CHARLES BLOOMFIELD*.
Camterhury^ Deeemker^f 1333.
This is the time when we/ so emphatically wish
each oiher ^ a merry Christmas and a happy aewyear ;'
land both in town and country good eating and dijink*
ing and conviviality in general are much encouraged.
In vain, however, do we look for 'The jolly Waisel-
Bowl,' and 'The Bore's Heade,*— ' with garlailides
gay and rosemary/ Popular superstitions and cus-
toms may generally be traced back to Heathen times,
for on their rites and mysteries were many of the
Catholic ceremonies afterwards engrafted; and to
the Saturnalia we are, or rather our ancestors were,
probably indebted for some of ourChristmas pastimes.
The Reformation first injured their popularity, and
thQ age of Puritanism gave them a fresh shock. It
was even ordered by Parliament, December'24, 1653,
'That ho observation shall be had of the five and
twentieth day of December, commonly called Christ-
mas Day; nor any solemnity used or exercised in
churched upon that day in respect thereof.' They
now appear to be neglected by society in proportion
to its degree of polish ; and in the metropolis and its
immediate neighbourhood are little encouraged by
' < Remains ef B. Bioonfield,* yol. i, p. 9^ T%Ma Um$ speak for "
ihemsehei^auij the eWads of despair be soim chased away by the
•nnihine of bensTolence ! Let e^ery one who has. read tbe * Fas.
msr's Boy* contribute his mite-fit is the best tribute we can pay to
the memovy of his departed genius.
Dd2
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318 RBMARKABLB )DAY« :
the higher classes V and but partialfy by^tfae middliiig
ranks, while among the lower portion of the -people
they freqnently degenerate into debauchery. In the
conntry, especially in the far western and northern
eonnties^ Christmas is yet kept up with much spirit;
the yule-log still crackles on the faeartti, and * the
sirloins of beef '» the minced pies, the plum-porridge,
the capons, tuikeys, geese, and plum-puddii^,'
smoke upon the hospitable board. £ach master of a
family, like the old courtier in the ballad, appears to
have
- a good old fashioo, when Gfarifltinasse u come^
To call in all his old neighboars with bagpipe and drum,
With good chear enough to furnish eyery old room,
And old liquor able to make a cat speak, and jnan dumb.
* O! rus, quando te aspiciam.' Yet even there the
hand o{ improvement has been active, and some va-
luable relic of antient festivities is occasionally usher-
ed from tne parlour to the kitchen, never more to re-
turn. The decoration of houses and churches with
evergreens is continued, however, in London ; nor is
there a deficiency, to the best of our experience, in the
demands for Christmas boxes ; the original intention
of which was probably to enable flie poor to partake
pf the festivities of the season, from the gratuities of
iheir more wealthy fellow-creatures — and, God for-
bid! that, while feasting ourselves, we should not
asaist our poor neighbours and dependants to enjoy
Ithemselves. Certain nocturnal wandering minstrels
occasionally disturb the slumbers of the citizen$ for
about a month prior to Christmas, calling themselves
Wmts; but, ' alack the day!' instead of playing and
3inging the good old Carol, our ears are saluted with
â– - I â– â– - _ I -
'—The smoking Sirloin stretched immense
From side to side^ in which with desperate knife
They deep incision make, and talk the while
Of Englanid's glory, ne'er to be defsced.^
^or wanting be the brown Ocrosaa, drawn
Mature and perfect, fvom his dark retreat
Of thirty years. TveMSOMi
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IK^DBCBBfBBE 1S3&« 319
BiQfs Wife, St, Patrick's Day; or the latest Quadrille
tune. In many parts of the country, espectally ii|
the West, ttie Carol is stiU preserved, and is sung in
the parish churches on Christmas Day, the singers
also going about to the different houses blithely ca-
ir<riing such cheering tunes as ^ A Child this day is
born'-T-* Sit y ou^ merry gentlemen^ — * I saw three ships
come .sailing in,' &C.&C. In.Lond(m, except some
croaking ballad-singer bawling out 'God rest you,
tosnj. ^entlem^n,' or a like doggrel, nothing in the
shape of Carols is heard, though there4s a consider-
able sale of them among the lower classes'. Look at
the following list of Christmas amusements, given by
burton in his Anatomy of Melancholy, now super-
seded by Pope- Joan, Blind Man^s Buff, and Puss in
the Corner:^-* The ordinary recreations which we
have in winter, are cardes, tables and dice, shovel
board, chesse-play, the philosopher's game, small
trunkes, billiards, musicke, maskes, singing, dancing,
ule-games, catches, purposes, questions, merry tales
of errant knights, kings, queens, lovers, lords, ladies,
giants, dwarfs, thieves, fairies, goblins, friars, witches,
and the rest/ As to mummers^ and Christmas Plays,
unless ^riMaldi and the pantomimes be considered
as relics, we know not where to find them, in or near
* This deficiency we have now heen enabled to supply by the kind-
ness of our correspondent, Mr. Ryan, who has written the elegant
<!lhristma8 carol on the opposite page, expressly for this work ; and
that it may be nmg as #^ as $aii on Christmas Day, we have had it
set to music by our friend Tebbett.
