A Righte Merrie Christmasse: The Story of Christ-Tide
by John Ashton · English · Gutenberg #19979 · 518,714 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: A Righte Merrie Christmasse: The Story of Christ-Tide
Author: John Ashton
Illustrator: Arthur C. Behrend
Release date: November 30, 2006 [eBook #19979]
Language: English
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19979
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A RIGHTE MERRIE CHRISTMASSE: THE STORY OF CHRIST-TIDE ***
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A righte Merrie Christmasse!!!
The Story of Christ-tide
By John Ashton. Copperplate
Etching of "The
Wassail Song," by Arthur
C. Behrend.
London: published by the Leadenhall
Press, Ltd., 50 Leadenhall Street;
Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent
& Co., Ltd. New York: Charles
Scribner's Sons, 153-157 Fifth Avenue.
The Leadenhall Press Ltd.
London
[1894]
[Transcriber's Notes:
This text contains passages using the Anglo-Saxon thorn (Þ or þ,
equivalent of "th"), which should display properly in most text
viewers. The Anglo-Saxon yogh (equivalent of "y," "i," "g," or "gh")
will display properly only if the user has the proper font, so to
maximize accessibility, the character "3" is used in this e-text to
represent the yogh.
Characters with a macron are preceded by an equal sign and enclosed in
square brackets, e.g., [=a].
Superscripted characters are preceded by a carat and enclosed in curly
brackets, e.g., y^{t}.]
[Illustration: The Wassail Song]
TO THE READER
I do not craue
mo thankes to haue,
than geuen to me
all ready be;
but this is all,
to such as shall
peruse this booke.
That, for my sake,
they gently take
what ere they finde
against their minde,
when he, or she,
shal minded be
therein to looke.
_Tusser._
A righte Merrie Christmasse!!!
PREFACE
It is with a view of preserving the memory of Christmas that I have
written this book.
In it the reader will find its History, Legends, Folk-lore, Customs,
and Carols--in fact, an epitome of Old Christ-tide, forming a volume
which, it is hoped, will be found full of interest.
JOHN ASHTON.
A righte Merrie Christmasse!!!
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
Date of Christ's Birth discussed--Opinions of the Fathers--The
Eastern Church and Christ-tide--Error in Chronology--Roman
Saturnalia--Scandinavian Yule--Duration of Christ-tide 1
CHAPTER II
Historic Christ-tides in 790, 878, and 1065--William I.,
1066-1085--William II.--Henry I., 1127--Stephen--Henry II.,
1158-1171--Richard I., 1190--John, 1200--Henry III., 1253--Edwards I.,
II., and III.--Richard II., 1377-1398--Henry IV.-V., 1418--Henry
VIII., his magnificent Christ-tides 9
CHAPTER III
Historic Christ-tides--Edward VI., 1551--Mary--Elizabeth--James
I.--The Puritans--The Pilgrim Fathers--Christmas's Lamentation--Christ-tide
in the Navy, 1625 19
CHAPTER IV
Attempts of Puritans to put down Christ-tide--Attitude of the
people--Preaching before Parliament--"The arraignment, etc., of
Christmas" 26
CHAPTER V
The popular love of Christmas--Riots at Ealing and
Canterbury--Evelyn's Christmas days, 1652, '3, '4, '5, '7, Cromwell
and Christ-tide--The Restoration--Pepys and Christmas day, 1662--"The
Examination and Tryal of old Father Christmas" 34
CHAPTER VI
Commencement of Christ-tide--"O Sapientia!"--St. Thomas's day--William
the Conqueror and the City of York--Providing for Christmas
fare--Charities of food--Bull-baiting--Christ-tide charities--Going
"a-Thomassing," etc.--Superstitions of the day 45
CHAPTER VII
Paddington Charity (Bread and Cheese Lands)--Barring-out at
Schools--Interesting narrative 53
CHAPTER VIII
The Bellman--Descriptions of him--His verses. The Waits--Their
origin--Ned Ward on them--Corporation Waits--York Waits (17th
century)--Essay on Waits--Westminster Waits--Modern Waits 63
CHAPTER IX
Christ-tide Carols--The days of Yule--A Carol for
Christ-tide--"Lullaby"--The Cherry-tree Carol--Dives and Lazarus 70
CHAPTER X
Christmas Eve--Herrick thereon--The Yule Log--Folk-lore thereon--The
Ashen Faggot--Christmas Candles--Christmas Eve in the Isle of
Man--Hunting the Wren--Divination by Onions and Sage--A Custom at
Aston--"The Mock"--Decorations and Kissing Bunch--"Black
Ball"--Guisers and Waits--Ale Posset 75
CHAPTER XI
Christmas Eve in North Notts--Wassailing the Fruit Trees--Wassail
Songs--Wassailing in Sussex--Other Customs--King at Downside
College--Christ-tide Carol--Midnight Mass--The Manger--St. Francis of
Assisi 84
CHAPTER XII
Decorating with Evergreens--Its Origin and Antiquity--Mistletoe in
Churches--The permissible Evergreens--The Holly--"Holly and
Ivy"--"Here comes Holly"--"Ivy, chief of Trees"--"The Contest of the
Ivy and the Holly"--Holly Folk-lore--Church Decorations--To be kept up
till Candlemas day 91
CHAPTER XIII
Legends of the Nativity--The Angels--The Birth--The Cradles--The Ox
and Ass--Legends of Animals--The Carol of St. Stephen--Christmas
Wolves--Dancing for a Twelve-months--Underground Bells--The Fiddler
and the Devil 97
CHAPTER XIV
The Glastonbury Thorn, its Legend--Cuttings from it--Oaks coming into
leaf on Christmas day--Folk-lore--Forecast, according to the days of
the week on which Christmas falls--Other Folk-lore thereon 105
CHAPTER XV
Withholding Light--"Wesley Bob"--Wassail Carol--Presents in
Church--Morris Dancers--"First Foot"--Red-haired Men--Lamprey
Pie--"Hodening"--Its Possible Origin--The "Mari Lhoyd" 111
CHAPTER XVI
Curious Gambling Customs in Church--Boon granted--Sheaf of Corn for
the Birds--Crowning of the Cock--"The Lord Mayor of Pennyless
Cove"--"Letting in Yule"--Guisards--Christmas in the Highlands--Christmas
in Shetland--Christmas in Ireland 117
CHAPTER XVII
Ordinance against out-door Revelry--Marriage of a Lord of
Misrule--Mummers and Mumming--Country Mummers--Early Play--Two modern
Plays 125
CHAPTER XVIII
A Christmas jest--Ben Jonson's Masque of Christmas--Milton's Masque of
Comus--Queen Elizabeth and the Masters of Defence 138
CHAPTER XIX
The Lord of Misrule--The "Emperor" and "King" at Oxford--Dignity of
the Office--Its abolition in the City of London--The functions of a
Lord of Misrule--Christmas at the Temple--A grand Christmas there 143
CHAPTER XX
A riotous Lord of Misrule at the Temple--Stubbes on Lords of
Misrule--The Bishops ditto--Mumming at Norwich 1440--Dancing at the
Inns of Court--Dancing at Christmas--The Cushion Dance 155
CHAPTER XXI
Honey Fairs--Card-playing at Christmas--Throwing the Hood--Early
Religious Plays--Moralities--Story of a Gray's Inn Play--The first
Pantomime--Spectacular drama--George Barnwell--Story respecting this
Play 162
CHAPTER XXII
Profusion of Food at Christ-tide--Old English
Fare--Hospitality--Proclamations for People to spend Christ-tide at
their Country Places--Roast Beef--Boar's Head--Boar's Head
Carol--Custom at Queen's College, Oxon.--Brawn--Christmas Pie--Goose
Pie--Plum Pudding--Plum Porridge--Anecdotes of Plum Pudding--Large
one--Mince Pies--Hackin--Folk-lore--Gifts at Christ-tide--Yule
Doughs--Cop-a-loaf--Snap-dragon 169
CHAPTER XXIII
The First Carol--Anglo-Norman Carol--Fifteenth-Century Carol--"The
Twelve Good Joys of Mary"--Other Carols--"A Virgin most Pure"--Carol
of Fifteenth Century--"A Christenmesse Carroll" 180
CHAPTER XXIV
Christmas Gifts forbidden in the City of London--Charles II. and
Christmas Gifts--Christmas Tree--Asiatic Descent--Scandinavian
Descent--Candles on the Tree--Early Notices of in England--Santa
Claus--Krishkinkle--Curious Tenures of Land at Christmas 186
CHAPTER XXV
Christ-tide Literature--Christmas Cards--Their Origin--Lamplighter's
Verses--Watchman's Verses--Christmas Pieces 194
CHAPTER XXVI
Carol for St. Stephen's Day--Boxing Day--Origin of Custom--Early
examples--The Box--Bleeding Horses--Festivity on this Day--Charity at
Bampton--Hunting the Wren in Ireland--Song of the Wren Boys 201
CHAPTER XXVII
St. John's Day--Legend of the Saint--Carols for the Day--Holy
Innocents--Whipping Children--Boy Bishops--Ceremonies connected
therewith--The King of Cockney's Unlucky Day--Anecdote thereon--Carol
for the Day 207
CHAPTER XXVIII
New Year's Eve--Wassail--New Year's Eve Customs--Hogmany--The
Cl[=a]vie--Other Customs--Weather Prophecy 214
CHAPTER XXIX
New Year's Day--Carol--New Year's Gifts--"Dipping"--Riding the
"Stang"--Curious Tenures--God Cakes--The "Quaaltagh"--"First foot" in
Scotland--Highland Customs--In Ireland--Weather Prophecies--Handsel
Monday 220
CHAPTER XXX
Eve of Twelfth Day--Thirteen Fires--Tossing the Cake--Wassailing
Apple-Trees--The Eve in Ireland--Twelfth Day, or Epiphany--Carol for
the Day--Royal Offerings 232
CHAPTER XXXI
"The King of the Bean"--Customs on Twelfth Day--Twelfth Cakes--Twelfth
Night Characters--Modern Twelfth Night--The Pastry Cook's
Shops--Dethier's Lottery--The Song of the Wren--"Holly Night" at
Brough--"Cutting off the Fiddler's Head" 238
CHAPTER XXXII
St. Distaff's Day--Plough Monday--Customs on the Day--Feast of the
Purification 246
CHAPTER I
Date of Christ's Birth discussed--Opinions of the
Fathers--The Eastern Church and Christ-tide--Error in
Chronology--Roman Saturnalia--Scandinavian Yule--Duration of
Christ-tide.
The day on which Jesus Christ died is plainly distinguishable, but the
day of His birth is open to very much question, and, literally, is
only conjectural; so that the 25th December must be taken purely as
the day on which His birth is celebrated, and not as His absolute
natal day. In this matter we can only follow the traditions of the
Church, and tradition alone has little value.
In the second and early third centuries of our æra, we only know that
the festivals, other than Sundays and days set apart for the
remembrance of particular martyrs, were the Passover, Pentecost, and
the Epiphany, the baptism or manifestation of our Lord, when came "a
voice from Heaven saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased." This seems always to have been fixed for the 6th of January,
and with it was incorporated the commemoration of His birth.
Titus Flavius Clemens, generally known as Clemens of Alexandria, lived
exactly at this time, and was a contemporary of Origen. He speaks
plainly on the subject, and shows the uncertainty, even at that early
epoch of Christianity, of fixing the date:[1] "There are those who,
with an over-busy curiosity, attempt to fix not only the year, but the
date of our Saviour's birth, who, they say, was born in the
twenty-eighth year of Augustus, on the 25th of the month Pachon,"
_i.e._ the 20th of May. And in another place he says: "Some say that
He was born on the 24th or 25th of the month Pharmuthi," which would
be the 19th or 20th of April.
[Footnote 1: _Stromat._, L. 1, pp. 407-408, ed. Oxon., 1715.]
But, perhaps, the best source of information is from the _Mémoires
pour servir à l'histoire ecclésiastique des six premiers Siècles_, by
Louis Sebastian le Nain de Tillemont, written at the very commencement
of the eighteenth century,[2] and I have no hesitation in appending a
portion of his fourth note, which treats "_Upon the day and year of
the birth of Jesus Christ_."
[Footnote 2: Translated by T. Deacon in 1733-35, pp. 335-336.]
"It is thought that Jesus Christ was born in the night, because it was
night when the angel declared His birth to the shepherds: in which S.
Augustin says that He literally fulfilled David's words, _Ante
luciferum genuite_.
"The tradition of the Church, says this father, is that it was upon
the 25th of December. Casaubon acknowledges that we should not
immediately reject it upon the pretence that it is too cold a season
for cattle to be at pasture, there being a great deal of difference
between these countries and Judæa; and he assures us that, even in
England, they leave the cows in the field all the year round.
"S. Chrysostom alleges several reasons to prove that Jesus Christ was
really born upon the 25th of December; but they are weak enough,
except that which he assures of, that it has always been the belief of
the Western Churches. S. Epiphanius, who will have the day to have
been the 6th of January, places it but at twelve days' distance. S.
Clement of Alexandria says that, in his time, some fixed the birth of
Jesus Christ upon the 19th or 20th April; others, on the 20th of May.
He speaks of it as not seeing anything certain in it.
"It is cited from one John of Nice, that it was only under Pope Julius
that the Festival of the Nativity was fixed at Rome upon the 25th of
December. Father Combesisius, who has published the epistle of this
author, confesses that he is very modern: to which we may add that he
is full of idle stories, and entirely ignorant of the history and
discipline of antiquity. So that it is better to rest upon the
testimony of S. Chrysostom, who asserts that, for a long time before,
and by very ancient tradition, it was celebrated upon the 25th of
December in the West, that is, in all the countries which reach from
Thrace to Cadiz, and to the farthest parts of Spain. He names Rome
particularly; and thinks that it might be found there that this was
the true day of our Saviour's birth, by consulting the registers of
the description of Judæa made at that time, supposing them still to be
preserved there. We find this festival placed upon the 25th of
December in the ancient Roman Calendar, which was probably made in the
year 354....
"We find by S. Basil's homily upon the birth of our Lord that a
festival in commemoration of it was observed in Cappadocia, provided
that this homily is all his; but I am not of opinion that it appears
from thence either that this was done in January rather than December
or any other month in the year, or that this festival was joined with
that of the Baptism. On the contrary, the Churches of Cappadocia seem
to have distinguished the Feast of the Nativity from that of the
Epiphany, for S. Gregory Nazianzen says, that after he had been
ordained priest, in the year 361, upon the festival of one mystery, he
retired immediately after into Pontus, on that of another mystery, and
returned from Pontus upon that of a third. Now we find that he
returned at Easter, so that there is all imaginable reason to believe
that he was ordained at Christmas, and retired upon the Epiphany. S.
Basil died, in all probability, upon the 1st of January in the year
379, and S. Gregory Nyssen says that his festival followed close upon
those of Christmas, S. Stephen, S. Peter, S. James, and S. John. We
read in an oration ascribed to S. Amphilochius, that he died on the
day of the Circumcision, between the Nativity of Jesus Christ and His
Baptism. S. Gregory Nyssen says that the Feast of Lights, and of the
Baptism of Jesus Christ, was celebrated some days after that of His
Nativity. The other S. Gregory takes notice of several mysteries which
were commemorated at Nazianzium with the Nativity, the Magi, etc., but
he says nothing, in that place, of the Baptism. And yet, if the
festival of Christmas was observed in Cappadocia upon the 25th of
December, we must say that S. Chrysostom was ignorant of it, since he
ascribes this practice only to Thrace and the more Western
provinces....
"In the year 377, or soon after, some persons who came from Rome,
introduced into Syria the practice of celebrating our Lord's Nativity
in the month of December, upon the same day as was done in the West;
and this festival was so well received in that country that in less
than ten years it was entirely established at Antioch, and was
observed there by all the people with great solemnity, though some
complained of it as an innovation. S. Chrysostom, who informs us of
all this, speaks of it in such a manner as to make Father Thomassin
say, not that the birth of Jesus Christ had till then been kept upon a
wrong day, but that absolutely it had not been celebrated there at
all.
"S. Chrysostom seems to say, that this festival was received at the
same time by the neighbouring provinces to Antioch; but this must not
be extended as far as to Egypt, as we learn from a passage in Cassian.
This author seems to speak only of the time when he was in Scetæ
(about 399), but also of that when he wrote his tenth conference
(about the year 420 or 425). But it appears that, in the year 432,
Egypt had likewise embraced the practice of Rome: for Paul of Emesa,
in the discourse which he made then at Alexandria upon the 29th of
Coiac, which is the 25th of December, says it was the day on which
Jesus Christ was born. S. Isidore of Pelusium, in Egypt, mentions the
Theophany and the Nativity of our Saviour, according to the flesh, as
two different festivals. We were surprised to read in an oration of
Basil of Seleucia, upon S. Stephen, that Juvenal of Jerusalem, who
might be made bishop about the year 420, was the first who celebrated
there our Saviour's Nativity."
The Armenian Church still keeps up the eastern 6th of January as
Christmas day--and, as the old style of the calendar is retained, it
follows that they celebrate the Nativity twenty-four days after we do:
and modern writers make the matter more mixed--for Wiesseler thinks
that the date of the Nativity was 10th January, whilst Mr. Greswell
says it occurred on the 9th April B.C. 4.
It is not everybody that knows that our system of chronology is four
years wrong--_i.e._ that Jesus Christ must have been born four years
before _Anno Domini_, the year of our Lord. It happened in this way.
Dionysius Exiguus, in 533, first introduced the system of writing the
words _Anno Domini_, to point out the number of years which had
elapsed since the Incarnation of our Lord; in other words he
introduced our present chronology. He said the year 1 was the same as
the year A.U.C. (from the building of Rome) 754; and this statement he
based on the fact that our Saviour was born in the twenty-eighth year
of the reign of Augustus; and he reckoned from A.U.C. 727, when the
emperor first took the name of Augustus. The early Christians,
however, dated from the battle of Actium, which was A.U.C. 723, thus
making the Nativity 750. Now we believe that that event took place
during Herod's reign, and we know that Herod died between the 13th
March and 29th March, on which day Passover commenced, in A.U.C. 750,
so that it stands to reason that our chronology is wrong.
Some think that the date of 25th December, which certainly began in
the Roman Church, was fixed upon to avoid the multiplication of
festivals about the vernal equinox, and to appropriate to a Christian
use the existing festival of the winter solstice--the returning sun
being made symbolical of the visit of Christ to our earth; and to
withdraw Christian converts from those pagan observances with which
the closing year was crowded, whilst the licence of the _Saturnalia_
was turned into the merriment of Christmas.
This festival of the Saturnalia (of which the most complete account is
given by Macrobius in his _Conviviorum Saturnaliorum_) dated from the
remotest settlement of Latium, whose people reverenced Saturnus as the
author of husbandry and the arts of life. At this festival the utmost
freedom of social intercourse was permitted to all classes; even
slaves were allowed to come to the tables of their masters clothed in
their apparel, and were waited on by those whom they were accustomed
to serve. Feasting, gaming, and revelry were the occupations of all
classes, without discrimination of age, or sex, or rank. Processions
crowded the streets, boisterous with mirth: these illuminated the
night with lighted tapers of wax, which were also used as gifts
between friends in the humbler walks of life. The season was one for
the exchange of gifts of friendship, and especially of gifts to
children. It began on the 17th December, and extended virtually, to
the commencement of the New Year.
Prynne[3] speaks thus of Christmas: "If we compare our Bacchanalian
Christmasses and New Year's Tides with these Saturnalia and Feasts of
Janus, we shall finde such near affinytie betweene them both in regard
of time (they being both in the end of December and on the first of
January), and in their manner of solemnizing (both of them being spent
in revelling, epicurisme, wantonesse, idlenesse, dancing, drinking,
stage playes, and such other Christmas disorders now in use with
Christians), were derived from these Roman Saturnalia and Bacchanalian
Festivals; which should cause all pious Christians eternally to
abominate them."
[Footnote 3: _Histrio Mastix_, ed. 1633, p. 757.]
The Anglo-Saxons and early English knew not the words either of
Christmas or Christ-tide. To them it was the season of Yule. Bede (_de
temporum ratione_, c. 13), regards it as a term for the winter
solstice. "Menses Giuli a conversione solis in auctum dici, quia unus
eorum præcedit, alius subsequitur, nomina acceperunt": alluding to the
Anglo-Saxon Calendar, which designated the months of December and
January as _æerre-geola_ and _æftera-geola_, the former and the latter
Yule. Both Skeat and Wedgwood derive it from the old Norse _jól_,
which means feasting and revelry. Mr. J.F. Hodgetts, in an article
entitled "Paganism in Modern Christianity" (_Antiquary_, December
1882, p. 257), says:--
"The ancient name (Yule) for Christmas is still used throughout all
Scandinavia. The Swedes, Danes, and Norwegians wish each other a 'glad
Yule,' as we say 'A merry Christmas to you.' This alone would serve to
draw our attention to Scandinavia, even if no other reason existed for
searching there for the origin of our great Christian Feast. The grand
storehouses of Pagan lore, as far as the Northern nations of Teutonic
race are concerned, are the two Eddas, and if we refer to the part, or
chapter, of Snorri Sturlson's Edda, known as _Gylfa Ginning_, we shall
find the twelfth name of Odin, the Father of the Gods, or Allfather,
given as _Iàlg_ or _Iàlkr_ (pronounced _yolk_ or _yulg_). The
Christmas tree, introduced into Russia by the Scandinavians, is
called _ëlka_ (pronounced _yolka_), and in the times just preceding,
and just after, the conquest of Britain by the English, this high
feast of Odin was held in mid-winter, under the name of _Iàlka tid_,
or Yule-tide. It was celebrated at this season, because the Vikings,
being then unable to go to sea, could assemble in their great halls
and temples and drink to the gods they served so well. Another reason
was, that it fell towards the end of the twelve mystic months that
made up the mythical, as well as the cosmical, cycle of the year, and
was therefore appropriately designated by the last of the names by
which Odin is called in the Edda."
