Song, 10, 12
+
+Anger, 13
+
+"Angleesh blom-bodding," 319
+
+Angles, King of the, 34
+
+Anglo-Norman language, 57
+
+Anglo-Saxon Kings, 29
+
+Anglo-Saxons, 25, 28
+
+Angouleme, Duchess, 317
+
+Angus, Scotland, 242
+
+Anjou wine, 57
+
+Annan, Dumfriesshire, 71
+
+Anne, daughter of Frederick III., King of Denmark, 197
+
+Anne, Queen, 226
+
+Anne, wife of Richard III., 93
+
+Annunciation, the, 13, 15
+
+Anointing cattle, 325
+
+Anselm, Archbishop, 49
+
+Antioch, 59;
+ the church at, 11;
+ Prince of, 52
+
+Antiochus Epiphanes, 17
+
+Antipodes, 303
+
+Ara Coeli, Church of, 328
+
+"Archaeologia," 200
+
+Archbishops' Quarrel, 48
+
+Archduchess Marie Valerie, 335
+
+Arctic regions, 294-6
+
+Aristophanes, 286
+
+Armenian Church, the, 12
+
+Armour under robes, 118
+
+Arnot, S., 284
+
+"Arraignment of Christmas," the, 209
+
+Artaki Bay, 307
+
+Arthur, King, and his Knights, 30, 67, 195
+
+Arthur, Prince of Wales, 99
+
+Arundel, Earl of, 190, 193, 194
+
+Astley, Sir John, 201
+
+Aston, near Birmingham, 243
+
+Athelney, 36
+
+Attainder, 222
+
+Attire, magnificent, 99
+
+Attorney-General, 199
+
+Aubrey, 142, 201, 243
+
+Audley, Lord, 82
+
+Augusta, Princess, 241
+
+Augustine, St., 26, 28
+
+Australia, 303
+
+Austria, 288, 335
+
+Austria, Archduke of, 35;
+ Duke of, 58
+
+
+B
+
+"Babe Cake," 273
+
+Babingley, 263
+
+Babylon, 54, 59
+
+_Bacchanalia_, 13, 15, 19
+
+Bacchus, 19
+
+Bacon, Lord, 93, 94, 152
+
+Baden, Marquis of, 139
+
+Bagpipes, 220
+
+Baker, Chronicler, 105
+
+Balancing, feats of, 229
+
+Balliol, Edward, 71
+
+Balls, 249, 250, 309
+
+Baltimore, Lord, 314
+
+Banks Island reindeer, 294
+
+Banquetings, 31, 88, 126, 146-9, 219, 220, 232
+
+Banqueting-night ceremonies, 135
+
+_Barabrith_, 281
+
+Barbadoes, 288
+
+Barclay Alexander, 104
+
+Barne, Sir George, 117
+
+"Baron of Beef," 273
+
+"Baron's Yule Feast," 266
+
+Barons, 55, 60
+
+Barriers, at, 189
+
+Barristers singing and dancing, 137
+
+Barrow, Isaac, 204
+
+Barry, Sir Charles, 46
+
+Barthe, Master George, 88
+
+"Batt upon Batt," 221
+
+Bay of Mercy, 294
+
+Beamonde, Lord of, 70
+
+Bear-baiting, 119, 229
+
+Beatrice, Princess, 262
+
+Beaufitz, John, 93
+
+Beaumont, 152
+
+Beauties, Court, 99
+
+Becket, St. Thomas, 52
+
+Bedchambers, fifteenth century, 88
+
+Bede, the Venerable, 24
+
+Bedford, 64
+
+Bellman, the, 224
+
+Bells, Christmas, 270, 271
+
+Belshazzar, 78
+
+Belton, Mr., 219
+
+Belvoir Castle, 224, 266
+
+Benevolence, 260-6
+
+Bengel, 13
+
+Berkeley, 69, 146;
+ Lord Henry, 146
+
+Berkshire, 276
+
+Berlin, 335
+
+Bermondsey, 52
+
+Berners, Lord, 69, 88
+
+Berri, Duchess, 317
+
+Bertha, Queen, 27
+
+Berwick, 68
+
+Besieged Paris, 318
+
+Bethlehem, 7, 14
+
+Betterton, 218
+
+Bevis of Southampton, 195
+
+Billiards, 195
+
+Bills of fare, fifteenth century, 82
+
+Bird, 140
+
+Birds' dinner, 342
+
+Birth of Christ, 5;
+ date of, 14
+
+Blackborough Priory, 85
+
+Blackburn, Mr. Francis, 238
+
+Black Prince, 149
+
+Blake, Mr. Andrew, 262
+
+Blanchard, Laman, 268
+
+Blenheim Mansion, 226
+
+Blessington, Countess of, 266
+
+Blindman's Buff, 236, 248, 249
+
+Blue Jackets, 294
+
+Boar, wild, 32, 33, 45, 110
+
+Boar's Head ceremony, 109-11, 125, 167
+
+Bocking, John, 86
+
+Bohemia, Queen of, 193
+
+"Bold Slasher," 284
+
+Boleyn, Anne, 106
+
+Bolingbroke, Henry of, 80
+
+Bonbonnieres, 314
+
+Bonfires, 320, 336
+
+Bonner, Bishop, 122
+
+Boswell, 241
+
+Bosworth Field, 93, 101
+
+Bountifulness, 96, 260
+
+Bounty Royal, 260
+
+Bourchier, Archbishop, 94
+
+Bourchier, John, 69
+
+Bouvines, battle of, 60
+
+Bowyer, Richard, 141
+
+Boy Bishop, 68, 119, 156
+
+Boyhood's Christmas breaking-up, 242
+
+Boy-king taken to Tower, 92
+
+Brabant, States of, 154
+
+Brahmins, 28
+
+Brand, 221, 232, 243, 244
+
+Brandon, Charles, 101
+
+Brandon, Sir William, 101
+
+Brant, Sebastian, 104
+
+Brassey, Lady, 305
+
+Brave, blood of the, 73, 99, 190
+
+Brawn, 96, 232
+
+Brazil, 288
+
+Breda, 214
+
+Breton, Nicholas, 199
+
+Bridgewater, 242
+
+Bridgewater, Earl of, 200
+
+Brill, Vale of Aylesbury, 60
+
+Brilliant episodes, 59, 73, 84, 93, 99
+
+Brinsford, 219
+
+Bristol, 68, 242
+
+British India, 288
+
+British Museum, 114, 145, 210, 211, 232, 241, 244, 324
+
+Brito, Richard, 53
+
+Britons, Ancient, 23, 28
+
+Brittany, 318
+
+Brompton, 274
+
+Brooke, George, 192
+
+Brothers, Royal, at the Tower, 92
+
+Browne, General, 207
+
+Brown, Sir Sam., 300
+
+Browning, Robert, 66, 270
+
+Bruges, 116, 271
+
+Buchan, 285
+
+_Buche-de-Noel_, 319
+
+Buckeridge, Bishop, 195
+
+Buckhurst, Lord, 154
+
+Buckingham, Duke of, 88
+
+Buckingham, Lord, 191
+
+Buckinghamshire peasants, 238
+
+Bull, Dr., 140
+
+Bull-baiting, 229
+
+Bunbury, Mrs., 241
+
+Bun-loaf, 281
+
+Burford Downs, 218
+
+Burgundy, Duke of, 88
+
+Burgundy, House of, 154
+
+Burlesque Court, 126
+
+Burney, 140
+
+Burnham, Buckinghamshire, 257
+
+Burton, Robert, 195
+
+Bury, 68, 84
+
+Bushell, Sir Edward, 153
+
+Buttry, William, 100
+
+Bydnyak, or Yule-log, 345
+
+Byzantium, 324
+
+
+C
+
+Cabul River, 302
+
+Cade, John, 85
+
+Caer Caradoc, 24
+
+Caesars, the, 35
+
+Caesarea, the Church at, 11
+
+Cakes, 36, 265, 321
+
+Calais, 72, 81, 109
+
+Calathumpians, the Vagabond, 313
+
+Caledonian custom, 305
+
+"Caliburne," the "gude sword," 58
+
+Caludon, near Coventry, 146
+
+Calvados, 320
+
+Cambridge, 204
+
+Camden Society, 219
+
+Camp fire, 301
+
+Campion, 154
+
+Camulodunum, Bishop of, 25
+
+Canada, 288, 302
+
+Candle illuminations 168, 322, 331
+
+Candlemas, 80, 138, 178
+
+Canning, W., 143
+
+Canons of Christchurch, 177
+
+Canterbury, 63, 86, 210;
+ monks of, 56
+
+Canterbury Cathedral, 53
+
+Canterbury, Archbishop of, 60, 82, 99, 139
+
+Canute, King, 37
+
+Cape de Verd Islands, 288
+
+Cape Finisterre, 226
+
+Caradoc (called Caractacus), 24
+
+Card-playing, 87, 91, 97, 98, 108, 195, 237, 241, 247, 256, 313
+
+Carew, 152
+
+Carleton, Sir Dudley, 154, 191
+
+Carlisle, 68
+
+Carminow, John, 113
+
+Carnival, 286
+
+Carols, 57, 204, 327
+
+Carol service, 349, 350
+
+Carol-singer Luther, 106
+
+Carol-singing, 326
+
+Caroline, Queen, 241
+
+Car, or Ker, Robert, 155
+
+Carvell, Sir Henry, 194
+
+Cary, Sir Robert, 154
+
+Casemanche, 345
+
+Cassel, Dr., Germany, 16
+
+Castanet, 340
+
+Castellated mansion, 148
+
+Castles, 52, 55, 57, 58
+
+Catacombs of Rome, 19
+
+Catches, 195
+
+Catesby, 93
+
+Cawarden, Sir Thomas, 116, 124
+
+Cecil, Sir William, 143
+
+Celebrations in times of persecution, 18
+
+Central Germany, 333
+
+Ceremonies for Christmas Day, 167
+
+Ceremonies for Grand Christmas, 132
+
+Cern, 264
+
+Chaldeans, 28
+
+Challon, 67
+
+Challoner, Thomas, 154
+
+Chamberlain to the King, 88
+
+Chamberlain to the Queen, 88
+
+Chamberlaine, John, 153, 154, 191
+
+Chambers of Pleasance, 88
+
+Chamber of Presence, 139
+
+Champions of Diana, 102
+
+Channel Islands, 288
+
+Chapel Royal, 138, 140, 241
+
+Chardai, 300
+
+Charibert, King, 28
+
+Charlemagne, Emperor, 34, 342
+
+Charles Augustus, Emperor, 35
+
+Charles I., 152, 195, 197, 212, 213
+
+Charles II., 214
+
+Charles, Prince, hiding in an oak, 215
+
+Charles V. of Spain, 118
+
+Charter, The Great, signed, 61
+
+Chaucer, 9, 33, 73, 99
+
+Cheetle, 142
+
+Cherwell, 109
+
+Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, 214
+
+Chess, 33, 91, 195
+
+Chester, Earl of, 64
+
+Cheu Fu Chefoo, 308
+
+Chevalier, Rev. W. A. C, 71
+
+Chichester, Bishop of, 64, 193
+
+Childermas Day, 112, 135
+
+Children of the Chapel Royal, 100, 140, 141
+
+Children's Treat, 264, 265
+
+Chili, 288
+
+China, 308
+
+Chios, 324-8
+
+Chippenham, 35
+
+Chit-chat, 268, 269
+
+Chivalric usages, 59, 84, 155, 190
+
+Christiania, 342
+
+_Christ-Kirche_, 333
+
+Christmas--the origin and associations of, 5;
+ the word "Christmas," its orthography and meaning, 8;
+ words in Welsh, Scotch, French, Italian, and Spanish representing
+ Christmas, 9;
+ an acrostic spelling Christmas, 9;
+ the earlier celebrations of, 10;
+ fixing the date of, 12;
+ Christmas the _Festorum omnium metropolis_, 12;
+ its connection with ancient festivals, 14;
+ Christmas-boxes and presents, 15, 29, 30, 89, 90, 96, 148, 257, 258,
+ 260-6, 300, 312, 325, 334-5, 341;
+ candles, 168, 322, 331;
+ cards, 271;
+ ceremonies, 132, 167;
+ customs depicted in a carol, 204;
+ Eve, 125, 131, 250-1, 286, 332-5;
+ "Grand," 125;
+ Island, 308;
+ Lord, 95, 100, 109, 112, 115, 126, 198, 200;
+ Prince, 155;
+ at sea, 95, 96, 218, 307;
+ Tree, 106, 261, 263, 264, 296, 313, 325, 332
+ (see also other items in the index arranged alphabetically).