* In the time of Henry VIII^ ihe sport of fimmming had involved
in its train so many disorders^ as to call for the interference of the
I^egtslature : an Act of the third year of this king, cap. 9, partly ex-
plains the nature of their proceedings.—' For as much as lately
>ithin this realm, divers persons have disguised and apparelled them-
selves and covered themselves with visors or other things, in such
manner as. they should not be ki^own ; an4 divers of them in a com-
pany; together^, naming themselves ^ummttHi have come to the
dFelliog. place of divers men of honour, and substantial persons, and
so departed unknown ; whereupon murders, felony^ *, and otbeir
gr^at hurts and inconveniences have aforetime grown, and hereafter
be like, to •odme by^ if the said disorder should continue not reformed,'
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S20 ItBMARKAfiLt DAYg
■« ■I ■I II • .1 I III - II iwr a ti I .
the me^polis; thonf^h fonnerly a Lord of MisroIeS
or Christmas Prince, was chosen, eten in the higUest
families and most learned establishments ; — even our
kings nsed to join in these sports. Mummers, goi^
sardes or gnise-dancers (commonly called geese*
dancers), may yet be seen in the coontry; and the
itory of St. George and the Dragbn and the Fair
Sabra is annually repeated, enlivened mth Ae frolics
of Old Father Christmas, and the Doctor, who cures
* each deep and deadly wound' of the combatants,
coming for that purpose '
from the farthermost part of Spain,
With a little bottle of aficampain.
These guise*dancers are profusely decorated with
ribands, each carrying a naked sword, with the ex-
ception of the fair Sabra, who is modestly clad in
female attire; and Old Father Christmas and the
Doctor, who are the Pantaloon and Clown of 'the
Piece, the former being generally disguised by a fright-
ful mask*.
But the sons and daughters of Christmas, ^ Old
Christmas of London and Captain Chrishhas* have
t^een strange vicissitudes since the family were last
assembled at Whitehall. Wassail^ the neat semp-
stress, has abandoned the metropolis. Caro/ has been
divested of his tawny coat and red cap, and the flute
has dropped firom his girdle. Minced pies, however,
ieure yet in good repute; they were persecuted, it is
true, as malignaats in the timeof the Commonwealth,
but they recovered their estates and their credit with
tiie king* Gambol with his hoop and bell is con-
' According to Stow, he waa ' A maiter of merry disports usually
lodged in the ktoi^'i house $ and in the house of every aobleaan iSt
honour or good worship^ were bii spiriinal or temporal.' Other
oouutriesy as well as Englandy had their Lord of Misrule : in Fraaee
he was. eaHed the Ahb^ de Malgoarem^ and Abbd de lieste $ and,
Uk Scotla&dy the Ahhvt •/ CAwvase*. See a ouflotts desoriptum of his
Btection in T.T. #or 1881, pp^. 900, 891.
