,transcriber's ,note3 superscripted letters are preceded by a caret and surrounded by curly braces3 wth4 ,bold text is surrounded by equal signs and italic text by underscores4 ,illustration3 ,,christmas ,,and ,,his ,,children4 ,,the ,,book of ,,christmas4 ,illustration ,some say1 that ever 'gainst that season comes ,wherein our ,saviour's birth is celebrated1 ,this bird of dawning singeth allnight long4 ,shakspeare4 ,,boston3 ,,roberts ,,brothers4 #ahhh4 ,,the ,,book ,,of ,,christmas2 ,,descriptive ,,of ,,the ,,customs1 ,,ceremonies1 ,,traditions1 ,,superstitions1 ,,fun1 ,,feeling1 ,,and ,,festivities ,,of ,the ,christmas ,season4 ,,by ,,thomas ,k4 ,,hervey4 ,,with ,,illustrations ,,by ,r4 ,,seymour4 ,illustration3 ,galantee ,show4 ,,boston3 ,,roberts ,,brothers4 #ahhh4 ,university ,press3 ,,john ,,wilson ,,and ,,son1 ,,cambridge4 ,,contents4 ,,page ,,introductory ,,chapter #g ,part ,first4 ,,the ,,christmas ,,season #bi ,mingled ,origin of the ,christmas ,festival2 ,good ,cheer of the ,ancient ,festival2 ,court ,celebrations of ,christmas2 ,celebrations at the ,inns of ,court2 ,lord of ,misrule and ,christmas ,prince2 ,abbot of ,unreason2 ,influence of the ,festival on the ,social ,relations2 ,ben ,jonson's ,masque of ,christmas2 ,father ,christmas summoning his ,spirits2 ,extinction of the ,ancient ,festival2 ,partial ,revival2 ,summary of the ,causes of its final ,decline4 ,,feelings ,,of ,,the ,,season #acd ,religious ,influences2 ,assembling of ,friends2 ,church ,services of the ,season2 lengthened ,duration of the ,festival2 ,memories of the ,season2 ,natural ,aspects of the ,season4 ,,signs ,,of ,,the ,,season #aeg ,domestic ,preparations2 ,mince ,pie2 ,travellers on the ,highways2 coming ,home from ,school2 ,norfolk ,coach2 ,evergreens for ,christmas ,decoration2 ,kissing under the ,mistletoe2 ,christmas ,minstrelsy2 ,waits2 ,carol ,singing2 ,christmas ,carols2 ,annual ,carol ,sheets2 ,london ,carol ,singers2 ,bellman4 ,part ,second4 ,,the ,,christmas ,,days #bbc ,,st4 ,,thomas',s ,,day #bbe ,various ,country ,customs on this day2 ,st4 ,thomas's ,day in ,london2 ,city ,parochial ,elections2 ,lumber ,troop and other ,city ,associations4 ,,sports ,,of ,,this ,,season #bcc ,ancient ,jugglers2 ,galantee ,show2 ,card ,playing2 ,ancient ,bards and ,harpers2 ,modern ,story-telling and ,music2 out-door ,sports of the ,season2 ,theatre and ,pantomime2 ,mummers2 ,play of ,st4 ,george4 ,,christmas ,,eve #bfg ,london ,markets on ,christmas ,eve2 the ,yule-clog2 ,christmas ,candles2 ,wassail ,bowl2 ,omens and ,superstitions2 ,old ,christmas ,eve2 ,midnight ,mass4 ,,christmas ,,day #bhe ,religious ,services2 ,plum ,pudding2 ,charities of the ,season2 ,old ,english ,gentleman2 ,ancient ,baronial ,hall2 ,bringing in the ,boar's ,head2 ,modern ,christmas ,dinner4 ,,st4 ,,stephen',s ,,day #cjb ,boxing ,day 7origin of the name72 ,christmas-boxes2 ,christmas ,pieces2 ,hunting the ,wren 7,isle of ,man72 ,droleens1 or ,wren ,boys 7,ireland72 ,greek ,songs of the ,crow and ,swallow4 ,,new ,,year',s ,,eve #cae ,scottish ,observances2 ,night of ,omens2 ,hogmanay2 ,seeing-in the ,new ,year4 ,,new ,,year',s ,,day #cce ,morning ,congratulations2 ,new-,year's ,gifts4 ,,twelfth ,,day ,,and ,,twelfth ,,night #cci ,observances on the ,virgil of the ,epiphany2 ,humors of the ,street2 ,twelfth ,night ,party2 ,twelfth ,cake2 ,drawing for ,characters2 ,three ,kings of ,cologne4 ,,saint ,,distaff',s ,,day #cea ,rustic ,sports4 ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations4 ,,page ,,christmas ,,and ,,his ,,children ,frontispiece ,,the ,,book ,,of ,,christmas ,titlepage ,,merry ,,christmas ,,to ,,you #bi ,,snap-,,dragon #ca ,,baronial ,,hall #db ,,enjoying ,,christmas #df ,,mummers #fe ,,gate ,,of ,,the ,,old ,,english ,,gentleman #aji ,,family ,,congratulation #acd ,,country ,,carol ,,singers #aeg ,,coming ,,home ,,from ,,school #afc ,,norfolk ,,coach ,,at ,,christmas #agj ,,too ,,late ,,for ,,the ,,coach #agb ,,bringing ,,home ,,christmas #agc ,,the ,,mistletoe ,,bough #aia ,,waits #aig ,,london ,,carol ,,singers #bae ,,bell-,,ringing #bai ,,the ,,lord ,,of ,,misrule #bbc ,,christmas ,,presents #bbd ,,st4 ,,thomas',s ,,day #bcc ,,story ,,telling #bci ,,christmas ,,pantomime #bdi ,,galantee ,,show #bff ,,market--,,christmas ,,eve #bfg ,,wassail ,,bowl #bge ,,old ,,christmas #bhe ,,christmas ,,pudding #bhf ,,country ,,church1 ,,christmas ,,morning #bij ,,bringing ,,in ,,the ,,boar',s ,,head #bie ,,christmas ,,dinner #cjj ,,boxing ,,day #cjb ,,seeing-,,in ,,the ,,new ,,year #cca ,,twelfth ,,night ,,king #cci ,,twelfth ,,night ,,in ,,london ,,streets #cdc ,,twelfth ,,night #cdg ,,returning ,,to ,,school #cee ,,the ,,book ,,of ,,christmas4 ,,introductory ,,chapter4 ,we take no note of time ,but from its loss2 to give it1 then1 a tongue ,is wise in man4 ,,dr4 ,,young4 ,,to give a language to time1 for the preservation of its records and the utterance of its lessons1 has been amongst the occupations of man from the day when first he found himself in its mysterious presence down to these latter ages of the world2 and yet1 all the resources of his ingenuity1 impelled by all the aspirations of his heart1 have only succeeded in supplying it with an imperfect series of hieroglyphics1 difficult in their acquirement and uncertain in their use4 ,ages upon ages of the young world have passed away1 of which the old hath no chronicle4 ,generations after generations of men have made their bed in the darkness1 and left no monuments4 ,of the crowded memorials reared by others along the stream of time1 many 7and those the mightiest7 are written in a cipher of which the key is lost4 ,the wrappings of the mummy are letters of a dead language2 and no man can translate the ancient story of the pyramid6 ,we have learnt to speak of time1 because it is that portion of eternity with which we have presently to do1--as if it were a whit more intelligible 7less vague1 abstract1 and unimaginable7 than that eternity of which it is a part4 ,he who can conceive of the one1 must be able to embrace the awful image of the other4 ,we think of time as of a section of eternity1 separated and intrenched by absolute limits2 and thus we seem to have arrived at a definite idea1 surrounded by points on which the mind can rest4 ,but when the imagination sets out upon the actual experiment1 and discovers that those limits are not assignable1 save on one only side1 and finds but a single point on which to rest its failing wing1 and looks from thence along an expanse whose boundaries are nowhere else within the range of its restricted vision1--then does the mortal bird return into its mortal nest1 wearied with its ineffectual flight1 and convinced that a shoreless ocean and one whose shores it cannot see are alike formless and mysterious to its dim and feeble gaze4 ,and yet notwithstanding the connection of these two ideas1--of time and of eternity1--7the notion of the former being only reached through the latter7 we deal familiarly1 and even jestingly1 with the one1 while the mind approaches the other with reverential awe4 ,types1 and symbols1 and emblems--and those ever of a grave meaning--are the most palpable expressions which we venture to give to our conceptions of the one2 whilst the other we figure and personify1--and that1 too often1 after a fashion in which the better part of the moral is left unrepresented4 ,yet who shall personify time8 ,and who that has ever tried it1 in the silence of his chamber and the stillness of his heart1 hath not bowed down in breathless awe before the solemn visions which his conjuration has awakened8 ,oh1 the mysterious shapes which ,time takes1 when it rises up into the mind as an image1 at those hours of lonely inquisition6--,and he said unto her1 ',what form is he of8' ,and she said1 ',an old man cometh up2 and he is covered with a mantle4'--,the mysterious presence which it assumes in thoughts from the visions of the night1 when deep sleep falleth on men6 ,who1 as he strove to collect the mournful attributes about which his fancy had been busy into an impersonation1 hath not suddenly felt as if a spirit passed before his face6 4 4 4 ,it stood still1 but he could not discern the form thereof2 an image was before his eyes1 there was silence2 and out of that silence hath seemed to come a voice like that which whispered to ,job1 ,they that dwell in houses of clay1 whose foundation is in the dust1 which are crushed before the moth1 they are destroyed from morning to evening2 they perish for ever1 without any regarding it4 ,time1 abstractedly considered as what in truth it is1--a portion of the vast ocean of eternity1 a river flowing from the sea and flowing to the sea1 a channel leading from deep to deep1 through shores on which the races of the world are permitted to build for awhile1 until the great waters shall once more cover all1 and time1 as time1 shall be no more1--must long have defied the skill of man to map out its surface1 and write his memorials upon its impalpable bosom4 ,the thousand keels that sweep over the visible waters of the world leave on their face traces of their passage more legible and enduring than do the generations of men as they come and go on that viewless and voiceless stream4 ,the ingenuity which has taught man to lay down the plan of the material ocean1 to assign to each spot on its uniform surface its positive whereabout and actual relation1 and by a series of imaginary lines and figures to steer his way across its pathless solitudes with a knowledge as certain as that which guides him amidst the substantive and distinctive features of the solid earth1 is scarcely more admirable than that which1 by a similar device1 has enabled him to measure out the expanse of the silent river1 to cover1 as it were1 its surface with a crowd of imaginary latitudes and longitudes intersecting each other at all points1 and to ascertain at any moment1 by observation1 his relative position on the great stream of time4 ,how long the unaided genius of man might have been ere it could have fallen upon a scheme for the one achievement or the other1 if left to struggle with its own resources and unassisted by hints from without1 we need not conjecture4 ,but in each case the solution of the problem was suggested to him1 as the materials for working it are still furnished1 by the finger of ,god himself4 ,the great architect of the universe hath planted in its frame all necessary models and materials for the guidance and use of its human inhabitants1 leaving them to the exercise of those powers and capacities with which they have been furnished to improve the lessons and apply the examples thus conveyed4 ,in each of the cases of which we have spoken1 the constellations which surround the world and are the poetry of heaven have been the sources of the inspiration1 as they are still the lights by which that inspiration works4 ,the hand that fashioned the two great lights1 and appointed to them their courses1 and gave them to be for signs and for seasons and for days and years1 pointed out to man how he might1 by the observation of their revolutions1 direct his course along the unbroken stream of time or count its waves as they flowed silently and ceaselessly away4 ,the sun and moon were the ancient and at first the only measures of time1 as they are the essential foundations of all the modes by which man measures it now2 and in the order of the world's architecture1 the watches of the element which guide us yet were framed and set in the firmament of heaven at that distant and uncertain period whose evening and morning were the fourth day4 ,nor did the beneficent power which erected these great meters of time in the constitution of the universe leave the world without suggestions how their use might be improved in the business of more minute subdivision4 ,the thousand natural inequalities of the earth's surface1 and the vegetable columns which spring from its bosom1 furnish--as do the spires and towers and columns which man rears thereon--so many gnomons of the vast dial1 on which are unerringly written with the finger of shadow the shining records of the sky4 ,there is something unutterably solemn in watching the shade creep1 day by day1 round a circle whose diameter man might measure with his grave or even cover with his hand1 and contrasting the limits within which it acts with the spaces of time which its stealing tread measures out1 and feeling that it is the faithful index of a progress before which the individual being and the universal frame of things are alike hastening to rapid and inevitable decay4 ,there are few types more awfully representative of that which they typify than is the shadow4 ,it is ,time almost made visible4 ,through it the mind reaches the most vivid impersonation of that mysterious idea which it is capable of containing4 ,it seems as if flung directly from his present and passing wing4 ,the silent and ceaseless motion--gliding for ever on and on1 coming round again and again1 but reverting never and tarrying never1 blotting out the sunshine as it passes and leaving no trace where it has passed--make it the true and solemn symbol of him 7the old unresting and unreturning one7 who receded not1 even when that same shadow went back on the dial of the king of ,judah1 nor paused when the sun stood still in the midst of heaven and the moon lingered over the valley of ,ajalon6 ,of that mysterious type and its awful morals a lost friend of ours#a has already spoken better than we can hope to speak2 and as he is 7alas1 that he is so67 already one whose sun shall no more go down1 neither shall his moon withdraw itself1 we will avail ourselves of a language which deserves to be better known1 and sounds all the more solemnly that he who uttered it hath since furnished in his own person a fresh verification of the solemn truths which he sung so well4 ,upon a dial-stone1 ,behold the shade of ,time1 ,for ever circling on and on ,in silence more sublime ,than if the thunders of the spheres ,pealed forth its march to mortal ears6 ,it meets us hour by hour1 ,doles out our little span1 ,reveals a presence and a power ,felt and confessed by man3 ,the drop of moments1 day by day1 ,that rocks of ages wears away4 ,woven by a hand unseen ,upon that stone1 survey ,a robe of dark sepulchral green1 ,the mantle of decay1 ,the fold of chill oblivion's pall1 ,that falleth with yon shadow's fall6 ,day is the time for toil1 ,night balms the weary breast1 ,stars have their vigils1 seas awhile ,will sink to peaceful rest2 ,but round and round the shadow creeps ,of that which slumbers not1 nor sleeps6 ,effacing all that's fair1 ,hushing the voice of mirth ,into the silence of despair1 ,around the lonesome hearth1 ,and training ivy-garlands green ,o'er the once gay and social scene4 ,in beauty fading fast ,its silent trace appears1 ,and where--a phantom of the past1 ,dim in the mist of years-- ,gleams ,tadmor o'er oblivion's waves1 ,like wrecks above their ocean-graves4 ,before the ceaseless shade ,that round the world doth sail ,its towers and temples bow the head1 ,the pyramids look pale1 ,the festal halls grow hushed and cold1 ,the everlasting hills wax old6 ,coeval with the sun ,its silent course began1 ,and still its phantom-race shall run1 ,till worlds with age grow wan1 ,till darkness spread her funeral pall1 ,and one vast shadow circle all6 ,to the great natural divisions of time 7with their aid1 and guided by these hints7 the ingenuity of man1 under the direction of his wants1 has been busy since the world began in adding artificial ones1 while his heart has been active in supplying impulses and furnishing devices to that end4 ,years1 and months1 and days--the periods marked out by the revolutions of our celestial guides--have been aggregated and divided after methods almost as various as the nations of the earth4 ,years have been composed into cycles and olympiads and generations and reigns1 and months resolved into decades and weeks1 days into hours1 and hours into subdivisions which have been again subdivided almost to the confines of thought4 ,yet it is only in these latter ages of the world that a measurement has been attained1 at once so minute and so closely harmonizing with the motions and regulated by the revolutions of the dials of the sky1 that1 had the same machinery existed from the commencement of time1--with the art of printing to preserve its results1--the history of the past might be perused1 with its discrepancies reconciled and many of its blanks supplied4 ,and could the world agree upon its uniform adoption now1 together with that of a common epoch to reckon from1 comparative chronology would be no longer a science applicable to the future2 and history1 for the time to come 7in so far as it is a mere record of facts71 would present few problems but such as he who runs may read4 ,but out of these conventional and multiplied divisions of time1 these wheels within the great wheel1 arise results far more important than the verification of a chronological series or the establishment of the harmonies of history4 ,through them not only may the ages of the world be said to intercommunicate1 and the ends of the earth in a sense to meet1 but by their aid the whole business of the life of nations and of individuals is regulated1 and a set of mnemonics established upon which hinges the history of the human heart4 ,by the multiplied but regular system of recurrences thus obtained1 order is made to arise out of the web of duties and the chaos of events2 and at each of the thousand points marked out on these concentric circles are written their appropriate duties and recorded their special memories4 ,the calendar of every country is thus covered over with a series of events whose recollection is recalled and influence kept alive by the return of the cycles1 in their ceaseless revolution1 to those spots at which the record of each has been written2 and acts of fasting or of festival1 of social obligation or of moral observance1--many of which would be surely lost or overlooked1 amidst the inextricable confusion in which1 without this systematic arrangement1 they must be mingled1--are severally pointed out by the moving finger of ,time as he periodically reaches the place of each on his concentric dials4 ,but besides the calendar of general direction and national observance1 where is the heart that has not a private calendar of its own8 ,long ere the meridian of life has been attained1 the individual man has made many a memorandum of joy or pain for his periodical perusal1 and established many a private celebration1 pleasant or mournful1 of his own4 ,how many a lost hope and blighted feeling which the heart is the better for recalling1 and would not willingly forget1 would pass from the mind amid the crowd and noise and bustle of the world1 but for these tablets on which it is ineffaceably written and yearly read6 ,how many an act of memory1 with its store of consolations and its treasure of warnings1 would remain postponed1 amid the interests of the present1 till it came to be forgotten altogether1 but for that system which has marked its positive place upon the wheels of time1 and brings the record certainly before the mental eye1 in their unvarying revolution6 ,many are the uses of these diaries of the heart4 ,by their aid something is saved from the wrecks of the past for the service of the present2 the lights of former days are made to throw pleasant reflections upon many an after period of life2 the weeds which the world and its cares had fostered are again and again cleared away from the sweet and wholesome fountain of tears2 the fading inscriptions of other years are renewed1 to yield their morals to the future2 and the dead are restored1 for a fleeting hour of sweet communion1 or hold high and solemn converse with us from the graves in which we laid them years ago4 ,and this result of the minute and accurate partitions of time1 which consists in the establishment of a series of points for periodic celebration1 is1 as regards its public and social operation1 more important than may at first sight appear4 ,the calendar of almost every country is1 as we have observed1 filled with a series of anniversaries1 religious or secular1 of festival or abstinence1 or instituted for the regulation of business or the operations of the law4 ,in ,england1 independently of those periods of observance which are common to the realm and written in her calendar1 there are few districts which are without some festival peculiar to themselves1 originating in the grant of some local charter or privilege1 the establishment of some local fair1 the influence of some ancient local superstition1 or some other cause1 of which1 in many cases1 the sole remaining trace is the observance to which it has given rise1--and which observance does not always speak in language sufficiently clear to give any account of its parent4 ,around each of these celebrations has grown up a set of customs and traditions and habits1 the examination into which has led to many a useful result1 and which are for the most part worth preserving1 as well for their picturesque aspect and social character as for the sake of the historic chambers which they may yet help us to explore4 ,their close resemblance1 as existing amongst different nations1 has formed an element in the solution of more than one problem which had for its object a chapter of the history of the world2 and they may be said1 in many cases1 to furnish an apparent link of connection between generations of men long divided and dwelling far apart4 ,they form1 too1 amid the changes which time is perpetually effecting in the structure of society1 a chain of connection between the present and former times of the same land1 and prevent the national individuality from being wholly destroyed4 ,they tend to preserve some similarity in the moral aspect of a country from epoch to epoch1 and1 without having force enough to act as drags on the progress of society towards improvement1 they serve for a feature of identification amid all its forms4 ,curious illustrations they are1 too1 of national history2 and we learn to have confidence in its records when we find in some obscure nook the peasant of to-day1 who troubles himself little with the lore of events and their succession1 doing that which some ancient chronicler tells us his ancestors did a thousand years ago1 and keeping in all simplicity some festival1 the story of whose origin we find upon its written page4 ,to the philosophic inquirer1 few things are more important in the annals of nations than their festivals1 their anniversaries1 and their public celebrations of all kinds4 ,in nothing is their peculiar character more strikingly exhibited4 ,they show a people in its undress1 acting upon its impulses1 and separated from the conventions and formalities of its every-day existence4 ,we may venture to say that could we1 in the absence of every other record1 be furnished with a complete account of the festivals1 traditions1 and anniversaries of any given nation now extinct1 not only might a correct estimate be therefrom made of their progress in morals and civilization1 but a conjectural history of their doings be hazarded1 which should bear a closer resemblance to the facts than many an existing history constructed from more varied materials4 ,for these reasons--and some others1 which are more personal and less philosophical--we love all old traditions and holiday customs4 ,like honest ,sir ,andrew ,aguecheek1 we delight in masques and revels1 sometimes altogether4 ,many a happy chance has conducted us unpremeditatedly into the midst of some rustic festival1 whose recollection is amongst our pleasant memories yet1--and many a one have we gone venturously forth to seek1--when we dwelt in the more immediate neighborhood of the haunts to which1 one by one1 these traditionary observances are retiring before the face of civilization6 ,the natural tendency of time to obliterate ancient customs and silence ancient sports1 is too much promoted by the utilitarian spirit of the day2 and they who would have no man enjoy without being able to give a reason for the enjoyment which is in him1 are robbing life of half its beauty and some of its virtues4 ,if the old festivals and hearty commemorations in which our land was once so abundant--and which obtained for her1 many a long day since1 the name of merrie ,england--had no other recommendation than their convivial character1 the community of enjoyment which they imply1 they would on that account alone be worthy of all promotion1 as an antidote to the cold and selfish spirit which is tainting the life-blood and freezing the pulses of society4 ',tis good to be merry and wise2 but the wisdom which eschews mirth1 and holds the time devoted to it as so much wasted by being taken from the schoolmaster1 is very questionable wisdom in itself1 and assuredly not made to promote the happiness of nations4 ,we love all commemorations4 ,we love these anniversaries1 for their own sakes1 and for their uses4 ,we love those ,lethes of an hour which have a virtue beyond their gift of oblivion1 and while they furnish a temporary forgetfulness of many of the ills of life1 revive the memory of many a past enjoyment1 and reawaken many a slumbering affection4 ,we love those milestones on the journey of life beside which man is called upon to pause1 and take a reckoning of the distance he has passed1 and of that which he may have yet to go4 ,we love to reach those free1 open spaces at which the cross-roads of the world converge1 and where we are sure to meet1 as at a common rendezvous1 with travellers from its many paths4 ,we love to enter those houses of refreshment by the way-side of existence1 where we know we shall encounter with other wayfarers like ourselves1--perchance with friends long separated1 and whom the chances of the world keep far apart1--and whence1 after a sweet communion and lusty festival and needful rest1 we may go forth upon our journey new fortified against its accidents1 and strengthened for its toils4 ,we love those festivals which have been made1 as ,washington ,irving says1 the season for gathering together of family connections1 and drawing closer again those bonds of kindred hearts which the cares and pleasures and sorrows of the world are continually operating to cast loose2 of calling back the children of a family who have launched forth in life and wandered widely asunder1 once more to assemble about the paternal hearth1 that rallying place of the affections1 there to grow young and loving again among the endearing mementos of childhood4 ,above all1 we love those seasons 7for pity is not common6 says the old ballad7 which call for the exercise of a general hospitality1 and give the poor man his few and precious glimpses of a plenty which1 as the world is managed1 his toil cannot buy2 which shelter the houseless wanderer1 and feed the starving child1 and clothe the naked mother1 and spread a festival for all1--those seasons which in their observance by our ancestors1 kept alive1 by periodical reawakenings1 that flame of charity which thus had scarcely time wholly to expire during all the year4 ,we love all which tends to call man from the solitary and chilling pursuit of his own separate and selfish views into the warmth of a common sympathy1 and within the bands of a common brotherhood4 ,we love these commemorations1 as we have said1 for themselves2 we love them for their uses2 and still more we love them for the memories of our boyhood6 ,many a bright picture do they call up in our minds1 and in the minds of most who have been amongst their observers2 for with these festivals of the heart are inalienably connected many a memory for sorrow or for joy1 many a scene of early love1 many a merry meeting which was yet the last1 many a parting of those who shall part no more1 many a joyous group composed of materials which separated only too soon and shall never be put together again on earth1 many a lost treasure and many a perished hope1-- ,hopes that were angels in their birth1 ,but perished young1 like things of earth4 ,happy1 happy days were they6--,oh1 their record is lively in my soul6--and there is a happiness1 still1 in looking back to them3-- ,ye are dwelling with the faded flowers ,ye are with the suns long set1 ,but oh1 your memory1 gentle hours1 ,is a living vision yet6 ,yet are they1 for the most part1 eras to count our losses by4 ,beside them1 in the calendar of the heart1 is written many a private note1 not to be read without bitter tears3-- ,there's many a lad ,i loved is gone1 ,and many a lass grown old2 ,and when1 at times1 ,i think thereon1 ,my weary heart grows cold4 ,oh1 the mad days that ,i have spent1 says old ,justice ,shallow1 and to see how many of mine old acquaintance are dead6 ,yet still we love these commemorations and hail them1 each and all1 as the year restores them to us1 shorn and scarred as they are4 ,and though many and many a time the welcome has faltered on our lips as we turned from all they brought to all they could not bring1 still by ,god's help we will enjoy them1 as yet we may1--drawing closer to us1 and with the more reason1 the friends that still remain1 and draining to the last-- ,one draught1 in memory of many ,a joyous banquet past4 ,the revels of merry ,england are fast subsiding into silence1 and her many customs wearing gradually away4 ,the affectations and frivolities of society1 as well as its more grave and solemn pursuits1--the exigences of fashion1 and the tongue of the pedagogue1--are alike arrayed against them2 and1 one by one1 they are retreating from the great assemblies where mankind most do congregate1 to hide themselves in remote solitudes and rural nooks4 ,in fact1 that social change which has enlarged and filled the towns at the expense of the country1 which has annihilated the yeomanry of ,england1 and drawn the estated gentleman from the shelter of his ancestral oaks1 to live upon their produce in the haunts of dissipation1 has been1 in itself1 the circumstance most unfavorable to the existence of many of them1 which delight in bye-ways and sheltered places1 which had their appropriate homes in the old manor house or the baronial hall4 ,yet do they pass lingeringly away4 ,traces of most of them still exist1 and from time to time reappear even in our cities and towns2 and there are probably scarcely any which have not found some remote district or other of these islands in which their influence is still acknowledged1 and their rites duly performed4 ,there is something in the mind of man which attaches him to ancient superstitions even for the sake of their antiquity1 and endears to him old traditions even because they are old4 ,we cannot readily shake off our reverence for that which our fathers have reverenced so long1 even where the causes in which that reverence originated are not very obvious or not very satisfactory4 ,we believe that he who shall aid in preserving the records of these vanishing observances1 ere it be too late1 will do good and acceptable service in his generation2 and such contribution to that end as we have in our power it is the purpose of these volumes to bestow4 ,of that taste for hunting out the obsolete which originates in the mere dry spirit of antiquarianism1 or is pursued as a display of gladiatorial skill in the use of the intellectual weapons1 we profess ourselves no admirers4 ,but he who pursues in the track of a receding custom1--which is valuable either as an historical illustration or because of its intrinsic beauty1 moral or picturesque1--is an antiquary of the beneficent kind2 and he who assists in restoring observances which had a direct tendency to propagate a feeling of brotherhood and a spirit of benevolence1 is a higher benefactor still4 ,right joyous festivals there have been amongst us1 which ,england will be none the merrier--and kindly ones which she will be none the better--for losing4 ,the following pages will give some account of that season which has1 at all times since the establishment of ,christianity1 been most crowded with observances1 and whose celebration is still the most conspicuous and universal with us1 as well as throughout the whole of ,christendom4 ,,footnote3 #a ,the late ,john ,malcolm1 of ,edinburgh4 ,part ,first4 ,,the ,,christmas ,,season4 ,illustration3 ,,merry ,,christmas ,,to ,,you6--,page #bi4 ,,the ,,christmas ,,season4 ,this ,book of ,christmas is a sound and good persuasion for gentlemen1 and all wealthy men1 to keep a good ,christmas4 ,a ,,ha6 ,,christmas6 ,,by ,t4 ,h4 ,,london1 #afdg4 ,any man or woman 4 4 4 that can give any knowledge1 or tell any tidings1 of an old1 old1 very old gray-bearded gentleman1 called ,christmas1 who was wont to be a verie familiar ghest1 and visite all sorts of people both pore and rich1 and used to appeare in glittering gold1 silk1 and silver1 in the ,court1 and in all shapes in the ,theater in ,whitehall1 and had ringing1 feasts1 and jollitie in all places1 both in the citie and countrie1 for his comming3 4 4 4 whosoever can tel what is become of him1 or where he may be found1 let them bring him back againe into ,england4 ,,an ,,hue ,,and ,,cry ,,after ,,christmas4 ,,in ,ben ,jonson's ,mask of ,christmas1 presented before the court in #afaf1--wherein the ancient gentleman so earnestly inquired after in one of the quotations which heads this chapter1 and a number of his children1 compose the dramatis person1--that venerable personage 7who describes himself as ,christmas1 ,old ,christmas1 ,christmas of ,london1 and ,captain ,christmas7 is made to give a very significant hint to some parties who fail to receive him with due ceremony1 which hint we will1 in all courtesy1 bestow upon our readers4 ,i have seen the time you have wished for me1 says he2 4 4 4 and now you have me1 they would not let me in4 ,i must come another time6--a good jest6 ,as if ,i could come more than once a year6 ,over and over again1 too1 has this same very pregnant argument been enforced in the words of the old ballad1 quoted in the ,vindication of ,christmas1-- ,let's dance and sing1 and make good cheer1 ,for ,christmas comes but once a year6 ,now if this suggestion was full of grave meaning in the days of ,jonson1--when the respectable old man was for the most part well received and liberally feasted1 when he fed with his laughing children at the tables of princes1 and took tribute at the hands of kings1 when he showed beneath the snows of his reverend head a portly countenance 7the result of much revelling71 an eye in which the fire was unquenched1 and a frame from which little of the lustihood had yet departed1--we confess that we feel its import to be greatly heightened in these our days1 when the patriarch himself exhibits undeniable signs of a failing nature1 and many of his once rosy sons are evidently in the different stages of a common decline4 ,a fine and a cheerful family the old man had2 and never came they within any man's door without well repaying the outlay incurred on their account4 ,to us1 at all times1 their coming was a gladness2 and we feel that we could not1 without a pang1 see their honest and familiar faces rejected from our threshold1 with the knowledge that the course of their wanderings could not return them to us under a period so protracted as that of twelve whole months4 ,illustration3 ,,snap-,,dragon4--,page #ca4 ,in that long space of time1 besides the uncertainty of what may happen to ourselves1 there is but too much reason to fear that1 unless a change for the better should take place1 some one or more of the neglected children may be dead4 ,we could not but have apprehensions that the group might never return to us entire4 ,death has already made much havoc amongst them1 since the days of ,ben ,jonson4 ,alas for ,baby-cocke6 and woe is me for ,post-and-paire6 ,and although ,carol1 and ,minced-pie1 and ,new-year's ,gift1 and ,wassail1 and ,twelfth-cake1 and some others of the children1 appear still to be in the enjoyment of a tolerably vigorous health1 yet we are not a little anxious about ,snap-dragon1 and our mind is far from being easy on the subject of ,hot-cockles4 ,it is but too obvious that1 one by one1 this once numerous and pleasant family are falling away2 and as the old man will assuredly not survive his children1 we may yet1 in our day1 have to join in the heavy lamentation of the lady at the sad result of the above ,hue and ,cry4 ,but is old1 old1 good old ,christmas gone8--nothing but the hair of his good1 grave old head and beard left6 ,for these reasons1 he and his train shall be welcome to us as often as they come4 ,it shall be a heavy dispensation under which we will suffer them to pass by our door unhailed2 and if we can prevail upon our neighbors to adopt our example1 the veteran and his offspring may yet be restored4 ,they are dying for lack of nourishment4 ,they have been used to live on most bountiful fare1--to feed on chines and turkeys and drink of the wassail-bowl4 ,the rich juices of their constitution are not to be maintained1 far less re-established1 at a less generous rate2 and though we will1 for our parts1 do what lies in our power1 yet it is not within the reach of any private gentleman's exertions or finances to set them on their legs again4 ,it should be made a national matter of2 and as the old gentleman1 with his family1 will be coming our way soon after the publication of the present volume1 we trust we may be the means of inducing some to receive them with the ancient welcome and feast them after the ancient fashion4 ,to enable our readers to do this with due effect1 we will endeavor to furnish them with a programme of some of the more important ceremonies observed by our hearty ancestors on the occasion1 and to give them some explanation of those observances which linger still1 although the causes in which their institution originated are becoming gradually obliterated1 and although they themselves are falling into a neglect which augurs too plainly of their final and speedy extinction4 ,it is1 alas6 but too true that the spirit of hearty festivity in which our ancestors met this season has been long on the decline2 and much of the joyous pomp with which it was once received has long since passed away4 ,those divers plente of plesaunces1 in which the genius of mirth exhibited himself1-- ,about yule1 when the wind blew cule1 ,and the round tables began1-- have sent forward to these dull times of ours but few1 and those sadly degenerated1 representatives4 ,the wild1 barbaric splendor2 the unbridled mirth and princely cheare with which1 upon the faith of ancient ballads1 we learn that ages long ago ,king ,arthur kept ,christmas in merry ,carleile with ,queen ,guenever1 that bride soe bright of blee2 the wholesale hospitality2 the royal stores of pigs' heads and gammons of bacon for a ,christmas largesse to the poor1 at which we get glimpses in the existing records of the not over-hospitable reign of ,king ,john2 the profuse expenditure and stately ceremonial by which the season was illustrated in the reign of the vain and selfish ,elizabeth2 and the lordly wassailings and antic mummings1 whose universal prevalence1 at this period of the year1 furnished subjects of such holy horror to the ,puritans in the time of the first ,charles1--have gradually disappeared before the philosophic pretensions and chilling pedantry of these sage and self-seeking days4 ,the picturesque effects of society--its strong lights and deep shadows--are rapidly passing away2 as the inequalities of surface from which they were projected are smoothed and polished down4 ,from a period of high ceremonial and public celebration1 which it long continued to be in ,england1 the ,christmas-tide has tamed away into a period of domestic union and social festivity2 and the ancient observances which covered it all over with sparkling points are now rather perceived--faintly and distantly and imperfectly--by the light of the still surviving spirit of the season than contribute anything to that spirit1 or throw as of old any light over that season from themselves4 ,of the various causes which contribute to the mingled festival of the ,christmas-tide1 there are some which have their origin in feelings1 and are the remains of observances that existed previously to that event from which the season now derives its name4 ,after the establishment of ,christianity1 its earliest teachers1 feeling the impossibility of replacing at once those pagan commemorations which had taken long and deep root in the constitution of society and become identified with the feelings of nations1 endeavored rather to purify them from their uncleanness1 and adapt them to the uses of the new religion4 ,by this arrangement1 many an object of pagan veneration became an object of veneration to the early ,christians2 and the polytheism of papal ,rome 7promoted1 in part1 by this very compromise1 working in the stronghold of the ancient superstition7 became engrafted upon the polytheism of the heathen4 ,at a later period1 too1 the ,protestant reformers of that corrupted worship found themselves1 from a similar impossibility1 under a similar necessity of retaining a variety of ,catholic observances2 and thus it is that festival customs still exist amongst us which are the direct descendants of customs connected with the classic or druidical superstitions1 and sports which may be traced to the celebrations observed of old in honor of ,saturn or of ,bacchus4 ,amongst those celebrations which have thus survived the decay of the religions with which they were connected1 by being made subservient to the new faith 7or purified forms7 which replaced them1 that which takes place at the period of the new year--placed as that epoch is in the neighborhood of the winter solstice--stands conspicuous4 ,bequeathed as this ancient commemoration has been1 with many of its forms of rejoicing1 by the pagan to the ,christian world1 it has been by the latter thrown into close association with their own festival observances in honor of the first great event in the history of their revelation2 and while the old observances and the feelings in which they originated have thus been preserved to swell the tide of ,christian triumph1 their pedigree has been overlooked amid the far higher interest of the observances by whose side they stand1 and their ancient titles merged in that of the high family into which they have been adopted4 ,in most nations of ancient or modern times1 the period of what is popularly called the winter solstice appears to have been recognized as a season of rejoicing4 ,the deepening gloom and increasing sterility which have followed the downward progress of the sun's place in heaven would generally dispose the minds of men to congratulation at the arrival of that period when1 as experience had taught them1 he had reached his lowest point of influence with reference to them2 and the prospects of renewed light1 and warmth1 and vegetation offered by what was considered as his returning march1 would naturally be hailed by the signs of thanksgiving and the voice of mirth4 ,the ,roman ,saturnalia1 which fell at this period1 were accordingly a season of high festivity1 honored by many privileges and many exemptions from ill4 ,the spirit of universal mirth and unbounded license was abroad1 and had a free charter4 ,friends feasted together1 and the quarrels of foes were suspended4 ,no war was declared and no capital executions were permitted to take place during this season of general good-will2 and the very slave1 beneath its genial influence1 regained for a moment the moral attitude of a man1 and had a right to use the tongue which ,god had given him1 for its original purpose of expressing his thoughts4 ,not only in the spirit of the time but in many of the forms which it took1 may a resemblance be traced to the ,christmas rejoicings of later days4 ,the hymns in honor of ,saturn were the ,roman representatives of the modern carol2 and presents passed from friend to friend1 as ,christmas gifts do in our day4 7,it may be observed here that the interchange of gifts and the offering of donations to the poor appear to have been1 at all periods of rejoicing or delivery1 from the earliest times1 one of the modes by which the heart manifested its thankfulness2 and our readers may be referred for a single example1 where examples abound1 to the directions recorded in the ,book of ,esther1 as given by ,mordecai to the ,jews in ,shushan1 for celebrating their escape from the conspiracy of ,haman3 that on the anniversaries of the days wherein the ,jews rested from their enemies1 and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy and from mourning into a good day1 they should make them days of feasting and joy1 and of sending portions one to another and gifts to the poor47 ,but a more striking resemblance still between the forms observed during the days of the ,saturnalia and those by which the ,christmas festival was long illustrated may be noticed in the ruler1 or king1 who was appointed1 with considerable prerogatives1 to preside over the sports of the former4 ,he is the probable ancestor of that high potentate who1 under the title of ,christmas ,prince1 ,lord of ,misrule1 or ,abbot of ,unreason1 exercised a similar sway over the ,christmas games of more recent times1 and whose last descendant--the ,twelfth-night ,king--still rules with a diminished glory over the lingering revelries of a single night4 ,in the ,northern nations of ancient ,europe the same period of the year was celebrated by a festival in honor of the ,god ,thor1 which1 like the ,roman ,saturnalia and the festival of our own times1 was illustrated by the song1 the dance1 and the feast1 executed after their barbarous fashion1 and mingled with the savage rites of their own religion4 ,the name of this celebration--,yule1 ,jule1 ,iul1 or ,iol--has given rise to many disputes amongst antiquaries as to its derivation1 whose arguments1 however1 we need not report for the benefit of our readers till judgment shall have been finally pronounced4 ,when that time shall arrive1 we undertake to publish a new edition of the present work1 for the purpose of giving our readers an abstract of the pleadings and acquainting them with the ultimate decision4 ,in the mean time1 we will let ,sir ,walter ,scott inform them how-- ,the savage ,dane1 ,at ,iol1 more deep the mead did drain2 ,high on the beach his galleys drew1 ,and feasted all his pirate-crew2 ,then1 in his low and pine-built hall1 ,where shields and axes decked the wall1 ,they gorged upon the half-dressed steer1 ,caroused in sea of sable beer1-- ,while round1 in brutal jest1 were thrown ,the half-gnawed rib and marrow-bone2 ,or listened all1 in grim delight1 ,while ,scalds yelled out the joys of fight4 ,then forth in frenzy would they hie1 ,while wildly loose their red locks fly1 ,and1 dancing round the blazing pile1 ,they made such barbarous mirth the while1 ,as best might to the mind recall ,the boisterous joys of ,odin's hall4 ,amongst other traces of the northern observances which have descended to our times1 and of which we shall have occasion hereafter to speak1 the name of the festival itself has come down1 and is still retained by our ,scottish brethren1 as well as in some parts of ,england4 ,the ,christian festival of the ,nativity1 with which these ancient celebrations have been incorporated1 appears to have been appointed at a very early period after the establishment of the new religion4 ,its first positive footsteps are met with in the second century1 during the reign of the ,emperor ,concordius2 but the decretal epistles furnish us with traces of it more remote4 ,at whatever period1 however1 its formal institution is to be placed1 there can be no doubt that an event so striking in its manner and so important in itself would be annually commemorated amongst ,christians from the days of the first apostles1 who survived our ,lord's resurrection4 ,as to the actual year of the birth of ,christ1 as well as the period of the year at which it took place1 great uncertainty seems to exist1 and many controversies have been maintained4 ,one of the theories on the subject1 held to be amongst the most probable1 places that event upwards of five years earlier than the vulgar era1 which latter1 however1 both as regards the year and season of the year1 was a tradition of the primitive ,church4 ,in the first ages of that ,church1 and up till the ,council of ,nice1 the celebration of the ,nativity and that of the ,epiphany were united on the #beth of ,december1 from a belief that the birth of ,christ was simultaneous with the appearance of the star in the ,east which revealed it to the ,gentiles4 ,the time of the year at which the ,nativity fell has been placed1 by contending opinions1 at the period of the ,jewish ,feast of ,tabernacles1 at that of the ,passover1 and again at that of the ,feast of the ,expiation1 whose date corresponds with the close of our ,september4 ,clemens ,alexandrinus informs us that it was kept by many ,christians in ,april1 and by others in the ,egyptian month ,pachon1 which answers to our ,may4 ,amongst the arguments which have been produced against the theory that places its occurrence in the depth of winter1 one has been gathered from that passage in the sacred history of the event which states that there were shepherds abiding in the field1 keeping watch over their flocks by night4 ,it is an argument1 however1 which does not seem very conclusive in a pastoral country and ,eastern climate4 ,besides the employment which this question has afforded to the learned1 it has1 in times of religious excitement1 been debated with much ,puritanical virulence and sectarian rancor4 ,for the purposes of commemoration1 however1 it is unimportant whether the celebration shall fall or not at the precise anniversary period of the event commemorated2 and the arrangement which assigns to it its place in our calendar fixes it at a season when men have leisure for a lengthened festivity1 and when their minds are otherwise wholesomely acted upon by many touching thoughts and solemn considerations4 ,from the first introduction of ,christianity into these islands1 the period of the ,nativity seems to have been kept as a season of festival1 and its observance recognized as a matter of state4 ,the ,wittenagemots of our ,saxon ancestors were held under the solemn sanctions and beneficent influences of the time2 and the series of high festivities established by the ,anglo-,saxon kings appear to have been continued1 with yearly increasing splendor and multiplied ceremonies1 under the monarchs of the ,norman race4 ,from the court the spirit of revelry descended by all its thousand arteries throughout the universal frame of society1 visiting its furthest extremities and most obscure recesses1 and everywhere exhibiting its action1 as by so many pulses1 upon the traditions and superstitions and customs which were common to all or peculiar to each4 ,the pomp and ceremonial of the royal observance were imitated in the splendid establishments of the more wealthy nobles1 and more faintly reflected from the diminished state of the petty baron4 ,the revelries of the baronial castle found echoes in the hall of the old manor-house2 and these were1 again1 repeated in the tapestried chamber of the country magistrate or from the sanded parlor of the village inn4 ,merriment was everywhere a matter of public concernment2 and the spirit which assembles men in families now congregated them by districts then4 ,illustration3 ,,baronial ,,hall4--,page #db4 ,neither1 however1 were the feelings wanting which connected the superstitions of the season with the tutelage of the roof-tree1 and mingled its ceremonies with the sanctities of home4 ,men might meet in crowds to feast beneath the banner of the baron1 but the mistletoe hung over each man's own door4 ,the black-jacks might go round in the hall of the lord of the manor2 but they who could had a wassail-bowl of their own4 ,the pageantries and high observances of the time might draw men to common centres or be performed on a common account1 but the flame of the ,yule-log roared up all the individual chimneys of the land4 ,old ,father ,christmas1 at the head of his numerous and uproarious family1 might ride his goat through the streets of the city and the lanes of the village1 but he dismounted to sit for some few moments by each man's hearth2 while some one or another of his merry sons would break away1 to visit the remote farm-houses or show their laughing faces at many a poor man's door4 ,for be it observed1 this worthy old gentleman and his kind-hearted children were no respecters of persons4 ,though trained to courts1 they had ever a taste for a country life4 ,though accustomed in those days to the tables of princes1 they sat freely down at the poor man's board4 ,though welcomed by the peer1 they showed no signs of superciliousness when they found themselves cheek-by-jowl with the pauper4 ,nay1 they appear even to have preferred the less exalted society1 and to have felt themselves more at ease in the country mansion of the private gentleman than in the halls of kings4 ,their reception in those high places was accompanied1 as royal receptions are apt to be1 by a degree of state repugnant to their frank natures2 and they seem never to have been so happy as when they found themselves amongst a set of free and easy spirits1--whether in town or country1--unrestrained by the punctilios of etiquette1 who had the privilege of laughing just when it struck them to do so1 without inquiring wherefore1 or caring how loud4 ,then1 what a festival they created6 ,the land rang with their joyous voices1 and the frosty air steamed with the incense of the good things provided for their entertainment4 ,everybody kept holiday but the cooks2 and all sounds known to the human ear seemed mingled in the merry pan1 save the gobble of the turkeys4 ,there were no turkeys1--at least they had lost their most sweet voices4 ,the turnspits had a hard time of it1 too4 ,that quaint little book which bears the warm and promising title of ,round about our ,coal ,fire tells us that by the time dinner was over they would look as black and as greasy as a ,welsh porridge-pot4 ,indeed1 the accounts of that time dwell with great and savory emphasis upon the prominent share which eating and drinking had in the festivities of the season4 ,there must have been sad havoc made amongst the live-stock4 ,that there are turkeys at all in our days is only to be accounted for upon the supposition of ,england having been occasionally replenished with that article from the ,east2 and our present possession of geese must be explained by the well-known impossibility of extinguishing the race of the goose4 ,it is difficult to imagine a consumption equal to the recorded provision4 ,men's gastronomic capacities appear to have been enlarged for the occasion1 as the energies expand to meet great emergencies4 ,the tables1 says the same racy authority above quoted1 were all spread from the first to the last2 the sirloyns of beef1 the minc'd-pies1 the plumb-porridge1 the capons1 turkeys1 geese1 and plumb-puddings were all brought upon the board2 and all those who had sharp stomachs and sharp knives eat heartily and were welcome1 which gave rise to the proverb1-- ',merry in the hall1 when beards wag all6' ,now1 all men in those days appear to have had good stomachs1 and1 we presume1 took care to provide themselves with sharp knives4 ,the only recorded instance in which we find a failure of the latter is that portentous one which occurred1 many a long day since1 in the court of ,king ,arthur1 when the ,christmas mirth was so strangely disturbed by the mischievous interference of the ,boy with the ,mantle4 ,under the test introduced by that imp of discord and which appears to have taken the shine out of the monarch's own good sword ,excalibur itself1 there was found but one knight1 of all the hungry knights who sat at that ,round ,table1 whose weapon was sharp enough to carve the boar's head or hand steady enough to carry the cup to his lip without spilling the lamb's wool2 and even he had a very narrow escape from the same incapacities4 ,but then1 as we have said1 this was at court1 and under the influence of a spell 7with whose nature we take it for granted that our readers are acquainted1--and1 if not1 we refer them to the ,percy ,ballads72 and it is probable that1 in those early as in later days1 tests of such extreme delicacy were of far more dangerous introduction in the courts of kings than amongst assemblies of more mirth and less pretension4 ,we could by no means feel sure that the intrusion1 in our own times1 of a similar test into a similar scene might not spoil the revels4 ,illustration3 ,,enjoying ,,christmas4--,page #df4 ,but to return4 ,the old ballads which relate to this period of the year are redolent of good things1 and not to be read by a hungry man with any degree of equanimity4 ,of course they are ex post facto ballads1 and could only have been written under the inspiration of memory1 at a time when men were at leisure to devote their hands to some other occupation than that of cooking or carving4 ,but it is very difficult to understand how they ever found--as it appears they did--their mouths in a condition to sing them at the season itself4 ,there is one amongst those ballads1 of a comparatively modern date1 printed in ,evans's collection1 which we advise no man to read fasting4 ,it is directed to be sung to the tune of ,the ,delights of the ,bottle1 and contains in every verse a vision of good things1 summed up by the perpetually recurring burthen of ,plum-pudding1 goose1 capon1 minc'd-pies1 and roast beef4 ,our readers had better take a biscuit and a glass of sherry before they venture upon the glimpses into those regions of banqueting which we are tempted to lay before them4 ,the ballad opens like the ringing of a dinner-bell1 and1 we conceive1 should be sung to some such accompaniment3-- ,all you that to feasting and mirth are inclin'd1 ,come here is good news for to pleasure your mind1-- ,old ,christmas is come for to keep open house1 ,he scorns to be guilty of starving a mouse3 ,then come1 boys1 and welcome for diet the chief1 ,plum-pudding1 goose1 capon1 minc'd-pies1 and roast beef4 ,diet the chief6--by which we are to understand that this promising muster-roll merely includes the names of some of the principal viands1--the high-commissioned dishes of the feast1--leaving the subalterns1 and the entire rank and file which complete the goodly array1 unmentioned4 ,it must have been a very ingenious or a very strong-minded mouse which could contrive to be starved under such circumstances4 ,the ballad is long1 and we can only afford to give our readers tastings of its good things4 ,it is everywhere full of most gracious promise3-- ,the cooks shall be busied1 by day and by night1 ,in roasting and boiling1 for taste and delight1 ,their senses in liquor that's nappy they'll steep1 ,though they be afforded to have little sleep2 ,they still are employed for to dress us1 in brief1 ,plum-pudding1 goose1 capon1 minc'd-pies1 and roast beef4 ,although the cold weather doth hunger provoke1 ',t is a comfort to see how the chimneys do smoke2 ,provision is making for beer1 ale1 and wine1 ,for all that are willing or ready to dine3 ,then haste to the kitchen for diet the chief1 ,plum-pudding1 goose1 capon1 minc'd-pies1 and roast beef4 ,all travellers1 as they do pass on their way1 ,at gentlemen's halls are invited to stay1 ,themselves to refresh and their horses to rest1 ,since that he must be old ,christmas's guest2 ,nay1 the poor shall not want1 but have for relief ,plum-pudding1 goose1 capon1 minc'd-pies1 and roast beef4 ,and so on1 through a variety of joyous and substantial anticipations1 from which the writer draws an inference1 which we think is most satisfactorily made out3-- ,then well may we welcome old ,christmas to town1 ,who brings us good cheer1 and good liquor so brown2 ,to pass the cold winter away with delight1 ,we feast it all day1 and we frolick all night4 ,in ,ellis's edition of ,brand's ,popular ,antiquities an old ,christmas song is quoted from ,poor ,robin's ,almanack for #afie1 which gives a similar enumeration of ,christmas dainties1 but throws them into a form calculated for more rapid enunciation1 as if with a due regard to the value of those moments at which it was probably usual to sing it4 ,the measure is not such a mouthful as that of the former one which we have quoted4 ,it comes trippingly off the tongue2 and it is not impossible that1 in those days of skilful gastronomy1 it might have been sung eating4 ,we will quote a couple of the verses1 though they include the same commissariat truths as that from which we have already extracted2 and our readers will observe1 from the ill-omened wish which concludes the second of these stanzas1 in what horror the mere idea of fasting had come to be held1 since it is the heaviest curse which suggested itself to be launched against those who refused to do homage to the spirit of the times3-- ,now thrice welcome ,christmas1 ,which brings us good cheer1 ,minc'd pies and plumb-porridge1 ,good ale and strong beer2 ,with pig1 goose1 and capon1 ,the best that may be1 ,so well doth the weather ,and our stomachs agree4 ,observe how the chimneys ,do smoak all about1 ,the cooks are providing ,for dinner no doubt2 ,but those on whose tables ,no victuals appear1 ,o may they keep ,lent ,all the rest of the year6 ,the same author quotes1 from a manuscript in the ,british ,museum1 an ,anglo-,norman carol of the early date of the thirteenth century1 