| page |
Bringing in the Yule Log |
Frontispiece |
The Herald Angels |
2 |
Virgin and Child |
5 |
Joseph Taking Mary to be Taxed, and the Nativity Events |
6 |
The Nativity (Central portion of Picture in National Gallery) |
8 |
Virgin and Child (Relievo) |
9 |
Group from the Angels' Serenade |
10 |
Adoration of the Magi (From Pulpit of Pisa) |
11 |
"The Inns are Full" |
14 |
Grape Gathering and the Vintage (Mosaic in the Church of St. Constantine, Rome, A.D. 320) |
16 |
German Ninth Century Picture of the Nativity |
16 |
Ancient Roman Illustrations |
17 |
Ancient Roman Illustrations |
18 |
Ancient Agape |
19 |
Ancient Roman Illustrations |
21 |
Early Celebrations in Britain |
23 |
Queen Bertha |
27 |
An Ancient Fireplace |
30 |
Traveling in the Olden Time, with a "Christmas Fool:
on the Front Seat |
31 |
The Wild Boar Hunt: Killing the Boar |
32 |
Adoration of the Magi (Picture of Stained Glass, Winchester
Cathedral) |
34 |
A King at Dinner |
40 |
Blind Minstrel at a Feast |
42 |
Minstrels' Christmas Serenade at an Old Baronial Hall |
44 |
Westminster Hall |
46 |
Strange Old Stories Illustrated (From Harl. MS.) |
50 |
A Cook of the Period (Early Norman) |
55 |
Monk Undergoing Discipline |
56 |
Wassailing at Christmastide |
57 |
Panoply of a Crusader |
58 |
Royal Party Dining in State |
63 |
Ladies Looking from the Hustings upon the Tournament |
73 |
The Lord of Misrule |
74 |
Curious Cuts of Priestly Players in the Olden Time |
76 |
A Court Fool |
77 |
Virgin and Child (Florentine, 1480. South Kensington Museum) |
83 |
Henry VI.'s Cradle |
84 |
Lady Musician of the Fifteenth Century |
91 |
Rustic Christmas Minstrel with Pipe and Tabor |
92 |
Martin Luther and the Christmas Tree |
106 |
The Little Orleans Madonna of Raphael |
107 |
Magdalen College, Oxford |
110 |
Bringing in the Boar's Head with Minstrelsy |
111 |
Virgin and Child, Chirbury, Shropshire |
118 |
Riding a-Mumming at Christmastide |
121 |
A Dumb Show in the Time of Elizabeth |
123 |
The Fool of the Old Play (From a Print by Breughel) |
137 |
The Acting of one of Shakespeare's Plays in the Time of
Queen Elizabeth |
141 |
Neighbours with Pipe and Tabor |
147 |
Christmas in the Hall |
149 |
The Hobby-Horse |
197 |
Servants' Christmas Feast |
202 |
"The Hackin" |
216 |
Seafaring Pilgrims |
219 |
An Ancient Fireplace |
225 |
A Druid Priestess Bearing Mistletoe |
228 |
A Nest of Fools |
229 |
"The Mask Dance" |
231 |
The Christmas Mummers |
234 |
The Waits |
240 |
The Christmas Plum-Pudding |
245 |
Italian Minstrels in London, at Christmas, 1825 |
246 |
Snap Dragon |
247 |
Blindman's Buff |
249 |
The Christmas Dance |
250 |
The Giving Away of Christmas Doles |
257 |
Poor Children's Treat in Modern Times |
265 |
The Christmas Bells |
271 |
Wassailing the Apple-Trees in Devonshire |
279 |
Modern Christmas Performers: Yorkshire Sword-Actors |
282 |
Modern Christmas Characters: "St Peter," "St. Denys" |
283 |
A Scotch First Footing |
285 |
Provençal Plays at Christmastide |
320 |
Nativity Picture (From Byzantine Ivory in the British Museum) |
324 |
Calabrian Shepherds Playing in Rome at Christmas |
329 |
Worshipping the Child Jesus (From a Picture in the Museum
at Naples) |
337 |
Angels and Men Worshipping the Child Jesus (From a
Picture in Seville Cathedral) |
338 |
Simeon Received the Child Jesus into his Arms (From
Modern Stained Glass in Bishopsgate Church, London) |
348 |
Lichfield Cathedral |
349 |
While shepherds watched their flocks by night,
All seated on the ground;
The angel of the Lord came down,
And glory shone around.
Carol.
Lo! God hath ope'd the glist'ring gates of heaven,
And thence are streaming beams of glorious light:
All earth is bath'd in the effulgence giv'n
To dissipate the darkness of the night.
The eastern shepherds, 'biding in the fields,
O'erlook the flocks till now their constant care,
And light divine to mortal sense reveals
A seraph bright descending in the air.
Hark! strains seraphic fall upon the ear,
From shining ones around th' eternal gates:
Glad that man's load of guilt may disappear,
Infinite strength on finite weakness waits.
Why are the trembling shepherds sore afraid?
Why shrink they at the grand, the heavenly sight?
"Fear not" (the angel says), nor be dismay'd,
And o'er them sheds a ray of God-sent light.
O matchless mercy! All-embracing love!
The angel speaks and, gladly, men record:—
"I bring you joyful tidings from above:
This day is born a Saviour, Christ the Lord!"
Hark! "Peace on earth, and God's good-will to men!"
The angels sing, and heaven resounds with praise—
That fallen man may live with God again,
Through Christ, who deigns the sons of men to raise.
W. F. D
The First Christmas: the Advent of Christ.
Behold, a virgin shall conceive,
And bear a Son,
And shall call His name Immanuel.
(Isaiah vii. 14.)
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When His
mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came
together she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. And
Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to
make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.
But when he thought on these things, behold, an angel of the
Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son
of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that
which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall
bring forth a Son; and thou shalt call His name Jesus; for it is
He that shall save His people from their sins. Now all this is
come to pass, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the
Lord through the prophet, saying,
Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a Son,
And they shall call His name Immanuel;
which is, being interpreted, God with us. And Joseph arose
from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded
him, and took unto him his wife; and knew her not till she had
brought forth a Son; and he called His name Jesus.
(Matthew i. 18-25.)
"There went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus that all the world should
be taxed. And Joseph went to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife,
being great with child."
(Luke ii. 1-5.)
And there were shepherds in the same country abiding in the
field, and keeping watch by night over their flock. And an
angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord
shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the
angel said unto them, Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you
good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people: for
there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour,
which is Christ the Lord. And this is the sign unto you; Ye
shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a
manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of
the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace among men in whom He is well pleased.
And it came to pass, when the angels went away from them
into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go
even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing that is come to pass,
which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came
with haste, and found both Mary and Joseph, and the Babe
lying in the manger. And when they saw it, they made known
concerning the saying which was spoken to them about this
child. And all that heard it wondered at the things which were
spoken unto them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these
sayings, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds
returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that
they had heard and seen, even as it was spoken unto them.
(Luke ii. 8-20.)
The evangelist Matthew tells us that "Jesus was born in
Bethlehem of Judæa in the days of Herod the king;" and Justin
Martyr, who was born at Shechem and lived less than a century
after the time of Christ, places the scene of the Nativity in a
cave. Over this cave has risen the Church and Convent of the
Nativity, and there is a stone slab with a star cut in it to mark
the spot where the Saviour was born. Dean Farrar, who has
been at the place, says: "It is impossible to stand in the little
Chapel of the Nativity, and to look without emotion on the silver
star let into the white marble, encircled by its sixteen ever-burning
lamps, and surrounded by the inscription, 'Hic de
Virgine Maria Jesus Christus natus est.'"
To visit such a scene is to have the thoughts carried back
to the greatest event in the world's history, for it has been truly
said that the birth of Christ was the world's second birthday.
Now, death is life! and grief is turn'd to joy!
Since glory shone on that auspicious morn,
When God incarnate came, not to destroy,
But man to save and manhood's state adorn!
W. F. D.
The Nativity by Sandro Botticelli.
Centre Portion of Picture in National GalleryThe Word "Christmas": Its Orthography and Meaning.
"Christmas" (pronounced Kris'mas) signifies "Christ's Mass,"
meaning the festival of the Nativity of Christ, and the
word has been variously spelt at different periods. The following
are obsolete forms of it found in old English writings:
Crystmasse, Cristmes, Cristmas, Crestenmes, Crestenmas,
Cristemes, Cristynmes, Crismas, Kyrsomas, Xtemas, Cristesmesse,
Cristemasse, Crystenmas, Crystynmas, Chrystmas,
Chrystemes, Chrystemasse, Chrystymesse, Cristenmas, Christenmas,
Christmass, Christmes. Christmas has also been called
Noël or Nowel. As to the derivation of the word Noël, some say
it is a contraction of the French nouvelles (tidings), les bonnes
nouvelles, that is "The good news of the Gospel"; others take
it as an abbreviation of the Gascon or Provençal nadaü, nadal,
which means the same as the Latin natalis, that is, dies natalis,
"the birthday." In "The Franklin's Tale," Chaucer alludes
to "Nowel" as a festive cry at Christmastide: "And 'Nowel'
crieth every lusty man." Some say Noël is a corruption of
Yule, Jule, or Ule, meaning "The festival of the sun." The
name Yule is still applied to the festival in Scotland, and some
other places. Christmas is represented in Welsh by Nadolig,
which signifies "the natal, or birth"; in French by Noël; and
in Italian by Il Natale, which, together with its cognate term in
Spanish, is simply a contraction of dies natalis, "the birthday."
CHRISTMAS: blest Feast of the Nativity!
H eaven made thy lowly shrine
R esplendent with the gift of the eternal Deity
I n whom we live and move, whose large benignity
S pared not His Son divine:
T hat well-beloved Son by God was given,
M ankind to save with His redeeming blood;
A nd Jesus freely left the bliss of Heaven,
S uffering death, to achieve our lasting good.—W. F. D.
Virgin and Child (Relievo)
The Earlier Celebrations.
Group from the Angels' Serenade, Theodore MintropThe Angels' Song has been called the first Christmas Carol, and
the shepherds who heard this heavenly song of peace and goodwill,
and went "with haste" to the birthplace at Bethlehem,
where they "found Mary, and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a
manger," certainly took part in the first celebration of the
Nativity. And the Wise Men, who came afterwards with
presents from the East, being led to Bethlehem by the appearance
of the miraculous star, may also be regarded as taking part
in the first celebration of the Nativity, for the name Epiphany
(now used to commemorate the manifestation of the Saviour)
did not come into use till long afterwards, and when it was first
adopted among the Oriental Churches it was designed to commemorate
both the birth and baptism of Jesus, which two events
the Eastern Churches believed to have occurred on January 6th.