+
+Chrysostom, St., 12
+
+Church Parade, 301
+
+Church reforms of Cardinal Wolsey, 106
+
+Church shows, 316
+
+Cicilie, Ladie, 139
+
+Cider, 55
+
+Cinque Ports, Barons of, 64
+
+City and country feasts compared, 112
+
+Civil war, 156
+
+Clappart, Herr Von, 332
+
+Clarence, Duke of, 86, 89
+
+Classical and Christian elements, 19
+
+Claudius, fourth Roman Emperor, 23
+
+Clement of Alexandria, 12
+
+Clement IX., tomb of, 330
+
+Clerical players, 77
+
+Cleves, Anne of, 108
+
+Clifford, Lord, 82, 86
+
+Closheys (ninepins), 88
+
+Clothing, 265
+
+Cloth of gold, 88
+
+Clyde, Lord, 299
+
+Clymme of Clough, 195
+
+Cnut, King, 37
+
+Cobham, Lord, 81
+
+"Cob-loaf stealing," 243
+
+Cockpit, 153
+
+Collar-day at Court, 240
+
+Colebrooke, Mr., 279
+
+Coleridge, S. T., 274
+
+Colleges' festivities, 109, 110, 111, 155
+
+Collier, 124, 201
+
+Colonist, English, 302
+
+Columbine, 230
+
+Columbus, Christopher, 95
+
+Combats, inspiriting, 99
+
+Comedies and Tragedies, Latin, 110
+
+Comedies, 112
+
+Comically cruel incident, 75
+
+Commonwealth, 197
+
+Communicants apprehended, 211
+
+"Complaint of Christmas," 206
+
+_Concilium Africanum_, 22
+
+Conger, 96
+
+Conjurors, 237
+
+Consort, Prince, 261-2
+
+Conspiracy against the King, 80
+
+Constable Marshal, 125
+
+Constantine the Great, 21;
+ Church of St. Constantine, 16
+
+Constantinople, 52, 54, 307;
+ Emperor of, 80
+
+Cooper, Sir Astley, 316
+
+Cooper, T., 233
+
+Cooper, Thomas, 266
+
+Corbeuil, Archbishop, 48
+
+Cordova, 339
+
+Cornelius, a Roman Centurion, 23
+
+Cornhill, London, 210
+
+Corniche Road, 331
+
+Cornisse, Mr., 100
+
+Cornwall, 113, 156
+
+Cornwall, the Duchy of, 188
+
+Cornwall, Barry, 272
+
+Cornwall, Sir Gilbert, 194
+
+Cornwallis, Sir Charles, 188
+
+Coronation of Edward III., 69
+
+_Corpus Christi_, festival of, 93
+
+Corsica, 321
+
+Costly garments, 116
+
+Costumes ablaze, 291
+
+Cottage Christmas-keeping, fourteenth century, 71
+
+Cotterell, Sir Clement, 194
+
+Cotton, 152
+
+Cotton MSS., 136
+
+Council of Arles, 25
+
+Council of Auxerre, 22
+
+Councils, Great, 41
+
+Country festivities, 219, 226, 227
+
+Courrieres, Lord of, 118
+
+Court entertainments, 151, 197. (See other items under Sovereigns' names.)
+
+Court Fool, 77, 113, 116
+
+Court Leet and Baron, 187
+
+Court Masques, 151-2
+
+Coventry, 85, 89, 93, 148, 198
+
+Cox, Captain, 197
+
+Crackers, 289
+
+Cranbourne, Ralph, 276
+
+Cranes' flesh, 55
+
+Cranmer, Archbishop, 117
+
+Crecy, 72
+
+Creighton, 74
+
+Crimean Christmas, 297
+
+Croatians, 345
+
+Cromwell, Oliver, 213
+
+Cromwell, Richard, 213
+
+Cromwell, Thomas, 107, 108
+
+Crowne, 218
+
+_Croyland Chronicler_, 87, 93
+
+Crusades, The, 58, 59
+
+Cuba, 96
+
+_Cuisine_, 312
+
+Cumberland, 256
+
+Cumberland, Earl of, 143
+
+Cumnor Custom, 251
+
+Cupids, 119
+
+_Cyflath_, 281
+
+Cymbals, 339
+
+Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, 22
+
+Cyprus, 307;
+ King of, 74
+
+Cyril, St., of Jerusalem, 12
+
+
+D
+
+Dacre, Lord, 86
+
+Dakka, 300
+
+Dalmatians, 345
+
+"Damon and Pythias," 140
+
+Dancers, 32, 49;
+ dancing, 74, 132, 195, 224, 236, 249, 250, 261, 294, 296
+
+Dane, a firework artificer, 154
+
+Danes, 29, 35, 36, 38
+
+Danube, 226
+
+Darey, Sir Thomas, 190
+
+David, City of, 7
+
+David, King of Scotland, 72, 74
+
+David, St., 284
+
+Dawson, Mr. George, 274
+
+Day, John, Aldersgate, 136
+
+Days of "Good Queen Bess," 148
+
+De Beauchamp, William, 64
+
+De Broc, The family of, 53
+
+December, 28, 29, 33
+
+Decking, 15, 204, 227, 273, 282, 305, 318
+
+Decline of Christmas, 217
+
+De Comines, Philip, 93
+
+Decorations, 323. (_See also_ "decking.")
+
+D'Egville, 316
+
+"Delights of Christmas," 243
+
+Dellegrout, 55
+
+De Molis, Sir Nicholas, 64
+
+Demonology, 152, 196
+
+De Montfort, Simon, 65
+
+Denby, 219
+
+Denison, Hon. Mr. and the Misses, 273
+
+Denis, St., 53, 283
+
+Denmark, 284, 288
+
+De Patteshall, Hugh, 64
+
+Dependents feasting, 202
+
+Deposition of Edward II., 69
+
+_De Praefecto Ludorum_, 110
+
+Deptford Dockyard, 223
+
+Derby, Countess Dowager of, 200
+
+Dersingham, 263
+
+Desborough, 213
+
+De Tracy, William, 53
+
+Detroit, 291
+
+Devon, Earl of, 87
+
+Devonshire, 213, 278
+
+De Worde, W., 91
+
+Diana, 102
+
+Diana Hunting, a masque, 120
+
+Dice, 195, 237
+
+Dickens, Charles, 274, 292
+
+Dieppe, 43
+
+Dimmick, Mrs., 313
+
+Dinah, 316
+
+Dingwell, Lord, 190
+
+Dinners to 5,000 poor, 264
+
+Diocletian's atrocities, 20
+
+Dionysius Exiguus, 13
+
+Dipmore End, 276
+
+Disguisings, 75, 76, 91, 95, 100
+
+D'Israeli, 151
+
+"Dissipation and Negligence," 112
+
+Dissolution of Monasteries, 108
+
+Distributions to the poor, 257, 260, 264
+
+Diversions, 76, 91, 95, 101, 119, 153, 205, 246-7, 251
+
+Diverting ditties, 233-7
+
+Divinings, 345
+
+"Doctor," 284;
+ medical, 341
+
+"Domesday Book," 45
+
+Donne, 152
+
+Doran, Dr., 209, 210
+
+Dorset, Countess of, 211
+
+Dorset, Marquis of, 101
+
+Dover, 63, 81
+
+Dragon's heads, &c, 73
+
+Dramatic displays, 123, 136-7, 140-2, 153
+
+Dramatist, England's greatest, 142
+
+Drinkhail, 58
+
+Drinks, 55 (see "Ale," "Mead," &c.)