<^ See a Review of the second Editiott of * Mr. Davies Gilbert's An*
olent Ghristmat CaroU,Mn«he literary Oaaeitete ISM, p. 7a
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; IK BSCBMBBR 1825. 321'
sigaed to Bartholoinew Fair. Post-and-Pairhas long
^ven up bis place to a numerous train t>f illegitimate
descendants: and Misrule, if we are to believe
JTohn Bull when he is in a growling humour, is no
longer content with his twelve days empire, but shows
himself at every season of. the year.
Ab, happy days! but now no longer found;
No more with social, hospitable glee
The village-hearths at Christmas-tide resound ;
No more the Whitson gambol may you see,
Nor morrice»daunce, nor May-day joUitie,
When the blithe maidens foot the deawy green ;-
But now in place, heart-sinking penurie.
And hopeless care on every face is seen,
As these the drery times of curfew bell had been.
Sir Martyn.
The goodly number of sports and customs which took
place in
those golden days of yore,
When Christmas was a high day,
is yearly diminishing. Until very lately, the chap-
lains at St. James's Palace retained the venerable
custom of having 'a tureen full of rich plum-por-
ridge' served up, and not only served up, but actually
' eaten on that festival at that table.' But, alas ! the
' plum-porridge' and the ^tureen' have disappeared
before ttie mi^c touch of modern refinement. So it
is, ' Star after star goes out; and— all is night!'
In allusion to the long train of sports and merri*
ndents which formerly made Christmas so cheerful to
our ancestors, we quote the following curious d6cu-«
ment from ' Mr. Ellis's Original Letters from Auto-
graphs in the British Musisum/ vol. i, p. 270, et seq.
'It wds (Mr. E. observes) in 1525, in the seven-
teenth year of Henry the Eighth, that Cardinal Wol-
sey, at the same time that he established a household
for the young Duke of Richmond, ** ordained a Coun-
cil," says Hall, '^ and stablished another Household
for the Lady Mary, then being Princess of the Realm'*
The circumstance of the Council's inquiring what
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^922 EfiMARKABLB SATS
they were to do^ seems to fix the date of the Ijetter^
at oiice> to the very year in which the Household was
established.
' '' Please it youre grace for the great repaire of
straungers supposed onto the Prynoesse honorable
honseholde this solempne fest of Gristmas. We hom-
bly beseche the same to let us knowe youre gracious
pleasure concemyng aswell a ship of silver for the
almes disshe requysite for her high estate^ and spice
plats^ as also for trumpetts and a rebek to be sent^
and whither we shall appoynte any Lord ofMysruU
for the said honorable honseholde^ provide for enter-
Inds, disgysyngs^ or pleyes in the said fest^ or for
banket on twelf nyght. And in likewise whither the
Pryncesse shaU sende any newe yeres gifts to the
Kinge^ the Quene^ your Grace, and the Frensshe
queue, and of tibe value and devise of the same. Be-
sechyng youre grace idso to pardon oure busy and
importunate suts to the same in suche behalf made.
Thus oure right syngler good lord We pray the holy
Trynyte have you in bis holy preservacion. At
Teoxbury the xxvij day of November. Youre humble
orators
JOHN EXON.
To tbe most reyerent Father 11'}^^ l^rj"'
in God the Lord Cardinail
his good Grace.
PETER BURNfiLL.
JOHN SALTER.
0. BROMLEY.
^ No record is preserved of the answer which was
returned to this letter ; but that the Cardinal allowed
the sports of Christmas to be played is more than
probable. A book of the expenses of the Lady
Hary's Household in various years from the 28th to
the 96th of Henry the JBighth is still remaining among
1)ie Royal Manuscripts in the British Museum; a few
entries in which bear upon the question/
We take only the most curious—
'Item^ geven to George Mpuntejoye drawing my
Ladye's Grace to his Valentine^ x\\
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IN DBCBMaBit 1826. 823
'Iteni, geveft amongs tlie yeomen of the King's
guard bringing a Leke to my Lady's Grace oa Saynt
Dayid's day, xy«.