Whether the shepherds commemorated the Feast of the Nativity
annually does not appear from the records of the Evangelists;
but it is by no means improbable that to the end of their lives
they would annually celebrate the most wonderful event which
they had witnessed.
adoration of the magi (Relievo.) From Pulpit of Pisa-Nicola:PisanoWithin thirty years after the death of our Lord, there were
churches in Jerusalem, Cæsarea, Rome, and the Syrian Antioch.
In reference to the latter, Bishop Ken beautifully says:—
"Fair Antioch the rich, the great,
Of learning the imperial seat,
You readily inclined,
To light which on you shined;
It soon shot up to a meridian flame,
You first baptized it with a Christian name."
Clement, one of the Apostolic Fathers and third Bishop of Rome,
who flourished in the first century, says: "Brethren, keep
diligently feast-days, and truly in the first place the day of
Christ's birth." And according to another of the early Bishops
of Rome, it was ordained early in the second century, "that in
the holy night of the Nativity of our Lord and Saviour, they do
celebrate public church services and in them solemnly sing the
Angels' Hymn, because also the same night He was declared
unto the shepherds by an angel, as the truth itself doth witness."
But, before proceeding further with the historical narrative, it
will be well now to make more particular reference to the fixing
of the date of the festival.
Fixing the Date of Christmas.
Whether the 25th of December, which is now observed as
Christmas Day, correctly fixes the period of the year when
Christ was born is still doubtful, although it is a question upon
which there has been much controversy. From Clement of
Alexandria it appears, that when the first efforts were made to
fix the season of the Advent, there were advocates for the 20th
of May, and for the 20th or 21st of April. It is also found that
some communities of Christians celebrated the festival on the
1st or 6th of January; others on the 29th of March, the time of
the Jewish Passover: while others observed it on the 29th of
September, or Feast of Tabernacles. The Oriental Christians
generally were of opinion that both the birth and baptism of
Christ took place on the 6th of January. Julius I., Bishop of
Rome (A.D. 337-352), contended that the 25th of December was
the date of Christ's birth, a view to which the majority of the
Eastern Church ultimately came round, while the Church of
the West adopted from their brethren in the East the view that
the baptism was on the 6th of January. It is, at any rate,
certain that after St. Chrysostom Christmas was observed on the
25th of December in East and West alike, except in the
Armenian Church, which still remains faithful to January 6th.
St. Chrysostom, who died in the beginning of the fifth century,
informs us, in one of his Epistles, that Julius, on the solicitation
of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, caused strict inquiries to be made on
the subject, and thereafter, following what seemed to be the best
authenticated tradition, settled authoritatively the 25th of December
as the anniversary of Christ's birth, the Festorum omnium
metropolis, as it is styled by Chrysostom. It may be observed,
however, that some have represented this fixing of the day to
have been accomplished by St. Telesphorus, who was Bishop of
Rome A.D. 127-139, but the authority for the assertion is very
doubtful. There is good ground for maintaining that Easter
and its accessory celebrations mark with tolerable accuracy the
anniversaries of the Passion and Resurrection of our Lord,
because we know that the events themselves took place at the
period of the Jewish Passover; but no such precision of date
can be adduced as regards Christmas. Dr. Geikie[1] says: "The
season at which Christ was born is inferred from the fact that
He was six months younger than John, respecting the date of
whose birth we have the help of knowing the time of the
annunciation during his father's ministrations in Jerusalem.
Still, the whole subject is very uncertain. Ewald appears to fix
the date of the birth as five years earlier than our era. Petavius
and Usher fix it as on the 25th of December, five years before
our era; Bengel, on the 25th of December, four years before our
era; Anger and Winer, four years before our era, in the spring;
Scaliger, three years before our era, in October; St. Jerome,
three years before our era, on December 25th; Eusebius, two
years before our era, on January 6th; and Ideler, seven years
before our era, in December." Milton, following the immemorial
tradition of the Church, says that—
"It was the winter wild."
But there are still many who think that the 25th of December
does not correspond with the actual date of the birth of Christ,
and regard the incident of the flocks and shepherds in the open
field, recorded by St. Luke, as indicative of spring rather than
winter. This incident, it is thought, could not have taken place
in the inclement month of December, and it has been conjectured,
with some probability, that the 25th of December was
chosen in order to substitute the purified joy of a Christian
festival for the license of the Bacchanalia and Saturnalia which
were kept at that season. It is most probable that the Advent
took place between December, 749, of Rome, and February,
750.
Dionysius Exiguus, surnamed the Little, a Romish monk of
the sixth century, a Scythian by birth, and who died a.d. 556,
fixed the birth of Christ in the year of Rome 753, but the best
authorities are now agreed that 753 was not the year in which
the Saviour of mankind was born. The Nativity is now
placed, not as might have been expected, in a.d. 1, but in
b.c. 5 or 4. The mode of reckoning by the "year of our Lord"
was first introduced by Dionysius, in his "Cyclus Paschalis,"
a treatise on the computation of Easter, in the first half of the
sixth century. Up to that time the received computation of
events through the western portion of Christendom had been
from the supposed foundation of Rome (b.c. 754), and events
were marked accordingly as happening in this or that year,
Anno Urbis Conditæ, or by the initial letters A.U.C. In the East
some historians continued to reckon from the era of Seleucidæ,
which dated from the accession of Seleucus Nicator to the
monarchy of Syria, in b.c. 312. The new computation was
received by Christendom in the sixth century, and adopted
without adequate inquiry, till the sixteenth century. A more
careful examination of the data presented by the Gospel
history, and, in particular, by the fact that "Jesus was born
in Bethlehem of Judæa" before the death of Herod, showed
that Dionysius had made a mistake of four years, or perhaps
more, in his calculations. The death of Herod took place in
the year of Rome a.u.c. 750, just before the Passover. This
year coincided with what in our common chronology
would be b.c. 4—so that we have to recognise the fact that our
own reckoning is erroneous, and to fix b.c. 5 or 4 as the date of
the Nativity.
"the inns are full."Now, out of the consideration of the time at which the
Christmas festival is fixed, naturally arises another question,
viz.:—
The Connection of Christmas with Ancient Festivals.
Sir Isaac Newton[2] says the Feast of the Nativity, and most
of the other ecclesiastical anniversaries, were originally fixed at
cardinal points of the year, without any reference to the dates
of the incidents which they commemorated, dates which, by
lapse of time, it was impossible to ascertain. Thus the Annunciation
of the Virgin Mary was placed on the 25th of March, or
about the time of the vernal equinox; the Feast of St. Michael
on the 29th of September, or near the autumnal equinox; and
the Birth of Christ at the time of the winter solstice. Christmas
was thus fixed at the time of the year when the most celebrated
festivals of the ancients were held in honour of the return of
the sun which at the winter solstice begins gradually to regain
power and to ascend apparently in the horizon. Previously to
this (says William Sandys, F.S.A.),[3] the year was drawing to a
close, and the world was typically considered to be in the same
state. The promised restoration of light and commencement
of a new era were therefore hailed with rejoicings and thanksgivings.
The Saxon and other northern nations kept a festival
at this time of the year in honour of Thor, in which they
mingled feasting, drinking, and dancing with sacrifices and
religious rites. It was called Yule, or Jule, a term of which the
derivation has caused dispute amongst antiquaries; some considering
it to mean a festival, and others stating that Iol, or Iul
(spelt in various ways), is a primitive word, conveying the idea
of Revolution or Wheel, and applicable therefore to the return
of the sun. The Bacchanalia and Saturnalia of the Romans
had apparently the same object as the Yuletide, or feast of the
Northern nations, and were probably adopted from some more
ancient nations, as the Greeks, Mexicans, Persians, Chinese,
&c., had all something similar. In the course of them, as is
well known, masters and slaves were supposed to be on an
equality; indeed, the former waited on the latter.[4] Presents
were mutually given and received, as Christmas presents in
these days. Towards the end of the feast, when the sun was
on its return, and the world was considered to be renovated,
a king or ruler was chosen, with considerable power granted to
him during his ephemeral reign, whence may have sprung some
of the Twelfth-Night revels, mingled with those in honour of
the Manifestation and Adoration of the Magi. And, in all
probability, some other Christmas customs are adopted from the
festivals of the ancients, as decking with evergreens and mistletoe
(relics of Druidism) and the wassail bowl. It is not surprising,
therefore, that Bacchanalian illustrations have been found
among the decorations in the early Christian Churches. The
illustration on the following page is from a mosaic in the
Church of St. Constantine, Rome, A.D. 320.
grape gathering and the vintage.
mosaic in the church of st. constantine, rome, a.d. 320.Dr. Cassel, of Germany, an erudite Jewish convert who is
little known in this country has endeavoured to show that
From an Ivory (Part of Book Cover) German Ninth Century, British Museum.the festival of Christmas has a Judæan origin. He considers that
its customs are significantly in accordance with those of the
Jewish festival of the Dedication of the Temple. This feast was
held in the winter time, on the 25th of Cisleu (December 20th),
having been founded by Judas Maccabæus in honour of the
cleansing of the Temple in b.c. 164, six years and a half after
its profanation by Antiochus Epiphanes. In connection with
Dr. Cassel's theory it may be remarked that the German word
Weihnachten (from weihen, "to consecrate, inaugurate," and
nacht, "night") leads directly to the meaning, "Night of the
Dedication."
ancient roman illustrations.In proceeding with our historical survey, then, we must
recollect that in the festivities of Christmastide there is a
mingling of the Divine with the human elements of society—the
establishment and development of a Christian festival on
pagan soil and in the midst of superstitious surroundings.
Unless this be borne in mind it is impossible to understand
some customs connected with the celebration of Christmas.
For while the festival commemorates the Nativity of Christ,
it also illustrates the ancient practices of the various peoples
who have taken part in the commemoration, and not inappropriately
so, as the event commemorated is also linked to the
past. "Christmas" (says Dean Stanley) "brings before us the
relations of the Christian religion to the religions which went
before; for the birth at Bethlehem was itself a link with the
past. The coming of Jesus Christ was not unheralded or
unforeseen. Even in the heathen world there had been
anticipations of an event of a character not unlike this. In
Plato's Dialogue bright ideals had been drawn of the just
man; in Virgil's Eclogues there had been a vision of a new
and peaceful order of things. But it was in the Jewish nation
that these anticipations were most distinct. That wonderful
people in all its history had looked, not backward, but forward.
The appearance of Jesus Christ was not merely the accomplishment
of certain predictions; it was the fulfilment of this wide
and deep expectation of a whole people, and that people the
most remarkable in the ancient world." Thus Dean Stanley
links Christianity with the older religions of the world, as other
writers have connected the festival of Christmas with the festivals
of paganism and Judaism. The first Christians were
exposed to the dissolute habits and idolatrous practices of
heathenism, as well as the superstitious ceremonials of Judaism,
and it is in these influences that we must seek the true origin
of many of the usages and institutions of Christianity. The old
hall of Roman justice and exchange—an edifice expressive of
the popular life of Greece and Rome—was not deemed too
secular to be used as the first Christian place of worship:
pagan statues were preserved as objects of adoration, being
changed but in name; names describing the functions of
Church officers were copied from the civil vocabulary of the
time; the ceremonies of Christian worship were accommodated
as far as possible to those of the heathen, that new converts
might not be much startled at the change, and at the Christmas
festival Christians indulged in revels closely resembling those
of the Saturnalia.
ancient roman illustrations.