+
+Druidical plant, 228, 318
+
+Druidism, 15, 28, 228
+
+Drums, 220, 339
+
+Dryden, 196
+
+Dublin, 52
+
+Dudley, Lord Robert, 126
+
+Dugdale, Sir William, 112, 125, 138, 146
+
+Dunn, Harriett, 316
+
+Dunois, 84
+
+Dunstan's Churchyard, St., 136
+
+Durham, 43
+
+Durham, Bishop of, 241
+
+Dutchmen display fireworks, 154
+
+Dwarfs, 195
+
+
+E
+
+Ealdred, Archbishop, 39
+
+Earl Marshal, 82
+
+Early celebrations in Britain, 23
+
+Eastern Churches, the, 11, 12, 325
+
+Edgar, King, 36
+
+Edinburgh, the late Duke of, 263
+
+Edmondes, Sir Thomas, 192
+
+Edmund, Archbishop, 63
+
+Edmundsbury, St., 60
+
+Edmund, son of Ethelred, 37
+
+Edric, the Saxon, 37
+
+Edric, Earl of Northumberland, 37
+
+Edward the Confessor, 38
+
+Edward, Prince, 241
+
+Edward, St., 86
+
+Edward I., 67
+
+Edward II., 68
+
+Edward III., 69
+
+Edward IV., 86, 87, 88, 89
+
+Edward V., 92
+
+Edward VI., 108, 115, 116, 117
+
+Edward the Black Prince, 74
+
+Edwards, Richard, 137, 140
+
+Edwin's Chiefs, King, 30
+
+Effect of Season, 282
+
+"Egeria," H.M.S., 308
+
+Egg-nogg, 311
+
+Egg Saturday, 183
+
+Egmont, Count of, 118
+
+Eija, 339, 340
+
+Eisenach, 106
+
+Eisleben, 106
+
+Eleanor of Aquitane, 58
+
+Eleanor of Castile, 68
+
+Eleanor of Provence, 62
+
+Eleutherius, Bishop of Rome, 24
+
+Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Edward IV. 88
+
+Elizabeth, Princess (afterwards Queen), 119, 120
+
+Elizabeth, Princess of Austria, 335
+
+Elizabeth, Queen, 122, 138, 140, 142, 150
+
+Elizabeth of York, 93
+
+Ellis, 105
+
+El Teb, 302
+
+Eltham, 78, 80, 81, 89, 104
+
+Ely, Bishop of, 193
+
+Ely, Monks of, 37
+
+Emma, the Lady, 37, 38
+
+England, 288
+
+English Court, 38
+
+English exiles, 93
+
+Entertainments, 30, 77, 112, 218, 233, 294
+
+Epiphany, 11, 60, 93, 97, 192, 345
+
+Episcopal cautions, 22
+
+Ernalton of Spayne, 75
+
+Errant, Knights, 195
+
+Essex, Earl of, 143
+
+Ethelbert, King of Kent, 28
+
+Ethelred, King, 36, 37, 38
+
+Ethelwine, Bishop, 43
+
+Eusebius, 13
+
+Evelyn, John, 201, 211, 223
+
+Evelyn, Richard, 200
+
+Ewald, 13
+
+Excursionists, 310
+
+Exeter, 232
+
+Exeter Cathedral, 280
+
+Exeter Chapel, 211
+
+Exeter, Duchess of, 88
+
+Excesses, Anglo-Saxon, 33;
+ Norman, 56
+
+Expenditure for Christmas-keeping, 100-1
+
+Experiences, Christmas, 287
+
+
+F
+
+Fabian, 81
+
+"Fabliau of Sir Cleges," 69
+
+Fair, Christmas, 337
+
+Fairies, 195, 237
+
+Fairy-bowl, 313
+
+Fallow, Mr. T. M., F.S.A., 282-3
+
+Fare, enormous, 65
+
+Farnaby, 140
+
+Farrar, Dean, 7
+
+Fatally Burnt in Christmas Costumes, 291
+
+"Father Christmas," 284
+
+Favourites of James I., 155
+
+Feast in the hall, 148
+
+Feats of arms, 59, 67, 72, 73, 81, 99, 188
+
+Fenwick, Sir John, 153, 222
+
+Ferrers, George, 115, 116
+
+"Ferrex and Porrex," 136
+
+_Festa Natalazie_, 336
+
+Festival in Scotland, the, 191
+
+Festivities in the seventeenth century, 199
+
+Fetes, 309
+
+Finland, 288
+
+Fire, the all-attracting, at Christmas, 201, 217, 253, 259
+
+Fire at King's Palace, 96
+
+Fire in middle of halls, 30, 201
+
+First English Tragedy, 125
+
+First Footing in Scotland, 285
+
+"First Nowell," the, 346, 350
+
+Fitzstephen, 45
+
+Fitz Urse, Reginald, 53
+
+Fitzwilliam, Lord Admiral, 109
+
+Fitzwilliam, Sir William, 122
+
+Five Articles of James I., 191
+
+"Five Bells of Magdalen Church," 182
+
+Fleet, the, 112
+
+Fleetwood, 213
+
+Flemings, 52
+
+Fletcher, 152
+
+Flodden Field, 98
+
+Flohr, Madame Appoline, 332
+
+_Florentine, Old,_ 249
+
+Flowers, 306, 307
+
+Foiz, Erle of, 75
+
+"Fool's Dance," the, 116
+
+Fool, or Jester, 77, 113, 116, 284
+
+Forbes, Mr. Archibald, 299
+
+Forest of Dean, 43
+
+Foresters, Lady, 75
+
+Foresters and huntsmen in play, 100, 102
+
+Forfeits, 246-7
+
+Forte, Mr., 303
+
+Fosse, the, 267
+
+Foster, Birket, illustrations by, 2, 32, 44, 57, 111, 202, 234, 240,
+ 250, 257, 271
+
+"Foula Reel," the, 286
+
+France, 63, 72, 108, 288, 316-321
+
+Francis II., Emperor, 35
+
+Franco-German War, 35
+
+"Franklin's Tale," the, 33
+
+Fraser, Sir Simon, 71
+
+Free-lunches at hotels, 311
+
+Freeman, William, 25, 37, 43, 45
+
+French Embassy, 101
+
+Fretevel, 53
+
+Friars, 195, 271
+
+Friday Street Tavern, 152
+
+Friscobald, Leonard, 100
+
+Froissart, Sir John, 31, 69, 75
+
+Frost, hard, of 1564, 138
+
+Frozen regions, 296
+
+Fuller, 94
+
+Fur-clad revellers, 310
+
+
+G
+
+Gairdner, Mr. James, 86
+
+Gaities, 309
+
+Gala, 309
+
+Galerius, 20
+
+Gambia, 345
+
+Gambols, 213, 221, 228, 247, 251
+
+Games, 33, 88, 98, 102, 154, 205, 246
+
+Garden of pleasure, 88
+
+Garrard, Rev. G., 156
+
+Garret, Mr. Edward, 284
+
+Garrick, David, 219, 230, 237
+
+Gascoigne, 140
+
+Gascon wine, 57
+
+Gaul, 28
+
+Gaunt, John of, 94
+
+Gay, John, 229
+
+Geikie, Dr., 12
+
+Generosity, 31, 263
+
+Gentlemen of the Chapel Royal, 136, 141
+
+_Gentleman's Magazine_, 243
+
+Gentry, 55, 91. (_Also see_ items under names of "Gentry.")
+
+Geoffrey of Monmouth, 31, 49, 136
+
+Geological Society, 297
+
+George I., 229
+
+George II., 231
+
+George II., costumes, 286
+
+George III., 240
+
+George IV., 258
+
+George's Chapel, St., Windsor, 140
+
+George, King of Bohemia, 89
+
+George, Prince, 225
+
+George, St., village of, 324
+
+George, St., and the Dragon, 59, 284
+
+Germans, 33, 35, 288, 332, 333, 334
+
+Germany, Emperor and Empress of, 334
+
+"Germania," 295
+
+_Gesta Grayorum_, 142
+
+Ghost Stories, 33, 237, 274, 276
+
+Giants, 195
+
+Gifford, 152, 197
+
+Gifts, 30, 42, 69, 89, 96, 148, 170, 300, 323
+
+Giles, 140
+
+Giles's Christian Mission, St., 265
+
+Giles Fields, St., London, 81
+
+"Gillie Cullum," 305
+
+Gipps, Mr. Richard, 218
+
+Giraldus Cambrensis, 49
+
+Gleemen, 31, 69 (_Also see_ "Minstrels.")