' Item> geyen to Heywood playeng an enterlude
with his children before my Lady's Grace, xl*.
' Item« payed for a yerde and a halfe of damaske
for Jane the fole, vij*.
^ Item, for sbaying of Jane fooles hedde, iiij'^.
' Payed for a frountlet loste in a wager to my Lady
Margaret, iiij".
^Item, payed f6r a brekefast loste at boiling by my
Lady Mary's Grp.ce, x^/
. Of Christmas cuistoms preyalent in the metropolis
nearly a century ago, we have a concise and pleas-
ing description by a writer in * Read's Weekly Jour-
nar of January 9, 1731. * My house,' says this ob-
server, ' is direcdy opposite to a great church; and it
was with much pleasure I observed from my window,
last C%m^iiMi«*cIay, the numerous poor that waited
at the doors yery liberally relieved ; but my joy was
soon over, for no sooner were the charitable ccmgre'-
gation dispersed, but these wretches, who before ap.*
peared the very pictures of misery, forgot their caxtt,
and fell to quarrdling about the dividend : oaths and
curses flew about amongst them yery plentifully, and
passion grew SO/ bigh that they fell hard upon one
another's faults. ' Ib short, I learned irom thek own
mouths that they were all impostovs, both men
and women ; and that amongst tlMsir wIm^ number,
which was yery large; there was itot one object of
charity. When thejr had tired ftemselves with scold-
ing, they yery lovingly adjourn^ to a neighbouring
brandy*shop, from whence they returned in a condi-
tion neither fit for me to describe nor you to hear.
* The next day I met with another wonder; for, by
that time I was up, my servants could do nothing
but run to the door, j^iquiring the meaning, I was
answered, the people were come for their Christmas-
box: this was logick to me ; but! found at litst, that>
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S24 . RBMARKABLB DAYS
because I had laid out a great deal of ready-money
with my brewer^. baker// and other tradesmen, they
kindly tiiodght it my duty to present their servants
with some money,; for the favour of having Uieir
goods. This provoked me a little; but, being told
it UHi8 the custom,.! complied. These were fol-
lowed by the watch, beadles, dust-men, and an in-
numerable tribe; but what vexed me the most was
the . clerk, , who has an extraordinary place, - and
makes as good an appearance as most tradesmen in
the parish; to see him. come a-bpxing, alias hefgmg,
I thought was intolerable ; however, I found it was
the custom too, so I gave him half-a-crown; as I
was likewise obliged to do to the bell-man, for break-
ing my rest for many nights together.
' Having talked this matter over with a friend, he
promised to carry me where I might see the good effects
of this giving. box*money. In &e evening away we
went to a neighbouring alehouse, where abundance
of these gentry were assembled round a stately piece
of roast beef and. as large a plum-pudding. When
the drink and brandy began to work, they fell to
reckoning of theii: several gains that day: one was
called a stingy dog for giving but sixpence ; another
called an extravagant fool for giving half-a-crown,
which perhaps he might want, before the year was
out; so I found these good people were never to be
pleased. Some of them were got to cards by them-
selves, which soon produced a quarrel and broken
heads. In the interim came in some of their wives,
whO; roundly , abused the people for having given
them money, adding, that instead . of doing good it
ruined their families, and set them in a road of drink-
ing and gaming, which never ceased till not only their
gifts, but their wages, were gone. One good woman
said, if people had a mind to give charity, they should
send it home to their families : I was very much of
her opinion; but, being tired witix the. noise, we left
them to agree as they could.