Christmas in Times of Persecution.
It is known that the Feast of the Nativity was observed as
early as the first century, and that it was kept by the primitive
Christians even in dark days of persecution. "They wandered
in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth"
(Heb. xi. 38). Yet they were faithful to Christ, and the Catacombs
of Rome contain evidence that they celebrated the
Nativity.
The opening up of these Catacombs has brought to light
many most interesting relics of primitive Christianity. In
these Christian cemeteries and places of worship there are
signs not only of the deep emotion and hope with which they
buried their dead, but also of their simple forms of worship
and the festive joy with which they commemorated the Nativity
of Christ. On the rock-hewn tombs these primitive Christians
wrote the thoughts that were most consoling to themselves, or
painted on the walls the figures which gave them the most
pleasure. The subjects of these paintings are for the most part
taken from the Bible, and the one which illustrates the earliest
and most universal of these pictures, and exhibits their Christmas
joy, is "The Adoration of the Magi." Another of these emblems
of joyous festivity which is frequently seen, is a vine, with its
branches and purple clusters spreading in every direction,
reminding us that in Eastern countries the vintage is the great
holiday of the year. In the Jewish Church there was no
festival so joyous as the Feast of Tabernacles, when they
gathered the fruit of the vineyard, and in some of the earlier
celebrations of the Nativity these festivities were closely copied.
And as all down the ages pagan elements have mingled in the
festivities of Christmas, so in the Catacombs they are not absent.
There is Orpheus playing on his harp to the beasts; Bacchus
as the god of the vintage; Psyche, the butterfly of the soul;
the Jordan as the god of the rivers. The classical and the
Christian, the Hebrew and the Hellenic elements had not yet
parted; and the unearthing of these pictures after the lapse of
centuries affords another interesting clue to the origin of some
of the customs of Christmastide. It is astonishing how many
of the Catacomb decorations are taken from heathen sources
and copied from heathen paintings; yet we need not wonder
when we reflect that the vine was used by the early Christians
as an emblem of gladness, and it was scarcely possible for them
to celebrate the Feast of the Nativity—a festival of glad tidings—without
some sort of Bacchanalia. Thus it appears that even
ancient agape.(From Withrow's "Catacombs of Rome,' which states that the inscriptions,
according to Dr. Maitland, should be expanded thus IRENE DA CALDA[M
AQVAM]—"Peace, give hot water,' and AGAPE MISCE MI
[VINVM CVM AQVA]—"Love, mix me wine with water," the allusion
being to the ancient custom of tempering wine with water, hot or cold)
beneath the palaces and temples of pagan Rome the birth of
Christ was celebrated, this early undermining of paganism by
Christianity being, as it were, the germ of the final victory, and
the secret praise, which came like muffled music from the
Catacombs in honour of the Nativity, the prelude to the
triumph-song in which they shall unite who receive from
Christ the unwithering crown.
But they who would wear the crown must first bear the cross,
and these early Christians had to pass through dreadful days of
persecution. Some of them were made food for the torches
of the atrocious Nero, others were thrown into the Imperial
fish-ponds to fatten lampreys for the Bacchanalian banquets,
and many were mangled to death by savage beasts, or still more
savage men, to make sport for thousands of pitiless sightseers,
while not a single thumb was turned to make the sign of mercy.
But perhaps the most gigantic and horrible of all Christmas
atrocities were those perpetrated by the tyrant Diocletian, who
became Emperor a.d. 284. The early years of his reign were
characterised by some sort of religious toleration, but when his
persecutions began many endured martyrdom, and the storm of
his fury burst on the Christians in the year 303. A multitude
of Christians of all ages had assembled to commemorate the
Nativity in the temple at Nicomedia, in Bithynia, when the
tyrant Emperor had the town surrounded by soldiers and set
on fire, and about twenty thousand persons perished. The
persecutions were carried on throughout the Roman Empire,
and the death-roll included some British martyrs, Britain being
at that time a Roman province. St. Alban, who was put to
death at Verulam in Diocletian's reign, is said to have been
the first Christian martyr in Britain. On the retirement of
Diocletian, satiated with slaughter and wearied with wickedness,
Galerius continued the persecutions for a while. But the
time of deliverance was at hand, for the martyrs had made
more converts in their deaths than in their lives. It was vainly
hoped that Christianity would be destroyed, but in the succeeding
reign of Constantine it became the religion of the
empire. Not one of the martyrs had died in vain or passed
through death unrecorded.
"There is a record traced on high,
That shall endure eternally;
The angel standing by God's throne
Treasures there each word and groan;
And not the martyr's speech alone,
But every word is there depicted,
With every circumstance of pain
The crimson stream, the gash inflicted—
And not a drop is shed in vain."
Celebrations under Constantine the Great.
With the accession of Constantine (born at York, February 27,
274, son of the sub-Emperor Constantius by a British mother,
the "fair Helena of York," and who, on the death of his father
at York in 306, was in Britain proclaimed Emperor of the
Roman Empire) brighter days came to the Christians, for his
first act was one of favour to them. He had been present at
the promulgation of Diocletian's edict of the last and fiercest
of the persecutions against the Christians, in 303, at Nicomedia,
soon after which the imperial palace was struck by lightning,
and the conjunction of the events seems to have deeply impressed
him. No sooner had he ascended the throne than his
good feeling towards the Christians took the active form of an
edict of toleration, and subsequently he accepted Christianity,
and his example was followed by the greater part of his family.
And now the Christians, who had formerly hidden away in the
darkness of the Catacombs and encouraged one another with
"Alleluias," which served as a sort of invitatory or mutual call
to each other to praise the Lord, might come forth into the
Imperial sunshine and hold their services in basilicas or public
halls, the roofs of which (Jerome tells us) "re-echoed with their
cries of Alleluia," while Ambrose says the sound of their psalms
as they sang in celebration of the Nativity "was like the surging
of the sea in great waves of sound." And the Catacombs contain
confirmatory evidence of the joy with which relatives of the
Emperor participated in Christian festivities. In the tomb of
Constantia, the sister of the Emperor Constantine, the only
decorations are children gathering the vintage, plucking the
grapes, carrying baskets of grapes on their heads, dancing on
the grapes to press out the wine. This primitive conception
of the Founder of Christianity shows the faith of these early
Christians to have been of a joyous and festive character, and
the Graduals for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, the
beautiful Kyrie Eleisons (which in later times passed into
carols), and the other festival music which has come down to
us through that wonderful compilation of Christian song,
Gregory's Antiphonary, show that Christmas stood out prominently
in the celebrations of the now established Church,
for the Emperor Constantine had transferred the seat of
government to Constantinople, and Christianity was formally
recognised as the established religion.
Episcopal References to Christmas and Cautions Against
Excesses.
Cyprian, the intrepid Bishop of Carthage, whose stormy
episcopate closed with the crown of martyrdom in the latter
half of the third century, began his treatise on the Nativity
thus: "The much wished-for and long expected Nativity of
Christ is come, the famous solemnity is come"—expressions
which indicate the desire with which the Church looked
forward to the festival, and the fame which its celebrations
had acquired in the popular mind. And in later times, after
the fulness of festivity at Christmas had resulted in some
excesses, Bishop Gregory Nazianzen (who died in 389), fearing
the spiritual thanksgiving was in danger of being subordinated
to the temporal rejoicing, cautioned all Christians "against
feasting to excess, dancing, and crowning the doors (practices
derived from the heathens); urging the celebration of the
festival after an heavenly and not an earthly manner."
In the Council, generally called Concilium Africanum, held
A.D. 408, "stage-playes and spectacles are forbidden on the
Lord's-day, Christmas-day, and other solemn Christian
festivalls." Theodosius the younger, in his laws de Spectaculis,
in 425, forbade shows or games on the Nativity, and some
other feasts. And in the Council of Auxerre, in Burgundy, in
578, disguisings are again forbidden, and at another Council, in
614, it was found necessary to repeat the prohibitory canons
in stronger terms, declaring it to be unlawful to make any
indecent plays upon the Kalends of January, according to the
profane practices of the pagans. But it is also recorded that
the more devout Christians in these early times celebrated the
festival without indulging in the forbidden excesses.
Early Celebrations in Britain.
It is recorded that there were "saints in Cæsar's household,"
and we have also the best authority for saying there were
converts among Roman soldiers. Cornelius, a Roman centurion,
"was a just man and one that feared God," and
other Roman converts are referred to in Scripture as having
been found among the officers of the Roman Empire. And
although it is not known who first preached the Gospel in
Britain, it seems almost certain that Christianity entered with
the Roman invasion in A.D. 43. As in Palestine some of the
earlier converts served Christ secretly "for fear of the Jews,"
so, in all probability, did they in Britain for fear of the Romans.
We know that some confessed Christ and closed their earthly
career with the crown of martyrdom. It is also certain that
very early in the Christian era Christmas was celebrated in
Britain, mingling in its festivities some of the winter-festival
customs of the ancient Britons and the Roman invaders, for traces
of those celebrations are still seen in some of the Christmas
customs of modern times. Moreover, it is known that Christians
were tolerated in Britain by some of the Roman governors before
the days of Constantine. It was in the time of the fourth
Roman Emperor, Claudius, that part of Britain was first really
conquered. Claudius himself came over in the year 43, and his
generals afterwards went on with the war, conquering one after
another of the British chiefs, Caradoc, whom the Romans called
Caractacus, holding out the longest and the most bravely.
This intrepid King of the Silurians, who lived in South Wales
and the neighbouring parts, withstood the Romans for several
years, but was at last defeated at a great battle, supposed to
have taken place in Shropshire, where there is a hill still called
Caer Caradoc. Caradoc and his family were taken prisoners
and led before the Emperor at Rome, when he made a remarkable
speech which has been preserved for us by Tacitus.
When he saw the splendid city of Rome, he wondered that
an Emperor who lived in such splendour should have meddled
with his humble home in Britain; and in his address before
the Emperor Claudius, who received him seated on his throne
with the Empress Agrippina by his side, Caradoc said: "My
fate this day appears as sad for me as it is glorious for thee. I
had horses, soldiers, arms, and treasures; is it surprising that
I should regret the loss of them? If it is thy will to command
the universe, is it a reason we should voluntarily accept slavery?
Had I yielded sooner, thy fortune and my glory would have
been less, and oblivion would soon have followed my execution.