+
+"_Gloria in Excelsis_," 317
+
+Gloucester, 38, 45
+
+Gloucester, Duke of, 92
+
+Gloucestershire, Sheriff of, 65
+
+Goblins of the "Iliad," 325
+
+Goddesses and huntresses, 119
+
+Godwin, House of, 38
+
+Goffe, 212
+
+Gold Coast, 288
+
+Golden play at Court, 154
+
+Goldsmith, Oliver, 241
+
+"Good old fashion," 146
+
+Googe, Barnaby, 121
+
+Goose-pie, 256
+
+"Gorboduc," 125, 136
+
+Gorgeous apparelling, 101
+
+Gosford Street, Coventry, 148
+
+Gospatric, 38
+
+Gourdon, Sir Robert, 190
+
+"Governance Lord," 112
+
+"Gracious time," a, 34
+
+Graduals, 22
+
+Grand entertainments, 99, 100-2
+
+"Grand Christmas" ceremonies, 132
+
+Grand Guiser, 286
+
+Grant, 254
+
+Granthuse, Lord of, 87
+
+Grape gathering, 16
+
+Grattan, 59
+
+Gray's Inn, 111, 112, 142, 143, 144, 145, 193, 218
+
+Gray's Inn List of Performers, 143-5
+
+Great houses, 111
+
+Gregory Nazianzen, Bishop, 22
+
+Gregory the Great--His _Antiphonary_, 22;
+ his story about English slaves, 27;
+ sends Augustine to England, 28
+
+Greek Church show, 328
+
+Greek Empire, 324
+
+Green, J. R., 122, 200
+
+Greenland, 295, 296
+
+Greenwich, 100, 108, 115, 119
+
+Greenwich Hospital Gathering, 288
+
+Grey de Ruthyn, Lord, 82
+
+Grey, Lady Jane, and her husband, 117
+
+Grey, Lord Richard, 92
+
+Griffiths, William, 136
+
+"Grimston, Young," 273
+
+Groceries, 265
+
+Grose, 227
+
+Guildford, 60, 73
+
+Guising, 286
+
+Gunhild, 37
+
+Gunning, Mr., 211
+
+Gustavus, 342
+
+Guy of Warwick, 195
+
+Gybson, Richard, 100
+
+
+H
+
+"Hackin, the," 216, 235
+
+Haddon Hall, 224, 225
+
+_Hagmenae_, 305
+
+"Halig monath" (Holy month), 29
+
+Hallam, 223
+
+Hall, chronicler, 100, 104
+
+Hall, a gentleman's, 30, 201
+
+Halstead, 93
+
+Hamilton, Marquesse of, 192
+
+"Hamlet," 34, 142
+
+Hampton Court, 108, 139
+
+Handel, 350
+
+Hanover, 229
+
+"Hansa," the, 295
+
+"Happy Land," the, 286
+
+Harefield, 200
+
+Harefleur, 93
+
+Hare soup, 295
+
+Harleian, MS., 30, 95
+
+Harlequin, 230
+
+"Harlequin Sorcerer," 230
+
+Harold I., son of Canute, 37
+
+Harold II., son of Godwin, 39
+
+Harpers, 31, 41, 91
+
+Harrison, President, and Mrs., 313
+
+Harthacnut, 37
+
+Haselrig, 213
+
+Haslewood, Mr. Joseph, 232, 241, 244
+
+Hastings, battle of, 39
+
+Hastings, Lord, 87, 88
+
+Hatfield House, 119, 120
+
+Hat of Estate, royal, 96
+
+Hatton, Lady, 211
+
+Hawaii, 307
+
+Hawking, 32, 154
+
+Hay, Lord, 190
+
+Heathenish practices, 26
+
+Hebrew and Hellenic elements, 19
+
+Heine, Henrich, 321
+
+Helena of York, 21
+
+Heliogabalus, 312
+
+Helmes, Mr. Henry, 143
+
+Hemans, Mrs., 47
+
+Hems, Mr. Harry, 278
+
+Hengest, 28
+
+Henley-on-Thames, 157
+
+Henrietta Maria, 214
+
+Henry, Cardinal of Winchester, 82
+
+Henry I., 47
+
+Henry II., 52, 56
+
+Henry III., 62, 64
+
+Henry IV., 79
+
+Henry V., 80;
+ widow of, 94
+
+Henry VI., 83, 85, 86, 87
+
+Henry of Richmond, 93
+
+Henry VII., marries Elizabeth of York, 94
+
+Henry VIII., 98;
+ becomes head of Church, 107
+
+Henry V. of Germany, 47
+
+Henry, Prince, Son of James I., 152, 188
+
+"Henry, Prince of Purpoole," 142
+
+Herald Angels, the (a poem), 3
+
+Heralds and pursuivants, 89
+
+Herbert, Sir Philip, 153
+
+Hereford, Duke of, 78
+
+Herod, King, 7
+
+Herons, 96
+
+Herrick, Robert, 202, 279
+
+"Hesperides," the, 203, 279
+
+Heton, 68
+
+Heynalte, Syr John, 70
+
+Heywood, a player, 108
+
+Higgs, Griffin, writer of the "Christmas Prince," 157, 350
+
+High Festival at Court, 240
+
+Highgate, 122
+
+Highlands, 254
+
+Hilary's Day, St., 73
+
+Hilo, 306
+
+Hinds' and maids' festivities, 213
+
+Hippodrome, 52
+
+Hobbyhorse, the, 197
+
+Hobgoblins, 237
+
+Hochstetter, Professor, 297
+
+Hogges, village of, 52
+
+Holbein, Hans, 109, 114
+
+Holinshed, 100, 115, 122
+
+Holland, Governor of, 87
+
+Holland, Lord, 156
+
+Hollington, near Hastings, 284
+
+Hollis, Sir William, 220
+
+Holst, Duke of, 153
+
+Holt, Sir, 243
+
+Holly, 273, 282
+
+"Holly Bough, under the," 274
+
+Holy evenings, 342
+
+Holy Land, 67
+
+Homage in the fifteenth century, 90
+
+Hone, 66, 241, 317
+
+Honey and wine, 55
+
+Hood, Thomas, 274
+
+Hoop and hide, 237
+
+Hooton Roberts, 220
+
+Horses gaily caparisoned, 99
+
+Hospitality, 30, 124, 145, 146, 220, 256, 260-6, 278
+
+Hostilities suspended for Christmas-day, 81, 84
+
+Hot cockles, 229, 247, 252
+
+Houghton Chapel, 220
+
+Household Book of Henry VII., 95
+
+Household Book of Henry VIII., 100
+
+Housekeeping, Christmas, 232
+
+House of Commons, 207
+
+House of Peers, 226
+
+Howard family, 101
+
+Howard, Frances, Countess of Essex, 155
+
+Howitt, Mary, 276
+
+"Hue and Cry after Christmas," 208
+
+Huet, Sir John, 153
+
+Huish, 241
+
+Humber, the, 43
+
+Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, 82
+
+Hungary, 153;
+ King of, 35
+
+Hunting, 32, 54
+
+Huntingdon, Earl of, 79;
+ Countess of, 82
+
+Hunt the Slipper, 247, 313
+
+Hussars, 10th, 301
+
+Hussey, Sir Richard, 153
+
+Hypocras, 55
+
+
+I
+
+Iceberg, Christmas upon an, 297
+
+Ice-bound regions, 295
+
+Ice sports, 45, 138, 154-5
+
+Ideler, 13
+
+Illuminations at Hampton Court, 120
+
+Immanuel, 5, 6
+
+India, 299
+
+Indian Ocean, 308
+
+Ingenuities and devices, 63
+
+Inner Temple, 125, 136, 138
+
+Innocents' Day, 38, 119, 169
+
+Inns of Court, 111, 112, 137, 201, 218
+
+Interludes, 103, 112
+
+Interruptions of festivities, 85, 206
+
+"Investigator," the, 294
+
+Iona, the monks of, 27
+
+Ipomydon, Romance of, 33
+
+Ipswich, 68, 210
+
+_Ira Seu Tumulus Fortune_, 183
+
+Ireland, 52, 288
+
+Irish customs, 251
+
+Irish Princes and Chieftains, 55
+
+Irving, Washington, 241, 258
+
+Isabel, Queen of France, 78
+
+Isabella, daughter of Edward III., 75
+
+Isaiah, the Prophet, 5
+
+Italy, 288
+
+Italian characters, 230
+
+Italian Masque, 100
+
+
+J
+
+"Jack Straw," a masque, 112
+
+Jacobites, 237
+
+Jade, a charming, 252
+
+Jamaica, 288
+
+James I., 138, 150, 191, 193, 196
+
+James II., 220, 225
+
+James III. of Scotland, 98
+
+James IV. of Scotland, 98
+
+James's, St., 241
+
+"Jane the Fool," 108
+
+Jellalabad Plain, 302
+
+Jermyn, Sir Isaac, 153;
+ Sir Robert, 153
+
+Jerome, St., 13, 21
+
+Jerusalem, the church at, 11
+
+Jerusalem Chamber, 207
+
+"Jesus, the Nazarene," 52
+
+Jhelum, 300
+
+Jinks, high, 285
+
+Joan of Arc, 84
+
+Joan of Kent, 76, 149
+
+Jocund holiday, 266
+
+John's College, St., Oxford, 111
+
+John III., Duke of Cleves, 109
+
+John's Day, St., 86, 134, 153, 219, 320
+
+John, King, 59
+
+John of Gaunt, 74
+
+John of Salisbury, 54
+
+John the Baptist, 13
+
+Joints of meats, 265
+
+Jones, Rev. A. G., 308
+
+Jones, Mr. Charles C., 102
+
+Jones, Mrs. Herbert, 85, 263
+
+Jones, Inigo, 151
+
+Jones, Mary, 280
+
+Jonson, Ben, 86, 141, 148, 149, 151, 152, 190, 197
+
+Jordan, 19
+
+Joseph, 5, 6
+
+Jousts, 32, 120
+
+Judas Maccabaeus, 17
+
+Judaean origin of Christmas, supposed, 17
+
+Jugglers, 31
+
+Jule (_see_ Yule)
+
+"Julebukker," 342
+
+Julius Agricola, 25
+
+Julius I., Bishop of Rome, 12
+
+Jupiter, 152
+
+Justin Martyr, 7
+
+Justiciars' extravagance, 59