There are different opinions as to the duration of Christ-tide. The
Roman Church holds that Christmas properly begins at Lauds on
Christmas Eve, when the Divine Office begins to be solemnised as a
Double, and refers directly to the Nativity of our Lord. It terminates
on the 13th of January, the Octave day of the Epiphany. The evergreens
and decorations remain in churches and houses until the 2nd of
February, the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
But I think that if we in England are bound by ecclesiastical law as
to the keeping of Christ-tide, it should, at least, be an English
use--such as was observed before the domination of Rome in England.
And, previous to the _Natale_, or Festival of the Nativity, the early
Church ordained a preparatory period of _nine days_, called a
_Novena_. These take the commencement of Christ-tide back to the 16th
December, on which day the Sarum use ordained the Anthem, which
commences, "O Sapientia, quæ ex ore Altissimi prodidisti," and at the
present time this day is marked in the Calendar of the English Church
Service Book as "O Sapientia." That this was commonly considered the
commencement of Christ-tide is shown by the following anecdote of the
learned Dr. Parr:--A lady asked him when Christmas commenced, so that
she might know when to begin to eat mince pies. "Please to say
Christmas pie, madam," replied the Doctor. "Mince pie is
Presbyterian." "Well, Christmas pie--when may we begin to eat them?"
"Look in your Prayer-book Calendar for December and there you will
find 'O Sapientia.' Then Christmas pie--not before."
The Festival was considered of such high importance by the
Anglo-Saxons that the ordinary Octave was not good enough; it must be
kept up for _twelve_ days. And Collier (_Eccl. Hist._, 1840, vol. i.
p. 285) says that a law passed in the days of King Alfred, "by virtue
of which the _twelve days_ after the Nativity of our Saviour are made
festivals." This brings us to the feast of the Epiphany, 6th January,
or "Twelfth Day," when Christmas ends--for the Epiphany has its own
Octave to follow, and I think the general consensus of opinion is in
favour of this ending.
CHAPTER II
Historic Christ-tides in 790, 878, and 1065--William I.,
1066-1085--William II.--Henry I., 1127--Stephen--Henry II.,
1158-1171--Richard I., 1190--John, 1200--Henry III.,
1253--Edwards I., II., and III.--Richard II.,
1377-1398--Henry IV.-V., 1418--Henry VIII., his magnificent
Christ-tides.
The earliest historic Christmas in England was 790, when the Welsh
suddenly attacked the soldiers of Offa, King of Mercia, who were
celebrating Christ-tide, and slew many of them; and in 878, when
Alfred was doing likewise at Chippenham, that Guthrum and his Danes
fell upon him, destroyed his forces, and sent him a fugitive. In 1065,
at this season, Westminster Abbey was consecrated, but King Edward was
not there, being too ill. Next year, in this same Church of St. Peter,
was William I. crowned on Christmas day by Aldred, archbishop of York;
for he would not receive the crown at the hands of Stigand, archbishop
of Canterbury, "because he was hated, and furthermore judged to be a
verie lewd person, and a naughtie liver." In 1085 he kept his
Christ-tide at Gloucester, where he knighted his son Henry.
William II. followed the example of his father, and kept the festival
in state; as did Henry I. at Westminster, Windsor, and elsewhere. But
that of 1127 at Windsor was somewhat marred by a quarrel between two
prelates. It seems that Thurston, archbishop of York (in prejudice of
the right of William, archbishop of Canterbury), would have set the
crown on the king's head as he was going to hear Mass, but was pushed
back with some violence by the followers of the other archbishop, and
his chaplain, who was bearing the archiepiscopal crozier, was
ignominiously and contemptuously thrust out of doors, cross and all.
The strife did not end there, for both the prelates, together with the
bishop of Lincoln, went to Rome to lay their case before the Pope for
his decision.
Stephen, for a short time, kept Christ-tide royally; but the internal
dissensions of his kingdom prevented him from continuing celebrating
the festival in state. Henry II. kept his first Christ-tide at
Bermondsey, where, to conciliate his subjects, he solemnly promised to
expel all foreigners from England, whereupon some tarried not, but
went incontinently. A curious event happened at Christmas 1158, when
the king, then at Worcester, took the crown from his head and
deposited it on the altar, never wearing it afterwards. In 1171 he
spent the feast at Dublin, where, there being no place large enough,
he built a temporary hall for the accommodation of his suite and
guests, to which latter he taught the delights of civilisation in good
cookery, masquings, and tournaments. The most famous Christ-tide that
we hear of in the reign of Richard I. is that in 1190, when "the two
Kings of England and France held their Christmasse this yeare at
Messina, and still the King of England used great liberalitie in
bestowing his treasure freelie amongst knights and other men of warre,
so that it was thought he spent more in a moneth than anie of his
predecessours ever spent in a whole yeare."
John kept Christ-tide in 1200 at Guildford, "and there gave to his
servants manie faire liveries and suits of apparell. The archbishop of
Canturburie did also the like at Canturburie, seeming in deed to
strive with the king, which of them should passe the other in such
sumptuous appareling of their men: whereat the king (and not without
good cause) was greatlie mooved to indignation against him, although,
for a time, he coloured the same." John took a speedy and very curious
revenge. "From thence he returned and came to Canturburie, where he
held his Easter, which fell that yeare on the day of the Annunciation
of our Ladie, at which feast he sat crowned, together with his wife,
queen Isabell, _the archbishop of Canturburie bearing the charges of
them and their trains while they remained there_." Next year he held
the feast at Argenton in Normandy.
Henry III. celebrated the Nativity right royally in 1253 at York,
"whither came Alexander the young King of Scots, and was there made
knight by the King of England; and, on Saint Stephan's day, he married
the ladie Margaret, daughter to the King of England, according to the
assurance before time concluded. There was a great assemblie of noble
personages at that feast. The Queene dowager of Scotland, mother to
King Alexander, a Frenchwoman of the house of Coucie, had passed the
sea, and was present there with a faire companie of lords and
gentlemen. The number of knights that were come thither on the King of
England's part were reckoned to be at the point of one thousand. The
King of Scots had with him three score knights, and a great sort of
other gentlemen comparable to knights. The King of Scots did homage to
the King of England, at that time, for the realme of Scotland, and all
things were done with great love and favour, although, at the
beginning, some strife was kindled about taking up of lodgings. This
assemblie of the princes cost the archbishop verie deerelie in
feasting and banketting them and their traines. At one dinner it was
reported he spent at the first course three score fat oxen."
Edward I. had, at two separate times, as Christmas guests Llewellyn of
Wales and Baliol of Scotland. Edward II. kept one feast of the
Nativity at York in 1311, revelling with Piers Gaveston and his
companions; but that of 1326 was spent in prison at Kenilworth, whilst
his wife and son enjoyed themselves at Wallingford. Strange and sad
guests, too, must the captive King of France and David of Scotland
have been at Edward III.'s Christ-tide feast in 1358 at Westminster.
Richard II. came to the throne 21st June 1377, a boy of eleven years,
and I think Stow has made a mistake in a year in the following
account, because at the date he gives he would have been king instead
of prince.
"One other show, in the year 1377, made by the citizens for the
disport of the young prince Richard, son to the Black Prince, in the
feast of Christmas, in this manner:--On the Sunday before Candlemas,
in the night, one hundred and thirty citizens, disguised and well
horsed, in a mummery, with sound of trumpets, sackbuts, cornets,
shalmes, and other minstrels, and innumerable torch lights of wax,
rode from Newgate through Cheape, over the bridge, through
Southwarke, and so to Kennington beside Lambheth, where the young
prince remained with his mother and the Duke of Lancaster, his uncle,
the Earls of Cambridge, Hertford, Warwicke, and Suffolke, with divers
other lords. In the first rank did ride forty-eight in the likeness
and habit of Esquires, two and two together, clothed in red coats and
gowns of say or sandal, with comely visors on their faces; after them
came forty-eight Knights, in the same livery of colour and stuff; then
followed one richly arrayed like an Emperor; and, after him some
distance, one stately attired like a Pope, whom followed twenty-four
Cardinals; and, after them, eight or ten with black visors, not
amiable, as if they had been legates from some foreign princes. These
maskers, after they had entered Kennington, alighted from their
horses, and entered the hall on foot; which done, the prince, his
mother, and the lords, came out of the chamber into the hall, whom the
said mummers did salute, showing by a pair of dice upon the table
their desire to play with the prince, which they so handled, that the
prince did always win when he cast them. Then the mummers set to the
prince three jewels, one after the other, which were a bowl of gold, a
cup of gold, and a ring of gold, which the prince won at three casts.
Then they set to the prince's mother, the duke, the earls, and other
lords, to every one a ring of gold, which they did also win. After
which they were feasted, and the music sounded, the prince and lords
danced on the one part with the mummers, which did also dance; which
jollity being ended, they were again made to drink, and then departed
in order as they came."
When he came to the throne as Richard II. he had very enlarged ideas
on expenditure, and amongst others on Christmas feasts. He held one at
Lichfield in 1398, where the Pope's Nuncio and several foreign
noblemen were present, and he was obliged to enlarge the episcopal
palace in order to accommodate his guests. Stow tells us: "This yeere
King Richarde kept his Christmas at Liechfield, where he spent in the
Christmas time 200 tunns of wine, and 2000 oxen with their
appurtenances." But then he is said to have had 2000 cooks, and
cookery was then elevated into a science: so much so, that the
earliest cookery book that has come down to us is _The Forme of
Cury_, which "was compiled of the chef Mairt Cok of Kyng Richard the
Secunde, Kyng of .nglond[4] aftir the Conquest." Twenty-eight oxen,
three hundred sheep, an incredible number of fowls, and all kinds of
game were slaughtered every morning for the use of his household. It
seems incredible, but see what old John Hardyng, the metrical
chronicler, says:--
Truly I herd Robert Ireleffe saye,
Clerke of the grene cloth, y^{t} to the household,
Came euery daye for moost partie alwaye,
Ten thousand folke by his messis tould,
That folowed the hous aye as thei would,
And in the kechin three hundred seruitours,
And in eche office many occupiours;
And ladies faire with their gentilwomen,
Chamberers also and launderers,
Three hundred of them were occupied then.
[Footnote 4: [Transcriber's Note: ".nglond" appears in the original.
An 18th-Century annotated edition of _The Forme of Cury_ notes that in
the original manuscript, "E was intended to be prefixed in red ink" in
place of the leading period. See Pegge, Samuel, _The Forme of Cury_,
p. 1, note c (London: J. Nichols, 1780) (page image available at
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/foc/FoC042.html).]]
Of the Christ-tides of Henry IV. there are no events recorded, except
that Stow states that "in the 2nd of his reign, he then keeping his
Christmas at Eltham, twelve aldermen and their sons rode in a mumming,
and had great thanks," but Henry V. had at least one sweet Christmas
day. It was in the year 1418, when he was besieging Rouen, and
Holinshed thus describes the sufferings of the garrison. "If I should
rehearse (according to the report of diverse writers) how deerelie
dogs, rats, mise, and cats were sold within the towne, and how
greedilie they were by the poore people eaten and devoured, and how
the people dailie died for fault of food, and young infants laie
sucking in the streets on their mother's breasts, lieng dead, starved
for hunger; the reader might lament their extreme miseries. A great
number of poore sillie creatures were put out at the gates, which were
by the Englishmen that kept the trenches, beaten and driven backe
againe to the same gates, which they found closed and shut against
them. And so they laie betweene the wals of the citie and the trenches
of the enimies, still crieing for helpe and releefe, for lacke whereof
great numbers of them dailie died.
"Howbeit, King Henrie, moved with pitie, upon Christmasse daie, in
the honor of Christes Nativitie, refreshed all the poore people with
vittels, to their great comfort and his high praise."
There are no notable Christ-tides until we come to the reign of Henry
VIII. In the second year of his reign he kept Christmas quietly at
Richmond, the queen being near her confinement, which event taking
place on the first of January, she was sufficiently recovered to look
at the festivities on Twelfth day. "Against the twelfe daie, or the
daie of the Epiphanie, at night, before the banket in the hall at
Richmond, was a pageant devised like a mounteine, and set with stones;
on the top of which mounteine was a tree of gold, the branches and
boughes frised with gold, spreading on everie side over the mounteine,
with roses and pomegranates, the which mounteine was, with vices,
brought up towards the king, and out of the same came a ladie
apparelled in cloth of gold, and the children of honour called the
henchmen, which were freshlie disguised, and danced a morice before
the king; and, that done, re-entered the mounteine, which was then
drawen backe, and then was the wassail or banket brought in, and so
brake up Christmasse."
However the queen was better next year, and "In this yeare the king
kept his Christmasse at Greenewich, where was such abundance of viands
served to all comers of anie honest behaviour, as hath beene few times
seene. And against New Yeeres night was made in the hall a castell,
gates, towers, and dungeon, garnished with artillerie and weapon,
after the most warlike fashion: and on the front of the castell was
written _Le forteresse dangereux_, and, within the castell were six
ladies cloathed in russet sattin, laid all over with leaves of gold,
and everie one knit with laces of blew silke and gold. On their heads,
coifs and caps all of gold. After this castell had beene caried about
the hall, and the queene had beheld it, in came the king with five
other, apparelled in coats, the one half of russet sattin, the other
halfe of rich cloth of gold; on their heads caps of russet sattin
embrodered with works of fine gold bullion.
"These six assaulted the castell. The ladies seeing them so lustie and
couragious, were content to solace with them, and upon further
communication to yeeld the castell, and so they came downe and dansed
a long space. And after, the ladies led the knights into the castell,
and then the castell suddenlie vanished out of their sights. On the
daie of the Epiphanie at night, the king, with eleven other, were
disguised, after the manner of Italie; called a maske, a thing not
seene before, in England; they were apparelled in garments long and
broad, wrought all with gold, with visors and caps of gold. And, after
the banket done, these maskers came in, with six gentlemen disguised
in silke, bearing staffe torches, and desired the ladies to danse:
some were content, and some refused. And, after they had dansed, and
communed togither, as the fashion of the maske is, they tooke their
leave and departed, and so did the queene and all the ladies."
In 1513, "The king kept a solemne Christmasse at Greenwich, with
danses and mummeries in most princelie manner. And on the Twelfe daie
at night came into the hall a mount, called _the_ rich mount. The
mount was set full of rich flowers of silke, and especiallie full of
broome slips full of cods, the branches were greene sattin, and the
flowers flat gold of damaske, which signified Plantagenet. On the top
stood a goodlie beacon giving light; round about the beacon sat the
king and five others, all in cotes and caps of right crimsin velvet,
embrodered with flat gold of damaske, their cotes set full of spangles
of gold. And foure woodhouses (? _wooden horses_) drew the mount till
it came before the queene, and then the king and his companie
descended and dansed. Then, suddenlie, the mount opened, and out came
six ladies in crimsin sattin and plunket, embrodered with gold and
pearle, with French hoods on their heads, and they dansed alone. Then
the lords of the mount tooke the ladies and dansed together; and the
ladies re-entered, and the mount closed, and so was conveied out of
the hall. Then the king shifted him, and came to the queene, and sat
at the banket, which was verie sumptuous."
1514, "This Christmasse, on New Yeares night, the king, the Duke of
Suffolke, and two other were in mantels of cloath of silver, lined
with blew velvet; the silver was pounced in letters, that the velvet
might be seene through; the mantels had great capes like to the
Portingall slops, and all their hosen, dublets, and coats were of the
same fashion cut, and of the same stuffe. With them were foure ladies
in gowns, after the fashion of Savoie, of blew velvet, lined with
cloath of gold, the velvet all cut, and mantels like tipets knit
togither all of silver, and on their heads bonets of burned gold: the
foure torch-bearers were in sattin white and blew. This strange
apparell pleased much everie person, and in especiall the queene. And
thus these foure lords and foure ladies came into the queenes chamber
with great light of torches, and dansed a great season, and then put
off their visors, and were all well knowne, and then the queene
hartily thanked the king's grace for her goodlie pastime and desport.
"Likewise on the Twelve night, the king and the queene came into the
hall at Greenewich, and suddenlie entered a tent of cloath of gold; and
before the tent stood foure men of armes, armed at all points, with
swords in their hands; and, suddenlie, with noise of trumpets entered
foure other persons all armed, and ran to the other foure, and there
was a great and fierce fight. And, suddenlie, out of a place like a
wood, eight wild men, all apparelled in greene mosse, made with sleved
silke, with ouglie weapons, and terrible visages, and there fought
with the knights eight to eight: and, after long fighting, the armed
knights drove the wild men out of their places, and followed the chase
out of the hall, and when they were departed, the tent opened, and
there came out six lords and six ladies richlie apparelled, and dansed
a great time. When they had dansed their pleasure, they entered the
tent againe, which was conveied out of the hall: then the king and
queene were served with a right sumptuous banket."
In 1515, "The king kept a solemne Christmasse at his manor of Eltham;
and on the Twelfe night, in the hall was made a goodlie castell,
wounderously set out: and in it certeine ladies and knights; and when
the king and queene were set, in came other knights and assailed the
castell, where manie a good stripe was given; and at the last the
assailants were beaten awaie. And then issued out knights and ladies
out of the castell, which ladies were rich and strangelie disguised;
for all their apparell was in braids of gold, fret with moving
spangles of silver and gilt, set on crimsin sattin, loose and not
fastned; the men's apparell of the same sute made like Julis of
Hungarie, and the ladies heads and bodies were after the fashion of
Amsterdam. And when the dansing was done, the banket was served in of
five hundred dishes, with great plentie to everie bodie."
In 1517, "the king kept his Christmasse at his manor of Greenwich, and
on the Twelfe night, according to the old custome, he and the queene
came into the hall; and when they were set, and the queene of Scots
also, there entered into the hall a garden artificiall, called the
garden of _Esperance_. This garden was towred at everie corner, and
railed with railes gilt; all the banks were set with flowers
artificiall of silke and gold, the leaves cut of green sattin, so that
they seemed verie flowers. In the midst of this garden was a piller of
antique worke, all gold set with pearles and stones, and on the top of
the piller, which was six square, was a lover, or an arch embowed,
crowned with gold; within which stood a bush of roses red and white,
all of silk and gold, and a bush of pomegranats of the like stuffe. In
this garden walked six knights, and six ladies richlie apparelled, and
then they descended and dansed manie goodlie danses, and so ascended
out of the hall, and then the king was served with a great banket."
In 1518 was the fearful plague of the "sweating sickness," and the
chronicler says "this maladie was so cruell that it killed some within
three houres, some merrie at dinner, and dead at dinner." It even
invaded the sanctity of the Court, and the king reduced his
_entourage_, and kept no Christmas that year.
In 1520, "the king kept his Christmas at Greenwich with much
noblenesse and open Court. On Twelfe daie his grace and the earle of
Devonshire, with foure aids, answered at the tournie all commers,
which were sixteene persons. Noble and rich was their apparell, but in
feats of armes the king excelled the rest."
The next one recorded is that of 1524, when "before the feast of
Christmasse, the lord Leonard Graie, and the lord John Graie, brethren
to the Marquesse Dorset, Sir George Cobham, sonne to the lord Cobham,
William Carie, Sir John Dudleie, Thomas Wiat, Francis Pointz, Francis
Sidneie, Sir Anthonie Browne, Sir Edward Seimor, Oliver Manners,
Percivall Hart, Sebastian Nudigate, and Thomas Calen, esquiers of the
king's houshold, enterprised a challenge of feats of armes against the
feast of Christmas, which was proclaimed by Windsore the herald, and
performed at the time appointed after the best manners, both at tilt,
tourneie, barriers, and assault of a castell erected for that purpose
in the tilt-yard at Greenewich, where the king held a roiall
Christmasse that yeare, with great mirth and princelie pastime."
Of the next Christ-tide we are told, "In this winter there was great
death in London, so that the terme was adjourned: and the king kept
his Christmasse at Eltham, with a small number, and therefore it was
called the Still Christmasse."
In 1526, "the king kept a solemne Christmasse at Greenewich with
revelles, maskes, disguisings and bankets; and the thirtith daie of
December, was an enterprise of iusts made at the tilt by six
gentlemen, against all commers, which valiantlie furnished the same,
both with speare and sword; and like iustes were kept the third daie
of Januarie, where were three hundred speares broken. That same night,
the king and manie yoong gentlemen with him, came to Bridewell, and
there put him and fifteene other, all in masking apparell, and then
tooke his barge and rowed to the cardinal's place, where were at
supper a great companie of lords and ladies, and then the maskers
dansed, and made goodlie pastime; and when they had well dansed, the
ladies plucked awaie their visors, and so they were all knowen, and to
the king was made a great banket."