If thou sparest my life, I shall be an eternal monument of thy
clemency." Although the Romans had very often killed their
captives, to the honour of Claudius be it said that he treated
Caradoc kindly, gave him his liberty, and, according to some
historians, allowed him to reign in part of Britain as a prince
subject to Rome. It is surprising that an emperor who had
shown such clemency could afterwards become one of
Rome's sanguinary tyrants; but Claudius was a man of
weak intellect.
There were several of the Roman Emperors and Governors
who befriended the Christians, took part in their Christmas
festivities, and professed faith in Christ. The Venerable
Bede says: "In the reign of Marcus Aurelius Antonius, and
his partner in the Empire, Lucius Verus, when Eleutherius
was Bishop of Rome, Lucius, a British king, sent a letter to his
prelate, desiring his directions to make him a Christian. The
holy bishop immediately complied with this pious request;
and thus the Britons, being brought over to Christianity,
continued without warping or disturbance till the reign of
the Emperor Diocletian." And Selden says: "Howsoever,
by injury of time, the memory of this great and illustrious
Prince King Lucy hath been embezzled and smuggled; this,
upon the credit of the ancient writers, appears plainly, that the
pitiful fopperies of the Pagans, and the worship of their idol
devils, did begin to flag, and within a short time would have
given place to the worship of the true God." As this "illustrious
Prince King Lucy"—Lucius Verus—flourished in the
latter part of the second century, and is credited with the
erection of our first Christian Church on the site of St.
Martin's, at Canterbury, it seems clear that even in those
early days Christianity was making progress in Britain. From
the time of Julius Agricola, who was Roman Commander from
78 to 84, Britain had been a Roman province, and although
the Romans never conquered the whole of the island, yet during
their occupation of what they called their province (the whole
of Britain, excepting that portion north of the Firths of Forth
and Clyde), they encouraged the Christmas festivities and did
much to civilise the people whom they had conquered and
whom they governed for more than three hundred years. They
built towns in different parts of the country and constructed
good roads from one town to another, for they were excellent
builders and road-makers. Some of the Roman emperors
visited Britain and others were chosen by the soldiers of
Britain; and in the reigns of Constantine the Great and
other tolerant emperors the Britains lived like Romans,
adopted Roman manners and customs, and some of them
learned to speak the Latin language. Christian churches
were built and bishoprics founded; a hierarchy was established,
and at the Council of Arles, in 314, three British bishops
took part—those of York, London, and Camulodunum (which
is now Colchester or Malden, authorities are divided, but
Freeman says Colchester). The canons framed at Arles on
this occasion became the law of the British Church, and in
this more favourable period for Christians the Christmas
festival was kept with great rejoicing. But this settled state
of affairs was subsequently disturbed by the departure of the
Romans and the several invasions of the Anglo-Saxons and the
Danes which preceded the Norman Conquest.
Christmas Again in Troublous Times: The Departure of
the Romans and the Invasion of the Anglo-Saxons.
The outgoing of the Romans and the incoming of the Angles,
the Saxons, and the Jutes disastrously affected the festival of
Christmas, for the invaders were heathens, and Christianity was
swept westward before them. They had lived in a part of the
Continent which had not been reached by Christianity nor
classic culture, and they worshipped the false gods of Woden
and Thunder, and were addicted to various heathenish practices,
some of which now mingled with the festivities of Christmastide.
Still, as these Angles came to stay and have given their name to
our country, it may be well to note that they came over to
Britain from the one country which is known to have borne the
name of Angeln or the Engle-land, and which is now called
Sleswick, a district in the middle of that peninsula which parts
the Baltic from the North Sea or German Ocean. The Romans
having become weakened through their conflicts with Germany
and other nations, at the beginning of the fifth century, the
Emperor Honorius recalled the Roman legions from Britain,
and this made it much easier for the Angles and Saxons (who
had previously tried to get in) to come and remain in this
country. Thus our Teuton forefathers came and conquered
much the greater part of Britain, the Picts and Scots remaining
in the north and the Welsh in the west of the island. It was
their custom to kill or make slaves of all the people they could,
and so completely did they conquer that part of Britain in
which they settled that they kept their own language and
manners and their own heathenish religion, and destroyed or
desecrated Christian churches which had been set up. Hence
Christian missionaries were required to convert our ancestral
worshippers of Woden and Thunder, and a difficult business it
was to Christianise such pagans, for they stuck to their false
gods with the same tenacity that the northern nations did.
In his poem of "King Olaf's Christmas" Longfellow refers to
the worship of Thor and Odin alongside with the worship of
Christ in the northern nations:—
"At Drontheim, Olaf the King
Heard the bells of Yule-tide ring,
As he sat in his banquet-hall.
Drinking the nut-brown ale,
With his bearded Berserks hale
And tall.
- - -
- -
O'er his drinking horn, the sign
He made of the Cross divine
As he drank, and muttered his prayers;
But the Berserks evermore
Made the sign of the Hammer of Thor
Over theirs."
In England, too, Christ and Thor were worshipped side by side
for at least 150 years after the introduction of Christianity, for
while some of the English accepted Christ as their true friend
and Saviour, He was not accepted by all the people. Indeed,
the struggle against Him is still going on, but we anticipate the
time when He shall be victorious all along the line.
The Christmas festival was duly observed by the missionaries
who came to the South of England from Rome, headed by
Augustine, and in the northern parts of the country the Christian
festivities were revived by the Celtic missionaries from Iona,
under Aidan, the famous Columbian monk. At least half of
England was covered by the Columbian monks, whose great
foundation upon the rocky island of Iona, in the Hebrides, was
the source of Christianity to Scotland. The ritual of the Celtic
differed from that of the Romish missionaries, and caused
confusion, till at the Synod of Whitby (664) the Northumbrian
Kingdom adopted the Roman usages, and England obtained
ecclesiastical unity as a branch of the Church of Rome. Thus
unity in the Church preceded by several centuries unity in the
State.
Queen Bertha.
In connection with Augustine's mission to England, a memorable
story (recorded in Green's "History of the English
People") tells how, when but a young Roman deacon, Gregory
had noted the white bodies, the fair faces, the golden hair of
some youths who stood bound in the market-place of Rome.
"From what country do these slaves come?" he asked the
traders who brought them. "They are English, Angles!" the
slave-dealers answered. The deacon's pity veiled itself in
poetic humour. "Not Angles, but Angels," he said, "with
faces so angel-like! From what country come they?" "They
come," said the merchants, "from Deira." "De ira!" was the
untranslatable reply; "aye, plucked from God's ire, and called
to Christ's mercy! And what is the name of their king?"
"Ælla," they told him, and Gregory seized on the words as of
good omen. "Alleluia shall be sung in Ælla's land!" he cried,
and passed on, musing how the angel-faces should be brought
to sing it. Only three or four years had gone by when the
deacon had become Bishop of Rome, and the marriage of
Bertha, daughter of the Frankish king, Charibert of Paris, with
Æthelberht, King of Kent, gave him the opening he sought;
for Bertha, like her Frankish kinsfolk, was a Christian.
And so, after negotiations with the rulers of Gaul, Gregory
sent Augustine, at the head of a band of monks, to preach the
gospel to the English people. The missionaries landed in 597,
on the very spot where Hengest had landed more than a
century before, in the Isle of Thanet; and the king received
them sitting in the open air on the chalk-down above Minster,
where the eye nowadays catches, miles away over the marshes,
the dim tower of Canterbury. Rowbotham, in his "History of
Music," says that wherever Gregory sent missionaries he also
sent copies of the Gregorian song as he had arranged it in his
"Antiphonary." And he bade them go singing among the
people. And Augustine entered Kent bearing a silver cross
and a banner with the image of Christ painted on it, while a
long train of choristers walked behind him chanting the Kyrie
Eleison. In this way they came to the court of Æthelberht,
who assigned them Canterbury as an abode; and they entered
Canterbury with similar pomp, and as they passed through the
gates they sang this petition: "Lord, we beseech Thee to keep
Thy wrath away from this city and from Thy holy Church,
Alleluia!"
As papal Rome preserved many relics of heathen Rome,
so, in like manner, Pope Gregory, in sending Augustine
over to convert the Anglo-Saxons, directed him to accommodate
the ceremonies of the Christian worship as much as possible to
those of the heathen, that the people might not be much
startled at the change; and, in particular, he advised him to
allow converts to kill and eat at the Christmas festival a great
number of oxen to the glory of God, as they had formerly done
to the honour of the devil. The clergy, therefore, endeavoured
to connect the remnants of Pagan idolatry with Christianity,
and also allowed some of the practices of our British ancestors
to mingle in the festivities of Christmastide. The religion of
the Druids, the priests of the ancient Britons, is supposed to
have been somewhat similar to that of the Brahmins of India,
the Magi of Persia, and the Chaldeans of Syria. They worshipped
in groves, regarded the oak and mistletoe as objects of
veneration, and offered sacrifices. Before Christianity came to
Britain December was called "Aerra Geola," because the sun
then "turns his glorious course." And under different names,
such as Woden (another form of Odin), Thor, Thunder, Saturn,
&c., the pagans held their festivals of rejoicing at the
winter solstice; and so many of the ancient customs connected
with these festivals were modified and made subservient to
Christianity.
Some of the English even tried to serve Christ and the older
gods together, like the Roman Emperor, Alexander Severus,
whose chapel contained Orpheus side by side with Abraham
and Christ. "Rœdwald of East Anglia resolved to serve
Christ and the older gods together, and a pagan and a Christian
altar fronted one another in the same royal temple."[5] Kent,
however, seems to have been evangelised rapidly, for it is
recorded that on Christmas Day, 597, no less than ten thousand
persons were baptized.
Before his death Augustine was able to see almost the whole
of Kent and Essex nominally Christian.
Christmas was now celebrated as the principal festival of the
year, for our Anglo-Saxon forefathers delighted in the festivities
of the Halig-Monath (holy month), as they called the month
of December, in allusion to Christmas Day. At the great
festival of Christmas the meetings of the Witenagemot were
held, as well as at Easter and Whitsuntide, wherever the Court
happened to be. And at these times the Anglo-Saxon, and afterwards
the Danish, Kings of England lived in state, wore their
crowns, and were surrounded by all the great men of their kingdoms
(together with strangers of rank) who were sumptuously
entertained, and the most important affairs of state were brought
under consideration. There was also an outflow of generous
hospitality towards the poor, who had a hard time of it during
the rest of the year, and who required the Christmas gifts to
provide them with such creature comforts as would help them
through the inclement season of the year.
Readers of Saxon history will remember that chieftains in the
festive hall are alluded to in the comparison made by one of
King Edwin's chiefs, in discussing the welcome to be given
to the Christian missionary Paulinus: "The present life of
man, O King, seems to me, in comparison of that time which is
unknown to us, like to the swift flight of a sparrow through
the hall where you sit at your meal in winter, with your chiefs
and attendants, warmed by a fire made in the middle of the
hall, while storms of rain or snow prevail without."
an ancient fireplace.The "hall" was the principal part of a gentleman's house in
Saxon times—the place of entertainment and hospitality—and
at Christmastide the doors were never shut against any who
appeared to be worthy of welcome. And with such modes of
travelling as were in vogue in those days one can readily understand
that, not only at Christmas, but also at other seasons, the
rule of hospitality to strangers was a necessity.