+
+
+K
+
+Katherine of Arragon, 99
+
+Katherine, wife of Henry V., 81
+
+Kalends of January, 22
+
+Karumpie, 55
+
+Ken, Bishop, 11
+
+Kenilworth Castle, 67, 68, 69, 84, 93, 197
+
+Kent, 118
+
+Kent, earldom of, 46
+
+Kent, Countess of, 82;
+ Fair Maid of, 149
+
+"Kepe Open Court," 69
+
+"Kepe open thy door," 30, 146, 220
+
+Kilaue, 307
+
+Kimberley, 299
+
+King and Council, 117
+
+King at Lord Buckingham's, 192
+
+King, Josiah, 233
+
+King of Christmas, 112
+
+"King of the Cockneys," 112
+
+"King of the Peak," 224
+
+King of Egypt and his daughter, 284
+
+King's deer, 75
+
+King's Lynn, 85
+
+King's players, 151, 153
+
+King's singing men, 89
+
+King's train-bearer, 96
+
+"Kingdome's Weekly Intelligencer," 208
+
+Kinloch, 300
+
+Kirke, George, 201
+
+Kissing Bush, 250, 281
+
+Kitts, St., 288
+
+Knevet, Sir Thomas, 101
+
+Knights and Ladies, playing at, 252
+
+Knights of the Round Table, 30
+
+Knights in armour, 99
+
+Knight Templars, 60
+
+Knipton, 266
+
+Kyrie Eliesons, 22, 28
+
+
+L
+
+_La Blanche Nef,_ 47
+
+Ladies-in-waiting, 263
+
+Lady-bells ring, 267
+
+Lady-Mass, 88
+
+"Lady Public Weal," 112
+
+Ladysmith, 299
+
+Lalain, Count of, 118
+
+Lamb, Charles, 200, 244-6
+
+Lambeth, 38, 138
+
+"Lamentation," 145
+
+Lancastrians, 85, 86
+
+Lanfranc, Archbishop, 46, 49
+
+Lanterns, Feast of, 345
+
+"Largess," a, 129
+
+Latimer, Hugh, 113
+
+Latin and Greek verse, 111
+
+Laube, Dr., 297
+
+Laud, Dr. (Archbishop), 191, 195
+
+Launcelot, Sir, 32
+
+Laurel, 273, 282
+
+Laurel blent with cypress, 298
+
+Lavaine, Sir, 32
+
+Lavish entertainments, 59
+
+Law, Christmas, ancient, 35
+
+Lawes, Henry, 151
+
+Leaping, 32, 229
+
+Leech, John, 289
+
+Lee's "Mithridates," 218
+
+Leeds, 283, 291
+
+Legend of St. Nicholas, 310
+
+Leicester, Earl of, 66, 139
+
+Leigh, Gerard, 127
+
+Leland, 95
+
+Lenox, Duke of, 190
+
+Leo, Pope, 35
+
+Leon, King of Armenia, 78
+
+Leon von Rozmital, 89
+
+Leonard's chime, St., 267
+
+Lerwick, 286
+
+Letter Missions, 292
+
+Leyden, 157
+
+Library, St. John's College, 156
+
+Lichfield Cathedral, 349, 350;
+ Deanery of, 157, 350
+
+Lincoln, 51, 68
+
+Lincoln, Earl of, 64
+
+Lincoln's Inn, 111, 112, 138
+
+Lincolnshire, 266
+
+Linlithgow, 68
+
+Lion and antelope as performers, 102
+
+Lions' heads, 119
+
+Lisbon, 226
+
+Lists of combat, 101
+
+Literature, 292, 313
+
+Llanfairpyllycrochon, 280
+
+Llewellyn, Prince of Wales, 67
+
+Log-fires, 32, 301
+
+Lollards, 80
+
+London, 36, 38, 43, 45, 51, 60, 63, 71, 78, 138
+
+London, Bishop of, 25, 79
+
+Longchamps, William, Bishop of Ely, 59
+
+Longe, John, 71, 72
+
+Longfellow, 26, 43, 44, 271
+
+Lord Chamberlain, 87, 139
+
+Lord Chamberlain's players, 151
+
+Lord Mayor of London, 116
+
+Lord Mayor and Lord of Misrule at loggerheads, 198
+
+Lord of Misrule, 74, 95, 100, 105, 109, 112, 115, 125, 126, 198, 200,
+ 218
+
+Lord President of Wales, 200
+
+Lord Treasurer, 192
+
+Lorrainers, 319
+
+Loseley, Surrey, 122
+
+Lott, Mr. J. B., 350
+
+Louis of France, 62
+
+Lambert, 213
+
+Louis, St., 317
+
+"Love's Triumph," 198
+
+Lucius Verus, 24
+
+"Luck of Christ," the, 325
+
+Ludlow, 92, 200
+
+Luke, St., 6, 7
+
+Luther, Martin, 106
+
+"Lying Valet," 237
+
+Lyly's Plays, 141
+
+Lyson's "Magna Britannia," 251
+
+
+M
+
+Macaulay, Lord, 40
+
+Machinists, ingenious, 151
+
+Mackay, Dr. Charles, 274
+
+Madden, Sir Frederick, 87
+
+Madeley, Shropshire, 255, 284
+
+Mafeking, 299
+
+Magdalen College, Oxford, 109, 110
+
+Magdalene College, Cambridge, 145
+
+Magi, the, 11, 19, 28
+
+_Magna Charta_, 60
+
+Magnificence, 40, 87
+
+Magnus, St., 49
+
+Maid of Kent, Fair, 76, 149
+
+Maid Marians, 286
+
+Mainard, John, 117
+
+Mallard, John, 114
+
+Malory, Sir Thomas, 32
+
+Malta, 307
+
+Manger, superb substitutes for, 328
+
+Manners, Lord and Lady John, 266
+
+Manners, Sir John, 224
+
+Manor, ancient, 148, 149
+
+Mansfeld, 106
+
+Mansions, 55
+
+Manuel, Emperor, 52
+
+Maori Pa, 304
+
+March, Earl of, 82
+
+Marcus Aurelius Antonius, 24
+
+Margaret, daughter of Henry III., 64
+
+Margaret of Anjou, 85, 86
+
+Margaret, daughter of Henry VII., 97
+
+Mark's, St., Venice, 336
+
+Marlboro', 304
+
+Marlborough, Duchess of, 225;
+ Duke of, 225
+
+"Marmion," 36
+
+Marriage festivities, 62, 63, 64, 81, 99, 151-2
+
+Marseilles, 307
+
+Marteaux (a game with balls), 88
+
+Martial music, 84
+
+Martigny, George, 88
+
+Martin, 152
+
+Martin's, St., Canterbury, 24
+
+Martyn, John, 231
+
+Martyrs, British, 20
+
+Mary, the mother of Jesus, 5, 6,
+
+Mary, St., 53
+
+Mary, Princess (afterwards Queen), 105;
+ her accession, 117;
+ Queen, 119, 136
+
+Maryland, 314
+
+Mary, Queen, wife of William III., 221
+
+Mason, 251
+
+Masquerade, 100, 102, 236
+
+Masques, 52, 99, 119, 120, 143, 151, 152, 153, 154, 168, 192, 195,
+ 197, 201;
+ rustic masque, 272
+
+Massacres of Christians, 20
+
+Massinger, Philip, 112, 193
+
+"Master Christmas," 206
+
+Master of the Children, the, 136
+
+Master of the Revels, 74, 112, 125, 218 (_see also_ Lord of Misrule)
+
+Matilda, Empress, daughter of Henry I., 47, 51
+
+Matilda, Queen of Henry I., 49
+
+Matins, 88
+
+Matthew, St., 6
+
+Maud, General, 300
+
+Maupigyrum, 55
+
+Mauritius, 288
+
+Mayor and Aldermen of London, 74, 96
+
+Mayor of Canterbury mobbed, 210
+
+McClure, Sir R., 294
+
+Mead, 55
+
+Meade, Mr., 192, 198
+
+Mediterranean, 307, 321, 331
+
+Medley of Nymphs, savages, &c., 102
+
+Melbourne, 303
+
+"Meliades," 189
+
+Melrose, 98
+
+Memphis, 59
+
+Mendelssohn, 350
+
+Men of Kent, 210
+
+Mephistopheles, 342
+
+Mercia, 34, 35
+
+"Merciless Parliament," 78
+
+"_Mercurius Academicus_," 207
+
+"_Mercurius Civicus_," 208
+
+Mermaid Inn, 152
+
+"Merry Boys of Christmas," 215
+
+Merry Disports, Lord of, 117 (_see also_ Master of the Revels)
+
+"Merry in the hall," 235
+
+Merry tales, 195
+
+Merton College, Oxford, 237
+
+"Messiah," 304, 350
+
+Metrical Romance, 69
+
+Mexborough, 219
+
+Michell, Sir Francis, 194
+
+Middle Temple, 156, 192
+
+Middleton Tower, Norfolk, 84
+
+Midnight Mass, 316, 323
+
+Midwinter Customs in the north, 284
+
+Mildmay, Sir Henry, 192
+
+Milford Haven, 93
+
+Millbrook, Southampton, 265
+
+Miller, Thomas, 248
+
+Mills, 148
+
+Milner, Dr., 31
+
+Milton, 13, 200, 253
+
+Mimics, 69
+
+"Mince-pie," 273
+
+Minerva, the Goddess, 102
+
+Minstrels, 31, 41, 42, 43, 44, 58, 69, 315
+
+Miracles at Becket's Sepulchre, 54
+
+Miracle Plays, 52, 77
+
+"_Misa del Gallo_," 340
+
+"_Misa di Lux_," 340
+
+Miscomia, 297
+
+Misrule (_see_ "Lord of Misrule")
+
+Missionary's Christmas, 308
+
+Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen, 286
+
+Mistletoe, 28, 228, 250, 273, 282, 307, 318, 319
+
+M'Kee, Mr. and Mrs., 313
+
+Modern Christmases at home, 240
+
+Modern Christmases abroad, 294
+
+"Modern Intelligencer," The, 208
+
+Mohnpielen, 335
+
+Monk, General, 214
+
+Monks, merry, 37, 56
+
+Monson, Sir William, 192
+
+Monstrelet, 81
+
+Monte Carlo, 331
+
+Montegele, Lord, 154
+
+Montgomery, 154, 190
+
+Morat, 55