This is the last recorded Christ-tide of this reign, and, doubtless,
as the king grew older and more sedate, he did not encourage the
sports which delighted him in his hot youth.
CHAPTER III
Historic Christ-tides--Edward VI., 1551--Mary--Elizabeth--James
I.--The Puritans--The Pilgrim Fathers--Christmas's
Lamentation--Christ-tide in the Navy, 1625.
Only one is noted in the reign of Edward VI., that of 1551, of which
Holinshed writes, "Wherefore, as well to remove fond talke out of
men's mouths, as also to recreat and refresh the troubled spirits of
the young king; who seemed to take the trouble of his uncle[5]
somewhat heavilie; it was devised, that the feast of Christ's
nativitie, commonlie called Christmasse, then at hand, should be
solemnlie kept at Greenwich, with open houshold and frank resorte to
Court (which is called keeping of the hall), what time of old
ordinarie course there is alwaies one appointed to make sport in the
Court, called commonlie lord of misrule: whose office is not unknowne
to such as have beene brought up in noble men's houses, and among
great house-keepers, which use liberall feasting in that season. There
was, therefore, by orders 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 commonlie his
predecessors had beene 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 shew of sundrie sights
and devises of rare inventions, and in act of diverse interludes, and
matters of pastime plaied by persons, as not onely satisfied the
common sort, but, also, were very well liked and allowed by the
councell, and others of skill in the like pastimes; but, best of all,
by the yoong king himselfe, as appeered by his princelie liberalitie
in rewarding that service.
[Footnote 5: The Duke of Somerset had just been condemned to death,
and was beheaded the 22nd January following.]
"On mondaie, the fourth of Januarie, the said lord of merie disports
came by water to London, and landed at the Tower wharffe, where he was
received by Vanse, lord of misrule to John Mainard, one of the
shiriffes of London, and so conducted through the citie with a great
companie of yoong lords and gentlemen to the house of Sir George
Barne, lord maior, where he, with the cheefe of his companie dined,
and, after, had a great banket: and at his departure the lord maior
gave him a standing cup with a cover of silver and guilt, of the value
of ten pounds, for a reward, and also set a hogshed 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 shiriffes, and then departed to the tower wharffe
againe, and so to the court by water, to the great commendation of the
maior and aldermen, and highlie accepted of the king and councell."
Mary does not seem to have kept up state Christ-tide except on one
occasion, the year after her marriage with Philip, when a masque was
performed before her.
Elizabeth continued the old tradition, but they are only mentioned and
known by the Expenses books. It is said that at Christmas 1559 she was
displeased with something in the play performed before her, and
commanded the players to leave off. There was also a masque for her
amusement on Twelfth Night.
Of James I.'s first Christ-tide in England we have the following in a
letter from the Lady Arabella Stuart to the Earl of Shrewsbury, 3rd
December 1603:--
"The Queen intendeth to make a mask this Christmass, to which my lady
of Suffolk and my lady Walsingham have warrants to take of the late
Queen's apparell out of the Tower at their discretion. Certain
gentlemen, whom I may not yet name, have made me of theyr counsell,
intend another. Certain gentlemen of good sort another. It is said
there shall be 30 playes. The king will feast all the Embassadours
this Christmass."
The death of the infant Princess Mary in September 1607 did not
interfere with James I. keeping Christmas right royally in that year.
There were masques and theatricals--nay, the king wanted a play acted
on Christmas night--and card-playing went on for high sums, the queen
losing £300 on the eve of Twelfth night.
It was, probably, the exceeding license of Christ-tide that made the
sour Puritans look upon its being kept in remembrance, as vain and
superstitious; at all events, whenever in their power, they did their
best to crush it. Take, for instance, the first Christmas day after
the landing of the so-called "Pilgrim Fathers" at Plymouth Rock in
1620, and read the deliberate chilliness and studied slight of the
whole affair, which was evidently more than the ship's master could
bear.
"Munday, the 25 Day, we went on shore, some to fell tymber, some to
saw, some to riue, and some to carry, so that no man rested all that
day, but towards night, some, as they were at worke, heard a noyse of
some Indians, which caused vs all to goe to our Muskets, but we heard
no further, so we came aboord againe, and left some twentie to keepe
the court of gard; that night we had a sore storme of winde and raine.
Munday the 25 being Christmas day, we began to drinke water aboord,
but at night, the Master caused vs to have some Beere, and so on board
we had diverse times now and then some Beere, but on shore none at
all."
That this working on Christmas day was meant as an intentional
slight--for these pious gentlemen would not work on the Sunday--is, I
think, made patent by the notice by William Bradford, of how they kept
the following Christmas.
"One ye day called Christmas-day, ye Gov'r caled them out to worke (as
was used), but ye most of this new company excused themselves, and
said it went against their consciences to worke on ye day. So ye Gov'r
tould them that if they made it a mater of conscience, he would spare
them till they were better informed. So he led away y^{e} rest, and
left them: but when they came home at noone from their worke, he found
them in ye streete at play, openly; some pitching ye barr, and some at
stoole ball, and such like sports. So he went to them and tooke away
their implements, and told them it was against his conscience that
they should play, and others worke. If they made ye keeping of it
matter of devotion, let them kepe their houses, but there should be no
gameing or revelling in ye streets. Since which time nothing hath been
attempted that way, at least, openly."
But we shall hear more of the Puritans and Christ-tide, only my scheme
is to treat the season chronologically, and, consequently, there must
be a slight digression; and the following ballad, which must have been
published in the time of James I., because of the allusion to yellow
starch (Mrs. Turner having been executed for the poisoning of Sir
Thomas Overbury in 1615), gives us
CHRISTMAS'S LAMENTATION
Christmas is my name, far have I gone,
Without regard; without regard.
Whereas great men by flocks there be flown,
To London-ward--to London Ward.
There they in pomp and pleasure do waste
That which Old Christmas was wonted to feast,
Well a day!
Houses where music was wont for to ring,
Nothing but bats and owlets do sing.
Well a day, Well a day.
Well a day, where should I stay?
Christmas beef and bread is turn'd into stones,
Into stones and silken rags;
And Lady Money sleeps and makes moans,
And makes moans in misers' bags;
Houses where pleasures once did abound,
Nought but a dog and a shepherd is found,
Well a day!
Places where Christmas revels did keep,
Now are become habitations for sheep.
Well a day, Well a day,
Well a day, where should I stay?
Pan, the shepherds' god, doth deface,
Doth deface Lady Ceres' crown,
And the tillage doth go to decay,
To decay in every town;
Landlords their rents so highly enhance,
That Pierce, the ploughman, barefoot may dance;
Well a day!
Farmers that Christmas would still entertain,
Scarce have wherewith themselves to maintain,
Well a day, etc.
Come to the countryman, he will protest,
Will protest, and of bull-beef boast;
And, for the citizen, he is so hot,
Is so hot, he will burn the roast.
The courtier, sure good deeds will not scorn,
Nor will he see poor Christmas forlorn?
Well a day!
Since none of these good deeds will do,
Christmas had best turn courtier too,
Well a day, etc.
Pride and luxury they do devour,
Do devour house keeping quite;
And soon beggary they do beget,
Do beget in many a knight.
Madam, forsooth, in her coach must wheel
Although she wear her hose out at heel,
Well a day!
And on her back wear that for a weed,
Which me and all my fellows would feed.
Well a day, etc.
Since pride came up with the yellow starch,
Yellow starch--poor folks do want,
And nothing the rich men will to them give,
To them give, but do them taunt;
For Charity from the country is fled,
And in her place hath nought left but need;
Well a day!
And corn is grown to so high a price,
It makes poor men cry with weeping eyes.
Well a day, etc.
Briefly for to end, here do I find,
I do find so great a vocation,
That most great houses seem to attain,
To attain a strong purgation;
Where purging pills such effects they have shew'd,
That forth of doors they their owners have spued;
Well a day!
And where'er Christmas comes by, and calls,
Nought now but solitary and naked walls.
Well a day, etc.
Philemon's cottage was turn'd into gold,
Into gold, for harbouring Jove:
Rich men their houses up for to keep,
For to keep, might their greatness move;
But, in the city, they say, they do live,
Where gold by handfulls away they do give;--
I'll away,
And thither, therefore, I purpose to pass,
Hoping at London to find the Golden Ass.
I'll away, I'll away,
I'll away, for here's no stay.
A little light upon this ballad may possibly be found in a letter from
John Chamberlain to Sir Dudley Carleton (21st December 1627):--"Divers
lords and personages of quality have made means to be dispensed
withall for going into the Country this Christmas according to the
proclamation; but it will not be granted, so that they pack away on
all sides for fear of the worst."
As we are now getting near the attempted suppression of Christmas
under the Puritan _régime_, it may be as well to notice the extreme
licence to which the season's holiday and festivities had reached--and
perhaps a more flagrant case than the following can scarcely be given.
On 13th January 1626 the Commissioners of the Navy write to the Duke
of Buckingham that they have received information from persons who
have been on board the _Happy Entrance_ in the Downs, and the
_Nonsuch_ and _Garland_ at Gore-end, that for these Christmas
holidays, the captains, masters, boatswains, gunners, and carpenters,
were not aboard their ships, nor gave any attendance to the service,
leaving the ships a prey to any who might have assaulted them. The
Commissioners sent down clothes for the sailors, and there were no
officers to take charge of them, and the pressed men ran away as fast
as the Commissioners sent them down. If they had beaten up and down,
they might have prevented the loss of two English ships taken by the
Dunkirkers off Yarmouth.
This, naturally, was a state of things which could not be allowed, and
on January 15 the Duke of Buckingham wrote to Sir Henry Palmer as to
the officers and men quitting their ships at Christmas time, and
called upon him "presently to repair on board his own ship, and to
charge the officers of all the ships composing his fleet, not to
depart from their ships without order."
CHAPTER IV
Attempts of Puritans to put down Christ-tide--Attitude of
the people--Preaching before Parliament--"The Arraignment,
etc., of Christmas."
As soon as the Puritans became at all powerful, their iconoclastic
zeal naturally attacked Christmas, and the Scotchmen, such as Baillie,
Rutherford, Gillespie, and Henderson, in the Westminster Assembly of
Divines, tried in 1643 to get the English observance of Christmas
abolished--but they only succeeded so far as coming to a resolution
that whilst preaching on that day, "withal to cry down the
superstition of that day." Next year they were happier in their
efforts, as is shortly told in _Parliamentary History_, December 19,
1644. "The lords and commons having long since appointed a day for a
Fast and Humiliation, which was to be on the last Wednesday in every
Month, it happening to fall on Christmas day this month, the Assembly
of Divine sent to acquaint the lords with it: and, to avoid any
inconveniences that might be by some people keeping it as a Feast, and
others as a Fast, they desired that the Parliament would publish a
Declaration the next Lord's day in the Churches of London and
Westminster; that that day might be kept as it ought to be, that the
whole kingdom might have comfort thereby. The houses agreed to this
proposal, and directed the following Ordinance to be published; which
bore this title--
"AN ORDINANCE FOR THE BETTER OBSERVATION OF THE FEAST OF THE NATIVITY
OF CHRIST.
"Whereas some doubts have been raised whether the next Fast shall be
celebrated, because it falleth on the day which, heretofore, was
usually called the Feast of the Nativity of our Saviour; the lords and
commons do order and ordain that public notice be given, that the Fast
appointed to be kept on the last Wednesday in every month, ought to be
observed until it be otherwise ordered by both houses; and that this
day particularly is to be kept with the more solemn humiliation,
because it may call to remembrance our sins and the sins of our
forefathers, who have turned this Feast, pretending the memory of
Christ, into an extreme forgetfulness of him, by giving liberty to
carnal and sensual delights; being contrary to the life which Christ
himself led here upon earth, and to the spiritual life of Christ in
our souls; for the sanctifying and saving whereof Christ was pleased
both to take a human life, and to lay it down again.
"The lords ordered That the Lord Mayor of London take care that this
Ordinance should be dispersed to all churches and chapels, within the
line of communication and the bills of mortality. Afterwards it was
made general through the kingdom; in consequence of which Christmas
day was no longer observed as a Festival, by law, till the
Restoration."
But the popular love of Christmas could not be done away with by
restrictive legislation, as the movers therein very well knew, _teste_
Lightfoot, who, in his Journal, says "Some of our members were sent to
the houses to desire them to give an order that the next Fast day
might be solemnly kept, because the people will be ready to neglect
it, being Christmas day."
Nor was anything neglected to repress this Christ-tide, because its
keeping was inbred in the people, and they hated this sour puritanical
feeling, and the doing away with their accustomed festivities. Richard
Kentish told the House of Commons so in very plain language. Said he:
"The people of England do hate to be reformed; so now, a prelatical
priest, with a superstitious service book, is more desired, and would
be better welcome to the generality of England, than the most learned,
laborious, conscientious preacher, whether Presbyterian or
Independent. These poor simple creatures are mad after superstitious
festivals, after unholy holidays."
The houses of Parliament baked their pie for themselves, and
deservedly had to eat it; for two red hot gospellers, Calamy and
Sedgewick, preached on the iniquity of keeping Christ-tide to the
Lords in Westminster Abbey; whilst in the contiguous Church of S.
Margaret, Thorowgood and Langley expatiated on the same theme to the
Commons, and, as if they could not have enough of so good a thing,
_all four sermons were printed by order of the Houses_.
Calamy in his sermon said, "This day is the day which is commonly
called the Feast of Christ's Nativity, or Christmas Day, a day that
hath hitherto been much abused in superstition and profaneness. I have
known some that have preferred Christmas Day before the Lord's Day,
and have cried down the Lord's Day and cried up Christmas Day. I have
known those that would be sure to receive the Sacrament on Christmas
Day though they did not receive it all the year after. This was the
superstition of this day, and the profaneness was as great. There were
some that did not play cards all the year long, yet they must play at
Christmas. This year, God, by a providence hath buried this Feast in a
Fast, and I hope it will never rise again. You have set out, Right
Honourable, a strict Order for the keeping of it, and you are here
to-day to observe your own Order, and I hope you will do it strictly."
And he finished with a prayer, in which he begged they might have
grace "to be humbled, especially for the old superstition and
profaneness of this Feast."
But although the English people were crushed for a time under the iron
heel of the Puritan boot, they had no sympathy with their masters, nor
their ways--_vide_ the rebound, immediately after Oliver Cromwell's
death, and the return to the old state of things, which has never
altered since, except as a matter of fashion. Yet, even then, there
were protests against this effacement of Christ-tide, and many have
been handed down to us, differing naturally very much in style. One
really amusing one has the merit of being short: and when the reader
of this book has perused it, I believe he will thank me for having
reproduced it. It is--
"THE
ARRAIGNMENT
Conviction and Imprisonment
of
CHRISTMAS
On _S. Thomas Day_ last,
And
How he broke out of Prison in the Holidayes and got away,
onely left his hoary hair, and gray beard, sticking between
two Iron Bars of a Window.
With
An Hue and Cry after CHRISTMAS, and a Letter from _Mr.
Woodcock_, a Fellow in Oxford, to a Malignant Lady in LONDON.
And divers passages between the Lady and the Cryer, about Old
Christmas: And what shift he was fain to make to save his
life, and great stir to fetch him back again.
With divers other Witty Passages.
Printed by _Simon Minc'd Pye_, for _Cissely Plum-Porridge_;
And are to be sold by _Ralph Fidler_, Chandler, at the signe
of the _Pack of Cards_ in _Mustard-Alley_, in _Brawn Street_.
1645."
This little Tract commenced with the supposed Letter,
"Lady,
"_I Beseech you, for the love of Oxford, hire a Cryer (I will see him
paid for his paines), to cry old father Christmas, and keep him with
you (if you can meet with him, and stay him), till we come to London,
for we expect to be there shortly, and then we will have all things as
they were wont, I warrant you; hold up your spirits, and let not your
old friends be lost out of your favour, for his sake, who is_
"Your ever servant,
"JO. WOODCOCK.
"_Lady_--Honest Crier, I know thou knewest old Father Christmas; I am
sent to thee from an honest schollar of Oxford (that hath given me
many a hug and kisse in Christmasse time when we have been merry) to
cry Christmas, for they hear that he is gone from hence, and that we
have lost the poor old man; you know what marks he hath, and how to
cry him.
"_Cryer_--Who shall pay me for my paines?
"_Lady_--Your old friend, _Mr. Woodcock_, of Oxford. Wilt thou take
his word?
"_Cryer_--I will cry him, I warrant you, through the Citie and
Countrie, and it shall go hard but I will finde him out; I can partly
ghesse who can tell some newes of him, if any people in England can,
for I am acquainted with all his familiar friends. Trust me in this
businesse, I will bring you word within fewe dayes.
_Ho-o-o-o-o-o-o yes, ho-o-o-o-o-o yes, ho-o-o-o-o-o yes;_
Any man or woman, whether Popish or Prelaticall, Superstitious or
Judaicall, or what person so ever, of any Tribe or Trullibub,[6] that
can give any knowledge, or tell any tidings of an old, old, old, very
old, grey-bearded Gentleman, called Christmas, who was wont to be a
verie familiar ghest, and visite all sorts of people, both poor and
rich, and used to appear in glittering gold silk and silver in the
Court, and in all shapes in the Theater in Whitehall, and had ringing
feasts and jollitie in all places, both in the Citie and Countrie for
his comming; if you went to the Temple, you might have found him there
at In and In, till many a Gentleman had outed all the mony from his
pocket, and after all, the Butlers found him locked up in their Boxes:
And in almost every house, you might have found him at Cards and Dice,
the very boyes and children could have traced him and the Beggers have
followed him from place to place, and seen him walking up and downe,
and in every house roast Beefe and Mutton, Pies and Plum-porrige, and
all manner of delicates round about him, and every one saluting merry
Christmas: If you had gone to the Queene's Chappel, you might have
found him standing against the wall, and the Papists weeping, and
beating themselves before him, and kissing his hoary head with
superstitious teares, in a theater exceeding all the plays of the
Bull, the Fortune, and the Cock-pit.
[Footnote 6: This word has an indefinite meaning. Sometimes it is
synonymous with entrails--as "tripes and trullibubs"; sometimes it is
meant for something very trifling, and then is occasionally spelt
"trillibubs." Why introduced here, no one can tell.]
"For age, this hoarie headed man was of great yeares, and as white as
snow; he entred the Romish Kallender time out of mind; is old, or very
neer, as _Father Mathusalem_ was; one that looked fresh in the
Bishops' time, though their fall made him pine away ever since; he was
full and fat as any dumb Docter of them all. He looked under the
consecrated Laune sleeves as big as Bul-beefe--just like Bacchus upon
a tunne of wine, when the grapes hang shaking about his eares; but,
since the catholike liquor is taken from him, he is much wasted, so
that he hath looked very thin and ill of late; but the wanton women
that are so mad after him, do not know how he is metamorphised, so
that he is not now like himselfe, but rather like Jack-a-lent.
"But yet some other markes that you may know him by, is that the
wanton Women dote after him; he helped them to so many new Gownes,
Hatts, and Hankerches, and other fine knacks, of which he hath a pack
on his back, in which is good store of all sorts, besides the fine
knacks that he got out of their husbands' pockets for household
provisions for him. He got Prentises, Servants, and Schollars many
play dayes, and therefore was well beloved by them also, and made all
merry with Bagpipes, Fiddles, and other musicks, Giggs, Dances, and
Mummings, yea, the young people had more merry dayes and houres before
him whilst he stayd, which was in some houses 12 dayes, in some 20, in
some more, in some lesse, than in all the yeare againe."
* * * * *
"All you, therefore, that by your diligent inquirie, can tell me anie
tidings of this ould man called Christmas, and tell me where he may be
met withall; whether in any of your streets, or elsewhere, though in
never so straitned a place; in an Applewoman's staul or Grocer's
Curren Tub, in a Cooke's Oven or the Maide's Porrige pot, or crept
into some corner of a Translater's shop, where the Cobler was wont so
merrily to chant his Carolls; whosoever can tel what is become of him,
or where he may be found, let them bring him back againe into England,
to the Crier, and they shall have a Benediction from the Pope, an
hundred oaths from the Cavaliers, 40 kisses from the Wanton Wenches,
and be made Pursevant to the next Arch Bishop. Malignants will send
him a piece of Braune, and everie Prentice boy will give him his point
(? _pint of wine_) next holie Thursday, the good Wives will keepe him
in some corners of their mince pies, and the new Nuncio Ireland will
returne him to be canonized the next Reformation of the Calender.
"_And so Pope save Christmas._
"_Cryer_--Lady, I am come to tell you what returne I can make you of
the crying of old Father Christmas, which I have done, and am now here
to give you an answer.
"_Lady_--Well said, honest Cryer, Mr. Woodcock will remember you for
it.