To this period belong the princely pageants and the
magnificent
Christmas Entertainments of King Arthur
and the Knights of his Round Table. We know that some
people are inclined to discredit the accounts which have come
down to us of this famous British King and Christian hero, but
for our own part we are inclined to trust the old chroniclers,
at all events so far as to believe that they give us true pictures
of the manners and customs of the times of which they write;
and in this prosaic age it may surely be permitted to us at
Christmastide to linger over the doings of those romantic days,
"When every morning brought a noble chance,
And every chance brought out a noble knight."[6]
travelling in the olden time with a "christmas fool" on the front seat.Sir John Froissart tells us of the princely pageants which King
Arthur held at Windsor in the sixth century, and of the
sumptuous Christmas banquetings at his Round Table—the
very Round Table (so we are to believe, on the authority of
Dr. Milner)[7] which has been preserved in the old chapel, now
termed the county hall, at Winchester. It consists of stout oak
plank, perforated with many bullets, supposed to have been
shot by Cromwell's soldiers. It is painted with a figure to
represent King Arthur, and with the names of his twenty-four
knights as they are stated in the romances of the old chroniclers.
This famous Prince, who instituted the military order of the
Knights of the Round Table, is also credited with the reintroduction
of Christianity at York after the Saxon invaders had
destroyed the first churches built there. He was unwearying
in his warfare against enemies of the religion of Christ.
His first great enterprise was the siege of a Saxon army at
York, and, having afterwards won brilliant victories in Somersetshire
and other parts of southern England, he again marched
northward and penetrated Scotland to attack the Picts and
Scots, who had long harassed the border. On returning from
Scotland, Arthur rested his wearied army at York and kept
Christmas with great bountifulness. Geoffrey of Monmouth
says he was a prince of "unparalleled courage and generosity,"
and his Christmas at York was kept with the greatest joy and
festivity. Then was the round table filled with jocund guests,
and the minstrels, gleemen, harpers, pipe-players, jugglers, and
dancers were as happy round about their log-fires as if they
had shone in the blaze of a thousand gas-lights.
the wild boar hunt: killing the boar.King Arthur and his Knights also indulged in out-door amusements,
as hunting, hawking, running, leaping, wrestling, jousts,
and tourneys. "So," says Sir Thomas Malory,[8] "passed forth
all the winter with all manner of hunting and hawking, and
jousts and tourneys were many between many great lords.
And ever, in all manner of places, Sir Lavaine got great worship,
that he was nobly renowned among many of the knights of the
Round Table. Thus it passed on until Christmas, and every
day there were jousts made for a diamond, that whosoever
joust best should have a diamond. But Sir Launcelot would
not joust, but if it were a great joust cried; but Sir Lavaine
jousted there all the Christmas passing well, and most was
praised; for there were few that did so well as he; wherefore
all manner of knights deemed that Sir Lavaine should be made
a Knight of the Round Table, at the next high feast of
Pentecost."
The Anglo-Saxon Excesses
are referred to by some of the old chroniclers, intemperance
being a very prevalent vice at the Christmas festival. Ale and
mead were their favourite drinks; wines were used as occasional
luxuries. "When all were satisfied with dinner," says an old
chronicler, "and their tables were removed, they continued
drinking till the evening." And another tells how drinking and
gaming went on through the greater part of the night.
Chaucer's one solitary reference to Christmastide is an allegorical
representation of the jovial feasting which was the characteristic
feature of this great festival held in "the colde frosty season
of December."
"Janus sits by the fire with double beard,
And drinketh of his bugle horn the wine:
Before him stands the brawn of tuskéd swine,
And 'Nowel' cryeth every lusty man."[9]
The Saxons were strongly attached to field sports, and as the
"brawn of the tuskéd swine" was the first Christmas dish, it
was provided by the pleasant preliminary pastime of hunting
the wild boar; and the incidents of the chase afforded interesting
table talk when the boar's head was brought in ceremoniously
to the Christmas festival.
Prominent among the Anglo-Saxon amusements of Christmastide,
Strutt mentions their propensity for gaming with dice, as
derived from their ancestors, for Tacitus assures us that the
ancient Germans would not only hazard all their wealth, but
even stake their liberty, upon the turn of the dice: "and he who
loses submits to servitude, though younger and stronger than his
antagonist, and patiently permits himself to be bound and sold
in the market; and this madness they dignify by the name of
honour." Chess and backgammon were also favourite games
with the Anglo-Saxons, and a large portion of the night was
appropriated to the pursuit of these sedentary amusements,
especially at the Christmas season of the year, when the early
darkness stopped out-door games.
"When they had dined, as I can you say,
Lords and ladies went to play;
Some to tables, and some to chess,
With other games more and less."[10]
Our Saxon forefathers were very superstitious. They had
many pretenders to witchcraft. They believed in the powers
of philtres and spells, and invocated spirits; and they relished
a blood-curdling ghost story at Christmas quite as much as their
twentieth-century descendants. They confided in prognostics,
and believed in the influence of particular times and seasons;
and at Christmastide they derived peculiar pleasure from their
belief in the immunity of the season from malign influences—a
belief which descended to Elizabethan days, and is referred
to by Shakespeare, in "Hamlet":—
"Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes,
Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated,
The bird of dawning singeth all night long:
And then, they say, no spirit dares stir abroad;
The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike,
No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,
adoration of the magi:
old glass winchester cathedral.We cannot pass over this period without mentioning a great
Christmas in the history of our Teutonic kinsmen on the
Continent, for the Saxons of England and those of Germany
have the same Teutonic origin. We refer to
The Crowning of Charlemagne Emperor of the
Romans on Christmas Day.
The coronation took place at Rome, on Christmas Day, in
the year 800. Freeman[11] says that when Charles was King of
the Franks and Lombards and Patrician of the Romans, he was
on very friendly terms with the mighty Offa, King of the Angles
that dwelt in Mercia. Charles and Offa not only exchanged
letters and gifts, but each gave the subjects of the other various
rights in his dominions, and they made a league together, "for
that they two were the mightiest of all the kings that dwelt in
the Western lands." As conqueror of the old Saxons in
Germany, Charles may be regarded as the first King of all
Germany, and he was the first man of any Teutonic nation who
was called Roman Emperor. He was crowned with the diadem
of the Cæsars, by Pope Leo, in the name of Charles Augustus,
Emperor of the Romans. And it was held for a thousand years
after, down to the year 1806, that the King of the Franks, or,
as he was afterwards called, the King of Germany, had a right
to be crowned by the Pope of Rome, and to be called Emperor
of the Romans. In the year 1806, however, the Emperor
Francis the Second, who was also King of Hungary and Archduke
of Austria, resigned the Roman Empire and the Kingdom
of Germany. Since that time no Emperor of the Romans has
been chosen; but a new German Emperor has been created,
and the event may be regarded as one of Christmastide, for the
victorious soldiers who brought it about spent their Christmas
in the French capital, and during the festival arranged for the
re-establishment of the German Empire. So it happens, that
while referring to the crowning of the first German Emperor of
the Roman Empire, on Christmas Day, 800, we are able to
record that more than a thousand years afterwards the unification
of the German Empire and the creation of its first Emperor
also occurred at Christmastide, under the influence of the
German triumphs over the French in the war of 1870. The
imposing event was resolved upon by the German Princes on
December 18, 1870, the preliminaries were completed during
the Christmas festival, and on January 18, 1871, in the Galerie
des Glaces of the château of Versailles, William, King of
Prussia, was crowned and proclaimed first Emperor of the new
German Empire.
Now, going back again over a millennium, we come to
Christmas in the Time of Alfred the Great.
During the reign of Alfred the Great a law was passed with
relation to holidays, by virtue of which the twelve days after the
Nativity of our Saviour were set apart for the celebration of the
Christmas festival. Some writers are of opinion that, but for
Alfred's strict observance of the "full twelve holy days," he
would not have been defeated by the Danes in the year 878. It
was just after Twelfth-night that the Danish host came suddenly—"bestole,"
as the old Chronicle says—to Chippenham. Then
"they rode through the West Saxons' land, and there sat down,
and mickle of the folk over sea they drove, and of others the
most deal they rode over; all but the King Alfred; he with a
little band hardly fared after the woods and on the moor-fastnesses."
But whether or not Alfred's preparations for the battle
just referred to were hindered by his enjoyment of the festivities
of Christmastide with his subjects, it is quite certain that the
King won the hearts of his people by the great interest he took
in their welfare. This good king—whose intimacy with his
people we delight to associate with the homely incident of the
burning of a cottager's cakes—kept the Christmas festival quite
as heartily as any of the early English kings, but not so boisterously
as some of them. Of the many beautiful stories told about
him, one might very well belong to Christmastide. It is said
that, wishing to know what the Danes were about, and how
strong they were, King Alfred one day set out from Athelney in
the disguise of a Christmas minstrel, and went into the Danish
camp, and stayed there several days, amusing the Danes with his
playing, till he had seen all he wanted, and then went back without
any one finding him out.
Now, passing on to
Christmas under the Danish Kings of England,
we find that in 961 King Edgar celebrated the Christmas
festival with great splendour at York; and in 1013 Ethelred
kept his Christmas with the brave citizens of London who had
defended the capital during a siege and stoutly resisted Swegen,
the tyrant king of the Danes. Sir Walter Scott, in his beautiful
poem of "Marmion," thus pictures the "savage Dane" keeping
the great winter festival:—
"Even, heathen yet, the savage Dane
At Iol more deep the mead did drain;
High on the beach his galleys drew,
And feasted all his pirate crew;
Then in his low and pine-built hall,
Where shields and axes deck'd the wall,
They gorged upon the half-dress'd steer;
Caroused in seas of sable beer;
While round, in brutal jest, were thrown
The half-gnaw'd rib, and marrow bone:
Or listen'd all, in grim delight.
While Scalds yell'd out the joys of fight.
Then forth, in frenzy, would they hie,
While wildly-loose their red locks fly,
And dancing round the blazing pile,
They make such barbarous mirth the while,
As best might to the mind recall
The boisterous joys of Odin's hall."
When the citizens of London saw that Swegen had succeeded
all over England except their own city, they thought it was no
use holding out any longer, and they too, submitted and gave
hostages. And so Swegen was the first Dane who was king, or
(as Florence calls him) "Tyrant over all England;" and Ethelred,
sometimes called the "Unready," King of the West Saxons,
who had struggled unsuccessfully against the Danes, fled with
his wife and children to his brother-in-law's court in Normandy.