and appends to it a translation by the late ,mr4 ,douce1 the following verse of which translation informs us 7what1 at any rate1 might well be supposed1 namely7 that so much good eating on the part of the ancient gentleman1 ,christmas1 would naturally suggest the propriety of good drinking1 too3-- ,lordings1 ,christmas loves good drinking1 ,wines of ,gascoigne1 ,france1 ,anjou1 ,english ale1 that drives out thinking1 ,prince of liquors old or new4 ,every neighbor shares the bowl1 ,drinks of the spicy liquor deep1 ,drinks his fill without controul1 ,till he drowns his care in sleep4 ,in a ,christmas ,carroll1 printed at the end of ,wither's ,juvenilia1 a graphic account is given of some of the humors of ,christmas1 among which the labors of the kitchen are introduced in the first verse1 with a due regard to their right of precedency1 and in words which1 if few1 are full of suggestion3-- ,lo1 now is come our joyful'st feast6 ,let every man be jolly4 ,each roome with yvie leaves is drest1 ,and every post with holly4 ,now1 all our neighbour's chimneys smoke1 ,and ,christmas ,blocks are burning2 ,their ovens they with bak't-meats choke1 ,and all their spits are turning4 ,we must present our readers with another quotation from an old ballad1 entitled ,time's ,alteration2 or1 ,the ,old ,man's ,rehearsal1 what brave dayes he knew a great while agone1 when his old cap was new1 which appears to have been written after the times of the ,commonwealth4 ,and this extract we are induced to add to those which have gone before1 because1 though it deals with precisely the same subjects1 it speaks of them as of things gone by1 and is written in a tone of lamentation1 in which it is one of the purposes of this chapter to call upon our readers to join4 ,we are sorry we cannot give them directions as to the tune to which it should be sung1--further than that it is obviously unsuited to that of the ,delights of the ,bottle1 prescribed for the joyous ballad from which we first quoted on this subject2 and that1 whatever may be the tune1 we are clear that the direction as to time should be the same as that which ,mr4 ,hood prefixes to his song of the ,guildhall ,giants2 namely1 ,dinner-time and mournful3-- ,a man might then behold1 ,at ,christmas in each hall1 ,good fires to curb the cold1 ,and meat for great and small2 ,the neighbours were friendly bidden1 ,and all had welcome true1 ,the poor from the gates were not chidden1 ,when this old cap was new4 ,black-jacks to every man ,were fill'd with wine and beer2 ,no pewter pot nor can ,in those days did appear2 ,good cheer in a nobleman's house ,was counted a seemly shew2 ,we wanted no brawn nor souse1 ,when this old cap was new4 ,can our readers bear1 after this sad ditty1 to listen to the enumeration of good things described by ,whistlecraft to have been served up at ,king ,arthur's table on ,christmas day8 ,if the list be authentic1 there is the less reason to wonder at the feats of courage and strength performed by the ,knights of the ,round ,table4 ,they served up salmon1 venison1 and wild boars1 ,by hundreds1 and by dozens1 and by scores4 ,hogsheads of honey1 kilderkins of mustard1 ,muttons1 and fatted beeves1 and bacon swine2 ,herons and bitterns1 peacocks1 swan1 and bustard1 ,teal1 mallard1 pigeons1 widgeons1 and1 in fine1 ,plum-puddings1 pancakes1 apple-pies1 and custard4 ,and therewithal they drank good ,gascon wine1 ,with mead1 and ale1 and cider of our own2 ,for porter1 punch1 and negus were not known4 ,but we cannot pursue this matter further4 ,it is not to be treated with any degree of calmness before dinner1 and we have not dined4 ,we must proceed to less trying parts of our subject4 ,of the earnest manner in which our ancestors set about the celebration of this festival1 the mock ceremonial with which they illustrated it1 the quaint humors which they let loose under its inspiration1 and the spirit of fellowship which brought all classes of men within the range of its beneficent provisions1 we have a large body of scattered evidence1 to be gleaned out of almost every species of existing record1 from the early days of the ,norman dynasty down to the times of the ,commonwealth4 ,the tales of chroniclers1 the olden ballads1 the rolls of courts1 and the statute-book of the land1 all contribute to furnish the materials from which a revival of the old pageantry must be derived1 if men should ever again find time to be as merry as their fathers were4 ,the numberless local customs of which the still remaining tradition is almost the sole record1 and which added each its small contingent to the aggregate of commemoration1 would certainly render it a somewhat difficult matter to restore the festival in its integrity2 and1 to be very candid with our readers1 we believe we may as well confess1 at the onset1 what will be very apparent to them before we have done1 that many of the ,christmas observances 7whether general or local7 are to be recommended to their notice rather as curious pictures of ancient manners than as being at all worthy of imitation by us who are wiser in our generation4 ,sooth to say1 we dare not let our zeal for our subject lead us into an unqualified approbation of all the doings which it will be our business to record in these pages1 though they seem to have made all ranks of people very happy in other days2--and that is no mean test of the value of any institution4 ,really earnest as we are in the wish that the sentiment of the season could be restored in its amplitude1 we fear that many of the fooleries by which it exhibited itself could not be gravely proposed as worthy amusements for a nation of philosophers4 ,still these very absurdities furnish the strongest evidences of the right good-will with which men--ay1 grave and learned men--surrendered themselves to the merry spirit of the time1 of that entire abandonment which forgot to make a reservation of their outward dignities and gave them courage to play the fool4 ,our readers need scarcely be told that it must be a man of a very strong mind1 or a man who could not help it1 who should dare to make a jack-pudding of himself in these days1 when all his fellows are walking about the world with telescopes in their hands and quadrants in their pockets4 ,no doubt it would have a somewhat ridiculous effect to-day to see the members of the bar dancing a galliard or a coranto1 in full costume1 before the ,benchers1 notwithstanding that certain ancient forms are still retained in their halls which have all the absurdity of the exploded ones without any of their fun2 and unquestionably we should think it rather strange to see a respectable gentleman capering through the streets on a pasteboard hobby-horse1--in lieu of the figurative hobby-horses on which most men still exhibit1--although even that1 we think1 would offer an object less ungracious than a child with an anxious brow and spectacles on nose4 ,the great wisdom of the world is1 we presume1 one of the natural consequences of its advancing age2 and though we are quite conscious that some of its former pranks would be very unbecoming1 now that it is getting into years1 and knows so much as it does1 yet we are by no means sure that we should not have been well content to have our lot cast in the days when it was somewhat younger4 ,they must have been very pleasant times6 ,certain it is that the laugh of the humbler classes1 and of the younger classes1 would be all the heartier1 that it was echoed by the powerful and the aged2 the mirth of the ignorant more free and genial1 that the learned thought no scorn of it4 ,for all that appears1 too1 the dignities of those days suffered no detriment by their surrender to the spirit of the times1 but seem to have resumed all their functions and privileges1 when it had exhausted itself1 with unimpaired effect4 ,philosophers had due reverence1 without erecting themselves always on stilts for the purpose of attracting it2 and names have come down to us which are esteemed the names of grave and learned and wise men1--even in this grave and learned and wise age1--who1 nevertheless1 appear in their own to have conducted themselves at times very like children4 ,from the royal ,household-,books which exist1 and from the ,household-,books of noble families 7some of which have been printed for better preservation71 as also from the other sources to which we have alluded1 ,mr4 ,sandys1 in the very valuable introduction to his collection of ,christmas carols1 already mentioned1 has brought together a body of valuable information1--both as to the stately ceremonies and popular observances by which the season continued to be illustrated1 from an early period up to the time of its decline1 amid the austerities of the civil war4 ,to this careful compilation we shall be occasionally indebted for some curious particulars which had escaped ourselves1 amid the multiplied and unconnected sources from which our notes for this volume had to be made4 ,to those who would go deeper into the antiquarian part of the subject than suits the purpose of a popular volume1 we can recommend that work1 as containing the most copious and elaborate synopsis of the existing information connected therewith which we have found in the course of our own researches4 ,it would be impossible1 however1 in a paper of that length--or1 indeed1 in a volume of any moderate size--to give an account of all the numerous superstitions and observances of which traces are found1 in an extended inquiry1 to exist1--throwing light upon each other and contributing to the complete history of the festival4 ,we have therefore gleaned from all quarters those which appear to be the most picturesque and whose relation is the most obvious1 with a view1 as much as possible1 of generalizing the subject and presenting its parts in relation to an intelligible whole4 ,as we shall have occasion1 in our second part1 to speak of those peculiar feelings and customs by which each of the several days of the ,christmas festival is specially illustrated1 we shall not at present pause to go into any of the details of the subject1 although continually tempted to do so by their connection with the observations which we are called upon to make4 ,the purpose of the present chapter is rather to insist generally1 and by some of its more striking features1 upon the high and lengthened festivity with which this portion of the year was so long and so universally welcomed1 and to seek some explanation of the causes to which the diminution of that spirit1 and the almost total neglect of its ancient forms1 are to be ascribed4 ,as early as the twelfth century we have accounts of the spectacles and pageants by which ,christmas was welcomed at the court of the then monarch ,henry ,,ii42 and from this period the wardrobe rolls and other ,household-,books of the ,english kings furnish continual evidences of the costly preparations made for the festival4 ,many extracts from these books have been made by ,mr4 ,sandys and others1 from which it appears that the mirth of the celebration1 and the lavish profusion expended upon it1 were on the increase from year to year1 excepting during that distracted period of ,england's history when these1 like all other gracious arrangements and social relations1 were disturbed by the unholy contests between the houses of the rival roses4 ,there is1 however1 a beautiful example of the sacred influence of this high festival mentioned by ,turner in his ,history of ,england1 showing that its hallowed presence had power1 even in those warlike days1 to silence even the voice of war1--of all war save that most impious of 7what are almost always impious7 wars1 civil war4 ,during the siege of ,orleans1 in #adbh1 he says3 ,the solemnities and festivities of ,christmas gave a short interval of repose4 ,the ,english lords requested of the ,french commanders that they might have a night of minstrelsy1 with trumpets and clarions4 ,this was granted2 and the horrors of war were suspended by melodies1 that were felt to be delightful4 ,in the peaceful reign of ,henry ,,vii41 the nation1 on emerging from that long and unnatural struggle1 appears to have occupied itself1 as did the wise monarch1 in restoring as far as was possible1 and by all means1 its disrupted ties1 and rebaptizing its apostate feelings2 and during this period the festival of ,christmas was restored with revived splendor and observed with renewed zeal4 ,the ,household-,book of that sovereign1 preserved in the chapter-house at ,westminster1 contains numerous items for disbursements connected with the ,christmas diversions1 in proof of this fact4 ,the reign of ,henry ,,viii4 was a reign of jousts and pageants till it became a reign of blood2 and accordingly the ,christmas pageantries prepared for the entertainment of that execrable monarch were distinguished by increased pomp and furnished at a more profuse expenditure4 ,the festivities of ,eltham and ,greenwich figure in the pages of the old chroniclers2 and the account books at the chapter-house abound in payments made in this reign1 for purposes connected with the revels of the season4 ,we shall by and by have occasion to present our readers with some curious particulars1 illustrative of the cost and pains bestowed upon this court celebration during the short reign of the young monarch ,edward ,,vi4 ,not all the gloom and terror of the sanguinary ,mary's reign were able entirely to extinguish the spirit of ,christmas rejoicing throughout the land1 though the court itself was too much occupied with its auto-da-f spectacles to have much time for pageants of less interest4 ,our readers1 we think1 need scarcely be told that the successor of this stern and miserable queen 7and1 thank ,god6 the last of that bad family7 was sure to seize upon the old pageantries1 as she did upon every other vehicle which could in any way be made to minister to her intolerable vanity1 or by which a public exhibition might be made1 before the slaves whom she governed1 of her own vulgar and brutal mind4 ,under all the forms of ancient festival observance1 some offering was presented to this insatiable and disgusting appetite1--and that1 too1 by men entitled to stand erect1 by their genius or their virtues1 yet whose knees were rough with kneeling before as worthless an idol as any wooden god that the most senseless superstition ever set up for worship4 ,from all the altars which the court had reared to old ,father ,christmas of yore1 a cloud of incense was poured into the royal closet1 enough to choke anything but a woman1--that woman a queen1 and that queen a ,tudor4 ,the festival was preserved1 and even embellished2 but the saint1 as far as the court was concerned1 was changed4 ,however1 the example of the festivity to the people was the same2 and the land was a merry land1 and the ,christmas time a merry time1 throughout its length and breadth1 in the days of ,queen ,elizabeth4 ,nay1 out of this very anxiety to minister to the craving vanity of a weak and worthless woman--the devices to which it gave rise and the laborers whom it called into action--have arisen results which are not amongst the least happy or important of those by its connection with which the ,christmas festival stands recommended4 ,under these impulses1 the old dramatic entertainments--of which we shall have occasion to speak more at large hereafter--took a higher character and assumed a more consistent form4 ,the first regular ,english tragedy1 called ,ferrex and ,porrex1 and the entertainment of ,gammer ,gurton's ,needle1 were both productions of the early period of this queen's reign2 and amid the crowd of her worshippers 7alas that it is so67 rose up--with the star upon his forehead which is to burn for all time--the very first of all created beings1 ,william ,shakespeare4 ,these are amongst the strange anomalies which the world1 as it is constituted1 so often presents1 and must present at times1 constitute it how we will4 ,shakespeare doing homage to ,queen ,elizabeth6 ,the loftiest genius and the noblest heart that have yet walked this earth1 in a character merely human1 bowing down before this woman with the soul of a milliner and no heart at all6 ,the bright particular star humbling itself before the temporal crown6 ,the swayer of hearts1 the ruler of all men's minds1 in virtue of his own transcendent nature1 recognizing the supremacy of this overgrown child1 because she presided over the temporalities of a half emancipated nation1 by rights derived to her from others and sanctioned by no qualities of her own6 ,and yet if to the low passions of this vulgar queen1 and the patronage which they led her to extend to all who could best minister to their gratification1 we owe any part of that development by which this consummate genius expanded itself1 then do we stand in some degree indebted to her for one of the greatest boons which has been bestowed upon the human race2 and as between her and mankind in general 7for the accounts between her and individuals1 and still more that between her and ,god1 stand uninfluenced by this item7 there is a large amount of good to be placed to her credit4 ,against her follies of a day there would have to be set her promotion of a wisdom whose lessons are for all time2 against the tears which she caused to flow1 the human anguish which she inflicted1 and the weary1 pining hours of the captives whom she made1 would stand the tears of thousands dried away1 many and many an aching heart beguiled of its sorrow1 and many a captive taught to feel that ,stone walls do not a prison make1 ,nor iron bars a cage2 all the chords of human feeling touched with a hand that soothes as did the harp of ,david1 all the pages of human suffering stored with consolations6 ,to any one who will amuse himself by looking over the ,miracle ,plays and ,masques1 which were replaced by the more regular forms of dramatic entertainment1 and will then regale himself by the perusal of ,gammer ,gurton's ,needle or ,ferrex and ,porrex1 which came forward with higher pretensions in the beginning of this reign1 there will appear reason to be sufficiently astonished at the rapid strides by which dramatic excellence was attained before its close and during the next1 even without taking ,shakespeare into the account at all4 ,put when we turn to the marvels of this great magician1 and find that in his hands not only were the forms of the drama perfected1 but that1 without impeding the action or impairing the interest invested in those forms1 and besides his excursions into the regions of imagination and his creations out of the natural world he has touched every branch of human knowledge and struck into every train of human thought2 that without learning1 in the popular sense1 he has arrived at all the results and embodied all the wisdom which learning is only useful if it teaches2 that we can be placed in no imaginable circumstances and under the influence of no possible feelings of which we do not find exponents1--and such exponents6--in sweetest music1 on his page2 and above all1 when we find that all the final morals to be drawn from all his writings are hopeful ones1 that all the lessons which all his agents--joy or sorrow1 pain or pleasure--are made alike to teach are lessons of goodness--it is impossible to attribute all this to aught but a revelation1 or ascribe to him any character but that of a prophet4 ,shakespeare knew more than any other mere man ever knew2 and none can tell how that knowledge came to him4 ,all men's business and bosoms lay open to him4 ,we should not like to have him quoted against us on any subject4 ,nothing escaped him1 and he never made a mistake 7we are not speaking of technical ones74 ,he was the universal interpreter into language of the human mind1 and he knew all the myriad voices by which nature speaks4 ,he reminds us of the vizier in the ,eastern story1 who is said to have understood the languages of all animals4 ,the utterings of the elements1 the voices of beasts and of birds1 ,shakespeare could translate into the language of men2 and the thoughts and sentiments of men he rendered into words as sweet as the singing of birds4 ,if the reign of ,elizabeth had been illustrated only by the advent of this great spirit1 it might itself have accounted for some portion of that prejudice which 7illustrated1 as in fact it was1 by much that was great and noble7 blinds men still--or induces them to shut their eyes--to the true personal claims and character of that queen4 ,but we are digressing1 again1 as who does not when the image of ,shakespeare comes across him8 ,to return3-- ,the court celebrations of ,christmas were observed throughout the reign of the first ,james2 and the ,prince ,charles himself was an occasional performer in the pageantries prepared for the occasion1 at great cost4 ,but at no period do they appear to have been more zealously sought after1 or performed with more splendor1 than during that which immediately preceded the persecution1 from whose effects they have never since recovered into anything like their former lustihood4 ,in the early years of ,charles the ,first's reign1 the court pageants of this season were got up with extraordinary brilliancy1--the king with the lords of his court1 and the queen with her ladies1 frequently taking parts therein4 ,this was the case in #afcj-ca2 and at the ,christmas of #afcb-cc the queen1 says ,sandys1 got up a pastoral in ,somerset ,house1 in which it would seem she herself took a part4 ,there were masques at the same time1 independently of this performance1 the cost of which considerably exceeded #b1jjj1 besides that portion of the charge which was borne by the office of the revels and charged to the accounts of that department4 ,in the same year1 we learn that a grant of #dej was made to ,george ,kirke1 ,esq41 gentleman of the robes1 for the masking attire of the king and his party4 ,in #afcg there is a warrant1 under the privy seal1 to the same ,george ,kirke for #aej1 to provide the masking dress of the king2 and1 in the same year1 another to ,edmund ,taverner for #a1djj towards the expenses of a masque to be presented at ,whitehall on the ensuing ,twelfth ,night4 ,we have selected these from similar examples furnished by ,sandys1 in order to give our readers some idea of the sums expended in these entertainments1 which sums will appear very considerable when estimated by the difference between the value of money in our days and that of two hundred years ago4 ,several of the masques presented at court during this reign1 and the preceding ones1 were written by ,ben ,jonson4 ,illustration3 ,,mummers4--,page #fe4 ,during the whole of this time1 the forms of court ceremonial appear to have been aped1 and the royal establishments imitated as far as possible1 by the more powerful nobles2 and the masques and pageantries exhibited for the royal amusement were accordingly reproduced or rivalled by them at their princely mansions in the country4 ,corporate and other public bodies caught the infection all over the land2 and each landed proprietor and country squire endeavored to enact such state in the eyes of his own retainers1 as his means would allow4 ,the sports and festivities of the season were everywhere taken under the protection of the lord of the soil2 and all classes of his dependants had a customary claim upon the hospitalities which he prepared for the occasion4 ,the masques of the court and of the nobles were imitated in the mummings of the people1--of which we give a representation here1 and which we shall have occasion particularly to describe hereafter1--they having survived the costly pageants of which they were the humble representatives4 ,the festival was thus rendered a universal one1 and its amusements brought within the reach of the indigent and the remote4 ,the peasant1 and even the pauper1 were made1 as it were1 once a year sharers in the mirth of their immediate lord1 and even of the monarch himself4 ,the laboring classes had enlarged privileges during this season1 not only by custom1 but by positive enactment2 and restrictive acts of ,parliament1 by which they were prohibited from certain games at other periods1 contained exceptions in favor of the ,christmas-tide4 ,nay1 folly was1 as it were1 crowned1 and disorder had a license6 ,sandys quotes from ,leland the form of a proclamation given in his ,itinerary as having been made by the sheriff of ,york1 wherein it is declared that all thieves1 dice-players1 carders 7with some other characters by name that are usually repudiated by the guardians of order7 and all other unthrifty folke1 be welcome to the towne1 whether they come late or early1 att the reverence of the high feast of ,youle1 till the twelve dayes be passed4 ,the terms of this proclamation were1 no doubt1 not intended to be construed in a grave and literal sense1 but were probably meant to convey something like a satire upon the unbounded license of the season which they thus announce4 ,there are very pleasant evidences of the care which was formerly taken1 in high quarters1 that the poor should not be robbed of their share in this festival4 ,the yearly increasing splendor of the royal celebrations appears at one time to have threatened that result1 by attracting the country gentlemen from their own seats1 and thereby withdrawing them from the presidency of those sports which were likely to languish in their absence4 ,accordingly1 we find an order1 in #aehi1 issued to the gentlemen of ,norfolk and ,suffolk1 commanding them to depart from ,london before ,christmas1 and to repair to their countries1 there to keep hospitality amongst their neighbors4 ,and similar orders appear to have been from time to time necessary1 and from time to time repeated4 ,amongst those bodies who were distinguished for the zeal of their ,christmas observances1 honorable mention may be made of the two ,english universities2 and we shall have occasion hereafter to show that traces of the old ceremonials linger still in those their ancient haunts4 ,but the reader who is unacquainted with this subject would scarcely be prepared to look for the most conspicuous celebration of these revels1 with all their antics and mummeries1 in the grave and dusty retreats of the law4 ,such1 however1 was the case4 ,the lawyers beat the doctors hollow4 ,their ancient halls have rung with the sounds of a somewhat barbarous revelry2 and the walls thereof1 had they voices1 could tell many an old tale1 which the present occupants might not consider as throwing any desirable light upon the historical dignities of the body to which they belong4 ,our readers1 no doubt1 remember a certain scene in ,guy ,mannering1 wherein the farmer ,dinmont and ,colonel ,mannering are somewhat inconsiderately intruded upon the carousals of ,mr4 ,counsellor ,pleydell at his tavern in the city of ,edinburgh and find that worthy lawyer in what are called his altitudes1 being deeply engaged in the ancient and not very solemn pastime of ,high ,jinks4 ,their memory may probably present the counsellor enthroned as a monarch in an elbow-chair placed on the dining-table1 his scratch-wig on one side1 his head crowned with a bottle-slider1 his eye leering with an expression betwixt fun and the effects of wine1 and recall1 assisted by the jingle1 some of the high discourse of his surrounding court3-- ,where is ,gerunto now8 and what's become of him8 ,gerunto's drowned1 because he could not swim1 etc4 ,now1 if our readers shall be of opinion--as ,colonel ,mannering and the farmer were--that the attitude and the occupation were scarcely consistent with the dignity of a gentleman whom they had come to consult on very grave matters1 we may be as much to blame as was the tavern-waiter on that occasion1 in introducing them to the revels of the ,inns of ,court4 ,we will do what we can to soften such censure by stating that there certainly appears at times to have arisen a suspicion1 in the minds of a portion of the profession1 that the wig and gown were not figuring to the best possible advantage on these occasions4 ,for1 in the reign of the first ,james1 we find an order issued by the benchers of ,lincoln's ,inn1 whereby the under barristers were1 by decimation1 put out of commons because the whole bar offended by not dancing on ,candlemas ,day preceding1 according to the ancient order of the society1 when the judges were present2 and this order is accompanied by a threat that1 if the fault were repeated1 they should be fined or disbarred4 ,there seems to have been a contest between the four ,inns of ,court as to which should get up these pageantries with the greatest splendor1 and occasionally a struggle between the desire of victory and the disinclination1 or perhaps inability1 to furnish the heavy cost at which that victory was to be secured4 ,most curious particulars on these subjects are furnished by the accompt-books of the houses3 by the ,gesta ,grayorum 7which was published for the purpose of describing a celebrated ,christmas kept at ,gray's ,inn in #aeid1 and had its title imitated from the then popular work called the ,gesta ,romanorum72 by ,dugdale1 in his ,origines ,juridiciales12 and by ,nichols1 in his ,progresses of ,queen ,elizabeth4 ,for some time ,lincoln's ,inn appears to have carried it all its own way1 having been first on the ground4 ,the ,christmas celebrations seem to have been kept by this society from as early a period as the reign of ,henry ,,vi42 although it was not until the reign of ,henry ,,viii4 that they began to grow into celebrity1 or at least that we have any account of their arrangements4 ,when1 however1 the societies of the two ,temples1 and that of ,gray's ,inn1 began1 with a laudable jealousy1 to contest the palm of splendor1 the necessary expenditure appears occasionally to have given them pause4 ,accordingly1 they held anxious meetings1 at the approach of the season1 to decide the important question whether ,christmas should be kept that year or not2 and one of the registers of the society of ,lincoln's ,inn1 bearing date the #bgth of ,november1 in the twenty-second year of the reign of ,henry ,,viii4 contains the following order3 ,yt is agreed that if the two ,temples do kepe ,chrystemas1 then ,chrystemas to be kept here2 and to know this1 the ,steward of the ,house ys commanded to get knowledge1 and to advertise my master by the next day at night4 ,there is a curious story told in ,baker's ,chronicle of an awkward predicament into which the society of ,gray's ,inn brought themselves by a play which they enacted amongst their ,christmas revels of #aebg4 ,the subject of this play was to the effect that ,lord ,governance was ruled by ,dissipation and ,negligence2 by whose evil order ,lady ,public-,weal was put from ,governance4 ,now1 if these gentlemen did not intend1 by this somewhat delicate moral1 any insinuation against the existing state of things 7which1 being lawyers1 and therefore courtiers1 there is good motive to believe they did not71 it is1 at all events1 certain that1 as lawyers1 they ought to have known better how to steer clear of all offence to weak consciences4 ,that respectable minister1 ,cardinal ,wolsey1 felt himself 7as we think he had good right to do7 greatly scandalized at what1 if not designed1 was1 by accident1 a palpable hit2 and1 in order to teach the gentlemen of ,gray's ,inn that they were responsible for wounds given1 if they happened to shoot arrows in the dark1 he divested the ingenious author1 ,sergeant ,roe1 of his coif1 and committed him to the ,fleet1 together with one of the actors1 of the name of ,moyle1--in order to afford them leisure for furnishing him with a satisfactory explanation of the matter4 ,in ,dugdale's ,origines ,juridiciales1 we have an account of a magnificent ,christmas which was kept at the ,inner ,temple1 in the fourth year of ,queen ,elizabeth's reign2 at which the ,lord ,robert ,dudley1 afterwards ,earl of ,leicester1 presided1 under the mock-title of ,palaphilos1 ,prince of ,sophie1 ,high ,constable ,marshal of the ,knights ,templars1 and ,patron of the honorable order of ,pegasus4 ,a potentate with such a title would have looked very foolish without a tail2 and accordingly he had for his master of the game no less a lawyer than ,christopher ,hatton1 afterwards ,lord ,chancellor of ,england1 with four masters of the revels1 a variety of other officers1 and fourscore persons forming a guard4 ,gerard ,leigh1 who was so fortunate as to obtain the dignity of a knight of ,pegasus1 describes1 as an eye-witness1 in his ,accidence of ,armorie1 the solemn fooleries which were enacted on the occasion by these worthies of the sword and of the gown4 ,of course1 it was not to be expected that such shrewd courtiers as lawyers commonly are1 if they had ever kept ,christmas at all1 should fail to do so during the reign of this virgin queen1 when its celebration offered them such admirable opportunities for the administration of that flattery which was so agreeable to her ,majesty1 and might possibly be so profitable to themselves4 ,we have great pleasure in recording a speech made by her ,majesty on one of these occasions1 nearly so much as two centuries and a half ago1 but which for its great excellence has come down to our days4 ,the gentlemen of ,gray's ,inn 7their wits1 probably1 a little sharpened by the mistake which they had made in her father's time7 had ventured upon a dramatic performance again2 and1 in the course of a masque which they represented before the queen's ,majesty1 had administered to her copious draughts of that nectar on which her ,majesty's vanity was known to thrive so marvellously4 ,they appear1 however1 with a very nice tact1 to have given her no more of it on this occasion than was sufficient to put her ,majesty into spirits1 without intoxicating her1 for by this period of her life it took a great deal of that sort of thing to intoxicate the queen's ,majesty2 and the effect was of the pleasantest kind1 and could not fail to be most satisfactory to the gentlemen of ,gray's ,inn4 ,for after the masque was finished 7in which we presume there had been a little dancing by the lawyers who1 would1 as in duty bound1 have stood on their wigs to please her ,majesty71 and on the courtiers attempting1 in their turn1 to execute a dance1 her ,majesty was most graciously pleased to exclaim1 ,what6 shall we have bread and cheese after a banquet8--meaning thereby1 we presume1 to imply that the courtiers could not hope to leap as high or1 in any respect1 to cut such capers as the lawyers had done4 ,now1 this speech of the virgin queen we have reported here less for the sake of any intrinsic greatness in the thought or elegance in the form than because1 out of a variety of speeches by her ,majesty1 which have been carefully preserved1 we think this is about as good as any other1 and has the additional recommendation 7which so few of the others have7 of exhibiting the virgin queen in a good humor4 ,and1 further1 because having recorded the disgrace into which the gentlemen of ,gray's ,inn danced themselves1 in the lifetime of her illustrious father1 it is but right that we should likewise record the ample indemnification which they must have considered themselves to have received1 at the lips of his virgin daughter4 ,the celebrations at the ,inns of ,court were from time to time continued1 down to the period of the civil troubles which darkened the reign of ,charles ,i42 and so lately as the year #afda1 when they had already commenced1 we find it recorded by ,evelyn1 in his ,memoirs1 that he was elected one of the comptrollers of the ,middle ,temple revellers1 as the fashion of the young students and gentlemen was1 the ,christmas being kept this yeare with greate solemnity4 ,during this reign1 we discover the several societies lessening their expenses by a very wise compromise of their disputes for supremacy2 for in the eighth year thereof the four ,inns of ,court provided a ,christmas masque in conjunction1 for the entertainment of the court1 which cost the startling sum of #bd1jjj of the money of that day1 and in return ,king ,charles invited one hundred and twenty gentlemen of the four ,inns to a masque at ,whitehall on the ,shrove-,tuesday following4 ,that our readers may form some idea of the kind of sports which furnished entertainment to men of no less pretension than ,hatton and ,coke and ,crewe1 we will extract for them a few more particulars of the ceremonies usually observed at the grand ,christmases of the ,inner ,temple1 before quitting this part of the subject4 ,in the first place1 it appears that on ,christmas ,eve there was a banquet in the hall1 at which three masters of the revels were present1 the oldest of whom1 after dinner and supper1 was to sing a carol1 and to command other gentlemen to sing with him2 and in all this we see nothing which is not perfectly worthy of all imitation now4 ,then1 on each of the twelve nights1 before and after supper were revels and dancing2 and if any of these revels and dancing were performed in company with the fair sex 7which1 on the face of the evidence1 doth not appear71 then we have none of the objections to urge against them which we have ventured to insinuate against the solemn buffooneries1 to which the bar was fined for refusing to surrender itself1 in the time of ,james ,i4 ,neither do we find anything repugnant to our modern tastes in the announcement that the breakfasts of the following mornings were very substantial ones1 consisting of brawn1 mustard1 and malmsey1 which the exhaustion of the previous night's dancing might render necessary2 nor that all the courses were served with music1 which we intend that some of our own shall be this coming ,christmas4 ,but against most of that which follows we enter our decided protest1 as not only very absurd in itself1 but eminently calculated to spoil a good dinner4 ,on ,st4 ,stephen's ,day1 we learn that1 after the first course was served in1 the constable marshal was wont to enter the hall 7and we think he had much better have come in1 and said all he had to say beforehand7 bravely arrayed with a fair rich compleat harneys1 white and bright and gilt1 with a nest of fethers1 of all colours1 upon his crest or helm1 and a gilt pole ax in his hand1 and1 no doubt1 thinking himself a prodigiously fine fellow4 ,he was accompanied by the lieutenant of the ,tower1 armed with a fair white armour1 also wearing fethers1 and with a like pole ax in his hand1 and of course also thinking himself a very fine fellow4 ,with them came sixteen trumpeters1 preceded by four drums and fifes1 and attended by four men clad in white harneys1 from the middle upwards1 having halberds in their hands1 and bearing on their shoulders a model of the ,tower1 and each and every one of these latter personages1 in his degree1 having a consciousness that he1 too1 was a fine fellow4 ,then all these fine fellows1 with the drums and music1 and with all their fethers and finery1 went three times round the fire1 whereas1 considering that the boar's head was cooling all the time1 we think once might have sufficed4 ,then the constable marshal1 after three courtesies1 knelt down before the ,lord ,chancellor1 with the lieutenant doing the same behind him1 and then and there deliberately proceeded to deliver himself of an oration of a quarter of an hour's length1 the purport of which was to tender his services to the ,lord ,chancellor1 which1 we think1 at such a time he might have contrived to do in fewer words4 ,to this the ,chancellor was unwise enough to reply that he would take farther advice therein1 when it would have been much better for him to settle the matter at once1 and proceed to eat his dinner4 ,however1 this part of the ceremony ended at last by the constable marshal and the lieutenant obtaining seats at the ,chancellor's table1 upon the former giving up his sword3 and then enter1 for a similar purpose1 the master of the game1 apparelled in green velvet1 and the ranger of the forest1 in a green suit of satten1 bearing in his hand a green bow1 and divers arrows1 with either of them a hunting-horn about their necks1 blowing together three blasts of venery4 ,these worthies1 also1 thought it necessary to parade their finery three times around the fire2 and having then made similar obeisances1 and offered up a similar petition in a similar posture1 they were finally inducted into a similar privilege4 ,but though seated at the ,chancellor's table1 and no doubt sufficiently roused by the steam of its good things1 they were far enough as yet from getting anything to eat1 as a consequence2 and the next ceremony is one which strikingly marks the rudeness of the times4 ,a huntsman cometh into the hall1 with a fox1 and a purse-net with a cat1 both bound at the end of a staff1 and with them nine or ten couple of hounds1 with the blowing of hunting-horns4 ,and the fox and the cat are set upon by the hounds1 and killed beneath the fire4 ,what this 'merry disport' signified 7if practised7 before the ,reformation1 says a writer in ,mr4 ,hone's ,year ,book1 ,i know not4 ,in ',ane compendious boke of godly and spiritual songs1 ,edinburgh1 #afba1 printed from an old copy1' are the following lines1 seemingly referring to some such pageant3-- ',the hunter is ,christ that hunts in haist1 ,the hunds are ,peter and ,pawle1 ,the paip is the fox1 ,rome is the ,rox ,that rubbis us on the gall4' ,after these ceremonies1 the welcome permission to betake themselves to the far more interesting one of an attack upon the good things of the feast appears to have been at length given2 but at the close of the second course the subject of receiving the officers who had tendered their ,christmas service was renewed4 ,whether the gentlemen of the law were burlesquing their own profession intentionally or whether it was only an awkward hit1 like that which befell their brethren of ,gray's ,inn1 does not appear4 ,however1 the common serjeant made what is called a plausible speech1 insisting on the necessity of these officers for the better reputation of the ,commonwealth2 and he was followed1 to the same effect1 by the king's serjeant-at-law till the ,lord ,chancellor silenced them by desiring a respite of further advice1 which it is greatly to be marvelled he had not done sooner4 ,and thereupon he called upon the ancientest of the masters of the revels for a song1--a proceeding to which we give our unqualified approbation4 ,so much for the dinner4 ,after supper1 the constable marshal again presented himself1 if possible finer than before1 preceded by drums1--as so fine a man ought to be1--and mounted on a scaffold borne by four men4 ,after again going thrice round the hearth1 he dismounted from his elevation1 and having set a good example by first playing the figurant himself for the edification of the court1 called upon the nobles1 by their respective ,christmas names1 to do the same4 ,of the styles and titles which it was considered humorous to assume on such occasions1 and by which he called up his courtiers to dance1 our readers may take the following for specimens3-- ,sir ,francis ,flatterer1 of ,fowlehurst1 in the county of ,buckingham4 ,sir ,randle ,rackabite1 of ,rascall ,hall1 in the county of ,rabchell4 ,sir ,morgan ,mumchance1 of ,much ,monkery1 in the county of ,mad ,popery4 ,and so on1 with much more of the same kind1 which we are sure our readers will spare us1 or rather thank us for sparing them4 ,the ceremonies of ,st4 ,john's ,day were1 if possible1 more absurd than those by which ,st4 ,stephen was honored2 but1 that we may take leave of the lawyers on good terms1 and with a word of commendation1 we will simply add that the concluding one is stated to be that on the ,thursday following the ,chancellor and company partook of dinner of roast beef and venison pasties1 and at supper of mutton and hens roasted1 which we take to have been not only the most sensible proceeding of the whole series1 but about as sensible a thing as they or anybody else could well do4 ,so important were these ,christmas celebrations deemed by our ancestors1 and such was the earnestness bestowed upon their preparation1 that a special officer was appointed for that purpose1 and to preside over the festival with large privileges1 very considerable appointments1 and a retinue which in course of time came to be no insignificant imitation of a prince's4 ,we are of course speaking at present of the officer who was appointed to the superintendence of the ,christmas ceremonials at court4 ,the title by which this potentate was usually distinguished in ,england was that of ,lord of ,misrule1 ,abbot of ,misrule1 or ,master of ,merry ,disports2 and his office was1 in fact1 that of a temporary ,master of the ,revels 7which latter title was formerly that of a permanent and distinguished officer attached to the household of our kings74 ,accordingly we find that amongst those of the more powerful nobles who affected an imitation of the royal arrangements in their ,christmas establishments1 this ,christmas officer 7when they appointed one to preside over their private ,christmas celebrations7 was occasionally nominated as their ,master of the ,revels4 ,in the ,household-,book of the ,northumberland family1 amongst the directions given for the order of the establishment1 it is stated that ,my lorde useth and accustomyth yerly to gyf hym which is ordynede to be the ,,master ,,of ,,the ,,revells yerly in my lordis hous in cristmas for the overseyinge and orderinge of his lordschips ,playes1 ,interludes1 and ,dresinge that is plaid befor his lordship in his hous in the xijth dayes of ,cristenmas1 and they to have in rewarde for that caus yerly1 xxs4 ,in the ,inns of ,court1 where this officer formed no part of a household1 but was a member elected out of their own body for his ingenuity1 he was commonly dignified by a title more appropriate to the extensive authority with which he was invested1 and the state with which he was furnished for its due maintenance2 namely1 that of ,christmas ,prince1 or sometimes ,king of ,christmas4 ,he is the same officer who was known in ,scotland as the ,abbot of ,unreason1 and bears a close resemblance to the ,abbas ,stultorum1 who presided over the ,feast of ,fools in ,france1 and the ,abb de la ,malgourvern1 who ruled the sports in certain provinces of that kingdom4 ,in a note to ,ellis's edition of ,brand's ,popular ,antiquities1 we find a quotation from ,mr4 ,warton 7whose ,history of ,english ,poetry we have not at hand7 in which mention is made of an ,abb de ,liesse1 and a reference given to ,carpentier's ,supplement to ,du ,cange1 for the title ,abbas ,ltiti4 ,we mention these1 to enable the antiquarian portion of our readers to make the reference for themselves4 ,writing in the country1 we have not access to the works in question1 and could not1 in these pages1 go farther into the matter if we had4 ,we have already stated that the ,lord of ,misrule appears to bear a considerable resemblance to that ruler or king who was anciently appointed to preside over the sports of the ,roman ,saturnalia2 and we find on looking farther into the subject1 that we are corroborated in this view by one who1 of course1 asserts the resemblance for the purpose of making it a matter of reproach4 ,the notorious ,prynne1 in his ,histrio-,mastix1 affirms 7and quotes ,polydore ,virgil to the same effect7 that our ,christmas lords of ,misrule1 together with dancing1 masques1 mummeries1 stage-players1 and such other ,christmas disorders1 now in use with ,christians1 were derived from these ,roman ,saturnalia and ,bacchanalian festivals2 which1 adds he1 should cause all pious ,christians eternally to abominate them4 ,we should not1 however1 omit to mention that by some this officer has been derived from the ancient ceremony of the ,boy-,bishop4 ,faber speaks of him as originating in an old ,persico-,gothic festival in honor of ,buddha3 and ,purchas1 in his ,pilgrimage1 as quoted in the ,aubrey manuscripts1 says1 that the custom is deduced from the ,feast in ,babylon1 kept in honour of the goddess ,dorcetha1 for five dayes together2 during which time the masters were under the dominion of their servants1 one of which is usually sett over the rest1 and royally cloathed1 and was called ,sogan1 that is1 ,great ,prince4 ,the title1 however1 by which this officer is most generally known is that of ,lord of ,misrule4 ,there was1 says ,stow1 in the feast of ,christmas1 in the king's house1 wheresoever he was lodged1 a ,lord of ,misrule1 or ,master of merry ,disports2 and the like had ye for the house of every nobleman of honour or good worship1 were he spiritual or temporal4 ,among the which the ,mayor of ,london and either of the ,sheriffs had their several ,lords of ,misrule ever contending1 without quarrel or offence1 which should make the rarest pastimes to delight the beholders4 ,of the antiquity of this officer in ,england1 we have not been able to find any satisfactory account2 but we discover traces of him almost as early as we have any positive records of the various sports by which the festival of this season was supported4 ,polydore ,virgil speaks of the splendid spectacles1 the masques1 dancings1 etc41 by which it was illustrated as far back as the close of the twelfth century2 and it is reasonable to suppose that something in the shape of a master of these public ceremonies must have existed then1 to preserve order as well as furnish devices1 particularly as the hints for the one and the other seem to have been taken from the celebrations of the heathens4 ,as early as the year #adhi ,leland speaks of an ,abbot of ,misrule that made much sport1 and did right well his office4 ,henry the ,seventh's boke of paymentis1 preserved in the ,chapter ,house1 is stated by ,sandys to contain several items of disbursement to the ,lord of ,misrule 7or ,abbot1 as he is therein sometimes called7 for different years in rewarde for his besynes in ,christenmes holydays1 none of which exceeded the sum of #f4 #acs4 #d;d4 ,this sum--multiplied as we imagine it ought to be by something like fifteen1 to give the value thereof in our days--certainly affords no very liberal remuneration to an officer whose duties were of any extent2 and we mention it that our readers may contrast it with the lavish appointments of the same functionary in after times4 ,henry1 however1 was a frugal monarch1 though it was a part of his policy to promote the amusements of the people2 and from the treasures which that frugality created1 his immediate successors felt themselves at liberty to assume a greater show4 ,in the subsequent reign1 the yearly payments to the ,lord of ,misrule had already been raised as high as #ae #fs4 #h;d42 and the entertainments over which he presided were furnished at a proportionably increased cost4 ,it is not1 however1 until the reign of the young monarch1 ,edward the ,sixth1 that this officer appears to have attained his highest dignities2 and during the subsequent reign we find him playing just such a part as might be expected from one whose business it was to take the lead in revels such as we have had occasion to describe2 namely1 that of arch-buffoon4 ,in ,hollinshed's ,chronicle1 honorable mention is made of a certain ,george ,ferrers1 therein described as a lawyer1 a poet1 and an historian1 who supplied the office well in the fifth year of ,edward the ,sixth1 and who was rewarded by the young king with princely liberality4 ,this ,george ,ferrers was the principal author of that well-known work1 the ,mirrour for ,magistrates2 and ,mr4 ,kempe1 the editor of the recently published ,loseley ,manuscripts1 mentions his having been likewise distinguished by military services1 in the reign of ,henry the ,eighth4 ,it appears that the young king having fallen into a state of melancholy after the condemnation of his uncle1 the ,protector1 it was determined to celebrate the approaching ,christmas festival with more than usual splendor1 for the purpose of diverting his mind2 and this distinguished individual was selected to preside over the arrangements4 ,the publication of the ,loseley ,manuscripts enables us to present our readers with some very curious particulars1 illustrative at once of the nature of those arrangements1 and of the heavy cost at which they were furnished4 ,by an order in council1--dated the #cast of ,september1 #aeeb1 and addressed to ,sir ,thomas ,cawarden1 at that time ,master of the ,king's ,revels1--after reciting the appointment of the said ,george ,ferrers1 the said ,sir ,thomas is informed that it is his ,majesty's pleasure that you se hym furneshed for hym and his bande1 as well in apparell as all other necessaries1 of such stuff as remayneth in your office4 ,and whatsoever wanteth in the same1 to take order that it be provided accordinglie by yor discretion4 ,for the manner in which the ,lord of ,misrule availed himself of this unlimited order1 we recommend to such of our readers as the subject may interest a perusal of the various estimates and accounts published by ,mr4 ,kempe from the manuscripts in question4 ,were it not that they would occupy too much of our space1 we should have been glad to introduce some of them here1 for the purpose of conveying to the reader a lively notion of the gorgeousness of apparel and appointment exhibited on this occasion4 ,we must1 however1 present them with some idea of the train for whom these costly preparations were made1 and of the kind of mock court with which the ,lord of ,misrule surrounded himself4 ,amongst these we find mention made of a chancellor1 treasurer1 comptroller1 vice-chamberlain1 lords-councillors1 divine1 philosopher1 astronomer1 poet1 physician1 apothecary1 master of requests1 civilian1 disard 7an old word for clown71 gentleman-ushers1 pages of honor1 sergeants-at-arms1 provost-marshal1 under-marshal1 footmen1 messengers1 trumpeter1 herald1 orator2 besides hunters1 jugglers1 tumblers1 band1 fools1 friars 7a curious juxtaposition1 which ,mr4 ,kempe thinks might intend a satire71 and a variety of others4 ,none seem in fact to have been omitted who were usually included in the retinue of a prince2 and over this mock court the mock monarch appears to have presided with a sway as absolute1 as far as regarded the purposes of his appointment1 as the actual monarch himself over the weightier matters of the state4 ,but the most curious part of these arrangements is that by which 7as appears from one of the lists printed from these manuscripts7 he seems to have been accompanied in his processions by an heir-at-law1 and three other children1 besides two base sons4 ,these two base sons1 we presume1 are bastards2 and that the establishment of a potentate could not be considered complete without them4 ,the editor also mentions that he was attended by an almoner1 who scattered amongst the crowd during his progresses1 certain coins made by the wire-drawers2 and remarks that if these bore the portrait and superscription of the ,lord of ,misrule1 they would be rare pieces in the eye of a numismatist4 ,the following very curious letter1 which we will give entire1 will furnish our readers with a lively picture of the pageantries of that time1 and of the zeal with which full-grown men set about amusements of a kind which are now usually left to children of a smaller growth4 ,playing at kings is in our day one of the sports of more juvenile actors4 ,the letter is addressed by ,master ,george ,ferrers to ,sir ,thomas ,cawarden2 and gives some account of his intended entry at the court at ,christmas1 and of his devices for furnishing entertainment during the festival4 ,,sir1--,whereas you required me to write1 for that yr busynes is great1 ,i have in as few wordes as ,i maie signefied to you such things as ,i thinke moste necessarie for my purpose4 ffirst1 as towching my ,introduction4 ,whereas the laste yeare my devise was to cum of oute of the mone 7moon7 this yeare ,i imagine to cum oute of a place called vastum vacuum1 the great waste1 as moche to saie as a place voide or emptie wthout the worlde1 where is neither fier1 ayre1 nor earth2 and that ,i have bene remayning there sins the last yeare4 ,and1 because of certaine devises which ,i have towching this matter1 ,i wold1 yf it were possyble1 have all myne apparell blewe1 the first daie that ,i p'sent my self to the ,king's ,matie2 and even as ,i shewe my self that daie1 so my mynd is in like order and in like suets 7suits7 to shew myself at my comyng into ,london after the halowed daies4 ,againe1 how ,i shall cum into the ,courte1 whether under a canopie1 as the last yeare1 or in a chare triumphall1 or uppon some straunge beaste1--that ,i reserve to you2 but the serpente with sevin heddes1 cauled hidra1 is the chief beast of myne armes1 and wholme#b 7holm7 bushe is the devise of my crest1 my worde#c is semper ferians1 ,i alwaies feasting or keping holie daies4 ,uppon ,christmas daie ,i send a solempne ambassade to the ,king's ,maie by an herrald1 a trumpet1 an orator speaking in a straunge language1 an interpreter or a truchman with hym1 to which p'sons ther were requiset to have convenient farnyture1 which ,i referre to you4 ,i have provided one to plaie uppon a kettell drom with his boye1 and a nother drome wth a fyffe1 whiche must be apparelled like turkes garments1 according to the paternes ,i send you herewith4 ,on ,st4 ,stephen's daie1 ,i wold1 if it were possyble1 be with the ,king's ,matie before dynner4 ,mr4 ,windham1 being my ,admyrall1 is appointed to receive me beneth the bridge with the ,king's ,brigandyne1 and other vessells apointed for the same purpose2 his desire is to have the poope of his vessell covered wth white and blew1 like as ,i signefie to you by a nother lre4 ,sir ,george ,howard1 being my ,mr4 of the ,horsis1 receiveth me at my landing at ,grenwiche with a spare horse and my pages of honor1 one carieng my hed pece1 a nother my shelde1 the thirde my sword1 the fourth my axe4 ,as for their furniture ,i know nothing as yet provided1 either for my pages or otherwise1 save a hed peece that ,i caused to be made4 ,my counsailors1 with suche other necessarie psons yt attend uppon me that daie1 also must be consydered4 ,there maie be no fewer than sixe counsailors at the least2 ,i must also have a divine1 a philosopher1 an astronomer1 a poet1 a phisician1 a potecarie1 a mr of requests1 a sivilian1 a disard1 ,john ,smyth1 two gentlemen ushers1 besides juglers1 tomblers1 fooles1 friers1 and suche other4 ,the residue of the wholie daies ,i will spend in other devises3 as one daie in feats of armes1 and then wolde ,i have a challeng pformed with hobbie horsis1 where ,i purpose to be in pson4 ,another daie in hunting and hawking1 the residue of the tyme shalbe spent in other devisis1 which ,i will declare to you by mouth to have yor ayde and advice therin4 ,sr1 ,i know not howe ye be provided to furnish me1 but suer methinks ,i shold have no lesse than five suets of apparell1 the first for the daie ,i come in1 which shall also serve me in ,london1 and two other suets for the two halowed daies folowing1 the fourth for newe yeares daie1 and the fifte for ,,xiith daie4 ,touching my suet of blew1 ,i have sent you a pece of velvet which hath a kinde of powdered ermaines in it1 vearie fytt for my wering1 yf you so thynke good4 ,all other matters ,i referre tyll ,i shall speake with you4 ,,george ,,ferrers4 ,in other letters from this ,lord of ,misrule to the ,master of the ,revels he applies for eight visors for a drunken masque1 and eight swords and daggers for the same purpose2 twelve hobby-horses1 two ,dryads1 and ,irish dresses for a man and woman2 and seventy jerkins of buckram1 or canvas painted like mail1 for seventy hakbuturs1 or musketeers of his guard4 ,such are some of the testimonies borne by the parties themselves to their own right pleasant follies1 and the expense at which they maintained them2 and to these we will add another1 coming from an adverse quarter1 and showing the light in which these costly levities had already come to be regarded by men of sterner minds so early as the reign of ,elizabeth4 ,the following very curious passage is part of an extract made by ,brand1 from a most rare book entitled ,the ,anatomie of ,abuses1--the work of one ,phillip ,stubs1 published in ,london in #aehe1--;and gives a quaint picture of the ,lord of ,misrule and his retainers1 as viewed through ,puritan optics4 ,firste1 says ,master ,stubs1 all the wilde heades of the parishe conventynge together1 chuse them a grand ,capitaine 7of mischeef7 whom they innoble with the title of my ,lorde of ,misserule1 and hym they crown with great solemnitie1 and adopt for their kyng4 ,this kyng anoynted1 chuseth for the twentie1 fourtie1 three score1 or a hundred lustie guttes like to hymself1 to waite uppon his lordely majestie1 and to guarde his noble persone4 ,then every one of these his menne he investeth with his liveries of greene1 yellowe or some other light wanton colour4 ,and as though that were not 7baudie7 gaudy enough ,i should saie1 they bedecke themselves with scarffes1 ribons1 and laces1 hanged all over with golde rynges1 precious stones1 and other jewelles3 this doen1 they tye about either legge twentie or fourtie belles with rich handkercheefes in their handes1 and sometymes laied acrosse over their shoulders and neckes1 borrowed for the moste parte of their pretie ,mopsies and loovyng ,bessies1 for bussyng them in the darcke4 ,thus thinges sette in order1 they have their hobbie horses1 dragons1 and other antiques1 together with their baudie pipers1 and thunderyng drommers1 to strike up the ,deville's ,daunce withall 7meaning the ,morris ,dance71 then marche these heathen companie towardes the church and churche yarde1 their pipers pipyng1 drommers thonderyng1 