"_Cryer_--The poor old man upon St. Thomas his day was arraigned,
condemned, and after conviction cast into prison amongst the King's
Souldiers; fearing to be hanged, or some other execution to be done
upon him, and got out at so narrow a passage, between two Iron Bars of
a Window, that nothing but onely his old gray beard and hoarie haire
of his head stuck there, but nothing else to be seen of him; and, if
you will have that, compound for it, lest it be sold among the
sequestred goods, or burnt with the next Popish pictures, by the hand
of the hangman.
"_Lady_--But is old, old, good old Christmas gone? Nothing but the
hair of his good, grave old head and beard left! Well I will have
that, seeing I cannot have more of him, one lock whereof will serve
_Mr. Woodcock_ for a token. But what is the event of his departure?
"_Cryer_--The poor are sory for it, for they go to every door
a-begging as they were wont to do (_Good Mrs., somewhat against this
good Time_); but Time was transformed (_Away, begone, here is not for
you_); and so they, instead of going to the Ale-house to be drunk,
were fain to work all the Holidayes. The Schollers came into the Hall,
where their hungry stomacks had thought to have found good Brawn and
Christmas pies, Roast Beef and Plum-porridge; but no such matter.
Away, ye prophane, these are superstitious meats; your stomacks must
be fed with wholesome doctrine. Alas, poor tallow-faced Chandlers, I
met them mourning through the streets, and complaining that they could
get no vent for their Mustard, for want of Brawn.
"_Lady_--Well, if ever the Catholiques or Bishops rule again in
England, they will set the Church dores open on Christmas day, and we
shall have Masse at the High Altar, as was used when the day was first
instituted, and not have the holy Eucharist barred out of School, as
School boyes do their Masters against the festival![7] What! shall we
have our mouths shut to welcome old Christmas? No, no, bid him come by
night over the Thames, and we will have a back door open to let him
in. I will, myself, give him his diet for one year, to try his fortune
this time twelve month, it may prove better."
[Footnote 7: This Saturnalia of barring out the Schoolmaster at
Christmas--just before breaking up--was in use certainly as late as
1888. Vide _Notes and Queries_, 7th series, vol. vi. p. 484.]
CHAPTER V
The popular love of Christmas--Riots at Ealing and
Canterbury--Evelyn's Christmas days, 1652 '3 '4 '5
'7--Cromwell and Christ-tide--The Restoration--Pepys and
Christmas day, 1662--"The Examination and Tryal of old
Father Christmas."
And this was the general feeling. Parliament might sit, as we learn by
_The Kingdome's Weekly Intelligencer_, No. 152: "Thursday, December
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." But the
mass of the people quietly protested against this way of ignoring
Christ-tide, and notwithstanding the Assembly of Divines and
Parliament, no shops were open in London on that day, in spite of the
article published in No. 135 of _Mercurius Civicus, or London's
Intelligencer_, which explained the absurdity of keeping Christmas
day, and ordained that all shops should be opened, and that the
shopkeepers should see that their apprentices were at work on that
day. If they needed 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 thanks giving."
It would not so much have mattered if all the Puritans had followed
the example of George Fox, the founder of Quakerism, who, "when the
time called Christmas came, when others were feasting and sporting
themselves, went from house to house seeking out the poor and
desolate, and giving them money."
Parliament, although they did their best by public example to do away
with it, sitting every Christmas day from 1644 to 1656, could not
extinguish the deep-rooted feeling in favour of its being kept up in
the old-fashioned way, and, in London, at Christmas 1646, those who
opened their shops were very roughly used, so much so that in 1647
they asked the Parliament to protect them in future. Certainly, in
that year, the shops were all closed, but the irrepressible love of
Christmas could not be controlled, and the porters of Cornhill
bedecked the conduit with "Ivy, Rosmary, and Bays," and similar
decorations were exhibited in other parts of the City--a proceeding
which sorely exercised the Lord Mayor and the City Marshal, who rode
about, with their followings, setting fire to the harmless green
stuff--the doing of which occasioned great mirth among the Royalist
party.
There were riots about the keeping of Christmas in several parts of
the country--notably one at Ealing, in Middlesex; but there was a
famous one at Canterbury,[8] the particulars of which are given in a
short tract, which I here reprint, as it shows the feeling in the
country:
[Footnote 8: "Canterbury Christmas; or, A True Relation of the
Insurrection in Canterbury on Christmas Day last, with the great hurt
that befell divers persons thereby."]
"Upon Wednesday, _Decem._ 22, the Cryer of _Canterbury_ by the
appointment of Master _Major_,[9] openly proclaimed that Christmas
day, and all other Superstitious Festivals should be put downe, and
that a Market should be kept upon _Christmas day_.
[Footnote 9: Mayor.]
"Which not being observed (but very ill taken by the Country) the
towne was thereby unserved with provision, and trading very much
hindered; which occasioned great discontent among the people, caused
them to rise in a Rebellious way.
"The _Major_ being slighted, and his Commands observed only of a few
who opened their Shops, to the number of 12 at the most: They were
commanded by the multitude to shut up again, but refusing to obey,
their ware was thrown up and down, and they, at last, forced to shut
in.
"The _Major_ and his assistants used their best endeavours to qualifie
this tumult, but the fire being once kindled, was not easily quenched.
"The _Sheriffe_ laying hold of a fellow, was stoutly resisted; which
the _Major_ perceiving, took a Cudgell, and strook the man: who,
being now puny, pulled up his courage, and knockt down the _Major_,
whereby his Cloak was much torne and durty, besides the hurt he
received.
"The _Major_ hereupon made strict Proclamation for keeping the Peace,
and that every man depart to his own house.
"The multitude hollowing thereat, in disorderly manner; the _Aldermen_
and _Constables_ caught two or three of the rout, and sent them to the
Jaile, but they soon broke loose, and Jeered Master _Alderman_.
"Soone after, issued forth the Commanders of this Rabble, with an
addition of Souldiers, into the high street, and brought with them two
Foot-balls, whereby their company increased. Which the _Major_ and
_Aldermen_ perceiving, took what prisoners they had got, and would
have carried them to the Jayle. But the multitude following after to
the _King's Bench_, were opposed by Captain _Bridg_, who was straight
knoct down, and had his head broke in two places, not being able to
withstand the multitude, who, getting betwixt him and the Jayle,
rescued their fellowes, and beat the _Major_ and _Aldermen_ into their
houses, and then cried _Conquest_.
"Where, leaving them to breath a while, they went to one _White's_, a
Barber (a man noted to be a busie fellow), whose windowes they pulled
downe to the ground: The like they did to divers others, till night
overtook them, and they were forced to depart, continuing peaceable
the next day, it being the Saboth.
"On _Munday_ morning, the Multitude comming, the Major set a strong
watch with Muskets and Holbards in the City, both at the Gates and at
_S. Andrews_ Church, the Captaine of the Guard was _White_ the Barber.
"Till noon, they were quiet, then came one _Joyce_, a Hackney man,
whom _White_ bid stand, the fellow asked what the matter was, and
withall called him _Roundhead_; whereat _White_ being moved, cocked
his Pistoll and would have shot him, but the Major wisht him to hold:
Neverthelesse he shot, and the fellow fell down, but was not dead.
Whence arose a sudden clamour that a man was murdered, whereupon the
people came forth with clubs, and the _Major_ and _Aldermen_ made
haste away; the Towne rose againe, and the Country came in, took
possession of the Gates, and made enquiry for _White_; they found him
in a hay loft, where they broke his head, and drag'd him in the
streets, setting open the Prison dores and releasing those that were
in hold.
"Next, they vowed vengeance on the _Major_, pulling up his posts,
breaking his windowes; but, at last, being perswaded by Sir _William
Man_, Master _Lovelise_, Master _Harris_, and Master _Purser_, had
much adoe to persuade them from taking of his Person; so came
tumultuously into the high street, and their demands were so high,
that those Gentlemen could not perswade them. Afterward, meeting
Master _Burly_, the Town Clark, demanded the Keyes of the Prison from
him, which, being granted, they, with those Gentlemen formerly named,
went again to the Town Hall to Treat, and came to an agreement, which
was, that forty or fifty of their own men should keep the Town that
night, being compleatly armed, which being performed (the morning
issued) and they continued in arms till Tuesday morning: There are
none as yet dead, but diverse dangerously hurt.
"Master _Sheriffe_ taking _White's_ part, and striving to keep the
Peace, was knockt down, and his head fearfully broke; it was God's
mercy his braines were not beat out, but it should seem he had a
clung[10] pate of his own.
[Footnote 10: Tough or strong.]
"They went also without S. _George's_ gate, and did much injury to Mr.
_Lee_.
"As I am credibly informed, the injuries done are these.
"They have beat down all the windowes of Mr. _Major's_ House, burnt
the Stoups at the comming in of his dore, Master _Reeves'_ Windowes
were broke, Master _Page_, and Master _Pollen_, one _Buchurst_,
Captaine _Bridge_, _Thomas Harris_, a busie prating fellow, and others
were sorely wounded.
"It is Ordered that _Richard White_ and _Robert Hues_, being in
fetters, be tryed according to the Law, and upon faire Composition,
the multitude have delivered their Armes into the Hands of the City,
upon engagements of the best of the City that no man shall further
question or trouble them."
On this Christmas day, Parliament,[11] "on Saturday, December 25th,
commonly called Christmas day, received some complaints of the
countenancing of malignant ministers in some parts of London, where
they preach and use the Common Prayer Book, contrary to the order of
Parliament, and some delinquent Ministers have power given them to
examine and punish churchwardens, sequestrators, and others that do
countenance delinquent ministers to preach, and commit them, if they
see cause; upon which some were taken into Custody." One instance of
this is given in Whitelocke's _Memorials_ (p. 286). "Mr. Harris, a
Churchwarden of St. Martius, ordered to be committed for bringing
delinquents to preach there, and to be displaced from his office of
Churchwarden."
[Footnote 11: Rushworth's _Historical Collections_, pt. iv. vol. ii.
p. 944.]
And so it went on, the Parliament and Nonconformists doing their best
to suppress Christ-tide, and the populace stubbornly refusing to
submit, as is shown in a letter from Sir Thomas Gower to Mr. John
Langley, on December 28, 1652.[12] "There is little worth writing,
most of the time being spent in endeavouring to take away the esteem
held of Christmas Day, to which end, order was made that whoever would
open shops should be protected by the State; yet I heard of no more
than two who did so, and one of them had better have given £50, his
wares were so dirtyed; and secondly, that no sermons should be
preached, which was observed (for aught I hear) save at Lincoln's
Inn."
[Footnote 12: Hist. MSS. Commission Reports, v. p. 192.]
Evelyn, who was a staunch Episcopalian, writes in deep despondency as
to the keeping of Christ-tide. "1652, Dec. 25, Christmas day, no
Sermon any where, no church being permitted to be open, so observed it
at home. The next day, we went to Lewisham, where an honest divine
preached." "1653, Dec. 25, Christmas-day. No churches, or public
assembly. I was fain to pass the devotions of that Blessed day with my
family at home." "1654, Dec. 25, Christmas-day. No public offices in
Churches, but penalties on observers, so as I was constrained to
celebrate it at home."
On November 27, 1655, Cromwell promulgated an edict, prohibiting all
ministers of the Church of England from preaching or teaching in any
schools, and Evelyn sadly notes the fact. "Dec. 25. There was no more
notice taken of Christmas day in Churches. I went to London, where
Dr. Wild preached the funeral sermon of Preaching,[13] this being the
last day; after which, Cromwell's proclamation was to take place, that
none of the Church of England should dare either to preach, or
administer Sacraments, teach school, etc., on pain of imprisonment or
exile. So this was the mournfullest day that in my life I had seen, or
the Church of England herself, since the Reformation; to the great
rejoicing of both Papist and Presbyter. So pathetic was his discourse,
that it drew many tears from the auditory. Myself, wife, and some of
our family received the Communion: God make me thankful, who hath
hitherto provided for us the food of our souls as well as bodies! The
Lord Jesus pity our distressed Church, and bring back the captivity of
Zion!"
[Footnote 13: His text was 2 Cor. xiii. 9.]
His next recorded Christ-tide was an eventful one for him, and he thus
describes it: "1657, Dec. 25. I went to London with my wife to
celebrate Christmas day, Mr. Gunning preaching in Exeter Chapel, on
Michah 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 (so
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 doing so 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 the 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!"
Cromwell himself seems to have been somewhat ashamed of these
persecutions and severities, for[14] (25th December 1657) "Some
Congregations being met to observe this day, according to former
solemnity, and the _Protector_ being moved that Souldiers might be
sent to repress them, he advised against it, as that which was
contrary to the _Liberty of Conscience_ so much owned and pleaded for
by the _Protector_ and his friends; but, it being contrary to
Ordinances of Parliament (which were also opposed in the passing of
them) that these days should be so solemnized, the _Protector_ gave
way to it, and those meetings were suppressed by the Souldiers."
[Footnote 14: Whitelock's _Memorials_, ed. 1682, p. 666.]
But his life was drawing to a close, and with the Restoration of the
king came also that of Christ-tide, and there was no longer any need
of concealment, as Pepys tells us how he spent his Christmas day in
1662. "Had a pleasant walk to White Hall, where I intended to have
received the Communion with the family, but I came a little too late.
So I walked up into the house, and spent my time looking over
pictures, particularly the ships in King Henry the VIII.ths voyage to
Bullaen; marking the great difference between those built then and
now. By and by down to the Chapel again, where Bishop Morley[15]
preached upon the Song of the Angels, 'Glory to God on high, on earth
peace, and good will towards men.' Methought he made but a poor
Sermon, but long, and, reprehending the common jollity of the Court
for the true joy that shall and ought to be on these days; he
particularized concerning their excess in playes and gaming, saying
that he whose office it is to keep the gamesters in order and within
bounds, serves but for a second rather in a duell, meaning the
groome-porter. Upon which it was worth observing how far they are come
from taking the reprehensions of a bishop seriously, that they all
laugh in the Chapel when he reflected on their ill actions and
courses. He did much press us to joy in these public days of joy, and
to hospitality; but one that stood by whispered in my eare that the
Bishop do not spend one groate to the poor himself. The Sermon done, a
good anthem followed with vialls, and the King come down to receive
the Sacrament. But I staid not, but, calling my boy from my Lord's
lodgings, and giving Sarah some good advice, by my Lord's order, to be
sober, and look after the house, I walked home again with great
pleasure, and there dined by my wife's bed side with great content,
having a mess of brave plum-porridge and a roasted pullet for dinner,
and I sent for a mince pie abroad, my wife not being well, to make any
herself yet."
[Footnote 15: Bishop of Winchester, died 1684.]
The popular love of Christmas is well exemplified in a little 16mo
book, printed in 1678, entitled "The Examination and Tryal of old
Father CHRISTMAS; Together with his Clearing by the Jury, at the
Assizes held at the Town of _Difference_, in the County of
_Discontent_." The Jury was evidently a packed one. "Then saith the
_Clerk_ to the _Cryer_, count them--_Starve-mouse_, one, _All-pride_,
two, _Keep-all_, three, _Love-none_, four, _Eat-alone_, five,
_Give-little_, six, _Hoard-corn_, seven, _Grutch-meat_, eight,
_Knit-gut_, nine, _Serve-time_, ten, _Hate-good_, eleven,
_Cold-kitchen_, twelve.
"Then saith the _Cryer_, all you bountiful Gentlemen of the Jury,
answer to your names, and stand together, and hear your Charge.
"With that there was such a lamentable groan heard, enough to turn Ice
into Ashes, which caused the _Judge_, and the rest of the Bench, to
demand what the matter was; it was replied that the grave old
Gentleman, _Christmas_, did sound (_swoon_) at the naming of the Jury;
then it was commanded that they should give him air, and comfort him
up, so that he might plead for himself: and here, I cannot pass by in
silence, the love that was expressed by the Country people, some
shreeking and crying for the old man; others striving to hold him up,
others hugging him, till they had almost broke the back of him,
others running for Cordials and strong waters, insomuch that, at last
they had called back his wandring spirits, which were ready to take
their last farewel."
Christmas challenged this jury, and another was empanelled consisting
of Messrs _Love-friend_, _Hate-strife_, _Free-man_, _Cloath-back_,
_Warm-gut_, _Good-work_, _Neighbour-hood_, _Open-house_, _Scorn-use_,
_Soft-heart_, _Merry-man_, and _True-love_. His Indictment was as
follows:
"_Christmas_, thou art here indicted by the name of _Christmas_, of
the Town of _Superstition_, in the County of _Idolatry_, and that thou
hast, from time to time, abused the people of this Common-wealth,
drawing and inticing them to Drunkenness, Gluttony, and unlawful
Gaming, Wantonness, Uncleanness, Lasciviousness, Cursing, Swearing,
abuse of the Creatures, some to one Vice, and some to another; all to
Idleness: what sayest thou to thy Inditement, guilty or not guilty? He
answered, Not guilty, and so put himself to the Trial."
After the witnesses against him were heard, Christmas was asked what
he could say in his defence.
"_Judge._--Old _Christmas_, hold up thy head, and speak for thy self.
Thou hast heard thy inditement, and also what all these Witnesses have
evidenced against thee; what sayest thou now for thy self, that
sentence of condemnation should not be pronounced against thee?
"_Christmas._--Good my Lord, be favourable to an old man, I am above
One thousand six hundred years old, and was never questioned at Sizes
or Sessions before: my Lord, look on these white hairs, are they not a
Crown of Glory?...
"And first, my Lord, I am wronged in being indited by a wrong name, I
am corruptly called _Christmas_, my name is _Christ-tide_ or time.
"And though I generally come at a set time, yet I am with him every
day that knows how to use me.
"My Lord, let the Records be searcht, and you shall find that the
Angels rejoyced at my coming, and sung _Gloria in excelsis_; the
Patriarchs and Prophets longed to see me.
"The Fathers have sweetly imbraced me, our modern Divines all
comfortably cherisht me; O let me not be despised now I'm old. Is
there not an injunction in _Magna Charta_, that commands men to
inquire for the old way, which is the good way; many good deeds do I
do, O, why do the people hate me? We are commanded to be given to
Hospitality, and this hath been my practice from my youth upward: I
come to put men in mind of their redemption, to have them love one
another, to impart with something here below, that they may receive
more and better things above; the wise man saith _There is a time for
all things_, and why not for thankfulness? I have been the cause that
at my coming, Ministers have instructed the people every day in
publick, telling the people how they should use me, and other
delights, not to effeminate, or corrupt the mind, and bid them abhor
those pleasures from which they should not rise bettered, and that
they should by no means turn pass-time into Trade: And if that at any
time they have stept an Inch into excess, to punish themselves for it,
and be ever after the more careful to keep within compass.
"And did also advise them to manage their sports without Passion; they
would also tell the people that their feasts should not be much more
than nature requires, and grace moderates; not pinching, nor
pampering; And whereas they say that I am the cause they sit down to
meat, and rise up again graceless, they abundantly wrong me: I have
told them that before any one should put his hand in the dish, he
should look up to the owner, and hate to put one morsel in his mouth
unblessed: I tell them they ought to give thanks for that which is
paid for already, knowing that neither the meat, nor the mouth, nor
the man, are of his own making: I bid them fill their bellies, not
their eyes, and rise from the board, not glutted, but only satisfied,
and charge them to have a care that their guts be no hindrances to
their brains or hands, and that they should not lose themselves in
their feasts, but bid them be soberly merry, and wisely free. I also
advise them to get friendly Thrift to be there Caterer, and Temperance
to carve at the board, and be very watchful that obscenity, detraction
and scurrility be banisht the table; but let their discourse be as
savoury as the meat, and so feed as though they did live to eat, and,
at last, rise as full of thankfulness, as of food; this hath, this is,
and this shall be my continual practice.
"Now, concerning the particulars that these folks charge me with, I
cannot answer them, because I do not remember them; my memory is but
weak, as old men's use to be; but, methinks, they seem to be the seed
of the Dragon; they send forth of their mouths whole floods of impious
inventions against me, and lay to my charge things which I am not
guilty of, which hath caused some of my friends to forsake me, and
look upon me as a stranger: my brother _Good-works_ broke his heart
when he heard on it, my sister _Charity_ was taken with the
Numb-palsie, so that she cannot stretch out her hand...."
Counsel was heard for him as well as witnesses examined on his behalf,
and the Jury "brought him in, _Not Guilty_, with their own judgement
upon it. That he who would not fully celebrate _Christmas_ should
forfeit his estate. The Judge being a man of old integrity, was very
well pleased, and _Christmas_ was released with a great deal of
triumph and exaltation."
CHAPTER VI
Commencement of Christ-tide--"O Sapientia!"--St. Thomas's
Day--William the Conqueror and the City of York--Providing
for Christmas fare--Charities of
food--Bull-baiting--Christ-tide charities--Going
"a-Thomassing," etc.--Superstitions of the day.
We take it for granted that in the old times, when Christ-tide was
considered so great a festival as to be accorded a Novena--that it
began on the 16th December, when, according to the use of Sarum, the
antiphon "O Sapientia," is sung. This, as before stated, is pointed
out plainly in our English Church Calendar, which led to a curious
mistake on the part of Dr. Ellicott, Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol,
who on one occasion described it as the _Festival_ of "O Sapientia."