+
+Moray, Earl of, 71
+
+More, Mr., of Loseley, 122
+
+Morley, Lady, 91
+
+Morley, Professor Henry, 69, 125, 136, 193, 229
+
+Morrice Dance, 102
+
+Mortimer, Anne, 86
+
+Morville, Hugh de, 53
+
+Mosaics, 16, 331
+
+Mother of the maids, 139
+
+Motley throng, 286
+
+Mowbrays, 148
+
+Moyle, Thomas, 112
+
+Muddle, General, 297
+
+Mumming, 52, 80, 121, 234, 236, 267
+
+Murray, Sir Andrew, 71
+
+Muschamp, Sir Thomas, 153
+
+Music, 195
+
+Musicians, 129
+
+Musk veal, 294
+
+Mysteries, 77
+
+
+N
+
+"_Naogeorgus_," 121
+
+Naples, 336
+
+Napoleon Bonaparte, 321
+
+Naseby, 209
+
+Nativity, place of the, 7;
+ Church and Convent of the, 7;
+ feast of the, 15;
+ massacres at the, 20;
+ sermons on the, 193-5
+
+Navarre, 63
+
+Navidad discovered, 96
+
+Negroes' merry Christmas, 314
+
+Negro minstrels, 286
+
+Neighbours and Tenants, 146, 220
+
+Nelson, New Zealand, 304
+
+Nero, 15, 20
+
+Netherlands, 288
+
+Neville's Cross, 74
+
+Neville, Sir Richard, 82
+
+Nevil, Lord, 86, 101
+
+Newark-on-Trent, 62
+
+New Brunswick, 288
+
+Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 68
+
+New England Puritans, 314
+
+New Forest, 47
+
+Newmarket, 194, 218
+
+New style, 237
+
+Newton, Sir Isaac, 14, 204
+
+New Year's Day, 93, 95, 96, 100, 130, 135, 169, 170, 189, 199, 203,
+ 260, 263, 271, 284, 286, 291, 323, 342
+
+New Zealand, 304
+
+Nicholas's Day, St., 119
+
+Nichols, 120, 124, 126, 153, 155, 191, 192, 193-5
+
+Nicomedia, 20
+
+Nigellus, 53
+
+Novgorod, 319
+
+Nip, 342
+
+"Nippin Grund," the, 286
+
+Noblemen, 99, 124
+ (see others named)
+
+_Noche-buena_, 340
+
+Nocturnal Office, 317
+
+Noel or Nowell, 9, 33, 319, 321, 346, 350
+
+Nonconformists, 207
+
+Norfolk, 143, 146, 218
+
+"Norman Baron," the, 43-4
+
+Norman celebrations, 40, 41
+
+Norman Conquest helped, 37
+
+Norman-French customs, 38
+
+Normandy, dukedom of, 47
+
+Normandy, 42, 318, 320
+
+Northampton, Marquis of, 139
+
+Northamptonshire, 284
+
+North, Mr. Thomas, 232
+
+Northern nations, 15
+
+North Pole, 295
+
+North Sea fishermen, 286
+
+North West Passage, 294
+
+Northumberland, 43, 255
+
+Northumberland, Earl of, 37, 86;
+ earldom of, 43;
+ Duke of, 117
+
+Northumberland Household Book, 103
+
+Northumbrians, 27, 38
+
+Norton, Thomas, 125
+
+Norway, 288, 342
+
+Nottingham, 68, 189
+
+Nova Scotia, 288
+
+Nuns, 267, 271, 321
+
+
+O
+
+Oberon, 342
+
+Odo, Bishop, 46
+
+Offa, "the mighty," 34, 350
+
+Officers of "Grand Christmas," list of, 126;
+ of Christmas Prince, 165-6-7;
+ officers, Royal, of Arms, 139
+
+Oglethorpe, Bishop, 123
+
+Olaf, King, 26
+
+"Old Christmas," 145, 230, 273, 276
+
+"Old and Young Courtiers," 217
+
+Oldisworth, Michael, 201
+
+"Open Court" of Cardinal Wolsey, 104
+
+"Open House," 113, 220
+
+Opera, the, 228
+
+Order of the Garter instituted, 72
+
+Ordinances of the Puritans, 207
+
+Orkney Isles, 287
+
+Orleans, 84
+
+Orpheus, 19, 29, 152
+
+Osborne House, 261-3
+
+Othbert, 49
+
+Ovation to Henry V., 81
+
+Overbury, Sir Thomas, 155
+
+Ovid, 230
+
+Oxford, 38, 51, 68, 109, 140, 210
+
+
+P
+
+Paganism, 19, 20, 22, 28
+
+Pageantry, 31, 63, 122
+
+Paget, Lord, 120
+
+Palatine, marriage of, 151
+
+"Palemon and Arcite," 140
+
+Palestine, 54
+
+"Pallas, Knights of," 102
+
+Palmer, Mr., Lord of Misrule, 198
+
+Pansch, Dr., 295
+
+Panting Piper, 305
+
+Pantomime, 229, 230
+
+Papal Legate, 64
+
+Pappa Westra, 287
+
+Paris, 35, 291, 316, 317, 318
+
+Paris, Matthew, 54, 63
+
+Paris Tournament, 78
+
+Parker, Lieutenant and Mrs., 313
+
+"Parlement," 45
+
+Parliamentarians, 206
+
+Parliament, new Houses of, 46
+
+Parliament, the first English, 65
+
+Parson makes merry with parishioners, 113
+
+Parties, 309
+
+"Paston Letters," 86, 91
+
+Pastoral, "Calisto," 218
+
+Patriarch of Venice, 336
+
+Patrick, St., 284
+
+_Paulinus_, Missionary, 30
+
+Paul, Mr. Howard, 309
+
+Paul's Cathedral, St., 140
+
+Paul's Church, St., 119
+
+Paul's Cross, St., 92
+
+Paul St., Earl of, 79
+
+Paul's School, St., 77
+
+Paupers, merry, 288
+
+Pavy, Salathiel, 142
+
+Peacocks, 96, 97
+
+Pegasus, 198
+
+Pembroke, the Regent, 62
+
+Pembroke, Countess of, 241
+
+"Penelope's Wooer," 187
+
+Penshurst, Kent, 148-9
+
+Pepys, Samuel, 145, 218
+
+Perche, Countess of, 47
+
+Peres, William, 103
+
+Performers, various, 41, 77
+
+"Periander," a tragedy, 185
+
+Periodicals, 292, 313
+
+Period of Christmas, 12, 35, 111, 135, 227
+
+Perrers, Alice, 74, 75
+
+Perth, 274
+
+Perry, 55
+
+Peshawur, 300
+
+Petavius, 13
+
+Peter of Blois, 56
+
+Peter, St., 283
+
+Peter the Great, of Russia, 223
+
+Peter's, St., Rome, 330
+
+_Petit Souper_, 322
+
+Petworth, 225
+
+Philip of Spain, 118
+
+Philip and Mary, 119
+
+Philippa, Queen, 72
+
+"Philomathes," 176
+
+"Philomela," a tragedy, 169
+
+Philosopher's game, 195
+
+Phoenicia, 55
+
+Picnics, 304
+
+Picts and Scots, 26, 31
+
+"Picturesque Europe," 224
+
+_Piece de resistance_, 294
+
+Piers Gaveston, 68
+
+Pigment, 55
+
+Pilgrims, 59
+
+Pires Barnard, 68
+
+Pipers, 31, 89
+
+_Place de la Madeline_, 319
+
+_Place de la Republique_, 319
+
+Plague, the, 139
+
+Plantagenets, 68
+
+Plato's Dialogue, 17
+
+Plays, Christmas, 76-7, 84, 91, 95, 102, 112, 125, 136-7, 142, 284,
+ 320-1
+
+Playing Cards, 90
+
+Plum-pudding, 245, 263, 265, 273, 317, 319
+
+Pocahontas, 314
+
+_Poculum charitatis_, 237
+
+Poetic pictures of Christmas, 33, 34, 43-4, 69, 203, 204-5, 217,
+ 221-2, 227, 250, 258, 274, 276-8, 288, 298, 350
+
+Poictiers, 74
+
+Pointer, 237
+
+Poleaxes for Pensioners, 156
+
+Pole, Cardinal, 118, 119
+
+"Pompey," 36
+
+Pontefract, 87, 92
+
+"Poor Robin's Almanack," 217, 222, 223, 230
+
+Pope, poet, 46, 230
+
+"Popish Customs," so called, 109
+
+Popple, John, 257
+
+Popular festivities, 242
+
+Portugal, 226, 288
+
+Post and Pair, 247, 250
+
+Post-office and postmen, 292
+
+Poverty at Court, 86
+
+Prayer Books of Edward VI., 117
+
+Presbytery, 109
+
+Presents, 15, 42, 69, 88, 312, 323, 326, 335
+
+Presentation in the Temple, 348
+
+_Presepio_ (manger), 328
+
+Preston, Sir Richard, 190
+
+Priestess, Druid, 228
+
+Priests bearing relics, 90
+
+Priestly practices, 121, 317, 328
+
+Primate's cruelty, 200
+
+Primitive celebrations, 19
+
+"Prince Charlie," 237
+
+Prince of Wales, 85, 225, 263
+
+Prince of Wales's Strait, 294
+
+Princes of Germany, 35, 109
+
+Princes play in masques, 152, 197
+
+Privy Council, 117
+
+Prolongation of Revels, 201
+
+Promethus, 152
+
+Protectorate, the, 213
+
+Protestantism of Queen Elizabeth, 122
+
+Provencal Plays, 320-1
+
+Provence, 320, 321;
+ Eleanor of, 62-4
+
+Provision for the poor, 257-8, 260-6
+
+Prowess, 67, 72, 73, 84, 99, 190
+
+Prussian Royal Family, 334
+
+Prynne, William, 199
+
+Psyche, 19
+
+Ptarmigan pasties, 295
+
+_Punch_, 282, 342
+
+Puppet shows, 227, 321, 328
+
+Purification, the, 73
+
+Puritan Directory, 207
+
+Puritanism, 109
+
+Purposes, 195
+
+Puss-in-the-Corner, 236
+
+Pynson, printer, 104
+
+
+Q
+
+Quadrangle, Royal, 88
+
+"Quartette" cards, 272
+
+Queen's College, Oxford, 109