their stumppes dauncyng1 their belles iynglyng1 their handkerchefes swyngyng about their heades like madmen1 their hobbie horses and other monsters skyrmishyng amongst the throng3 and in this sorte they goe to the churche 7though the minister bee at praier or preahyng7 dauncyng and swingyng their handkercheefes over their heades1 in the churche1 like devilles incarnate1 with suche a confused noise that no man can heare his owne voice4 ,then the foolishe people1 they looke1 they stare1 they laugh1 they fleere1 and mount upon formes and pewes1 to see these goodly pageauntes1 solemnized in this sort4 ,at the ,christmas celebration held at ,gray's ,inn in #aeid1 to which we have already alluded1 the person selected to fill the office of ,christmas ,prince was a ,norfolk gentleman of the name of ,helmes1 whose leg1 like that of ,sir ,andrew ,aguecheek1 appears to have been formed under the star of a galliard4 ,he is described as being accomplished with all good parts1 fit for so great a dignity1 and also a very proper man in personage1 and very active in dancing and revelling4 ,the revels over which this mock monarch presided were1 as our readers will remember1 exhibited before ,queen ,elizabeth2 and it was the exquisite performance of this gentleman and his court which her ,majesty described as bearing the same relation for excellence to those of her own courtiers which a banquet does to bread and cheese4 ,we must refer such of our readers as are desirous of informing themselves as to the nature and taste of the devices which could make her ,majesty so eloquent1 to the ,gesta ,grayorum2 contenting ourselves with giving them such notion thereof1 as well as of the high dignities which appertained to a ,lord of ,misrule1 as may be conveyed by a perusal of the magnificent style and titles assumed by ,mr4 ,henry ,helmes on his accession4 ,they were enough to have made her ,majesty jealous1 if she had not been so good-natured a queen2 for looking at the philosophy of the thing1 she was about as much a mock monarch as himself1 and could not dance so well4 ,to be sure1 she was acknowledged by this potentate as ,lady ,paramount2 and to a woman like ,elizabeth1 it was something to receive personal homage from-- ,the ,high and ,mighty ,prince ,henry1 ,prince of ,purpoole1 ,archduke of ,stapulia and ,bernardia2 ,duke of ,high and ,nether ,holborn2 ,marquis of ,st4 ,giles and ,tottenham2 ,count ,palatine of ,bloomsbury and ,clerkenwell2 ,great ,lord of the ,cantons of ,islington1 ,kentish ,town1 ,paddington1 and ,knightsbridge2 ,knight of the most ,heroical ,order of the ,helmet1 and ,sovereign of the same6 ,it is admitted that no man can be a great actor who has not the faculty of divesting himself of his personal identity1 and persuading himself that he really is1 for the time1 that which he represents himself to be2 his doing which will go far to persuade others into the same belief4 ,now as her ,majesty has pronounced upon the excellence of ,mr4 ,henry ,helmes's acting1 and if we are therefore to suppose that that gentleman had contrived to mystify both himself and her1 she would naturally be not a little vain of so splendid a vassal4 ,but seriously1 it is not a little amusing to notice the good faith with which these gentlemen appear to have put on and worn their burlesque dignities1 and the real homage which they not only expected1 but actually received4 ,if the tricks which they played during their brief authority1 were not of that mischievous kind which make the angels weep1 they were certainly fantastic enough to make those who are a little lower than the angels smile4 ,a ,lord ,mayor in his gilt coach seems to be a trifle compared with a ,lord of ,misrule entering the city of ,london in former days2 and the following passage from ,warton's ,history of ,english ,poetry1 exhibits amusingly enough the sovereign functions seriously exercised by this important personage1 and the homage1 both ludicrous and substantial1 which he sometimes received3-- ,at a ,christmas celebrated in the hall of the ,middle ,temple1 in the year #afce1 the jurisdiction privileges and parade of this mock monarch are thus circumstantially described4 ,he was attended by his ,lord ,keeper1 ,lord ,treasurer with eight white staves1 a ,captain of his ,band of ,pensioners and of his guard1 and with two ,chaplains who were so seriously impressed with an idea of his regal dignity that1 when they preached before him on the preceding ,sunday in the ,temple ,church1 on ascending the pulpit they saluted him with three low bows4 ,he dined both in the ,hall and in his ,privy ,chamber under a cloth of ,estate4 ,the pole-axes for his ,gentlemen ,pensioners were borrowed of ,lord ,salisbury4 ,lord ,holland1 his temporary justice in ,eyre1 supplies him with venison on demand2 and the ,lord ,mayor and ,sheriffs of ,london with wine4 ,on ,twelfth-day1 at going to ,church1 he received many petitions which he gave to his ,master of ,requests2 and like other kings he had a favourite1 whom--with others1 gentlemen of high quality--he knighted at returning from ,church4 ,the ,christmas ,prince on this occasion was ,mr4 ,francis ,vivian1 who expended from his own private purse the large sum of #b1jjj in support of his dignities4 ,really1 it must have tried the philosophy of these gentlemen to descend from their temporary elevation1 into the ranks of ordinary life4 ,a deposed prince like that high and mighty prince1 ,henry1 ,prince of ,purpoole1 must have felt1 on getting up on the morrow of ,candlemas-day1 some portion of the sensations of ,abou ,hassan on the morning which succeeded his ,caliphate of a day1 when the disagreeable conviction was forced upon him that he was no longer ,commander of the ,faithful1 and had no further claim to the services of ,cluster-of-,pearls1 ,morning-,star1 ,coral-,lips or ,fair-,face4 ,in the case1 however1 of ,mr4 ,francis ,vivian1 it is stated that after his deposition he was knighted by the king1--by way1 we suppose1 of breaking his fall4 ,in ,wood's ,athen ,oxonienses1 mention is made of a very splendid ,christmas ceremonial observed at ,st4 ,john's ,college1 ,oxford1 in the reign of our first ,james1 which was presided over by a ,mr4 ,thomas ,tooker1 whom we elsewhere find called ,tucker4 ,from a manuscript account of this exhibition1 ,wood quotes the titles assumed by this gentleman in his character of ,christmas ,prince2 and we will repeat them here1 for the purpose of showing that the legal cloisters were not the only ones in which mirth was considered as no impeachment of professional gravity1 and that humor 7such as it is7 was an occasional guest of the wisdom which is proverbially said to reside in wigs--of all denominations4 ,from a comparison of these titles with those by which ,mr4 ,henry ,helmes illustrated his own magnificence at ,gray's ,inn1 our readers may decide for themselves upon the relative degrees of the wit which flourished beneath the shelter of the respective gowns4 ,though ourselves a ,cantab1 we have no skill in the measurement of the relations of small quantities4 ,of the hearty mirth in each case there is little doubt2 and humor of the finest quality could have done no more than produce that effect1 and might probably have failed to do so much4 ,the appetite is the main point4 ,the heart's all1 as ,davy says4 ,a small matter made our ancestors laugh1 because they brought stomachs to the feast of ,momus4 ,and1 ,heaven save the mark6 through how many national troubles has that same joyous temperament 7which is the farthest thing possible from levity1--one of the phases of deep feeling1--7 helped to bring the national mind6 ,the merry days of ,england were succeeded by what may be called her age of tears1--the era of the sentimentalists1 when young gentlemen ceased to wear cravats1 and leaned against pillars in drawing-rooms in fits of moody abstraction or under the influence of evident inspiration1 and young ladies made lachrymatories of their boudoirs1 and met together to weep1 and in fact went through the world weeping4 ,amid all its absurdity1 there was some real feeling at the bottom of this too2 and therefore it1 too1 had its pleasure4 ,but there is to be an end of this also4 ,truly are we falling upon the evil days of which we may say we have no pleasure in them4 ,men are neither to laugh nor smile1 now1 without distinctly knowing why4 ,we are in the age of the philosophers4--,all this time1 however1 ,mr4 ,thomas ,tucker is waiting to have his style and titles proclaimed2 and thus do we find them duly set forth3-- ,the most magnificent and renowned ,,thomas1 by the favor of ,fortune1 ,prince of ,alba ,fortunata1 ,lord of ,st4 ,john's1 ,high ,regent of the ,hall1 ,duke of ,st4 ,giles's1 ,marquis of ,magdalen's1 ,landgrave of the ,grove1 ,count ,palatine of the ,cloysters1 ,chief ,bailiff of ,beaumont1 ,high ,ruler of ,rome1 ,master of the ,manor of ,walton1 ,governor of ,gloucester ,green1 sole ,commander of all ,titles1 ,tournaments1 and ,triumphs1 ,superintendent in all ,solemnities whatever4 ,from these titles1--as well as from those which we have already mentioned as being assumed by the courtiers of the illustrious ,prince of ,sophie1 our readers will perceive that alliteration was an esteemed figure in the rhetoric of the revels4 ,in order to give our readers a more lively idea of this potentate1 we have1 as the frontispiece to our second part1 introduced a ,lord of ,misrule to preside over the ,christmas sports therein described4 ,although the titles with which we have there invested him are taken from the ,gesta ,grayorum1 the dress in which the artist has bestowed him is not copied from any one of the particular descriptions furnished by the different records4 ,he is intended to represent the ideal of a ,christmas prince1 and not the portrait of any particular one of whom we have accounts4 ,the artist's instructions were therefore confined to investing him with a due magnificence 7referring to the records only so far as to keep the costume appropriate7 and with a complacent sense of his own finery and state1 and we think that ,mr4 ,seymour has succeeded very happily in catching and embodying the mock heroic of the character4 ,the ,prince of ,purpoole1 or ,his ,highness of ,sophie1 must have looked just such a personage as he has represented4 ,we must not omit to observe that a corresponding officer appears to have formerly exercised his functions at some of the colleges at ,cambridge1 under the more classical title of ,imperator4 ,and we must further state that at ,lincoln's-,inn1 in the early times of their ,christmas celebrations1 there appear to have been elected 7besides the ,lord of ,misrule1 and1 we presume1 in subordination to him7 certain dignitaries exercising a royal sway over the revelries of particular days of the festival4 ,in the account given by ,dugdale of the ,christmas held by this society in the ninth year of the reign of ,henry ,,viii41 mention is made--besides the ,marshal and 7as he is there called7 the ,master of the ,revels--of a ,king chosen for ,christmas day1 and an officer for ,childermas day having the title of ,king of the ,cockneys4 ,a relic of this ancient custom exists in the ,twelfth ,night ,king1 whom it is still usual to elect on the festival of the ,epiphany1 and of whom we shall have occasion to speak at length in his proper place4 ,the length of the period over which the sway of this potentate extended does not seem to be very accurately defined1 or rather it is probable that it varied with circumstances4 ,strictly speaking1 the ,christmas season is in our day considered to terminate with ,twelfth ,night1 and the festival itself to extend over that space of time of which this night on one side and ,christmas eve on the other are the limits4 ,in ancient times1 too1 we find frequent mention of the twelve days of ,christmas4 ,thus the ,george ,ferrers of whom we have spoken1 is appointed to be in his hyness household for the twelve days2 and he dates one of his communications to ,sir ,thomas ,cawarden1 ,from ,greenwich ye second of ,january and ye ixth day of or rule4 ,in the extract from the ,household-,book of the ,northumberland family which we have already quoted1 mention is also made of the ,playes1 ,interludes and ,dresinge that is plaid befor his lordship in his hous in the xijth dayes of ,christenmas4 ,stow1 however1 says that these ,lords beginning their rule at ,allhallond ,eve1 continued the same till the morrow after the ,feast of the ,purification1 commonly called ,candlemas day2 and that during all that time there were under their direction fine and subtle disguisings1 masks and mummeries1 with playing at cards for counters1 nayles and points in every house1 more for pastimes than for gaine4 ,this would give a reign of upwards of three months to these gentlemen4 ,dugdale1 in describing the revels of the ,inner ,temple speaks of the three principal days being ,all-hallows1 ,candlemas1 and ,ascension days1--which would extend the period to seven months2 and the masque of which we have spoken as forming the final performance of the celebrated ,christmas of #aeid1 described in the ,gesta ,grayorum1 is stated to have been represented before the queen at ,shrovetide4 ,at the ,christmas exhibition of ,st4 ,john's college1 ,oxford1 held in #afjg1 ,mr4 ,thomas ,tucker did not resign his office till ,shrove-,tuesday2 and the costly masque of which we have spoken as being presented by the four ,inns of ,court to ,charles ,i41 and whose title was ,the ,triumph of ,peace1 was exhibited in ,february of #afcc4 ,in ,scotland1 the rule of the ,abbot of ,unreason appears to have been still less limited in point of time2 and he seems to have held his court and made his processions at any period of the year which pleased him4 ,these processions1 it appears1 were very usual in the month of ,may 7and here we will take occasion to observe parenthetically1 but in connection with our present subject1 that the practice at all festival celebrations of selecting some individual to enact a principal and presiding character in the ceremonial is further illustrated by the ancient ,may ,king1 and by the practice1 not yet wholly forgotten1 of crowning on the first of that month a ,queen of the ,may4 ,this subject we shall have occasion to treat more fully when we come to speak in some future volume of the beautiful customs of that out-of-doors season74 ,from what we have stated1 it appears probable that the officer who was appointed to preside over the revels so universally observed at ,christmas time1 extended1 as a matter of course1 his presidency over all those which--either arising out of them or unconnected therewith--were performed at more advanced periods of the succeeding year2 that in fact1 the ,christmas prince was1 without new election1 considered as special master of the revels till the recurrence of the season4 ,it is not necessary for us to suppose that the whole of the intervals lying between such stated and remote days of celebration were filled up with festival observances2 or that our ancestors1 under any calenture of the spirits1 could aim at extending ,christmas over the larger portion of the year4 ,it is1 however1 apparent that although the common observances of the season were supposed to fall within the period bounded by the days of the ,nativity and the ,epiphany1 the special pageantries with a view to which the ,lords of ,misrule were appointed in the more exalted quarters were in years of high festival spread over a much more extended time1 and that their potential dignities were in full force1 if not in full display1 from the eve of ,all-hallows to the close of ,candlemas day4 ,it is stated in ,drake's ,shakspeare and his ,times1 that the festivities of the season1 which were appointed for at least twelve days1 were frequently extended over a space of six weeks2 and our readers know from their own experience that1 even in these our days of less prominent and ceremonial rejoicing1 the holiday-spirit of the season is by no means to be restrained within the narrower of those limits4 ,the ,christmas feeling waits not for ,christmas day4 ,the important preparations for so great a festival render this impossible4 ,by the avenues of most of the senses1 the heralds of old ,father ,christmas have long before approached to awake it from its slumber4 ,signal notes which there is no mistaking1 have been played on the visual and olfactory organs for some time past1 and the palate itself has had foretastes of that which is about to be4 ,from the day on which his sign has been seen in the heavens1 the joyous influences of the star have been felt and the moment the school-boy arrives at his home he is in the midst of ,christmas4 ,and if the coming events of the season cast their shadows before1 so1 amid all its cross-lights it would be strange if there were no reflections flung behind4 ,the merry spirit which has been awakened and suffered to play his antics so long is not to be laid by the exorcism of a word4 ,after so very absolute and unquestioned a sway1 it is not to be expected that ,momus should abdicate at a moment's notice4 ,accordingly1 we find that1 any thing enacted to the contrary notwithstanding1 the genial feelings of the time and the festivities springing out of them contrive to maintain their footing throughout the month of ,january2 and ,christmas keeps lingering about our homes till he is no longer answered by the young glad voices to whom he has not as yet begun to utter his solemn warnings and expound his sterner morals1 and for whom his coming is hitherto connected with few memories of pain4 ,till the merry urchins have gone back to school there will continue to be willing subjects to the ,lord of ,misrule4 ,in ,scotland1 the ,abbot of ,unreason was frequently enacted by persons of the highest rank2 and ,james ,v4 is himself said to have concealed his crown beneath the mitre of the merry abbot4 ,as in ,england1 his revels were shared by the mightiest of the land2 but they appear to have been of a less inoffensive kind and to have imitated more unrestrainedly the license of the ,roman ,saturnalia than did the merry-makings of the ,south4 ,the mummeries of these personages 7a faint reflection of which still exists in the ,guisars whom we shall have to mention hereafter71 if less costly than those of their brethren in ,england1 were not less showy2 and though much less quaint1 were a great deal more free4 ,the body-guards of the ,abbot of ,unreason were all arrayed in gaudy colors bedecked with gold or silver lace1 with embroidery and silken scarfs1 the fringed ends of which floated in the wind4 ,they wore chains of gold or baser metal gilt and glittering with mock jewels4 ,their legs were adorned and rendered voluble by links of shining metal hung with many bells of the same material twining from the ankle of their buskins to their silken garters1 and each flourished in his hand a rich silk handkerchief brocaded over with flowers4 ,this was the garb of fifty or more youths1 who encircled the person of the leader4 ,they were surrounded by ranks1 six or more in depth1 consisting of tall1 brawny1 fierce-visaged men covered with crimson or purple velvet bonnets1 and nodding plumes of the eagle and the hawk1 or branches of pine1 yew1 oak1 fern1 boxwood1 or flowering heath4 ,their jerkins were always of a hue that might attract the eye of ladies in the bower or serving-damsels at the washing-green4 ,they had breeches of immense capacity so padded or stuffed as to make each man occupy the space of five in their natural proportions2 and in this seeming soft raiment they concealed weapons of defence or offence1 with which to arm themselves and the body-guard if occasion called for resistance4 ,to appearance1 they had no object but careless sport and glee1--some playing on the ,scottish harp1 others blowing the bagpipes or beating targets for drums1 or jingling bells4 ,whenever the procession halted they danced1 flourishing about the banners of their leader4 ,the exterior bands perhaps represented in dumb show or pantomime the actions of warriors or the wildest buffoonery2 and these were followed by crowds who1 with all the grimaces and phrases of waggery1 solicited money or garniture from the nobles and gentry that came to gaze upon them4 ,wherever they appeared1 multitudes joined them1 some for the sake of jollity1 and not a few to have their fate predicted by spae-wives1 warlocks1 and interpreters of dreams1 who invariably were found in the train of the ,abbot of ,unreason4 ,in ,england1 not only was this merry monarch appointed over the revelries of the great and the opulent1 but--as of most of the forms of amusement over which he presided1 so of the president himself--we find a rude imitation in the ,christmas celebrations of the commonalty4 ,nor was the practice confined to towns or left exclusively in the hands of corporate or public bodies4 ,the quotation which we have already made from ,stubs's ,anatomie of ,abuses1 refers to a rustic ,lord of ,misrule2 and while the antics which took place under his governance do not seem to have risen much above the performances of the morris-dancers1 the gaudiness of the tinsel attire paraded by him and his band forms an excellent burlesque of the more costly finery of their superiors4 ,nay1 the amusements themselves exhibit nearly as much wisdom as those of the court 7with less of pretension71 and we dare say created a great deal more fun at a far less cost4 ,as to the ,scottish practices1 our readers will not fail to observe from our last quotation that the lordly ,abbot and his train were little better than a set of morris-dancers themselves1 and that so much of their practices as was innocent differed nothing from those which ,stubs and his brother ,puritans deemed so ridiculous in a set of parish revellers4 ,in fact1 the ,lord of ,misrule seems to have set himself up all over the land2 and many a village had its master ,simon who took care that the sports should not languish for want of that unity of purpose and concentration of mirth to which some directing authority is so essential4 ,we have already stated1 and have made it quite apparent in our descriptions1 that the ,christmas celebrations of the more exalted classes are not put forward for the consideration of our readers on the ground of any great wisdom in the matter or humor in the manner of those celebrations themselves4 ,but we claim for them serious veneration1 in right of the excellence of the spirit in which they originated1 and the excellence of the result which they produced4 ,the very extravagance of the court pageantries--their profuse expenditure and grotesque displays--were so many evidences of the hearty reception which was given to the season in the highest places1 and so many conspicuous sanctions under which the spirit of unrestrained rejoicing made its appeals in the lowest4 ,this ancient festival of all ranks1 consecrated by all religious feelings and all moral influences2 this privileged season of the lowly2 this ,sabbath of the poor man's year1--was recognized by his superiors with high observance and honored by his governors with ceremonious state4 ,the mirth of the humble and uneducated man received no check from the assumption of an unseasonable gravity or ungenerous reserve on the part of those with whom fortune had dealt more kindly1 and to whom knowledge had opened her stores4 ,the moral effect of all this was of the most valuable kind4 ,nothing so much promotes a reciprocal kindliness of feeling as a community of enjoyment2 and the bond of good will was thus drawn tighter between those remote classes1 whose differences of privilege1 of education1 and of pursuit1 are perpetually operating to loosen it1 and threatening to dissolve it altogether4 ,there was a great deal of wisdom in all this2 and the result was well worth producing even at the cost of much more folly than our ancestors expended on it4 ,we deny that spectacles and a wig are the inseparable symbols of sapience2 and we hold that portion of the world to be greatly mistaken which supposes that wisdom may not occasionally put on the cap and bells1 and under that disguise be wisdom still6 ,the ancient custom which made what was called a fool a part of the establishment of princes1 and gave him a right in virtue of his bauble to teach many a wise lesson and utter many a wholesome truth--besides its practical utility1 contained as excellent a moral and was conceived in as deep a spirit as the still more ancient one of the skeleton at a feast4 ,cucullus non facit monachum1 says one of those privileged gentry1 in the pages of one who1 we are sure1 could have enacted a ,christmas foolery with the most foolish1 and yet had sounded all the depths and shallows of the human mind1 and was himself the wisest of modern men4 ,better a witty fool than a foolish wit4 ,there is a long stride from the wisdom of that sneering philosopher who laughed at his fellows to his who on proper occasions can laugh with them2 and in spite of all that modern philosophy may say to the contrary1 there was in the very extravagances of ,coke and ,hatton1 and other lawyers and statesmen of past times--if they aimed at such a result as that which we have mentioned1 and in so far as they contributed thereto--more real wisdom than all which they enunciated in their more solemn moods1 or have put upon record in their books of the law4 ,illustration3 ,,gate ,,of ,,the ,,old ,,english ,,gentleman4--,page #aji4 ,in the same excellent spirit1 too1 everything was done that could assist in promoting the same valuable effect2 and while the pageantries which were prepared by the court and by other governing bodies furnished a portion of the entertainments by which the populace tasted the season in towns1 and sanctioned the rest1 care was taken in many ways 7of which we have given an example7 that the festival should be spread over the country1 and provision made for its maintenance in places more secluded and remote4 ,a set of arrangements sprang up which left no man without their influence2 and figuratively and literally1 the crumbs from the table of the rich man's festival were abundantly enjoyed by the veriest beggar at his gate4 ,the kindly spirit of ,boaz was abroad in all the land1 and every ,ruth had leave to eat of the bread and dip her morsel in the vinegar4 ,at that great harvest of rejoicing1 all men were suffered to glean2 and they with whom at most other seasons the world had dealt very bitterly--whose names were ,mara1 and who ate sparingly of the bread of toil--gleaned even among its sheaves1 and no man reproached them4 ,the old ,english gentleman1 like the generous ,bethlehemite in the beautiful story1 even scattered that the poor might gather1 and commanded his young men saying1 4 4 4 ',let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for them and leave them1 that they may glean them1 and rebuke them not4' ,and the prayer of many a ,naomi went up in answer1 ,blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee2 blessed be he of the ,lord6 ,in a word1 the blaze of royal and noble celebration was as a great beacon to the land1 seen afar off by those who could not share in its warmth or sit under the influence of its immediate inspirations4 ,but it was answered from every hill-top and repeated in every valley of ,england2 and each man flung the ,yule log on his own fire at the cheering signal4 ,the hearth1 according to ,aubrey1 at the first introduction of coals1 was usually in the middle of the room2 and he derives from thence the origin of the saying1 round about our coal fire4 ,but whether the huge fagot crackled and flustered within those merry circles or flared and roared up the ample chimneys1--all social feelings1 and all beautiful superstitions and old traditions and local observances awoke at the blaze2 and from their thousand hiding-places crept out the customs and ceremonials which crowd this festal period of the year1 and of which it is high time that we should proceed to give an account in these pages4 ,the charmed log that 7duly lighted with the last year's brand1 which1 as we learn from ,herrick1 was essential to its virtue7 scared away all evil spirits1 attracted all beneficent ones4 ,the 'squire sat in the midst of his tenants as a patriarch might amid his family1 and appears to have had no less reverence1 though he compounded the wassail-bowl with his own hands and shared it with the meanest of his dependants4 ,the little book from which we have more than once quoted by the title of ,round about our ,coal-fire1 furnishes us with an example of this reverence too ludicrous to be omitted4 ,its writer tells us that if the 'squire had occasion to ask one of his neighbors what o'clock it was1 he received for answer a profound bow and an assurance that it was what o'clock his worship pleased1--an answer1 no doubt1 indicative of profound respect1 but not calculated to convey much useful information to the inquirer4 ,in fine1 however1 while the glad spirit of the season covered the land1 hospitality and harmony were everywhere a portion of that spirit4 ,the light of a common festival shone for once upon the palace and the cottage1 and the chain of a universal sympathy descended unbroken through all ranks1 from the prince to the peasant and the beggar4 ,the damsel donned her kirtle sheen2 ,the hall was dress'd with holly green2 ,forth to the wood did merry men go1 ,to gather in the misletoe4 ,then opened wide the baron's hall1 ,to vassall1 tenant1 serf and all2 ,power laid his rod of rule aside1 ,and ceremony doffed his pride4 ,the heir1 with roses in his shoes1 ,those nights might village partner chuse2 ,the lord1 underogating1 share ,the vulgar game of 'post-and-pair4' 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 ,the fire with well-dried logs supplied1 ,went roaring up the chimney wide2 ,the huge hall-table's oaken face1 ,scrubbed till it shone1 the time to grace1 ,bore then upon its massive board ,no mark to part the 'squire and lord4 ,then was brought in the lusty brawn1 ,by old blue-coated serving-man2 ,then the grim boar's head frowned on high1 ,crested with bays and rosemary4 ,well can the green-garbed ranger tell1 ,how1 when1 and where1 the monster fell2 ,what dogs1 before his death1 he tore1 ,and all the batings of the boar4 ,the wassail round1 in good brown bowls1 ,garnished with ribbons1 blithely trowls4 ,there the huge sirloin reeked2 hard by ,plumb-porridge stood1 and ,christmas pye2 ,nor failed old ,scotland to produce1 ,at such high-tide1 her savoury goose4 ,then came the merry masquers in1 ,and carols roared with blithesome din2 ,if unmelodious was the song1 ,it was a hearty note1 and strong4 ,who lists may1 in their mumming1 see ,traces of ancient mystery2 ,white shirts supplied the masquerade1 ,and smutted cheeks the visors made3 ,but1 ,oh6 what masquers1 richly dight1 ,can boast of bosoms half so light8 ,england was merry ,england1 when ,old ,christmas brought his sports again4 ',twas ,christmas broached the mightiest ale1 ',twas ,christmas told the merriest tale1 ,a ,christmas gambol oft would cheer ,the poor man's heart through half the year4 ,the ceremonies and superstitions and sports of the ,christmas season are not only various in various places1 but have varied from time to time in the same4 ,those of them which have their root in the festival itself are for the most part common to all1 and have dragged out a lingering existence even to our times4 ,but there are many which1 springing from other sources1 have placed themselves under its protection or1 naturally enough1 sought to associate themselves with merry spirits like their own4 ,old ,father ,christmas has had a great many children in his time1 some of whom he has survived2 and not only so1 but in addition to his own lawful offspring the generous old man has taken under his patronage and adopted into his family many who have no legitimate claim to that distinction by any of the wives to whom he has been united1--neither by the ,roman lady1 his lady of the ,celtic family1 nor her whom he took to his bosom and converted from the idolatry of ,thor4 ,his family appears to have been generally far too numerous to be entertained at one time in the same establishment1 or indeed by the same community1 and to have rarely travelled therefore in a body4 ,in ,ben ,jonson's ,masque of ,christmas1 to which we have already alluded1 the old gentleman is introduced attired in round hose1 long stockings1 a close doublet1 a high-crowned hat with a broach1 a long thin beard1 a truncheon1 little ruffs1 white shoes1 his scarfs and garters tied cross1 and his drum beaten before him1 and is accompanied by the following members of his fine family3 ,,miss-,,rule1 ,,caroll1 ,,minced-,,pie1 ,,gamboll1 ,,post-,,and-,,pair 7since dead71 ,,new ,,year',s ,,gift1 ,,mumming1 ,,wassail1 ,,offering1 and ,,baby-,,cake1--or ,,baby-,,cocke1 as we find him elsewhere called1 but who we fear is dead too1 unless he may have changed his name1 for we still find one of the family bearing some resemblance to the description of him given by ,ben ,jonson4 ,in the frontispiece to this volume the artist has represented the old man like another magician1 summoning his spirits from the four winds for a general muster2 and we hope that the greater part of them will obey his conjuration4 ,the purpose1 we believe1 is to take a review of their condition and see if something cannot be done to amend their prospects1--in which it is our purpose to assist him4 ,already some of the children have appeared on the stage2 and the rest1 we have no doubt1 are advancing in all directions4 ,we are glad to see amongst the foremost1 as he ought to be1 ,,roast ,,beef1--that ,english champion bold who has driven the invader hunger from the land in many a well-fought fray1 and for his doughty deeds was created a knight banneret on one of his own gallant fields so long ago as ,king ,charles's time4 ,we suppose he is the same worthy who1 in the ,romish calendar1 appears canonized by the title of ,saint ,george1 where his great adversary ,famine is represented under the figure of a dragon4 ,still following ,,roast ,,beef1 as he has done for many a long year1 we perceive his faithful 'squire 7bottle-holder if you will7 ,,plum ,,pudding1 with his rich round face and rosemary cockade4 ,he is a blackamoor1 and derives his extraction from the spice lands4 ,his ,oriental properties have however received an ,english education and taken an ,english form1 and he has long ago been adopted into the family of ,father ,christmas4 ,in his younger days his name was ,,plumb-,,porridge3 but since he grew up to be the substantial man he is1 it has been changed into the one he now bears1 as indicative of greater consistency and strength4 ,his master treats him like a brother2 and he has1 in return1 done good service against the enemy in many a hard-fought field1 cutting off all straggling detachments or flying parties from the main body1 which the great champion had previously routed4 ,both these individuals1 we think1 are looking as vigorous as they can ever have done in their lives1 and offer in their well-maintained and portly personages a strong presumption that they at least have at no time ceased to be favorite guests at the festivals of the land4 ,near them stands1 we rejoice to see1 their favorite sister ,wassail4 ,she was of a slender figure in ,ben ,jonson's day1 and is so still4 ,if the garb in which she appears has a somewhat antiquated appearance1 there is a play of the lip and a twinkle of the eye which prove that the glowing and joyous spirit which made our ancestors so merry ages long ago1 and helped them out with so many a pleasant fancy and quaint device1 is not a day older than it was in the time of ,king ,arthur4 ,how should she grow old who bathes in such a bowl8 ,it is her fount of perpetual youth6 ,why1 even mortal hearts grow younger1 and mortal spirits lighter1 as they taste of its charmed waters4 ,there it is1 with its floating apples and hovering inspirations6 ,we see too1 that the tricksy spirit1 whose head bears it 7and that is more than every head could do7 has lost none of his gambols1 and that he is still on the best of terms with the ,turkey who has been his playfellow at these holiday-times for so many years4 ,the latter1 we suppose1 has just come up from ,norfolk1 where ,father ,christmas puts him to school2 and the meeting on both sides seems to be of the most satisfactory kind4 ,,mumming also1 we see1 has obeyed the summons1 although he looks as if he had come from a long distance and did not go about much now4 ,we fancy he has become something of a student4 ,misrule too1 we believe1 has lost a good deal of his mercurial spirit1 and finds his principal resource in old books4 ,he has come to the muster1 however1 with a very long feather in his cap1 as if he considered the present summons portentous of good fortune4 ,he looks as if he were not altogether without hopes of taking office again4 ,we observe with great satisfaction1 that the ,lord of ,twelfth ,night has survived the revolutions which have been fatal to the ,king of the ,cockneys and so many of his royal brethren2 and that he is still every inch a king4 ,yonder he comes under a state-canopy of cake1 and wearing yet his ancient crown4 ,the lady whom we see advancing in the distance we take to be ,saint ,distaff4 ,she used to be a sad romp2 but her merriest days we fear are over1 for she is looking very like an old maid4 ,not far behind her we fancy we can hear the clear voice of ,caroll singing as he comes along2 and if our ears do not deceive us1 the ,waits are coming up in another direction4 ,the children are dropping in on all sides4 ,but what is he that looks down from yonder pedestal in the back-ground upon the merry muster1 with a double face8 ,and why1 while the holly and the mistletoe mingle with the white tresses that hang over the brow of the one1 is the other hidden by a veil8 ,the face on which we gaze is the face of an old man1 and a not uncheerful old man1--a face marked by many a scar1 by the channels of tears that have been dried up and the deep traces of sorrows past away4 ,yet does it look placidly down from beneath its crown of evergreens on the joyous crew who are assembled at the voice of ,christmas4 ,but what aspect hath that other face which no man can see8 ,why doth our flesh creep and the blood curdle in our veins as we gaze8 ,what awful mystery doth that dark curtain hide8 ,what may be written on that covered brow1 that the old man dare not lift the veil and show it to those laughing children8 ,much1 much1 much that might spoil the revels4 ,much that man might not know and yet bear to abide4 ,that twin face is ,janus1 he who shuts the gates upon the old year and opens those of the new1 he who looks into the past and into the future1 and catches the reflections of both1 and has the tales of each written on his respective brows4 ,for the past1 it is known and has been suffered2 and even at a season like this we can pause to retrace the story of its joys and of its sorrows as they are graven on that open forehead1--and from that retrospect1 glancing to the future for hope1 can still turn to the present for enjoyment4 ,but oh1 that veil and its solemn enigmas6 ,on that other brow may be written some secret which1 putting out the light of hope1 should add the darkness of the future to the darkness of the past1 until1 amid the gloom before and the gloom behind1 the festal lamps of the season1 looked on by eyes dim with our own tears1 should show as sad as tapers lighted up in the chamber of the dead4 ,god in mercy keep down that veil6 ,such foresight who on earth would crave1 ,where knowledge is not power to save8 ,it will be our business to introduce to our readers each of the children of old ,christmas as they come up in obedience to the summons of their father1 reserving to ourselves the right of settling the order of their precedence2 and we will endeavor to give some account of the part which each played of old in the revelries of the season peculiarly their own1 and of the sad changes which time has made in the natural constitutions1 or animal spirits1 of some of them4 ,preparatory1 however1 to this we must endeavor to give a rapid glance at the causes which contributed to the decay of a festival so ancient and universal and uproarious as that which we have described1 and brought into the old man's family that disease to which some of them have already fallen victims1 and which threatens others with an untimely extinction4 ,we have already shown that so early as the reign of ,elizabeth the ,puritans had begun to lift up their testimony against the pageantries of the ,christmas-tide2 and the ,lord of ,misrule1 even in that day of his potential ascendancy1 was described as little better than the great ,enemy of ,souls himself4 ,our friend ,stubs 7whose denunciations were directed against all amusements which from long usage and established repetition had assumed anything like a form of ceremonial1 and who is quite as angry with those who goe some to the woodes and groves and some to the hilles and mountaines 4 4 4 where they spende all the night in pastymes1 and in the mornyng they return bringing with them birch bowes and braunches of trees to deck their assemblies withall1 in the sweet month of ,may1 as he could possibly be with the ,christmas revellers1 although the very language in which he is obliged to state the charge against the former was enough to tempt people out a ,maying1 and might almost have converted himself7 assures the reader of his ,anatomie that all who contribute to the maintenaunce of these execrable pastymes do neither more nor less than offer sacrifice to the devill and ,sathanas4 ,it is probable1 however1 that the people of those days1 who were a right loyal people and freely acknowledged the claim of their sovereigns to an absolute disposition of all their temporalities 7any of the common or statute laws of the land notwithstanding71 considered it a part of their loyalty to be damned in company with their sovereigns1 too1 and resolved that so long as these iniquities obtained the royal patronage it was of their allegiance to place themselves in the same category of responsibility4 ,or perhaps their notion of regal prerogative1 which extended so far as to admit its right to mould the national law at its good pleasure1 might go the further length of ascribing to it a controlling power over the moral statutes of right and wrong1 and of pleading its sanction against the menaces of ,master ,stubs4 ,or it may be that ,master ,stubs had failed to convince them that they were wrong1 even without an appeal to the royal dispensation4 ,certain it is that1 in spite of all that ,master ,stubs and his brethren could say1 the sway of the ,lord of ,misrule1 and the revels of his court continued to flourish with increasing splendor during this reign1 and1 as we have seen1 lost no portion of their magnificence during the two next1 although in that time had arisen the great champion of the ,puritans1 ,prynne1 and against them and their practices had been directed whole volumes of vituperation1 and denounced large vials of wrath4 ,in ,scotland1 however1 where the reformation took a sterner tone than in the southern kingdom1 and where1 as we have said1 the irregularities committed under cover of the ,christmas and other ceremonials laid them more justly open to its censure1 the effect of this outcry was earlier and far more sensibly felt2 and even so early as the reign of ,queen ,mary an act passed the ,scottish ,parliament whereby the ,abbot of ,unreason and all his merrie disports were suppressed4 ,in ,england1 it is true that1 according to ,sandys1 an order of the common council had issued as early as the beginning of our ,mary's reign prohibiting the ,lord ,mayor or ,sheriffs from entertaining a ,lord of ,misrule in any of their houses2 but this appears to have been merely on financial grounds1 with a view of reducing the corporation expenditure1 and to have extended no further4 ,it was not1 however1 until after the breaking out of the ,civil ,war that the persecution of the ,puritans 7who had long and zealously labored not only to resolve the various ceremonials of the season into their pagan elements1 but even to prove that the celebration of the ,nativity at all was in itself idolatrous7 succeeded to any extent in producing that result which the war itself and the consequent disorganization of society must in a great measure have effected even without the aid of a fanatical outcry4 ,in the very first year of that armed struggle the earliest successful blow was struck against the festivities with which it had been usual to celebrate this period of the year1 in certain ordinances which were issued for suppressing the performance of plays and other diversions2 and in the following year some of the shops in ,london were for the first time opened on ,christmas day1 in obedience to the feelings which connected any observance of it with the spirit of popery4 ,by the year #afdg the ,puritans had so far prevailed that in various places the parish officers were subjected to penalties for encouraging the decking of churches and permitting divine service to be performed therein on ,christmas morning2 and in the same year the observance of the festival itself1 with that of other holidays1 was formally abolished by the two branches of the legislature4 ,it was found impossible1 however1 by all these united means1 to eradicate the ,christmas spirit from the land2 and many of its customs and festivities continued to be observed1 not only in obscure places1 but even in towns1 in spite of prohibition and in spite of the disarrangement of social ties4 ,the contest between the ,puritan spirit and the ancient spirit of celebration led to many contests2 and we have an account--in a little book of which we have seen a copy in the ,british ,museum1 entitled ,canterbury ,christmas1 or a ,true ,relation of the ,insurrection in ,canterbury--of the disturbances which ensued in that city upon the ,mayor's proclamation1 issued in consequence of that ,parliamentary prohibition at the ,christmas which followed4 ,this said proclamation1 it appears1 which was made by the city crier1 was to the effect that ,christmas day and all other superstitious festivals should be put downe and that a market should be kept upon ,christmas day4 ,this order1 it goes on to state1 was very ill taken by the country1 the people of which neglected to bring their provisions into the town1 and gave other tokens of their displeasure of a less negative kind4 ,for1 a few of the shopkeepers in the city1 to the number of twelve at the most1 having ventured to open their shops in defiance of the general feeling1 they were commanded by the multitude to shut up again2 but refusing to obey1 their ware was thrown up and down and they at last forced to shut in4 ,nor were the revilings of the ,puritans against the lovers of ,christmas observances suffered to remain unanswered4 ,many a squib was directed against the ,roundheads2 and the popular regret for the suppression of their high festival was skilfully appealed to by ,royalist politicians and favorers of the ancient religion4 ,the connection between the new condition of things in ,church and ,state and the extinction of all the merriment of the land was carefully suggested in publications that stole out in spite of penalties and were read in defiance of prohibitions4 ,as an example1 that curious little tract from which we have more than once quoted under the title of ,an ,hue and ,cry after ,christmas1 bears the date of #afde2 and we shall best give our readers an idea of its character by setting out that title at length1 as the same exhibits a tolerable abstract of its contents4 ,it runs thus3 ,the arraignment1 conviction1 and imprisoning of ,christmas on ,st4 ,thomas day last1 and how he broke out of prison in the holidayes and got away1 onely left his hoary hair and gray beard sticking between two iron bars of a window4 ,with an ,hue and ,cry after ,christmas1 and a letter from ,mr4 ,woodcock1 a fellow in ,oxford1 to a malignant lady in ,london4 ,and divers passages between the lady and the cryer about ,old ,christmas2 and what shift he was fain to make to save his life1 and great stir to fetch him back again4 ,printed by ,simon ,minc'd ,pye for ,cissely ,plum-,porridge1 and are to be sold by ,ralph ,fidler ,chandler at the signe of the ,pack of ,cards in ,mustard ,alley in ,brawn ,street4 ,besides the allusions contained in the latter part of this title to some of the good things that follow in the old man's train1 great pains are taken by the cryer in describing him1 and by the lady in mourning for him1 to allude to many of the cheerful attributes that made him dear to the people4 ,his great antiquity and portly appearance are likewise insisted upon4 ,for age this hoarie-headed man was of great yeares1 and as white as snow4 ,he entered the ,romish ,kallendar1 time out of mind1 as old or very neer as ,father ,mathusalem was1--one that looked fresh in the ,bishops' time1 though their fall made him pine away ever since4 ,he was full and fat as any divine doctor on them all2 he looked under the consecrated lawne sleeves as big as ,bul-beefe1--just like ,bacchus upon a tunne of wine1 when the grapes hang shaking about his eares2 but since the ,catholike liquor is taken from him he is much wasted1 so that he hath looked very thin and ill of late4 ,the poor1 says the cryer to the lady1 are sory for his departure2 for they go to every door a-begging1 as they were wont to do 7good ,mrs41 ,somewhat against this good time72 but ,time was transformed1 ,away1 be gone2 here is not for you4 ,the lady1 however1 declares that she for one will not be deterred from welcoming old ,christmas4 ,no1 no6 says she2 bid him come by night over the ,thames1 and we will have a back-door open to let him in2 and ends by anticipating better prospects for him another year4 ,and by many a back-door was the old man let in to many a fireside during the heaviest times of all that persecution and disgrace4 ,on the establishment of the ,commonwealth1 when the more settled state of things removed some of the causes which had opposed themselves to his due reception1 the contests of opposition between the revived spirit of festival and the increased sectarian austerity became more conspicuous4 ,there is an order of the ,parliament in #afeb again prohibiting the observance of ,christmas day1 which proves that the practice had revived2 and there are examples of the military having been employed to disperse congregations assembled for that purpose4 ,in the ,vindication of ,christmas1 published about this time1 the old gentleman1 after complaining bitterly of the manner in which he was used in the city1 and wandering into the country up and down from house to house1 found small comfort in any1 asserts his determination not to be so repulsed3 ,welcome or not welcome1 says he1 ,i am come4 ,in a periodical publication of that day entitled ,mercurius ,democritus1 or a ,true and ,perfect ,nocturnall1 communicating many strange wonders out of the ,world in the ,moon1 etc41 the public are encouraged to keep ,christmas1 and promised better days4 ,no4 #cg contains some verses to that effect1 of which the following are the first two3-- ,old ,christmass now is come to town1 ,though few do him regard2 ,he laughs to see them going down1 ,that have put down his ,lord4 ,cheer up1 sad heart1 crown ,christmass bowls1 ,banish dull grief and sorrow2 ,though you want cloaths1 you have rich souls1 ,the sun may shine to-morrow4 ,and again in ,no4 #ch3-- ,a gallant crew1 stir up the fire1 ,the other winter tale1 ,welcome1 ,christmass1 'tis our desire ,to give thee more spic'd ale4 ,on the return of the royal family to ,england1 the court celebrations of ,christmas were revived both there and at the ,inns of ,court2 and the ,lord of ,misrule came again into office4 ,we have allusions to the one and the other in the writings of ,pepys and of ,evelyn4 ,the nobles and wealthy gentry1 too1 once more at their country-seats1 took under their protection such of the ancient observances as had survived the persecution1 and from time to time stole out of their hiding-places under the encouragement of the new order of things4 ,but in none of its ancient haunts did the festival ever again recover its splendor of old4 ,the condition of ,charles's exchequer1 and the many charges upon it1--arising as well out of the services of his adherents as from his own dissolute life1--left him little chance of imitating the lavish appointments of the court pageantries in the days of ,elizabeth and ,james2 and the troubles out of which the nation had emerged had made changes as well in the face of the country as in the condition and character of society1 alike opposed to anything like a general and complete revival of the merry doings of yore4 ,in the country1 estates had passed into new hands1 and the immemorial ties between the ancient families and the tenants of the soil had been rudely severed4 ,many of the old establishments in which these celebrations had been most zealously observed1 were finally broken up2 and friends who had met together from childhood around the ,christmas fire1 and pledged each other year by year in the wassail-bowl1 were scattered by the chances of war4 ,but out of this disturbance of the old localities and disruption of the ancient ties of the land1 a result still more fatal to these old observances had arisen1 promoted besides by the dissipation of manners which the restored monarch had introduced into the country4 ,men rooted out from their ancestral possessions and looking to a licentious king for compensation1 became hangers-on about the court2 and others who had no such excuse1 seduced by their example and enamoured of the gayeties of the metropolis and the profligacies of ,whitehall1 abandoned the shelter of the old trees beneath whose shade their fathers had fostered the sanctities of life1 and from country gentlemen became men about town4 ,the evils of this practice1 at which we have before hinted as one of those to which the decay of rural customs is mainly owing1 began to be early felt1 and form the topic of frequent complaint and the subject of many of the popular ballads of that day4 ,the song of the ,old and ,young ,courtier was written for the purpose of contrasting the good old manners with those of ,charles's time2 and the effects of the change upon the ,christmas hospitalities has due and particular notice therein4 ,we extract it from the ,percy collection for our readers1 as appropriate to our subject and a sample of the ballads of the time3-- ,,the ,,old ,,and ,,young ,,courtier4 ,an old song made by an aged old pate1 ,of an old worshipful gentleman who had a greate estate1 ,that kept a brave old house at a bountifull rate1 ,and an old porter to relieve the poor at his gate2 ,like an old courtier of the ,queen's1 ,and the ,queen's old courtier4 ,with an old lady1 whose anger one word assuages2 ,they every quarter paid their old servants their wages1 ,and never knew what belong'd to coachmen1 footmen1 nor pages1 ,but kept twenty old fellows with blue coats and badges2 ,like an old courtier1 etc4 ,with an old study fill'd full of learned old books1 ,with an old reverend chaplain1--you might know him by his looks1-- ,with an old buttery hatch worn quite off the hooks1 ,and an old kitchen1 that maintained half-a-dozen old cooks2 ,like an old courtier1 etc4 ,with an old hall1 hung about with pikes1 guns1 and bows1 ,with old swords1 and bucklers that had borne many shrewde blows1 ,and an old frize coat1 to cover his worship's trunk hose1 ,and a cup of old sherry to comfort his copper nose2 ,like an old courtier1 etc4 ,with a good old fashion1 when ,christmasse was come1 ,to call in all his old neighbours with bagpipe and drum1 ,with good chear enough to furnish every old room1 ,and old liquor able to make a cat speak1 and man dumb2 ,like an old courtier1 etc4 ,with an old falconer1 huntsman1 and a kennel of hounds1 ,that never hawked1 nor hunted1 but in his own grounds1 ,who1 like a wise man1 kept himself within his own bounds1 ,and when he dyed gave every child a thousand good pounds2 ,like an old courtier1 etc4 ,but to his eldest son his house and land he assign'd1 ,charging him in his will to keep the old bountifull mind1 ,to be good to his old tenants1 and to his neighbours be kind2 ,but in the ensuing ditty you shall hear how he was inclined2 ,like a young courtier1 etc4 ,like a flourishing young gallant1 newly come to his land1 ,who keeps a brace of painted madams at his command1 ,and takes up a thousand pound upon his father's land1 ,and gets drunk in a tavern1 till he can neither go nor stand2 ,like a young courtier1 etc4 ,with a new-fangled lady1 that is dandy1 nice1 and spare1 ,who never knew what belong'd to good housekeeping or care1 ,who buys gaudy-color'd fans to play with wanton air1 ,and seven or eight different dressings of other women's hair2 ,like a young courtier1 etc4 ,with a new-fashion'd hall1 built where the old one stood1 ,hung round with new pictures1 that do the poor no good1 ,with a fine marble chimney1 wherein burns neither coal nor wood1 ,and a new smooth shovelboard1 whereon no victuals ne'er stood2 ,like a young courtier1 etc4 ,with a new study1 stuff'd full of pamphlets and plays1 ,and a new chaplain1 that swears faster than he prays1 ,with a new buttery-hatch that opens once in four or five days1 ,and a new ,french cook1 to devise fine kickshaws and toys2 ,like a young courtier1 etc4 ,with a new fashion1 when ,christmasse is drawing on1 ,on a new journey to ,london straight we all must begone1 ,and leave none to keep house1 but our new porter ,john1 ,who relieves the poor with a thump on the back with a stone2 ,like a young courtier1 etc4 ,with a new gentleman usher1 whose carriage is compleat1 ,with a new coachman1 footmen1 and pages to carry up the meat1 ,with a waiting-gentlewoman1 whose dressing is very neat1 ,who when her lady has din'd1 lets the servants not eat2 ,like a young courtier1 etc4 ,with new titles of honour bought with his father's old gold1 ,for which sundry of his ancestors' old manors are sold2 ,and this is the course most of our new gallants hold1 ,which makes that good housekeeping is now grown so cold1 ,among the young courtiers of the ,king1 ,or the ,king's young courtiers4 ,in a word1 the old ,english feeling seemed nearly extinct for a time2 and the ancient customs which had connected themselves therewith1 one by one fell more or less into disuse4 ,the chain of universal sympathy and general observance1 which had long kept the festival together in all its parts1 was broken2 and the parts fell asunder1 and were by degrees lost or overlooked4 ,let no man say that this is scarcely worth lamenting6 ,let none imagine that1 in the decay of customs useless or insignificant in themselves1 there is little to regret6 ,the affections1 says ,sterne1 when they are busy that way1 will build their structures1 were it but on the paring of a nail2 and there is no practice of long observance and ancient veneration--whether among nations or individuals--round which the affections have not in some degree twined themselves1 and which are not therefore useful as supports and remembrancers to those affections4 ,there are few of the consequences springing from civil war more lamentable than the disturbance which it gives to the social arrangements1 were it but to the meanest of them4 ,it is impossible that customs long identified with the feelings should perish without those feelings 7though from their own eternal principle they will ultimately revive and find new modes of action7 suffering some temporary injury4 ,it was a beautiful assertion of ,dr4 ,johnson that his feelings would be outraged by seeing an old post rooted up from before his door which he had been used to look at all his life1--even though it might be an incumbrance there4 ,how much more would he have grieved over the removal of a village ,maypole1 with all its merry memories and all its ancient reverence6 ,the ,christmas festival has languished from those days to this1 but never has been1 and never will be extinct4 ,the stately forms of its celebration in high places have long since 7and1 in all probability1 forever7 passed away4 ,the sole and homely representative of the gorgeous ,christmas prince is the mock-monarch of the ,epiphany1--the laureate of our times1 with his nominal duties1 in the last faint shadow of the court bards and masque-makers of yore2 and the few lingering remains of the important duties once confided to the master of the royal revels are silently and unostentatiously performed in the office of the ,lord ,chamberlain of to-day4 ,but the spirit of the season yet survives1 and1 for reasons which we shall proceed to point out1 must survive4 ,true1 the uproarious merriment1 the loud voice which it sent of old throughout the land1 have ceased2 and while the ancient sports and ceremonies are widely scattered1 many of them have retreated into obscure places1 and some perhaps are lost4 ,still1 however1 this period of commemoration is everywhere a merry time2 and we believe1 as we have already said1 that most of the children of ,father ,christmas are yet wandering up and down in one place or another of the land4 ,we call upon all those of our readers who know anything of the old1 old1 very old1 gray-bearded gentleman or his family to aid us in our search after them2 and with their good help we will endeavor to restore them to some portion of their ancient honors in ,england4 ,illustration3 ,,family ,,congratulation4--,page #acd4 ,,footnotes3 #b ,the evergreen holly is meant1 a bearing peculiarly appropriate to the lord of ,christmas sports4 #c ,his motto or impress4 ,,feelings ,,of ,,the ,,season4 ,,of all the festivals which crowd the ,christian calendar there is none that exercises an influence so strong and universal as that of ,christmas2 and those varied superstitions1 and quaint customs1 and joyous observances1 which once abounded throughout the rural districts of ,england1 are at no period of the year so thickly congregated or so strongly marked as at this season of unrestrained festivity and extended celebration4 ,the reasons for this are various and very obvious4 ,in the case of a single celebration1 which has to support itself by its own solitary influence long1 perchance1 after the feeling in which it originated has ceased to operate1 whose significance is perhaps dimly and more dimly perceived 7through the obscurity of a distance1 year after year receding further into shadow7 by its own unaided and unreflected light1 the chances are many that the annually increasing neglect into which its observance is likely to fall1 shall finally consign it to an entire obliteration4 ,but a cluster of festivals1 standing in a proximate order of succession1 at once throwing light upon each other and illustrated by a varied and numerous host of customs1 traditions1 and ceremonies1--of which1 as in a similar cluster of stars1 the occasional obscuration of any one or more would not prevent their memory being suggested and their place distinctly indicated by the others1--present greatly multiplied probabilities against their existence being ever entirely forgotten or their observation wholly discontinued4 ,the arrangement by which a series of celebrations--beautiful in themselves1 and connected with the paramount event in which are laid the foundations of our religion--are made to fall at a period otherwise of very solemn import 7from its being assumed as the close of the larger of those revolutions of time into which man measures out the span of his transitory existence71 and the chance which has brought down to the same point and thrown together the traces of customs and superstitions both of a sacred and secular character1 uniting with the crowd of ,catholic observances1 off-shoots from the ancient ,saturnalia1 remains of old ,druidical rites1 and glimpses into the mythology of the ,northern nations1 have written a series of hieroglyphics upon that place of the calendar1 which1 if they cannot be deciphered in every part1 are still1 from their number and juxtaposition1 never likely to be overlooked4 ,but though these causes are offered as accounting for the preservation of many customs which1 without them1 would long since have passed into oblivion1 which exist by virtue of the position they occupy on the calendar1 yet the more conspicuous celebrations of this season need no such aid and no such arguments4 ,nothing can be added to their intrinsic interest1 and they are too closely connected with the solemn warnings of man's temporal destiny1 and linked with the story of his eternal hopes1 ever to lose any portion of that influence1 a share of which 7without thereby losing1 as light is communicated without diminution7 they throw over all the other celebrations that take shelter under their wing4 ,in every way1 and by many a tributary stream1 are the holy and beneficent sentiments which belong to the period increased and refreshed4 ,beautiful feelings1 too apt to fade within the heart of man amid the chilling influences of worldly pursuit1 steal out beneath the sweet religious warmth of the season1 and the pure and holy amongst the hopes of earth assemble1 to place themselves under the protection of that eternal hope whose promise is now1 as it were1 yearly renewed4 ,amid the echoes of that song which proclaimed peace on earth and good-will towards men1 making no exclusions1 and dividing them into no classes1 rises up a dormant sense of universal brotherhood in the heart2 and something like a distribution of the good things of the earth is suggested in favor of those1 destitute here1 who are proclaimed as joint participators in the treasure thus announced from heaven4 ,at no other period of the year are the feeling of a universal benevolence and the sense of a common ,adam so widely awakened2 at no season is the predominant spirit of selfishness so effectually rebuked2 never are the circles of love so largely widened4 ,the very presence of a lengthened festivity--for festivity can never be solitary--would1 apart from its sacred causes1 promote these wholesome effects4 ,the extended space of time over which this festival is spread1 the protracted holiday which it creates1 points it out for the gathering together of distant friends whom the passing nature of an occasional and single celebration would fail to collect from their scattered places of the world4 ,by this wise and beautiful arrangement the spell of home is still made to cast its sweet and holy influence along the sterile regions as along the bright places of after-life1 and from the dark valleys and the sunny hilltops of the world to call back alike the spoiled of fortune and the tired and travel-stained to refresh themselves again and again at the fountain of their calmer hopes and purer feelings4 ,a wise and beautiful arrangement this would be1 in whatever season of the year it might be placed6 ,wise and beautiful is any institution which sets up a rallying-place for the early affections and re-awakens the sacred sympathies of youth1--which1 from that well-head of purity and peace1 sends forth1 as it were1 a little river of living waters1 to flow with revivifying freshness and soothing murmur along the wastes and wildernesses of after years2 which makes of that spring-time of the heart a reservoir of balm1 to which in hours of sorrow it can return for joy1 and in years of guilt for regeneration2 and which1 like the widow's cruse of oil1 wasteth not in all the ages of the mind's dearth4 ,but how greatly are the wisdom and the beauty of this arrangement increased by the sacred season at which it has been placed6 ,under the sanctions of religion the covenants of the heart are renewed4 ,upon the altars of our faith the lamps of the spirit are rekindled4 ,the loves of earth seem to have met together at the sound of the glad tidings of the season1 to refresh themselves for the heaven which those tidings proclaim4 ,from ,abana and ,pharpar and all the rivers of ,damascus the affections are returned to bathe in the waters of ,israel4 ,in many a peaceful spot and lowly home1 ,wi' joy unfeigned1 brothers and sisters meet1 ,an' each for other's welfare kindly spiers2 and as the long-separated look once more into the sweet1 familiar faces1 and listen in that restored companionship to strains such as once did sweet in ,zion glide 7even as they listened long ago1 and1 it may be1 with some who are gone from them for ever71-- ,hope springs1 'exulting on triumphant wing' ,that thus they all shall meet in future days1 ,there ever bask in uncreated rays1 ,no more to sigh or shed the bitter tear1 ,together hymning their ,creator's praise ,in such society1 yet still more dear1 ,while ceaseless time moves round in an eternal sphere4 ,to this tone of feeling the services of the ,church have for some time previously been gradually adapting the mind4 ,during the whole period of ,advent a course of moral and religious preparation has been going on1 and a state of expectation is by degrees excited1 not unlike that with which the ,jews were waiting for the ,messiah1 of old4 ,there is1 as it were1 a sort of watching for the great event1 a questioning where ,christ shall be born1 and an earnest looking out for his star in the ,east that we may come to worship him4 ,the feeling awakened by the whole series of these services--unlike that suggested by some of those which commemorate other portions of the same sacred story--is entirely a joyous one4 ,the lowly manner of the ,saviour's coming1 the exceeding humiliation of his appointments1 the dangers which beset his infancy1 and his instant rejection by those to whom he came1 are all forgotten in the fact of his coming itself1 in the feeling of a mighty triumph and the sense of a great deliverance1 or only so far remembered as to temper the triumph and give a character of tenderness to the joy4 ,the services of the ,church about this season1 says ,washington ,irving1 are extremely tender and inspiring4 ,they dwell on the beautiful story of the origin of our faith1 and the pastoral scenes that accompanied its announcement4 ,they gradually increase in fervor and pathos during the season of ,advent1 until they break forth in full jubilee on the morning that brought 'peace and good-will to men4' ,i do not know1 he adds1 a grander effect of music on the moral feelings than to hear the full choir and the pealing organ performing a ,christmas anthem in a cathedral1 and filling every part of the vast pile with triumphant harmony4 ,we confess that1 for ourselves1 very sensible as we are to the grander and more complicated effects of harmony1 we have1 on the occasion in question1 been more touched by the simple song of rejoicing as it rang in its unaided sweetness through the aisles of some village church4 ,we have felt ourselves more emphatically reminded1 amid pastoral scenes and primitive choirs1 of the music of congratulation which was uttered through the clear air to men abiding in the field1 keeping watch over their flocks by night1-- ,the hallowed anthem sent to hail ,bethlehem's shepherds in the lonely vale ,when ,jordan hushed his waves1 and midnight still ,watched on the holy towers of ,zion's hill4 ,nor is the religious feeling which belongs to this season suffered to subside with the great event of the nativity itself4 ,the incidents of striking interest which immediately followed the birth of the ,messiah1 the persecutions which were directed against his life1 and the starry writing of ,god in the sky1 which1 amid the rejection of his own1 drew to him witnesses from afar1 all contribute to keep alive the sense of a sacred celebration to the end of the period usually devoted to social festivity1 and send a wholesome current of religious feeling through the entire season1 to temper its extravagancies and regulate its mirth4 ,the worship of the shepherds2 the lamentation in ,rama1 and the weeping of ,rachel for the murder of the innocents2 the miraculous escape from that massacre of the ,saviour1 and the flight of his parents into ,egypt with the rescued child2 and the manifestation of ,christ to the ,gentiles1 which is indeed the day of his nativity to us1--are all commemorated in the ,christian ,church1 and illustrated by the series of services distributed through that period of religious worship which bears the general title of ,christmas4 ,there is1 too1 in the lengthened duration of this festival a direct cause of that joyous and holiday spirit which1 for the most part 7after the first tenderness of meeting has passed away1 and a few tears perhaps been given1 as the muster-roll is perused1 to those who answer to their names no more71 pervades all whom that same duration has tempted to assemble4 ,regrets there will no doubt1 in most cases1 be1 for these distant and periodical gatherings together of families but show more prominently the blanks which the long intervals have created2 this putting on anew1 as it were1 of the garment of love but exposes the rents which time has made since it was last worn2 this renewing of the chain of our attachments but displays the links that are broken6 ,the ,sybil has come round again1 as year by year she comes1 with her books of the affections2 but new leaves have been torn away4 ,no man1 says ,shakspeare1 ever bathed twice in the same river2 and the home-,jordan to which the observers of the ,christmas festival come yearly back to wash away the leprous spots contracted in the world never presents to them again the identical waters in which last they sported1 though it be ,jordan still4 ,amid these jubilant harmonies of the heart there will be parts unfilled up1 voices wanting4 ,this young gentlewoman1 says the ,countess of ,rousillon to ,lafeu1 had a father 7oh that had6 how sad a passage 'tis674 ,and surely with such changes as are implied in that past tense some of the notes of life's early music are silenced forever4 ,would they were with us still6 says the old ballad2 and in the first hour of these reunions many and many a time is the wish echoed in something like the words6 ,and if these celebrations have been too long disused1 and the wanderer comes rarely back to the birthplace of the affections1 the feeling of sadness may be too strong for the joyous influences of the season1-- ,a change he may find there1 and many a change6 ,faces and footsteps and all things strange6 ,gone are the heads of the silvery hair1 ,and the young that were1 have a brow of care1 ,and the place is hushed where the children played6 till1 amid the bitter contrasts of the past with the present1 and thoughts of the loved1 the lost1 the distant1 and the dead1 something like ,a pall1 ,and a gloom o'ershadowing the banquet-hall1 ,and a mark on the floor as of life-drops spilt1 may spoil his ear for the voice of mirth1 and darken all the revels of the merry ,christmas-tide4 99 99 99 99 99 ,to few assemblages of men is it given to come together in the scene of ancient memories without having to remember such things were that were most precious4 ,but excepting in those cases in which the suffering is extreme or the sorrow immediate1 after a few hours given to a wholesome and perhaps mournful retrospect1 the mind readjusts itself to the tone of the time1 and men for the most part seem to understand that they are met for the purpose of being as merry as it is in their natures to be4 ,and to the attainment of this right joyous frame of mind we have already said that a sense of the duration of the festival period greatly contributes4 ,in the case of a single holiday the mind has scarcely time to take the appropriate tone before the period of celebration has passed away2 and a sense of its transitoriness tends often to prevent the effort being made with that heartiness which helps to insure success4 ,but when the holiday of to-day terminates only that it may make way for the holiday of to-morrow1 and gladness has an ancient charter in virtue of which it claims dominion over a series of days so extended that the happy school-boy 7and some who are quite as happy as school-boys1 and as merry too7 cannot see the end of them for the blaze of joyous things that lies between1--then does the heart surrender itself confidently to the genius of the time1 and lets loose a host of cheerful and kindly feelings1 which it knows will not be suddenly thrown back upon it1 and heaps up pleasant devices upon the glowing flame of mirth1 as we heap up logs on the roaring fire1 laying them decently aside at the end of the season1 as we lay aside the burned-out brand of the ,yule log to re-kindle the ,christmas fire and the ,christmas feeling of another year4 ,but there is yet another reason1 in aid of those which we have enumerated1 accounting for an observance of the ,christmas festivities more universal1 and a preservation of its traditions more accurate and entire1 than are bestowed in ,england upon the festival customs of any other period of the year4 ,this reason1 which might not at first view seem so favorable to that end as in truth it is1 is to be found in the outward and natural aspects of the season4 ,we have been watching the year through the period of its decline1 are arrived at the dreary season of its old age1 and stand near the edge of its grave4 ,we have seen the rich sunshines and sweet but mournful twilights of autumn1 with their solemn inspirations1 give place to the short days and gloomy evenings which usher in the coming solstice4 ,one by one the fair faces of the flowers have departed from us1 and the sweet murmuring of shallow rivers1 by whose falls melodious birds sing madrigals1 has been exchanged for the harsh voice of the swollen torrent and the dreary music of winds that rave through the naked tree4 ,through many a chilling sign of weary winter comin' fast1 we have reached the ,last of the months1 severest of them all4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 ,for lo6 the fiery horses of the ,sun ,through the twelve signs their rapid course have run2 ,time1 like a serpent1 bites his forked tail1 ,and ,winter1 on a goat1 bestrides the gale2 ,rough blows the ,north-wind near ,arcturus' star1 ,and sweeps1 unreined1 across the polar bar4 ,the halcyon days1 which sometimes extend their southern influence even to our stern climate1 and carry an interval of gloomy calm into the heart of this dreary month1 have generally ere its close given place to the nipping frosts and chilling blasts of mid-winter4 ,out of the ,south hath come the whirlwind1 and cold out of the ,north4 ,the days have dwindled to their smallest stature1 and the long nights1 with their atmosphere of mist1 shut in and circumscribe the wanderings of man4 ,clouds and shadows surround us4 ,the air has lost its rich echoes1 and the earth its diversified aspects2 and to the immediate threshold of the house of feasting and merriment we have travelled through those dreary days which are emphatically called the dark days before ,christmas4 ,of one of the gloomy mornings that usher in these melancholy days ,ben ,jonson gives the following dismal description3-- ,it is1 methinks1 a morning full of fate6 ,it riseth slowly1 as her sullen car ,had all the weights of sleep and death hung at it6 ,she is not rosy-fingered1 but swoln black6 ,her face is like a water turned to blood1 ,and her sick head is bound about with clouds1 ,as if she threatened night1 ere noon of day6 ,it does not look as it would have a hail ,or health wished in it--as of other morns6 ,and the general discomforts of the season are bemoaned by old ,sackville1 with words that have a wintry sound1 in the following passage1 which we extract from ,england's ,parnassus3-- ,the wrathfull winter1 proching on a pace1 ,with blustring blast had all ybard the treene2 ,and old ,saturnus1 with his frosty face1 ,with chilling cold had pearst the tender greene2 ,the mantle rent wherein inwrapped beene ,the gladsome groves that now lay over-throwne1 ,the tapers torne1 and every tree downe blowne2 ,the soyle1 that erst so seemely was to seeme1 ,was all dispoiled of her beauties hewe1 ,and stole fresh flowers 7wherewith the ,somer's queene ,had clad the earth71 now ,boreas blast downe blew2 ,and small fowles flocking1 in their songs did rew ,the ,winter's wrath1 where with each thing defast1 ,in wofull wise bewayl'd the ,sommer past3 ,hawthorne had lost his motley liverie1 ,the naked twigs were shivering all for cold1 ,and1 dropping down the teares aboundantlie1 ,each thing1 methought1 with weeping eye me told ,the cruell season1 bidding me withhold ,myselfe within4 ,the feelings excited by this dreary period of transition1 and by the desolate aspect of external things to which it has at length brought us1 would seem1 at first view1 to be little in harmony with a season of festival1 and peculiarly unpropitious to the claims of merriment4 ,and yet it is precisely this joyless condition of the natural world which drives us to take refuge in our moral resources1 at the same time that it furnishes us with the leisure necessary for their successful development4 ,the spirit of cheerfulness which1 for the blessing of man1 is implanted in his nature1 deprived of the many issues by which1 at other seasons1 it walks abroad and breathes amid the sights and sounds of ,nature1 is driven to its own devices for modes of manifestation1 and takes up its station by the blazing hearth4 ,in rural districts1 the varied occupations which call the sons of labor abroad into the fields are suspended by the austerities of the time2 and to the cottage of the poor man has come a season of temporal repose1 concurrently with the falling of that period which seals anew for him1 as it were1 the promises of an eternal rest4 ,at no other portion of the year1 could a feast of equal duration find so many classes of men at leisure for its reception4 ,with his ice1 and snow1 and rime1 ,let bleak winter sternly come6 ,there is not a sunnier clime ,than the love-lit winter home4 ,amid the comforts of the fireside1 and all its sweet companionships and cheerful inspirations1 there is something like the sense of a triumph obtained over the hostilities of the season4 ,nature1 which at other times promotes the expansion of the feelings and contributes to the enjoyments of man1 seems here to have promulgated her fiat against their indulgence2 and there is a kind of consciousness of an inner world created1 in evasion of her law1--a tract won by the genius of the affections from the domain of desolation1 spots of sunshine planted by the heart in the very bosom of shadow1 a pillar of fire lit up in the darkness4 ,and thus the sensation of a respite from toil1 the charms of renewed companionship1 the consciousness of a general sympathy of enjoyment running along all the links of the social chain1 and the contrasts established within to the discomforts without1 are all components of that propitious feeling to which the religious spirit of the season1 and all its quaint and characteristic observances1 make their appeal4 ,there is1 too 7connected with these latter feelings1 and almost unacknowledged by the heart of man71 another moral element of that cheerful sentiment which has sprung up within it4 ,it consists in the prospect1 even at this distant and gloomy period1 of a coming spring4 ,this is peculiarly the season of looking forward4 ,already1 as it were1 the infant face of the new year is perceived beneath the folds of the old one's garment4 ,the business of the present year has terminated1 and along the night which has succeeded to its season of labor have been set up a series of illuminations1 which1 we know1 will be extinguished only that the business of another seed-time may begin4 ,neither1 amid all its dreary features1 is the natural season without its own picturesque beauty1 nor even entirely divested of all its summer indications of a living loveliness1 or all suggestions of an eternal hope4 ,not only hath it the peculiar beauties of old age1 but it hath besides lingering traces of that beauty which old age hath not been able wholly to extinguish1 and which come finely in aid of the moral hints and religious hopes of the season4 ,the former--the graces which are peculiar to the season itself--exist in many a natural aspect and grotesque effect1 which is striking both for the variety it offers and for its own intrinsic loveliness4 ,we may find it in the wintry boughs1 as they cross the cold blue sky1 ,while soft on icy pool and stream the pencilled shadows lie1 ,when we look upon their tracery1 by the fairy frost-work bound1 ,whence the flitting red-breast shakes a shower of blossoms to the ground4 ,the white mantle which the earth occasionally puts on with the rapidity of a spell1 covering1 in the course of a night and while we have slept1 the familiar forms with a sort of strangeness that makes us feel as if we had awakened in some new and enchanted land2 the fantastic forms assumed by the drifting snow2 the wild and fanciful sketching of old winter upon the frosty pane2 the icicles that depend like stalactites from every projection1 and sparkle in the sun like jewels of the most brilliant water2 and1 above all1 the feathery investiture of the trees above alluded to1 by which their minute tracery is brought out with a richness shaming the carving of the finest chisel1--are amongst the features which exhibit the inexhaustible fertility of ,nature in the production of striking and beautiful effects4 ,hear how one of our best poetesses1 ,mary ,howitt1 sings of these graces3-- ,one silent night hath passed1 and lo1 ,how beautiful the earth is now6 ,all aspect of decay is gone1 ,the hills have put their vesture on1 ,and clothed is the forest bough4 ,say not 'tis an unlovely time6 ,turn to the wide1 white waste thy view2 ,turn to the silent hills that rise ,in their cold beauty to the skies1 ,and to those skies intensely blue4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 ,walk now among the forest trees3 ,saidst thou that they were stripped and bare8 ,each heavy bough is bending down ,with snowy leaves and flowers1--the crown ,which ,winter regally doth wear4 ',tis well2 thy summer garden ne'er ,was lovelier1 with its birds and flowers1 ,than is this silent place of snow1 ,with feathery branches drooping low1 ,wreathing around thee shadowy bowers6 ,while on the subject of the natural beauties of this season1 we must introduce our readers to some admirable verses which have been furnished to us by our friend ,mr4 ,stoddart1 the author of that fine poem the ,death-,wake1 and in which its peculiar aspects are described with a very graphic pen3 ,a ,,winter ,,landscape4 ,the dew-lark sitteth on the ice1 beside the reedless rill2 ,the leaf of the hawthorn flutters on the solitary hill2 ,the wild lake weareth on its heart a cold and changed look1 ,and meets1 at the lip of its moon-lit marge1 the spiritual brook4 ,idly basks the silver swan1 near to the isle of trees1 ,and to its proud breast come and kiss the billow and the breeze2 ,they wash the eider as they play about the bird of grace1 ,and boom1 in the same slow mood1 away1 to the moveless mountain-base4 ,the chieftain-deer1 amid the pines1 his antlered forehead shows1 ,and scarcely are the mosses bent where that stately one arose2 ,his step is as the pressure of a light beloved hand1 ,and he looketh like a poet's dream in some enchanted land6 ,a voice of ,winter1 on the last wild gust of ,autumn borne1 ,is hurried from the hills afar1 like the windings of a horn2 ,and solemnly and heavily the silver birches groan1 ,and the old ash waves his wizard hand to the dim1 mysterious tone4 ,and noiselessly1 across the heaven1 a gray and vapory shred ,is wandering1 fed by phantom clouds that one by one are led ,out of the wide ,north1 where they grow within the aged sea1 ,and in their coils the yellow moon is laboring lazily6 ,she throws them from her mystic urn1 as they were beckoned back ,by some enchantress1 working out her spells upon their track2 ,or gathers up their fleecy folds1 and shapes them1 as they go1 ,to hang around her beautiful form a tracery of snow4 ,lo1 ,winter cometh6--and his hoar is heavy on the hill1 ,and curiously the frostwork forms below the rimy rill2 ,the birth of morn is a gift of pearl to the heath and willow-tree1 ,and the green rush hangs o'er its water-bed1 shining and silvery4 ,from the calm of the lake a vapor steals its restless wreath away1 ,and leaves not a crisp on the quiet tarn but the wake of the swan at play2 ,the deer holds up the glistening heath1 where his hoof is lightly heard1 ,and the dew-lark circleth to his song1--sun-lost and lonely bird6 ,but the season hath other striking aspects of its own4 ,pleasant1 says ,southey1-- ,to the sobered soul1 ,the silence of the wintry scene2 ,when ,nature shrouds her in her trance1 ,in deep tranquillity4 ,not undelightful now to roam ,the wild heath sparkling on the sight2 ,not undelightful now to pace ,the forest's ample rounds1 ,and see the spangled branches shine1 ,and snatch the moss of many a hue1 ,that varies the old tree's brown bark1 ,or o'er the gray-stone spreads4 ,mr4 ,southey might have mentioned1 too1--as belonging to the same class of effects with those produced by the mosses of many a hue that vary the old tree's brown bark1--those members of the forest which retain their dead and many tinted leaves till the ensuing spring1 hanging occasional wreaths of strange and fantastic beauty in the white tresses of winter1 together with the rich contrast presented by the red twigs of the dog-wood amid the dark colors of the surrounding boughs4 ,the starry heavens1 too1 at this period of the year1 present an occasional aspect of extraordinary brilliancy2 and the long winter nights are illustrated by a pomp of illumination1 presenting magnificent contrasts to the cold and cheerless earth1 and offering unutterable revelations at once to the physical and mental eye4 ,amongst the traces of a former beauty not utterly extinguished1 and the suggestions of a summer feeling not wholly passed away1 we have those both of sight and scent and sound4 ,the lark1 all independent of the leafy spring1 as ,wordsworth says1 has not long ceased to pour his anthem through the sky4 ,in propitious seasons1 such as we have enjoyed for some years past1 he is almost a ,christmas-carol singer4 ,the ,china-roses are with us still1 and under proper management will stay with us till the snowdrops come4 ,so will the anemones and the wallflowers2 and the aconite may be won to come1 long before the swallow dares1 and take the winds of ,january with beauty4 ,the cold air may be kept fragrant with the breath of the scented coltsfoot1 and the lingering perfume of the mignonette4 ,then we have rosemary1 too1 mocking the winter of the year with perfume1-- ,rosemary and rue1 which keep ,seeming and savor all the winter long4 ,it looks1 says ,leigh ,hunt1 pleasantly1 as if we need have no winter1 if we choose1 as far as flowers are concerned4 ,there is a story1 he adds1 in ,boccaccio1 of a magician who conjured up a garden in winter-time4 ,his magic consisted in his having a knowledge beyond his time2 and magic pleasures1 so to speak1 await on all who choose to exercise knowledge after his fashion4 ,but what we would allude to more particularly here are the evergreens1 which1 with their rich and clustering berries1 adorn the winter season1 offering a provision for the few birds that still remain1 and hanging a faint memory of summer about the hedges and the groves4 ,the misletoe with its white berries1 the holly 7,virgil's acanthus7 with its scarlet berries and pointed leaves1 the ivy whose berries are green1 the pyracanthus with its berries of deep orange1 the arbutus exhibiting its flowers and fruit upon adjacent boughs1 the glossy laurel and the pink-eyed laurestine 7not to speak of the red berries of the ,may-bush1 the purple sloes of the blackthorn1 or others which show their clusters upon leafless boughs1 nor of the evergreen trees1--the pine1 the fur1 the cedar1 or the cypress71 are all so many pleasant remembrancers of the past1 and so many types to man of that which is imperishable in his own nature4 ,and it is probably both because they are such remembrancers of what the heart so much loves1 and such types of what it so much desires1 that they are gathered about our doors and within our homes at this period of natural decay and religious regeneration1 and mingle their picturesque forms and hopeful morals with all the mysteries and ceremonies of the season4 ,illustration3 ,,country ,,carol ,,singers4--,page #aeg4 ,,signs ,,of ,,the ,,season4 ,,we have said that the coming festivities of the season fling their shadows long before3 the avant-couriers of the old man are to be seen advancing in all directions4 ,at home and abroad1 in town and in country1 in the remote farmstead and on the king's highway1 we are met by the symptoms of his approach1 and the arrangements making for his reception4 ,we will not dwell here on the domestic operations which are so familiar to all1--the ample provision for good cheer1 which has long been making in every man's home who can at any time afford to make good cheer at all4 ,we need not remind our town readers of the increased activity visible in all the interior departments of each establishment1 and the apparent extent and complication of its foreign relations2 the councils held with the housekeeper and cook2 the despatches to the butcher1 baker1 poulterer1 and confectioner1 which are their consequence2 and the efficient state of preparation which is arising out of all these energetic movements4 ,to our country readers we need not dwell upon the slaughter of fowls in the poultry-yard1 and game in the field1 or the wholesale doings within doors for the manufacture of pastry of all conceivable kinds and in all its conceivable forms4 ,and to neither the one nor the other is it necessary that we should speak of the packages1 in every shape and size1 which both are getting ready1 for the interchange between friends of the commodities of their respective positions4 ,here1 however1 the town has clearly the advantage in point of gain1 and the country in point of character1--the former having little besides barrels of oysters and baskets of ,billingsgate fish to furnish to the country larders in return for the entire range of the products of the dairy1 farmyard1 and game-field4 ,but however lightly we may allude to the other articles which enter into the charge of the commissariat department1 and have no distinctive character1 at this particular season1 beyond their unimaginable abundance1 we are by no means at liberty1 without a more special notice1 to pass over the mystery of ,,mince-,,pie6 ,we speak not here of the merits of that marvellous compound2 because a dish which has maintained without impeachment1 since long before the days of honest old ,tusser 7who calls these marvels shred-pies71 the same supreme character which it holds amongst the men of these latter days1 may very well dispense with our commendation2 and every school-boy knows1 from his own repeated experience1 the utter inadequacy of language to convey any notion of the ineffable flavor of this unapproachable viand4 ,the poverty of speech is never so conspicuous as when even its richest forms are used for the purpose of describing that which is utterly beyond its resources2 and we have witnessed most lamentable1 although ludicrous1 failures1 on the part of eloquent but imprudent men1 in their ambitious attempts to give expression to their sensations under the immediate influence of this unutterable combination4 ,it is therefore to other properties than those which make their appeal to the palate that we must confine ourselves in our mention of mince-pie4 ,the origin of this famous dish1 like that of the heroic in all kinds and classes1 is involved in fable4 ,by some it has been supposed1 from the ,oriental ingredients which enter into its composition1 to have a reference 7as probably had also the plum-porridge of those days7 to the offerings made by the wise men of the ,east2 and it was anciently the custom to make these pies of an oblong form1 thereby representing the manger in which1 on that occasion1 those sages found the infant ,jesus4 ,against this practice--which was of the same character with that of the little image called the ,yule ,dough1 or ,yule ,cake1 formerly presented by bakers to their customers at the anniversary of the ,nativity--the ,puritans made a vehement outcry1 as idolatrous2 and certainly it appears to us somewhat more objectionable than many of those which they denounced1 in the same category4 ,of course it was supported by the ,catholics with a zeal the larger part of which 7as in most cases of controversy where the passions are engaged7 was derived from the opposition of their adversaries2 and the latter having pronounced the mince-pie to be an abomination1 the eating thereof was immediately established as a test of orthodoxy by the former4 ,sandys mentions that even when distressed for a comfortable meal they would refuse to partake of this very tempting dish1 when set before them1 and mentions ,john ,bunyan when in confinement as an example4 ,he recommends that under such extreme circumstances they should be eaten with a protest1 as might be done by a lawyer in a similar case4 ,in a struggle like this1 however1 it is clear that the advocates of mince-pie were likely to have the best of it1 through the powerful auxiliary derived to their cause from the savoriness of the dish itself4 ,the legend of the origin of eating roast-pig1 which we have on the authority of ,charles ,lamb1 exhibits the rapid spread of that practice1 against the sense of its abomination1 on the strength of the irresistible appeals made to the palate by the crackling4 ,and accordingly1 in the case of mince-pie we find that the delicious compound has come down to our days1 stripped of its objectionable forms and more mystic meanings1 from the moment when they ceased to be topics of disputation1 and is freely partaken of by the most rigid ,presbyterian1 who raises no question thereon for conscience' sake4 ,it may be observed1 however1 that relics of the more recondite virtues ascribed to this dish by the ,catholics1 in the days of its sectarian persecution1 still exist in the superstitions which attach certain privileges and promises to its consumption4 ,in some places the form of this superstition1 we believe1 is1 that for every house in which a mince-pie shall be eaten at the ,christmas season1 the eater shall enjoy a happy month in the coming year4 ,as1 however1 this version would limit the consumption1 as far as any future benefit is attached to it1 to the insufficient number of twelve1 we greatly prefer an edition of the same belief which we have met with elsewhere1 and which promises a happy day for every individual pie eaten during the same period1--thereby giving a man a direct and prospective interest in the consumption of as large a number out of three hundred and sixty-five as may happen to agree with his inclination4 ,leaving1 however1 those proceedings which are going on within our homes1 and of which the manufacture of mince-pies forms so important an article1 we must turn to the symptoms of the approaching holiday that meet the eye at every turn which we make out of doors4 ,he who will take the king's highway in his search after these1 planting himself on the outside of a stage-coach1 will have the greater number of such signs brought under his observation in the progress of a journey which whirls him through town and village1 and by park and farmhouse4 ,the road is alive with travellers2 and along its whole extent there is an air of aimless bustle1 if we may so express ourselves1--an appearance of active idleness4 ,no doubt he who shall travel that same road in the days of hay-making or harvest will see as dense a population following their avocations in the open air and swarming in the fields4 ,but then at those periods of labor the crowds are more widely scattered over the face of the country1 and each individual is earnestly engaged in the prosecution of some positive pursuit1 amid a silence scarcely broken by the distant whistle or occasional song that comes faintly to the ear through the rich sunny air4 ,people are busier without being so bustling4 ,but now all men are in action1 though all men's business seems suspended4 ,the population are gathered together in groups at the corners of streets or about the doors of ale-houses1 and the mingling voices of the speakers and the sound of the merry laugh come sharp and ringing through the clear frosty air4 ,there is the appearance1 every way1 of a season of transition4 ,the only conspicuous evidence of the business of life going forward with a keen and steady view to its ordinary objects1 exists in the abundant displays made at the windows of every shopkeeper1 in every village along the road4 ,vehicles of all kinds are in motion2 stage-coach1 post-chaise1 and private carriage are alike filled with travellers passing in all directions to their several places of assembling1 and give glimpses of faces bright with the re-awakened affections that are radiating on all sides to common centres4 ,everywhere hearts are stirred and pulses quickened by pleasant anticipations2 and many a current of feelings which for the rest of the year has wandered only in the direction of the world's miry ways and been darkened by its pollutions1 met by the memories of the season and turned back from its unpleasing course1 is flowing joyously back by every highway into the sweet regions of its pure and untainted spring4 ,illustration3 ,,coming ,,home ,,from ,,school4--,page #afc4 ,but of all wayfarers who are journeying towards the haunts of ,christmas1 who so happy as the emancipated school-boy8 ,and of all vehicles that are carrying contributions of mirth to that general festival1 what vehicle is so richly stored therewith as the post-chaise that holds a group of these young travellers8 ,the glad day which has been the subject of speculation so long before1 and has been preceded by days which1 in their imaginary calendar1 are beyond any question the very longest days of all the year1 has at length arrived1 after seeming as if it never would arrive1 and the long restrained and hourly increasing tide of expectation has at length burst its barriers1 and is rushing forward with no little noise1 into the sea of fruition4 ,eja6 quid silemus8 says the well-known breaking-up song of the ,winchester boys2 and the sentiment therein expressed is wide awake 7as everything must be1 on this morning1 that lies within any reasonable distance of their voices7 in the breast of every school-boy1 at all schools4 ,appropinquat ecce6 felix ,hora gaudiorum1 ,post grave tedium1 ,advenit omnium ,meta petita laborum4 ,domum1 domum1 dulce domum6 ,domum1 domum1 dulce domum6 ,dulce1 dulce1 dulce domum6 ,dulce domum resonemus4 ,musa6 libros mitte1 fessa2 ,mitte pensa dura1 ,mitte negotium1 ,jam datur otium1 ,mea mittito cura6 ,domum1 domum1 etc4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 ,heus1 ,rogere1 fer caballos2 ,eja nunc eamus1 ,limen amabile1 ,matris et oscula1 ,suaviter et repetamus ,domum1 domum1 etc4 ,concinamus ad ,penates1 ,vox et audiatur2 ,phosphore6 quid jubar1 ,segnius emicans1 ,gaudia nostra moratur4 ,domum1 domum1 etc4 ,and away they go well inclined to act up to the injunctions of the ancient song4 ,concinamus1 ,o ,sodales6 ,our readers will do well on the present occasion to translate the verb by its ,english equivalent1--to shout4 ,vox et audiatur6--small doubt of that6 ,that deaf-looking old woman by the way-side must be very deaf indeed if the sounds of that merriment have failed at least to reach her ears1--though they may get no further2 for she looks like one of those in whom all the avenues by which mirth reaches the heart1 where they have not been closed at their external outlets by the infirmities of age1 are choked up within by the ruins of that heart itself4 ,but the entire progress of these glad hearts to-day is in the nature of a triumph1 and all objects in its course are ministers to their unreflecting mirth4 ,theirs is the blessed age1 and this its most privileged day1 when the spirit can extract from all things the chyle of cheerfulness4 ,that urchin who is flinging alms 7a most gracious act in childhood67 is doing so to the sound of his merry neighbor's trumpet2 and yet the act performed and the duty remembered1 amid all the heydey and effervescence of the spirits1 has not lost its gracefulness for the frolicsome mood by which it is attended4 ,there are men in this world who dispense their charities to the flourish of their own trumpets2 and though they are practised performers on that instrument1 and play with considerable skill1 the effect is unpleasing and the act a mockery4 ,away go the light-hearted boys6 away past the aged and the poor1--as happiness has long since done1 and the happy have long continued to do6--awaking the shrill echoes of the road and all its adjacent fields with the sound of their revelry4 ,every school-boy knows the programme4 ,flags flying1 horns blowing1 racing against rival chaises1 taunts from the foremost1 cheers from the hindmost1 all sorts of practical jokes upon each other and upon all they meet and all they pass1 and above all1 the loud1 ringing laugh1--the laugh of boyhood1 so unlike all other laughter1 that comes out clear and distinct1 direct from the heart1 stopping nowhere on its way1 not pausing to be questioned by the judgment nor restrained by the memory1 presenting no hollowness nor flatness to the nicest attention1 betraying no under-tone to the finest ear1 giving true and unbroken echoes to the seat where mirth is throned1 born spontaneously of that spirit1 and excited so often by causes too minute for older eyes to see4 ,and it is in this very causelessness that consists the spell of childhood's laughter1 and the secret of youth's unmingled joy4 ,we seldom begin to seek reasons for being gay till we have had some for being grave2 and the search after the former is very apt to bring us upon more of the latter4 ,there are tares among that wheat4 ,the moment we commence to distrust our light-heartedness1 it begins to evade us4 ,from the day when we think it necessary to reason upon our enjoyments1 to philosophize upon our mirth1 to analyze our gladness1 their free and unmingled character is gone4 ,the toy is taken to pieces to see of what it was composed1 and can no more be put together in the same perfect form4 ,they who have entered upon the paths of knowledge1 or gone far into the recesses of experience1 like the men of yore who ventured to explore the cave of ,trophonius1 may perhaps find something higher and better than the light-heartedness they lose1 but they smile never more as they smiled of old4 ,the fine1 clear instrument of the spirit that we bring with us from heaven is liable to injury from all that acts upon it here2 and the string that has once been broken or disordered1 repair it as we may1 never again gives out the precise tone which it did before4 ,the old man1--nay1 even the young man1--let him be as merry as he may1 and laugh as long and loudly as he will1 never laughs as the school-boy laughs4 ,but of all this1 and all the slumbering passions yet to be awakened in those young breasts1 and of many a grief to come1 there is no token to darken the joy of to-day4 ,the mighty pleasures towards which they are hastening have as yet never broken the word of promise to their hope4 ,the postilions are of their party1 and even he with the bottle-nose1 who seems to be none of the youngest1 is a boy for the nonce4 ,the very horses appear to have caught the spirit of the occasion1 and toss their heads and lay their haunches to the ground and fling out their forelegs as if they drew the car of ,momus4 ,the village boys return them shout for shout1 fling up their hats as the triumph approaches1 and follow it till their breath fails4 ,the older passer-by returns their uproarious salute1 taking no umbrage at their mischievous jokes and impish tricks1 and turning1 as the sounds of the merry voices die in the distance1 to a vision of the days when he too was a boy1 and an unconscious rehearsal of the half-forgotten song of ,dulce1 dulce domum6 ,and then the limen amabile1 and the matris oscula1 and the ,penates1 towards which they are advancing2 the yearning hearts that wait within those homes to clasp them2 the bright eyes that are even now looking out from windows to catch the first token of their coming1 and look brighter when they come2 the quiet halls that shall ring to-night to their young voices2 and the lanes and alleys whose echoes they shall awaken to-morrow1 and still more loudly when the ice comes2 and1 above all1 the ,christmas revelries themselves6 ,the whole is one crowded scene of enjoyment1 across whose long extent the happy school-boy has as yet caught no glimpse of that black ,monday which forms the opposite and distant portal of this haunted time4 ,amongst the signs of the time that are conspicuous upon the roads the traveller whose journeyings bring him towards those which lead into the metropolis will be struck by the droves of cattle that are making their painful way up to the great mart for this great festival4 ,but a still more striking1 though less noisy1 ,christmas symptom forms a very amusing object to him who leaves ,london by such of its highways as lead eastward4 ,there is little exaggeration in the accompanying picture of a ,lynn or ,bury coach on its town-ward journey with its freight of turkeys at the ,christmas season4 ,nay1 as regards the freightage itself1 the artist has kept himself within bounds4 ,many a time have we seen a ,norfolk coach with its hampers piled on the roof and swung from beneath the body1 and its birds depending1 by every possible contrivance1 from every part from which a bird could be made to hang4 ,nay1 we believe it is not unusual with the proprietors1 at this season1 to refuse inside passengers of the human species1 in favor of these ,oriental gentry1 who pay better2 and on such occasions of course they set at defiance the restriction which limits them to carrying four insides4 ,within and without1 the coaches are crammed with the bird of ,turkey2 and a gentleman town-ward bound1 who presented himself at a ,norwich coach-office at such a time1 to inquire the fare to ,london1 was pertly answered by the bookkeeper1 ,turkeys4 ,our readers will acquit us of exaggeration when we tell them that ,mr4 ,hone1 in his ,every-,day ,book1 quotes from an historical account of ,norwich an authentic statement of the amount of turkeys which were transmitted from that city to ,london between a ,saturday morning and the night of ,sunday1 in the ,december of #agic1 which statement gives the number as one thousand seven hundred1 the weight as nine tons1 two hundredweight1 and two pounds1 and the value as #fhj4 ,it is added that in the two following days these were followed by half as many more4 ,we are unable to furnish the present statistics of the matter2 but in forty years which have elapsed since that time the demand1 and of course the supply1 must have greatly increased2 and it is probable that the coach-proprietors find it convenient to put extra carriages on the road for these occasions4 ,illustration3 ,,norfolk ,,coach ,,at ,,christmas4--,page #agj4 ,in making the annexed sketch we presume that ,mr4 ,seymour must have had in mind1 and intended to illustrate by modern instances1 that class of wise saws such as ,birds of a feather flock together1 ,tell me the company1 and ,i will tell you the man1 and others which tend generally to show that men are apt to catch the hues of surrounding objects1 and take the features of their associates4 ,if this was not his design1 we have only the alternative conclusion1 that he had drawn turkeys till he could draw nothing else1 and till his best efforts at representing the human face divine resulted in what the ,scotch call a bubbly-jock4 ,some poet1 in describing the perfections of his mistress's countenance1 speaks of it as conveying the impression that she had looked on heaven1 and caught its beauty4 ,our friend the guard of this coach seems to have looked on those turkeys of which he has charge till he has caught their beauty4 ,it is impossible to conceive that the breath which he is pouring into that horn of his should issue in any other form of sound than that of a gobble4 ,the coachman is clearly a turkey in disguise2 and the old-looking figure that sits behind him1 with something like a sausage round its neck1 is probably his father4 ,as for the swan with two necks that floats on the panel of the coach-door1 it is a strange-looking bird at any time1 but looks considerably more strange in its present situation4 ,it is unquestionably out of place1 and forms no fitting cognizance for a ,norfolk coach at ,christmas time4 ,norfolk must be a noisy county4 ,there must be a pretty considerable deal of gabble towards the month of ,november in that ,english ,turkistan4 ,but what a silence must have fallen upon its farmyards since ,christmas has come round6 ,turkeys are indisputably born to be killed4 ,that is an axiom4 ,it is the end of their training1 as it ought to be 7and1 in one sense1 certainly is7 of their desires4 ,and such being the destiny of this bird1 it may probably be an object of ambition with a respectable turkey to fulfil its fate at the period of this high festival4 ,certain it is that at no other time can it attain to such dignities as belong to the turkey who smokes on the well-stored table of a ,christmas dinner1--the most honored dish of all the feast4 ,something like an anxiety for this promotion is to be inferred from the breathless haste of the turkey of which our artist has here given us a sketch1 in its pursuit of the coach which has started for ,london without it4 ,the picture is evidently a portrait4 ,there is an air of verisimilitude in the eager features1 and about the action altogether1 of the bird1 which stamps it genuine4 ,in its anxiety it has come off without even waiting to be killed2 and at the rate after which it appears to be travelling1 is1 we think1 likely enough to come up with a heavily laden coach4 ,we hope1 however1 that it is not in pursuit of the particular coach which we have seen on its way to the ,swan with two ,necks1 because we verily believe there is no room on that conveyance for a single additional turkey1 even if it should succeed in overtaking it4 ,illustration3 ,,too ,,late ,,for ,,the ,,coach4 ,one of the most striking signs of the season1 and which meets the eye in all directions1 is that which arises out of the ancient and still familiar practice of adorning our houses and churches with evergreens during the continuance of this festival4 ,the decorations of our mantel-pieces1 and in many places of our windows1 the wreaths which ornament our lamps and ,christmas candles1 the garniture of our tables1 are alike gathered from the hedges and winter gardens2 and in the neighborhood of every town and village the traveller may meet with some such sylvan procession as is here represented1 or some group of boys returning from the woods laden with their winter greenery1 and like the sturdy ambassador in the plate1 engaged in what we have heard technically called bringing home ,christmas ,this symptom of the approaching festivity is mentioned by ,gay in his ,trivia3-- ,when ,rosemary and ,bays1 the poet's crown1 ,are bawl'd in frequent cries through all the town1 ,then judge the festival of ,christmass near1-- ,christmass1 the joyous period of the year6 ,now with bright holly all the temples strow2 ,with ,lawrel green1 and sacred ,misletoe4 ,illustration3 ,,bringing ,,home ,,christmas4--,page #agc4 ,the practice of these decorations1 which is recommended to modern times by its own pleasantness and natural beauty1 is of very high antiquity1 and has been ascribed by various writers to various sources4 ,they who are desirous of tracing a ,christian observance to a ,christian cause remind us of those figurative expressions in the prophets which speak of the ,messiah as the ,branch of righteousness1 etc41 and describe by natural allusions the fertility which should attend his coming4 ,the ,lord shall comfort ,zion1 says ,isaiah3 he will comfort all her waste places2 and he will make her wilderness like ,eden1 and her desert like the garden of the ,lord4 ,again1 ,the glory of ,lebanon shall come unto thee1 the fir tree1 the pine tree1 and the box together1 to beautify the place of my sanctuary2 and ,i will make the place of my feet glorious4 ,and ,nehemiah1 on an occasion of rejoicing1 orders the people1 after the law of ,moses1 to go forth unto the mount and fetch olive branches1 and pine branches1 and myrtle branches1 and palm branches1 and branches of thick trees1 and to make booths thereof1 every one upon the roof of his house1 and in their courts1 and in the courts of the house of ,god1 and in the streets2 and all the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity sat under these booths1 and there was very great gladness4 ,a writer in the ,gentleman's ,magazine asks if this custom may not be referred1 as well as that of the palms on ,palm ,sunday1 to that passage in the ,scripture account of ,christ's entry into ,jerusalem which states that the multitude cut down branches from the trees1 and strawed them in the way4 ,the practice1 however1 of introducing flowers and branches amongst the tokens of festivity seems1 and very naturally1 to have existed universally and at all times4 ,it was1 as we know1 a pagan manifestation of rejoicing and worship1 and is forbidden on that express ground in early councils of the ,christian ,church4 ,hone1 in his ,every-,day ,book1 quotes ,polydore ,virgil to the effect that trymming of the temples with hangynges1 flowres1 boughes1 and garlondes1 was taken of the heathen people1 whiche decked their idols and houses with suche array2 and it came under the list of abominations denounced by the ,puritans for the same reason4 ,the practice was also in use amongst the nations both of ,gothic and ,celtic origin2 and ,brand quotes from ,dr4 ,chandler's ,travels in ,greece a very beautiful superstition1 mentioned as the reason of this practice1 amongst the votaries of ,druidism4 ,the houses1 he says1 were decked with evergreens in ,december1 that the sylvan spirits might repair to them and remain unnipped with frost and cold winds until a milder season had renewed the foliage of their darling abodes4 ,in ,england the practice1 whencesoever derived1 has existed from the very earliest days1 and1 in spite of outcry and prohibition1 has come down in full vigor to our own4 ,in former times1 as we learn from ,stow1 in his ,survey of ,london1 not only were our houses and churches decorated with evergreens1 but also the conduits1 standards1 and crosses in the streets2 and in our own day they continue to form a garniture not only of our temples and our houses1 but constitute a portion of the striking display made at this festive season in our markets and from the windows of our shops4 ,holly forms a decoration of the shambles1 and every tub of butter has a sprig of rosemary in its breast4 ,the plants most commonly in use for this purpose appear to have generally been the holly1 the ivy1 the laurel1 the rosemary1 and the mistletoe2 although the decorations were by no means limited to these materials4 ,brand expresses some surprise at finding cypress included in the list1 as mentioned in the tract called ,round about our ,coal-,fire1 and observes that he should as soon have expected to have seen the yew as the cypress used on this joyful occasion4 ,the fact1 however1 is that yew is frequently mentioned amongst the ,christmas decorations1 as well as box1 pine1 fir1 and indeed the larger part of the ,christmas plants which we have enumerated in a former chapter4 ,the greater number of these appear to have been so used1 not on account of any mystic meanings supposed to reside therein1 but simply for the sake of their greenery or of their rich berries4 ,stow speaks of the houses being decked with whatsoever the year afforded to be green2 and ,sandys observes that at present great variety is observed in decorating our houses and buildings1 and many flowers are introduced that were unknown to our ancestors1 but whose varied colors add to the cheerful effect2 as the chrysanthemum1 satin-flower1 etc41 mingling with the red berry of the holly and the mystic mistletoe4 ,in the ,west of ,england1 he adds1 the myrtle and laurustinum form a pleasing addition4 ,there is a very beautiful custom which we find mentioned in connection with the subject of evergreens as existing at this season of the year in some parts of ,germany and ,sicily4 ,a large bough is set up in the principal room1 the smaller branches of which are hung with little presents suitable to the different members of the household4 ,a good deal of innocent mirth and spirit of courtesy1 it is observed1 is produced by this custom4 ,herrick1 however 7a poet amid whose absurd conceits and intolerable affectation there are samples of the sweetest versification and touches of the deepest pathos1 and who amongst a great deal that is liable to heavier objections still1 has preserved many curious particulars of old ceremonies and obsolete superstitions71 carries this custom of adorning our houses with evergreens over the entire year1 and assigns to each plant its peculiar and appropriate season4 ,to ,christmas he appoints those which we have stated to be most commonly used on that occasion1 but insists upon a change of decoration on the eve of ,candlemas ,day3-- ,down with the rosemary1 and so ,down with the baies and misletoe2 ,down with the holly1 ivie1 all ,wherewith you drest the ,christmas hall2 ,that so the superstitious find ,not one least branch there left behind2 and he urges the maids to the careful performance of this charge by the following threat3-- ,for look6 how many leaves there be ,neglected there1 maids1 trust to me1 ,so many goblins you shall see4 ,the plant by which he orders these to be replaced for ,candlemas ,day is box1 whose turn is to continue-- ,until the dancing ,easter ,day ,or ,easter's ,eve appeare4 ,then the box is to make way for the crisped yew2 which is to be succeeded at ,whitsuntide by birch and the flowers of the season2 and these again are to yield to the-- ,green rushes1 then1 and sweetest bents1 ,with cooler oken boughs2 whose reign continues till the period again comes round of preparation for ,christmas4 ,we believe that it is still usual in many parts of ,england to suffer the ,christmas greens to remain in the windows of our churches1 and sometimes of our houses1 until ,candlemas ,eve4 ,of those plants1 then1 which are considered as containing meanings that make them appropriate decorations for the ,christmas-tide1 or which have for any reason been peculiarly devoted to that season1 the laurel1 or bay1 may be dismissed in a few words4 ,since the days of the ancient ,romans this tree has been at all times dedicated to all purposes of joyous commemoration1 and its branches