The other antiphons which are sung between the 16th December and
Christmas Eve are "O Adonai," "O Radix Jesu," "O Clavis David," "O
Oriens Splendor," "O Rex Gentium," and "O Emmanuel," and they are
commonly called the O's.
But, beyond its being lawful to eat mince pies on the 16th December, I
know of nothing noteworthy on the days intervening between that date
and the festival of St. Thomas on the 21st December, which is, or was,
celebrated in different parts of the country, with some very curious
customs. The earliest I can find of these is noted by Drake in his
_Eboracum_,[16] and he says he took the account from a MS. which came
into his possession.
[Footnote 16: Ed. 1736, p. 217.]
"William the Conqueror, on the third year of his reign (on St.
Thomas's Day), laid siege to the City of York; but, finding himself
unable, either by policy or strength, to gain it, raised the siege,
which he had no sooner done but by accident he met with two fryers at
a place called Skelton, not far from York, and had been to seek
reliefe for their fellows and themselves against Christmas: the one
having a wallet full of victualls and a shoulder of mutton in his
hand, with two great cakes hanging about his neck; the other having
bottles of ale, with provisions, likewise of beife and mutton in his
wallett.
"The King, knowing their poverty and condition, thought they might be
serviceable to him towards the attaining York, wherefore (being
accompanied with Sir John Fothergill, general of the field, a Norman
born), he gave them money, and withall a promise that, if they would
lett him and his soldiers into their priory at a time appointed, he
would not only rebuild their priory, but indowe it likewise with large
revenues and ample privileges. The fryers easily consented, and the
Conqueror as soon sent back his army, which, that night, according to
agreement, were let into the priory by the two fryers, by which they
immediately made themselves masters of all York; after which Sir
Robert Clifford, who was governor thereof, was so far from being
blamed by the Conqueror for his stout defence made the preceding days,
that he was highly esteemed and rewarded for his valour, being created
Lord Clifford, and there knighted, with the four magistrates then in
office--viz., Horongate, Talbot (who after came to be Lord Talbott),
Lassells, and Erringham.
"The Arms of the City of York at that time was, _argent_, a cross,
_gules_, viz. St. George's Cross. The Conqueror charged the cross with
five lyons, passant gardant, _or_, in memory of the five worthy
captains, magistrates, who governed the city so well, that he
afterwards made Sir Robert Clifford governour thereof, and the other
four to aid him in counsell; and, the better to keep the City in
obedience, he built two castles, and double-moated them about; and, to
shew the confidence and trust he put in these old but new-made
officers by him, he offered them freely to ask whatsoever they would
of him before he went, and he would grant their request; wherefore
they (abominating the treachery of the two fryers to their eternal
infamy), desired that, on St. Thomas's Day, for ever, they might have
a fryer of the priory of St. Peter's to ride through the city on
horseback, with his face to the horse's tayle: and that, in his hand,
instead of a bridle, he should have a rope, and in the other a
shoulder of mutton, with one cake hanging on his back and another on
his breast, with his face painted like a Jew; and the youth of the
City to ride with him, and to cry and shout 'Youl, Youl!' with the
officers of the City riding before and making proclamation, that on
this day the City was betrayed; and their request was granted them;
which custom continued till the dissolution of the said fryory; and
afterwards, in imitation of the same, the young men and artizans of
the City, on the aforesaid St. Thomas's day, used to dress up one of
their own companions like a fryer, and call him Youl, which custom
continued till within these threescore years, there being many now
living which can testify the same. But upon what occasion since
discontinued, I cannot learn; this being done in memory of betraying
the City by the said fryers to William the Conqueror."
St. Thomas's day used to be utilised in laying in store of food at
Christ-tide for the purpose of properly keeping the feast of the
Nativity. In the Isle of Man it was the custom for the people to go on
that day to the mountains in order to capture deer and sheep for the
feast; and at night bonfires blazed on the summit of every "fingan,"
or cliff, to provide for which, at the time of casting peats, every
person put aside a large one, saying, "Faaid mooar moaney son oie'l
fingan"--that is, _A large turf for Fingan's Eve_.
Beef was sometimes left to the parish by deceased benefactors, as in
the case of Boteler's Bull Charity at Biddenham, Bedfordshire, of
which Edwards says:[17] "This is an ancient annual payment of £5 out
of an estate at Biddenham, formerly belonging to the family of
Boteler, and now the property of Lord Viscount Hampden, which is due
and regularly paid on St. Thomas's Day to the overseers of the poor,
and is applicable by the terms of the original gift (of which no
written memorial is to be found), or by long-established usage, to the
purchase of a bull, which is killed and the flesh thereof given among
the poor persons of the parish.
[Footnote 17: _A Collection of Old English Customs and Curious
Bequests and Charities_, London, 1842, p. 64.]
"For many years past, the annual fund being insufficient to purchase a
bull, the deficiency has been made good out of other charities
belonging to the parish. It was proposed some years ago by the vicar
that the £5 a year should be laid out in buying meat, but the poor
insisted on the customary purchase of a bull being continued, and the
usage is, accordingly, kept up. The price of the bull has varied of
late years from £9 to £14. The Churchwardens, Overseers, and principal
inhabitants assist at the distribution of the meat."
He gives another instance[18] of a gift of beef and barley at Nevern,
Pembrokeshire: "William Rogers, by will, June 1806, gave to the
Minister and Churchwardens of Nevern and their successors £800 three
per cent. Consols, to be transferred by his executors within six
months after his decease; and it was his will that the dividends
should be laid out annually, one moiety thereof in good beef, the
other moiety in good barley, the same to be distributed on every St.
Thomas's Day in every year by the Minister and Churchwardens, to and
among the poor of the said parish of Nevern.
[Footnote 18: _A Collection of Old English Customs and Curious
Bequests and Charities_, London, 1842, p. 24.]
"After the payment of £1 to a solicitor in London, and a small amount
for a stamp and postage, the dividends (£24) are expended in the
purchase of beef and barley, which is distributed by the Churchwarden
on 21st December to all the poor of the parish, in shares of between
two and three gallons of barley, and between two and three pounds of
beef."
Yet another example of Christmas beef for the poor--this time rather
an unpleasant one:[19] "The cruel practice of bull-baiting was
continued annually on St. Thomas's Day in the quaint old town of
Wokingham, Berks, so lately as 1821. In 1822, upon the passing of the
Act against cruelty to Animals, the Corporation resolved on abolishing
the custom. The alderman (as the chief Magistrate is called there)
went with his officers in procession and solemnly pulled up the
bull-ring, which had, from immemorial time been fixed in the
market-place. The bull-baiting was regarded with no ordinary
attachment by 'the masses'; for, besides the love of 'sport,' however
barbarous, it was here connected with something more solid--the
Christmas dinner.
[Footnote 19: _Notes and Queries_, second series, v. 35.]
"In 1661, George Staverton gave by will, out of his Staines house,
four pounds to buy a bull for the use of the poor of Wokingham parish,
to be increased to six pounds after the death of his wife and her
daughter; the bull to be baited, and then cut up, 'one poor's piece
not exceeding another's in bigness.' Staverton must have been an
amateur of the bull-bait; for he exhorts his wife, if she can spare
her four pounds a-year, to let the poor have the bull at Christmas
next after his decease, and so forward.
"Great was the wrath of the populace in 1822 at the loss, not of the
beef--for the corporation duly distributed the meat--but of the
baiting. They vented their rage for successive years in occasional
breaches of the peace. They found out--often informed by the
sympathising farmer or butcher--where the devoted animal was
domiciled; proceeded at night to liberate him from stall or meadow,
and to chase him across the country with all the noisy accompaniments
imaginable. So long was this feeling kept alive, that thirteen years
afterwards--viz. in 1835--the mob broke into the place where one of
the two animals to be divided was abiding, and baited him, in defiance
of the authorities, in the market-place; one enthusiastic amateur,
tradition relates, actually lying on the ground and seizing the
miserable brute by the nostril, _more canino_, with his own human
teeth! This was not to be endured, and a sentence of imprisonment in
Reading Gaol gave the _coup de grace_ to the sport. The bequest of
Staverton now yields an income of £20, and has for several years past
been appropriated to the purchase of two bulls. The flesh is divided,
and distributed annually on St. Thomas's Day, by the alderman,
churchwardens, and overseers to nearly every poor family (between 200
and 300), without regard to their receiving parochial relief. The
produce of the offal and hides is laid out in the purchase of shoes
and stockings for the poor women and children. The bulls' tongues are
recognised by courtesy as the perquisites of the alderman and
town-clerk."
But there were other kindly gifts to the poor, _vide_ one at
Farnsfield, Nottinghamshire, where Samuel Higgs,[20] by his will dated
May 11, 1820 (as appears from the church tablet), gave £50 to the
vicar and churchwardens of this parish, and directed that the interest
should be given every year on 21st December, in equal proportions, to
ten poor men and women who could repeat the Lord's Prayer, the Creed,
and the Ten Commandments before the vicar or such other person as he
should appoint to hear them. The interest is applied according to the
donor's orders, and the poor persons appointed to partake of the
charity continue to receive it during their lives.
[Footnote 20: _Edwards_, p. 209.]
Take another case, at Tainton, Oxfordshire,[21] where a quarter of
barley meal is provided annually at the expense of Lord Dynevor, the
lord of the manor, and made into loaves called cobbs. These used to be
given away in Tainton Church to such of the poor children of Burford
as attended. A sermon is preached on St. Thomas's Day, according to
directions supposed to be contained in the will of Edmund Harman, 6s.
8d. being also paid out of Lord Dynevor's estate to the preacher. The
children used to make so much riot and disturbance in the church, that
about 1809 it was thought better to distribute the cobbs in a stable
belonging to one of the churchwardens, and this course has been
pursued ever since.
[Footnote 21: _Ibid._, p. 25.]
At Slindon, Sussex,[22] a sum of £15 was placed in the Arundel Savings
Bank, in the year 1824, the interest of which is distributed on St.
Thomas's Day. It is said that this money was found many years since on
the person of a beggar, who died by the roadside, and the interest of
it has always been appropriated by the parish officers for the use of
the poor.
[Footnote 22: _Ibid._, p. 129.]
Where these gifts were not distributed, as a rule, the poor country
folk went round begging for something wherewith to keep the festival
of Christ-tide; and for this they can scarcely be blamed, for
agricultural wages were very low, and mostly paid in kind, so that the
labourer could never lay by for a rainy day, much less have spare cash
to spend in festivity. Feudality was not wholly extinct, and they
naturally leaned upon their richer neighbours for help--especially at
this season of rejoicing throughout all England--a time of feasting
ever since the Saxon rule. So, following the rule of using St.
Thomas's Day as the day for providing the necessaries for the
Christmas feast, they went about from farm-house to mansion soliciting
gifts of food. In some parts, as in Derbyshire, this was called "going
a-Thomassing," and the old and young folks would come home laden with
gifts of milk, cheese, wheat, with which to make furmity or furmenty,
oatmeal, flour, potatoes, mince pies, pigs' puddings, or pork pies,
and other goodies. This collection went by the same name in Cheshire
and neighbouring counties, where the poor generally carried a bag and
a can into which they might put the flour, meal, or corn that might be
given them.
In other places, such as Northamptonshire, Kent, Sussex,
Herefordshire, Worcestershire, it went under the name of "Going a
Gooding," and in some cases the benefactions were acknowledged by a
return present of a sprig of holly or mistletoe or a bunch of
primroses. In some parts of Herefordshire they "called a spade a
spade," and called this day "Mumping," or begging day; and in
Warwickshire, where they principally received presents of corn, it was
termed "going-a-corning"; and in that home of orchards Worcestershire,
this rhyme used to be sung--
Wissal, wassail through the town,
If you've got any apples throw them down;
Up with the stocking, and down with the shoe,
If you've got no apples money will do.
The jug is white, and the ale is brown,
This is the best house in the town.
"Cuthbert Bede" (the Rev. Edward Bradley) writes[23]--"In the
Staffordshire parish whence I write, S. Thomas's Day is observed
thus:--Not only do the old women and widows, but representatives also
from each poorer family in the parish, come round for alms. The
clergyman is expected to give one shilling to each person, and, as no
'reduction is made on taking a quantity' of recipients, he finds the
celebration of the day attended with no small expense. Some of the
parishioners give alms in money, others in kind. Thus, some of the
farmers give corn, which the miller grinds _gratis_. The day's custom
is termed 'Gooding.' In neighbouring parishes no corn is given, the
farmers giving money instead; and in some places the money collected
is placed in the hands of the clergyman and churchwardens, who, on the
Sunday nearest to S. Thomas's Day, distribute it at the vestry. The
fund is called S. Thomas's Dole, and the day itself is termed Doleing
Day."
[Footnote 23: _Notes and Queries_, 2 series, iv. 487.]
There is very little folk-lore about this day. Halliwell says that
girls used to have a method of divination with a "S. Thomas's Onion,"
for the purpose of finding their future husbands. The onion was
peeled, wrapped in a clean handkerchief, and then being placed under
their heads, the following lines were said:
Good S. Thomas, do me right,
And see my true love come to-night,
That I may see him in the face,
And him in my kind arms embrace.
A writer in _Notes and Queries_[24] says, "A Nottinghamshire
maid-servant tells me:--'One of my mistresses was brought up at
Ranskill, or not far from there. She used to say that when she and her
sister were children they always hid under the nurse's cloak if they
went out to a party on S. Thomas's Day. They were told that S. Thomas
came down at that time and sat on the steeple of the church.'"
[Footnote 24: 7 series, x. p. 487.]
CHAPTER VII
Paddington Charity (Bread and Cheese Lands)--Barring-out at
Schools--Interesting narrative.
Until Christmas eve there is nothing remarkable about this Novena of
Christ-tide, excepting a curious charitable custom which used to
obtain in the parish of Paddington, which may be well described by a
quotation from the _London Magazine_ (December 1737, p. 705).
"Sunday, December 18, 1737. This day, according to annual custom,
bread and cheese were thrown from Paddington steeple to the populace,
agreeable to the will of two women, who were relieved there with bread
and cheese when they were almost starved; and Providence afterwards
favouring them, they left an estate in that parish to continue the
custom for ever on that day."
Three pieces of land situated in the parish were certainly left by two
maiden ladies, whose names are unknown, and their charity was
distributed as described until the Sunday before Christmas 1834, when
the bread and cheese (consisting of three or four dozen penny rolls,
and the same quantity of pieces of cheese) were thrown for the last
time from the belfry of St. Mary's Church by Mr. Wm. Hogg, the parish
clerk. After that date the rents arising from these "bread and cheese
lands," as they are called, were distributed in the shape of bread,
coals, and blankets, to poor families inhabiting the parish, of whom a
list was made out annually for the churchwardens, stating their
residence and occupation, and the number of children under ten years
of age. Subsequently the Court of Chancery assented to a scheme
whereby the rents are portioned amongst the national schools, etc.
A curious custom used to obtain in some schools just before the
Christmas holidays, of _barring-out_ the master, and keeping him out
of the schoolroom until the boys' grievances had been listened to and
promise of redress given; and the best account of this custom that I
have ever met with is in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for 1828, vol. ii.
p. 404, etc.
"It was a few days before the usual period of the Christmas Holidays
arrived, when the leading scholars of the head form determined on
reviving the ancient but obsolete custom of _barring-out_ the master
of the school. Many years had elapsed since the attempt had succeeded;
and many times since that period had it been made in vain. The
scholars had heard of the glorious feats of their forefathers in their
boyish years, when they set the lash of the master at defiance for
days together. Now, alas! all was changed; the master, in the opinion
of the boys, reigned a despot absolute and uncontrolled; the merciless
cruelty of his rod, and the heaviness of his tasks, were
insupportable. The accustomed holidays had been rescinded; the usual
Christmas feast reduced to a non-entity, and the chartered rights of
the scholars were continually violated. These grievances were
discussed _seriatim_; and we were all unanimously of opinion that our
wrongs should, if possible, be redressed. But how the object should be
effected was a momentous and weighty affair. The master was a
clergyman of the old school, who for the last forty years had
exercised an authority hitherto uncontrolled, and who had no idea of
enforcing scholastic discipline without the exercise of the whip. The
consequences of a failure were terrible to think upon; but then the
anticipation of success, and the glory attendant upon the enterprise,
if successful, were sufficient to dispel every fear.
"At the head of the Greek class was one whose very soul seemed formed
for the most daring attempts. He communicated his intentions to a
chosen few, of which the writer was one, and offered to be the leader
of the undertaking if we would promise him our support. We hesitated;
but he represented the certainty of success with such feeling
eloquence that he entirely subdued our opposition. He stated that
Addison had acquired immortal fame by a similar enterprise. He told us
that almost every effort in the sacred cause of freedom had succeeded.
He appealed to our classical recollections:--Epaminondas and Leonidas
were worthy of our example; Tarquin and Cæsar, as tyrants, had fallen
before the united efforts of freedom; we had only to be unanimous, and
the rod of this scholastic despot would be for ever broken. We then
entered enthusiastically into his views. He observed that delays were
dangerous; 'the barring-out,' he said, 'should take place the very
next morning to prevent the possibility of being betrayed.' On a
previous occasion (he said), some officious little urchin had told the
master the whole plot, several days having been allowed to intervene
between the planning of the project and its execution, and, to the
astonishment of the boys, it appeared they found the master at his
desk two hours before his usual time, and had the mortification of
being congratulated on their early attendance, with an order to be
there every morning at the same hour!
"To prevent the occurrence of such a defeat we determined on
organising our plans that very night. The boys were accordingly told
to assemble after school hours at a well-known tombstone in the
neighbouring Churchyard, as something of importance was under
consideration. The place of meeting was an elevated parallelogram
tombstone, which had always served as a kind of council table to
settle our little disputes as well as parties of pleasure. Here we all
assembled at the appointed time. Our leader took his stand at one end
of the stone, with the head boys who were in the secret on each side
of him. 'My boys (he laconically observed), to-morrow morning we are
to _bar-out_ the flogging parson, and to make him promise that he will
not flog us hereafter without a cause, nor set us long tasks or
deprive us of our holidays. The boys of the Greek form will be your
Captains, and I am to be your Captain-General. Those that are cowards
had better retire and be satisfied with future floggings; but you, who
have courage, and know what it is to have been flogged for nothing,
come here and sign your names.' He immediately pulled out a pen and a
sheet of paper; and having tied some bits of thread round the
finger-ends of two or three boys, with a pin he drew blood to answer
for ink, and to give more solemnity to the act. He signed the first,
the Captains next, and the rest in succession. Many of the lesser boys
slunk away during the ceremony; but on counting the names we found we
mustered upwards of forty--sufficient, it was imagined, even to carry
the school by storm. The Captain-General then addressed us: 'I have
the key of the school, and shall be there at seven o'clock. The old
Parson will arrive at nine, and every one of you must be there before
eight to allow us one hour for barricading the doors and windows.
Bring with you as much provision as you can; and tell your parents
that you have to take your dinners in school. Let every one of you
have some weapon of defence; you who cannot obtain a sword, pistol, or
poker, must bring a stick or cudgel. Now, all go home directly, and be
sure to arrive early in the morning.'
"Perhaps a more restless and anxious night was never passed by young
recruits on the eve of a general battle. Many of us rose some hours
before the time; and at seven o'clock, when the school door was
opened, there was a tolerably numerous muster. Our Captain immediately
ordered candles to be lighted, and a rousing fire to be made (for it
was a dark December's morning). He then began to examine the store of
provisions, and the arms which each had brought. In the meantime, the
arrival of every boy with additional material was announced by
tremendous cheers.
"At length the Church Clock struck eight. 'Proceed to barricade the
doors and windows,' exclaimed the Captain, 'or the old lion will be
upon us before we are prepared to meet him.' In an instant the old
oaken door rang on its heavy hinges. Some, with hammers, gimlets, and
nails, were eagerly securing the windows, while others were dragging
along the ponderous desks, forms, and everything portable, to
blockade, with certain security, every place which might admit of
ingress. This operation being completed, the Captain mounted the
master's rostrum, and called over the list of names, when he found
only two or three missing. He then proceeded to classify them into
divisions, or companies of six, and assigned to each its respective
Captain. He prescribed the duties of each company. Two were to guard
the large casement window, where, it was expected, the first attack
would be made; this was considered the post of honour, and,
consequently, the strongest boys, with the most formidable weapons,
were selected, whom we called Grenadiers. Another company, whom we
considered as the Light Infantry, or Sharp Shooters, were ordered to
mount a large desk in the centre of the School; and, armed with
squibs, crackers, and various missiles, they were to attack the enemy
over the heads of the Combatants. The other divisions were to guard
the back windows and door, and to act according to the emergency of
the moment. Our leader then moved some resolutions (which, in
imitation of Brutus, he had cogitated during the previous night), to
the effect that each individual should implicitly obey his own
Captain; that each Captain should follow the orders of the
Captain-general, and that a _corps de réserve_ should be stationed in
the rear, to enforce this obedience, and prevent the combatants from
taking to flight. The resolutions were passed amid loud vociferations.
"We next commenced an examination of the various weapons, and found
them to consist of one old blunderbuss, one pistol, two old swords, a
few rusty pokers, and sticks, stones, squibs, and gunpowder in
abundance. The firearms were immediately loaded with blank powder; the
swords were sharpened, and the pokers heated in the fire. These
weapons were assigned to the most daring company, who had to protect
the principal window. The missiles were for the light infantry, and
all the rest were armed with sticks.