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IN DBCSMBKR 1825« 325
' My friend next carried me. to the npper end of
PiccadOIy, where, one pair of stairs over a stable, we
fonnd near an hundred people of both sexes, same
masked, others not, a great part of which were danc-
ii^ to die music of two sorry fiddles. It is impossi-
ble to describe this medley of mortals fully ; however,
I will do it as well as I can. There were footmen,
servant-maids, bntchers, apprentices, oyster and
oraiige*women, common prostitutes, and sharpers^
which appeared to be the best of the company. This
horrid place seemed to me a complete nursery for the
g^lows. My friend informed me, it was called a
three-penny hop; and while we were talking, to my
great satisfaction, by order of the Westminster Jus*
tices, to their immortal honour, entered the consta-
bles and their assistants, who carried off all the com-
pany that was left; and, had not my friend been
known to them, we might have paid dear for our cu-
riosity.
* I believe f have almost tired you as well as my*
self with an account of the lower sort of diversions.
I come next to expatiate on the entertainment and
good cheer I met with in the city, whither my friend
carried me to dinner these holidays. It was the house
of an eminent and worthy merchant ; and though. Sir,
1 have been accustomed in my own county to what
may very well be called good house-keeping, yet, I
assure you, I should have taken this dinner to have
been provided for a whole parish, rather than for
about a dozen gentlemen. It is impossible for me
to give you half our bill of fare ; so you must be
content to know that we had turkeys, geese, capons,
puddings of a dozen sorts, more than I had ever seen
in my life, besides brawn, roast-beef, and many
things of which I know not the names; mince -pies
in abundance, and a thing they call plum-pQttage\
* This hospitable London merchant see^is quite to have eclipsed
the nobility and gentry, of his time in the abundance of his feast, as
well as in the preservation of the antient and beloved |»i«m-|N>rru2$re
£ e
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326 RBMAEKABZ.B DATS
which may be good for aoght I iaiow, though it
seems to me to have fifty different tastes. Oor
wioes were of the best^ as were all the rest of our
liqnors ; in shovt, the Ood of Plenty seemed to miga
here. And, to make every thing perfect, our com*
pany was polite^ and every way agreeable; iioUiii^
but mirth and loyal healths went round'/
Of the splendid and substantial hoi^itality which
distinguished the celebration of Christmas in foraier
timeS) when noblemen and gentlemen of ^fina estates
had their heraldk, who ware their coat of arms at
this and other solemn seasons, and cried Largesse,
&c., we have already disserted in our previous to«-
lumes ; aad have given a poetical bill of fare in the
time of Sang Arttior*, describing the ^salmon, ve-
mson, and wild boars,' which were served up by
hundreds, along with 'hogsheads of honey, kilder-
kins of mustard,' 8cc. &c. &c. We will now record
a few anecdotes of the principal personage in our
modem Christmas dinner, — Monsieuk Dindok, or,
in vulgar English, our Alderman4n<-Chains.
Naturalists are at variance upon ttie origin of the
tuikey. Some pretend that it was not known before
the discovery of America, and Ihat the first which
or pottage, as one of the leading dishes ; for about forty years,
previous to this period O^^)* Crarles Cotton, the poet, vents the
following complaints, in evident allusion to the neglect of Cl/ristmas
customs by the owners of large eistablishraeats. The^e lines are
particularly applicable to the modern practice of the possessors of
splendid mansions in the country, now visited only in July and
August, or the shooting season, and shut up for thereraainder of
the year.
No more phtm-potridge then or pie.
No brawn, with branch of rosemary.
No chine of beef, enough to make
The tallest yeoman's chine to crack ; .
No bag-pipe humming in the Hall,
Nor noise of house-keeping at all,
Ner sign by which it may be said
This house was once inhabited.
* Malcolm's Anecdotes of the Manners and Customs of London
during the 18th Century, vol. i, p. 298, et seq, (iectmd edition,)
^ See T. T. for 1823, p. 338.
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IN DECSMBBR 1625. 927
appeared on a table ia France was eaten at tte nup-
tials of Charles IX, in 1570. Henry VUI had some
0f them brought to England in 1525, and they are
supposed to be indigenons to Canada and this adja-
cent countries, wfa^re tiiey are found sometimes
weighing upwardiS of fifty pounds. Credat JmAmuH
Apella. However, we must allow that the Norfolk
breed does not fall considerably short of that weight.