have been used as the emblems of peace and victory and joy4 ,of course its application is obvious to a festival which includes them all1 which celebrates peace on earth1 glad tidings of great joy1 and a triumph achieved over the powers of evil and the original curse by the coming of the ,saviour4 ,we may add that1 besides forming a portion of the household decorations1 it is usual in some places to fling branches and sprigs of laurel on the ,christmas fire1 and seek for omens amid the curling and crackling of its leaves3-- ,when laurell spirts i' th' fire1 and when the hearth ,smiles to itselfe and guilds the roofe with mirth2 ,when up the ,thyrse is rais'd1 and when the sound ,of sacred orgies flyes around1 around1 says ,herrick4 ,at the two ,english universities the windows of the college chapels are still carefully decked with laurel at the season of ,christmas4 ,the holly is a plant of peculiar veneration at this period of the year1--so much so as to have acquired to itself by a popular metonymy the name of the season itself1 being vulgarly called ,christmas4 ,it is no doubt recommended to the general estimation in which it is held by the picturesque forms of its dark1 glossy leaves and the brilliant clusters of its rich red berries4 ,there is in the ,harleian ,manuscripts a very striking carol of so remote a date as the reign of ,henry ,,vi41 which is quoted by most of the writers on this subject1 and gives a very poetical statement of the respective claims of this plant and of the ivy to popular regard4 ,the inference from the second and fourth verses 7taken in connection with the authorities which place it amongst the plants used for the ,christmas ornaments7 would seem to be1 that while the former was employed in the decorations within doors1 the latter was confined to the exteriors of buildings4 ,mr4 ,brand1 however1 considers those passages to allude to its being used as a vintner's sign and infers from others of the verses that it was also amongst the evergreens employed at funerals4 ,it runs thus3-- ,nay1 ,ivy6 nay1 it shall not be1 ,i wys2 ,let ,holy hafe the maystry1 as the manner ys4 ,holy stond in the halle1 fayre to behold2 ,ivy stond without the dore3 she ys ful sore a cold4 ,nay1 ,ivy6 etc4 ,holy and hys mery men they dawnsyn and they syng4 ,ivy and hur maydenys they wepyn and they wryng4 ,nay1 ,ivy6 etc4 ,ivy hath a lyve2 she laghtyt with the cold3 ,so mot they all hafe that wyth ,ivy hold4 ,nay1 ,ivy6 etc4 ,holy hat berys as rede as any rose1 ,the foster the hunters kepe hem from the doos4 ,nay1 ,ivy6 etc4 ,ivy hath berys as blake as any slo2 ,ther com the oule and ete hym as she goo4 ,nay1 ,ivy6 etc4 ,holy hath byrdys a ful fayre flok1 ,the ,nyghtyngale1 the ,poppingy1 the gayntyl ,lavyrok4 ,nay1 ,ivy6 etc4 ,good ,ivy1 what byrdys ast thou8 ,non but the howlet that kreye ',how1 how6' ,nay1 ,ivy6 nay1 hyt shal not1 etc4 ,we had some thoughts of modernizing the orthography1 and very slightly the diction1 of this curious old ballad2 but it reads best in its own quaint garb1 and even those of our friends who are not in the habit of perusing ancient writings will find scarcely any difficulty in making it out4 ,the rosemary1 besides its rich fragrance1 and probably because thereof1 was supposed to possess many occult virtues1 and was used for the sake of one or other of them on occasions both of rejoicing and of mourning4 ,it was believed to clear the head1 to strengthen the memory1 and to make touching appeals to the heart4 ,for these reasons it was borne both at weddings and at funerals4 ,herrick says3-- ,grow for two ends1 it matters not at all1 ,be 't for my bridal or my burial4 ,there's rosemary1 says ,ophelia2 that's for remembrance3 pray you1 love1 remember2 and the custom of decking the corpse with this flower1 as well as that of flinging its sprigs into the grave1 would naturally spring out of this touching superstition4 ,its presence at bridals would seem to suggest that it was dedicated to hope as well as to memory4 ,we have in ,shakspeare's play of ,romeo and ,juliet allusions to the use of this herb on both of these important but very different occasions1 which allusions are affecting from the application of both to the same young girl4 ,the first1 which refers to the joyous celebration1 occurs in an interview between ,romeo and the ,nurse of ,juliet1 in which arrangements are making for the secret marriage1 where the garrulous old woman observes1 as hinting at ,juliet's willingness1 ,she hath the prettiest sententious of it1 of you and rosemary1 that it would do you good to hear it4 ,the second is in that scene in which ,juliet is supposed to be dead3 ,friar4 ,come1 is the bride ready to go to church8 ,capulet4 ,ready to go1 but never to return6 ,and is inserted amongst the holy father's exhortations to resignation3-- ,dry up your tears1 and stick your rosemary ,on this fair corse2 and1 as the custom is1 ,in all her best array bear her to church4 ,independently of the beautiful suggestion to remembrance which is made by its enduring perfume1 that precious perfume itself would recommend this herb1 for reasons less fine1 as strewings fitt'st for graves4 ,the fact of its being in bloom at this season would naturally introduce the rosemary1 with all its fine morals1 into the ,christmas celebrations2 and such customs as that which prescribed that the wassail-bowl should be stirred with a sprig of this plant before it went round amongst friends1 seem to have a very elegant reference to its secret virtues 7that's for remembrance1 perhaps71 and suggest that the revellings of the season in those old times were mingled with the best and most refined feelings of our nature4 ,but the mistletoe1 the mystic mistletoe1 where is the man whose school-boy days are gone by1 in whom that word conjures up no merry memories8 ,oh1 the mistletoe-bough6 who hath not1 at the name1 thronging visions of sweet faces that looked sweetest in those moments of their startled beauty beneath the pendent bough6 ,if the old spells with which superstition has invested the mistletoe have lost some of their power over me1 it hath now another1 which in earlier days ,i knew not of1--the power to restore the distant and to raise the dead4 ,i am to laugh no more as ,i have laughed of old beneath the influence of that mystic cognizance of the gay ,christmas-tide2 but even now as ,i write thereof1 look in upon my heart bright portraits1 traced with a skill which no mortal pencil shall achieve1--faces on which the earth hath long lain1 and others from whom the wide spaces of the world have separated me for many a weary year2 and1 heavier far1 some to whom unkindness hath made me too long a stranger6 ,there they rise and stand1 one by one1 beneath the merry snare1 each with the heightened beauty on her cheek1 which is the transient gift of the sacred bough6 ,o ,m----6 how very fair is thine image in the eye of memory1 and how has thy going away changed all things for me6 ,the bright and the beautiful lie still about1--still bright and beautiful even to me1--but in another manner than when thou wert here4 ,all things are tinged with thy loss4 ,all fair things have a look1 and all sweet sounds a tone1 of mourning since thou leftest me4 ,how long it seems1 as if ages1 instead of years1 of the grave had grown between us1 as if1 indeed1 ,i had known thee in some former and far-removed state of being6 ,i do not love to think of thee as dead1 ,i strive to think of thee rather as of one whom ,i have left behind in the quiet valley of our youth and our love1--from whom ,i have wandered forth and lost my way amid the mazes of the world4 ,but where is the clew that should lead me back to thee8 ,there may have been fairer 7sweeter never7 things than thou in this fair world1 but my heart could never be made to believe or understand it4 ,had ,i known thee only in that world1 ,i might not so have marked thy beauty2 but thou wert with me when the world left me4 ,in the flood of the sunshine1 when a thousand birds are about us1 we go upon our way with a sense that there is melody around1 but singling perhaps no one note to take home to the heart and make a worship of4 ,but the one bird that sings to us in the dim and silent night--oh6 none but they on whom the night has fallen can know how dear its song becomes1 filling with its music all the deserted mansions of the lonely soul4 ,but the bird is dead1 the song is hushed1 and the houses of my spirit are empty and silent and desolate6 ,and thou whom the grave hath not hidden1 nor far distance removed1 from whom ,i parted as if it were but yesterday1 and yet of whom ,i have already learned to think as of one separated from me by long years of absence and death1 as if it were very long since ,i had beheld thee1--as if ,i gazed upon thee from a far distance across the lengthened and dreary alleys of the valley of the dead6 ,physically speaking1 thou art still within my reach2 and yet art thou to me as if the tomb or the cloister had received thee1 and made of thee 7what the world or the grave makes of all things we have loved7 a dream of the night1 a phantom of the imagination1 an angel of the memory1 a creation of the hour of shadows6 ,whatever may be thy future fortunes1 however thy name may hereafter be borne to my mortal ear1 my heart will ever refuse to picture thee but as one who died in her youth6 ,and thou6--thou too art there1 with thy long fair hair and that harp of thine which was so long an ark of harmony for me4 ,alas6 we had been friends in youth4 ,but all things bring thee back1 and ,i am haunted yet1 and shall be through the world1 by the airs which thou wert wont to sing me long ago4 ,i remember that even in those days1 at times1 in the silent night1 when broken snatches of melodies imperfectly remembered stole through the chambers of my heart1--ever in the sweet tones in which it had learned to love them1--,i have asked myself if the ties that bound us might ever be like those passing and half-forgotten melodies2 if the time could ever come when they should be like an old song learned in life's happier day1 and whose memory has been treasured1 to make us weep in the years when the heart has need to be soothed by weeping2 if there would ever be a day when thy name might be sounded in mine ear as the name of a stranger6 ,and that day has long since come1-- ,for whispering tongues will poison truth4 ,how truly may we be said to live but in the past and in the future1--to have our hearts made up of memory and of hope1 for which the present becomes1 hour after hour1 more and more of a void6 ,and alas6 is it not true1 as a consequence1 that the more they are occupied with memory1 the less room have they for hope8 ,and thus the one is ever gaining upon the other1 and the dark waters of memory are hourly spreading upon that shore where hope had room to build her edifices and to play about them1 till at length they cover all1 and hope1 having no rest for the sole of her foot1 flies forward to a higher and a better shore6 ,and such are my visions of the mistletoe2 these are amongst the spirits that rise up to wait upon my memory1--they and the other spirits of the mystic bough6 ,but brighter fancies has that charmed branch for many of our readers1 and merrier spirits hide amid its leaves4 ,many a pleasant tale could we tell of the mistletoe-bough which might amuse our readers more than the descriptions to which we are confined1 if the limits of our volume would permit4 ,but already our space is scarcely sufficient for our purpose4 ,we think we can promise our readers in another volume a series of tales connected with the traditions and superstitions which are detailed in the present1 and which may serve as illustrations of the customs of the ,christmas-tide4 ,some of the names by which this remarkable plant were formerly called are1 misselden1 misseldine1 and1 more commonly1 missel4 ,old ,tusser tells us that1-- ,if snow do continue1 sheep hardly that fare1 ,crave mistle and ivy2 and ,archdeacon ,nares says the missel-thrush is so designated from feeding on its berries4 ,from the generality of the examples in which this plant is mentioned by the name of missel1 it is suggested to us1 by ,mr4 ,crofton ,croker that the additional syllable given to the name now in common use is a corruption of the old tod1 and that mistletoe1 or mistletod1 implies a bush1 or bunch1 of missel1 such as is commonly hung up at ,christmas4 ,he quotes in support of this suggestion the corresponding phrase of ivy-tod1 which occurs frequently in the writings of the ,elizabethan age4 ,if this be so1 the expression the mistletoe-bough includes a tautology2 but as it is popularly used1 we retain it for the instruction of such antiquarians of remote future times as may consult our pages for some account of the good old customs which are disappearing so fast1 and may fail to reach their day4 ,that this plant was held in veneration by the pagans1 has been inferred from a passage in ,virgil's description of the descent into the infernal regions4 ,that passage is considered to have an allegorical reference to some of the religious ceremonies practised amongst the ,greeks and ,romans1 and a comparison is therein drawn between the golden bough of the infernal regions1 and what is obviously the misletoe3-- ,quale solet silvis brumali frigore viscum ,fronde virere nova1 quod non sua seminat arbos1 ,et croceo fetu teretis circumdare truncos1 etc4 ,the reference is given by ,mr4 ,christie in his ,enquiry into the ,ancient ,greek ,game of ,palamedes2 and he mentions likewise the respect in which this plant was held by the ,gothic as well as the ,celtic nations4 ,sandys furnishes a legend from the ,edda in proof of the extraordinary qualities ascribed to it by the former4 ,amongst the ,celtic nations it is well known to have been an object of great veneration1 and the ceremony of collecting it by the ,druids against the festival of the winter solstice was one of high solemnity4 ,it was cut by the prince of the ,druids himself1 and with a golden sickle4 ,it was said that those only of the oaks were sacred to the ,druids which had the mistletoe upon them1 and that the reverence of the people towards the priests1 as well as their estimation of the mistletoe1 proceeded in a great measure from the cures which the former effected by means of that plant4 ,medicinal properties1 we believe1 are still ascribed to it1 and it was not very long ago deemed efficacious in the subduing of convulsive disorders4 ,sir ,john ,colbatch1 in his dissertation concerning it1 observes that this beautiful plant must have been designed by the ,almighty for further and more noble purposes than barely to feed thrushes1 or to be hung up surreptitiously in houses to drive away evil spirits4 ,against the latter it appears to have been used as a charm up to the last century4 ,its introduction into the ,christian festival might therefore be considered appropriate as emblematic of the conquest obtained over the spirits of darkness by the event of the ,nativity2 and perhaps its supposed healing properties might be deemed to recommend it further1 as a symbol of the moral health to which man was restored from the original corruption of his nature1 and a fitting demonstration of the joy which hailed the ,sun of ,righteousness that had arisen1 with healing in his wings4 ,notwithstanding all this1 however1 ,brand is of opinion that its heathen origin should exclude it at all events from the decorations of our churches1 and quotes a story told him by an old sexton at ,teddington1 in ,middlesex1 of the clergyman of that place having observed this profane plant intermingled with the holly and ivy which adorned the church1 and ordered its immediate removal4 ,washington ,irving1 who has studied old ,english customs and manners with sincere regard1 introduces a similar rebuke from the learned parson to his unlearned clerk1 in his account of the ,christmas spent by him at ,bracebridge ,hall4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,mistletoe ,,bough4--,page #aia4 ,the reverence of the mistletoe among the ,ancient ,britons appears1 however1 to have been limited to that which grew upon the oak2 whereas the ,viscum album1 or common mistletoe1--the sight of whose pearly berries brings the flush into the cheek of the maiden of modern days1--may be gathered besides from the old apple-tree1 the hawthorn1 the lime-tree1 and the ,scotch or the silver fir4 ,whether there remain any traces of the old superstitions which elevated it into a moral or a medical amulet1--beyond that which is connected with the custom alluded to in the opening of our remarks upon this plant1 and represented1 by our artist here1--we know not4 ,we should1 however1 be very sorry to see any light let in amongst us which should fairly rout a belief connected with so agreeable a privilege as this4 ,that privilege1 as all our readers know1 consists in the right to kiss any female who may be caught under the mistletoe-bough1--and1 we may hope1 will continue1 for its own pleasantness1 even if the superstition from which it springs should be finally lost4 ,this superstition arose1 clearly enough1 out of the old mystic character of the plant in question1 and erects it into a charm1 the neglect of which exposes to the imminent danger of all the evils of old-maidenism4 ,for1 according to ,archdeacon ,nares1 the tradition is1 that the maid who was not kissed under it1 at ,christmas1 would not be married in that year1--by which1 we presume1 the ,archdeacon means in the following year4 ,accordingly1 a branch of this parasitical plant was hung 7formerly with great state1 but now it is generally suspended with much secrecy7 either from the centre of the roof1 or over the door1--and we recommend this latter situation to our readers1 both as less exposed to untimely observation1 and because every maiden who joins the party must of necessity do so by passing under it4 ,we learn from ,brand that the ceremony was not duly performed unless a berry was plucked off with each kiss4 ,this berry1 it is stated by other authorities1 was to be presented for good luck to the maiden kissed2 and ,washington ,irving adds that when the berries are all plucked1 the privilege ceases4 ,if this be so1 it behooves the maidens of a household to take good care that the branch provided for the occasion shall be as well furnished with these pearly tokens as the feast is likely to be with candidates for the holy state of matrimony4 ,the practice is still of very common observance in kitchens and servants' halls1 particularly in the country4 ,but1 as we have hinted1 we have met with it 7and so1 we dare say1 have most of our readers7 in higher scenes2 and many a merry laugh have we heard ring from beneath the mistletoe-bough4 ,there are lips in the world that we would gladly meet there in this coming season4 ,another of the symptoms of the approaching season which has1 at least to us1 a very pleasing effect1 consists in the bursts of solemn minstrelsy by which we are aroused from our slumbers in the still hour of the winter nights1 or which1 failing to break our sleep1 mingle with our dreams1 leading us into scenes of enchantment1 and filling them with unearthly music4 ,this midnight minstrelsy1 whether it comes in the shape of human voices1 hallowing the night by the chanting of the ,christmas carol1 or breaks upon the silence of the mid-watches from the mingling instruments of those wandering spirits of harmony1 the waits1 has in each case its origin in the ,gloria in ,excelsis1--the song with which the angels hailed the birth of the ,redeemer in the fields near ,bethlehem4 ,as soon1 says ,jeremy ,taylor1 as these blessed choristers had sung their ,christmas carol1 and taught the ,church a hymn to put into her offices forever on the anniversary of this festivity1 the angels returned into heaven4 ,accordingly1 these nocturnal hymns1 although they spread over the entire period of ,advent1 grow more and more fervent and frequent as the season approaches1 and the night which ushers in the great day itself is filled throughout all its watches with the continued sounds of sacred harmony4 ,how beautiful is the effect given to this music by this consideration of its meaning and its cause6 ,many and many a time have we been awakened by the melody of the waits when ,the floor of heaven ,was thick inlaid with patines of bright gold1-- and have lain and listened to their wild minstrelsy1 its solemn swells and dying falls kept musical by the distance and made holy by the time1 till we have felt amid all those influences as if it were ,no mortal business1 nor no sound ,that the earth owes1 and could have fancied that the morning stars were again singing1 as of old they sang together for joy1 and that the sounds of their far anthem came floating to the earth4 ,this sort of fancy has occurred over and over again to him who has looked out from his bed upon a sky full of stars1 and listened at the same time to invisible and distant music1 under the holy impressions of the season4 ,shakspeare has helped us to this feeling1 perhaps1 as we can trace his influence upon all our feelings1 and upon none more than the most sacred or the most solemn3-- ,there's not the smallest orb which thou behold'st1 ,but in his motion like an angel sings1 ,still quiring to the young-eyed cherubims2 ,such harmony is in immortal souls4 ,to the rudest carol that ever flung its notes upon the still air of these solemn hours we have hearkened with a hush of pleasure which recognized how well-- ,soft stillness1 and the night1 ,become the touches of sweet harmony6 ,and the wildest music that ever broke upon that solemn calm from the instruments of the most unskilful waits1--if it were but remote enough to keep its asperities out of the ear1 and send us only its floating tones1--has brought ,shakspeare into our hearts again3-- ,portia4 ,methinks it sounds much sweeter than by day4 ,nerissa4 ,silence bestows that virtue on it1 madam4 ,the waits of to-day are the remote and degenerated successors of those ancient bards who filled an important place in the establishments of princes and nobles1 as also of those wandering members of the fraternity who1 having no fixed position1 carried their gift of music from place to place as the tournament or the festival invited4 ,those of our readers who have much acquaintance with the old chroniclers have not to be told by us that these latter were frequently drawn together in considerable numbers by the ,christmas celebrations4 ,the name wait1 or wayte1 itself is of great antiquity amongst us1 and appears to have been the title given to some member of the band of minstrels who either replaced the ancient minstrel-chronicler in the royal establishments1 or was probably under his direction1 the duty of which particular member it was to pass at night from door to door of the chambers and pipe the watches upon some species of instrument4 ,as early as the reign of ,edward ,,iii4 we have mention of this individual minstrel by his title of wayte1 and in the subsequent ordinances for royal households the name frequently occurs4 ,dr4 ,burney1 in his ,history of ,music1 quotes from the ,liber niger domus regis1 of ,edward ,,iv4's time1 a full description of the duties1 privileges1 and perquisites of this ancient officer4 ,it is probably from this member of the royal household and his office that the corporations for towns borrowed their earliest appointment of watchmen2 and the ancestors of those ancient gentlemen whose most sweet voices are amongst the lost sounds of the metropolis1 and whose mysterious cries will soon1 we fear1 be a dead language1 were no doubt in their original institution minstrels or waits4 ,the sworn waits are1 we believe1 still attached to many corporations 7although some of their duties have been alienated1 and some of their prerogatives usurped71 and amongst others to that of the ,city of ,london4 ,the bellman and those wandering voices1 the watchmen1 where they still exist1 have1 however1 a title to the same high and far descent1 and have succeeded to most of the offices of the ancient waits4 ,it would seem1 too1 that both these latter important personages have at all times had it in view to assert their claim to a minstrel origin1 their announcements being generally chanted in a species of music quite peculiar to themselves1 and such as the world can never hope to hear again when these gentry shall be extinct4 ,oh1 what a voice is silent6 wrote ,barry ,cornwall long before the introduction of the new police into our streets2 and the passionate exclamation must surely have originated in a prophetic vision of the extinction of the ,dogberry who piped the night-watches in ,bedford ,square4 ,as for those wandering musicians who charm the long nights of the ,christmas time with unofficial music1 and are waits by courtesy1 they bear the same relation to the corporation minstrels of modern times as did the travelling bards of former days to the ancient minstrels who were established in the households of nobles or of kings4 ,the waits still on some occasions close their performance by calling the hour1 and by certain other announcements descriptive of the weather or characteristic of the season4 ,illustration3 ,,waits4--,page #aig4 ,the sacred origin and meaning of this practice have1 however1 in modern days been a good deal lost sight of by these uncertificated harmonists in their selection of tunes4 ,in ,london1 particularly1 the appropriate music of religious celebration1 which in awaking the sleeper should bring the lessons of the season directly to his heart1 are 7excepting perhaps on the eve of the ,nativity itself7 most frequently supplanted by the airs of the theatre2 and the waits for the most part favor us by night with repetitions of the melodies with which the barrel-organists have labored to make us familiarly acquainted during the day4 ,it is with some such strain that the group of instrumentalists1 by whom our artist has here represented these peripatetic musicians1 appear to be regaling their neighborhood1 in so far as we may venture to judge of the character of the music1 by the accompaniment which it is receiving from the lady in the distance4 ,not that we could by any means have conjectured from the appearance of the performers themselves that the air1 however profane1 had been at all of the lively1 unless what poor ,matthews called the deadly lively1 kind1--and1 in fact1 the vicinity in which the lady appears may perhaps suggest that her joyous inspiration is not derived wholly from the music4 ,she appears to be dancing unto her own heart's song4 ,if we may presume to argue from the aspects and attitudes of the gentlemen of the bass-viol and flute1 he of the trombone 7who is evidently performing with considerable energy7 appears to have got a good way before his companions without being at all conscious of it2 and indeed there is something about his accoutrements1 if carefully inspected1 which seems to hint that the source of his vigor1 and perhaps of his unconsciousness1 is of the same kind with that of the lady's liveliness4 ,we have in the case of each a sort of insinuation as to the cause of the spirited character of the performances1 and in that of our friend with the trombone it seems a good deal more clear that his pocket has contributed to the supply of his instrument than that his instrument will ever do much for the supply of his pocket4 ,as for the violin1 it is clearly in the enjoyment of a sinecure at this late hour1 the sensitive performer having apparently lulled himself to sleep with his own music4 ,poor knave1 ,i blame thee not2 thou art o'er watched6 ,o murd'rous slumber1 ,lay'st thou thy leaden mace upon my boy ,that plays thee music8 ,gentle knave1 good night2 ,i will not do thee so much wrong to wake thee4 ,but we will not answer for the old gentleman with the water-jug1 who looks down so benignantly from that window overhead4 ,he seems about to furnish an illustration of the assertion that-- ,the heart that music cannot melt1 ,is fit for treasons1 stratagems1 and spoils2 and appears to have conceived a stratagem against the group below which1 if carried into successful execution on this winter night1 will probably spoil more than the music4 ,it bids fair at once to waken the violin-player and to silence the trombone4 ,the practice of hailing the ,nativity with music1 in commemoration of the song of the angels1 is in full observance in ,roman ,catholic countries as well as in our own4 ,there are1 we fancy1 few of our readers who have not had opportunities of listening to the divine strains which mingle in the ,roman services that usher in the blessed morning itself4 ,the nols of ,france are of the same character as the ,christmas carols of ,england2 and the visits of our street musicians at this season are closely resembled by the wanderings of the ,italian pifferari4 ,these pifferari are ,calabrian shepherds who come down from the mountains at the season of ,advent1 and enter the ,italian cities1 saluting with their hill music the shrines of the ,virgin and ,child which adorn the streets4 ,of these rude minstrels ,lady ,morgan1 in her ,italy1 gives some account1 and states that having frequently observed them stopping to play before the shop of a carpenter in ,rome1 her inquiries on the subject were answered by the information that the intention of this part of their performance1 was to give his due share of honor to ,saint ,joseph4 ,our friend ,mr4 ,hone1 in his ,every-,day ,book1 has given1 from an old print in his possession1 a representation of this practice1 in which two of these mountaineers are playing before the shrine of the ,virgin4 ,the practice is continued till the anniversary day of the ,nativity4 ,with modern carol-singing there are few of our readers1 in town or in country 7for the practice1 like that of which we have just spoken1 is still very general71 who are not well acquainted4 ,for some curious antiquarian information on the subject we must refer them to ,mr4 ,sandys's ,introduction1 and to a paper in ,mr4 ,hone's book of ,ancient ,mysteries4 ,the word itself is derived by ,brand1 after ,bourne1 from cantare1 to sing1 and rola1 an interjection of joy2 and although in vulgar acceptance it has come to be understood as implying particularly those anthems by which the ,christmas-tide is distinguished1 it has at all times been properly applied to all songs which are sung upon any occasion of festival or rejoicing4 ,in strictness1 therefore1 even in its application to the musical celebrations of ,advent1 a distinction should be drawn between those carols which are of a joyous or festive character1 and those more solemn ones which would be better described by the title of ,christmas hymns4 ,the practice itself1 as applied to religious commemoration1 is drawn from the very first ages of the ,church4 ,it is frequently referred to in the ,apostolic writings1 and the celebrated letter of the younger ,pliny to the ,emperor ,trajan1 in the seventh year of the second ,christian century1 mentions1 amongst the habits of the primitive ,christians1 their assembling at stated times to sing among themselves alternately a hymn to ,christ1 as to ,god4 ,such a practice1 however1 constitutes no peculiarity of the new worship1 hymns of praise to their deities having made a portion of the rites of most religions4 ,indeed1 in the more severe times of the ,early ,church there are prohibitions against this form of worship1 as against several other practices to which we have alluded1 on the express ground of its resemblance to one of the customs of the pagan celebration4 ,the custom of celebrating the festivities of the season by the singing of carols in these islands1 appears to have mingled with the ,christmas observances from the earliest period4 ,we have specimens of the carols themselves of a remote date1 and have already given an extract from one1 the manuscript of which1 in the ,british ,museum1 is dated as far back as the thirteenth century4 ,there are evidences of the universality of the practice in the fifteenth century2 and the great popularity of these songs about this time is proved by the fact of a collection thereof having been printed in the early part of the following century by ,wynkyn de ,worde4 ,it is to the ,puritans that we appear to have been indebted for the introduction of the religious carol4 ,those enemies of all mirth1 even in its most innocent or valuable forms1 finding the practice of carol-singing at this festive time too general and rooted to be dealt with by interdiction1 appear to have endeavored to effect their objects by directing it into a channel of their own1 and probably retaining the ancient airs1 to have adapted them to the strange religious ballads1 of which we must give our readers a few specimens4 ,the entire version of the ,psalms of ,david made by ,sternhold and ,hopkins was published about the middle of the sixteenth century2 and some time before the middle of the seventeenth a duodecimo volume appeared1 under the title of ,psalmes or ,songs of ,zion1 turned into the language and set to the tunes of a strange land1 by ,w4 ,s4 ,william ,slatyr1 intended for ,christmas ,carols and fitted to divers of the most noted and common but solemne tunes everywhere in this land familiarly used and knowne4 ,of these old ballads of both kinds1 many 7and snatches of more7 have survived to the present day1 and may be heard1 particularly in the ,northern counties of ,england1 ringing through the frosty air of the long winter nights1 in the shrill voices of children1 for several weeks before ,christmas1 probably1 too1 to the old traditional tunes4 ,they are1 however1 as might be expected of compositions which have no more substantial depositary than the memories of the humble classes of the young1 full of corruptions1 which render some of them nearly unintelligible4 ,the difficulty of restoring these old carols in their original forms is becoming yearly greater1 in consequence of the modern carols1 which are fast replacing them by a sort of authority4 ,in country places many of the more polished carols1 of modern composition1 find their way into the ,church services of this season2 and amongst the singers who practise this manner of appealing to the charities of the season with most success are the children of the ,sunday-schools and the choristers of the village church4 ,these1 with their often sweet voices1 bring to our doors the more select hymns and the musical training which they have gathered for more sacred places2 and from a group like that which stands at the parsonage door in our plate1 we are more likely to hear some carol of ,heber's1 some such beautiful anthem as that beginning1 ,hark6 the herald angels sing1 than the strange1 rambling old ,christmas songs which we well remember when we were boys4 ,these latter1 however1 occasionally are not without a wild beauty of their own4 ,we quote a fragment of one of them from memory4 ,we think it begins3-- ,the moon shines bright1 and the stars give light1 ,a little before the day2 and wanders on somewhat after the following unconnected fashion3-- ,awake1 awake1 good people all6 ,awake1 and you shall hear ,how ,christ our ,lord died on the cross ,for those he loved so dear4 ,o fair1 ,o fair ,jerusalem6 ,when shall ,i come to thee8 ,when shall my griefs be at an end1 ,that ,i thy tents may see6 ,the fields were green as green could be ,when1 from his glorious seat1 ,the ,lord our ,god he watered us ,with his heavenly good and sweet4 ,and for the saving of our souls ,christ died upon the cross6 ,we never shall do for ,jesus ,christ ,what he has done for us6 ,the life of man is but a span1 ,and cut down in its flower2 ,we're here to-day1 and gone to-morrow1 ,we're all dead in an hour4 ,oh1 teach well your children1 men6 ,the while that you are here1 ,it will be better for your souls1 ,when your corpse lies on the bier4 ,to-day you may be alive1 dear man1 ,with many a thousand pound2 ,to-morrow you may be a dead man1 ,and your corpse laid under ground1-- ,with a turf at your head1 dear man1 ,and another at your feet4 ,your good deeds and your bad ones ,they will together meet4 ,my song is done1 and ,i must begone1 ,i can stay no longer here2 ,god bless you all1 both great and small1 ,and send you a happy new year4 ,our ,lancashire readers know that a similar wish to that expressed in the two last lines is generally delivered in recitative at the close of each carol1 or before the singers abandon our doors1--which wish1 however1 we have heard finally changed into a less quotable ejaculation in cases where the carolists had been allowed to sing unregarded4 ,the gradual decay into which these ancient religious ballads are rapidly falling was in some measure repaired by ,mr4 ,davies ,gilbert in #ahbc1 who published a collection containing upwards of twenty carols in a restored state1 with the tunes to which it was usual to sing them in the ,west of ,england4 ,of ,welsh carols various collections are mentioned both by ,hone and by ,sandys1 and in that country the practice is in better preservation than even in ,england4 ,in ,ireland1 too1 it exists to the present day1 although we have not met with any collection of ,irish carols2 and in ,france1 where there are numerous collections under the title of nols1 the custom is universal4 ,in ,scotland1 however1 it was extinguished1 with the other ,christmas practices1 by the thunders of ,john ,knox and his precisians1 and we believe has never been in any degree restored4 ,we should add that there are numerous carols for the ,christmas season scattered through the writings of our old poets1 amongst whom ,herrick may be mentioned as conspicuous4 ,but the most ample and curious published collection of ,christmas carols with which we have met is that by ,mr4 ,sandys to which we have so often alluded2 and from the text of this collection we will give our readers one or two specimens of the quaint beauties which occasionally mingle in the curious texture of these old anthems4 ,mr4 ,sandys's collection is divided into two parts1 the first of which consists of ancient carols and ,christmas songs from the early part of the fifteenth to the end of the seventeenth century4 ,we wish that in cases where the authorship belongs to so conspicuous a name as ,herrick1--and indeed in all cases where it is ascertained1--the names of the authors had been prefixed4 ,the second part comprises a selection from carols which the editor states to be still used in the ,west of ,england4 ,we can inform him that many of these we have ourselves heard1 only some dozen years ago1 screamed through the sharp evening air of ,lancashire at the top pitch of voices that could clearly never have been given for any such purposes1 making night hideous1 or occasionally filling the calm watches with the far-lulling sounds of wild1 sweet harmony4 ,the practice1 however1 is1 under any circumstances1 full of fine meanings that redeem the rudeness of performance2 and for ourselves1 we like the music at its best and worst4 ,of the festive songs we have already given occasional examples in the progress of this work1 and shall just now confine ourselves to extracts from those of a more religious character4 ,from the old part of the collections before us we will give a verse of a short carol which1 while it will exhibit in a very modified degree the familiar tone in which the writers of these ancient songs dealt with the incidents of the sacred story1 is full of a tenderness arising out of that very manner of treatment4 ,we give it in the literal form in which we find it in this collection1 with the exception of extending an occasional cypher4 ,it begins with a burden3-- ,a1 my dere son1 sayd mary1 a1 my dere1 ,kys thi moder1 ,jhesu1 with a lawghyng chere2 and continues3-- ,this endnes nyght ,i sawe a syght all in my slepe1 ,mary that may she sang lullay and sore did wepe4 ,to kepe she sawght full fast a bowte her son fro cold2 ,joseph seyd1 wiff1 my joy1 my leff1 say what ye wolde2 ,no thyng my spouse is ,in this howse unto my pay2 ,my son a kyng that made all thyng lyth in hay4 ,a1 my dere son4 ,some of these ancient carols run over the principal incidents in the scheme of man's fall and redemption2 and we are sorry that our limits will not permit us to give such lengthened specimens as we should desire4 ,we will1 however1 copy a few verses from one of a different kind1 in which1 beneath its ancient dress1 our readers will see that there is much rude beauty4 ,it begins3-- ,i come from heuin to tell ,the best nowellis that ever be fell4 ,but we must take it up further on3-- ,my saull and lyfe1 stand up and see ,quha lyes in ane cribe of tree2 ,quhat babe is that so gude and faire8 ,it is ,christ1 ,god's ,sonne and ,aire4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 ,o ,god1 that made all creature1 ,how art thou becum so pure1 ,that on the hay and straw will lye1 ,amang the asses1 oxin1 and kye8 ,and were the world ten tymes so wide1 ,cled ouer with gold and stanes of pride1 ,unworthy zit it were to thee1 ,under thy feet ane stule to bee4 ,the sylke and sandell1 thee to eis1 ,are hay and sempill sweiling clais1 ,quhairin thow gloiris1 greitest king1 ,as thow in heuin were in thy ring4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 ,o my deir hert1 zoung ,jesus sweit1 ,prepare thy creddill in my spreit1 ,and ,i sall rock thee in my hert1 ,and neuer mair from thee depart4 ,the ,star-song in this collection is1 if our memory mislead us not1 ,herrick's1 and taken from his ,noble ,numbers4 ,it begins3-- ,tell us1 thou cleere and heavenly tongue1 ,where is the babe but lately sprung8 ,lies he the lillie-banks among8 ,or say if this new ,birth of our's ,sleep1 laid within some ark of flowers1 ,spangled with deaw-light2 thou canst cleere ,all doubts1 and manifest the where4 ,declare to us1 bright star1 if we shall seek ,him in the morning's blushing cheek1 ,or search the beds of spices through1 ,to find him out8 ,the second part of ,sandys's collection contains an imperfect version of a carol of which we find a full and corrected copy in ,mr4 ,hone's ,ancient ,mysteries1 formed by that author's collation of various copies printed in different places4 ,the beautiful verses which we quote are from ,hone's version1 and are wanting in that of ,sandys4 ,the ballad begins by elevating the ,virgin ,mary to a temporal rank which must rest upon that particular authority1 and is probably a new fact for our readers3 ,joseph was an old man1 ,and an old man was he1 ,and he married ,mary1 ,queen of ,galilee1-- which1 for a carpenter1 was certainly a distinguished alliance4 ,it goes on to describe ,joseph and his bride walking in a garden1-- ,where the cherries they grew ,upon every tree2 and upon ,joseph's refusal1 in somewhat rude language1 to pull some of these cherries for ,mary1 on the ground of her supposed misconduct1-- ,oh6 then bespoke ,jesus1 ,all in his mother's womb1 ',go to the tree1 ,mary1 ,and it shall bow down2 ',go to the tree1 ,mary1 ,and it shall bow to thee1 ,and the highest branch of all ,shall bow down to ,mary's knee4' ,and then1 after describing ,joseph's conviction and penitence at this testimony to ,mary's truth1 occur the beautiful verses to which we alluded3 ,as ,joseph was a walking1 ,he heard an angel sing3 ',this night shall be born ,our heavenly king4 ',he neither shall be born ,in housen nor in hall1 ,nor in the place of ,paradise1 ,but in an ox's stall4 ',he neither shall be clothed ,in purple nor in pall1 ,but all in fair linen1 ,as were babies all4 ',he neither shall be rock'd ,in silver nor in gold1 ,but in a wooden cradle1 ,that rocks on the mould4 ',he neither shall be christen'd ,in white wine nor in red1 ,but with the spring water ,with which we were christened4' ,the strange1 wild ballad beginning1-- ,i saw three ships come sailing in1 ,on ,christmas day1 on ,christmas day2 ,i saw three ships come sailing in1 ,on ,christmas day in the morning1-- and the still stranger one of ,the ,holy ,well1 we would have copied at length1 as examples of these curious relics1 if we could have spared the space4 ,of the latter1 however1 we will give our readers some account1 to show the singular liberties which were taken with sacred personages and things in these old carols4 ,in the one in question1 the boy ,jesus1 having asked his mother's permission to go and play1 receives it1 accompanied with the salutary injunction1-- ,and let me hear of no complaint ,at night when you come home4 ,sweet ,jesus went down to yonder town1 ,as far as the ,holy ,well1 ,and there did see as fine children ,as any tongue can tell4 ,on preferring1 however1 his petition to these children1-- ,little children1 shall ,i play with you1 ,and you shall play with me8 he is refused on the ground of his having been born in an ox's stall1 they being lords' and ladies' sons4 ,sweet ,jesus turned him around1 ,and he neither laugh'd nor smil'd1 ,but the tears came trickling from his eye ,like water from the skies4 ,whereupon he returns home to report his grievance to his mother1 who answers1-- ,though you are but a maiden's child1 ,born in an ox's stall1 ,thou art the ,christ1 the ,king of ,heaven1 ,and the ,saviour of them all2 and then proceeds to give him advice neither consistent with the assertion in the last line1 nor becoming her character3-- ,sweet ,jesus1 go down to yonder town1 ,as far as the ,holy ,well1 ,and take away those sinful souls1 ,and dip them deep in hell4 ,nay1 nay1 sweet ,jesus said1 ,nay1 nay1 that may not be2 ,for there are too many sinful souls ,crying out for the help of me4 ,both these latter carols are given by ,sandys as amongst those which are still popular in the ,west of ,england2 and we remember to have ourselves heard them both many and many a time in its ,northern counties4 ,we must give a single verse of one of the ancient ,french provincial nols1 for the purpose of introducing our readers to a strange species of chanted burden2 and then we must stop4 ,it is directed to be sung sur un chant joyeux1 and begins thus3 ,quand ,dieu naquit ,nol1 ,dedans la ,jude1 ,on vit ce jour solemnel ,la joie inonde2 ,il n'toit ni petit ni grand ,qui n'apportt son prsent ,et n'o1 n'o1 n'o1 n'o1 ,et n'offrit1 frit1 frit1 ,et n'o1 n'o1 et n'offrit1 ,et n'offrit sans cesse ,toute sa richesse4 ,our readers are no doubt aware that the carol-sheets still make their annual appearance at this season1 not only in the metropolis1 but also in ,manchester1 ,birmingham1 and perhaps other towns4 ,in ,london they pass into the hands of hawkers1 who wander about our streets and suburbs enforcing the sale thereof by--in addition to the irresistible attraction of the wood-cuts with which they are embellished--the further recommendation of their own versions and variations of the original tunes1 yelled out in tones which could not be heard without alarm by any animals throughout the entire range of ,nature1 except the domesticated ones1 who are broken to it4 ,for ourselves1 we confess that we are not thoroughly broken yet1 and experience very uneasy sensations at the approach of one of these alarming choirs4 ',t is said that the lion will turn and flee ,from a maid in the pride of her purity4 ,we would rather meet him under the protection of a group of ,london carol-singers4 ,we would undertake to explore the entire of central ,africa1 well provisioned and in such company1 without the slightest apprehension1 excepting such as was suggested by the music itself4 ,by these gentry a very spirited competition is kept up in the article of annoyance with the hurdy-gurdies1 and other instruments of that class1 which awaken the echoes of all our streets1 and furnish a sufficient refutation of the assertion that we are not a musical nation4 ,we have heard it said that the atmosphere of ,london is highly impregnated with coal-smoke and barrel-organs4 ,the breath of ballad-singers should enter into the account at this season4 ,the sketch from life which we have given of one of these groups will convey to our readers a very lively notion of the carol-singers of ,london1 and supply them with a hint as to the condition in this flourishing metropolis of that branch of the fine arts4 ,our friends will perceive that this is a family of artists1 from the oldest to the youngest4 ,the children are born to an inheritance of song1 and begin to enter upon its enjoyment in the cradle4 ,that infant in arms made his dbt before the public a day or two after he was born1 and is already an accomplished chorister2 and the hopeful boy who is howling by his mother's side acquits himself as becomes the heir-at-law to parents who have sung through the world1 and the next in reversion to his father's fiddle4 ,illustration3 ,,london ,,carol ,,singers4--,page #bae4 ,a very curious part of the business1 however1 is1 that these people actually expect to get money for what they are doing6 ,with the most perfect good faith1 they really calculate upon making a profit by their outrages upon men's feelings6 ,it is for the purpose of putting bread into their mouths that those mouths are opened in that portentous manner4 ,for ourselves1 we have a strong conviction that the spread of the emigration mania has been greatly promoted by the increase of ballad-singers in the land4 ,we have frequently resolved to emigrate1 on that account1 ourselves2 and if we could be perfectly certified of any desirable colony1 to which no removals had taken place from the class in question1 we believe we should no longer hesitate4 ,the existence of that class is a grievous public wrong1 and calls loudly for legislation4 ,we have frequently thought that playing a hurdy-gurdy in the streets should be treated as a capital crime4 ,of the annual sheets and of such other carols as may be recoverable from traditional or other sources1 it is to be regretted that more copious collections are not made1 by the lovers of old customs1 ere it be too late4 ,brand speaks of an hereditary collection of ballads1 almost as numerous as the ,pepysian collection at ,cambridge1 which he saw1 at ,newcastle-upon-,tyne1 in the printing-office of the late ,mr4 ,saint1 amongst which were several carols for the ,christmas season4 ,hone1 in his ,ancient ,mysteries1 gives a list of eighty-nine carols in his possession1 all in present use 7though likely soon to become obsolete71 and exclusive of the modern compositions printed by religious societies1 under the denomination of carols4 ,he furnishes a curious proof of the attachment which the carol-buyers extend1 from the old carols themselves1 to the old rude cuts by which they are illustrated4 ,some of these1 he says1 on a sheet of ,christmas carols1 in #ahbj1 were so rude in execution that ,i requested the publisher1 ,mr4 ,t4 ,batchelar1 of #aae1 ,long ,alley1 ,moorfields1 to sell me the original blocks4 ,i was a little surprised by his telling me that he was afraid it would be impossible to get any of the same kind cut again4 ,when ,i proffered to get much better engraved1 and give them to him in exchange for his old ones1 he said1 ',yes1 but better are not so good2 ,i can get better myself4 ,now these are old favorites1 and better cuts will not please my customers so well4' ,we have before us several of the sheets for the present season1 issued from the printing-office and toy warehouse of ,mr4 ,pitts1 in the ,seven ,dials2 and we grieve to say that1 for the most part1 they show a lamentable improvement in the embellishments1 and an equally lamentable falling-off in the literary contents4 ,one of these sheets1 however1 which bears the heading title of ,divine ,mirth1 contains some of the old carols1 and is adorned with impressions from cuts1 rude enough1 we should think1 to please even the customers of ,mr4 ,batchelar4 ,amongst the musical signs of the season we must not omit to place that once important gentleman1 the bellman1 who was anciently accustomed1 as our excellent friend ,mr4 ,hone says1 at this time1 to make frequent nocturnal rambles1 and proclaim all tidings which it seemed fitting to him that people should be awakened out of their sleep to hearken to4 ,from that ancient collection1 ,the ,bellman's ,treasury1 which was once this now decayed officer's vade-mecum1 we shall have occasion to extract1 here and there1 in their proper places1 the announcements by which1 of old1 he broke in upon the stillness of the several nights of this period4 ,in the mean time our readers may take the following example of bellman verses1 written by ,herrick1 and which we have extracted from his ,hesperides3 ,from noise of scare-fires rest ye free1 ,from murders ,benedicitie2 ,from all mischances that may fright ,your pleasing slumbers in the night4 ,mercie secure ye all1 and keep ,the goblin from ye while ye sleep4 ,past one aclock1 and almost two4 ,my masters all1 good day to you6 ,the bell of this ancient officer may still be heard1 at the midnight hour of ,christmas ,eve 7and perhaps on other nights71 in the different parishes of ,london1 performing the overture to a species of recitative1 in which he sets forth 7amongst other things7 the virtues of his patrons 7dwelling on their liberality71 and offers them all the good wishes of the season4 ,the printed papers containing the matter of these recitations he has been busy circulating amongst the parishioners for some time2 and1 on the strength thereof1 presents himself as a candidate for some expression of their good-will in return1 which1 however1 he expects should be given in a more profitable form4 ,these papers1 like the carol-sheets1 have their margins adorned with wood-cuts after ,scriptural subjects4 ,one of them now lies before us1 and we grieve to say that the quaint ancient rhymes are therein substituted by meagre modern inventions1 and the wood-cuts exhibit a most ambitious pretension to be considered as specimens of improved art4 ,there is a copy of ,carlo ,dolce's ,last ,supper at the foot4 ,the beadle of to-day is in most respects changed1 for the worse1 from the bellman of old4 ,still1 we are glad to hear his bell--which sounds much as it must have done of yore--lifting up its ancient voice amongst its fellows at this high and general season of bells and bob-majors4 ,illustration3 ,,bell-,,ringing4 ,part ,second4 ,,the ,,christmas ,,days4 ,illustration3 ,the ,lord of ,misrule ,the ,high and ,mighty ,prince1 ,henry ,prince of ,purpoole1 ,archduke of ,stapulia and ,bernardia1 ,duke of ,high and ,nether ,holborn1 ,marquis of ,st4 ,giles and ,tottenham1 ,count ,palatine of ,bloomsbury and ,clerkenwell1 ,great ,lord of the ,cantons of ,islington1 ,kentish ,town ,paddington ,knightsbridge ,gesta ,grayorum4 ,,the ,,christmas ,,days4 ,,having given our readers an historical and general account of this ancient festival1 and a particular explanation of some of the principal tokens which1 in modern times as of old1 bespeak the coming of its more high and ceremonious days1 we must now proceed to furnish them with a more peculiar description of those individual days themselves2 confining ourselves1 as nearly as completeness of view will admit1 within the limits which bound what is1 in its most especial and emphatic sense1 the ,christmas season4 ,in order1 however1 to attain this completeness of view1 it has been necessary to allow ourselves certain points lying on both sides1 without those strict boundaries2 and the selection which we have made includes the two conditions of giving us latitude enough for our purpose1 and keeping reasonably close to the heart of the subject at the same time4 ,the reasons for this particular selection will more fully appear in the accounts which we have to give of the individual days on which that selection has fallen1 and in the further remarks which we have to make1 generally on that portion of the year which we place under the presidency of ,,our ,,lord ,,of ,,misrule4 ,illustration3 ,,christmas ,,presents4 ,,st4 ,,thomas',s ,,day4 #ba,,st ,,december4 ,,this day1 which is dedicated to the apostle ,st4 ,thomas1 we have chosen as the opening of the ,christmas festivities2 because it is that on which we first seem to get positive evidence of the presence of the old gentleman1 and see the spirit of hospitality and benevolence which his coming creates brought into active operation4 ,of the manner in which this spirit exhibits itself in the metropolis1 we are about presently to speak2 but must previously notice that in many of the rural districts of ,england there are still lingering traces of ancient customs1 which meet at this particular point of time and under the sanction of that same spirit4 ,these practices1 however various in their kinds1 are for the most part relics in different shapes of the old mummeries1 which we shall have to discuss at length in the course of the present chapter2 and are but so many distinct forms in which the poor man's appeal is made to the rich man's charity1 for a share in the good things of this merry festival4 ,amongst these ancient customs may be mentioned the practice of going a gooding1 which exists in some parts of ,kent1 and is performed by women1 who present sprigs of evergreens and ,christmas flowers1 and beg for money in return4 ,we believe the term going a gooding scarcely requires illustration4 ,it means1 simply1 going about to wish good even1--as1 according to ,nares1 fully appears from this passage in ,romeo and ,juliet3-- ,nurse4 ,god ye good morrow1 gentlemen4 ,mercutio4 ,god ye good den1 fair gentlewoman4 ,in this same county1 ,st4 ,thomas's ,day is likewise known by the name of ,doleing ,day1 on account of the distribution of the bounty of different charitable individuals4 ,this word dole is explained by ,nares to mean a share or lot in any thing distributed1 and to come from the verb to deal4 ,he quotes ,shakspeare for this also3-- ,it was your presurmise ,that in the dole of blows your son might drop4 ,the musical procession known in the ,isle of ,thanet and other parts of the same county by the name of hodening 7supposed by some1 to be an ancient relic of a festival ordained to commemorate the landing of our ,saxon ancestors in that island1 and which1 in its form1 is neither more nor less than a modification of the old practice of the hobby horse71 is to this day another of the customs of this particular period4 ,a custom analogous to these is still to be traced in ,warwickshire2 throughout which county it seems to have been the practice of the poor to go from door to door of every house with a bag to beg corn of the farmers1 which they call going a corning4 ,and in ,herefordshire a similar custom exists1 where this day is called ,mumping ,day1 that is1 begging day4 ,to the same spirit we owe the ,hagmena or ,hogmanay practice1 still in use in ,scotland1 as well as that of the ,wren ,boys in ,ireland1 both of which will be described hereafter1 although their observance belongs to later days of the season1 and probably many others which will variously suggest themselves to our various readers as existing in their several neighborhoods4 ,in the great metropolis of ,england1 where poverty and wretchedness exist in masses upon which private benevolence cannot efficiently act1 and where imposture assumes their forms in a degree that baffles the charity of individuals1 the bequests of our ancestors have been to a great extent placed for distribution in the hands of the various parish authorities4 ,st4 ,thomas's ,day in ,london therefore is connected with these charities1 by its being that on which some of the most important parochial proceedings take place2 and amongst these are the wardmotes1 held on this day for the election1 by the freemen inhabitant householders1 of the members of the ,common ,council1 and other officers of the respective city wards4 ,the civil government of the ,city of ,london is said to bear a general resemblance to the legislative power of the empire2 the ,lord ,mayor exercising the functions of monarchy1 the ,aldermen those of the peerage1 and the ,common ,council those of the legislature4 ,the principal difference is1 that the ,lord ,mayor himself has no negative4 ,the laws for the internal regulation of the city are wholly framed by these officers acting in common council4 ,a ,common-,councilman is1 therefore1 a personage of no mean importance4 ,loving ,christmas and its ceremonies with antiquarian veneration1 we must profess likewise our profound respect for wards of such high sounding names as ,dowgate1 and ,candlewick1 and ,cripplegate1 and ,vintry1 and ,portsoken2 the last of which1 be it spoken with due courtesy1 has always reminded us of an alderman's nose2 and for such distinguished callings as those of ,cordwainers1 and ,lorimers1 and ,feltmakers1 and ,fishmongers1 and ,plasterers1 and ,vintners1 and ,barbers2 each of whom we behold in perspective transformed into what ,theodore ,hook calls a splendid annual1 or in less figurative language1 ,lord ,mayor of ,london6 ,there is a pantomimic magic in the word since the memorable days of ,whittington4 ,but to our theme4-- ,pepys1 the gossipping secretary of the ,admiralty1 records in his curious diary his having gone on ,st4 ,thomas's ,day 7#bast ,december71 #affc1 to ,shoe ,lane to see a cocke-fighting at the new pit there1 a spot1 he adds1 ,i was never at in my life3 but1 ,lord6 to see the strange variety of people1 from parliament-man 7by name ,wildes1 that was deputy governor of the ,tower when ,robinson was ,lord ,mayor7 to the poorest 'prentices1 bakers1 brewers1 butchers1 draymen1 and what not2 and all these fellows one with another cursing and betting4 ,i soon had enough of it4 ,it is strange to see how people of this poor rank1 that look as if they had not bread to put