"We now began to manoeuvre our companies, by marching them into line
and column, so that every one might know his own situation. In the
midst of this preparation, the sentinel whom we had placed at the
window, loudly vociferated, 'The parson! The parson's coming!'
"In an instant all was confusion. Every one ran he knew not where; as
if eager to fly, or screen himself from observation. Our captain
immediately mounted a form, and called to the captains of the two
leading companies to take their stations. They immediately obeyed;
and the other companies followed their example; though they found it
much more difficult to manoeuvre when danger approached than they
had a few minutes before! The well-known footstep, which had often
struck on our ears with terror, was now heard to advance along the
portico. The muttering of his stern voice sounded in our ears like the
lion's growl. A death-like silence prevailed: we scarcely dared to
breathe: the palpitations of our little hearts could, perhaps, alone
be heard. The object of our dread then went round to the front window,
for the purpose of ascertaining whether any one was in the school.
Every footstep struck us with awe: not a word, not a whisper was
heard. He approached close to the window; and with an astonished
countenance stood gazing upon us, while we were ranged in battle
array, motionless statues, and silent as the tomb. 'What is the
meaning of this?' he impatiently exclaimed. But no answer could he
obtain, for who would then have dared to render himself conspicuous by
a reply? Pallid countenances and livid lips betrayed our fears. The
courage, which one hour before was ready to brave every danger,
appeared to be fled. Every one seemed anxious to conceal himself from
view: and there would, certainly, have been a general flight through
the back windows had it not been for the prudent regulation of a
_corps de réserve,_ armed with cudgels, to prevent it.
"'You young scoundrels, open the door instantly,' he again exclaimed;
and, what added to our indescribable horror, in a fit of rage he
dashed his hand through the window, which consisted of diamond-shaped
panes, and appeared as if determined to force his way in.
"Fear and trepidation, attended by an increasing commotion, now
possessed us all. At this critical moment every eye turned to our
captain, as if to reproach him for having brought us into this
terrible dilemma. He alone stood unmoved; but he saw that none would
have courage to obey his commands. Some exciting stimulus was
necessary. Suddenly waving his hand, he exclaimed aloud, 'Three cheers
for the barring-out, and success to our cause!' The cheers were
tremendous; our courage revived; the blood flushed in our cheeks; the
parson was breaking in; the moment was critical. Our Captain,
undaunted, sprang to the fire-place--seized a heated poker in one
hand, and a blazing torch in the other. The latter he gave to the
captain of the sharp shooters, and told him to prepare a volley; when,
with red-hot poker, he fearlessly advanced to the window seat; and,
daring his master to enter, he ordered an attack--and an attack,
indeed, was made, sufficiently tremendous to have repelled a more
powerful assailant. The missiles flew at the ill-fated window from
every quarter. The blunderbuss and the pistol were fired; squibs and
crackers, inkstands and rulers, stones, and even burning coals, came
in showers about the casement, and broke some of the panes into a
thousand pieces; while blazing torches, heated pokers, and sticks,
stood bristling under the window. The whole was scarcely the work of a
minute: the astonished master reeled back in dumb amazement. He had,
evidently, been struck with a missile or with the broken glass; and
probably fancied that he had been wounded by the firearms. The schools
now rang with the shouts of 'Victory,' and continued cheering. 'The
enemy again approaches,' cried the captain; 'fire another
volley;--stay, he seeks a parley--hear him.' 'What is the meaning, I
say, of this horrid tumult?' 'The barring-out, the barring-out!' a
dozen voices instantly exclaimed. 'For shame,' says he, in a tone
evidently subdued; what disgrace are you bringing upon yourselves and
the schools. What will the Trustees--what will your parents say?
William,' continued he, addressing the captain, 'open the door without
further delay.' 'I will, Sir,' he replied, 'on your promising to
pardon us, and give us our lawful holidays, of which we have lately
been deprived; and not set us tasks during the holidays.' 'Yes, yes,'
said several squealing voices, 'that is what we want; and not to be
flogged for nothing.' 'You insolent scoundrels! you consummate young
villains!' he exclaimed, choking with rage, and at the same time
making a furious effort to break through the already shattered window,
'open the door instantly, or I'll break every bone in your hides.'
'Not on those conditions,' replied our Captain, with provoking
coolness;--'Come on, my boys, another volley.' No sooner said than
done, and even with more fury than before. Like men driven to despair,
who expect no quarter on surrendering, the little urchins daringly
mounted the window seat, which was a broad, old-fashioned one, and
pointed the fire arms and heated poker at him; whilst others advanced
with the squibs and missiles. 'Come on, my lads,' said the captain,
'let this be our Thermopylæ, and I will be your Leonidas.' And,
indeed, so daring were they, that each seemed ready to emulate the
Spartans of old. The master, perceiving their determined obstinacy,
turned round, without further remonstrance, and indignantly walked
away.
"Relieved from our terrors, we now became intoxicated with joy. The
walls rang with repeated hurrahs! In the madness of enthusiasm, some
of the boys began to tear up the forms, throw the books about, break
the slates, locks, and cupboards, and act so outrageously that the
captain called them to order; not, however, before the master's desk
and drawers had been broken open, and every play thing which had been
taken from the scholars restored to its owner.
"We now began to think of provisions. They were all placed on one
table and dealt out in rations by the Captains of each company. In the
meantime, we held a council of war, as we called it, to determine on
what was to be done.
"In a recess at the east end of the school there stood a large oak
chest, black with age, whose heavy hinges had become corroded with
years of rust. It was known to contain the records and endowments of
the school; and, as we presumed, the regulations for the treatment of
the scholars. The oldest boy had never seen its inside. Attempts,
dictated by insatiable curiosity, had often been made to open it; but
it was deemed impregnable. It was guarded by three immense locks, and
each key was in the possession of different persons. The wood appeared
to be nearly half a foot thick, and every corner was plaited with
iron. All eyes were instinctively directed to this mysterious chest.
Could any means be devised for effecting an entrance? was the natural
question. We all proceeded to reconnoitre; we attempted to move it,
but in vain: we made some feeble efforts to force the lid; it was firm
as a block of marble. At length, one daring urchin brought, from the
fire-place, a red-hot poker, and began to bore through its sides. A
universal shout was given. Other pokers were brought, and to work they
went. The smoke and tremendous smell which the old wood sent forth
rather alarmed us. We were apprehensive that we might burn the records
instead of obtaining a copy of them. This arrested our progress for a
few minutes.
"At this critical moment a shout was set up that the parson
and a constable was coming! Down went the pokers; and, as if
conscience-stricken, we were all seized with consternation. The
casement window was so shattered that it could easily be entered by
any resolute fellow. In the desperation of the moment we seized the
desks, forms, and stools to block it up; but, in some degree, our
courage had evaporated, and we felt reluctant to act on the offensive.
The old gentleman and his attendant deliberately inspected the windows
and fastenings: but, without making any attempt to enter, they
retreated for the purpose, we presumed, of obtaining additional
assistance. What was now to be done? The master appeared obdurate, and
we had gone too far to recede. Some proposed to drill a hole in the
window seat, fill it with gunpowder, and explode it if any one
attempted to enter. Others thought we had better prepare to set fire
to the school sooner than surrender unconditionally. But the majority
advised what was, perhaps, the most prudent resolution, to wait for
another attack; and, if we saw no hopes of sustaining a longer
defence, to make the best retreat we could.
"The affair of the Barring Out had now become known, and persons began
to assemble round the windows, calling out that the master was coming
with assistance, and saying everything to intimidate us. Many of us
were completely jaded with the over-excitement we had experienced
since the previous evening. The school was hot, close, and full of
smoke. Some were longing for liberty and fresh air; and most of us
were now of opinion that we had engaged in an affair which it was
impossible to accomplish. In this state of mind we received another
visit from our dreaded master. With his stick he commenced a more
furious attack than before; and, observing us less turbulent, he
appeared determined to force his way in spite of the barricadoes. The
younger boys thought of nothing but flight and self-preservation, and
the rush to the back windows became general. In the midst of this
consternation our Captain exclaims, 'Let us not fly like cowards; if
we must surrender, let the gates of the citadel be thrown open: the
day is against us; but let us bravely face the enemy, and march out
with the honours of war.' Some few had already escaped; but the rest
immediately ranged themselves on each side of the school, in two
extended lines, with their weapons in hand. The door was thrown
open--the master instantly entered, and passed between the two lines,
denouncing vengeance on us all. But, as he marched in we marched out
in military order; and, giving three cheers, we dispersed into the
neighbouring fields.
"We shortly met again, and, after a little consultation, it was
determined that none of the leaders should come to school until sent
for, and a free pardon given.
"The defection, however, was so general that no corporal punishments
took place. Many of the boys did not return till after the holidays:
and several of the elder ones never entered the school again."
This curious custom can hardly be considered as dead, for a writer,
mentioning it in _Notes and Queries_ for December 22, 1888 (7th
series, vi. p. 484), says: "This old custom, strange to say, still
exists, in spite of the schoolmaster and the Board School. It may be
of interest to some of your readers if I give an extract from a letter
to the Dalston (Carlisle) School Board in reference to this subject,
received at their last meeting on December 7th. 'I would ask the
sanction of the Board for the closing of the school for the Vacation
on the evening of Thursday the 20th. If we open on the Friday we
shall, most likely, have a poor attendance. My principal reason for
asking is that we should be thus better able to effectually put a stop
to the old barbarous custom of Barring Out. Some of the children might
possibly be persuaded by outsiders to make the attempt on Friday, and
in such a case I should feel it my duty to inflict an amount of
castigation on offenders such as neither they nor myself would
relish.'
"The majority of the Board sympathised with the Master's difficulty
and granted his request; though as Chairman I expressed my curiosity
to see the repetition of a custom I had heard so much about."
CHAPTER VIII
The Bellman--Descriptions of him--His verses. The
Waits--Their origin--Ned Ward on them--Corporation
Waits--York Waits (17th Century)--Essay on
Waits--Westminster Waits--Modern Waits.
Before the advent of Christmas the Bellman, or Watchman, left at each
house a copy of verses ostensibly breathing good-will and a happy
Christmas to the occupants, but in reality as a reminder to them of
his existence, and that he would call in due time for his Christmas
box. The date of the institution of the Bellman is not well defined.
In Tegg's _Dictionary of Chronology_, 1530 is given, but no authority
for the statement is adduced; Machyn, in his diary, is more definite
"[the xij. day of January 1556-7, in Alderman Draper's ward called]
chordwenerstrett ward, a belle man [went about] with a belle at evere
lane, and at the ward [end to] gyff warnyng of ffyre and candyll
lyght, [and to help the] poure, and pray for the ded." Their cry
being, "Take care of your fire and candle, be charitable to the poor,
and pray for the dead."
Shakespeare knew him, for in _Macbeth_ (Act II. sc. 2) he says:
It was the owl that shriek'd, the fatal bell man,
Which gives the stern'st good night.
And Milton mentions him in _Il Penseroso_:
Or the bellman's drowsy charm,
To bless the doors from nightly harm.
Herrick also celebrates _The Bellman_:
From noise of Scare-fires rest ye free,
From Murders _Benedicite_.
From all mischances, that may fright
Your pleasing slumbers in the night;
Mercie secure ye all, and keep
The Goblin from ye, while ye sleep.
Past one o'clock, and almost two,
My Masters all, _Good day to you_.
On the title page of Decker's _Belman of London_ (ed. 1608) we have a
woodcut giving a vivid portrait of the Bellman going his nightly
rounds with his pike upon his shoulder, a horn lanthorn, with a candle
inside, in one hand, and his bell, which is attached by a strap to his
girdle, in the other hand, his faithful dog following him in his
nightly rounds. In his _Lanthorne and Candle light; or The Bell-man's
second Night's walke_, ed. 1608, the title page gives us a totally
different type of Bellman, carrying both bell and lanthorn, but
bearing no pike, nor is he accompanied by a dog. In his _O per se O_,
ed. 1612, is another type of Bellman, with lanthorn, bell, and brown
bill on his shoulder, but no dog. And in his _Villanies Discovered by
Lanthorne and Candle Light_, etc., ed. 1620, we have two more and yet
different Bellmen, one with bell, lanthorn, and bill, followed by a
dog; the other (a very rough wood cut) does not give him his
four-footed friend. This is the heading to the "Belman's Cry":
Men and Children, Maides and Wives,
'Tis not late to mend your lives:
* * * * *
When you heare this ringing Bell,
Think it is your latest knell:
When I cry, Maide in your Smocke,
Doe not take it for a mocke:
Well I meane, if well 'tis taken,
I would have you still awaken:
Foure a Clocke, the Cock is crowing
I must to my home be going:
When all other men doe rise,
Then must I shut up mine eyes.
He was a person of such importance, that in 1716 Vincent Bourne
composed a long Latin poem in praise of one of the fraternity: "Ad
Davidem Cook, Westmonasterii Custodem Nocturnum et Vigilantissimum,"
a translation of which runs thus, in the last few lines:
Should you and your dog ever call at my door,
You'll be welcome, I promise you, nobody more.
May you call at a thousand each year that you live,
A shilling, at least, may each householder give;
May the "Merry Old Christmas" you wish us, befal,
And your self, and your dog, be the merriest of all!
At Christ-tide it was their custom to leave a copy of verses, mostly
of Scriptural character, and generally very sorry stuff, at every
house on their beat, with a view to receiving a Christmas box; and
this was an old custom, for Gay notices it in his _Trivia_ (book ii.)
written in 1715:
Behold that narrow street which steep descends,
Whose building to the slimy shore extends;
Here Arundel's fam'd structure rear'd its frame,
The street, alone, retains the empty name;
Where Titian's glowing paint the canvass warm'd,
And Raphael's fair design, with judgment, charm'd,
Now hangs the _bellman's song_, and pasted here
The coloured prints of Overton appear.
Another ante-Christmas custom now falling into desuetude is the waits,
who originally were musical watchmen, who had to give practical
evidence of their vigilance by playing on the hautboy, or flageolet,
at stated times during the night. In the household of Edward IV. there
is mentioned in the _Liber niger Domus Regis_, "A Wayte, that nightely
from Mychelmas to Shreve Thorsdaye, _pipe the watch_ within this
courte fowere tymes; in the Somere nightes three tymes, and maketh
_bon gayte_ at every chambre doare and offyce, as well for feare of
pyckeres and pillers."[25]
[Footnote 25: Pickers and stealers.]
These waits afterwards became bands of musicians, who were ready to
play at any festivities, such as weddings, etc., and almost every city
and town had its band of waits; the City of London had its Corporation
Waits, which played before the Lord Mayor in his inaugural procession,
and at banquets and other festivities. They wore blue gowns, red
sleeves and caps, and every one had a silver collar about his neck.
Ned Ward thus describes them in his _London Spy_ (1703).
"At last bolted out from the corner of a street, with an _ignis
fatuus_ dancing before them, a parcel of strange hobgoblins, covered
with long frieze rugs and blankets, hooped round with leather girdles
from their cruppers to their shoulders, and their noddles buttoned up
into caps of martial figure, like a Knight Errant at tilt and
tournament, with his wooden head locked in an iron helmet; one, armed,
as I thought with a lusty faggot-bat, and the rest with strange wooden
weapons in their hands, in the shape of clyster pipes, but as long
almost as speaking trumpets. Of a sudden they clapped them to their
mouths, and made such a frightful yelling that I thought _he_ would
have been dissolving, and the terrible sound of the last trumpet to be
within an inch of my ears.... 'Why, what,' says he, 'don't you love
musick? These are the topping tooters of the town, and have gowns,
silver chains and salaries for playing _Lilli-borlero_ to my Lord
Mayor's horse through the City.'"
That these Corporation Waits were no mean musicians we have the
authority of Morley, who, in dedicating his _Consort Lessons_ to the
Lord Mayor and Aldermen in 1599, says:
"As the ancient custom of this most honourable and renowned city hath
been ever to retain and maintain excellent and expert musicians to
adorn your Honours' favours, feasts and solemn meetings--to these,
your Lordships' Wayts, I recommend the same--to your servants' careful
and skilful handling."
These concert lessons were arranged for six instruments--viz. two
viols (treble and bass), a flute, a cittern (a kind of guitar, strung
with wire), a treble lute, and a pandora, which was a large
instrument, similar to a lute, but strung with wire in lieu of catgut.
The following is a description of the York Waits, end of seventeenth
century:
In a Winter's morning,
Long before the dawning,
'Ere the cock did crow,
Or stars their light withdraw,
Wak'd by a hornpipe pretty,
Play'd along York City,
By th' help of o'er night's bottle
Damon made this ditty....
In a winter's night,
By moon or lanthorn light,
Through hail, rain, frost, or snow
Their rounds the music go;
Clad each in frieze or blanket
(For either, heav'n be thanked),
Lin'd with wine a quart,
Or ale a double tankard.
Burglars send away,
And, bar guests dare not stay;
Of claret, snoring sots
Dream o'er their pipes and pots,
* * * * *
Candles, four in the pound,
Lead up the jolly Round,
While Cornet shrill i' th' middle
Marches, and merry fiddle,
Curtal with deep hum, hum,
Cries we come, come,
And theorbo loudly answers,
Thrum, thrum, thrum, thrum, thrum.
But, their fingers frost-nipt,
So many notes are o'erslipt,
That you'd take sometimes
The Waits for the Minster chimes:
Then, Sirs, to hear their musick
Would make both me and you sick,
And much more to hear a roopy fiddler call
(With voice, as Moll would cry,
"Come, shrimps, or cockles buy").
"Past three, fair frosty morn,
Good morrow, my masters all."
With regard to their modern practice of playing during the night-tide,
we find the following explanation in an _Essay on the Musical Waits at
Christmas_, by John Cleland, 1766. Speaking of the Druids, he says:
"But, whatever were their reasons for this preference, it is out of
doubt that they generally chose the dead of night for the celebration
of their greatest solemnities and festivals. Such assemblies, then,
whether of religion, of ceremony, or of mere merriment, were
promiscuously called _Wakes_, from their being nocturnal. The master
of the _Revels_ (_Reveils_) would, in good old English, be termed the
Master of the _Wakes_. In short, such nocturnal meetings are the
_Wakes_ of the Britons; the _Reveillons_ of the French; the
_Medianoche_ of the Spaniards; and the _Pervigilia_ of the Romans. The
Custom of _Wakes_ at burials (_les vigiles des morts_) is at this
moment, in many parts, not discontinued.
"But, at the antient _Yule_ (or Christmas time, especially), the
dreariness of the weather, the length of the night, would naturally
require something extraordinary, to wake and rouse men from their
natural inclination to rest, and to a warm bed, at that hour. The
summons, then, to the _Wakes_ of that season were given by music,
going the rounds of invitation to the mirth or festivals which were
awaiting them. In this there was some propriety, some object; but
where is there any in such a solemn piece of banter as that of music
going the rounds and disturbing people in vain? For, surely, any
meditation to be thereby excited on the holiness of the ensuing day
could hardly be of great avail, in a bed, between sleeping and waking.
But such is the power of custom to perpetuate absurdities.
"However, the music was called _The Wakeths_, and, by the usual
tendency of language to euphony, softened into _Waits_, as _workth_
into _wort_, or _checkths_ into _chess_, etc."
Another authority, Jones, in his _Welsh Bards_, 1794, says: "Waits are
musicians of the lower order, who commonly perform on Wind
instruments, and they play in most towns under the windows of the
chief inhabitants, at midnight, a short time before Christmas; for
which they collect a Christmas box, from house to house. They are said
to derive their name of _Waits_, for being always in waiting to
celebrate weddings and other joyous events happening within their
district. There is a building at Newcastle called _Waits' Tower_,
which was, formerly, the meeting-house of the town band of musicians."
The town waits certainly existed in Westminster as late as 1822, and
they were elected by the Court of Burgesses of that city--_vide_ a
magazine cutting of that date: "_Christmas Waits_.--Charles Clapp,
Benjamin Jackson, Denis Jelks, and Robert Prinset, were brought to Bow
Street Office by O. Bond, the constable, charged with performing on
several musical instruments in St. Martin's Lane, at half-past twelve
o'clock this morning, by Mr. Munroe, the authorized principal Wait,
appointed by the Court of Burgesses for the City and Liberty of
Westminster, who alone considers himself entitled, by his appointment,
to apply for Christmas boxes. He also urged that the prisoners, acting
as Minstrels, came under the meaning of the Vagrant Act, alluded to in
the 17th Geo. II.; however, on reference to the last Vagrant Act of
the present king, the word 'minstrels' is omitted; consequently, they
are no longer cognizable under that Act of Parliament; and, in
addition to that, Mr. Charles Clapp, one of the prisoners, produced
his indenture of having served seven years as an apprentice to the
profession of a musician to Mr. Clay, who held the same appointment as
Mr. Munroe does under the Court of Burgesses. The prisoners were
discharged, after receiving an admonition from Mr. Halls, the sitting
magistrate, not to collect Christmas boxes."