On the death of Swegen, the Danes of his fleet chose his son
Cnut to be King, but the English invited Ethelred to return from
Normandy and renew the struggle with the Danes. He did so,
and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says: "He held his kingdom
with great toil and great difficulty the while that his life lasted."
After his death and that of his son Edmund, Cnut was finally
elected and crowned. Freeman,[12] in recording the event, says
that: "At the Christmas of 1016-1017, Cnut was a third time
chosen king over all England, and one of the first things that
he did was to send to Normandy for the widowed Lady Emma,
though she was many years older than he was. She came over;
she married the new king; and was again Lady of the English.
She bore Cnut two children, Harthacnut and Gunhild. Her
three children by Ethelred were left in Normandy. She seems
not to have cared at all for them or for the memory of Ethelred;
her whole love passed to her new husband and her new children.
Thus it came about that the children of Ethelred were brought
up in Normandy, and had the feelings of Normans rather than
Englishmen, a thing which again greatly helped the Norman
Conquest."
Cnut's first acts of government in England were a series of
murders; but he afterwards became a wise and temperate king.
He even identified himself with the patriotism which had withstood
the stranger. He joined heartily in the festivities of
Christmastide, and atoned for his father's ravages by costly gifts
to the religious houses. And his love for monks broke out in
the song which he composed as he listened to their chant at
Ely: "Merrily sang the monks in Ely when Cnut King rowed
by" across the vast fen-waters that surrounded their Abbey.
"Row, boatmen, near the land, and hear we these monks sing."[13]
"'All hail!' the monks at Christmas sang;
The merry monks who kept with cheer
The gladdest day of all the year."[14]
It is said that Cnut, who is also called Canute, "marked one of
his royal Christmases by a piece of sudden retributive justice:
bored beyond all endurance by the Saxon Edric's iteration of
the traitorous services he had rendered him, the King exclaimed
to Edric, Earl of Northumberland: 'Then let him receive his
deserts, that he may not betray us as he betrayed Ethelred and
Edmund!' upon which the ready Norwegian disposed of all
fear on that score by cutting down the boaster with his axe, and
throwing his body into the Thames."[15]
In the year 1035, King Cnut died at Shaftesbury, and was
buried in Winchester Cathedral. His sons, Harold and Harthacnut,
did not possess the capacity for good government, otherwise
the reign of the Danes might have continued. As it was, their
reigns, though short, were troublesome. Harold died at Oxford
in 1040, and was buried at Westminster (being the first king who
was buried there); Harthacnut died at Lambeth at a wedding-feast
in 1042, and was buried beside his father in Winchester
Cathedral. And thus ended the reigns of the Danish kings of
England.
Now we come to
The Reign of Edward the Confessor
who, we are told, was heartily chosen by all the people, for the
two very good reasons, that he was an Englishman by birth, and
the only man of either the English or the Danish royal families
who was at hand. He was the son of Ethelred and Emma, and
at the Christmas festival of his coronation there was great
rejoicing. As his early training had been at the court of his
uncle, Richard the Good, in Normandy, he had learnt to prefer
Norman-French customs and life to those of the English.
During his reign, therefore, he brought over many strangers and
appointed them to high ecclesiastical and other offices, and
Norman influence and refinement of manners gradually increased
at the English court, and this, of course, led to the more stately
celebration of the Christmas festival. The King himself, being
of a pious and meditative disposition, naturally took more
interest in the religious than the temporal rejoicings, and the
administration of state affairs was left almost entirely to members
of the house of Godwin during the principal part of his reign.
Many disturbances occurred during Edward's reign in different
parts of the country, especially on the Welsh border. At the
Christmas meeting of the King and his Wise Men, at Gloucester,
in 1053, it was ordered that Rhys, the brother of Gruffydd, the
South Welsh king, be put to death for his great plunder and
mischief. The same year, the great Earl Godwine, while dining
with the king at Winchester at the Easter feast, suddenly fell in
a fit, died four days after, and was buried in the old cathedral. A
few years later (1065), the Northumbrians complained that Earl
Tostig, Harold's brother, had caused Gospatric, one of the chief
Thanes, to be treacherously murdered when he came to the
King's court the Christmas before. King Edward kept his last
Christmas (1065), and had the meeting of his Wise Men in
London instead of Gloucester as usual. His great object was
to finish his new church at Westminster, and to have it hallowed
before he died. He lived just long enough to have this done.
On Innocent's Day the new Minster was consecrated, but the
King was too ill to be there, so the Lady Edith stood in his
stead. And on January 5, 1066, King Edward, the son of
Ethelred, died. On the morning of the day following his death,
the body of the Confessor was laid in the tomb, in his new
church; and on the same day—
Harold was crowned King
in his stead. Thus three very important events—the consecration
of Westminster Abbey, the death of Edward the Confessor,
and the crowning of Harold—all occurred during the same
Christmas festival.
In the terrible year 1066 England had three kings. The reign
of Harold, the son of Godwine, who succeeded Edward the
Confessor, terminated at the battle of Senlac, or Hastings, and
on the following
Christmas Day William the Conqueror was Crowned
King
by Archbishop Ealdred. He had not at that time conquered all
the land, and it was a long while before he really possessed the
whole of it. Still, he was the king, chosen, crowned, and
anointed, and no one ever was able to drive him out of the land,
and the crown of England has ever since been held by his
descendants.
(1066 to 1215.)
a king at dinner.Now we come to the
Christmas Celebrations under the Normans.
Lord Macaulay says "the polite luxury of the Normans presented
a striking contrast to the coarse voracity and drunkenness
of their Saxon and Danish neighbours." And certainly the above
example of a royal dinner scene (from a manuscript of the
fourteenth century) gives an idea of stately ceremony which is
not found in any manuscripts previous to the coming over of the
Normans. They "loved to display their magnificence, not in
huge piles of food and hogsheads of strong drink, but in large
and stately edifices, rich armour, gallant horses, choice falcons,
well-ordered tournaments, banquets delicate rather than abundant,
and wines remarkable rather for their exquisite flavour
than for their intoxicating power." Quite so. But even the
Normans were not all temperate. And, while it is quite true
that the refined manners and chivalrous spirit of the Normans
exercised a powerful influence on the Anglo-Saxons, it is equally
true that the conquerors on mingling with the English people
adopted many of the ancient customs to which they tenaciously
clung, and these included the customs of Christmastide.
The Norman kings and nobles displayed their taste for magnificence
in the most remarkable manner at their coronations,
tournaments, and their celebrations of Christmas, Easter, and
Whitsuntide. The great councils of the Norman reigns which
assembled at Christmas and the other great festivals, were in
appearance a continuation of the Witenagemots, but the power
of the barons became very formal in the presence of such
despotic monarchs as William the Conqueror and his sons. At
the Christmas festival all the prelates and nobles of the kingdom
were, by their tenures, obliged to attend their sovereign to
assist in the administration of justice and in deliberation on the
great affairs of the kingdom. On these occasions the King wore
his crown, and feasted his nobles in the great hall of his palace,
and made them presents as marks of his royal favour, after which
they proceeded to the consideration of State affairs. Wherever
the Court happened to be, there was usually a large assemblage
of gleemen, who were jugglers and pantomimists as well as
minstrels, and were accustomed to associate themselves in companies,
and amuse the spectators with feats of strength and
agility, dancing, tumbling, and sleight-of-hand tricks, as well as
musical performances. Among the minstrels who came into
England with William the Conqueror was one named Taillefer,
who was present at the battle of Hastings, and rode in front of
the Norman army, inspiriting the soldiers by his songs. He
sang of Roland, the heroic captain of Charlemagne, tossing his
sword in the air and catching it again as he approached the
English line. He was the first to strike a blow at the English,
but after mortally wounding one or two of King Harold's
warriors, he was himself struck down.
At the Christmas feast minstrels played on various musical
instruments during dinner, and sang or told tales afterwards,
both in the hall and in the chamber to which the king and his
nobles retired for amusement. Thus it is written of a court
minstrel:—
"Before the King he set him down
And took his harp of merry soun,
And, as he full well can,
Many merry notes he began.
The king beheld, and sat full still,
To hear his harping he had good will.
When he left off his harping,
To him said that rich king,
To him said that rich king,
Minstrel, we liketh well thy glee,
What thing that thou ask of me
Largely I will thee pay;
Therefore ask now and asay." (Sir Orpheo.)
blind minstrel at a feast.After the Conquest the first entertainments given by William
the Conqueror were those to his victorious warriors:—
"Every warrior's manly neck
Chains of regal honour deck,
Wreathed in many a golden link:
From the golden cup they drink
Nectar that the bees produce,
Or the grape's extatic juice.
Flush'd with mirth and hope they burn."
The Gododin.
In 1067 the Conqueror kept a grand Christmas in London.
He had spent eight months of that year rewarding his warriors
and gratifying his subjects in Normandy, where he had held a
round of feasts and made a grand display of the valuable booty
which he had won by his sword. A part of his plunder he sent
to the Pope along with the banner of Harold. Another portion,
consisting of gold, golden vases, and richly embroidered stuffs,
was distributed among the abbeys, monasteries, and churches of
his native duchy, "neither monks nor priests remaining without
a guerdon." After spending the greater part of the year in
splendid entertainments in Normandy, apparently undisturbed
by the reports which had reached him of discontent and
insurrection among his new subjects in England, William at
length embarked at Dieppe on the 6th of December, 1067, and
returned to London to celebrate the approaching festival of
Christmas. With the object of quieting the discontent which
prevailed, he invited a considerable number of the Saxon chiefs
to take part in the Christmas festival, which was kept with
unusual splendour; and he also caused a proclamation to be
read in all the churches of the capital declaring it to be his will
that "all the citizens of London should enjoy their national
laws as in the days of King Edward." But his policy of
friendship and conciliation was soon changed into one of
cruelty and oppression.
At the instigation of Swein, the King of Denmark, who
appeared in the Humber with a fleet, the people in the north
of England and in some other parts rose in revolt against the
rule of the Conqueror in 1068. So skilfully had the revolt been
planned that even William was taken by surprise. While he
was hunting in the Forest of Dean he heard of the loss of York
and the slaughter of his garrison of 3,000 Normans, and resolved
to avenge the disaster. Proceeding to the Humber with his
horsemen, by a heavy bribe he got the King of Denmark to
withdraw his fleet; then, after some delay, spent in punishing
revolters in the Welsh border, he attacked and took the city of
York. The land in Durham and Northumberland was still quite
unsubdued, and some of William's soldiers had fared badly in
their attempts to take possession. At the Christmas feast of
1068 William made a grant of the earldom of Northumberland
to Robert of Comines, who set out with a Norman army to take
possession. But he fared no better than his predecessors had
done. The men of the land determined to withstand him, but
through the help of Bishop Æthelwine he entered Durham
peaceably. But he let his men plunder, so the men of the city
rose and slew him and his followers. And now, says Freeman,[16]
William "did one of the most frightful deeds of his life. He
caused all Northern England, beginning with Yorkshire, to be
utterly laid waste, that its people might not be able to fight
against him any more. The havoc was fearful; men were
starved or sold themselves as slaves, and the land did not
recover for many years. Then King William wore his crown
and kept his Christmas at York" (1069).