into their mouths1 shall bet three or four pounds at a time and lose it1 and yet as much the next battle1 so that one of them will lose #aj or #bj at a meeting4 ,now the cock-fighting of our times1 under the immediate patronage of ,saint ,thomas1 and those of ,pepys's differ little except in the character of the combatants4 ,in his 7comparatively speaking7 barbarous days1 it was sufficient to pit two birds1 one against the other1 to excite the public or amuse the spectators4 ,but a purer taste prevails among the present citizens of ,london2 for our modern fighting-cocks1 as the candidates for civic honors are called1 seem on this day to be fully occupied with the morning exhibition of their own foul tongues1--and bets often run as high as parties1 on these occasions4 ,saint ,thomas's birds--another name for these civic fighting-cocks--have been trained in various ale-house associations1 such as the ,ancient and honorable ,lumber ,troop1 the venerable ,society of ,codgers1 the free and easy ,johns1 the ,councillors under the ,cauliflower1 and other well-known clubs1--where politics1 foreign and domestic1 night after night are discussed1 and mingle with the smoke of tobacco1 inhaled through respectable clay pipes and washed down with nips of amber ale1 or quarts of frothy-headed porter4 ,indeed the qualification for admission into the ,lumber ,troop is1 we have been told1 the power of consuming a quart of porter at a draught1 without1 once pausing to draw a breath1--which feat must be performed before that august assembly4 ,we once visited the head-quarters of this porter-quaffing troop1 and found the house1 with some difficulty1 near ,gough ,square1--which lies in that intricate region between ,holborn ,hill and ,fleet ,street4 ,it was a corner house1 and an inscription upon the wall1 in letters of gold1 informed the passer-by that this was the place of meeting of the ,lumber ,troop4 ,the room in which they met is small1 dark1 and ancient in appearance1 with an old-fashioned chimney-piece in the centre1 and a dais or raised floor at one end1 where1 we presume1 the officers of the troop take their seats4 ,above their heads1 upon a shelf1 some small brass cannon were placed as ornaments1 and the walls of the room were decorated with the portraits of distinguished troopers1--among whom ,mr4 ,alderman ,wood1 in a scarlet robe1 and ,mr4 ,richard ,taylor were pointed out to our notice4 ,over the fire-place hung the portrait of an old gentleman1 in the warlike costume of ,cromwell's time1 who was1 probably1 ,some ,fleet ,street ,hampden4 ,the obscurity which conceals the origin of many interesting and important institutions hangs over the early history of the ,lumber ,troop4 ,tradition asserts that1 when ,henry ,,viii4 went to the siege of ,boulogne1 he drained the country of all its soldiers2 and the citizens of ,london who remained behind1 inspired with martial ardor1 formed themselves into a troop1 for the protection of old ,england4 ,in the grotesque and gouty appearance of these troopers1 their name of the ,lumber ,troop is said to have originated4 ,their field days1 as may be expected1 were exhibitions of merriment2 and their guards and midnight watches scenes of feasting and revelry4 ,the ,lumber-pye was formerly a dish in much repute1 being composed of high-seasoned meats and savory ingredients1 for the preparation of which receipts may be found in the old cookery books4 ,recently1 it has been corrupted into ,lombard ,pie1 on account1 as is said1 of its ,italian origin1--but we profess allegiance to the more ancient name4 ,let those who hold lightly the dignity of a ,lumber ,trooper1 and who perhaps have smiled at the details here given1 inquire of the representatives of the city of ,london in the parliament of ,england1 their opinion of the matter4 ,we have been assured that these jolly troopers influence every city election to such an extent that1 without an understanding with these worthies1 no candidate can have a chance of success4 ,in the same way1 the codgers1 in ,codger's ,hall1 ,bride ,lane 7said to have been instituted in #agef1 by some of the people of the ,inner ,temple1 who imagined their free thoughts and profound cogitations worthy of attention1 and charged half-a-crown for the entre71 and other ale-house clubs1 exert their more limited power4 ,hone1 in his ,every-,day ,book1 observes that these societies are under currents that set in strong1 and often turn the tide of an election in favor of some 'good fellow1' who is good nowhere but in 'sot's-hole4' ,and he adds1 commenting upon ,st4 ,thomas's ,day1 ,now the 'gentlemen of the inquest1' chosen 'at the church' in the morning1 dine together1 as the first important duty of their office2 and the re-elected ward-beadles are busy with the fresh chosen constables2 and the watchmen this was before the days of the police are particularly civil to every 'drunken gentleman' who happens to look like one of the new authorities4 ,and now the bellman1 who revives the history and poetry of his predecessors1 will vociferate-- ,illustration3 ,,st4 ,,thomas',s ,,day4--,page #bcc4 ',my masters all1 this is ,st4 ,thomas'-day1 ,and ,christmas now can't be far off1 you'll say4 ,and when you to the ,ward-motes do repair1 ,i hope such good men will be chosen there1 ,as constables for the ensuing year1 ,as will not grudge the watchmen good strong beer4' ,the illustration of this part of our subject which our artist has given1 exhibits the scene of one of these parish elections2 and includes1 in the distance1 a vision of those good things to which all business matters in ,england--and above all1 in its eastern metropolitan city--are but prefaces4 ,we may observe1 here1 that ,st4 ,thomas's ,day is commonly called the shortest of the year1 although the difference between its length and that of the twenty-second is not perceptible4 ,the hours of the sun's rising and setting1 on each of those days1 are marked as the same in our calendars1 and the latter is sometimes spoken of as the shortest day4 - - - - - - - ,as the days which intervene between this and the ,eve of ,christmas are distinguished by no special ceremonial of their own1 and as the numerous observances attached to several of the particular days which follow will sufficiently prolong those parts of our subject1 we will take this opportunity of alluding to some of the sports and festivities not peculiar to any one day1 but extending more or less generally over the entire season4 ,burton in his ,anatomy of ,melancholy mentions1 as the winter amusements of his day1 ,cardes1 tables and dice1 shovelboard1 chesse-play1 the philosopher's game1 small trunkes1 shuttlecocke1 billiards1 musicke1 masks1 singing1 dancing1 ule-games1 frolicks1 jests1 riddles1 catches1 purposes1 questions and commands1 merry tales of errant knights1 queenes1 lovers1 lords1 ladies1 giants1 dwarfes1 theeves1 cheaters1 witches1 fayries1 goblins1 friers1 c4 ,amongst the list of ,christmas sports1 we elsewhere find mention of jugglers1 and jack-puddings1 scrambling for nuts and apples1 dancing the hobby-horse1 hunting owls and squirrels1 the fool-plough1 hot-cockles1 a stick moving on a pivot with an apple at one end and a candle at the other1 so that he who missed his bite burned his nose1 blindman's buff1 forfeits1 interludes and mock plays3 also of thread my needle1 ,nan1 he can do little that can't do this1 feed the dove1 hunt the slipper1 shoeing the wild mare1 post and pair1 snap-dragon1 the gathering of omens1 and a great variety of others4 ,in this long enumeration1 our readers will recognize many which have come down to the present day1 and form still the amusement of their winter evenings at the ,christmas-tide1 or on the merry night of ,halloween4 ,for an account of many of those which are no longer to be found in the list of holiday games1 we must refer such of our readers as it may interest to ,brand's ,popular ,antiquities1 and ,strutt's ,english ,sports4 ,a description of them would be out of place in this volume2 and we have mentioned them only as confirming a remark which we have elsewhere made2 viz41 that in addition to such recreations as arise out of the season or belong to it in a special sense1 whatever other games or amusements have at any time been of popular use1 have generally inserted themselves into this lengthened and joyous festival2 and that all the forms in which mirth or happiness habitually sought expression congregated from all quarters at the ringing of the ,christmas bells4 ,to the ,tregetours1 or jugglers1 who anciently made mirth at the ,christmas fireside1 there are several allusions in ,chaucer's tales2 and ,aubrey1 in reference thereto1 mentions some of the tricks by which they contributed to the entertainments of the season4 ,the exhibitions of such gentry in modern times are generally of a more public kind1 and it is rarely that they find their way to our firesides4 ,but we have still the galantee-showman wandering up and down our streets and squares1 with his musical prelude and tempting announcement sounding through the sharp evening air1 and summoned into our warm rooms to display the shadowy marvels of his mysterious box to the young group1 who gaze in great wonder and some awe from their inspiring places by the cheerful hearth4 ,not that our firesides are altogether without domestic fortune-tellers or amateur practitioners in the art of sleight-of-hand4 ,but the prophecies of the former are drawn from1 and the feats of the other performed with the cards4 ,indeed we must not omit to particularize cards as furnishing in all their uses one of the great resources at this season of long evenings and in-door amusements1 as they appear also to have formed an express feature of the ,christmas entertainments of all ranks of people in old times4 ,we are told that the squire of three hundred a-year in ,queen ,anne's time never played at cards but at ,christmas1 when the family pack was produced from the mantel-piece2 and ,stevenson1 an old writer of ,charles the ,second's time1 in an enumeration of the preparations making for the mirth of the season1 tells us that the country-maid leaves half her market and must be sent again1 if she forgets a pack of cards on ,christmas ,eve4 ,and who of us all has not shared in the uproarious mirth which young and unclouded spirits find1 amid the intrigues and speculations of a round game6 ,to the over-scrupulous on religious grounds1 who1 looking upon cards as the devil's books1 and to the moral alarmist who1 considering card-playing to be in itself gaming1 would each object to this species of recreation for the young and innocent1 it may be interesting to know that the practice has been defended by that bishop of bishops1 ,jeremy ,taylor himself1 and that he insists upon no argument against the innocence of a practice being inferred from its abuse4 ,we have before alluded to the bards and harpers who assembled in ancient days at this time of wassail1 making the old halls to echo to the voice of music1 and stirring the blood with the legends of chivalry or chilling it with the wizard tale4 ,and the tale and the song are amongst the spirits that wait on ,christmas still1 and charm the long winter evenings with their yet undiminished spells4 ,many a ,christmas evening has flown over our heads on the wings of music1 sweeter1 far sweeter1 dearer1 a thousand times dearer1 than ever was played by wandering minstrel or uttered by stipendiary bard2 and we have formed a portion of happy groups1 when some thrilling story has sent a chain of sympathetic feeling through hearts that shall beat in unison no more1 and tales of the grave and its tenants have sent a paleness into cheeks that the grave itself hath since made paler still4 ,the winter hearth is the very land of gossip-red4 ,there it is that superstition loves to tell her marvels1 and curiosity to gather them4 ,the gloom and desolation without1 with the wild1 unearthly voice of the blast1 as it sweeps over a waste of snows and cuts sharp against the leafless branches1 or the wan sepulchral light that shows the dreary earth as it were covered with a pall1 and the trees like spectres rising from beneath it1 alike send men huddling round the blazing fire1 and awaken those impressions of the wild and shadowy and unsubstantial1 to which tales of marvel or of terror are such welcome food4 ,but other inspirations are born of the blaze itself2 and the jest and the laugh and the merry narration are of the spirits that are raised within the magic circles that surround it4 ,they should have drawn thee by the high heap't hearth1 ,old ,winter6 seated in thy great armed-chair1 ,watching the children at their ,christmas mirth2 ,or circled by them1 as thy lips declare ,some merry jest1 or tale of murder dire1 ,or troubled spirit that disturbs the night2 ,pausing at times to move the languid fire1 ,or taste the old ,october1 brown and bright4 ,the song and the story1 the recitation and the book read aloud are1 in town and in village1 mansion and farmhouse1 amongst the universal resources of the winter nights now1 as they or their equivalents have at all times been4 ,the narratives of old adventures1 and valiaunces of noble knights1 in times past1 the stories of ,sir ,bevys of ,southampton and ,sir ,guy of ,warwick1 of ,adam ,bell1 ,clymme of the ,clough1 and ,william of ,cloudesley1 with other ancient romances or historical rhymes1 which formed the recreation of the common people at their ,christmas dinners and bride-ales long ago1 may have made way for the wild legend of the sea1 or fearful anecdote-- ,of horrid apparition1 tall and ghastly1 ,that walks at dead of night1 or takes its stand ,o'er some new opened grave1 and1 strange to tell1 ,evanishes at crowing of the cock2 and for the more touching ballads which sing of the late repentance of the cruel ,barbara ,allan1-- ,o mither1 mither1 mak my bed1 ,o mak it saft and narrow2 ,since my love died for me to-day1 ,i'll die for him to morrow2 or how the ,pretty babes1 with hand in hand1 ,went wandering up and down2 ,but never more could see the man ,returning from the town2 or how there came a ghost to ,margaret's door1 and chilled the life-blood in her veins1 by his awful announcement1-- ,my bones are buried in a kirk-yard1 ,afar beyond the sea2 ,and it is but my sprite1 ,marg'ret1 ,that's speaking now to thee2 or may have been replaced1 in higher quarters1 by the improved narrative literature of the present day1 and the traditions or memories which haunt all homes4 ,but the spirit of the entertainment itself is still the same1 varied only by circumstances in its forms4 ,illustration3 ,,story ,,telling4--,page #bci4 ,it is apparently by a group of the latter kind that this branch of the ,christmas amusements is illustrated in the plate4 ,the youthful members of a family are listening1 in all probability1 to some tale of their sires1 related by the withered crone1 who1 grown old in that service1 links those young beings with a generation gone by1 and stands1 as it were1 prophesying betwixt the living and the dead4 ,if we may judge from the aspect of the aged sybil herself1 and the pale and earnest faces that surround her1 the narrative which she is imparting is one of the fearful class1 and not to be listened to beyond the cheering inspirations of that bright fire2 although the moving shadows which it flings upon the old walls are amongst the terrors which are born of her story4 ,for the scene of these emotions1 the artist has chosen1 as artists still love to do1 the chamber of an ancient mansion1 with its huge chimney and oriel-window4 ,and it may be that for picturesque effects which are to address themselves to the eye1 artists are right in so doing4 ,no doubt1 the high chronicles of chivalry1 and the mysterious traditions of the past1 comport well with the gloom of the gothic gallery2--and1 certainly1 the long rambling passages of an old house afford at once room for the wandering of ghosts1 and that dim1 shadowy light by which imagination sees them best4 ,but the true poetry of life is not confined to ancient dwellings2 and every house1 in every crowded thoroughfare of every city1 has its own tales to tell around the ,christmas fire4 ,the most pert-looking dwelling of them all1 that may seem as if it were forever staring out of its sash windows into the street1 has its own mysteries1 and is1 if it have been tenanted sufficiently long1 as closely haunted by recollections as the baron's castle1 or the squire's old manor-house4 ,like them1-- ,its stones have voices1 and its walls do live2 ,it is the house of memory6 ,within its neat parlors and light saloons1 the lyre of human passions has been struck on all its chords4 ,birth and death1 marriage and separation1 joy and grief1 in all their familiar forms1 have knocked at its painted door1 and crossed its narrow threshold2 and the hearts within have their own traditions of the past1 and their own reckonings to take1 and their own anecdotes to revise1 and their own ghosts to bring back1 amid the commemorations of this festal time4 ,and--whatever may be said for the ancient ghost stories1 which are fast losing ground--fitting it is that1 amid the mirth of this pleasant time1 such thoughts should be occasionally stirred1 and those phantoms of the heart brought back4 ,not that the joy of the young and hopeful should be thereby darkened1 but that they may be duly warned that youth's a stuff will not endure1 and taught in time the tenure upon which hope is held4 ,that was a beautiful custom of the ,jews which led them1 when they built houses1 to leave ever some part unfinished1 as a memento of the ruin and desolation of their city4 ,not that they1 therefore1 built the less1 or the less cheerfully2 but that in the very midst of their amplest accommodations they preserved a perpetual and salutary reference to the evil of their condition1--a useful check upon their worldly thoughts4 ,and thus should mirth be welcomed and hopes built up1 wherever the materials present themselves2 but a mark should1 notwithstanding1 be placed upon the brightest of them all1 remembrances ever let in1 which may recall to us the imperfect condition of our nature here1 and speak of the certain decay which must attend all hopes erected for mere earthly dwellings4 ,but thou shouldst speak of this1 thou for whom the following lines were written long ago1 though they have not yet met thine eye1 thou who hast learnt this lesson more sternly than even ,i1 and speakest so well of all things6 ,many a ,winter's ,tale have we two read together 7,shakspeare's among the rest--and how often671 and many a written lay has linked our thoughts in a sympathy of sentiment1 on many an evening of ,christmas4 ,it may be that on some night of that which is approaching1 these lines may meet thy notice1 and through them1 one more winter's eve may yet be spent by thee and me1 in a communion of thought and feeling4 ,no fear that joy should carry it all1 with us6 ,no danger that the ghosts of the past should fail to mingle with our ,christmas feelings1 in that hour6 ,there can be no future hope built up for thee or me1 or for most others who have passed the first season of youth1 to which something shall not be wanting2 which shall not1 like the houses of the ,jews1 be left imperfect in some part2 and for the same reason1--even for the memories of the ruined past6 ,farewell6 ,i do not bid thee weep2 ,the hoarded love of many years1 ,the visions hearts like thine must keep1 ,may not be told by tears6 ,no6 tears are but the spirit's showers1 ,to wash its lighter clouds away1 ,in breasts where sun-bows1 like the flowers1 ,are born of rain and ray2 ,but gone from thine is all the glow ,that helped to form life's promise-bow6 ,farewell6 ,i know that never more ,thy spirit1 like the bird of day1 ,upon its own sweet song shall soar ,along a sunny way6 ,the hour that wakes the waterfall ,to music1 in its far-off flight1 ,and hears the silver fountains call1 ,like angels through the night1 ,shall bring thee songs whose tones are sighs ,from harps whose chords are memories6 ,night6 when1 like perfumes that have slept1 ,all day1 within the wild-flower's heart1 ,steal out the thoughts the soul has kept ,in silence and apart2 ,and voices we have pined to hear1 ,through many a long and lonely day1 ,come back upon the dreaming ear1 ,from grave-lands1 far away2 ,and gleams look forth1 of spirit-eyes1 ,like stars along the darkening skies6 ,when fancy and the lark are still-- ,those riders of the morning gale6 ,and walks the moon o'er vale and hill ,with memory and the nightingale2 ,the moon that is the daylight's ghost 7,as memory is the ghost of hope71 ,and holds a lamp to all things lost ,beneath night's solemn cope1 ,pale as the light by memory led ,along the cities of the dead6 ,alas1 for thee6 alas for thine6 ,thy youth that is no longer young6 ,whose heart1 like ,delphi's ruined shrine1 ,gives oracles--oh6 still divine6-- ,but never more in song6 ,whose breast1 like ,echo's haunted hall1 ,is filled with murmurs of the past1 ,ere yet its gold was dim1 and all ,its pleasant things laid waste6 ,from whose sweet windows never more ,shall look the sunny soul of yore6 ,farewell6 ,i do not bid thee weep1 ,the smile and tear are past for thee2 ,the river of thy thoughts must keep ,its solemn course1 too still and deep ,for idle eyes to see6 ,oh6 earthly things are all too far ,to throw their shadows o'er its stream6 ,but1 now and then1 a silver star1 ,and1 now and then1 a gleam ,of glory from the skies be given1 ,to light its waves with dreams of heaven6 ,to the out-door sports of this merry time which arise out of the natural phenomena of the season itself1 we need do no more than allude here1 because every school-boy knows far more about them than we are now able to tell him1 though we too reckoned them all amidst the delights of our boyhood4 ,the rapid motions and graceful manuvres of the skilful amongst the skaters1 the active games connected with this exercise 7such as the ,golf of our northern neighbors1 not very commonly practised in ,england71 the merry accidents of the sliders1 and the loud and mischievous laugh of the joyous groups of snowballers1--are all amongst the picturesque features by which the ,christmas time is commonly marked in these islands4 ,to be sure1 the kind of seasons seems altogether to have abandoned us in which the ice furnished a field for those diversions during a period of six weeks2 and the days are gone when fairs were held on the broad ,thames1 and books were printed and medals struck on the very pathway of his fierce and daily tides4 ,even now as we write however1 in this present year of grace1 old ,winter stands without the door in something like the garb in which as boys we loved him best1 and that old aspect of which we have such pleasant memories1 and which ,cowper has so well described3 ,o ,winter6 ruler of the inverted year6 ,thy scattered hair with sleet-like ashes filled2 ,thy breath congealed upon thy lips2 thy cheeks ,fringed with a beard made white with other snows ,than those of age2 thy forehead wrapt in clouds2 ,a leafless branch thy sceptre2 and thy throne ,a sliding car indebted to no wheels1 ,but urged by storms along thy slippery way6 ,in looking over a description of ,london we have met with a quotation of a passage from ,fitz-,stephen1 an old historian of that city1 in which he gives a quaint description of these familiar sports1 as they were practised in ,king ,henry the ,second's day on the large pond or marsh which then occupied the site of what is now ,moorfields4 ,the passage is short and we will quote it4 ,when that vast lake1 he says1 which waters the walls of the city towards the north is hard frozen1 the youth in great numbers go and divert themselves on the ice4 ,some1 taking a small run for increment of velocity1 place their feet at a proper distance and are carried sliding sideways a great way4 ,others will make a large cake of ice1 and seating one of their companions upon it1 they take hold of one another's hands and draw him along2 when it happens that1 moving so swiftly on so slippery a place1 they all fall headlong4 ,others there are who are still more expert in these amusements on the ice2 they place certain bones1 the leg bones of animals1 under the soles of their feet by tying them round their ankles1 and then1 taking a pole shod with iron into their hands1 they push themselves forward by striking it against the ice1 and are carried on with a velocity equal to the flight of a bird or a bolt discharged from a cross-bow4 ,but amongst all the amusements which in cities contribute to make the ,christmas time a period of enchantments for the young and happy1 there is another1 which must not be passed over without a word of special notice2 and that one is the theatre1--a world of enchantment in itself4 ,we verily believe that no man ever forgets the night on which as a boy he first witnessed the representation of a play4 ,all sights and sounds that reached his senses before the withdrawing of the mysterious curtain1 all things which preceded his introduction to that land of marvels which lies beyond1 are mingled inextricably with the memories of that night1 and haunt him through many an after year4 ,the very smell of the lamps and orange-peel1 the discordant cries1 the ringing of the prompter's bell1 and above all the heavy dark green curtain itself1 become essential parts of the charm in which his spirit is long after held4 ,it was so with ourselves2 and though many a year is gone by since that happy hour of our lives1 and most of the spells which were then cast have been long since broken1 yet we felt another taken from us when at ,drury ,lane an attempt was made to substitute a rich curtain of crimson and gold for the plain dark fall of green4 ,and then the overture6 the enchanting prelude to all the wonders that await us6 the unearthly music leading us into fairy land6 the incantation at whose voice1 apparently1 the mysterious veil on which our eyes have been so long and so earnestly rivetted rises1 as if by its own act1 and reveals to us the mysteries of an enchanted world6 ,from that moment all things that lie on this side the charmed boundary are lost sight of1 and all the wonders that are going on beyond it are looked on with the most undoubting faith4 ,it is not for a moment suspected that the actors therein are beings of natures like ourselves1 nor is there any questioning but that we are gazing upon scenes and doings separated from the realities of life4 ,verily do we believe that never again in this life are so many new and bewildering and bewitching feelings awakened in his breast1 as on the first night in which the boy is spectator of a theatrical performance1 if he be old enough to enjoy and not quite old enough clearly to understand what is going on4 ,at this holiday period of the year the boxes of our theatres are filled with the happy faces1 and their walls ring with the sweet laughter of children4 ,all things are matters of amazement and subjects of exclamation4 ,but in ,london above all things1--far1 far beyond all other things 7though it does not begin for some days later than this7 is the pantomime with its gorgeous scenery and incomprehensible transformations and ineffable fun4 ,ready to leap out of the box1 says ,leigh ,hunt1 they joy in the mischief of the clown1 laugh at the thwacks he gets for his meddling1 and feel no small portion of contempt for his ignorance in not knowing that hot water will scald1 and gunpowder explode2 while with head aside to give fresh energy to the strokes1 they ring their little palms against each other in testimony of exuberant delight4 ,the winter pantomimes are introduced on the evening next after ,christmas night2 and some account of this entertainment seems1 as a feature of the season1 due to our ,christmas readers4 ,illustration3 ,,christmas ,,pantomime4--,page #bdi4 ,from ,italy1 then1 we appear to have derived our pantomime1--the legitimate drama of ,christmas1 and to pagan times and deities the origin of our pantomimical characters may be directly referred4 ,the nimble harlequin of our stage is the ,mercury of the ancients1 and in his magic wand and charmed cap may be recognized that god's caduceus and petasus4 ,our columbine is ,psyche1 our clown ,momus1 and our pantaloon is conjectured to be the modern representative of ,charon1--variously habited indeed1 according to ,venetian fancy and feelings4 ,even ,punch1 the friend of our childhood1 the great-headed1 long-nosed1 hump-backed ,mister ,pnch1 it seems1 was known to the ,romans1 under the name of ,maccus4 ,our pantomime1 however1 is an inferior translation1 rather than a good copy1 from its ,italian original4 ,the rich humor1 the ready wit1 the exquisite raciness of the ,italian performance have all evaporated1 and with us are burlesqued by the vapid joke1 the stale trick1 and acts of low buffoonery4 ,we read of the pantomimic actors1 ,constantini and ,cecchini1 being ennobled2 of ,louis ,,xiii4 patronizing the merits of ,nicholas ,barbieri1 and raising him to fortune2 that ,tiberio ,fiurilli1 the inventor of the character of ,scaramouch1 was the early companion of ,louis ,,xiv41 and that the wit of the harlequin ,dominic made him a favored guest at the same monarch's table4 ,these instances of distinction are alone sufficient proof of the superior refinement of the actors of ,italian pantomime1 above our vulgar tribe of tumblers4 ,the ,italian artists were fellows of infinite jest1 whose ready wit enabled them to support extempore dialogue1 suiting the action to the word1 and the word to the action2 for the ,arlequino of ,italy was not a mute like his ,english representative4 ,many of the ,italian harlequins were authors of considerable reputation2 ,ruzzante1 who flourished about #aecj1 may be regarded as the ,shakspeare of pantomime4 ,till his time1 says ,d',israeli1 they had servilely copied the duped fathers1 the wild sons1 and the tricking valets of ,plautus and ,terence2 and perhaps1 not being writers of sufficient skill but of some invention1 were satisfied to sketch the plots of dramas1 boldly trusting to extempore acting and dialogue4 ,ruzzante peopled the ,italian stage with a fresh1 enlivening crowd of pantomimic characters4 ,the insipid dotards of the ancient comedy were transformed into the ,venetian ,pantaloon1 and the ,bolognese ,doctor2 while the hare-brained fellow1 the arch knave1 and the booby1 were furnished from ,milan1 ,bergamo1 and ,calabria4 ,he gave his newly created beings new language and a new dress4 ,from ,plautus1 he appears to have taken the hint of introducing all the ,italian dialects into one comedy1 by making each character use his own1--and even the modern ,greek1 which1 it seems1 afforded many an unexpected play on words for the ,italian4 ,this new kind of pleasure1 like the language of ,babel1 charmed the national ear2 every province would have its dialect introduced on the scene1 which often served the purpose both of recreation and a little innocent malice4 ,their masks and dresses were furnished by the grotesque masqueraders of the ,carnival1 which1 doubtless1 often contributed many scenes and humors to the quick and fanciful genius of ,ruzzante4 ,to the interesting essay1 by the author of the ,curiosities of ,literature1 from whence this extract is derived1 we beg leave to refer the reader for an anecdotical history of pantomime4 ,mr4 ,d',israeli in conclusion observes1 that in gesticulation and humor our ,rich appears to have been a complete mime2 his genius was entirely confined to pantomime1 and he had the glory of introducing ,harlequin on the ,english stage1 which he played under the feigned name of ,lun4 ,he could describe to the audience by his signs and gestures1 as intelligibly as others could express by words4 ,there is a large caricature print of the triumph which ,rich had obtained over the severe muses of tragedy and comedy1 which lasted too long not to excite jealousy and opposition from the corps dramatique4 ,garrick1 who once introduced a speaking ,harlequin1 has celebrated the silent but powerful language of ,rich3-- ,when ,,lun appeared1 with matchless art and whim1 ,he gave the power of speech to every limb1 ,tho' mask'd and mute1 convey'd his quick intent1 ,and told in frolic gestures what he meant2 ,but now the motley coat and sword of wood ,require a tongue to make them understood6' ,foote1 it was1 we think1 who attempted to get a standing for a ,harlequin with a wooden leg upon the ,english stage2 and though he was supported by a clown upon crutches1 these and other efforts to effect a witty reform in the mechanism of an ,english pantomime proved unsuccessful4 ,why is this burlesque race here1 inquires ,mr4 ,d',israeli1 privileged to cost so much1 to do so little1 and repeat that little so often8 ,in #ahbg1 according to a statement which we believe to be tolerably correct1 the getting up1 as it is termed1 of the pantomimes produced on the #bfth of ,december1 in ,london1 cost at-- ,covent ,garden #a1jjj ,drury ,lane #a1jjj ,surrey #ejj ,adelphi #bjj ,olympic #aej ,sadler's ,wells #ajj ,west ,london #ajj ------ ,making the total of #c1jej and in other years1 we believe the cost has been considerably more2 and yet this enormous expenditure left no impression on the popular memory1 mere stage-trick being far below the exhibition of a juggler4 ,true it is1 that clever artists have been for many years employed to design and paint the scenery of the pantomimes1 and consequently admirable pictures have been exhibited1 especially at the national theatres1 where this feature1 indeed1 constitutes the main attraction of the evening's performance4 ,the stupid tragedy of ,george ,barnwell1 produced for the sake of the city apprentices1 was formerly the usual prelude to the ,christmas pantomime on the night of ,st4 ,stephen's ,day4 ,hone1 in his ,every-,day ,book1 has chronicled that the representation of this tragedy was omitted in the ,christmas holidays of #ahai1 at both theatres1 for the first time4 ,to be sure1 this dull affair answered the purpose as well as any other1 it being an established rule with the tenants of the theatrical ,olympus that nothing shall be heard save their own thunders1 previously to the pantomime on ,st4 ,stephen's night4 ,the most famous pantomime which has been played in our times is unquestionably ,mother ,goose4 ,when it was produced1 or to whom the authorship is ascribed1 we know not2 but in #ahjh it was revived and played at the ,haymarket1 with an additional scene representing the burning of ,covent ,garden ,theatre4 ,the pantomimes of the last thirty years have failed to effect a total eclipse of the brilliancy of ,harlequin and ,mother ,goose1 or the ,golden ,egg2 which found its way into the list of provincial stock-pieces4 ,connected with this golden age of ,english pantomime1 the recollection of ,grimaldi1 ,joey ,grimaldi1 as the gallery folk delighted to call him1 is an obvious association4 ,his acting like that of ,liston must have been seen to be understood or appreciated2 for no description can convey an adequate idea of the power of expression and gesture4 ,they who have not seen ,joey may never hope to look upon his like2 and they who have seen him must never expect to see his like again4 ,on the ,english stage never was clown like ,grimaldi6 ,he was far more than a clown1 he was a great comic actor4 ,but his constitution soon gave way under the trials to which it was exposed4 ,in the depth of winter1 after performing at ,sadler's ,wells1 he was brought down night after night wrapped in blankets to ,covent ,garden2 and there had1 for the second time in the course of the same evening1 to go through the allotted series of grimaces1 leaps1 and tumbles4 ,poor ,grimaldi1 sunk by these exertions into a premature old age1 was finally obliged to retire from the stage on the #bgth of ,june1 #ahbh2 and the ,literary ,gazette thus pleasantly1 but feelingly1 announced his intention3-- ,our immense favorite1 ,grimaldi1 under the severe pressure of years and infirmities1 is enabled through the good feeling and prompt liberality of ,mr4 ,price1 to take a benefit at ,drury ,lane on ,friday next2 the last of ,joseph ,grimaldi6 ,drury's1 ,covent ,garden's1 ,sadler's1 everybody's ,joe6 ,the friend of ,harlequin and ,farley-kin6 the town clown6 greatest of fools6 daintiest of motleys6 the true ami des enfans6 ,the tricks and changes of life1 sadder1 alas6 than those of pantomime1 have made a dismal difference between the former flapping1 filching1 laughing1 bounding antic and the present ,grimaldi4 ,he has no spring in his foot1 no mirth in his eye6 ,the corners of his mouth droop mournfully earthward2 and he stoops in the back1 like the weariest of ,time's porters6 ,l',allegro has done with him1 and ,il ,penseroso claims him for its own6 ,it is said1 besides1 that his pockets are neither so large nor so well stuffed as they used to be on the stage3 and it is hard to suppose fun without funds1 or broad grins in narrow circumstances4 ,the mummers1 who still go about at this season of the year in some parts of ,england1 are the last descendants of those maskers1 who in former times1 as we have shown at length1 contributed to the celebrations of the season1 at once amongst the highest and lowest classes of the land2 as their performances present1 also1 the last semblances of those ancient ,mysteries and ,moralities1 by which the splendid pageants of the court were preceded4 ,sir ,walter ,scott1 in a note to ,marmion1 seems to intimate that these mummeries are1 in fact1 the offspring and relics of the old ,mysteries themselves4 ,the fact1 however1 seems rather to be1 that these exhibitions existed before the introduction of the ,scripture plays2 and that the one and the other are separate forms of a practice copied directly from the festival observances of the pagans4 ,accordingly1 ,brand speaks of a species of mumming which consists in changing clothes between men and women who1 when dressed in each other's habits go from one neighbor's house to another1 partaking of ,christmas cheer and making merry with them in disguise2 and which practice he traces directly to the ,roman ,sigillaria4 ,in various parts of the ,continent also1 as in ,france and ,germany1 certain forms of mumming long existed1 which appear to have been originally borrowed from the rites of idolatry3 and the ,scottish ,guisars1 or ,guisarts1 if the very ingenious explanation of their hogmanay cry given by ,mr4 ,repp 7and for which we refer our readers to vol4 iv41 part #a1 of the ,archologia ,scotica7 be correct1 connect themselves with the superstitions of the northern nations4 ,amongst the forms of ancient mumming which have come down to the present or recent times1 we may observe that the hobby-horse formed as late as the seventeenth century a prominent character1 and that something of this kind seems still to exist4 ,dr4 ,plot in his ,history of ,staffordshire mentions a performance called the ,hobby-horse ,dance1 as having taken place at ,abbot's ,bromley during the ,christmas season1 within the memory of man2 and we have already shown that a modification of the same practice continues to the present day1 or did to within a few years back1 in the ,isle of ,thanet4 ,this dance is described by ,dr4 ,plot as being composed of a person who carried the image of a horse between his legs1 made of thin boards1 and in his hand a bow and arrow4 ,the latter1 passing through a hole in the bow and stopping on a shoulder1 made a snapping noise when drawn to and fro1 keeping time with the music4 ,with this man danced six others1 carrying on their shoulders as many reindeer heads with the arms of the chief families to whom the revenues of the town belonged4 ,they danced the heys1 and other country dances4 ,to the above ,hobby-horse there belonged a pot1 which was kept by turns by the reeves of the town1 who provided cakes and ale to put into this pot1--all people who had any kindness for the good intent of the institution of the sport1 giving pence a-piece for themselves and families4 ,foreigners also that came to see it contributed2 and the money1 after defraying the expense of the cakes and ale1 went to repair the church and support the poor4 ,a reason given by some as the origin of this practice1 we have already stated in our mention of hodening2 and our readers will see that its object1 like that of the other similar observances of this season1 was charity4 ,in some parts of the north of ,england1 a custom exists to the present time which appears to be composed of the ancient ,roman sword-dance1 or1 perhaps1 the sword-dance of the northern nations1 and lingering traces of the obsolete ,festival of ,fools4 ,this practice1 which is called the ,fool ,plough1 consists in a pageant composed of a number of sword-dancers dragging a plough1 with music1 and one1 sometimes two1 in very strange attire2 the ,bessy in the grotesque habit of an old woman1 and the fool almost covered with skins1 a hairy cap on1 and the tail of some animal hanging from his back4 ,the office of one of these characters1 in which he is very assiduous1 is to go about rattling a box amongst the spectators of the dance1 in which he receives their little donations4 ,our readers will probably remember that a set of these mummers are introduced by ,washington ,irving1 in his account of a ,christmas spent in ,yorkshire4 ,the old ,christmas play of ,saint ,george and the ,dragon is still amongst the most popular amusements of this season1 in many parts of ,england4 ,whether this particular kind of performance is to be considered as dating from the return of the ,crusaders1 or that similar representations had existed previously1 the characters of which alone were changed by that event1 does not appear from any other remains that have reached us4 ,there is evidence1 however1 that plays founded upon the legend of ,saint ,george are of a very remote date2 and1 in all probability1 they were introduced not long after the age of the ,crusades4 ,from various contributors to ,mr4 ,hone's ,every-,day ,book1 we learn that versions of these plays are still performed amongst the lower orders at the ,christmas tide1 in the extreme western counties of ,england1 as also in ,cumberland1 and some others of the more northern ones2 and one of those correspondents1 dating from ,falkirk1 gives an account of a play still performed by the ,guisars1 in some parts of ,scotland1 which is of similar construction and evidently borrowed from the same source1 but in which one ,galgacus is substituted for ,saint ,george1 as the hero of the piece2 and the drama is made by that substitution to commemorate the successful battle of the ,grampians1 by the ,scots under that leader1 against the invader1 ,agricola4 ,if ,mr4 ,reddock be right in this opinion1 ,agricola is for the nonce elevated to the title of king of ,macedon4 ,the party who carries the bag for these mummers is a very questionable trustee1 being no other than ,judas ,iscariot4 ,sir ,walter ,scott1 in his notes to ,marmion1 speaks of the same play as one in which he and his companions were in the habit of taking parts1 when boys2 and mentions the characters of the old ,scripture-plays having got mixed up with it in the version familiar to him4 ,he enumerates ,saint ,peter1 who carried the keys2 ,saint ,paul1 who was armed with a sword2 and ,judas1 who had the bag for contributions2 and says that he believes there was also a ,saint ,george4 ,it is not unlikely there might1 though he is not mentioned by ,mr4 ,reddock1 for the confusion of characters in all these versions is very great4 ,in the ,whitehaven edition1 ,saint ,george is son to the king of ,egypt1 and the hero who carries all before him is ,alexander4 ,he conquers ,saint ,george and kills the king of ,egypt4 ,in fact the legend1 as it exists in the old romance of ,sir ,bevys of ,hampton1 has everywhere been mixed up with extraneous matter1 and scarcely any two sets of performers render it alike4 ,the plot seems1 in all1 to be pretty nearly the same2 and the doctor1 with his marvellous cures and empirical gibberish1 seems to be common to them all4 ,but so little1 says ,sandys1 do the actors know the history of their own drama1 that sometimes ,general ,wolfe is introduced1 who first fights ,saint ,george1 and then sings a song about his own death4 ,i have also seen the ,duke of ,wellington represented4 ,mr4 ,reddock mentions1 that during the war with ,france one of the characters in his version was made to say that he had been 'fighting the ,french1' and that the loon who took leg-bail was no less a personage than the great ,napoleon4 ,mr4 ,sandys mentions that occasionally there is a sort of anti-masque1 or burlesque 7if the burlesque itself can be burlesqued7 at the end of the performance2 when some comic characters enter1 called ,hub ,bub1 ,old ,squire1 etc41 and the piece concludes with a dance4 ,at other times1 the performances are wound up by a song4 ,we may mention that we have in our possession an ,irish version of the same play1 as it is still played by the boys in that country2 in which version1 as might be expected1 the championship is given to ,saint ,patrick1 who asserts that ,saint ,george was nothing more than ,saint ,patrick's boy1 and fed his horses4 ,another of the characters in this edition of the story is ,oliver ,cromwell1 who1 after certain grandiloquent boastings 7amongst others1 that he had conquered many nations with his copper nose71 calls upon no less personage than ,beelzebub to step in and confirm his assertions4 ,the costume and accoutrements of these mummers 7of whom we have given a representation at page #fe7 appear to be pretty generally of the same kind1 and1 for the most part1 to resemble those of morris-dancers4 ,they are thus correctly described by ,mr4 ,sandys4 ,saint ,george and the other tragic performers wear white trousers and waistcoats1 showing their shirt-sleeves1 and are much decorated with ribbons and handkerchiefs1 each carrying a drawn sword in his hand1 if they can be procured1 otherwise a cudgel4 ,they wear high caps of pasteboard covered with fancy paper1 adorned with beads1 small pieces of looking-glass1 bugles1 etc41 several long strips of pith generally hanging down from the top1 with shreds of different colored cloth strung on them1 the whole having a fanciful and smart effect4 ,the ,turk sometimes has a turban4 ,father ,christmas is personified as a grotesque old man1 wearing a large mask and wig1 with a huge club in his hand4 ,the doctor1 who is sort of merry-andrew to the piece1 is dressed in some ridiculous way1 with a three-cornered hat and painted face4 ,the female when there is one1 is in the costume of her great-grandmother4 ,the hobby-horse1 when introduced1 has a sort of representation of a horse's hide2 but the dragon and the giant1 when there is one1 frequently appear with the same style of dress as the knights4 ,we will present our readers with the version of this old drama given by ,mr4 ,sandys1 as still performed in ,cornwall4 ,elsewhere1 we have met with some slight variations upon even this ,cornwall piece1 but will be content to print it as we find it in the collection in question4 ,our ,lancashire readers will at once recognize its close resemblance to the play performed in that county1 about the time of ,easter1 by the ,peace-eggers1 or ,paste-eggers1 of whom we shall speak1 in their proper place1 in a future volume4 ,enter the ,turkish ,knight4 ,open your doors and let me in1 ,i hope your favors ,i shall win2 ,whether ,i rise or whether ,i fall ,i'll do my best to please you all4 ,saint ,george is here1 and swears he will come in1 ,and if he does1 ,i know he'll pierce my skin4 ,if you will not believe what ,i do say1 ,let ,father ,christmas come in1--clear the way6 ,retires4 ,enter ,father ,christmas4 ,here come ,i1 old ,father ,christmas1 ,welcome1 or welcome not1 ,i hope old ,father ,christmas ,will never be forgot4 ,i am not come here to laugh or to jeer1 ,but for a pocketful of money and a skinful of beer4 ,if you will not believe what ,i do say1 ,come in the ,king of ,egypt1--clear the way6 ,enter the ,king of ,egypt4 ,here ,i1 the ,king of ,egypt1 boldly do appear1 ,saint ,george6 ,saint ,george6 walk in1 my only son and heir4 ,walk in1 my son1 ,saint ,george6 and boldly act thy part1 ,that all the people here may see thy wond'rous art4 ,enter ,saint ,george4 ,here come ,i1 ,saint ,george1 from ,britain did ,i spring1 ,i'll fight the ,dragon bold1 my wonders to begin1 ,i'll clip his wings1 he shall not fly2 ,i'll cut him down1 or else ,i die4 ,enter the ,dragon4 ,who's he that seeks the ,dragon's blood1 ,and calls so angry1 and so loud8 ,that ,english dog1 will he before me stand8 ,i'll cut him down with my courageous hand4 ,with my long teeth and scurvy jaw1 ,of such ,i'd break up half a score1 ,and stay my stomach1 till ,i'd more4 ,saint ,george and the ,dragon fight1--the latter is killed4 ,father ,christmas4 ,is there a doctor to be found ,all ready1 near at hand1 ,to cure a deep and deadly wound1 ,and make the champion stand8 ,enter ,doctor4 ,oh6 yes1 there is a doctor to be found ,all ready1 near at hand1 ,to cure a deep and deadly wound1 ,and make the champion stand4 ,fa4 ,chris4 ,what can you cure8 ,doctor4 ,all sorts of diseases1 ,whatever you pleases1 ,the phthisic1 the palsy1 and the gout2 ,if the devil's in1 ,i'll blow him out4 ,fa4 ,chris4 ,what is your fee8 ,doctor4 ,fifteen pound1 it is my fee1 ,the money to lay down2 ,but1 as 'tis such a rogue as thee1 ,i cure for ten pound4 ,i carry a little bottle of alicumpane1 ,here ,jack1 take a little of my flip flop1 ,pour it down thy tip top1 ,rise up and fight again4 ,the ,doctor performs his cure1 the fight is renewed1 and the ,dragon again killed4 ,saint ,george4 ,here am ,i1 ,saint ,george1 ,that worthy champion bold6 ,and with my sword and spear ,i won three crowns of gold6 ,i fought the fiery dragon1 ,and brought him to the slaughter2 ,by that ,i won fair ,sabra1 ,the ,king of ,egypt's daughter4 ,where is the man1 that now me will defy8 ,i'll cut his giblets full of holes1 and make his buttons fly4 ,the ,turkish ,knight advances4 ,here come ,i1 the ,turkish knight1 ,come from the ,turkish land to fight6 ,i'll fight ,saint ,george1 who is my foe1 ,i'll make him yield1 before ,i go2 ,he brags to such a high degree1 ,he thinks there's none can do the like of he4 ,saint ,george4 ,where is the ,turk1 that will before me stand8 ,i'll cut him down with my courageous hand4 ,they fight1 the ,knight is overcome1 and falls on one knee4 ,turkish ,knight4 ,oh6 pardon me1 ,saint ,george6 pardon of thee ,i crave1 ,oh6 pardon me1 this night1 and ,i will be thy slave4 ,saint ,george4 ,no pardon shalt thou have1 while ,i have foot to stand4 ,so rise thee up again1 and fight out sword in hand4 ,they fight again1 and the ,knight is killed2 ,father ,christmas calls for the ,doctor1 with whom the same dialogue occurs as before1 and the cure is performed4 ,enter the ,giant ,turpin4 ,here come ,i1 the ,giant6 bold ,turpin is my name1 ,and all the nations round do tremble at my fame4 ,where'er ,i go1 they tremble at my sight1 ,no lord or champion long with me would fight4 ,saint ,george4 ,here's one that dares to look thee in the face1 ,and soon will send thee to another place4 ,they fight1 and the ,giant is killed2 medical aid is called in1 as before1 and the cure performed by the ,doctor1 who then1 according to the stage direction1 is given a basin of girdy grout1 and a kick1 and driven out4 ,father ,christmas4 ,now1 ladies and gentlemen1 your sport is most ended4 ,so prepare for the hat1 which is highly commended4 ,the hat it would speak1 if it had but a tongue4 ,come throw in your money1 and think it no wrong4 ,and these1 with the dance filling up the intervals and enlivening the winter nights1 are amongst the sports and amusements which extend themselves over the ,christmas season and connect together its more special and characteristic observances4 ,illustration3 ,,galantee ,,show4 ,illustration3 ,,market--,,christmas ,,eve4--,page #bfg4 ,,christmas ,,eve4 #bd,,th ,,december4 ,some say1 that ever 'gainst that season comes ,wherein our ,saviour's birth is celebrated1 ,this bird of dawning singeth all night long3 ,and then1 they say1 no spirit dares stir abroad2 ,the nights are wholesome2 then no planets strike1 ,no fairy takes1 nor witch hath power to charm1 ,so hallow'd and so gracious is the time4 ,,hamlet4 ,,the progress of the ,christmas celebrations has at length brought us up to the immediate threshold of that high day in honor of which they are all instituted2 and amid the crowd of festivities by which it is on all sides surrounded1 the ,christian heart makes a pause to-night4 ,not that the ,eve of ,christmas is marked by an entire abstinence from that spirit of festival by which the rest of this season is distinguished1 nor that the joyous character of the event on whose immediate verge it stands requires that it should4 ,no part of that season is more generally dedicated to the assembling of friends than are the great day itself and the eve which ushers it in4 ,still1 however1 the feelings of rejoicing which properly belong to the blessed occasion are chastened by the immediate presence of the occasion itself2 and touching traditions and beautiful superstitions have given an air of solemnity to the night1 beneath whose influence the spirit of commemoration assumes a religious character1 and takes a softened tone4 ,before however1 touching upon the customs and ceremonies of the night1 or upon those natural superstitions which have hung themselves around its sacred watches1 we must take a glimpse at an out-of-door scene which forms a curious enough feature of ,christmas ,eve1 and is rather connected with the great festival of to-morrow than with the hushed and expectant feelings which are the fitting moral condition of to-night4 ,everywhere throughout the ,british isles ,christmas ,eve is marked by an increased activity about the good things of this life4 ,now1 says ,stevenson1 an old writer whom we have already quoted for the customs of ,charles the ,second's time1 capons and hens1 besides turkeys1 geese1 ducks1 with beef and mutton1 must all die2 for in twelve days a multitude of people will not be fed with a little2 and the preparations in this respect of this present period of grace1 are made much after the ancient prescription of ,stevenson4 ,the abundant displays of every kind of edible in the ,london markets on ,christmas ,eve1 with a view to the twelve days' festival of which it is the overture1 the blaze of lights amid which they are exhibited and the evergreen decorations by which they are embowered1 together with the crowds of idlers or of purchasers that wander through these well-stored magazines1 present a picture of abundance and a congress of faces well worthy of a single visit from the stranger1 to whom a ,london market on the eve of ,christmas is as yet a novelty4 ,the approach of ,christmas ,eve in the metropolis is marked by the ,smithfield show of over-fed cattle2 by the enormous beasts and birds1 for the fattening of which medals and cups and prizes have been awarded by committees of amateur graziers and feeders2 in honor of which monstrosities1 dinners have been eaten1 toasts drunk1 and speeches made4 ,these prodigious specimens of corpulency we behold1 after being thus glorified1 led like victims of antiquity decked with ribbons and other tokens of triumph1 or perhaps instead of led1 we should1 as the animals are scarcely able to waddle1 have used the word goaded1 to be immolated at the altar of gluttony in celebration of ,christmas6 ,to admiring crowds1 on the eve itself1 are the results of oil-cake and turnip-feeding displayed in the various butcher's shops of the metropolis and its vicinity2 and the efficacy of walnut-cramming is illustrated in ,leadenhall market1 where ,norfolk turkeys and ,dorking fowls appear in numbers and magnitude unrivalled4 ,the average weight given for each turkey1 by the statement heretofore quoted by us of the number and gravity of those birds sent up to ,london from ,norfolk during two days of a ,christmas some years ago1 is nearly twelve pounds2 but what is called a fine bird in ,leadenhall ,market weighs1 when trussed1 from eighteen to one or two-and-twenty pounds1--the average price of which may be stated at twenty shillings2 and prize turkeys have been known to weigh more than a quarter of a hundred weight4 ,brawn is another dish of this season1 and is sold by the poulterers1 fishmongers1 and pastry-cooks4 ,the supply for the consumption of ,london is chiefly derived from ,canterbury1 ,oxfordshire1 and ,hampshire4 ,it is manufactured from the flesh of large boars1 which are suffered to live in a half-wild state1 and1 when put up to fatten1 are strapped and belted tight round the principal parts of the carcass1 in order to make the flesh become dense and brawny4 ,this article comes to market in rolls about two feet long and ten inches in diameter1 packed in wicker baskets4 ,sandys observes that ,brawn is a dish of great antiquity1 and may be found in most of the old bills of fare for coronation and other great feasts4 ,brawn1 mustard1 and malmsey were directed for breakfast at ,christmas1 during ,queen ,elizabeth's reign2 and ,dugdale1 in his account of the ,inner ,temple ,revels1 of the same age1 states the same directions for that society4 ,the ,french1 continues ,sandys1 do not appear to have been so well acquainted with it2 for1 on the capture of ,calais by them1 they found a large quantity1 which they guessed to be some dainty1 and tried every means of preparing it2 in vain did they roast it1 bake it1 and boil it2 it was impracticable and impenetrable to their culinary arts4 ,its merits1 however1 being at length discovered1 ',ha6' said the monks1 'what delightful fish6'--and immediately added it to their fast-day viands4 ,the ,jews1 again1 could not believe it was procured from that impure beast1 the hog1 and included it in their list of clean animals4 ,amid the interior forms to be observed1 on this evening1 by those who would keep their ,christmas after the old orthodox fashion1 the first to be noticed is that of the ,yule ,clog4 ,this huge block1 which1 in ancient times1 and consistently with the capacity of its vast receptacle1 was frequently the root of a large tree1 it was the practice to introduce into the house with great ceremony1 and to the sound of music4 ,herrick's direction is3-- ,come1 bring with a noise ,my merrie1 merrie boys1 ,the ,christmas log to the firing2 ,while my good dame she ,bids you all be free1 ,and drink to your heart's desiring4 ,in ,drake's ,winter ,nights mention is made of the ,yule ,clog1 as lying1 in ponderous majesty1 on the kitchen floor1 until each had sung his ,yule song1 standing on its centre1--ere it was consigned to the flames that ,went roaring up the chimney wide4 ,this ,yule ,clog1 according to ,herrick1 was to be lighted with the brand of the last year's log1 which had been carefully laid aside for the purpose1 and music was to be played during the ceremony of lighting3-- ,with the last yeere's brand ,light the new block1 and ,for good successe in his spending1 ,on your psaltries play1 ,that sweet luck may ,come while the log is a teending4 ,this log appears to have been considered as sanctifying the roof-tree1 and was probably deemed a protection against those evil spirits over whom this season was in every way a triumph4 ,accordingly1 various superstitions mingled with the prescribed ceremonials in respect of it4 ,from the authority already quoted on this subject1 we learn that its virtues were not to be extracted1 unless it were lighted with clean hands--a direction1 probably1 including both a useful household hint to the domestics1 and1 it may be1 a moral of a higher kind3-- ,wash your hands or else the fire ,will not tend to your desire2 ,unwash'd hands1 ye maidens1 know1 ,dead the fire though ye blow4 ,around this fire1 when duly lighted1 the hospitalities of the evening were dispensed2 and as the flames played about it and above it1 with a pleasant song of their own1 the song and the tale and the jest went cheerily round4 ,in different districts1 different omens attached themselves to circumstances connected with this observance1 but generally it was deemed an evil one if the log went out during the night or1 we suppose1 during the symposium4 ,the extinguished brand was1 of course1 to be preserved1 to furnish its ministry to the ceremonial of the ensuing year4 ,the ,yule ,clog is still lighted up1 on ,christmas ,eve1 in various parts of ,england1 and particularly in the north4 ,in some places1 where a block of sufficient dimensions is not readily come by1 it is usual to lay aside a large coal for the purpose1 which1 if not quite orthodox1 is an exceedingly good succedaneum1 and a very rich source of cheerful inspirations4 ,another feature of this evening1 in the houses of the more wealthy1 was the tall ,christmas candles1 with their wreaths of evergreens1 which were lighted up1 along with the ,yule log1 and placed on the upper table1 or dais1 of ancient days4 ,those of our readers who desire to light the ,christmas candles1 this year1 may place them on the sideboard1 or in any other conspicuous situation4 ,brand1 however1 considers the ,yule log and the ,christmas candle to be but one observance1 and that the former is only a substitute for the latter4 ,by our ancestors1 of the ,latin church1 ,christmas was formerly called the ,feast of ,lights1 and numbers of lights were displayed on the occasion4 ,the lights and the title were both typical of the religious light dawning upon the