In an article, "Concerning Christmas," in _Belgravia_ (vol. 6, new
series, p. 326), we read: "It may not, perhaps, be generally known
that, in the year of grace 1871, 'Waits' are regularly sworn before
the Court of Burgesses at Westminster, and act under the authority of
a warrant, signed by the clerk, and sealed with the arms of the city
and liberty; in addition to which they are bound to provide themselves
with a silver badge, also bearing the arms of Westminster."
The modern waits have entirely departed from any pretence of allusion
to Christ-tide, and play indifferently the last things out in dance
music, operatic airs, or music-hall songs; and they act upon people
according to their various temperaments, some liking to "hear the
waits," whilst others roundly anathematise them for disturbing their
slumbers.
CHAPTER IX
Christ-tide Carols--The days of Yule--A Carol for
Christ-tide--"Lullaby"--The Cherry-tree Carol--Dives and
Lazarus.
The singing of carols is now confined to Christmas day; but it was not
always so, appropriate carols being sung during the Christ-tide
preceding the day of the Nativity--such, for instance, as the
following examples. The first is taken from Sloane MS. 2593, in the
British Museum, and in this one I have preserved the old spelling,
which is ascribed to the time of Henry VI. It will be seen that
Christ-tide is prolonged till Candlemas day, the Feast of the
Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is kept on the 2nd of
February, on which day all Christ-tide decorations are taken down.
Make we myrth
For Crystes byrth,
And syng we 3ole[26] tyl Candelmes.
The fyrst day of 3ole have we in mynd,
How God was man born of oure kynd:
For he the bondes wold onbynd
Of all oure synnes and wykednes.
The secund day we syng of Stevene,
That stoned and steyyd up even
To God that he saw stond in hevyn,
And crounned was for hys prouesse.
The iij day longeth to sent Johan,
That was Cristys darlyng, derer non,
Whom he betok, whan he shuld gon,
Hys moder der for hyr clennesse,
The iiij day of the chyldren 3ong,
That Herowd to deth had do with wrong,
And Crist thei coud non tell with tong,
But with ther blod bar hym wytnesse.
The v day longeth to sent Thomas,[27]
That as a strong pyller of bras,
Held up the chyrch, and sclayn he was,
For he sted with ry3twesnesse.
The viij day tok Jhesu hys name,
That saved mankynd fro syn and shame,
And circumsysed was for no blame,
But for ensample of meknesse.
The xij day offerd to hym kynges iij,
Gold, myr, and cence, thes gyftes free,
For God, and man, and kyng was he,
Thus worschyppyd thei his worthynes.
On the xl day cam Mary myld,
Unto the temple with hyr chyld,
To shew hyr clen that never was fylyd,
And therwith endyth Chrystmes.
[Footnote 26: Yule.]
[Footnote 27: St. Thomas à Becket, of Canterbury, was commemorated on
29th December.]
The following is taken from a MS. of the latter half of the fifteenth
century, which Mr. Thomas Wright edited for the Percy Society in 1847.
The spelling is even more archaic than the above, so that it is
modernised, and a gloss given for all those words which may not be
easily understood wherever possible:--
This endris[28] night
I saw a sight,
A star as bright as day;
And ever among
A maiden sung,
Lullay, by by, lullay.
The lovely lady sat and sang, and to her Child said--
My son, my brother, my father dear, why lyest Thou thus in hayd.
My sweet bird,
Thus it is betide
Though Thou be King veray;[29]
But, nevertheless,
I will not cease
To sing, by by, lullay.
The Child then spake in His talking, and to His mother said--
I bekyd[30] am King, in Crib[31] there I be laid;
For Angels bright
Down to Me light,
Thou knowest it is no nay;
And of that sight
Thou mays't be light
To sing, by by, lullay.
Now, sweet Son, since Thou art King, why art Thou laid in stall?
Why not Thou ordained Thy bedding in some great King his hall?
Me thinketh it is right
That King or Knight
Should lie in good array;
And then among
It were no wrong
To sing, by by, lullay.
Mary, mother, I am thy child, though I be laid in stall,
Lords and dukes shall worship Me, and so shall Kings all;
Ye shall well see
That Kings three
Shall come the twelfth day;
For this behest
Give me thy breast
And sing, by by, lullay.
Now tell me, sweet Son, I pray Thee, Thou art my love and dear,
How should I keep Thee to Thy pay,[32] and make Thee glad of cheer;
For all Thy will
I would fulfil
Thou witest[33] full well, in fay,[34]
And for all this
I will Thee kiss
And sing, by by, lullay.
My dear mother, when time it be, thou take Me up aloft,
And set Me upon thy knee, and handle Me full soft;
And in thy arm,
Thou wilt Me warm,
And keep night and day;
If I weep,
And may not sleep,
Thou sing, by by, lullay.
Now, sweet Son, since it is so, that all thing is at Thy will,
I pray Thee grant me a boon, if it be both right and skill.[35]
That child or man,
That will or can
Be merry upon my day;
To bliss them bring,
And I shall sing
Lullay, by by, lullay.
[Footnote 28: Last.]
[Footnote 29: True.]
[Footnote 30: I am renowned as.]
[Footnote 31: Manger.]
[Footnote 32: Satisfaction.]
[Footnote 33: Knowest.]
[Footnote 34: In faith.]
[Footnote 35: Reasonable.]
A very popular carol, too, was that of the Legend of the Cherry Tree,
which is very ancient, and is one of the scenes in the fifteenth of
the Coventry Mysteries, which were played in the fifteenth century, on
_Corpus Christi Day_.
Joseph was an old man,
And an old man was he,
And he married Mary
The Queen of Galilee.
When Joseph was married,
And Mary home had brought,
Mary proved with child,
And Joseph knew it not.
Joseph and Mary walked
Through a garden gay,
Where the cherries they grew
Upon every tree.
O, then bespoke Mary,
With words both meek and mild,
"O, gather me cherries, Joseph,
They run so in my mind."
And then replied Joseph,
With his words so unkind,
"Let him gather thee cherries,
That got thee with child."
O, then bespoke our Savior,
All in His mother's womb,
"Bow down, good cherry tree,
To My mother's hand."
The uppermost sprig
Bowed down to Mary's knee,
"Thus you may see, Joseph,
These cherries are for me."
"O, eat your cherries, Mary,
O, eat your cherries now,
O, eat your cherries, Mary,
That grow upon the bow."
The parable of Dives and Lazarus was a great favourite at Christ-tide,
as, presumably, it served to stir up men to deeds of charity towards
their poorer brethren; but the following carol, parts of which are
very curious, has nothing like the antiquity of the foregoing
examples:--
As it fell out upon a day,
Rich Dives made a feast,
And he invited all his guests,
And gentry of the best.
Then Lazarus laid him down, and down,
And down at Dives' door,
"Some meat, some drink, brother Dives,
Bestow upon the poor."
"Thou art none of my brother, Lazarus,
That lies begging at my door,
No meat, nor drink will I give thee,
Nor bestow upon the poor."
Then Lazarus laid him down, and down,
And down at Dives' wall,
"Some meat, some drink, brother Dives,
Or with hunger starve I shall."
"Thou art none of my brother, Lazarus,
That lies begging at my wall,
No meat, nor drink will I give thee,
But with hunger starve you shall."
Then Lazarus laid him down, and down,
And down at Dives' gate,
"Some meat, some drink, brother Dives,
For Jesus Christ, His sake."
"Thou art none of my brother, Lazarus,
That lies begging at my gate,
No meat, nor drink I'll give to thee,
For Jesus Christ, His sake."
Then Dives sent out his merry men,
To whip poor Lazarus away,
But they had no power to strike a stroke,
And flung their whips away.
Then Dives sent out his hungry dogs,
To bite him as he lay.
But they had no power to bite at all,
So licked his sores away.
As it fell upon a day,
Poor Lazarus sickened and died,
There came an Angel out of heaven,
His soul there for to guide.
"Rise up, rise up, brother Lazarus,
And come along with me,
For there's a place in heaven provided
To site on an Angel's knee."
As it fell upon a day,
Rich Dives sickened and died,
There came a serpent out of hell,
His soul there for to guide.
"Rise up, rise up, brother Dives,
And come along with me,
For there's a place in hell provided,
To sit on a serpent's knee."
Then Dives lifting his eyes to heaven,
And seeing poor Lazarus blest,
"Give me a drop of water, brother Lazarus,
To quench my flaming thirst.
"Oh! had I as many years to abide,
As there are blades of grass,
Then there would be an ending day;
But in hell I must ever last.
"Oh! was I now but alive again,
For the space of one half hour,
I would make my will, and then secure
That the devil should have no power."
CHAPTER X
Christmas Eve--Herrick thereon--The Yule Log--Folk-lore
thereon--The Ashen Faggot--Christmas Candles--Christmas Eve
in the Isle of Man--Hunting the Wren--Divination by Onions
and Sage--A Custom at Aston--"The Mock"--Decorations and
Kissing Bunch--"Black Ball"--Guisers and Waits--Ale Posset.
All the festivals of the Church are preceded by a vigil, or eve, and,
considering the magnitude of the festival of Christmas, it is no
wonder that the ceremonial attaching to the eve of the Nativity
outvies all others. What sings old Herrick of it?
Come, bring with a noise,
My merrie, merrie boyes,
The Christmas Log to the firing;
While my good Dame, she
Bids ye all be free;
And drink to your hearts' desiring.
With the last yeere's brand,
Light the new block, And
For good successe in his spending,
On your Psalterie play,
That sweet luck may
Come while the Log is teending.[36]
Drink now the strong Beere,
Cut the white loafe heere,
The while the meat is a shredding;
For the rare Mince pie,
And the Plums stand by
To fill the Paste that's a-kneading.
[Footnote 36: Lighting, burning.]
Bringing in the Yule log, clog, or block--for it is indifferently
called by any of these names, was a great function on Christmas
eve--and much superstitious reverence was paid to it, in order to
insure good luck for the coming year. It had to be lit "with the last
yeere's brand," and Herrick gives the following instructions in _The
Ceremonies for Candlemasse day_.
Kindle the Christmas Brand, and then
Till Sunne-set, let it burne;
Which quencht, then lay it up agen,
Till Christmas next returne.
Part must be kept, wherewith to teend
The Christmas Log next yeare;
And, where 'tis safely kept, the Fiend
Can do no mischief there.
But, even if lit with the remains of last year's log, it seems to be
insufficient, unless the advice to the maids who light it be followed.
Wash your hands, or else the fire
Will not teend to your desire;
Unwasht hands, ye Maidens, know,
Dead the Fire, though ye blow.
In some parts of Devonshire a curious custom in connection with the
Yule log is still kept up, that of burning the Ashton or ashen faggot.
It is well described by a writer in _Notes and Queries_.[37]
[Footnote 37: Sixth series, vol. ii. p. 508.]
"Of the olden customs, so many of which are dying out, that of burning
an 'ashen faggot' on Christmas Eve, still holds its own, and is kept
up at many farm houses.
"Among the various gleanings of the Devon Association Folk-Lore
Committee is recorded a notice of this custom. We are there informed
that, on Christmas eve, 1878, the customary faggot was burned at
_thirty-two_ farms and cottages in the Ashburton postal district
alone.
"The details of the observance vary in different families; but some,
being common to all, may be considered as held necessary to the due
performance of the rite. For example, the faggot must contain as
large a log of ash as possible, usually the trunk of a tree, remnants
of which are supposed to continue smouldering on the hearth the whole
of the twelve days of Christmas. This is the Yule dog of our
forefathers, from which a fire can be raised by the aid of a pair of
bellows, at any moment day or night, in token of the ancient custom of
open hospitality at such a season. Then the faggot must be bound
together with as many binders of twisted hazel as possible.
Remembering that the Ash and Hazel were sacred trees with the
Scandinavians, their combined presence in forming the faggot may once
have contained some mystic signification. Also, as each binder is
burned through, a quart of cider is claimed by the Company. By this,
some hidden connexion between the pleasures of the party and the
loosening bands of the faggot is typified. While the fire lasts, all
sorts of amusements are indulged in--all distinction between master
and servant, neighbour and visitor, is for the time set aside.
"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 hailed, with uncontrolled delight,
And general voice, the happy night,
That to the cottage, as the crown,
Brought tidings of Salvation down.
"In some houses, when the faggot begins to burn up, a young child is
placed on it, and his future pluck foretold by his nerve or timidity.
May not this be a remnant of the dedication of children to the Deity
by passing them through the sacred fire?
"Different reasons are given for burning Ash. By some, it is said that
when our Saviour was born, Joseph cut a bundle of Ash, which, every
one knows, burns very well when green; that, by this, was lighted a
fire, by which He was first dressed in swaddling clothes.
"The gipsies have a legend that our Saviour was born out in a field
like themselves, and brought up by an Ash fire. The holly, ivy, and
pine, they say, hid him, and so, now, are always green, whilst the ash
and the oak showed where He was hiding, and they remain dead all the
winter. Therefore the gipsies burn Ash at Christmas.
"We can well understand how the pleasures of the ashen faggot are
looked forward to with delight by the hard-working agricultural
labourer, for whom few social enjoyments are provided. The harvest
home, in these days of machinery, seems lost in the usual routine of
work, and the shearing feast, when held, is confined to the farmer's
family, or shepherd staff, and is not a general gathering. Moreover,
these take place in the long busy days of summer, when extra hands and
strangers are about the farm doing job work. But, with Christmas,
things are different. Work is scarce; only the regular hands are on
the farm, and there is nothing to prevent following out the good old
custom of our ancestors, of feasting, for once, those among whom one's
lot is cast.
"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."
To add to the festivity and light, large candles are burnt, the bigger
the better; but, as the custom of keeping Christmas descended from
"Children of a larger growth" to those of lesser, so did the size of
the candles decrease in proportion, until they reached the minimum at
which we now know them. In the Isle of Man they had a custom which
has, probably, dropped into desuetude, of all going to church on
Christmas eve, each bearing the largest candle procurable. The
churches were well decorated with holly, and the service, in
commemoration of the Nativity, was called _Oiel Verry_. Waldron, in
his _Description of the Isle of Man_, says, "On the 24th of December,
towards evening, all the servants in general have a holiday; they go
not to bed all night, but ramble about till the bells ring in all the
churches, which is at twelve o'clock: prayers being over, they go to
hunt the wren; and, after having found one of these poor birds, they
kill her and lay her on a bier, with the utmost solemnity, bringing
her to the parish church, and burying her with a whimsical kind of
solemnity, singing dirges over her in the Manks language, which they
call her knell; after which Christmas begins."
There are many peculiar customs appertaining to Christmas eve. Burton,
in his _Anatomy of Melancholy_, says, "'Tis their only desire, if it
may be done by art, to see their husband's picture in a glass; they'll
give anything to know when they shall be married; how many husbands
they shall have, by _Cromnyomantia_, a kind of divination, with onions
laid on the altar at Christmas eve." This seems to be something like
that which we have seen practised on St. Thomas's day--or that
described in Googe's _Popish Kingdome_.
In these same days, young wanton gyrles that meet for marriage be,
Doe search to know the names of them that shall their husbands be;
Four onyons, five, or eight, they take, and make in every one
Such names as they doe fancie most, and best to think upon.
Then near the chimney them they set, and that same onyon then
That firste doth sproute doth surely beare the name of their good man.
In Northamptonshire another kind of divination, with the same object,
used to be practised: the girl who was anxious to ascertain her lot in
the married state, went into the garden and plucked twelve sage
leaves, under the firm conviction that she would be favoured with a
glimpse of the shadowy form of her future husband as he approached her
from the opposite end of the ground; but she had to take great care
not to damage or break the sage stock, otherwise the consequences
would be fearful. But then, in this county, the ghosts of people who
had been buried at cross roads had liberty to walk about and show
themselves on Christmas eve, so that the country folk did not care to
stir out more than necessary on the vigil. At Walton-le-Dale, in
Lancashire, the inmates of most of the houses sat up on Christmas eve,
with their doors open, whilst one of the party read the narrative of
St. Luke, the saint himself being supposed to pass through the house.
A contributor to the _Gentleman's Magazine_, 7th February 1795, gives
the following account of a custom which took place annually on the
24th of December, at the house of a gentleman residing at 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 person, 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."
In Cornwall, in many villages, Christmas merriment begins on the
vigil, when the "mock" or Yule log is lighted by a portion saved from
last year's fire. The family gather round the blaze, and amuse
themselves with various games; and even the younger children are
allowed, as a special favour, to sit up till a late hour to see the
fun, and afterwards "to drink to the mock." In the course of the
evening the merriment is increased by the entry of the "goosey
dancers" (guised dancers), the boys and girls of the village, who have
rifled their parents' wardrobes of old coats and gowns and, thus
disguised, dance and sing, and beg money to make merry with. They are
allowed, and are not slow to take, a large amount of license in
consideration of the season. It is considered to be out of character
with the time, and a mark of an ill-natured churlish disposition, to
take offence at anything they do or say. This mumming is kept up
during the week.
A very graphic description of Christmas eve in a Derbyshire cottage is
given in _Notes and Queries_.[38] "For several weeks before Christmas
the cottager's household is much busier than usual in making
preparations for the great holiday. The fatted pig has been killed, as
a matter of course, and Christmas pies, mince pies, and many other
good things made from it in readiness for the feast. The house has
been thoroughly cleaned, and all made 'spick and span.' The lads of
the house, with those of their neighbours, have been learning their
parts, and getting ready their dresses for the 'Christmas guising,'
and the household daily talk is full flavoured of Christmas.
[Footnote 38: Fifth series, viii. p. 481.]
"The lasses have made their own special preparations, and for two or
three days before Christmas Eve have been getting ready the accustomed
house decorations--short garlands of holly and other evergreens for
the tops of cupboards, pictures, and other furniture--and making up
the most important decoration of all, 'the kissing-bunch.'
"This 'kissing-bunch' is always an elaborate affair. The size depends
upon the couple of hoops--one thrust through the other--which form its
skeleton. Each of the ribs is garlanded with holly, ivy, and sprigs of
other greens, with bits of coloured ribbons and paper roses, rosy
cheeked apples, specially reserved for this occasion, and oranges.
Three small dolls are also prepared, often with much taste, and these
represent our Saviour, the mother of Jesus, and Joseph. These dolls
generally hang within the kissing-bunch by strings from the top, and
are surrounded by apples, oranges tied to strings, and various
brightly coloured ornaments. Occasionally, however, the dolls are
arranged in the kissing-bunch to represent a manger scene.
"When the preparations are completed, the house is decorated during
the day of Christmas eve. Every leaded window-pane holds its sprig of
holly, ivy, or box; the ornaments on and over the mantel-shelf receive
like attention, and every ledge and corner is loaded with green stuff.
Mistletoe is not very plentiful in Derbyshire; but, generally, a bit
is obtainable, and this is carefully tied to the bottom of the
kissing-bunch, which is then hung in the middle of the house-place,
the centre of attraction during Christmas-tide.
"While all this is going on, the housewife is very busy. 'Black-ball'
has to be made; the 'elderberry wine' to be got out; 'sugar, spice,
and all that's nice' and needful placed handy. The shop has to be
visited, and the usual yearly gift of one, two, or three Christmas
candles received. With these last, as every one knows, the house is
lit up at dusk on Christmas Eve.
"Without the 'black-ball' just mentioned, the Christmas rejoicings in
a cottage would not be complete. 'Black-ball' is a delicacy compounded
of black treacle and sugar boiled together in a pan, to which, when
boiling, is added a little flour, grated ginger, and spices. When it
is boiled enough, it is poured into a large shallow dish, and, when
partially cooled, is cut into squares and lengths, then rolled or
moulded into various shapes. When quite cool, it is very hard, and
very toothsome to young Derbyshire.
"After an early tea-meal, the fire is made up with a huge Yule-log;
all the candles, oil and fat lamps lit, and everything is bright and
merry-looking. The head of the family sits in the chimney corner with
pipe and glass of ale, or mulled elder wine. The best table is set
out, and fairly loaded with Christmas and mince pies, oranges, apples,
nuts, 'black-baw,' wine, cakes, and green cheese, and the whole
family, with the guests, if any, set about enjoying themselves.
Romping games are the order of the eve, broken only when the
'guisers'--of whom there are always several sets--or waits arrive. The
'guisers' are admitted indoors, and go through the several acts of
their play. At the conclusion 'Betsy Belzebub' collects coppers from
the company, and glasses of ale and wine are given to the players. The
Waits, or 'Christmas Singers' as they are mostly called, sing their
carols and hymns outside the house, and during the performance cakes
and ale, wine, and other cheer are carried out to them. So the Eve
passes on.
"At nine or ten o'clock is brewed a large bowl of 'poor man's
punch'--ale posset! This is the event of the night. Ale posset, or
milk and ale posset as some call it, is made in this wise. Set a quart
of milk on the fire. While it boils, crumble a twopenny loaf into a
deep bowl, upon which pour the boiling milk. Next, set two quarts of
good ale to boil, into which grate ginger and nutmeg, adding a
quantity of sugar. When the ale nearly boils, add it to the milk and
bread in the bowl, stirring it while it is being poured in.