Now the Conqueror set barons in different parts of the
country, and each of them kept his own miniature court and
celebrated Christmas after the costly Norman style. In his
beautiful poem of "The Norman Baron" Longfellow pictures
one of these Christmas celebrations, and tells how—
"In the hall, the serf and vassal
Held, that night, their Christmas wassail;
Many a carol, old and saintly,
Sang the minstrels and the waits.
And so loud these Saxon gleemen
Sang to slaves the songs of freemen,
That the storm was heard but faintly
Knocking at the castle-gates.
Till at length the lays they chaunted
Reached the chamber terror-haunted,
Where the monk, with accents holy,
Whispered at the baron's ear.
Tears upon his eyelids glistened
As he paused awhile and listened,
And the dying baron slowly
Turned his weary head to hear.
'Wassail for the kingly stranger
Born and cradled in a manger!
King, like David, priest, like Aaron,
Christ is born to set us free!'"
minstrels' christmas serenade at an old
baronial hall.According to Strutt, the popular sports and pastimes prevalent
at the close of the Saxon era were not subjected to any
material change by the coming of the Normans. But William
and his immediate successors restricted the privileges of the
chase, and imposed great penalties on those who presumed to
destroy the game in the royal forests without a proper license.
The wild boar and the wolf still afforded sport at the Christmas
season, and there was an abundance of smaller game. Leaping,
running, wrestling, the casting of darts, and other pastimes
which required bodily strength and agility were also practised,
and when the frost set in various games were engaged in upon
the ice. It is not known at what time skating made its first
appearance in England, but we find some traces of such an
exercise in the thirteenth century, at which period, according
to Fitzstephen, it was customary in the winter, when the ice
would bear them, for the young citizens of London to fasten
the leg bones of animals under the soles of their feet by tying
them round their ankles; and then, taking a pole shod with iron
into their hands, they pushed themselves forward by striking it
against the ice, and moved with celerity equal, says the author,
to a bird flying through the air, or an arrow from a cross-bow;
but some allowance, we presume, must be made for the poetical
figure: he then adds, "At times, two of them thus furnished
agree to start opposite one to another, at a great distance; they
meet, elevate their poles, attack, and strike each other, when
one or both of them fall, and not without some bodily hurt;
and, even after their fall, are carried a great distance from each
other, by the rapidity of the motion, and whatever part of the
head comes upon the ice it is sure to be laid bare."
The meetings of the King and his Wise Men for the consideration
of state affairs were continued at the great festivals, and
that held at Christmas in 1085 is memorable on account of the
resolution then passed to make the Domesday survey, in reference
to which Freeman says: "One of the greatest acts of
William's reign, and that by which we come to know more
about England in his time than from any other source, was
done in the assembly held at Gloucester at the Christmas of
1085. Then the King had, as the Chronicle says, 'very deep
speech with his Wise Men.' This 'deep speech' in English is
in French parlement; and so we see how our assemblies came
by their later name. And the end of the deep speech was that
commissioners were sent through all England, save only the
Bishopric of Durham and the earldom of Northumberland, to
make a survey of the land. They were to set down by whom
every piece of land, great and small, was held then, by whom
it was held in King Edward's day, what it was worth now, and
what it had been worth in King Edward's day. All this was
written in a book kept at Winchester, which men called
Domesday Book. It is a most wonderful record, and tells us
more of the state of England just at that moment than we
know of it for a long time before or after."
The Domesday Book was completed in 1086, and the following
year (1087) William the Conqueror died, and his son, William
Rufus, succeeded him.
The Coronation of William the Red
took place at Westminster on September 26, 1087, Archbishop
Lanfranc officiating. The King kept his first Christmas sumptuously
at Westminster, and, Freeman says, "it seems to have
been then that he gave back the earldom of Kent to his uncle,
Bishop Odo." The character of the Royal Christmases degenerated
during the reign of Rufus, whose licentiousness fouled the
festivities. In the latter part of his reign Rufus reared the
spacious hall at Westminster, where so many Royal Christmases
were afterwards kept, and which Pope calls
westminster hall.It is a magnificent relic of the profuse hospitality of former
times. Richard the Second heightened its walls and added
its noble roof of British oak, which shows the excellence of
the wood carving of that period. Although Sir Charles Barry
has shortened the Hall of its former proportions to fit it as a
vestibule to the New Houses of Parliament, it is still a noble
and spacious building, and one cannot walk through it without
in imagination recalling some of the Royal Christmases and
other stately scenes which have been witnessed there. The
last of these festal glories was the coronation of George the
Fourth, which took place in 1821. This grand old hall at
Westminster was the theatre of Rufus's feasting and revelry;
but, vast as the edifice then was, it did not equal the ideas of
the extravagant monarch. An old chronicler states that one of
the King's courtiers, having observed that the building was too
large for the purposes of its construction, Rufus replied, "This
halle is not begge enough by one half, and is but a bedchamber
in comparison of that I mind to make." Yet this hall was for
centuries the largest of its kind in Europe, and in it the Christmas
feasts were magnificently kept.
After a reign of thirteen years the vicious life of William
Rufus met with a tragical close. His dead body was found by
peasants in a glade of the New Forest with the arrow either of
a hunter or an assassin in his breast. Sir Walter Tyrrel, a
Norman knight, who had been hunting with the king just before
his death, fled to Normandy immediately afterwards, and was
suspected of being a regicide. The body of Rufus was buried
in Winchester Cathedral.
Christmas in the Reign of Henry I.
Henry the First's Christmas festival at Windsor, in 1126, was
a memorable one. In that year Henry's daughter Matilda
became a widow by the death of her husband, Henry V. of
Germany, and King Henry determined to appoint her his
successor to the throne of England and the Dukedom of
Normandy. On Christmas Day, 1126, a general assembly of
the nobles and higher ecclesiastics of the kingdom was held at
Windsor for the purpose of declaring the Empress Matilda (as
she was still called) the legitimate successor of Henry I., and
the clergy and Norman barons of both countries swore allegiance
to her in the event of the king's death. This appointment
of Matilda was made by Henry in consequence of the calamity
which occurred just before Christmas, in 1120, when he lost
his much-loved son, Prince William—the only male legitimate
issue of Henry—through the wreck of La Blanche Nef (the
White Ship). On board the vessel were Prince William, his
half-brother Richard, and Henry's natural daughter the Countess
of Perche, as well as about a hundred and forty young noblemen
of the most distinguished families in England and Normandy, all
of whom were lost in their passage home, only a few hours
after the safe arrival of the king in England. Henry is said to
have swooned at the intelligence, and was never afterwards
seen to smile. He had returned home anticipating a joyous
Christmas festival, a season of glad tidings, but he was closely
followed by this sad news of the death of the heir apparent.
The incident has called forth one of the most beautiful poems
of Mrs. Hemans, from which we quote two verses:—
"The bark that held a prince went down,
The sweeping waves rolled on;
And what was England's glorious crown
To him that wept a son?
He lived—for life may long be borne,
Ere sorrow break its chain:
Why comes not death to those who mourn?
He never smiled again!
He sat where festal bowls went round,
He heard the minstrel sing;
He saw the tourney's victor crowned,
Amidst the kingly ring;
A murmur of the restless deep
as blent with every strain,
A voice of winds that would not sleep,—
He never smiled again!"
In 1127 Henry invited the king of the Scots to Windsor to
join in the royal celebration of Christmas, but the festivities
were marred by an unseemly quarrel between the two primates.
Thurstan, Archbishop of York, encroaching upon the privileges
of his brother of Canterbury (William de Corbeuil), insisted
upon placing the crown upon the king's head ere he set out
for church. This the partisans of Canterbury would not allow,
settling the matter by turning Thurstan's chaplain and followers
out of doors, and thereby causing such strife between the heads
of the Church that they both set off to Rome to lay their
grievances before the Pope. And, subsequently, appeals to
Rome became frequent, until a satisfactory adjustment of the
powers and privileges of the two archbishops was arrived at.
The Archbishop of Canterbury was acknowledged Primate of
all England and Metropolitan; but, while the privilege of
crowning the sovereign was reserved for the Archbishop
of Canterbury, that of crowning the Queen Consort was given
to the Archbishop of York.
Strange Old Stories of Christmastide.
The progress of literature under the Conqueror and his sons
was very great, many devoting themselves almost entirely to
literary pursuits. Lanfranc and Anselm, the Archbishops of
Canterbury, had proved themselves worthy of their exalted
station. Their precepts and examples had awakened the clergy
and kindled an ardour for learning unknown in any preceding
age. Nor did this enthusiasm perish with its authors: it was
kept alive by the honours which were lavished on all who could
boast of literary acquirements. During the reign of Henry I.
Geoffrey of Monmouth published his History of the Britons,
and William of Malmesbury assures us that every poet hastened
to the court of Henry's Queen Matilda, at Westminster, to read
his verses to the Queen and partake of her bounty. William of
Malmesbury carefully collected the lighter ballads which
embodied the popular traditions of the English kings, and he
tells an amusing story which is connected with the festival of
Christmas. In early times dancing developed into a sort of
passion, men and women continually dancing and singing
together, holding one another by the hands, and concluding the
dances with kisses. These levities were at first encouraged by
the Church, but afterwards, seeing the abuse of them, the priests
were compelled to reprimand and restrain the people. And the
story told by William of Malmesbury describes the singular
punishment which came upon some young men and women for
disturbing a priest who was performing mass on the eve of
Christmas. "I, Othbert, a sinner," says the story, "have lived
to tell the tale. It was the vigil of the Blessed Virgin, and in a
town where was a church of St. Magnus. And the priest,
Rathbertus, had just begun the mass, and I, with my comrades,
fifteen young women and seventeen young men, were dancing
outside the church. And we were singing so loud that our
songs were distinctly heard inside the building, and interrupted
the service of the mass. And the priest came out and told us
to desist; and when we did not, he prayed God and St. Magnus
that we might dance as our punishment for a year to come. A
youth, whose sister was dancing with us, seized her by the arm
to drag her away, but it came off in his hand, and she danced
on. For a whole year we continued. No rain fell on us; cold,
nor heat, nor hunger, nor thirst, nor fatigue affected us; neither
our shoes nor our clothes wore out; but still we went on
dancing. We trod the earth down to our knees, next to our
middles, and at last were dancing in a pit. At the end of the
year release came."