world at that sacred period1--of the advent1 in fact1 of the ,light of lights1 and the conquest over moral darkness4 ,hence1 it is thought1 arose the domestic ceremony of the ,christmas candle1 and that the ,yule block was but another form of the same1--the poor man's ,christmas candle4 ,occasionally1 the ,catholics appear to have made these ,christmas candles 7as also the candles exhibited by them1 on other occasions of the commemorations connected with their religion7 in a triangular form1 as typical of the ,trinity4 ,mr4 ,hone1 in his volume on the subject of ,ancient ,mysteries1 gives a representation of one of these candles2 and ,mr4 ,crofton ,croker1 in a letter to us1 speaking of the huge dip candles called ,christmas candles1 exhibited at this season in the chandlers' shops in ,ireland1 and presented by them to their customers1 says1 ,it was the custom1 ,i have been told 7for the mystery of such matters was confined to the kitchen71 to burn the three branches down to the point in which they united1 and the remainder was reserved to 'see in1' as it was termed1 the new year by4 ,there is1 says ,mr4 ,croker1 always considerable ceremony observed in lighting these great candles on ,christmas ,eve4 ,it is thought unlucky to snuff one2 and certain auguries are drawn from the manner and duration of their burning4 ,illustration3 ,,wassail ,,bowl4--,page #bge4 ,the customs peculiar to ,christmas ,eve are numerous1 and various in different parts of the ,british isles2 the peculiarities1 in most cases1 arising from local circumstances or traditions1 and determining the particular forms of a celebration which is universal4 ,to enter upon any thing like an enumeration of these1 it would be necessary to allow ourselves another volume4 ,we must1 therefore1 confine ourselves to the general observances by which the ,christmas spirit works1 and each of our readers will have no difficulty in connecting the several local customs which come under his own notice with the particular feature of common celebration to which they belong4 ,but all men1 in all places1 who would keep ,christmas ,eve as ,christmas ,eve should be kept1 must set the wassail-bowl a-flowing for the occasion4 ,fill me a mighty bowl6 says ,herrick1 up to the brim6 and though this fountain of quips and cranks and wreathed smiles1 belongs1 in an especial sense1 to ,twelfth-night 7,twelfth-night not being ,twelfth-night without it71 yet it should be compounded for every one of the festival nights1 and invoked to spread its inspirations over the entire season4 ,honor to you who sit ,near to the well of wit1 ,and drink your fill of it6 again says our friend ,herrick 7what could we do without him1 in this ,christmas book of ours874 ,and surely1 judging by such effects as we have witnessed1 ,herrick must have meant the wassail-bowl4 ,we are perfectly aware that there are certain other dwellers in that same bowl4 ,truth has been said to lie at the bottom of a well2 and we have certainly seen him unseasonably brought up out of the very well in question1 by those who have gone further into its depths than was necessary for reaching the abode of wit4 ,no doubt1 truth is at all times a very respectable personage2 but there are certain times when he and wit do not meet on the best of terms1 and he is apt1 occasionally1 to be somewhat of a revel-marrer4 ,the garb and temper in which he often follows wit out of that bowl are not those in which he appears to the most advantage4 ,we know1 also1 that there is yet a deeper deep1 in which worse things still reside2 and although there be pearls there1 too1--and the skilful diver may bring treasures up out of that bowl1 and escape all its evil spirits1 besides1--yet it is1 at any rate1 not on this night of subdued mirth that we intend to recommend an exploration of these further depths4 ,but still the bowl should be produced1 and go round4 ,a cheerful sporting with the light bubbles that wit flings up to its surface are perfectly consistent with the sacred character of the night1 and1 for ourselves1 we will have a wassail-bowl this ,christmas ,eve4 ,the word wassail is derived from the ,saxon was haile2 which word1 and drinc-heil 7heil1 health7 were1 as appears from old authors quoted by ,brand1 the usual ancient phrases of quaffing1 among the ,english and equivalent to the ,here's to you1 and ,i pledge you1 of the present day4 ,the wassail-bowl1 says ,warton1 is ,shakspeare's gossip's bowl1 in the ,midsummer ,night's ,dream4 ,it should be composed1 by those who can afford it1 of some rich wine highly spiced and sweetened1 with roasted apples floating on its surface4 ,but ale was more commonly substituted for the wine1 mingled with nutmeg1 ginger1 sugar1 toast1 and roasted crabs4 ,it is1 says ,leigh ,hunt1 a good-natured bowl1 and accommodates itself to the means of all classes1 rich and poor4 ,you may have it of the costliest wine or the humblest malt liquor4 ,but in no case must the roasted apples be forgotten4 ,they are the sine qua non of the wassail-bowl1 as the wassail-bowl is of the day 7he is speaking of ,new ,year's ,day72 and very pleasant they are1 provided they are not mixed up too much with the beverage1 balmy1 comfortable1 and different1 a sort of meat in the drink1 but innocent withal and reminding you of the orchards4 ,they mix their flavor with the beverage1 and the beverage with them1 giving a new meaning to the line of the poet1-- ',the gentler apple's winy juice2' for both winy and gentler have they become by this process4 ,our ancestors gave them the affectionate name of 'lamb's wool2' for we cannot help thinking1 in spite of what is intimated by one of our authorities1 that this term applied more particularly to the apples and not so much to the bowl altogether2 though if it did1 it shows how indispensably necessary to it they were considered4 ,with all deference to ,mr4 ,leigh ,hunt's pleasant and graceful trifling1 lamb's wool was the title given to the composition itself1 no doubt on account of the delicate and harmonious qualities1 to which the apples contribute their share4 ,our readers will find an account of the alleged origin of this annual practice in a curious description of an old wassail-bowl1 carved upon the oaken beam that supported a chimney-piece in an old mansion in ,kent1 which description is copied by ,hone into his ,every-,day ,book1 from the ,antiquarian ,repertory4 ,in the halls of our ancestors1 this bowl was introduced with the inspiring cry of wassail1 three times repeated1 and immediately answered by a song from the chaplain4 ,we hope our readers will sing to the wassail-bowl this ,christmas-tide4 ,we find that in some parts of ,ireland and in ,germany1 and probably in districts of ,england1 too1 ,christmas ,eve is treated as a night of omens1 and that practices exist for gathering its auguries having a resemblance to those of our northern neighbors at ,halloween4 ,many beautiful1 and some solemn superstitions belong to this night and the following morning4 ,it is stated by ,sir ,walter ,scott1 in one of his notes to ,marmion1 to be an article of popular faith1 that they who are born on ,christmas or ,good ,friday have the power of seeing spirits1 and even of commanding them2 and he adds that the ,spaniards imputed the haggard and downcast looks of their ,philip ,,ii4 to the disagreeable visions to which this privilege subjected him4 ,among the finest superstitions of the night may be mentioned that which is alluded to by ,shakspeare in the lines which we have placed as the epigraph to the present chapter4 ,it is a consequence or application of that very ancient and popular belief which assigns the night for the wanderings of spirits1 and supposes them1 at the crowing of the cock1 that is the trumpet to the morn1 to start like a guilty thing upon a fearful summons1 and betake themselves to flight4 ,here again1 as in so many cases of vulgar superstition1 a sort of mental metonymy has taken place2 and the crowing of the cock1 which in the early stage of the belief was imagined to be the signal for the departure of evil spirits1 only because it announced the morning1 is1 in the further stage which we are examining1 held to be a sound in itself intolerable to these shadowy beings4 ,accordingly it is supposed that on the eve of ,christmas the bird of dawning singeth all night long1 to scare away all evil things from infesting the hallowed hours3-- ,and then1 they say1 no spirit dares stir abroad2 ,the nights are wholesome2 then no planets strike1 ,no fairy takes1 nor witch hath power to charm1 ,so hallow'd and so gracious is the time4 ,in the south-west of ,england there exists a superstitious notion that the oxen are to be found kneeling in their stalls at midnight of this vigil1 as if in adoration of the ,nativity1--an idea which ,brand1 no doubt correctly1 supposes to have originated from the representations by early painters of the event itself4 ,that writer mentions a ,cornish peasant who told him 7#agij7 of his having with some others watched several oxen in their stalls1 on the eve of old ,christmas ,day4 ,at twelve o'clock at night1 they observed the two oldest oxen fall upon their knees1 and1 as he expressed it in the idiom of the country1 make 'a cruel moan like ,christian creatures4' ,to those who regard the analogies of the human mind1 who mark the progress of tradition1 who study the diffusion of certain fancies1 and their influence upon mankind1 an anecdote related by ,mr4 ,howison in his ,sketches of ,upper ,canada1 is full of comparative interest4 ,he mentions meeting an ,indian at midnight1 creeping cautiously along in the stillness of a beautiful moonlight ,christmas ,eve4 ,the ,indian made signals to him to be silent2 and when questioned as to his reason replied1--,me watch to see the deer kneel2 this is ,christmas night1 and all the deer fall upon their knees to the ,great ,spirit1 and look up4 ,in various parts of ,england1 bees are popularly said to express their veneration for the ,nativity by singing1 as it is called1 in their hives at midnight1 upon ,christmas ,eve3 and in some places1 particularly in ,derbyshire1 it is asserted that the watcher may hear the ringing of subterranean bells4 ,in the mining districts again1 the workmen declare that-- ,ever 'gainst that season comes ,wherein our ,saviour's birth is celebrated1 high mass is solemnly performed in that cavern which contains the richest lode of ore1 that it is brilliantly lighted up with candles1 and that the service is chanted by unseen choristers4 ,superstitions of this kind seem to be embodied in the carol commencing with ,i saw three ships come sailing in1 to which we have before alluded2 the rhythm of which old song is to our ear singularly melodious3-- ,and all the bells on earth shall ring ,on ,christmas-day1 on ,christmas-day1 ,and all the bells on earth shall ring ,on ,christmas-day in the morning4 ,and all the angels in heaven shall sing ,on ,christmas-day1 on ,christmas-day1 ,and all the angels in heaven shall sing ,on ,christmas-day in the morning4 ,and all the souls on earth shall sing ,on ,christmas-day1 on ,christmas-day1 ,and all the souls on earth shall sing1 ,on ,christmas-day in the morning4 ,such fancies are but the natural echoes in the popular mind of ancient songs and customs2 and so strongly is that mind impressed with the feeling of a triumph pervading the entire natural economy on the happy night ,that to the cottage as the crown1 ,brought tidings of salvation down1 that even the torpid bees are figured in its superstitions to utter a voice of gladness1 the music of sweet chimes to issue from the bosom of the earth1 and rich harmonies to echo and high ceremonies to be gorgeously performed1 amid the hush and mystery of buried cells4 ,we must not omit to mention that these supposed natural testimonies to the triumph of the time have been in some places used as means of divination on a very curious question4 ,the change of style introduced into our calendars nearly a century ago1 and by which ,christmas ,day was displaced from its ancient position therein1 gave great dissatisfaction on many accounts1 and on none more than that of its interference with this ancient festival4 ,the fifth and sixth of ,january continued long to be observed as the true anniversary of the ,nativity and its vigil2 and the kneeling of the cattle1 the humming of the bees1 and the ringing of subterranean bells1 were anxiously watched for authentications on this subject4 ,the singular fact of the budding about the period of old ,christmas ,day of the ,cadenham oak1 in the ,new ,forest of ,hampshire1 and the same remarkable feature of the ,glastonbury thorn 7explained in various ways1 but probably nowhere more satisfactorily than in the number for the #cast ,december1 #ahcc1 of the ,saturday ,magazine71 were of course used by the vulgar as confirmation of their own tradition2 and the putting forth of their leaves was earnestly waited for as an unquestionable homage to the joyous spirit of the true period4 ,we have already alluded to the high ceremonies with which the great day is ushered in amongst the ,catholics1 and to the beautiful music of the midnight mass3-- ,that only night of all the year ,saw the stoled priest his chalice rear4 ,the reader who would have a very graphic and striking account of the ,christmas ,eve mass1 as performed by torchlight amid the hills in certain districts of ,ireland1 will find one in ,mr4 ,carleton's ,traits and ,stories of the ,irish ,peasantry4 ,we have also mentioned that all the watches of this hallowed night shall ring to the sounds of earthly minstrelsy1 intimating1 as best they may1 the heavenly choirs that hailed its rising over ,judea nearly two centuries ago4 ,not for the shepherds alone1 was that song6 ,its music was for us1 as for them2 and all minstrelsy1 however rude1 is welcome on this night that gives us any echoes of it1 however wild4 ,for us too1 on the blessed day of which this vigil keeps the door1 is born in the city of ,david1 a ,saviour1 which is ,christ the ,lord2 and we too amid the sacred services of to-morrow will go even unto ,bethlehem1 and see this thing which is come to pass1 which the ,lord hath made known to us4 ,illustration3 ,,old ,,christmas ,in furry pall yclad1 ,his brows enwreathed with holly never sere1 ,old ,christmas comes to close the wained year3 ,bampfylde4 ,,christmas ,,day4 #be,,th ,,december4 ,,and now has arrived the great and important day itself which gives its title to the whole of this happy season1 and the high and blessed work of man's redemption is begun4 ,the pan of universal rejoicing swells up on every side2 and after those religious exercises which are the language that man's joy should take first1 the day is one of brightened spirits and general congratulation4 ,in no way can man better express his sense of its inestimable gift than by the condition of mind that receives gladly1 and gives freely2 than by mustering his worldly affections1 that he may renew them in the spirit of the time4 ,this is not the proper place to speak more minutely of the religious sentiments and services which belong to the season than we have already done4 ,we may merely remark that the streets of the city and the thousand pathways of the country are crowded on this morning by rich and poor1 young and old1 coming in on all sides1 gathering from all quarters1 to hear the particulars of the glad tidings proclaimed2 and each lofty cathedral and lowly village church sends up a voice to join the mighty chorus whose glad burthen is--,glory to ,god in the highest2 and on earth peace1 good will toward men4 ,illustration3 ,,christmas ,,pudding4--,page #bhf4 ,from the religious duties of the day1 we must turn at once to its secular observances2 and these we will take in the order1 with reference to the progress of its hours1 in which they come1 mingling the customs of modern times with those of the past in our pages1 as1 in many respects1 we wish our readers would do in practice4 ,the plate then on the other side represents the earliest1 and not the least important1 of the worldly ceremonies of the day1 the due observance thereof being essential to the due observance of that later ceremony which no man holds to be unimportant1 least of all on ,christmas ,day1 the dinner4 ,but1 oh6 ,molly ,dumpling6 oh6 thou cook6 if that clock of thine be right1 thou art far behindhand with thy work6 ,thou shouldst have risen when thou wast disturbed by the ,waits at three o'clock this morning6 ,to have discharged thy duty faithfully1 thou shouldst have consigned that huge pudding at least two hours earlier to the reeking caldron6 ,we are informed by those who understand such matters1 that a plum pudding of the ordinary size requires from ten to twelve hours boiling2 so that a pudding calculated for the appetites of such a party as our artist has assembled further on1 for its consumption1 and due regard being had to the somewhat earlier hour than on days in general at which a ,christmas dinner is commonly discussed1 should have found its way into the boiler certainly before six o'clock4 ,molly evidently wants a word of advice from the ancient bellman3-- ,up1 ,doll1 ,peg1 ,susan6 ,you all spoke to me ,betimes to call you1 and 'tis now past three1 ,get up on your but-ends1 and rub your eyes1 ,for shame1 no longer lye abed1 but rise2 ,the pewter still to scow'r and house to clean1 ,and you abed6 good girls1 what is't you mean8 ,on the subject of the identity of the modern plum pudding with the ancient hackin1 we are furnished with the following curious remarks by ,mr4 ,crofton ,croker1 which we think well worth submitting for the consideration of the curious in such matters4 ,the 'hackin1' says that amusing old tract1 entitled ',round about our ,coal ,fire1' 'must be boiled by daybreak1 or else two young men must take the maiden i4 e41 the cook by the arms1 and run her round the market-place1 till she is ashamed of her laziness4' ,brand1 whose explanation ,hone in his ,every-,day ,book has adopted1 renders 'hackin' by 'the great sausage2' and ,nares tells us1 that the word means 'a large sort of sausage1 being a part of the cheer provided for ,christmas festivities1'--deriving the word from hack1 to cut or chop4 ,agreeing in this derivation1 we do not admit ,nares's explanation4 ',hackin1' literally taken1 is mince-meat of any kind2 but ,christmas mince-meat1 everybody knows1 means a composition of meat and suet 7hacked small7 seasoned with fruit and spices4 ,and from the passage above quoted1 that 'the hackin must be boiled1 i4 e41 boiling1 by daybreak1' it is obvious the worthy archdeacon who1 as well as ,brand and ,hone1 has explained it as a great sausage1 did not see that 'hackin' is neither more nor less than the old name for the national ,english dish of plum pudding4 ,we have heard first-rate authorities upon this subject assert1 the late ,dr4 ,kitchener and ,mr4 ,douce were amongst the number1 that plum pudding1 the renowned ,english plum pudding1 was a dish comparatively speaking of modern invention2 and that plum porridge was its ancient representative4 ,but this1 for the honor of ,england1 we never would allow1 and always fought a hard battle upon the point4 ,brand indeed devotes a section of his observations on popular antiquities to ',yule-doughs1 mince-pies1 ,christmas-pies1 and plum porridge1' omitting plum pudding1 which new ,christmas dish1 or rather new name for an old ,christmas dish1 appears to have been introduced with the reign of the 'merry monarch1' ,charles ,,ii4 ,a revolution always creates a change in manners1 fashions1 tastes1 and names2 and our theory is that1 among other changes1 the 'hackin' of our ancestors was then baptized plum pudding4 ,in ,poor ,robin's ,almanack for #afgf1 it is observed of ,christmas1--',good cheer doth so abound as if all the world were made of minced-pies1 plum pudding1 and furmity4' ,and we might produce other quotations to show that1 as the name 'hackin' fell into disuse about this period1 it was generally supplanted by that of plum pudding4 ,plum pudding is a truly national dish1 and refuses to flourish out of ,england4 ,it can obtain no footing in ,france4 ,a ,frenchman will dress like an ,englishman1 swear like an ,englishman1 and get drunk like an ,englishman2 but if you would offend him forever1 compel him to eat plum pudding4 ,a few of the leading restaurateurs1 wishing to appear extraordinary1 have plomb-pooding upon their cartes2 but in no instance is it ever ordered by a ,frenchman4 ,everybody has heard the story of ,saint ,louis--,henri ,quatre1--or whoever else it might be--who1 wishing to regale the ,english ambassador on ,christmas ,day with a plum pudding1 procured an excellent receipt for making one1 which he gave to his cook with strict injunctions that it should be prepared with due attention to all particulars4 ,the weight of the ingredients1 the size of the copper1 the quantity of water1 the duration of time1--everything was attended to1 except one trifle2 the king forgot the cloth2 and the pudding was served up like so much soup1 in immense tureens1 to the surprise of the ambassador1 who was1 however1 too well-bred to express his astonishment4 ,amongst our ancestors1 the duties of the day which followed first after those of religion were the duties which immediately spring out of a religion like ours1--those of charity4 ,when ,among their children1 comfortable men ,gather about great fires1 and yet feel cold1 ,alas6 then for the houseless beggar old6 was a sentiment of which they never allowed themselves to lose sight4 ,amid the preparations making for his own enjoyment1 and the comforts by which he set at defiance the austerities of the season1 the old ,english gentleman did not forget the affecting truths so beautifully embodied in words by ,mary ,howitt3-- ,in rich men's halls1 the fire is piled1 ,and ermine robes keep out the weather2 ,in poor men's huts1 the fire is low1 ,through broken panes the keen winds blow1 ,and old and young are cold together4 ,oh6 poverty is disconsolate6 ,its pains are many1 its foes are strong6 ,the rich man1 in his jovial cheer1 ,wishes 'twas winter through the year2 ,the poor man1 'mid his wants profound1 ,with all his little children round1 ,prays ,god that winter be not long6 ,immediately after the services of the day1 the country gentleman stood of old1 at his own gate 7as we have represented him at page #aji71 and superintended the distribution of alms to the aged and the destitute4 ,the hall1 prepared for the festival of himself and his friends1 was previously opened to his tenants and retainers2 and the good things of the season were freely dispensed to all4 ,there was once1 says the writer of ,round about our ,coal ,fire1 hospitality in the land4 ,an ,english gentleman at the opening of the great day had all his tenants and neighbors enter his hall by daybreak2 the strong beer was broached1 and the black-jacks went plentifully about1 with toast1 sugar1 nutmeg1 and good ,cheshire cheese4 4 4 4 ,the servants were then running here and there with merry hearts and jolly countenances4 ,every one was busy in welcoming of guests1 and looked as snug as new-licked puppies4 ,the lasses were as blithe and buxom as the maids in good ,queen ,bess's days1 when they ate sirloins of roast-beef for breakfast4 ,peg would scuttle about to make a toast for ,john1 while ,tom run harum-scarum to draw a jug of ale for ,margery4 ,illustration3 ,,country ,,church1 ,,christmas ,,morning4--,page #bij4 ,of this scene we have given a representation at page #db2 and much of this ancient spirit1 we hope and believe1 still survives in this ,christian country4 ,the solemn festivals of ancient superstition were marked either by bloody sacrifice1 secret revelling1 or open licentiousness4 ,there was no celebration of rites1 real or symbolical1 which might become a religion of cheerfulness1 decency1 and mercy4 ,there was no medium between a mysteriousness dark and gloomy as the grave1 and a wild and savage enthusiasm or riotous frenzy1 which mingled with the worship of the gods the impassioned depravity of human nature4 ,from ,moloch1 upon whose dreadful altar children were offered1 to ,bacchus1 at whose shrine reason and virtue were prostrated1 there were none of the fabled deities of antiquity whose service united the spirit of devotion with innocent pleasures and the exercise of the domestic charities4 ,this was reserved for the ,christian religion1 one of the marks of whose divinity it is that it can mingle with many of the pleasures1 and all the virtues of the world1 without sullying the purity of its glory1--without depressing the sublime elevation of its character4 ,the rites of ,ceres were thought profaned if the most virtuous believer of the divinity of that goddess beheld them without having undergone the ceremonies of special initiation4 ,the worship of ,saturn gave rise to a liberty inconsistent with the ordinary government of states4 ,at the altar of ,diana1 on certain days1 the ,spartans flogged children to death4 ,and the offerings which on state occasions the ,romans made to ,jupiter1 were such as feudal vassals might offer to their warlike lord4 ,but now1 thank ,god6--to use the words of ,milton's ,hymn on the ,nativity1-- ,peor and ,baalim ,forsake their temples dim1 ,with that twice-batter'd ,god of ,palestine2 ,and mooned ,ashtaroth ,heaven's queen and mother both1 ,now sits not girt with tapers' holy shine2 ,the ,lybick ,hammon shrinks his horn2 ,in vain the ,tyrian maids their wounded ,thammuz mourn4 ,and sullen ,moloch1 fled1 ,has left in shadows dread ,his burning idol all of blackest hue2 ,in vain with cymbals' ring1 ,they call the grisly king1 ,in dismal dance about the furnace blue3 ,the brutish ,gods of ,nile as fast1 ,iris1 and ,orus1 and the dog ,anubis haste4 ,nor is ,osiris seen ,in ,memphian grove or green1 ,trampling the unshowered grass with lowings loud2 ,nor can he be at rest1 ,within his sacred chest2 ,nought but profoundest hell can be his shroud4 ,in vain1 with timbrelled anthems dark1 ,the sable-stoled sorcerers bear his worshipp'd ark4 ,he feels from ,judah's land ,the dreaded ,infant's hand2 ,the rays of ,bethlehem blind his dusky eyne2 ,nor all the gods beside ,longer dare abide2 ,not ,typhon huge1 ending in snaky twine3 ,our ,babe1 to show his ,god-head true1 ,can in his swaddling bands control the damned crew4 ,oh6 how different were those religions of the passions and the senses from that of the sentiments and pure affections of the ,christian heart2 which1 as it rises to heaven in sublime devotion1 expands in charity towards its kind1 until it comprehends all humanity in the bond of universal benevolence4 ,to ameliorate the temporal1 as well as elevate the spiritual state of man1 is its distinguishing excellence1 the sublime peculiarity of its character as a religious dispensation4 ,all the systems of superstition were external and gross1 or mysterious and occult4 ,they either encouraged the follies and the passions of men1 or by a vain and fruitless knowledge flattered their vanity4 ,but ,christianity came to repress the one and to dissipate the other2 to make the exercise of the virtues the result and the proof of mental attachment to the doctrines which1 while they afford grand subjects of eternal interest1 contain the principles of all true civilization4 ,it is in this religion alone that faith is the sister of charity2 that the former brightens with the beams of another world the institutions by which the latter blesses this1--those institutions of mercy and of instruction which cover the land with monuments of humanity that are nowhere to be found but among the temples of our faith4 ,and now1 when silent and desolate are even the high places over which ,augustus ruled1 fallen majestic ,rome with all her gods1 the religion proclaimed to the humble shepherds1 whose sound was first heard by the moonlight streams and under the green boughs1 has erected on the ruins of ancient grandeur a sublimer dominion than all those principalities of the earth which refused its hospitality4 ,it came in gentleness and lowliness and the spirit of peace2 and now it grasps the power of the universe1 and wields the civilized energies of the greatest of all the nations to the beneficent extension of its authority1--imperishable in its glory1 and bloodless in its triumphs6 ,illustration3 ,,bringing ,,in ,,the ,,boar',s ,,head4--,page #bie4 ,on the opposite side1 our artist has given a lively and correct representation of the high festival anciently celebrated on ,christmas ,day in the old baronial hall2 and has presented it at that important moment when the procession of the boar's head is making its way1 with the customary ceremonies1 to the upper table4 ,our account of ,christmas would not be complete without some notice of this grand dish at the feasts of our ancestors1 and some description of the forms which attended its introduction4 ,the boar's head soused1 then1 was carried into the great hall with much state1 preceded by the ,master of the ,revels1 and followed by choristers and minstrels1 singing and playing compositions in its honor4 ,dugdale relates that at the ,inner ,temple1 for the first course of the ,christmas dinner1 was served in1 a fair and large bore's head upon a silver platter1 with minstrelsye4 ,and here we would observe1 what we do not think has been before remarked1 that the boar's head carols appear to have systematically consisted of three verses4 ,a manuscript indeed which we once met with1 stated that the caroll1 upon the bringynge in of the bore's head1 was sung to the glorie of the blessed ,trinytie2 and the three subsequent illustrative specimens--in which the peculiarity mentioned may be observed--tend to confirm this notion4 ,at ,st4 ,john's1 ,oxford1 in #afjg1 before the bearer of the boar's head--who was selected for his height and lustiness1 and wore a green silk scarf1 with an empty sword-scabbard dangling at his side--went a runner dressed in a horseman's coat1 having a boar's spear in his hand1 a huntsman in green carrying the naked and bloody sword belonging to the head-bearer's scabbard1 and two pages in tafatye sarcenet1 each with a mess of mustard4 ,upon which occasion these verses were sung3-- ,the boare is dead1 ,loe1 heare is his head1 ,what man could have done more ,then his head of to strike1 ,meleager like1 ,and bringe it as ,i doe before8 ,he livinge spoyled ,where good men toyled1 ,which made kinde ,ceres sorrye2 ,but now1 dead and drawne1 ,is very good brawne1 ,and wee have brought it for ye4 ,then sett downe the swineyard1 ,the foe to the vineyard1 ,lett ,bacchus crowne his fall2 ,lett this boare's head and mustard ,stand for pigg1 goose1 and custard1 ,and so you are welcome all4 ,so important was the office of boar's-head bearer considered to be1 that1 in #aagj1 ,holinshed has chronicled the circumstance of ,england's king1 ,henry ,,ii41 bringing up to the table of his son1 the young prince1 a boar's head1 with trumpeters going before him4 ,from this species of service it is probable that many of our heraldic bearings have originated4 ,the ancient crest of the family of ,edgecumbe1 observes ,ritson1 was the boar's head crowned with bays upon a charger2 which1 he adds1 has been very injudiciously changed into the entire animal4 ,this same diligent arranger and illustrator of our old ballads gives us1 in his collection of ancient songs1 a ,boar's-head ,carol1 which probably belongs to the fourteenth century1 from a manuscript in his possession1--now1 we believe1 in the ,british ,museum4 ,in die nativitatis4 ,nowell1 nowell1 nowell1 nowell1 ,tydyngs gode y thyngke to telle4 ,the borys hede that we bryng here1 ,be tokeneth a prince with owte pere1 ,ys born this day to bye vs dere1 ,nowell4 ,a bore ys a souerayn beste1 ,and acceptable in every feste1 ,so mote thys lorde be to moste leste1 ,nowell4 ,this borys hede we bryng with song1 ,in worchyp of hym that thus sprang ,of a virgyne to redresse all wrong1 ,nowell4 ,the printing-press of ,wynkyn de ,worde has preserved to us the carol believed to have been generally used1 prior to #aeba1 upon these occasions2 a modernized version of which continues to be sung in ,queen's ,college1 ,oxford4 ,it is entitled ,a ,caroll bringyne in the ,bores heed2 and runs thus3-- ,caput apri defero ,reddens laudes ,domino1 ,the bore's heade in hande bring ,i ,with garlandes gay and rosemary1 ,i pray you all synge merely1 ,qui estis in convivio4 ,the bore's head ,i understande ,is the chefe servyce in this lande1 ,loke wherever it be fande1 ,servite cum cantico4 ,be gladde1 lordes both more and lasse1 ,for this hath ordayned our stewarde1 ,to chere you all this ,christmasse1 ,the bore's head with mustarde4 ,a tradition of the same college states the introduction there of the boar's head 7which according to ,ritson1 is now a mere representation neatly carved in wood7 to be contrived as a commemoration of an act of valor performed by a student of the college1 who while walking in the neighboring forest of ,shotover1 and reading ,aristotle1 was suddenly attacked by a wild boar4 ,the furious beast came open-mouthed upon the youth2 who1 however1 very courageously1 and with a happy presence of mind1 is said to have rammed in the volume1 and cried grcum est1 fairly choking the savage with the sage4 ,to this legend a humorous song in honor of the ,boar's head at ,queen's ,college1 ,oxford1 refers1 having for its motto1 ,tam ,marti quam ,mercurio1 but for which we cannot afford space4 ,the ancient mode of garnishing the boar's head was with sprigs of sweet-scented herbs4 ,dekker1 than whom we could not name a more appropriate authority on this subject1 speaking of persons apprehensive of catching the plague1 says1 ,they went 7most bitterly7 miching and muffled up and down1 with rue and wormwood stuft into their eares and nostrils1 looking like so many bore's heads1 stuck with branches of rosemary1 to be served in for brawne at ,christmas4 ,the following lines describe the manner of serving up this famous dish3-- ----if you would send up the brawner's head1 ,sweet rosemary and bays around it spread2 ,his foaming tusks let some large pippin grace1 ,or 'midst these thundering spears an orange place2 ,sauce like himself1 offensive to its foes1 ,the roguish mustard1 dangerous to the nose2 ,sack1 and the well spiced hippocras1 the wine ,wassail1 the bowl with ancient ribands fine1 ,porridge with plums1 and ,turkeys1 with the chine4 ,sack and hippocras are no longer to be found in our cellars2 but1 as we have shown1 we still compound the wassail-bowl4 ,illustration3 ,,christmas ,,dinner4--,page #cjj4 ,the ,christmas dinner of modern days is1 as most of our readers know1 a gathering together of generations1 an assembling of ,israel by its tribes4 ,in the one before us1 the artist has given a pretty extensive muster4 ,we have them of the seven ages and the several professions4 ,contrast with this modern ,christmas dinner1 as well as with the high festival of yore1 the dreary picture of a ,christmas ,day and dinner1 under the stern prescription of the ,puritans1 as given in his ,diary1 by ,pepys1 the chatty secretary to the ,admiralty4 #affh1 ,christmas-day4 ,to dinner1 thus he writes1 alone with my wife2 who1 poor wretch6 sat undressed all day till ten at night1 altering and lacing of a noble petticoat2 while ,i1 by her1 making the boy read to me the life of ,julius ,csar and ,des ,cartes' book of ,music4 ,to the heads of the very respectable family before us1 we have already been introduced1 in an earlier part of this volume1 and are glad to meet with them again1 under circumstances so auspicious1 and supported by their junior branches4 ,in a family so flourishing1 we might have expected to escape the exhibition of antiquated celibacy4 ,but1 no6 that is clearly an old maid1 who is hobnobbing with the gentleman in the foreground1 and1 we must say1 there is something about him which carries a strong suspicion of old-bachelorship4 ,we suppose the one and the other are to be found in most families4 ,however1 they are not the parties who least enjoy this sort of reunions4 ,we fancy1 it is known to most people that meetings of this description are very happy ones amongst the members of a family1 and remarkably uninteresting to third parties4 ,we should certainly prefer reading ,des ,cartes1 with ,pepys and his wife1 to finding ourselves a foreigner in such a group as the present4 ,but the best of the day is yet to come6 and we should have no objection to join the younger members of that group in the merry sports that await the evening4 ,we need not give the programme4 ,it is like that of all the other ,christmas nights4 ,the blazing fire1 the song1 the dance1 the riddle1 the jest1 and many another merry sport1 are of its spirits4 ,mischief will be committed under the mistletoe-bough1 and all the good wishes of the season sent round under the sanction of the wassail-bowl4 ,,st4 ,,stephen',s ,,day4 #bf,,th ,,december4 ,,this day1 which1 in our calendar1 is still dedicated to the first ,christian martyr1 ,st4 ,stephen 7for ,john the ,baptist perished in the same cause before the consummation of the old law and the full introduction of the ,christian dispensation71 is more popularly known by the title of ,boxing-day2 and its importance amongst the ,christmas festivities is derived from the practice whence that title comes4 ,illustration3 ,,boxing ,,day4--,page #cjb4 ,we have already mentioned that the custom of bestowing gifts at seasons of joyous commemoration1 has been a form of thankfulness at most periods2 and that it may have been directly borrowed1 by the ,christian worshippers1 from the polytheists of ,rome1 along with those other modes of celebration which descended to the ,christmas festival from that source1--introduced1 however1 amongst our own observances1 under ,scripture sanctions1 drawn both from the old and new ,testaments4 ,the particular form of that practice whose donations are known by the title of ,christmas-boxes 7and which appear to differ from ,new-year's gifts in this1 that the former1 passing from the rich to the poor and from the master to his dependants1 are not reciprocal in their distribution1 whereas the latter are those gifts1 for the mutual expression of goodwill and congratulation1 which are exchanged between friends and acquaintances71 was1 perhaps1 originally one of the observances of ,christmas ,day1 and made a portion of its charities4 ,the multiplied business of that festival1 however1 probably caused it to be postponed till the day following1 and thereby placed the ,christmas-boxes under the patronage of ,st4 ,stephen4 ,the title itself has been derived1 by some1 from the box which was kept on board of every vessel that sailed upon a distant voyage1 for the reception of donations to the priest1--who1 in return1 was expected to offer masses for the safety of the expedition1 to the particular saint having charge of the ship1--and above all1 of the box4 ,this box was not to be opened till the return of the vessel2 and we can conceive that1 in cases where the mariners had had a perilous time of it1 this casket would be found to enclose a tolerable offering4 ,probably the state of the box might be as good an evidence as the log-book1 of the character of the voyage which had been achieved4 ,the mass was at that time called ,christmass1 and the boxes kept to pay for it were1 of course1 called ,christmass-boxes4 ,the poor1 amongst those who had an interest in the fate of these ships1 or of those who sailed in them1 were in the habit of begging money from the rich1 that they might contribute to the mass boxes2 and hence the title which has descended to our day1 giving to the anniversary of ,st4 ,stephen's martyrdom the title of ,christmas-boxing day1 and1 by corruption1 its present popular one of ,boxing-day4 ,a relic of these ancient boxes yet exists in the earthen or wooden box1 with a slit in it1 which still bears the same name1 and is carried by servants and children for the purpose of gathering money1 at this season1 being broken only when the period of collection is supposed to be over4 ,most of our readers know that it was the practice1 not many years ago 7and in some places is so still71 for families to keep lists of the servants1 of tradesmen and others1 who were considered to have a claim upon them for a ,christmas-box1 at this time4 ,the practice1 besides opening a door to great extortion1 is one in every way of considerable annoyance1 and is on the decline4 ,there is1 however1 as they who are exposed to it know1 some danger in setting it at defiance1 where it is yet in force4 ,one of the most amusing circumstances arising out of this determination to evade the annoyances of ,boxing-day1 is related by ,sandys4 ,a person in trade had imprudently given directions that he should be denied1 on this day1 to all applicants for money2 and amongst those who presented themselves at his door1 on this errand1 was unfortunately a rather importunate creditor4 ,in the height of his indignation at being somewhat uncourteously repulsed1 he immediately consulted his lawyer1 and1 having done that1 we need scarcely relate the catastrophe4 ,it follows as a matter of course4 ,a docket was struck against the unsuspecting victim of ,christmas-boxophobia4 ,boxing-day1 however1 is still a great day in ,london4 ,upon this anniversary1 every street resounds with the clang of hall-door knockers4 ,rap follows rap1 in rapid succession1 the harsh and discordant tones of iron mingling with those of rich and sonorous brass1 and giving a degenerate imitation of the brazen clangor of the trumpet1 which formed the summons to the gate in days of old1 and which1 together with the martial music of the drum1 appears to have been adopted1 at a later period1 by the ,christmas-boxers1 on ,st4 ,stephen's ,day4 ,pepys1 in his ,diary 7#affh71 records his having been called up by drums and trumpets2 these things and boxes1 he adds1 have cost me much money this ,christmas1 and will do more4 ,which passage seems to have been in the memory of our facetious publisher1 when he made the following entry in his journal of last year1 from whence we have taken the liberty of transcribing it4 ,called out1 says ,spooner 7#ahcd71 by the parish beadle1 dustmen1 and charity-boys4 ,the postman1 street-sweepers1 chimney-sweepers1 lamp-lighters1 and waits will all be sure to wait upon me4 ,these fellows have cost me much money this ,christmas1 and will do more1 the next4 ,there is an amusing account1 given by a writer of the querulous class1 of a boxing-day in ,london1 a century ago4 ,by the time ,i was up1 says he1 my servants could do nothing but run to the door4 ,inquiring the meaning1 ,i was answered1 the people were come for their ,christmas-box3 this was logic to me2 but ,i found at last that1 because ,i had laid out a great deal of ready-money with my brewer1 baker1 and other tradesmen1 they kindly thought it my duty to present their servants with some money1 for the favor of having their goods4 ,this provoked me a little1 but being told it was the 'custom1' ,i complied4 ,these were followed by the watch1 beadles1 dustmen1 and an innumerable tribe2 but what vexed me the most was the clerk1 who has an extraordinary place1 and makes as good an appearance as most tradesmen in the parish2 to see him come a-boxing1 alias1 a-begging1 ,i thought was intolerable2 however ,i found it was 'the custom1' too2 so ,i gave him half-a-crown1 as ,i was likewise obliged to do to the bellman1 for breaking my rest for many nights together4 ,the manner in which the beadle approaches his good masters and mistresses1 for a ,christmas-box1 particularly in the villages near the ,british metropolis1 is1 as we have before said1 by the presentation of a copy of printed verses1 ornamented with wood engravings4 ,these broadsides are usually termed ,bellman's verses2 and we quite agree with ,mr4 ,leigh ,hunt in his opinion1 that good bellman's verses will not do at all4 ,there have been1 he remarks1 some such things of late 'most tolerable and not to be endured4' ,we have seen them witty1 which is a great mistake4 ,warton and ,cowper unthinkingly set the way4 ,the very absurdity of the bellman's verses is only pleasant1 nay1 only bearable1 when we suppose them written by some actual doggrel-poet1 in good faith4 ,mere mediocrity hardly allows us to give our ,christmas-box1 or to believe it now-a-days in earnest2 and the smartness of your cleverest wordly-wise men is felt to be wholly out of place4 ,no1 no6 give us the good old decrepit bellman's verses1 hobbling as their bringer1 and taking themselves for something respectable1 like his cocked-hat1--or give us none at all4 ,upon the bellman's verses which were last year circulated by the beadles of ,putney1 ,chiswick1 and other parishes on the west side of ,london1 it was recorded1 that they were first printed in the year #agce1 and our curiosity induced us to inquire of the printer the number annually consumed4 ,we used1 sir1 said he1 not many years ago1 to print ten thousand copies1 and even more1 but now ,i suppose we don't print above three thousand4 ,whether the trade of this particular dealer in bellman's verses has passed into other hands1 or whether the encouragement given to the circulation of these broadsides has declined1 the statement of an individual will not of course enable us to determine4 ,but we are inclined to think that1 like other old ,christmas customs1 the popularity of bellman's verses is passing away1 and that1 before many years have elapsed1 penny magazines and unstamped newspapers will have completely superseded these relics of the rude1 but sincere1 piety of our ancestors4 ,the claims of dustmen to be remembered upon ,boxing-day were formerly urged1 without literary pretensions2 but now the march of intellect has rendered it necessary for them to issue their addresses in print4 ,one of these1 which lies before us1 represents that the ,united ,association of ,dustmen and ,scavengers1 of the ,parish of ------ have the honor to pay their humble duty and respects to the good ,master or ,mistress of this house1 and to solicit a ,christmas mark of approbation of their unwearied exertions1 which they flatter themselves conduce so eminently to the comfort and salubrity of the greatest metropolitan city of civilized ,europe4 ,here1 however1 is another1 in which the spirit of ,st4 ,stephen's ,day is embittered by the rivalries of business2 and the harmony of those two respectable bodies1 the scavengers and dustmen1 appears to have been disturbed4 ,the dustmen1 it will be seen1 repudiate the scavengers1 and appeal to ,saint ,stephen on a separate interest4 ,to the ,worthy ,inhabitants of the ,southampton ,estate4 ,ladies and ,gentlemen1--,at this season1 when you are pleased to give to laboring men1 employed in collecting your dust1 a donation called ,christmas-box1 advantage of which is often taken by persons assuming the name of ,dustmen1 obtaining under false pretences your bounty1 we humbly submit to your consideration1 to prevent such imposition1 to bestow no gift on any not producing a brass figure of the following description1--,a ,scotch ,fifer1 ,french horn1 etc41 between his legs2 ,james ,dee and ,jerry ,cane2 ,southampton ,paving ,act1 on the bell2 ,contractor1 ,thomas ,salisbury4 ,no connection with scavengers4 ,please not to return this bill to any one4 ,the principal ,wait also leaves a notice of a more imposing description1 stating a regular appointment to the office by warrant and admission1 with all the ancient forms of the ,city and ,liberty of ,westminster2 and bears a silver badge and chain1 with the arms of that city4 ,we cannot dismiss the various modes of collecting ,christmas-boxes1 without a few words upon the pieces of writing carried about by parish boys1 and which once presented the only evidence that the schoolmaster was abroad4 ,it appears formerly to have been the practice at this season to hang up in our churches the work of the most skilful pen-man in the parish1 after it had been generally exhibited2 the subject of which was the life of some saint1 or other religious legend4 ,pepys thus mentions the custom3--#bf ,december1 #affe4 ,saw some fine writing work and flourishing of ,mr4 ,hore1 with one that ,i knew long ago1 an acquaintance of ,mr4 ,tomson's at ,westminster1 that is this man's clerk4 ,it is the story of the several ,archbishops of ,canterbury1 engrossed on vellum1 to hang up in ,canterbury cathedral in tables in lieu of the old ones1 which are almost worn out4 ,to this usage1 which was no doubt of monkish origin1 we are inclined to refer the specimens of caligraphy upon gaudily ornamented sheets of paper1 brought round on ,st4 ,stephen's ,day by parish boys and charity-school children1 and displayed for admiration and reward4 ,the walls of school-rooms1 and the houses of the children's parents are afterwards decorated with these ,christmas pieces1 in the same manner as were anciently the walls of churches4 ,there are in the different ,christian countries of ,europe a variety of popular practices connected with ,st4 ,stephen's ,day2 such as that of bleeding horses1 which is mentioned by old ,tusser in his ,december's ,abstract3-- ,at ,christmas is good ,to let thy horse blood2 and more particularly in his ,december's ,husbandry3-- ,ere ,christmas be passed1 let horse be let blood1 ,for many a purpose1 it doth them much good1 ,the day of ,st4 ,stephen old fathers did use4 ,these various popular observances1 however1 are generally of that local and peculiar kind which we are compelled to omit in our enumeration1 for reasons already given4 ,but there is one of so striking a character1 that we must pause to give some account of it4 ,this custom1 which is called hunting the wren1 is generally practised by the peasantry of the south of ,ireland on ,st4 ,stephen's ,day4 ,it bears a close resemblance to the ,manx proceedings described by ,waldron1--as taking place however on a different day4 ,on the #bdth of ,december1 says that writer1 in his account of the ,isle of ,man1 towards evening the servants in general have a holiday2 they go not to bed all night1 but ramble about till the bells ring in all the churches1 which is at twelve o'clock4 ,prayers being over1 they go to hunt the wren2 and after having found one of these poor birds1 they kill her and lay her on a bier with the utmost solemnity1 bringing her to the parish church and burying her with a whimsical kind of solemnity1 singing dirges over her in the ,manx language1 which they call her knell2 after which ,christmas begins4 ,the ,wren-boys in ,ireland1 who are also called ,droleens1 go from house to house for the purpose of levying contributions1 carrying one or more of these birds in the midst of a bush of holly1 gaily decorated with colored ribbons2 which birds they have1 like the ,manx mummers1 employed their morning in killing4 ,the following is their song2 of which they deliver themselves in most monotonous music3-- ,the wren1 the wren1 the king of all birds1 ,st4 ,stephen's-day was caught in the furze1 ,although he is little1 his family's great1 ,i pray you1 good landlady1 give us a treat4 ,my box would speak1 if it had but a tongue1 ,and two or three shillings would do it no wrong2 ,sing holly1 sing ivy--sing ivy1 sing holly1 ,a drop just to drink1 it would drown melancholy4 ,and if you draw it of the best1 ,i hope1 in heaven your soul will rest2 ,but if you draw it of the small1 ,it won't agree with these ,wren-boys at all4 ,if an immediate acknowledgment1 either in money or drink1 is not made in return for the civility of their visit1 some such nonsensical verses as the following are added3-- ,last ,christmas-day1 ,i turned the spit1 ,i burned my fingers 7,i feel it yet71 ,a cock sparrow flew over the table1 ,the dish began to fight with the ladle4 ,the spit got up like a naked man1 ,and swore he'd fight with the dripping pan2 ,the pan got up and cocked his tail1 ,and swore he'd send them all to jail4 ,the story told to account for the title of king of all birds1 here given to the wren1 is a curious sample of ,irish ingenuity1 and is thus stated in the clever ,tales of the ,munster ,festivals1 by an ,irish servant in answer to his master's inquiry3-- ,saint ,stephen6 why what the mischief1 ,i ask you again1 have ,i to do with ,saint ,stephen8 ,nothen1 sure1 sir1 only this being his day1 when all the boys o' the place go about that way with the wran1 the king of all birds1 sir1 as they say 7bekays wanst when all the birds wanted to choose a king1 and they said they'd have the bird that would fly highest1 the aigle flew higher than any of 'em1 till at last when he couldn't fly an inch higher1 a little rogue of a wran that was a-hide under his wing took a fly above him a piece1 and was crowned king1 of the aigle an' all1 sir71 tied in the middle o' the holly that way you see1 sir1 by the leg1 that is4 ,an old custom1 sir4 ,vainly have we endeavored to arrive at the probable origin of hunting and killing these little birds upon this day4 ,the tradition commonly related is by no means satisfactory4 ,it is said that a ,danish army would have been surprised and destroyed by some ,irish troops1 had not a wren given the alarm by pecking at some crumbs upon a drum-head1--the remains of the sleeping drummer's supper2 which roused him1 when he instantly beat to arms4 ,and that from this circumstance the wren became an object of hatred to the ,irish4 ,songs similar in spirit to that of the ,irish ,droleen boys were popularly sung by the ,greeks4 ,in ,d',israeli's ,curiosities of ,literature1 may be found translations of the crow song1 and the swallow song2 between which and the ,irish wren song the resemblance is very striking4 ,swallow-singing or chelidonising1 as the ,greek term is1 was1 it appears1 a method of collecting eleemosynary gifts in the month of ,boedromion or ,august4 ,we think ,d',israeli is right in his opinion that there is probably a closer connection between the custom which produced the songs of the crow and the swallow and that of our northern mummeries1 than may be at first sight suspected4 ,the subject of mumming we have elsewhere treated at some length2 but this curious variety of the practice1 and the manner in which it seems to connect the subject with the ceremonies of the ,greeks1 we could not allow ourselves wholly to omit4 ,,new ,,year',s ,,eve4 #ca,,st ,,december4 ,,this is the last day of the year1 and the feelings which belong to it are of a tangled yarn4 ,regrets for the past are mingled with hopes of the future2 and the heart of man1 between the meeting years1 stands like the head of ,janus looking two ways4 ,the day and eve which precede the ,new ,year are marked1 in ,england1 by few outward observances1 save such as are common to the season2 and it is in the peculiar trains of thought to which they give rise that they have a character of their own4 ,in ,scotland1 on the other hand1 the festival of this season is1 since the ,reformation1 nearly limited to these two days2 and the last day of the year is distinguished both by omens and by customs peculiar to itself4 ,in ,mr4 ,stewart's ,popular ,superstitions of the ,highlands1 there is an account of some of these omens1 as they were gathered1 at no distant period1 in that land of mist and mystery2 and a singular example may be mentioned in the auguries drawn from what was called the ,candlemas bull4 ,the term ,candlemas1 which has been given to this season1 in ,scotland and elsewhere1 is supposed to have had its origin in some old religious ceremonies which were performed by candle light2 and the bull was a passing cloud1 which in ,highland imagination assumed the form of that animal1 and from whose rise or fall1 or motions generally on this night1 the seer prognosticated good or bad weather4 ,something of the same kind is mentioned in ,sir ,john ,sinclair's ,statistical ,account of ,scotland1 who explains more particularly the auguries gathered from the state of the atmosphere on ,new ,year's ,eve4 ,the superstition in question1 however1 is not peculiar to the ,highlands of ,scotland1 but shared with the northern ,european nations in general1 most of whom assigned portentous qualities to the winds of ,new ,year's ,eve4 ,it is on this night that those ,scottish mummers1 the ,guisars1 to whom we have already more than once alluded1 still go about the streets1 habited in antic dresses1 having their faces covered with vizards and carrying cudgels in their hands4 ,the doggerel lines repeated by these masquers1 as given by ,mr4 ,callender1 in a paper contributed by him to the ,transactions of the ,antiquarian ,society of ,scotland1 are as follows3-- ,hogmanay1 ,trollolay1 ,gie me o' your white bread1 ,i'll hae nane o' your grey2 and much learning has been exhausted1 and ingenuity exercised in their explanation4 ,the admirable paper of ,mr4 ,repp1 in the same ,transactions 7to which we have already alluded1 and which we recommend to the notice of our antiquarian readers71 connects them1 as we have before hinted1 with another superstition common to many of the northern nations2 and which may be compared with one of the articles of popular belief before described1 as prevailing in ,england1 on ,christmas ,eve2 that1 viz41 which seems to imply that the spirits of evil are at this time in peculiar activity1 unless kept down by holier and more powerful influences4 ,according to this able investigator1 the moment of midnight1 on ,new ,year's ,eve1 was considered to be a general removing term for the races of genii1 whether good or bad2 and the first two lines of the cry in question1 which as he explains them1 after the ,anglo-,saxon and ,icelandic dialects1 were words of appeal to the good genii 7the hoghmen or hillmen71 and of execration against the evil ones 7the trolles71 were so used1 in consequence of such belief 7that these different spirits were1 at that hour1 in motion71 and of the further one that the words of men had power to determine that motion to their own advantage4 ,it is well known that1 in some countries1 and we may mention ,germany1 great importance is attached to words involuntarily uttered at certain seasons1 and under certain circumstances1 and they are supposed to be either words of betrayal1 leaving the speaker open to the machinations of evil spirits1 who may apply them in a strained and fatal sense1 if at all ambiguous2 or words of power1 controlling the designs of demons1 and compelling them to work out the good of the utterer1 against their will4 ,now a superstition of this kind1 ,mr4 ,repp says1 attaches generally to the doctrines of demonology2 and he states that he could prove his position by many instances from ,arabic and ,persian fairy lore4 ,we may observe that some of the ,highland superstitions mentioned by ,mr4 ,stewart1 such as that of sprinkling the household with water drawn from the dead and living ford1 and that of fumigating the apartments and half smothering their tenants with the smoke from burning piles of the juniper-bush 7both considered to operate as charms against the spells of witchcraft and the malignity of evil eyes71 have1 evidently1 their origin in that same belief1 that the powers of evil are on the wing at this mysterious and solemn time of natural transition4 ,some ancient superstitions are likewise alluded to in the old dialogue of ,dives and ,pauper1 as being in force at the beginning of the year1 and which appear to have had a like origin with the ,highland ones above described4 ,as an example1 mention may be made of the practice of setting of mete or drynke by nighte on the benche1 to fede ,alholde or ,gobelyn4 ,we must not forget to observe that ,brand speaks of an ancient custom1 which he says is still retained in some parts of ,england1 in which young women go about on this eve carrying a wassail-bowl1 and singing certain verses from door to door1 which custom has certainly some analogy with the hogmanay practice in ,scotland4 ,and we may further state1 while we are in the way of tracing resemblances1 that the het pint1 which1 in ,scotland1 was formerly carried about the streets at the midnight of the ,new ,year's coming in1 and which was composed of ale1 spirits1 sugar1 and nutmeg or cinnamon1 is neither more nor less1 though it was borne about in a kettle1 than a ,scottish version of the wassail-bowl4 ,in ,ritson's collection of ancient songs1 there is a very spirited carol given at length1 which appears to have been sung by these ,english wassail mummers1 in honor of their bowl2 but which some of its verses prove to be a ,twelfth-night song1 and show1 therefore1 that a similar practice marked the night of the ,epiphany4 ,it begins right heartily3-- ,a jolly wassel-bowl1 ,a wassel of good ale1 ,well fare the butler's soul ,that setteth this to sale2 ,our jolly wassel2 but is too long for insertion in our pages4 ,we should mention here1 however1 that ale in all its forms1 whether in that of wassail composition or in its own simple dignity1 prince of liquors1 old or new6 was ever the most cherished beverage of our ancestors1 and many and enthusiastic are the songs in its praise4 ,our readers may take the following verse from a very pleasant example of these carols3-- ,i love no rost1 but a nut brown toste1 ,and a crab layde in the fyre1 ,a little bread shall do me stead1 ,much breade ,i not desyre3 ,no froste nor snow1 no winde1 ,i trowe1 ,can hurt mee if ,i wolde2 ,i am so wrapt1 and throwly lapt ,of jolly good ale and olde4 ,back and syde go bare1 go bare1 ,both foote and hand1 go colde2 ,but belly ,god send thee good ale inoughe1 ,whether it be new or olde4 ,we believe that most of the customs which1 up to a recent period1 