"The bowl of ale posset is then placed in the centre of the table. All
the single folks gather round, each provided with a spoon. Then
follows an interesting ceremony. A wedding ring, a bone button, and a
fourpenny piece are thrown into the bowl, and all begin to eat, each
dipping to the bottom of the bowl. He or she who brings up the ring
will be the first married; whoever brings up the button will be an old
maid or an old bachelor; and he or she who brings out the coin will
become the richest. As may be imagined, this creates great fun. When
seven shilling gold pieces were in circulation, this was the coin
always thrown into the posset.
"The games are resumed when the posset is eaten, or possibly all
gather round the fire, and sing or tell stories, whiling away the
hours till the stroke of twelve, when all go outside the house to
listen, whilst the singers, who have gathered at some point in the
village, sing 'Christians, awake!' or 'Hark! the Herald Angels Sing';
and so comes to an end the cottager's one hearth-stone holiday of the
whole year."
CHAPTER XI
Christmas Eve in North Notts--Wassailing the Fruit
Trees--Wassail Songs--Wassailing in Sussex--Other
Customs--King at Downside College--A Christ-tide
Carol--Midnight Mass--The Manger--St. Francis of Assisi.
As these old customs are fast dying out, and should be chronicled, I
must be pardoned if I give another and very similar illustration of
how Christmas eve was spent in North Notts fifty years ago.[39]
[Footnote 39: _Notes and Queries_, seventh series, ii. 501.]
"None keep Christmas nowadays as was the fashion fifty to a hundred
years ago in this part of the country. Here and there are to be met
the customs, or bits of the customs, which were then observed: but, as
a rule, the old ways have given place to new ones. Here in North
Notts, every house is more or less decked in the few days before
Christmas Day with holly, ivy, and evergreens, nor is mistletoe
forgotten, which would scarcely be likely by any one living within a
dozen miles of Sherwood Forest, where mistletoe grows in rare
profusion on thorn bushes, the oak, and other trees, and under certain
conditions may be had for the asking.
"Fifty years ago, at any rate, in all the villages and towns of North
Notts, the preparations among farmers, tradesmen, and poor folks for
keeping Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were always on a bountiful
scale. Fat pigs were killed a week or so previously, portions of which
were made into Christmas pies of various kinds. Plum puddings were
made, and the mince meat, cunningly prepared some weeks beforehand,
was made into mince pies of all sorts, sizes, and shapes. Yule
'clogs,' as they are here called, were sawn or chopped in readiness,
and a stock laid in sufficient to last the whole of one or two
evenings.
"In well-regulated houses it was usual to have all the preparations
and the housework completed by early in the afternoon of Christmas
Eve, and after an early tea in parlour and kitchen--the servants,
clean and neat, piled up the Yule clogs in the rooms, getting the
large ones well alight, and keeping them going by smaller knots of
wood. Long, large, white Christmas Candles were lighted, set in
old-fashioned, time-honoured, brass candlesticks, accompanied by
equally old and honoured brass snuffers and trays, all bright and
shining. Of candles, there was no lack, and when all were fairly
going, parlour and kitchen presented a blaze of warm, ruddy light,
only seen once in the year. In both rooms the Christmas Eve tables
were laid with snowy linen, and set for feasting, with all the good
things provided. On each table would be a large piece of beef, and a
ham, flanked by the pies and other good things, including a Christmas
Cheese.
"About six in the evening, the chief item of the feast was prepared.
This was hot spiced ale, usually of a special brew. This was prepared
by the gallon in a large kettle, or iron pot, which stood, for the
purpose, on the hob. The ale was poured in, made quite hot, but not
allowed to boil, and then sugar and spice were added according to
taste, some women having a special mode of making the brew. When
ready, the hot ale was ladled into bowls,--the large earthenware ones
now so rare. A white one, with blue decorations, was used in the
parlour, a commoner one, of the yellowish earthenware kind, with rough
blue or other coloured bands for ornamentation, being for the kitchen.
These, nearly full of the steaming brew, were carried to the tables.
Whoever then dropped in, and usually there were many, to see parlour
or kitchen company, had to drink from these bowls, lifting the bowl to
the lips with both hands, expressing a good seasonable wish, and
taking a hearty drink. The visitors then partook of anything on the
table they liked, and one and all were treated bountifully. Soon, as
the company arrived, the fun increased in parlour and kitchen,
particularly in the latter, as the womenkind went through the
old-fashioned ceremony under the mistletoe, which was hung aloft from
a highly-decorated 'kissing-bunch.'
"All sorts of games and fun went on till about ten o'clock, as a rule,
about which time the master, mistress, and family, with the rest of
the parlour company, visited the kitchen. Then the steaming ale bowl
was refilled, and all, beginning with the master and the mistress, in
turn drank from the bowl. This over, the parlour company remained, and
entered into the games for a time. There was always some one who could
sing a suitable song; and one, if song it can be called, was:
"_The Folks' Song._
"When me an' my folks
Come to see you an' your folks,
Let you an' your folks
Treat me an' my folks
As kind, as me an' my folks
Treated you an' your folks,
When you an' your folks
Came to see me an' my folks,
Sure then! never were such folks
Since folks were folks!
"This was sung several times over with the last two lines as a chorus.
The proceedings in the kitchen closed with another general sup from
the replenished bowl, the parlour folks returning to the parlour.
During the evening the proceedings were varied by visits from
Christmas singers and the mummers, all of whom were well entertained.
Usually, if the weather was fit, the kitchen folks wound up the night
with a stroll, dropping in to see friends at other houses. As a rule,
soon after midnight the feastings were over, but most folks never
thought of retiring till they heard the bands of singers in the
distance singing the morning hymn, 'Christians, awake!'"
A very old custom was that of "wassailing" the fruit trees on
Christmas eve, although it obtained on other days, such as New Year's
day and Twelfth day. Herrick says:
Wassaile the Trees that they may beare
You many a Plum and many a Peare;
For more or lesse fruits they will bring,
As you do give them Wassailing.
This custom of drinking to the trees and pouring forth libations to
them differs according to the locality. In some parts of Devonshire it
used to be customary for the farmer, with his family and friends,
after partaking together of hot cakes and cider (the cakes being
dipped in the liquor previous to being eaten), to proceed to the
orchard, one of the party bearing hot cake and cider as an offering to
the principal apple tree. The cake was formally deposited on the fork
of the tree, and the cider thrown over it.
In the neighbourhood of the New Forest the following lines are sung at
the wassailing of the trees:
Apples and pears, with right good corn
Come in plenty to every one;
Eat and drink good cake and hot ale,
Give earth to drink, and she'll not fail.
Horsfield, who wrote of Sussex, speaks somewhat at length of this
subject, and says that the wassail bowl was compounded of ale, sugar,
nutmeg, and roasted apples, the latter called "lambs' wool." The
wassail bowl is placed on a small round table, and each person present
is furnished with a silver spoon to stir. They then walk round the
table as they go, and stirring with the right hand, and every
alternate person passes at the same time under the arm of his
preceding neighbour. The wassailing (or "worsling," as it is termed in
West Sussex) of the fruit trees is considered a matter of grave
importance, and its omission is held to bring ill luck, if not the
loss of all the next crop. Those who engage in the ceremony are called
"howlers."
The farm labourers, or boys (says Horsfield), after the day's toil is
ended, assemble in a group to wassail the apple trees, etc. The
trumpeter of the party is furnished with a cow's horn, with which he
makes sweet music. Thus equipped, they call on the farmer, and
inquire, "please, sir, do you want your trees worsled?" They then
proceed to the orchard, and encircling one of the largest and
best-bearing trees, chant in a low voice a certain doggerel rhyme; and
this ended, all shout in chorus, with the exception of the trumpeter,
who blows a loud blast. During the ceremony they rap the trees with
their sticks. "Thus going from tree to tree, or group to group, they
wassail the whole orchard; this finished, they proceed to the house of
the owner, and sing at his door a song common on the occasion. They
are then admitted, and, placing themselves around the kitchen fire,
enjoy the sparkling ale and the festivities of the season."
There are two wassail rhymes in Sussex:
"Stand fast, root; bear well, top;
Pray the God send us a good howling crop.
Every twig, apples big;
Every bough, apples enow.
Hats full, caps full,
Full quarters, sacks full.
Holloa, boys, holloa! Hurrah!"
The other is:
"Here's to thee, old apple tree;
May'st thou bud, may'st thou blow,
May'st thou bear apples enow!
Hats full! Caps full!
Bushel, bushel sacks full!
And my pockets full, too!
Hurrah!"
In the _Gentleman's Magazine_ (January 1820, p. 33) mention is made of
"an ancient superstitious custom obtaining at Tretyre, in
Herefordshire, upon Christmas Eve. They make a cake, poke a stick
through it, fasten it upon the horn of an ox, and say certain words,
begging a good crop of corn for the master. The men and boys attending
the oxen range themselves around. If the ox throws the cake behind it
belongs to the men; if before, to the boys. They take with them a
wooden bottle of cyder, and drink it, repeating the charm before
mentioned."
There is a curious custom at Downside College, near Bath. On Christmas
eve the scholars of this well-known institution proceed to the
election of their king and other officers of his household, consisting
of the mayor of the palace, etc. His reign lasts fourteen days, during
which period there are many good feasts; a room in the college being
fitted up in fine style, and used by his Majesty as his palace. At
Oxford, too, in pre-Reformation time, at Merton College, they had a
king of Christmas, or misrule; at St. John's he was styled lord, and
at Trinity he was emperor!
There is a rather rough but pretty west country carol for Christmas
eve, which is to be found in Davies Giddy, or Gilbert's _Ancient
Christmas Carols, etc._, and which, he says, was chanted in private
houses on Christmas eve throughout the west of England up to the
latter part of the last century.
The Lord at first did Adam make
Out of the dust and clay,
And in his nostrils breathed life,
E'en as the Scriptures say.
And then in Eden's Paradise
He placed him to dwell,
That he, within it, should remain,
To dress and keep it well.
_Now let good Christians all begin
An holy life to live,
And to rejoice and merry be,
For this is Christmas Eve._
And then within the garden he
Commanded was to stay,
And unto him in commandment
These words the Lord did say:
"The fruit which in the garden grows
To thee shall be for meat,
Except the tree in the midst thereof,
Of which thou shall not eat."
_Now let good Christians, etc._
"For in the day that thou shall eat,
Or to it then come nigh;
For if that thou doth eat thereof,
Then surely thou shalt die."
But Adam he did take no heed
Unto the only thing,
But did transgress God's holy law,
And so was wrapt in sin.
_Now let good Christians, etc._
Now, mark the goodness of the Lord,
Which He for mankind bore,
His mercy soon He did extend,
Lost man for to restore;
And then, for to redeem our souls
From death and hellish thrall,
He said His own dear Son should be
The Saviour of us all.
_Now let good Christians, etc._
Which promise now is brought to pass,
Christians, believe it well;
And by the coming of God's dear Son
We are redeemed from thrall.
Then, if we truly do believe,
And do the thing aright;
Then, by His merits, we, at last,
Shall live in heaven bright
_Now let good Christians, etc._
And now the Tide is nigh at hand
In which our Saviour came;
Let us rejoice, and merry be,
In keeping of the same.
Let's feed the poor and hungry souls,
And such as do it crave;
Then, when we die, in heaven sure
Our reward we shall have.
_Now let good Christians, etc._
Christmas eve is notable in the Roman Catholic Church for the unique
fact that mass is celebrated at midnight. I say, advisably, _is_
celebrated, because, although Cardinal Manning abolished public mass
at that hour within the diocese of Westminster about 1867, yet in
conventual establishments it is still kept up, and in every church
three masses are celebrated. The ancient, and, in fact, the modern
use, until interrupted by Cardinal Manning, was to celebrate mass at
midnight, at daybreak, and at the third hour (9 a.m.) This use is very
old; for Thelesphorus, who was Pope A.D. 127, decreed that three
masses should be sung _in Festo Nativitatis_, to denote that the birth
of Christ brought salvation to the fathers of three periods--viz. the
fathers before, under, and after the law.
Another Roman Catholic custom on Christmas eve is the preparation of
"the Manger," which in some places is a very elaborate affair. The
Christ is lying on straw between the ox and ass, Mary and Joseph
bending over Him; the shepherds are kneeling in adoration, and the
angels, hovering above, are supposed to be singing the _gloria in
excelsis_. A writer in the _Catholic World_ (vol. xxxiv. p. 439)
says:--"Christmas Dramas are said to owe their origin to St. Francis
of Assisi. Before his death he celebrated the sacred Birth-night in
the woods, where a stable had been prepared with an ox and an ass, and
a crib for an altar. A great number of people came down from the
mountains, singing joyful hymns and bearing torches in their hands;
for it was not fitting that a night that had given light to the whole
world, should be shrouded in darkness. St. Francis, who loved to
associate all nature with his ministry, was filled with joy. He
officiated at the Mass as deacon. He sang the Gospel, and then
preached in a dramatic manner on the birth of Christ. When he spoke of
the Lamb of God, he was filled with a kind of divine frenzy, and
imitated the plaintive cry of the sacrificial lamb; and, when he
pronounced the sweet name of Jesus, it was as if the taste of honey
were on his lips. One soul before the rural altar, that night, with
purer eyes than the rest, saw the Divine Babe, radiant with eternal
beauty, lying in the manger."
CHAPTER XII
Decorating with Evergreens--Its Origin and
Antiquity--Mistletoe in Churches--The permissible
Evergreens--The Holly--"Holly and Ivy"--"Here comes
Holly"--"Ivy, chief of Trees"--"The Contest of the Ivy and
the Holly"--Holly Folk-lore--Church Decorations--To be kept
up till Candlemas day.
Christmas Eve is especially the time for decorating houses and
churches with evergreens, a custom which seems to have come from
heathen times; at least, no one seems to know when it commenced.
Polydore Vergil[40] says:--"Trymming of the temples with hangynges,
floures, boughes, and garlondes, was taken of the heathen people,
whiche decked their idols and houses with such array." That it is an
old custom in England to deck houses, churches, etc., at Christ-tide
with evergreens is undoubted--the only question is, how old is it?
Stow, in his _Survey_, says: "Against the Feast of Christmas, every
man's house, as also their parish churches, were decked with holme,
ivy, bayes, and whatsoever the season of the year afforded to be
green. The Conduits and Standards in the streets were, likewise,
garnished; among the which I read that, in the year 1444, by tempest
of thunder and lightning, towards the morning of Candlemas day, at the
Leadenhall in Cornhill, a standard of tree, being set up in the midst
of the pavement, fast in the ground, nailed full of holme and ivie,
for disport of Christmass to the people, was torne up and cast down by
the malignant Spirit (as was thought), and the stones of the pavement
all about were cast in the streets, and into divers houses, so that
the people were sore aghast at the great tempests."
[Footnote 40: Langley's _Abridg._, p. 100.]
Stow, we see, makes no mention of mistletoe, nor do we find it in old
churchwardens' accounts, because mistletoe was accounted a heathen
plant, on account of its association with the Druids, and not only was
therefore unsuitable to bedeck a place of Christian worship, but the
old rite of kissing beneath it rendered it inadmissible. Still, in
Queen Anne's time, it was recognised as a Christmas decoration, for
Gay in his _Trivia_ has sung--
When _Rosemary_ and _Bays_, the poet's crown,
Are bawl'd in frequent cries through all the town;
Then judge the festival of Christmas near,
Christmas, the joyous period of the year!
Now with bright _Holly_ all the temples strow
With _Laurel_ green, and sacred MISTLETOE.
The mistletoe is found in several counties in England, but the bulk of
that which we have now at Christ-tide comes from Brittany. There is a
popular belief that it grows on oaks, possibly on account of Druidical
tradition to that effect, but, as a matter of fact, its connection
with that tree in England is very rare, Dr. Ball, in a paper in the
_Journal of Botany_, only mentioning seven authentic instances of its
growth on the oak tree in this country. It principally makes its
_habitat_ on the apple, poplar, hawthorn, lime, maple, and mountain
ash, and has been found on the cedar of Lebanon and the laurel.
The bay tree was believed to have the property of protection against
fire or lightning. The ivy was considered to prevent intoxication, and
for this reason Bacchus is represented as being crowned with ivy
leaves. The holly was originally the Holy Tree, and tradition says
that, unknown before, it sprang up in perfection and beauty beneath
the footsteps of Christ when he first trod the earth, and that, though
man has forgotten its attributes, the beasts all reverence it, and are
never known to injure it.
The four following carols are all of the fifteenth century:
HOLLY AND IVY
Holly and Ivy made a great party,
Who should have the mastery
In lands where they go.
Then spake Holly, "I am fierce and jolly,
I will have the mastery
In lands where we go."
Then spake Ivy, "I am loud and proud,
And I will have the mastery
In lands where we go."
Then spake Holly, and set him down on his knee,
"I pray thee, gentle Ivy, say[41] me no villany
In lands where we go."
[Footnote 41: Do.]
HERE COMES HOLLY
Alleluia, Alleluia,
Alleluia, now sing we.
Here comes Holly, that is so gent,[42]
To please all men is his intent,
Alleluia.
But Lord and Lady of this Hall,
Whosoever against Holly call.
Alleluia.
Whosoever against Holly do cry,
In a lepe[43] he shall hang full high.
Alleluia.
Whosoever against Holly doth sing,
He may weep and hands wring.
Alleluia.
[Footnote 42: Pretty.]
[Footnote 43: A large basket.]
IVY, CHIEF OF TREES
The most worthy she is in town,
He that saith other, doth amiss;
And worthy to bear the crown;
_Veni coronaberis._
Ivy is soft and meek of speech,
Against all bale she is bliss;
Well is he that may her reach,
_Veni coronaberis._
Ivy is green with colour bright,
Of all trees best she is;
And that I prove well now be right,
_Veni coronaberis._
Ivy beareth berries black.
God grant us all His bliss;
For there shall we nothing lack,
_Veni coronaberis._
THE CONTEST OF THE IVY AND THE HOLLY
_Nay, Ivy, nay, it shall not be, I wis,
Let Holly have the mastery as the manner is._
Holly standeth in the hall, fair to behold,
Ivy stands without the door; she is full sore a cold.
_Nay, Ivy, nay_, etc.
Holly and his merry men, they dancen and they sing;
Ivy and her maidens, they weepen and they wring.
_Nay, Ivy, nay_, etc.
Ivy hath a lybe, she caught it with the cold,
So may they all have, that with Ivy hold.
_Nay, Ivy, nay_, etc.
Holly hath berries, as red as any rose,
The foresters, the hunters, keep them from the does.
_Nay, Ivy, nay_, etc.
Ivy hath berries, as black as any sloe,
There comes the owl and eats them as she go.
_Nay, Ivy, nay_, etc.
Holly hath birds, a full fair flock,
The nightingale, the poppinjay, the gentle laverock.
_Nay, Ivy, nay_, etc.
Good Ivy, good Ivy, what birds hast thou?
None but the owlet that cries How! How!
_Nay, Ivy, nay_, etc.
It is just as well to be particular as to the quality of the holly
used in Christmas decorations; for on that depends who will be the
ruler of the house during the coming year--the wife or the husband. If
the holly is smooth the wife will get the upper hand, but if it be
prickly, then the husband will gain the supremacy. It is also unlucky
to bring holly into the house before Christmas Eve. And, please, if
you are doing at home any decorations for the church, be sure and make
them on the ground floor, for it is specially unlucky to make anything
intended for use in a church in an upper chamber.
The custom of church decoration may possibly have been suggested by a
verse in the first lesson appointed to be read on Christmas eve--lx.
Isaiah, 13. "The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree,
the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my
sanctuary." Some years ago, at the commencement of the great Church
revival, the Christmas decorations in churches were very elaborate,
but they are now, as a rule, much quieter, and the only admissible
evergreens are contained in the following distich--
Holly and Ivy, Box and Bay,
Put in the Church on Christmas day.
These decorations, both in church and in private houses, ought to be
kept up until the 1st of February, Candlemas eve, when they should be
burnt--a proceeding which set fire to the hall of Christ Church,
Oxford, in 1719. Herrick gives the following:--
CEREMONIES FOR CANDLEMASSE EVE
Down with the Rosemary and Bayes,
Down with the Mistleto;
Instead of Holly, now upraise
The greener Box (for show).
The Holly, hitherto did sway;
Let Box now domineere;
Untill the dancing Easter day,
Or Easter's Eve appeare.
The youthfull Box, which now hath grace,
Your houses to renew;
Grown old, surrender must his place,
Unto the crisped Yew.
When Yew is out, then Birch comes in,
And many Flowers beside;
Both of a fresh and fragrant kinne
To honour Whitsuntide.
Green Rushes then, and sweetest Bents,
With cooler Oken boughs;
Come in for comely ornaments,
To readorn the house
Thus times do shift; each thing his turn do's hold;
_New things succeed, as former things grow old._
And with Candlemas day ends all festivity connected with Christ-tide.
End now the White-loafe, and the Pye,
And let all sports with Christmas dye.
CHAPTER XIII
Legends of the Nativity--The Angels--The Birth--The
Cradles--The Ox and Ass--Legends of Animals--The Carol of
St. Stephen--Christmas Wolves--Dancing for a
Twelve-months--Underground Bells--The Fiddler and the Devil.
It would indeed be singular if an event of such importance as the
birth, as man, of the Son of God had not been specially marked out by
signs and wonders, and that many legends
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