On the other hand, it is said th^^t Meleager, a king of
Macedonia, brought them from India into Greece, at
a very early period ; and that, out of gratitude for
such an acquisition, the Athenian Gastronomers
called the bird Meleagrk. Mythology contends that
they were so named from Ibe Macedoniaii hero above
mentioned, after whose death his woe-begone sisters
were transformed into these birds of mournful ap-
pearance. But there is still a doubt whether the Me-
/eoym of Aristotle, of CIyt:iis, of Cali^^enes, of Ptole-
my, and other authors oi' antient; times, was not the
bird Qow known under tjie name of Gumea-hen,
Ovid certainly says (B. viii of the Metamorphoses)
that Meleager^s sisters were turned into birds, but
nventions nothing else, except that, having acquired
homy beak$, and extensive wings, they were sent
adriu to fiivd their way through the vacant air. Th^
idea that the Jesuits brought them into notice is er-
roneous. They were known in Europe long before
the institution of Loyola's order. Why the French
sbould call them ' alouettes de savetier,' cobbler's
lajcks, cannot easily be accounted for. This bird
(says a learned annotator) is so stupid, or timorous,
that if you balance a bit of straw on bis head, or draw
a \iiBke with chalk on the ground from his beak, he
fancies himself so loaded or so bounds that he will
remain in the same position till hunger forces him to
move. The French say of a silly person, c*est un din-
dofi ; applying the term as we do that of goose.
THiis bird is either roasted or boiled, and often ac-
companied by a chine of pork: when of a go6d
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32V RBMAftKABLB DATS
breeds it poMesses a flavoar between the pbeasant
and the chicken. In the French cnisine^ tarkey ^ A
la daube/ means the bird confined in a/ terrine* witb
tnifBeSy maroons, &c. &c. and so baked in the oven
that it may keep. It is eaten cold, and offers an ele-
gant and substantial relish for the luncheon of a Gas-
tronomer. But, nuiugre la Carte Frangaise, we must
confess ourselves English enough to prefer, especi-
aHy on Christmas-day, ' an alderman in chains,' with
his attendant liverymen, hereunder described: —
All bail ! thoa Monarch of the smiling board.
Majestic Turkey !
All hail ! the forced-meat balls with which thou'rt stored !
All hail ! the sausage^etters steaming o'er thee !
Hail I ye inferior, yet delightful dishes.
O'er which in trance ecstatic roves my eye !
Ye savoury fowls, ye most alluring fishes,
And brandy flashing in the burnt mince-pie !
* Hail ! cod and oyster-sauce! quail ! partridge ! bastard !
Lobster! plum-pudding! apple pie! and custard!
But let us now retire for a few minutes, from this
' tumult offish, flesh, and fowl,' — the luxurious fare
of the metropolitan gourmands-^and ' take a walk'
to the Highlands of Scotland, and look, by way of
contrast, at the simple diet and honest merriment
of these hardy mountaineers while celebrating their
Christmas festival, and its cheerful Eve. * This,'
(says Mr. Grant Stewart') ' is chiefly spent in pre-
paration for the succeeding days. The housewife is
busily engaged in the provision and cooking of dain-
ties'. The flailman still chaps in the bam, desirous
of providing the necessarv store of fodder for the
Christmas. The herd-bo/s axe resounds on the fir*
stock, determined to prepare plenty of light, and the
gudeman, and others, are abroad on a not less im-
portant errand — the procuring of Catlvch NolHc, or
* See his very eutertaining acconnt of * The Popular Superstitions
.and Festive Amusements of Uie Highlanders of Scotlstnd,* p. 236, et
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IN p£c«M]aEH 1825. 929
Ckri^nHl^ Old Wife, an indispecis^ble T^uisite for
thi3 oooa^ioii\ Th0 remainder of the evening i^
spent in Tariotts games ef amusement.
^ At length the brightening glow of the eastern dky
warns the aniipiaus honse-^maid ef the appretaeb of
She rises fall of anxietv at the prospect of her morn-