filled the streets of ,edinburgh with mirth and bustle1 on the eve of the ,new ,year1 have met with discouragement1 and of late fallen into disuse1 in consequence of some outrages which were committed under their shelter1 in the year #ahaa4 ,we presume1 however1 that there are still many places of the northern kingdom1 in which the youth waits impatiently for the striking of the midnight hour1 that he may be the earliest to cross the threshold of his mistress1 and the lassie listens eagerly1 from the moment when its chiming has ceased1 to catch the sound of the first-foot on the floor3-- ,the first foot's entering step1 ,that sudden on the floor is welcome heard1 ,ere blushing maids have braided up their hair2 ,the laugh1 the hearty kiss1 the good ,new ,year1 ,pronounced with honest warmth4 ,considerable importance was formerly1 and probably is still1 attached to this custom4 ,the welfare of a family1 particularly of the fairer portion of its members1 was supposed to depend much on the character of the person who might first cross the threshold1 after the mid-hour of this night had sounded4 ,great care was therefore taken to exclude all improper persons2 and when the privilege of the season is taken into consideration 7that viz41 of the hearty kiss above mentioned71 it is probable that the maidens themselves might consider it desirable to interfere after their own fashion in the previous arrangements which were to secure the priority of admission to an unobjectionable guest4 ,but our space does not permit us to inquire at length in the present volume into any other customs than those which belong to an ,english ,christmas season4 ,we have only been able occasionally to advert to others1 even amongst our own sister nations1 when they helped to throw light upon those which on this occasion are our immediate subject4 ,we must therefore return at once to the only general and conspicuous observance of this eve in ,england1 viz41 that which is commonly called seeing the ,new ,year in4 ,it is almost impossible for man on this day to be insensible to the still small voices that call upon him for a gathering up of his thoughts4 ,in the very midst of the house of mirth1 a shadow passes through the heart and summons it to a solemn conference4 ,the skeleton who sits at all feasts1 though overlooked at most from long habit1 gets power on this day to wave his hand1 and points emphatically1 with his slow-moving finger1 to the long record whose burthen is passing away6 ,the handwriting of ,time comes visibly out upon the wall2 and the spirit pauses to read its lessons1 and take an account of the wrecks which it registers and the changes which it announces4 ,properly speaking1 every day is the commencement of a new year1 and the termination of an old one2 but it is only1 as we have said at the beginning of this book1 by these emphatic markings that man is attracted to a consideration of a fact1 whose daily recurrence at once makes its weighty importance and causes it to be forgotten1 as if it were of none6 ,but on this particular day1 no man fails to remember that-- ,again the silent wheels of time ,their annual round have driven2 and how solemn are the reflections which suggest themselves to him who casts his eye over the space of a year1 in a spirit which can look beyond his own personal share in its doings1 and embrace the wide human interests that such a retrospect includes6 ,what a mighty sum of events1 says that excellent writer1 ,william ,howitt1 has been consummated2 what a tide of passions and affections has flowed2 what lives and deaths have alternately arrived2 what destinies have been fixed forever6 4 4 4 ,once more our planet has completed one of those journeys in the heavens which perfect all the fruitful changes of its peopled surface1 and mete out the few stages of our existence2 and every day1 every hour of that progress has in all her wide lands1 in all her million hearts1 left traces that eternity shall behold4 ,oh6 blessed they and rich1 beyond all other blessedness and all other wealth which ,time's effacing fingers may have left them1 who1 on the last night of the year1 can turn from reviews like these to sleep upon the pillow of a good conscience1 though that pillow should be moistened1 aye1 steeped in their tears6 ,no doubt it is in the name of his own private affections that man is first summoned to that review1 which the wise will end by thus extending2 and the first reckoning which each will naturally take is that of the treasures which may have been lost or gained to himself in the year which is about to close4 ,through many1 many a heart1 that summons rings in the low1 sweet1 mournful voice of some beloved one1 whom in that bereaving space we have laid in the narrow house2 and then it will happen 7for man is covetous of his griefs1 when his attention is once called to them7 that the ghost which took him out into the churchyard to visit its own tomb1 will end by carrying him round its dreary precincts and showing him all the graves that he has planted from his childhood4 ,there will be hours on a day like this to many1 and in some year or another to most1 when the cheerful hopes which are also of the natural spirit of the season would contend in vain with the memories which it conjures up1 but for that furthest and brightest hope which lies beyond the rest1 and which is at this moment typified and shadowed forth by the returning sun and the renewing year4 ,we cannot refrain from pausing here1 to quote for our readers a few exquisite and affecting lines written in the seventeenth century by ,henry ,king1 ,bishop of ,chichester1 to one such beloved remembrancer1 and in the cheering spirit of that same precious hope4 ,we fancy they are very little known4 ,sleep on1 my love6 in thy cold bed1 ,never to be disquieted6 ,my last 'good night6'--thou wilt not wake ,till ,i thy fate shall overtake2 ,till age1 or grief1 or sickness must ,marry my body to that dust ,it so much loves1--and fill the room ,my heart keeps empty in thy tomb4 ,stay for me there6--,i will not faile ,to meet thee in that hollow vale3-- ,and think not much of my delay1 ,i am already on the way1 ,and follow thee with all the speed ,desire can make1 or sorrows breed4 ,each minute is a short degree1 ,and every houre a step tow'rds thee3-- ,at night1 when ,i betake to rest1 ,next morn ,i rise nearer my ,west ,of life1 almost by eight houres' sail1 ,than when sleep breathed his drowsy gale6 ,there are in the last volume of poems published by ,mr4 ,tennyson1 some beautiful verses1 in which the natural thoughts that inevitably haunt this season of change are touchingly expressed1 as they arise even in the young breast of one for whom seasons and their change are immediately about to be no more4 ,we are in a mood which tempts us to extract them4 ,if you're waking1 call me early1 call me early1 mother dear1 ,for ,i would see the sun rise upon the glad ,new-year-- ,it is the last ,new-year that ,i shall ever see1 ,then ye may lay me low i' the mould1 and think no more of me4 ,to-night ,i saw the sun set3 he set and left behind ,the good old year1 the dear old time1 and all my peace of mind2 ,and the ,new-year's coming up1 mother1 but ,i shall never see ,the may upon the blackthorn1 the leaf upon the tree4 ,last ,may we made a crown of flowers3 we had a merry day3 ,beneath the hawthorn on the green they made me ,queen of ,may2 ,and we danced about the maypole1 and in the hazel-copse1 ,till ,charles's wain came out above the tall white chimney-tops4 ,there's not a flower on all the hills3 the frost is on the pane3 ,i only wish to live till the snowdrops come again3 ,i wish the snow would melt and the sun come out on high-- ,i long to see a flower so before the day ,i die4 ,the building rook 'll caw from the windy tall elm-tree1 ,and the tufted plover pipe along the fallow lea1 ,and the swallow 'll come back again with summer o'er the wave1 ,but ,i shall lie alone1 mother1 within the mouldering grave4 ,upon the chancel casement1 and upon that grave of mine1 ,in the early1 early morning the summer sun 'll shine1 ,before the red cock crows from the farm upon the hill1 ,when you are warm asleep1 mother1 and all the world is still4 ,when the flowers come again1 mother1 beneath the waning light1 ,ye 'll never see me more in the long gray fields at night2 ,when from the dry dark wold the summer airs blow cool1 ,on the oat-grass and the sword-grass1 and the bulrush in the pool4 ,ye 'll bury me1 my mother1 just beneath the hawthorn shade1 ,and ye 'll come sometimes and see me where ,i am lowly laid1 ,i shall not forget ye1 mother1 ,i shall hear ye when ye pass1 ,with your feet above my head in the long and pleasant grass4 ,i have been wild and wayward1 but ye 'll forgive me now3 ,ye 'll kiss me1 my own mother1 upon my cheek and brow2 ,nay1--nay1 ye must not weep1 nor let your grief be wild1 ,ye should not fret for me1 mother1 ye have another child4 ,if ,i can1 ,i'll come again1 mother1 from out my resting-place ,tho' ye 'll not see me1 mother1 ,i shall look upon your face2 ,tho' ,i cannot speak a word1 ,i shall hearken what ye say1 ,and be often--often with ye when ye think ,i'm far away4 ,good night6 good night6 when ,i have said good night for evermore1 ,and ye see me carried out from the threshold of the door1 ,don't let ,effie come to see me till my grave be growing green2 ,she'll be a better child to you than ever ,i have been4 ,she'll find my garden tools upon the granary floor2 ,let her take 'em1--they are hers1--,i shall never garden more3 ,but tell her1 when ,i'm gone1 to train the rosebush that ,i set1 ,about the parlor window1 and the box of mignonette4 ,good night1 sweet mother6 call me when it begins to dawn3 ,all night ,i lie awake1 but ,i fall asleep at morn3 ,but ,i would see the sun rise upon the glad ,new year1 ,so1 if you're waking1 call me1 call me early1 mother dear6 ,and it is wholesome that the mournful reflections which the period suggests should be indulged1 but not to the neglect of its more cheerful influences4 ,the ,new ,year's ,eve is in all quarters looked upon as a time of rejoicing2 and perhaps no night of this merry season is more universally dedicated to festivity4 ,men are for the most part met in groups to hail the coming year with propitiatory honors2 and copious libations are poured to its honor1 as if to determine it to look upon us with a benignant aspect4 ,we generally spend our ,new ,year's ,eve in some such group2 but1 we confess1 it is not every class of wassailers that will suit us for the occasion4 ,the fact is1 after all our resolves to work up our minds to the pitch of gladness1 aye1 and notwithstanding our success1 too1 there are other feelings that will intrude in spite of us2 and we like to find ourselves in a party where their presence is not looked upon as a marrer of the revels4 ,when fitly associated for such a night1 we find the very feelings in question for the most part to harmonize very delightfully with the predominant spirit of the time1 producing a sort of mixed sensation which is full of luxury and tenderness4 ,bye the by1 we have no great wish to have for our companions at any time those precisians who insist greatly on the external solemnities4 ,ye are sae grave1 nae doubt ye're wise1 says ,burns4 ,but for ourselves1 gentlemen1 our sympathies lie with those who can be made to understand that the garb of even folly may by possibility be at times worn by those who conceal beneath it more sickness of the heart1 as well as more wisdom1 than shall ever be dreamt of in your philosophy1--who know1 in fact1 that that same folly is sometimes the very saddest thing in the world2 that the jingle of the cap and bells is too often but a vain device1 like that of the ancient ,corybantes1 to drown the still small sounds whose wailing is yet heard over all4 ,and on the night before us1 of all nights in the year1 the smile and the laugh go freely round1 but ever and anon there is1 as it were1 the echo of a far sigh4 ,a birth in which we have a mighty interest is about to take place1 but every now and then comes to the heart the impression of low whispering and soft treading in the back-ground1 as of those who wait about a death-bed4 ,we are in a state of divided feelings1 somewhat resembling his whose joy at the falling of a rich inheritance is dashed by tender recollections of the friend by whose departure it came4 ,let ,mr4 ,tennyson explain for us why this is so3-- ,full knee-deep lies the winter snow1 ,and the winter winds are wearily sighing3 ,toll ye the church-bell sad and slow1 ,and tread softly and speak low1 ,for the old year lies a-dying4 ,old year1 you must not die4 ,you came to us so readily1 ,you lived with us so steadily1 ,old year1 you shall not die4 ,he lieth still3 he doth not move3 ,he will not see the dawn of day4 ,he hath no other life above4 ,he gave me a friend1 and a true true-love1 ,and the ,new-year will take 'em away4 ,old year1 you must not go4 ,so long as you have been with us1 ,such joy as you have seen with us1 ,old year1 you shall not go6 ,he frothed his bumpers to the brim2 ,a jollier year we shall not see4 ,but tho' his eyes are waxing dim1 ,and tho' his foes speak ill of him1 ,he was a friend to me6 ,old year1 you shall not die4 ,we did so laugh and cry with you1 ,i've half a mind to die with you1 ,old year1 if you must die4 ,he was full of joke and jest1 ,but all his merry quips are o'er1 ,to see him die1 across the waste ,his son and heir doth ride post-haste1 ,but he'll be dead before6 ,every one for his own6 ,the night is starry and cold1 my friend1 ,and the ,new-year1 blithe and bold1 my friend1 ,comes up to take his own4 ,how hard he breathes6--over the snow1 ,i heard just now the crowing cock4 ,the shadows flicker to and fro2 ,the cricket chirps3 the light burns low3 ',tis nearly one#d o'clock4 ,shake hands before you die4 ,old year1 we'll dearly rue for you4 ,what is it we can do for you8 ,speak out before you die6 ,his face is growing sharp and thin4 ,alack6 our friend is gone6 ,close up his eyes3 tie up his chin3 ,step from the corpse1 and let him in ,that standeth there alone1 ,and waiteth at the door4 ,there's a new foot on the floor1 my friend1 ,and a new face at the door1 my friend1 ,a new face at the door6 ,occasionally1 too1 there will come a thought across us1 in these hours1 which cannot be made to harmonize with the feelings we are seeking to encourage1 and has the unpleasing effect of a discord4 ,it is felt at times1 for instance1 to be a sort of indecency that we should be looking out merrily for the ,new ,year1 when the old one is perishing by our side1 and1 for an instant1 the heart's joyous issues are thrown back upon it4 ,and then1 again1 the looker forward to hail the coming guest will suddenly fix his eyes upon the veil which shrouds that face2 and the chill of a moment will creep over his heart1 as he speculates on what it may conceal1 or1 gazing on the sealed book which the ,new ,year carries in his hand1 asks himself how many of those who sit with him on this night about the social table1 may have their names written in its last page6 ,thoughts like these1 however1 are instantly treated like informers1 and ducked1 as they deserve to be1 in the wassail-bowl4 ,illustration3 ,,seeing-,,in ,,the ,,new ,,year4--,page #cca4 ,but1 in any case1 we have never failed to observe that1 as the midnight hour draws near1 a hush falls upon these assemblies2 and when men rise to usher in the new comer1 it is for the most part in silence4 ,we do not believe that moment is ever a merry one4 ,the blithe spirits of the night stand still4 ,the glasses are full1--but so is the heart1 and the eye is strained upon the finger of the dial whose notes are to sound the arrival1 as if held there by a spell4 ,we do not think that any man1 of all that group whom our artist has represented1 could turn his face away from the dial1 even by an effort2 and he who could1 would be out of place in any assembly of which we made one1 unless we were out of place ourselves4 ,the instant the solemn sounds of the midnight chime have ceased1 the bells from a thousand steeples lift up their merry voices1 but they never1 at that moment1 found a true echo in our hearts2 and the shout which rises from the wassail table1 in answer1 has ever seemed to us to want much of the mirth to which it makes such boisterous pretension4 ,but this oppressive sensation soon passes away2 and the glad bells of the spirit1 like those of the steeples1 ring freely out4 ,when the old year is fairly withdrawn1 when we have ceased to hear the sound of the falling earth upon its coffin-lid1 when the heir stands absolutely in our presence1 and the curtain which hides his features has begun slowly to rise 7while the gazer on that curtain can discover1 as yet1 nothing of the dark things that lie behind1 and the hopes which the ,new ,year brings are seen through it1 by their own light71--then does the heart shake off all that interfered with its hearty enjoyment1 and then comes in the sweet o' the night6 ,we are1 ourselves1 of that party in the plate2 and it will be late1 we promise you1 before we separate4 ,one song to the past6 and then1 shall we set about some revels8--as our old friend1 ,sir ,andrew1 hath it4 ,here's to the year that's awa6 ,we'll drink it1 in strong and in sma'2 ,and to each bonny lassie that we dearly loo'd1 ,in the days o' the year that's awa6 ,here's to the soldier who bled6 ,to the sailor who bravely did fa'6 ,oh1 their fame shall remain1 though their spirits are fled1 ,on the wings o' the year that's awa6 ,here's to the friend we can trust1 ,when the storms of adversity blaw2 ,who can join in our song1 and be nearest our heart1 ,nor depart1--like the year that's awa6 ,and now are we in the humor1 this ,new ,year's morning1 for keeping such vigils as they did in ,illyria2 for were we too not born under ,taurus8 ,no advocates do we mean to be for those whose zeal in symposiac matters1 like that of ,bardolph1 burns in their noses2 but occasions there are1 and this is one1 when we hold it lawful to sound the wassail-bowl to some considerable depth4 ,like honest ,isaak ,walton1 we love to keep within the bounds of such mirth as does not make friends ashamed to look on one another1 next morning2 but we feel that we may venture to be a little intemperate1 in the present instance1 and yet hold our heads up1 even if we should chance to meet one of those gentry whom ,burns presumes to be wise1 because they are sae grave4 ,what says ,innocentius8--and he was a ,father of the ,church2 ,fecundi calices1 quem non fecere disertum8 ,carry ,master ,silence to bed6 therefore1 for we are about to be talkative1 and expect to be answered4 ,no man need sit with us longer than he likes3 but it is the opening of another year1 and we must see more of it4 ,we find much virtue in ,sir ,toby's excellent reasoning1 that not to be abed after midnight is to be up betimes2 and have no sympathy for those who would insist1 to-day1 with the stolid ,sir ,andrew1 that to be up late is to be up late4 ,a false conclusion6 says ,sir ,toby2 and so say we4 ,so fill the glasses1 once more1 from the wassail-bowl1 and let us rouse the night-owl in another catch6 ,but alas6 it is later than we thought1 and the owl is gone to bed2 for we hear the cry of that other bird whom ,herrick calls the ,bellman of the night3-- ,hark6 the cock crows1 and yon bright star ,tells us the day himself's not far2 ,and see6 where1 breaking from the night1 ,he gilds the eastern hills with light6 ,honest ,master ,cotton had evidently been sitting up all night1 himself1 when he wrote these lines2 and being therefore a boon companion1 and a true observer of ,christmas proprieties1 we will take his warning1 and to bed ourselves4 ,so a good ,new ,year to you1 my masters6 and many of them6 as the bellman 7not ,herrick's7 says1 on this morning4 ,,footnote3 #d 7,twelve87 ,,new ,,year',s ,,day4 #a,,st ,,january4 ,,the first of ,january1 forming the accomplishment of the eight days after the birth of ,christ1 has been sometimes called the octave of ,christmas2 and is celebrated in our church services as the day of the ,circumcision4 ,of this day we have little left to say2 almost all that belongs to it having been of necessity anticipated in the progress of those remarks which have brought us up to it4 ,it is a day of universal congratulation2 and one on which1 so far as we may judge from external signs1 a general expansion of the heart takes place4 ,even they who have no hearts to open1 or hearts which are not opened by such ordinary occasions1 adopt the phraseology of those whom all genial hints call into sympathy with their fellow-creatures2 and the gracious compliments of the season may be heard falling from lips on which they must surely wither in the very act of passing4 ,to have your morning's salutation from a worthy like our friend with the umbrella in the plate1 must be much the same thing as riding out into the highway1 and getting your ,new ,year's greeting from a raven by the roadside4 ,mathews's undertaker1 who used to sing the song of ,merry ,i have been1 and merry could ,i be1 at his club1 to a tune considerably below a dirge in point of liveliness1 was a brother of the same family4 ,of ,new ,year's gifts1 which are the distinguishing feature of this day1 we have already said enough1 in pointing out the distinction betwixt them and ,christmas-boxes4 ,they still pass generally from friend to friend1 and between the different members of a family2 and are in such cases1 very pleasant remembrancers2 but the practice in ancient times had some very objectionable features4 ,it was formerly customary for the nobles and those about the court to make presents on this day to the sovereign2 who1 if he were a prince with anything like a princely mind1 took care that the returns which he made in kind should at least balance the cost to the subject4 ,the custom1 however1 became a serious tax when the nobles had to do with a sovereign of another character2 and in ,elizabeth's day it was an affair of no trifling expense to maintain ground as a courtier4 ,the lists of the kind of gifts which she exacted from all who approached her 7for the necessity of giving1 the consequences of not giving1 amounted to an exaction71 and the accounts of the childish eagerness with which she turned over the wardrobe finery1 furnished in great abundance as the sort of gift most suited to her capacity of appreciation1 furnish admirable illustrations of her mind4 ,she is said to have taken good care that her returns should leave a very substantial balance in her own favor4 ,the practice is stated to have been extinguished in the reign of ,george ,,iii4 ,a worse custom still1 however1 was that of presenting gifts to the ,chancellor by suitors in his court1 for the purpose of influencing his judgments4 ,the abuses of the ,new-,year's-gift practice have1 however1 been cleared away1 and have left it what it now is1--a beautiful form for the interchanges of affection and the expression of friendship4 ,in ,paris1 where this day is called the ,jour d',etrennes1 the practice is of still more universal observance than with us1 and the streets are brilliant with the displays made in every window of the articles which are to furnish these tokens of kindness1 and with the gay equipages and well-dressed pedestrians passing in all directions1 to be the bearers of them1 and offer the compliments which are appropriate to the season4 ,the thousand bells of the city are pealing from its hundred belfries1 filling the air with an indescribable sense of festival1 and would alone set the whole capital in motion if they were a people that ever sat still4 ,this singing of a thousand bells is likewise a striking feature of the day in ,london2 and no one who has not heard the mingling voices of these high choristers in a metropolis1 can form any notion of the wild and stirring effects produced by the racing and crossing and mingling of their myriad notes4 ,it is as if the glad voices of the earth had a chorus of echoes in the sky2 as if the spirit of its rejoicing were caught up by airy tongues1 and flung in a cloud of incense-like music to the gates of heaven4 ,we need scarcely mention that most of the other forms in which the mirth of the season exhibits itself1 are in demand for this occasion2 and that among the merry evenings of the ,christmas-tide1 not the least merry is that which closes ,new ,year's ,day4 ,to the youngsters of society1 that day and eve have probably been the most trying of all2 and the strong excitements of a happy spirit drive the weary head to an earlier pillow than the young heart of this season at all approves4 ,but his is the weariness that the sweet sleep of youth so surely recruits2 and to-morrow shall see him early afoot1 once more engaged in those winter amusements which are to form his resource till the novelties of ,twelfth-day arrive4 ,there will come an eve to a longer day1 ,that will find thee tired--but not of play2 ,and thou wilt lean as thou leanest now1 ,with drooping limbs and an aching brow2 ,and wish the shadows would faster creep1 ,and long to go to thy quiet sleep6-- ,well were it then if thine aching brow ,were as free from sin and shame as now6 ,illustration3 ,twelfth ,night ,king4 ,let not a man be seen here1 ,who unurged will not drink ,to the base from the brink1 ,a health to the ,king6 ,herrick4 ,,twelfth ,,day ,,and ,,twelfth ,,night4 #f,,th ,,january4 ,,twelfth-,,day 7so called from its being the twelfth after ,christmas ,day7 is that on which the festival of the ,epiphany is held4 ,this feast of the ,christian ,church was instituted1 according to ,picart1 in the fourth century1 to commemorate the manifestation of our ,saviour to the ,gentiles2 and the name ,epiphany 771 which signifies an appearance from above1 was given to it in allusion to the star described in ,holy writ1 as the guide of the ,magi or ,wise ,men to the cradle of the ,blessed ,infant4 ,in ,italy1 says ,mr4 ,leigh ,hunt1 the word has been corrupted into ,beffania or ,beffana1 as in ,england it used to be called ,piffany2 and ,beffana in some parts of that country has come to mean an old fairy or ,mother ,bunch1 whose figure is carried about the streets1 and who rewards or punishes children at night1 by putting sweetmeats or stones and dirt into a stocking hung up for the purpose1 near the bed's head4 ,the word ',beffa1' taken from this1 familiarly means a trick or mockery put upon any one2 to such base uses may come the most splendid terms6 ,but what is quite as extraordinary as that the primitive signification of a word not familiarly understood should1 amid the revolutions of centuries1 be lost in a different or distorted into an inferior meaning1 is the preservation in popular rites of trivial details1 which1 as we have before stated1 conclusively identify many of the practices of our modern ,christian festivals as echoes of ancient pagan observances4 ,of this1 ,twelfth-day presents a remarkable instance4 ,the more we examine the ,saturnalia of the ,romans and compare those revels with the proceedings of our ,twelfth-night1 the more satisfied do we feel of the correctness of ,selden's view4 ,christmas1 he says1 in his ,table ,talk1 succeeds the ,saturnalia2 the same time1 the same number of holy-days4 ,then the master waited upon the servants1 like the ,lord of ,misrule4 ,there is here a general likeness to the season of which we treat2 but1 as ,mr4 ,brand further states1 the ,greeks and ,romans at this period also drew lots for kingdoms1 and like kings exercised their temporary authority2 and ,mr4 ,fosbroke mentions that the king of ,saturnalia was elected by beans1 which identifies our ,twelfth-night characters1 as well as our mode of selecting them1 with those of the ancients4 ,through so many centuries has chance decided who should wear a crown6 ,by the ,french ,twelfth-day was distinguished as ,la ,fte des ,rois1 a name of course obnoxious to the revolutionary fraternity of #agib1 who caused such feast to be declared anti-civic1 and replaced it by ,la ,fte des ,sans-,culottes4 ,however1 before entering upon the important discussion of the absolute monarchy of the king of cakes and characters1 in which1 without any reference to profane ceremonies1 there was sufficient found to offend puritanical ideas1 we must be allowed to mention some customs observed on the vigil or eve of the feast of the ,epiphany4 ,amongst these was the practice of wassailing the trees to ensure their future fruitfulness1 mentioned by ,herrick3-- ,wassail the trees1 that they may beare ,you many a plum1 and many a peare2 ,for more or lesse fruits they will bring1 ,as you do give them wassailing4 ,the merry bowl which1 notwithstanding that it had been so often drained1 was still kept brimming throughout all the ,christmas holidays1 was now when they were drawing to a close actually flowing over2 and the warm heart and jovial spirit of the season1 not content with pledging all those who could drink in return1 proceeded to an excess of boon-companionship1 and after quaffing a wassail-draft to the health and abundant bearing of some favorite fruit-tree1 poured what remained in the cup upon the root1 as a libation to its strength and vitality4 ,here1 also1 we cannot fail to recognize the rites of classical times lurking in the superstitions used in the cider districts of ,england4 ,a pleasant custom of this kind is mentioned in the ,gentleman's ,magazine for #agia1 as existing in certain parts of ,devonshire4 ,it is there stated that the farmer1 attended by his workmen with a large pitcher of cider1 goes to the orchard on this evening2 and there1 encircling one of the best bearing trees1 they drink the following toast three times3-- ,here's to thee1 old apple-tree6 ,whence thou mayst bud1 and whence thou mayst blow6 ,and whence thou mayst bear apples enow6 ,hats full6 caps full6 ,bushel1 bushel-sacks full6 ,and my pockets full too6--,huzza6 ,this done they return to the house1 the doors of which they are sure to find bolted by the females1 who1 be the weather what it may1 are inexorable to all entreatries to open them till some one has guessed at what is on the spit1 which is generally some nice little thing difficult to be hit on1 and is the reward of him who first names it4 ,the doors are then thrown open2 and the lucky clodpole receives the titbit as a recompense4 ,some1 it is added1 are so superstitious as to believe that if they neglect this custom the trees will bear no apples that year4 ,health to thee1 good apple-tree6 ,well to bear1 pockets full1 hats full1 ,pecks full1 bushel-bags full1-- is another version of the address used on these occasions1 preserved by ,brand4 ,we find recorded in one quarter or another a variety of analogous and other customs observed in different parts of ,england on this vigil2 but our diminishing space will not permit us to enter upon a description of them4 ,illustration3 ,,twelfth ,,night ,,in ,,london ,,streets4--,page #cdc4 ,to illustrate ,twelfth-night1 our artist has made two studies of the scenes it presents in ,london1--abroad and at home2 and these involve our consideration of the subject1 accordingly4 ,during the entire twelve months there is no such illumination of pastry-cooks' shops1 as on ,twelfth-night4 ,each sends forth a blaze of light2 and is filled with glorious cakes1 decorated1 to use the words of ,mr4 ,hone1 with all imaginable images of thing animate and inanimate4 ,stars1 castles1 kings1 cottages1 dragons1 trees1 fish1 palaces1 cats1 dogs1 churches1 lions1 milkmaids1 knights1 serpents1 and innumerable other forms1 in snow-white confectionery1 painted with variegated colors4 ,this 'paradise of dainty devices1' he continues1 is crowded by successive1 and successful1 desirers of the seasonable delicacies2 while alternate tappings of hammers and peals of laughter1 from the throng surrounding the house1 excite smiles from the inmates4 ,this last observation requires explanation1 for our country readers4 ,let all idle gazers1 then1 in the streets of ,london beware of ,twelfth-night6 ,there is then that spirit of mischievous fun abroad1 which1 carried on without the superintending power of a ,lord of ,misrule1 exhibits itself in transfixing the coat-skirts of the unconscious stranger to the frame of the door or window1 at which he may have paused to stare and wonder4 ,once fairly caught1 lucky is the wight who can disengage himself1 without finding that1 in the interim1 his other skirt has been pinned to the pelisse or gown of some alarmed damsel1 whose dress is perhaps dragged1 at the same moment1 in opposite directions1 so that he can neither stand still nor move1 without aiding the work of destruction4 ,these practical faceti are the performances of that class of nondescript lads1 perplexers of ,lord ,mayors and irritators of the police1 whose character ,mr4 ,leigh ,hunt has as truly drawn as our artist has depicted their persons3 those equivocal animal-spirits of the streets1 who come whistling along1 you know not whether thief or errand-boy1 sometimes with a bundle and sometimes not1 in corduroys1 a jacket1 and a cap or bit of hat1 with hair sticking through a hole in it4 ,his vivacity gets him into scrapes in the street2 and he is not ultra-studious of civility in his answers4 ,if the man he runs against is not very big1 he gives him abuse for abuse1 at once2 if otherwise1 he gets at a convenient distance1 and then halloos out1 ',eh1 stupid6' or ',can't you see before you8' or ',go and get your face washed6' ,this last is a favorite saying of his1 out of an instinct referable to his own visage4 ,he sings ',hokee-,pokee1' and ',a shiny ,night1' varied1 occasionally1 with an uproarious ',rise1 gentle ,moon1' or ',coming through the ,rye4' ,on winter evenings1 you may hear him indulging himself1 as he goes along1 in a singular undulation of yowl1 a sort of gargle1 as if a wolf was practising the rudiments of a shake4 ,this he delights to do1 more particularly in a crowded thoroughfare1 as though determined that his noise should triumph over every other and show how jolly he is1 and how independent of the ties to good behavior4 ,if the street is a quiet one1 and he has a stick in his hand 7perhaps a hoop-stick71 he accompanies the howl with a run upon the gamut of the iron rails4 ,he is the nightingale of mud and cold4 ,if he gets on in life1 he will be a pot-boy4 ,at present1 as we said before1 we hardly know what he is2 but his mother thinks herself lucky if he is not transported4 ,of ,twelfth-night1 at home1 when the whole island keeps court1--nay all ,christendom1--when all the world are kings and queens1 and everybody is somebody else1 a huge cake1 the idol of young hearts1 is the presiding genius of the evening4 ,the account given by ,nutt1 the editor of the ,cook and ,confectioner's ,dictionary1 of the twelfth-cakes and dishes in vogue a hundred years ago1 proves the nursery rhymes of-- ,four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pye1 who ,when the pye was opened all began to sing1 to be no such nonsense as was generally supposed4 ,he tells us of two great pies1 made of coarse paste and bran1 into one of which1 after it was baked1 live frogs were introduced1 and into the other1 live birds2 which1 upon some curious persons lifting up the covers1 would jump and fly about the room1 causing a surprising and diverting hurly-burly among the guests4 ,what feeble imitations are the castles1 ships1 and animals that now adorn our ,twelfth-night cakes1 to the performances of ,nutt6 ,how much1 every way1 inferior are the specimens of art produced1 even by the renowned author of the ,italian ,confectioner1 the illustrious ,jarrin6 ,on the battlements of the castles of former days were planted kexes1 or pop-guns1 charged with gunpowder1 to be fired upon a pastry ship1 with masts1 ropes1 we doubt not of spun sugar1 sails1 flags1 and streamers4 ,nor was the naval power of ,england lost sight of2 for the kexes of this delicious ship were1 also1 charged with gunpowder1 and1 when she was fired upon from the castle1 her guns were able to return the salute4 ,then1 to take off the smell of the powder1 there were eggshells1 filled with rose-water1 for the spectators to break1 and throw at one another4 ,nor must a stag of pastry filled with claret be forgotten2 which1 when wounded1 poured forth its blood1 free and sparkling as a ruby1 for those whose nerves were delicate and needed the refreshment of a glass of wine4 ,such were the subtilties1 as these jugglings in confectionery are called1 which we now behold represented by the painted figures1 so bad to eat1 but so fine to look at1 that adorn our twelfth-cakes4 ,illustration3 ,,twelfth ,,night4--,page #cdg4 ,how to eat twelfth-cake1 says ,hone1 requires no recipe2 but how to provide it1 and draw the characters1 on the authority of ,rachel ,revel's ',winter ,evening ,pastimes1' may be acceptable4 ,first1 buy your cake4 ,then1 before your visitors arrive1 buy your characters1--each of which should have a pleasant verse beneath4 ,next1 look at your invitation list1 and count the number of ladies you expect1 and afterwards the number of gentlemen4 ,then1 take as many female characters as you have invited ladies1 fold them up exactly of the same size1 and number each on the back1 taking care to make the king ,no4 #a1 and the queen ,no4 #b4 ,then prepare and number the gentlemen's characters4 ,cause tea and coffee to be handed to your visitors1 as they drop in4 ,when all are assembled1 and tea over1 put as many ladies' characters in a reticule as there are ladies present2 next1 put the gentlemen's characters in a hat4 ,then call on a gentleman to carry the reticule to the ladies as they sit2 from which each lady is to draw one ticket1 and to preserve it unopened4 ,select a lady to bear the hat to the gentlemen for the same purpose4 ,there will be one ticket left in the reticule1 and another in the hat1--which the lady and gentleman who carried each is to interchange1 as having fallen to each4 ,next1 arrange your visitors1 according to their numbers2 the king ,no4 #a1 the queen ,no4 #b1 and so on4 ,the king is then to recite the verse on his ticket1 then the queen the verse on hers2 and so the characters are to proceed1 in numerical order4 ,this done1 let the cake and refreshments go round2 and hey6 for merriment6 ,as our contribution towards the merriment of this evening1 we cannot do better than present our readers with a copy of the following letter1 respecting the manufacture of ,twelfth-night characters1--which document was handed to us by the artist to whom it was addressed4-- ,,sir1--,as ,i am given to understand that you are an artist of celebrity1 ,i will thank you to make me a hundred and forty-four different characters1 for ,twelfth-night1 the entire cost not to exceed two shillings and sixpence each1 say three plates at two pounds ten shillings a plate1 including the poetry1 which you can1 ,i am told1 get plenty of poets to write for nothing1 though ,i should not mind standing a trifle1--say twopence more1 if the verses gave satisfaction4 ,you will please do your best for me1 and1 trusting to your speedy attention to this order1 ,i remain your well-wisher and obedient servant1 who will furnish the coppers4 ,though we publish this letter1 that is no reason why we should publish the writer's name4 ,it is evident he was a young hand in the trade1 and desirous to rival the graphic and literary talent displayed in ,langley's and ,fairburn's characters1--of which we have preserved specimens in our portfolio4 ,mr4 ,sandys speaks rather disparagingly of the merit of these productions1 and this1 considering that gentleman's antiquarian zeal1 we must confess1 surprises us4 ,in the copy of ,langley's characters which we possess1 the same love of alliteration1 upon which we have already commented as encouraged in the ,court of ,misrule1 is observable4 ,we have1 for instance1 ,bill ,bobstay1 ,prudence ,pumpkin1 ,percival ,palette1 ,judy ,juniper1 ,peter ,puncheon1 ,simon ,salamander1 ,countess ,clackett1 ,leander ,lackbrain1 ,nelly ,nester1 ,felicia ,frill1 etc4 ,where the monarch of the evening and his queen are not determined by this kind of pictorial lottery1 a bean and a pea are put into the cake2 and whoever finds them in the pieces taken1 he and she become the king and queen of the evening4 ,other matters1 such as a small coin1 a ring1 etc41 are often introduced into ,twelfth-night cakes1 and give to the finders characters to be supported for the evening4 ,in some countries1 says ,sandys1 a coin was put instead of the bean1 and portions of the cake assigned to the ,virgin ,mary and the ,three ,kings1 which were given to the poor2 and if the bean should happen to be in any of these portions1 the king was then chosen by pulling straws4 ,the three kings mentioned in the above extract are those worthies commonly known by the title of the ,three ,kings of ,colen 7,cologne71 identified by old legends with the ,wise ,men of the ,east1 who did homage to our ,saviour on the day of which the ,epiphany is the anniversary celebration4 ,they are stated to have been ,arabians2 and are distinguished in the traditionary tales of the ,early ,church by the names of ,melchior1 ,balthazar1 and ,gasper4 ,their bodies are said to have been finally deposited at ,cologne1 after several removals2 and the practice of electing a king on the evening of the ,epiphany has been1 by some1 thought to have a reference to their supposed regal characters4 ,we imagine1 however1 it will be sufficiently evident to our readers1 after what we have formerly said1 that it is not necessary for us to seek further than we have already done for the origin of the ,twelfth-night king4 ,,saint ,,distaff',s ,,day4 #g,,th ,,january4 ,,conclusion4 ,,the day which precedes this is1 as we have already informed our readers1 the last of the twelve days which constitute what is emphatically the ,christmas season2 and with the revelries of ,twelfth-night the general holiday is in strictness considered to be at an end4 ,as however we found it necessary to approach the throng of its celebrations with some degree of preparation1--to pass through some of its lighted antechambers1 before we ventured to trust our eyes amid the blaze of the temple itself1--so also we dare not step at once from its thousand lights into the common air of the every-day world without a previous subjecting of our imaginations to the diminished glare of the outer chambers which lie on this other side4 ,and this it is the more incumbent on us to do1 because the revellers whose proceedings it is our business to describe take the same course in returning to the business of life4 ,it is not1 as we have said1 to be expected that after the full chorus of increased mirth which hath swelled up anew for the last of these celebrations1 the ear should all at once accustom itself to a sudden and utter silence1--should endure the abrupt absence of all festival sound2 nor can all the laughing spirits of the season who were engaged in added numbers for the revelries of last night1 be got quietly laid at rest in the course of a single day4 ,one or other of them is accordingly found lurking about the corners of our chambers after the ceremonies for which they were called up are over1 encouraged to the neglect of the order for their dismissal by the young hearts1 who have formed a merry alliance with the imps which they are by no means willing to terminate thus suddenly4 ,and sooth to say1 those youngsters are often able to engage heads who are older1 and we suppose should know better1 in the conspiracies which are day by day formed for the detention of some one or more of these members of the train of ,momus4 ,even in rural districts1 where the necessary preparations in aid of the returning season are by this time expected to call men abroad to the labors of the field1 our benevolent ancestors admitted the claim for a gradual subsiding of the ,christmas mirth in favor of the children of toil4 ,their devices for letting themselves gently down were recognized2 and a sort of compromise was sanctioned between the spirit of the past holiday and the sense of an important coming duty to be performed4 ,the genius of mirth met the genius of toil on neutral ground for a single day2 and the two touched hands in recognition of the rightful dominion of each other1 ere they severally set forth in their own separate directions4 ,thus1 on the day which followed ,twelfth-night1 the implements of labor were prepared and the team was even yoked for a space2 but the business of turning the soil was not required to be laboriously engaged in until the ,monday which followed1 and which therefore bore 7and bears7 the title of ,plough ,monday4 ,after a few hours of morning labor1 a sort of half-holiday was the concluding privilege of this privileged season2 and the husbandman laid aside his plough1 and the maiden her distaff1 to engage in certain revels which were peculiar to the day and to the country districts4 ,from the partial resumption of the spinning labors of the women on this morning1 the festival in question takes its name2 and it is 7or was7 sometimes called also ,rockday1 in honor of the rock1 which is another name for the distaff4 ,it is described as being a distaff held in the hand1 from whence wool is spun by twirling a ball below4 ,of the sports by which this day was enlivened we doubt if there are any remains4 ,these seem to have consisted in the burning1 by the men who had returned from the field1 of the flax and tow belonging to the women1 as a sort of assertion of the supremacy of the spirit of fun over his laborious rival for this one day more1 and a challenge into his court2 and this challenge was answered by the maidens1 and the mischief retorted1 by sluicing the clowns with pails of water4 ,it was1 in fact1 a merry contest between these two elements of water and of fire2 and may be looked upon as typical of that more matter-of-fact extinction which was about to be finally given to the lights of the season when the sports of this day should be concluded4 ,of these merry proceedings our artist has given a very lively representation2 and ,herrick's poem on the subject1 which we must quote from the ,hesperides1 includes all that is known of the ancient observances of ,st4 ,distaff's day4 ,partly work and partly play1 ,you must on ,s4 ,distaff's day2 ,from the plough soone free your teame1 ,then come home and fother them1 ,if the maides a spinning goe1 ,burne the flax1 and fire the tow2 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 ,bring in pailes of water then1 ,let the maides bewash the men3-- ,give ,s4 ,distaffe all the right1 ,then bid ,christmas sport good-night3 ,and next morrow1 every one ,to his own vocation4 - - - - - - - ,illustration3 ,,returning ,,to ,,school4--,page #cee4 ,,our ,,revels ,,now ,,are ,,ended2 and our ,christmas prince must abdicate4 ,in flinging down his wand of misrule1 we trust there is no reason why he should1 like ,prospero1 when his charms were over and he broke his staff1 drown this1 his book1 deeper than did ever plummet sound4 ,the spells which it contains are1 we believe1 all innocent2 and1 we trust1 it may survive to furnish the directions for many a future scheme of ,christmas happiness4 ,and now ,father ,christmas has at length departed1--but not till the youngsters had got from the merry old man his last bon-bon4 ,the school-boy1 too1 has clung to the skirts of the patriarch's coat1 and followed him as far as he could4 ,and farther had he gone1 but for a clear and undoubted vision of a dark object1 which has been looming suspiciously through the gloom1 for some weeks past4 ,he first caught a glimpse of it1 on stepping out from amongst the lights of ,twelfth-night2 but he turned his head resolutely away1 and has since looked as little in that direction as he could4 ,but there is no evading it now6 ,there it stands1 right in his way1 plain and distinct and portentous6 the gloomy portal of this merry season1 on whose face is inscribed1 in characters which there is no mystifying1 its own appropriate and unbeloved name1--,,black ,,monday6 ,and1 behold6 at the gloomy gate a hackney coach6 7more like a mourning coach67--,black ,monday1 visible in all its appointments1 and black ,friday1 looking blacker than ever1 this black ,monday1 frowning from its foot-board6 ,and lo6 through its windows1 just caught in the distance1 the last flutter of the coat-tails of old ,father ,christmas6-- ,,our ,,revels ,,are1 indeed1 ,,ended6 ,,the ,,end4 ,,standard ,,library ,,books ,,selected ,,from ,,the ,,catalogue ,,of ,,roberts ,,brothers4 ,louisa ,m4 ,alcott4 ,little ,women1 ,illustrated1 #afmo1 #a4ej2 ,little ,men1 ,illustrated1 #afmo1 #a #ej2 ,an ,old-,fashioned ,girl1 ,illustrated1 #afmo1 #a4ej2 ,eight ,cousins1 ,illustrated1 #afmo1 #a4ej2 ,rose in ,bloom1 ,illustrated1 #afmo1 #a4ej1 ,under the ,lilacs1 ,illustrated1 #afmo1 #a4ej2 ,jack and ,jill1 ,illustrated1 #afmo1 #a4ej2 ,jo's ,boys1 ,illustrated1 #afmo1 #a4ej4 ,eight volumes in box1 #ab4jj4 ,work1 ,illustrated1 #afmo1 #a4ej1 ,moods1 a ,novel1 #afmo1 #a4ej2 ,hospital ,sketches1 ,illustrated1 #afmo1 #a4ej4 ,a4 ,bronson ,alcott4 ,table ,talk1 #afmo1 #a4ej2 ,concord ,days1 #afmo1 #a4ej2 ,record of a ,school1 #afmo1 #a4ej2 ,tablets1 with ,portrait1 #afmo1 #a4ej2 ,sonnets and ,canzonets1 #afmo1 #a4jj2 ,new ,connecticut1 #afmo1 #a4be4 ,william ,r4 ,alger4 ,a ,critical ,history of the ,doctrine of a ,future ,life1 #hvo1 #c4ej2 ,the ,genius of ,solitude1 #afmo1 #a4ej2 ,the ,friendships of ,women1 #afmo1 #a4ej2 ,the ,school of ,life1 #afmo1 #a4jj2 ,the ,poetry of the ,orient1 ,illustrated1 #afmo1 #a4ej4 ,joseph ,h4 ,allen4 ,hebrew ,men and ,times1 #afmo1 #a4ej2 ,our ,liberal ,movement1 #afmo1 #a4be2 ,christian ,history in its ,three ,great ,periods1 #c vols41 #afmo1 #c4ge2 ,outlines of ,christian ,history1 #afmo1 #ge cents4 ,thomas ,g4 ,appleton4 ,a ,sheaf of ,papers1 #afmo1 #a4ej2 ,a ,nile ,journey1 ,illustrated1 #abmo1 #b4be2 ,syrian ,sunshine1 #afmo1 #a4jj2 ,windfalls1 ,essays1 #afmo1 #a4ej2 ,chequer ,work1 #afmo1 #a4ej4 ,ernst ,moritz ,arndt4 ,life and ,adventures of ,arndt1 with ,portrait1 #abmo1 #b4be4 ,edwin ,arnold4 ,the ,light of ,asia1 #afmo1 #a4jj2 ,pearls of the ,faith1 #afmo1 #a4jj2 ,indian ,idylls1 #afmo1 #a4jj2 ,the ,secret of ,death1 #afmo1 #a4jj2 ,the ,song ,celestial1 #afmo1 #a4jj2 ,india ,revisited1 ,illustrated1 #abmo1 #b4jj2 ,miscellaneous ,poems1 #afmo1 #a4jj4 ,w4 ,p4 ,atkinson4 ,on the ,right ,use of ,books1 #afmo1 #ej cents2 ,on ,history and the ,study of ,history1 #afmo1 #ej cents4 ,henry ,bacon4 ,a ,parisian ,year1 ,illustrated1 #afmo1 #a4ej4 ,honor de ,balzac4 ,pre ,goriot1 #abmo1 half ,russia1 #a4ej2 ,the ,duchesse de ,langeais1 #abmo1 half ,russia1 #a4ej2 ,csar ,birotteau1 #abmo1 half ,russia1 #a4ej2 ,eugnie ,grandet1 #abmo1 half ,russia1 #a4ej2 ,cousin ,pons1 #abmo1 half ,russia1 #a4ej2 ,the ,country ,doctor1 #abmo1 half ,russia1 #a4ej2 ,the ,two ,brothers1 #abmo1 half ,russia1 #a4ej2 ,the ,alkahest1 #abmo1 half ,russia1 #a4ej4 ,anna ,letitia ,barbauld4 ,tales1 ,poems1 and ,essays4 ,biographical ,sketch by ,grace ,a4 ,oliver4 #afmo1 #a4jj4 ,s4 ,baring-,gould4 ,curious ,myths of the ,middle ,ages1 new edition1 ,illustrated1 #afmo1 #a4ej4 ,william ,barnes4 ,rural ,poems1 ,illustrated1 square #ahmo1 #a4be4 ,c4 ,a4 ,bartol1 ,d4,d4 ,radical ,problems1 #afmo1 #a4be2 ,the ,rising ,faith1 #afmo1 #a4be2 ,principles and ,portraits1 #afmo1 #a4be4 ,william ,m4 ,baker4 ,blessed ,saint ,certainty1 #afmo1 #a4ej2 ,the ,making of a ,man1 #afmo1 #a4be2 ,his ,majesty1 ,myself1 #afmo1 #a4jj4 ,arlo ,bates4 ,berries of the ,brier 7,poems71 #afmo1 #a4jj2 ,sonnets in ,shadow 7,poems71 #afmo1 #a4jj2 ,a ,lad's ,love1 a ,story1 #afmo1 #a4jj4 ,henry ,walter ,bates4 ,the ,naturalist on the ,amazon1 ,illustrated1 #hvo1 #b4ej4 ,karoline ,bauer4 ,memoirs1 from the ,german1 #abmo1 #a4ej4 ,walter ,besant4 ,the ,french ,humorists1 #abmo1 #b4jj2 ,studies in ,early ,french ,poetry1 #abmo1 #b4jj4 ,william ,blake4 ,poetical ,works4 ,with a ,memoir by ,w4 ,m4 ,rossetti4 ,portrait1 #afmo1 #b4be4 ,mathilde ,blind4 ,tarantella1 a novel1 #abmo1 #a4ej4 ,sherwood ,bonner4 ,suwanee ,river ,tales4 ,illustrated4 #afmo #a4be4 ,mrs4 ,e4 ,v4 ,boyle4 ,days and ,hours in a ,garden1 #afmo1 white cloth1 gilt1 uncut1 #b4jj4 ,mary ,bradley4 ,hidden ,sweetness1 ,illustrated1 small #dto1 #a4ej4 ,charles ,t4 ,brooks4 ,poems1 with ,memoir1 #afmo1 #a4be2 ,william ,ellery ,channing1 with ,portrait1 ,illustrated1 #afmo1 #a4ej2 ,the ,layman's ,breviary1 square #afmo1 #a4ej2 ,the ,world-,priest1 square #afmo1 #b4be2 ,the ,wisdom of the ,brahmin1 #afmo1 #a4be4 ,sir ,thomas ,browne4 ,religio ,medici1 #afmo1 #a4be4 ,robert ,buchanan4 ,poems1 #afmo1 #a4ej4 ,sir ,edward ,bulwer-,lytton4 ,dramas and ,poems1 with steel ,portrait1 square #ahmo1 #a4jj2 ,schiller's ,lay of the ,bell1 translated by ,bulwer1 ,illustrated1 oblong #dto1 #g4ej4 ,john ,bunyan4 ,the ,pilgrim's ,progress1 ,illustrated1 #afmo1 #a4jj4 ,f4 ,c4 ,burnand4 ,happy ,thoughts1 #afmo1 #a4jj2 ,more ,happy ,thoughts1 #afmo1 #a4jj2 ,my ,health1 #afmo1 #a4jj2 ,happy ,thought ,hall1 ,illustrated1 square #afmo1 #b4jj2 ,the ,new ,history of ,sandford and ,merton1 ,illustrated1 #afmo1 #a4jj2 paper covers1 #ej cents4 ,by ,the ,tiber4 ,a ,novel1 by the author of ,signor ,monaldini's ,niece1 #afmo1 #a4ej4 ,t4 ,hall ,caine4 ,recollections of ,d4 ,g4 ,rossetti1 with ,portrait1 #hvo1 #c4jj4 ,helen ,campbell4 ,the ,what-to-do ,club1 #afmo1 #a4ej2 ,mrs4 ,herndon's ,income1 #afmo1 #a4ej2 ,miss ,melinda's ,opportunity1 #afmo1 #a4jj2 ,prisoners of ,poverty1 #afmo1 #a4jj4 ,john ,w4 ,chadwick4 ,poems1 #afmo1 #a4be2 ,in ,nazareth ,town1 #afmo1 #a4jj2 ,the ,faith of ,reason1 #afmo1 #a4jj2 ,the ,man ,jesus1 #afmo1 #a4jj4 ,peleg ,w4 ,chandler4 ,memoir of ,governor ,andrew1 ,illustrated1 #afmo1 #a4be4 ,george ,l4 ,chaney4 ,f4 ,grant ,co41 ,illustrated1 #afmo1 #a4jj2 ,tom1 ,illustrated1 #afmo1 #a4jj2 ,aloha1 ,illustrated1 #afmo1 #a4ej2 ,every-day ,life and ,every-day ,morals1 #afmo1 #a4jj4 ,william ,ellery ,channing4 ,thoreau3 the ,poet-,naturalist1 #afmo1 #a4ej4 ,lydia ,maria ,child4 ,aspirations of the ,world1 #afmo1 #a4be1 ,p4 ,w4 ,clayden4 ,the ,life of ,samuel ,sharpe1 #abmo1 #a4ej4 ,mabel ,collins4 ,through the ,gates of ,gold1 a ,fragment of ,thought1 #afmo1 #ej cents4 ,sara ,coleridge4 ,phantasmion1 #abmo1 #b4jj4 ,r4 ,laird ,collier1 ,d4 ,d4 ,meditations on the ,essence of ,christianity1 #abmo1 #a4be4 ,susan ,coolidge4 ,the ,new ,year's ,bargain1 ,illustrated4 #afmo1 #a4be2 ,what ,katy ,did1 ,illustrated1 #afmo1 #a4be2 ,what ,katy ,did at ,school1 ,illustrated1 #afmo1 #a4be2 ,what ,katy ,did ,next1 ,illustrated1 #afmo1 #a4be2 ,mischief's ,thanksgiving1 ,illustrated1 #afmo1 #a4be2 ,nine ,little ,goslings1 ,illustrated1 #afmo1 #a4be2 ,eyebright1 ,illustrated1 #afmo1 #a4be2 ,cross ,patch1 ,illustrated1 #afmo1 #a4be2 ,a ,round ,dozen1 ,illustrated1 #afmo1 #a4be2 ,a ,little ,country ,girl1 ,illustrated1 #afmo1 #a4be2 ,a ,guernsey ,lily1 ,illustrated1 #dto1 #b4jj2 ,for ,summer ,afternoons1 #afmo1 #a4be2 ,short ,history of ,philadelphia1 #abmo1 #a4be2 ,verses1 square #afmo1 #a4jj4 ,caroline ,h4 ,dall4 ,letters 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,man1 #abmo1 half ,russia1 #a4ej2 ,miller of ,angibault1 #abmo1 half ,russia1 #a4ej4 ,epes ,sargent4 ,planchette2 or1 ,the ,despair of ,science1 #afmo1 #a4be2 ,the ,woman who ,dared1 #afmo1 #a4ej4 ,sir ,walter ,scott4 ,lay of the ,last ,minstrel1 ,lady of the ,lake1 and ,marmion1 #a vol41 #afmo1 #a4jj4 ,sea and ,shore1 a ,collection of ,poems1 #ahmo1 #a4jj4 ,j4 ,r4 ,seeley1 ,m4 ,a4 ,ecce ,homo1 #afmo1 #a4jj2 ,roman ,imperialism1 #afmo1 #a4ej2 ,short ,history of ,napoleon1 with ,portrait1 #afmo1 #a4ej2 ,life and ,times of ,stein1 #b vols41 with ,portrait1 #hvo1 #f4jj2 ,natural ,religion1 #afmo1 #a4be2 ,expansion of ,england1 crown #hvo1 #a4ge4 ,flora ,l4 ,shaw4 ,colonel ,cheswick's ,campaign1 a ,novel1 #afmo1 #a4be2 ,castle ,blair1 #afmo1 #a4jj2 ,hector1 #afmo1 #a4jj2 ,phyllis ,browne1 #afmo1 #a4jj2 ,a ,sea ,change1 #afmo1 #a4jj4 ,six of ,one by ,half-a-,dozen of the ,other1 #afmo1 #a4ej4 ,julian ,k4 ,smyth4 ,footprints of the ,saviour1 #afmo1 gilt top1 #a4jj4 ,mary ,somerville4 ,personal ,recollections1 ,portrait1 #abmo1 #a4ej4 ,robert ,southey4 ,life of ,nelson1 ,illustrated1 #afmo1 #a4jj4 ,harriet ,prescott ,spofford4 ,the ,marquis of ,carabas1 #afmo1 #a4jj2 ,hester ,stanley at ,st4 ,marks1 #abmo1 #a4be4 ,a ,square4 ,flatland1 ,illustrated4 #afmo1 #ge cents4 ,robert ,louis ,stevenson4 ,travels with a ,donkey1 #afmo1 #a4jj2 ,an ,inland ,voyage1 #afmo1 #a4jj2 ,treasure ,island1 #afmo1 #a4jj2 ,the ,silverado ,squatters1 #afmo1 #a4jj2 ,prince ,otto1 #afmo1 #a4jj4 ,harriet ,beecher ,stowe4 ,pink and ,white ,tyranny1 #afmo1 #a4be4 ,charles ,swain4 ,poems1 with ,portrait1 #ahmo1 #a4jj4 ,andrew ,james ,symington4 ,william ,wordsworth1 with ,portrait1 #b vols41 #afmo1 #b4jj4 ,jane and ,ann ,taylor4 ,tales1 ,essays1 and ,poems4 ,biographical ,sketch1 by ,grace ,a4 ,oliver4 #afmo1 #a4jj4 ,connop ,thirlwall4 ,letters to a ,friend1 #abmo1 #a4ej4 ,mary ,w4 ,tileston4 ,quiet ,hours1 #ast ,series1 #afmo1 #a4jj2 #b;d ,series1 #afmo1 #a4jj2 #b vols4 in one1 #a4ej2 ,sursum ,corda1 #afmo1 #a4be2 ,the ,blessed ,life1 #ahmo1 #a4jj2 ,daily ,strength for ,daily ,needs1 #afmo1 #a4jj2 ,heroic ,ballads1 ,illustrated1 #abmo1 #b4jj2 ,the ,wisdom ,series1 comprising ,the ,apocrypha1 #ahmo1 flexible covers1 #ej cents2 ,ecclesiasticus1 #ahmo1 flexible covers1 #ej cents2 ,marcus ,aurelius ,antoninus1 #ahmo1 flexible covers1 #ej cents2 ,the ,imitation of ,christ1 #ahmo1 flexible covers1 #ej cents2 ,sunshine in the ,soul1 #ast ,series1 #ahmo1 flexible covers1 #ej cents2 #b;d ,series1 #ahmo1 flexible covers1 #ej cents 7both in one1 #ge cents72 ,epictetus1 #ahmo1 flexible covers1 #ej cents2 ,life of ,dr4 ,john ,tauler1 #ahmo1 flexible covers1 #ej cents2 ,selections from ,fnelon1 #ahmo1 flexible covers1 #ej cents2 ,socrates1 #b vols41 #ahmo1 flexible covers1 #ej cents each4 ,in sets1 complete in six volumes1 #d4ej4 ,tip ,cat1 ,a ,story4 ,by the author of ,miss ,toosey's ,mission4 #afmo1 #a4jj4 ,george ,m4 ,towle4 ,certain ,men of ,mark1 #afmo1 #a4jj4 ,w4 ,steuart ,trench4 ,realities of ,irish ,life1 #abmo1 #a4jj4 ,r4 ,st4 ,john ,tyrwhitt4 ,our ,sketching ,club1 ,illustrated1 #hvo1 #b4ej4 ,sarah ,tytler4 ,the ,old ,masters1 #afmo1 #a4ej2 ,modern ,painters1 #afmo1 #a4ej2 ,musical ,composers1 #afmo1 #a4ej4 ,may ,alden ,ward4 ,dante1 a ,sketch of his ,life1 #afmo1 #a4be4 ,m4 de ,voltaire4 ,charles ,,xii41 ,king of ,sweden1 with ,portrait1 #afmo1 #a4jj4 ,william ,b4 ,weeden4 ,morality of ,prohibitory ,liquor ,laws1 #afmo1 #a4be2 ,the ,social ,law of ,labor1 #abmo1 #a4ej4 ,rev4 ,john ,weiss4 ,american ,religion1 #afmo1 #a4ej2 ,wit1 ,humor1 and ,shakspeare1 #abmo1 #b4jj4 ,oscar ,wilde4 ,poems1 #afmo1 #a4be4 ,a ,week ,away from ,time1 #afmo1 #a4be4 ,rev4 ,j4 ,g4 ,wood4 ,nature's ,teachings1 ,illustrated1 #hvo1 #b4ej4 ,abba ,goold ,woolson4 ,dress ,reform1 ,illustrated1 #afmo1 #a4ej2 ,browsing ,among ,books1 #afmo1 #a4jj4 ,benjamin ,worcester4 ,life and ,mission of ,emanuel ,swedenborg1 with ,portrait1 #abmo1 #b4jj 7#hvo1 #c4jj74 ,,latest ,,additions ,,to ,,roberts ,,brothers' ,,catalogue4 ,albion ,w4 ,tourgee4 ,button's ,inn1 a ,story1 #afmo1 #a4be4 ,philip ,bourke ,marston4 ,for a ,song's ,sake1 and ,other ,stories1 #abmo1 #b4jj2 ,garden ,secrets1 with a ,sketch of his ,life by ,louise ,chandler ,moulton1 and ,portrait1 #afmo1 #a4jj4 ,esther ,bernon ,carpenter4 ,south-,county ,neighbors1 #afmo1 #a4jj4 ,william ,shakespeare4 ,complete ,works1 ,dyce's ,edition1 #g vols41 #afmo1 half ,russia1 in a neat box1 #i4jj4 ,laura ,e4 ,richards4 ,toto's ,joyous ,winter1 a continuation of ,the ,joyous ,story of ,toto1 #afmo1 #a4be4 ,louisa ,m4 ,alcott4 ,a ,garland for ,girls1 and ,other ,stories1 uniform with ,spinning-,wheel ,stories1 #afmo1 #a4be2 ,lulu's ,library1 ,vol4 ,,ii41 uniform with ,lulu's ,library1 ,vol4 ,i41 #afmo1 #a4jj4 ,edward ,e4 ,hale4 ,in ,his ,name1 a new edition1 with more than #ajj ,illustrations by ,g4 ,p4 ,jacomb-,hood1 ,r4,a41 #abmo1 #b4jj4 ,philip ,gilbert ,hamerton4 ,the ,sane1 a ,summer ,voyage1 with #aej ,illustrations by ,joseph ,pennell and the author1 #dto4 #c4ej4 ,the ,little ,flowers of ,saint ,francis4 ,translated by ,abby ,langdon ,alger4 #afmo1 #a4jj4 ,t4 ,s4 ,millington4 ,some of ,our ,fellows1 a ,school ,story1 with #af ,illustrations1 small #dto1 #a4ej4 ,joaquin ,miller4 ,songs of the ,mexican ,seas1 comprising ,the ,sea of ,fire and ,the ,rhyme of the ,great ,river1 #afmo1 #a4jj4 ,george ,meredith4 ,ballads and ,poems of ,tragic ,life1 #afmo1 #a4ej4 ,vernon ,lee4 ,juvenilia3 being a ,second ,series of ,essays on ,sundry sthetical ,questions1 uniform with ,baldwin 7the ,first ,series71 #abmo1 #b4jj4 ,madame de ,stal4 ,a ,life of this celebrated woman1 the author of ,corinne1 being the #aeth ,volume in the ,famous ,women ,series1 #afmo1 #a4jj4 ,send for ,descriptive ,catalogue of our ,publications 7free74 ,all of our ,books are mailed1 post-paid1 on receipt of price4 ,,roberts ,,brothers1 ,publishers1 #c ,,somerset ,,street1 ,,boston4 99 99 99 99 99 ,transcriber's ,notes3 ,obvious punctuation errors repaired4 ,page #he1 ever changed to over 7preside over the arrangements7 ,page #abd1 arraingment changed to arraignment 7,the arraignment1 conviction7 ,page #bce1 anouncement changed to announcement 7and tempting announcement7 ,page #cbf1 moulde ring changed to mouldering 7within the mouldering7 ,varied alphabetizing in the list of ad pages at the end of the book was retained4 ,for example1 ,edward ,lear was left above ,walter ,savage ,landor and ,francis ,jacox was left after ,richard ,jeffries4