+
+Queen's Gentlewomen, 88
+
+Questions and Commands, 195, 236
+
+Quintin, 45, 59
+
+
+R
+
+Races, 218
+
+Railways, the, 292
+
+Raleigh, Sir Walter, 152
+
+Rampini, Sheriff, 286
+
+Ratcliffe, 93
+
+Rathbertus, a priest, 49
+
+Reade, Mr., 346
+
+"Read's Weekly Journal," 232
+
+"Recollections of old Christmas," 272
+
+Recreations, 195, 315
+
+Redcoats, 294
+
+Redmile, 266
+
+Roedwald, 29
+
+Reformation, 106, 109
+
+Regatta, the Christmas, 304
+
+"_Regis Orator et Calamo_," 114
+
+Regulations for a grand Christmas, 112
+
+Reindeer-sleigh of St. Nick, 311
+
+Rejoicings on French battle ground, 72
+
+Relics, sacred, 90, 331
+
+Religious matters, 117
+
+Rennes cloth, 88
+
+Reresby, Sir John, 219
+
+Restoration, the, 215
+
+Reunions, 313
+
+Revels resembling _Saturnalia_, 18
+
+Revels, called a Maskelyn, 100
+
+Revels, Master of the, 112 (_see also_ "Lord of Misrule")
+
+Revels, 132, 153, 180, 181, 192, 193, 218, 315
+
+Revolution, 220
+
+_Rex Fabarum_, 109
+
+Rhedon, 93
+
+Rheims Cathedral, 94
+
+Rhosllanerchrugog, 264
+
+Rhosymedre, Denbighshire, 264
+
+Rhys, brother of Gruffydd, 38
+
+Richard I. ("_Coeur de Lion_"), 58
+
+Richard II., 76
+
+Richard, Duke of Gloucester, 92
+
+Richard III., 93, 101
+
+Richard, Duke of York, 86, 87
+
+Richard the Good, of Normandy, 38
+
+Rich, Christopher, 229
+
+Rich, John, 229
+
+Richmond, 96, 98, 99, 102, 108, 119
+
+Richmond, Duke of, 105
+
+"Richemond Manor," open house at, 104
+
+Riding School, Windsor, 260
+
+Riddles, 252
+
+Rigden, Mr., 219
+
+Ripon, 242
+
+Rivers, Lady, 88;
+ Earl, 92
+
+Rivet, Andrew, 157
+
+"Roast Beef of Old England," 301
+
+Robert of Comines, 43
+
+Robes, costly, 75
+
+Robin Hood, 66
+
+Robin Hood and his foresters depicted, 100, 286
+
+Rochester, 118
+
+Rochester, Bishop of, 139
+
+Roe, Sergeant, 112
+
+Roger de Coverley, Sir, 227
+
+Roger Mortimer, 68
+
+Roland, Captain of Charlemagne, 41
+
+Roman Church, 62
+
+Roman Catholic reaction, 118
+
+Roman Empire, 35
+
+Roman invasion of Britain, 23
+
+Romantic days, 31
+
+Rome, early Church at, 11
+
+Rome, 328
+
+Romish priestly practices, 121
+
+Rooke, Sir George, 226
+
+Rope-dancing, 229
+
+Roses united in marriage, 94
+
+Rotterham, 220
+
+Rouen, 81, 317
+
+"Round about our Coal Fire," 201, 233
+
+Round Table, 30, 67, 73
+
+Royalists, 206, 215
+
+Royal Bounties, 258, 260
+
+Royal festivities, 54, 94, 99, 141, 261 (_see also_ other festivities
+ recorded under the names of different Sovereigns)
+
+Rowbotham, 28
+
+Rowe, 142
+
+Rowse, Sir John, 153
+
+Royston, 153
+
+Roxburgh Collection (British Museum), 145
+
+Ruabon, 264
+
+Rufus's revelries, 47
+
+Rump, the, 213, 217
+
+Running, 32
+
+Runnymede, 60
+
+Russell, Lord John, 297
+
+Russia, 284, 288, 342
+
+Rutland, Duke of, 224, 266;
+ Janetta, Duchess of, 225;
+ Lord, 80, 87
+
+
+S
+
+Sabine Island, 295
+
+Sackville, Thomas, 125
+
+Sailors' gathering, 288
+
+Salisbury, Earl of, 87, 154, 156
+
+Salom Moss, 101
+
+Sanctuary at Westminster, 92
+
+Sandal Castle, 87
+
+Sandhurst, Berkshire, 276
+
+Sandringham, 85, 263
+
+Sandwich Island, 294
+
+Sandwich Islands, 305
+
+Sandys, William, F.S.A., 15, 104, 137, 201, 206
+
+San Maria Maggiore Church, 331
+
+Saracens, 59
+
+Santa Claus, 290, 310
+
+"Saturday Review," 207
+
+_Saturnalia_, 13, 15, 19, 29, 168, 191, 320
+
+Saxon chiefs, 43
+
+Saxon sports, 44
+
+Scales, Lord and Lady, 84, 85
+
+Scaliger, 13
+
+"Scalloway Lasses," 286
+
+Scandinavianism, 285
+
+Scenic magnificence, 152
+
+Schomberg, Duke of, 226
+
+Scottish annals, 48, 68, 71, 82, 98, 154, 191, 207, 242, 254, 284-8
+
+Scotch first-footing, 285
+
+Scott, Dr., 313
+
+Scott, Sir Walter, 36, 98, 250
+
+Scripture history plays, 77
+
+Sea celebrations, 95, 218, 307
+
+Sears, E. H., 350
+
+Sectaries, 207
+
+Segraves, 148
+
+Selden, 152
+
+Seleucus Nicator, 13
+
+Senegal, 345
+
+Senlac, battle of, 39
+
+"Seven Champions of Christendom," 283
+
+"Seven Dayes of the Weeke," the, 174
+
+Sermons, Christmas, 193
+
+Servants' feasts, 202, 212-3, 263
+
+Servians, 345
+
+Settlers, English, 314
+
+Seville Cathedral, 338
+
+Seymour, Jane, 108
+
+Shaftesbury, 37
+
+Shakespeare, 34, 80, 81, 141, 142, 151, 152, 153, 263
+
+Shaw, Dr., 92
+
+Shene, 75, 96
+
+Shepherds, 7, 317
+
+Sherwood Forest, 66
+
+Shetland, 285
+
+"Shewes," triumphant, 190
+
+Shipwreck on Christmas-day, 287
+
+Shopping in sleighs, 312
+
+Shovelboard, 195
+
+Shrewsbury, Earl of, 139
+
+Shrine of St. Peter, 330
+
+Shropshire, 24, 118, 255, 284
+
+Shrove Tuesday, 183
+
+Sicily, King of, 59
+
+Sidney, Sir Philip, 148
+
+Sieur de Nigry, 118
+
+Silurians, King of, 24
+
+Simeon, 348
+
+Sinclair, Rev. John, 287
+
+Singing, 140, 195, 294, 326, 350
+
+Sirloin of roast beef, 231
+
+Siward, Sir Richard, 64
+
+Skating, 45 (see "Ice Sports")
+
+Skeleton at bed foot, 276
+
+Skinner's Wells, 76
+
+Skylarking, 294
+
+Slade, Monty, 302
+
+Sladen Douglas, B. W., 303
+
+Slavs, 345
+
+Sleighing, 302, 310
+
+Smith, Captain John, 314
+
+Smith, Dr. Walter, 285
+
+Smith, Sir Thomas, 139
+
+Smithfield, London, 79
+
+Smyth, John, court fool, 116
+
+Smyth, Matthew, 143
+
+"Snap" cards, 272
+
+Snapdragon, 247
+
+Social festivities, 252
+
+Society Islands, 288
+
+Somerset, Duke of, 87, 115, 225
+
+Somerset, Earl of, 155
+
+Somerset, Sir Thomas, 190
+
+Somersetshire, 31
+
+Somers, Will, king's jester, 113
+
+"Sonsy haggis" 255
+
+"_Sonya_," 344
+
+Southampton, Earl of, 190
+
+Southern merrymaking, 314
+
+Southey, 257
+
+Souvenirs, 312
+
+Spain, 75, 108, 120, 190, 212, 225, 288, 338
+
+Spanish cavaliers, 286
+
+Spectacular entertainments, 52, 99
+
+"Spectator," the, 227
+
+Speech from the throne, 87
+
+Spenser, 149
+
+Spithead, 225
+
+Sports, 33, 54, 154, 169, 198, 203, 247, 252
+
+Stacy, Louis, 88
+
+Staffordshire, 284, 349, 350
+
+Stained glass, modern, 348
+
+Stainer, 350
+
+Stanley, Dean, 17
+
+Stanton, Mr. W. M., 304
+
+Stapleton, Lady, 91
+
+Star of Bethlehem, 319
+
+Star Chamber, 156
+
+State meetings, 29, 38, 45, 54;
+ State worship, 96-7
+
+Steele, 227
+
+Stephen, King, 51
+
+Stephen's Day, St., 120, 126, 130, 133, 168, 219, 350
+
+Steward's Department, Lord, 260
+
+Steward, Sir John, 82
+
+"Still Christmas" of Henry VIII., 104
+
+Stoke Abbat, 157
+
+Stony Stratford, 92
+
+Stories of Christmastide, 48, 49, 237, 274, 275, 276, 287
+
+Stowe, 66, 74, 102, 112, 116
+
+Strafford papers, 156
+
+Strange, Lady, 139
+
+Stratford-upon-Avon, 218
+
+Strutt, 44, 76, 103, 119, 218
+
+Strype, 119
+
+Sturgeon, 96
+
+Stuteville, Sir Martin, 192, 198
+
+Subtleties, 83, 97
+
+Sufed Koh, 302
+
+Suffolk, 146
+
+Suffolk, Earl of, 84, 189
+
+Sullivan, 350
+
+Sumptuous feasts of Normans, 54
+
+Superstitions, 33, 34, 285
+
+Sussex, Earl of, 139
+
+Sussex, Sheriff of, 65
+
+Swans, 96
+
+Sweden, 288
+
+Sweetmeats, 322
+
+Swegen, King, 36
+
+Swein, King of Denmark, 43
+
+Swithin, St., Winchester, 56
+
+Sword-dance, 229, 255
+
+Sword actors, 282-4
+
+Sword of King Arthur, 58
+
+Swynford Catherine, 94
+
+"Synod of Westminster," 208
+
+Synod of Whitby, 27
+
+Syria, 55
+
+
+T
+
+Tacitus, 24, 33
+
+Taillefer, Norman minstrel, 41
+
+Talbot, Sir John, 84
+
+Tallard, Marshal, 226
+
+Tales, weird, 274-5
+
+Tallis, 140
+
+Tambourine, 340
+
+Tancred, King, 58
+
+"Tatler," the, 228
+
+Taverner, Edmund, 201
+
+Taylor, John, 206
+
+_Te Deum_, 317
+
+Telesphorus, St., Bishop of Rome, 13
+
+Tempest, great, 74
+
+Templars' sports, 198
+
+Temple-horn winded, 198
+
+Temple of Minerva, 184
+
+Temples, the, 111
+
+Tenants' and labourers' feast, 231
+
+Tennyson, 31, 270
+
+Teonge, Rev. Henry, 218
+
+Tetzel, 89
+
+Teuton forefathers, our, 26
+
+Teuton kinsmen, 34
+
+Tewkesbury, 94
+
+Thackeray, Mr., 229
+
+Thames, 108, 127
+
+Thanet, Isle of, 28
+
+Theatrical exhibitions, 141, 229, 230
+
+Thelluson, Hon. Mr. and Miss, 273
+
+Theobald, Archbishop, 53
+
+Theobalds, 154, 193, 194
+
+Theodosius the younger, 22
+
+Thewlis, St., 284
+
+Thomas, St., 54
+
+Thomas, St. (a place), 288
+
+Thomas's Day, St., 130, 164, 265
+
+Thomas, Thomas, 280
+
+Thomas, the Misses, 262
+
+Thor, 15, 26, 29
+
+Thorold, Sir Wilfrid de, 267
+
+Thunder (_see_ Thor), 29
+
+Thurstan, Archbishop, 48
+
+Thrybergh, 219
+
+Tilting, 155 (_see also_ Tournament)
+
+"Time's Alteration," 217
+
+"Time's Complaint," 170
+
+"Time's Telescope," 251
+
+Tobacco, 259, 278
+
+Toffee, 281
+
+Tommy Atkins, 299
+
+Torchlight procession, 286
+
+Torksey Hall, 266
+
+Tostig, Earl, 38
+
+Tournaments, 32, 52, 67, 73, 78, 99, 101, 155, 189, 190
+
+Tower of London, 79, 92, 117, 123, 223, 226
+
+Towton, 87
+
+Toys, 265
+
+Tragedy of "Gowry," the, 153
+
+Traill, Mr., 287
+
+Transatlantic Saxons, 309
+
+Transvaal, 288
+
+Travelling, ancient, 31
+
+"Treason! treason!" cried James I., 193
+
+Tricks by animals, 229
+
+Trinity College, Cambridge, 110
+
+Trinity Term, 131
+
+Triphook, Robert, 155
+
+Tripoli, 55
+
+Triumphs of the tournament, 101
+
+Trumpeters, 89
+
+Trumpets, 220, 261
+
+Trunks, small, 195
+
+"Truth," in pageantry, 122
+
+Tucker, Thomas, the elected Prince, 156
+
+Tudela, Benjamin of, 52
+
+Tudor, Edmund, Jasper, Owen, 94
+
+Tumbling, 119, 228
+
+Turkeys, 246, 340
+
+"Turkish Knight," 284
+
+"Turkish Magistrates," 119
+
+Turnham Green, 284
+
+Tusser, Thomas, 124, 140, 146
+
+Twelfthtide, 15, 35, 95, 97, 100, 102, 125, 135, 153, 154, 188, 190,
+ 193, 198, 201, 241, 320, 342
+
+Twelve days of Christmas, 35, 111, 125, 227
+
+Tyrrel, Sir Walter, 47
+
+Tytler, General, 300
+
+
+U
+
+Udall, Nicholas, 119
+
+Ukraine, 345
+
+Ule (_see_ Yule)
+
+Uniformity, Act of, 117
+
+United States, 288, 309-316
+
+_Uphelya_, 286
+
+"Ups and Downs of Christmas," the, 209
+
+"_Ursa Minor_," 273
+
+Usher, 13
+
+Ushers, Gentlemen, 139
+
+Uvedale, Lord of Wickham Manor, 71
+
+
+V
+
+Valorous deeds, 59
+
+Vane, 213
+
+Variety of players, 63
+
+Vaughan, Master, 88
+
+Vawce, Sergeant, 117
+
+"Venetian Senators," 119
+
+Venice, 190, 336
+
+Vere, Earl of Oxford, 75
+
+Vere, Lady Susan, 153
+
+Vernon, Dorothy, 224
+
+Versailles, 35
+
+Vespers, 331
+
+Viands, 55
+
+Victoria, Queen, 258, 260-3
+
+Victoria's grandchildren, Queen, 262
+
+Vienna, 336
+
+Vigil of Christmas, 49, 317
+
+Vigilate, a, 178
+
+"Vindication of Father Christmas," the, 212
+
+Vineyard of pleasure, 88
+
+Vintage, the, 16
+
+Violins, 220
+
+Virgil's _Eclogues_, 17
+
+Virginian Colonists, 314
+
+Virgin Mary, image of the, 317
+
+Visors depicted in verse, 104
+
+Vivian, Sir Francis, 156;
+ Mr. Vivian, 156
+
+Volcano, 305
+
+
+W
+
+Waits, 44, 240
+
+Wakefield, battle of, 86
+
+Wales, 38, 188, 200, 280, 288
+
+Wales, Prince and Princess of, 85, 225, 263
+
+Wallingford, 51, 68
+
+Wanjani, 304
+
+Ward, Rev. John, 218
+
+Warning shots, 127
+
+Warren, Earl of, 64
+
+Warrior-King (Edward III.), 74
+
+Warriors rewarded, 42
+
+Wars of Barons, 65
+
+Wars of Roses, 85
+
+Wars of Roses ended, 93
+
+War suspended for Christmas, 81, 84
+
+Warton, author, 110
+
+Warwick, Earl of, 87, 93, 139, 192
+
+Warwick muses, 198
+
+Warwickshire, 146, 284
+
+Wash, the, 62
+
+Wassail, 15, 58, 97, 181
+
+"Wassail Bowl," 15, 273
+
+Wassailing the apple-trees, 278-9
+
+Washburn, Ex-Minister E. B., 318
+
+Washington negroes, 314
+
+Wattewille, Monsieur Robert, 68
+
+"Weekly Account," the, 208
+
+"_Weihnacten_," 335
+
+"_Weihnactt's Bescheerung_," 335
+
+"Welcome to Christmas," 276
+
+Welcome to all comers, 30, 148, 220, 256
+
+Wellington, 304
+
+Welsh border, 38, 43
+
+Welsh Christmas, 280-2
+
+Western Church, the, 12
+
+West Kington, 113
+
+Westminster, 46, 62, 64, 74, 87, 89, 123
+
+Westminster Abbey, 38, 51, 123, 140, 193
+
+Westminster Hall, 46, 60, 64, 68, 78, 93, 118, 123, 226
+
+Weston, Dr., 118
+
+West Riding of Yorkshire, 282-4
+
+West Newton, 263
+
+Whalley, Colonel, 212
+
+Wheatley, Mr. W. M., 265
+
+Whippingham, 262
+
+White, Sir Thomas, 118
+
+Whitehall, 118, 154
+
+Whitelock, 207
+
+"White Rose of York," 85
+
+Whittier, J. G., 37
+
+Wild Boar, 32, 33, 45, 110
+
+William, Prince of Orange, 220
+
+William and Mary, 221
+
+William IV., 258
+
+William the Almoner, 64
+
+William the Conqueror, 39
+
+William, King of Prussia, 35
+
+William Rufus, 46
+
+William, son of Henry I., 47
+
+William of Malmesbury, 49
+
+William of Ypres, 52
+
+Williams, 99
+
+Willoughby, Lord, 82
+
+Winchester, 31, 34, 37, 47, 65;
+ monks of, 56
+
+Winchester, Bishop of, 195
+
+Winchester Palace, 62, 65
+
+Winchester School, 71
+
+Windsor, 31, 47, 48, 54, 62, 75, 80, 87, 225, 261
+
+Wine and honey, 55
+
+Winer, 13
+
+Winters, hard, 67, 138, 154-5
+
+Winter solstice, 15, 29, 295
+
+Winwood, Mr., 153
+
+Wise Men (Magi), 11, 19, 28
+
+Wise Men (the King's), 29, 38, 45
+
+Witches, 195, 237
+
+"Wit-combats," 153
+
+Witenagemot, 29
+
+Wither, George, 190, 204
+
+Wizard of Christmas, 310
+
+Woden, 25, 29
+
+Wolf, 45
+
+Wolferton, 263
+
+Wolley, Sir Francis, 154
+
+Wolsey, Cardinal, 104, 106, 112
+
+Women masks, 119
+
+Wood, Mr., 109, 140, 157
+
+Woodstock, 226
+
+Woodville, Elizabeth, 89
+
+Woodville family, 92
+
+Woolsthorpe, 204, 266
+
+Worcester, 52, 60, 67;
+ Earl of, 82, 189
+
+Workhouse, Christmas at, 288
+
+Worksop, 87
+
+Worship in State, 96-7
+
+Wortley, near Leeds, 291
+
+Wotton, 200
+
+Wrestling, 32
+
+Wright, Thomas, F.S.A., 90
+
+Wyatt, Sir Thomas, 118
+
+Wykeham, William of, 71
+
+Wynh, Lady Williams, 264
+
+Wynn, Sir W. W., Bart., 264
+
+Wynnstay Park, 264
+
+_Wyrcester, William_, 87, 89
+
+
+X
+
+Xtemas, 9
+
+
+Y
+
+Yeoman, 124
+
+Yew, 282
+
+York, 31, 36, 43, 64, 68, 86
+
+York, Archbishop of, 65, 240
+
+York, Bishop of, 25
+
+York, Duchess of, 82
+
+York, Duke of, the young, 92
+
+York, wars of, 85
+
+Yorkshire, 251, 282-4
+
+Yule, Jule, or Ule, 9, 15, 195, 285
+
+Yule-log, 1, 268, 302, 319, 345
+
+"Yuletide," 177, 227, 267, 285
+
+
+Z
+
+_Zambombas_, 339
+
+Zanzibar, 288
+
+Zukkur Kehls, 300
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRISTMAS: ITS ORIGIN AND
+ASSOCIATIONS***
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