Giraldus Cambrensis, amongst many ridiculous Christmas
stories of miracles, visions, and apparitions, tells of one devil
who acted a considerable time as a gentleman's butler with
great prudence and probity; and of another who was a very
diligent and learned clergyman, and a mighty favourite of his
archbishop. This last clerical devil was, it seems, an excellent
historian, and used to divert the Archbishop with telling him old
stories, some of which referred to the incarnation of our
Saviour, and were related at the Christmas season. "Before
the incarnation of our Saviour," said the Archbishop's historian,
"the devils had great power over mankind, but after that event
their power was much diminished and they were obliged to fly.
Some of them threw themselves into the sea; some concealed
themselves in hollow trees, or in the clefts of rocks; and I
myself plunged into a certain fountain. As soon as he had
said this, finding that he had discovered his secret, his face
was covered with blushes, he went out of the room, and was no
more seen."
The following cut (taken from MS. Harl., No. 4751, of the
end of the twelfth century) represents an elephant, with its
castle and armed men, engaged in battle. The bestiaries relate
many strange things of the elephant. They say that, though so
large and powerful, and so courageous against larger animals, it
is afraid of a mouse; that its nature is so cold that it will never
seek the company of the female until, wandering in the
direction of Paradise, it meets with the plant called the
mandrake, and eats of it, and that each female bears but one
young one in her life.
Absurd as we consider such stories, they were believed by the
Normans, who were no less credulous than the Anglo-Saxons.
This is evident from the large number of miracles, revelations,
visions, and enchantments which are related with great gravity
by the old chroniclers.
The Misrule of King Stephen.
Stephen of Blois was crowned at Westminster Abbey during
the Christmas festival (December 26, 1135). As a King of
Misrule, he was fitly crowned at Christmastide, and it would
have been a good thing for the nation if his reign had been of
the ephemeral character which was customary to Lords of
Misrule. The nineteen years of his reign were years of disorder
unparalleled in any period of our history. On the landing of
Henry the First's daughter, "the Empress Matilda," who
claimed the English crown for her son Henry, a long struggle
ensued, and the country was divided between the adherents of
the two rivals, the West supporting Matilda, and London and
the East Stephen. For a time the successes in war alternated
between the two parties. A defeat at Lincoln left Stephen a
prisoner in the hands of his enemies; but after his escape he
laid siege to the city of Oxford, where Matilda had assembled
her followers. "The Lady" of the English (as Matilda was
then called) had retreated into the castle, which, though a place
of great strength, proved to be insufficiently victualled. It was
surrounded and cut off from all supplies without, and at
Christmastide (1142), after a siege of three months, Matilda
consulted her own safety by taking flight. On a cold December
night, when the ground was covered with snow, she quitted the
castle at midnight, attended by four knights, who as well as
herself were clothed in white, in order that they might pass
unobserved through the lines of their enemies. The adventurous
"Lady" made good her escape, and crossing the river unnoticed
on the ice, found her way to Abingdon. The long
anarchy was ended by the Treaty of Wallingford (1153),
Stephen being recognised as king during his life, and the
succession devolving upon Matilda's son Henry. A year had
hardly passed from the signing of the treaty, when Stephen's
death gave Henry the crown, and his coronation took place at
Christmastide, 1154, at Westminster.
The Reign of Henry II.,
it has been truly said, "initiated the rule of law," as distinct
from despotism, whether personal or tempered by routine, of
the Norman kings. And now the despotic barons began
gradually to be shorn of their power, and the dungeons of their
"Adulterine" castles to be stripped of their horrors, and it
seemed more appropriate to celebrate the season of glad
tidings. King Henry the Second kept his first Christmas at
Bermondsey with great solemnity, marking the occasion by
passing his royal word to expel all foreigners from the kingdom,
whereupon William of Ypres and his Flemings decamped
without waiting for further notice. In 1158 Henry, celebrating
the Christmas festival at Worcester, took the crown from his
head and placed it upon the altar, after which he never wore it.
But he did not cease to keep Christmas. In 1171 he went to
Ireland, where the chiefs of the land displayed a wonderful
alacrity in taking the oath of allegiance, and were rewarded by
being entertained in a style that astonished them. Finding no
place in Dublin large enough to contain his own followers,
much less his guests, Henry had a house built in Irish fashion
of twigs and wattles in the village of Hogges, and there held
high revelry during Christmastide, teaching his new subjects to
eat cranes' flesh, and take their part in miracle plays, masques,
mummeries, and tournaments. And a great number of oxen
were roasted, so that all the people might take part in the
rejoicings.
Christmas Entertainments at Constantinople.
In his description of Christian Constantinople, Benjamin of
Tudela, a Spanish Jew, who travelled through the East in the
twelfth century (1159 or 1160), describes a "place where the king
diverts himself, called the hippodrome, near to the wall of the
palace. There it is that every year, on the day of the birth of
Jesus the Nazarene, the king gives a grand entertainment. There
are represented by magic arts before the king and queen, figures
of all kinds of men that exist in the world; thither also are taken
lions, bears, tigers, and wild asses, which are made to fight
together; as well as birds. There is no such sight to be seen
in all the world." At Constantinople, on the marriage of the
Emperor Manuel with Mary, daughter of the Prince of Antioch,
on Christmas Day, 1161, there were great rejoicings, and
similar spectacular entertainments to those described by
Benjamin of Tudela.
An Archbishop Murdered at Christmastide.
During the Christmas festival of 1170 (December 29th)
occurred an event memorable in ecclesiastical history—the
murder of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. In
1162 Becket (who had previously been Chancellor to Henry II.)
was made Archbishop, in succession to Archbishop Theobald.
The King soon found that he who had served him faithfully as
Chancellor would oppose him doggedly as Archbishop. Henry
determined to subject the Church as well as the State to the
supremacy of the law; and Becket determined to resist the King
to the end, thus manifesting his desire for martyrdom in the
cause of the Church. Henry had greatly offended the Archbishop
by causing his eldest son to be crowned by the Archbishop
of York. For this violation of the rights of Canterbury
Becket threatened to lay the country under an interdict, which
he had the power from the Pope to pronounce. A sort of
reconciliation was effected between the King and the Archbishop
at Freteval on July 21, 1170, but a further dispute arose
on Becket delaying his return to England, the King being
anxious to get him out of France. The Archbishop was full of
complaints against Henry for the injuries he had done to his
see, and the King stood upon his dignity, regardless of the
threatened interdiction. The Archbishop returned to England
on the 1st of December, and was joyfully received by the
people. His enemies, however, and especially the family of
De Broc, did all they could to annoy him; and on Christmas
Day he uttered a violent anathema against them. He preached
from the text, "I come to die among you," evidently anticipating
what might be the personal consequences of his action. He
told his congregation that one of the archbishops had been a
martyr, and they would probably soon see another; but before
he departed home he would avenge some of the wrongs the
Church had suffered during the previous seven years. Then he
thundered forth his sentence of excommunication against
Ranulph and Robert de Broc, and Nigellus, rector of Harrow.
Meanwhile news had reached the King that Becket had
excommunicated certain bishops who had taken part in his
son's coronation. In a fit of exasperation the King uttered
some hasty words of anger against the Archbishop. Acting
upon these, four of Henry's knights—Hugh de Morville,
Reginald FitzUrse, William de Tracy, and Richard Brito—crossed
to England, taking with them Ranulf de Broc and a
band of men, and murdered the Archbishop in Canterbury
Cathedral. In the altercation which took place before the
consummation of the terrible deed, the Primate was asked to
absolve the bishops whom he had excommunicated, but he
refused in a defiant and insulting manner. "Then die," exclaimed
FitzUrse, striking at Becket's head with his weapon;
but the devoted cross-bearer warded off the blow with his own
arm, which was badly cut, so that the Archbishop was but
slightly injured. One of the attacking party then called out,
"Fly, or thou diest!" The Archbishop, however, clasped his
hands, and, with the blood streaming down his face, fervently
exclaimed, "To God, to St. Mary, to the holy patrons of this
Church, and to St. Denis I commend my soul and the Church's
cause." He was then struck down by a second blow, and the
third completed the tragedy; whereupon one of the murderers,
putting his foot on the dead prelate's neck, cried, "Thus dies a
traitor!" In 1173 the Archbishop was canonised, and his
festival was appointed for the day of his martyrdom; and for
three centuries after his death the shrine of St. Thomas at
Canterbury was a favourite place of pilgrimage, so great was
the impression that his martyrdom made on the minds of the
English people. As early as the Easter of 1171 Becket's
sepulchre was the scene of many miracles, if Matthew Paris,
the historian, is to be believed. What must have been the
credulity of the people in an age when an historian could
gravely write, as Matthew Paris did in 1171? "In this year,
about Easter, it pleased the Lord Jesus Christ to irradiate his
glorious martyr Thomas Becket with many miracles, that it
might appear to all the world he had obtained a victory suitable
to his merits. None who approached his sepulchre in faith
returned without a cure. For strength was restored to the
lame, hearing to the deaf, sight to the blind, speech to the
dumb, health to the lepers, and life to the dead. Nay, not only
men and women, but even birds and beasts were raised from
death to life."
Royal Christmases at Windsor.
Windsor Castle appears to have been the favourite residence
of Henry II. When, in 1175, he had united with him his son
Henry in his crown and prerogatives, the two kings held an
assembly at Windsor, attended by the judges, deputies of
counties and districts, and all the great officers of state. Henry
also kept his ensuing Christmas with the magnificence and
display peculiar to the times, and all the ancient sports and
usages; in which the nobles and gentry of the surrounding
country assisted with much splendour at the hunt and tourney,
and bestowed lavish gifts on the spectators and the people.
After the kingdom was parcelled out into four jurisdictions,
another assembly was held at the castle, in 1179, by the two
kings; and, in 1184, Henry for the last time celebrated his
Christmas in the same hall of state: his son, who had shared
the throne with him, being then dead.
For the festivals of this period the tables of princes, prelates,
and great barons were plentifully supplied with many dishes of
meat dressed in various ways. The Normans sent agents into
different countries to collect the most rare dishes for their
tables, by which means, says John of Salisbury, this island,
which is naturally productive of plenty and variety of provisions,
was overflowed with everything that could inflame a luxurious
appetite. The same writer says he was present at an entertainment
which lasted from three o'clock in the afternoon to
midnight; at which delicacies were served up which had been
brought from Constantinople, Babylon, Alexandria, Palestine,
Tripoli, Syria, and Phœnicia. The sumptuous entertainments
which the kings of England gave to their nobles and prelates at
the festivals of Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide diffused a
taste for profuse and expensive banqueting; for the wealthy
barons, prelates, and gentry, in their own castles and mansions,
imitated the splendour of the royal entertainments. Great men
had some kinds of provisions at their tables which are not now
to be found in Britain. When Henry II. entertained his own
court, the great officers of his army, and all the kings and great
men in Ireland, at the feast of Christmas, 1171, the Irish princes
and chieftains were quite astonished at the profusion and variety
of provisions which they beheld, and were with difficulty
prevailed on by Henry to eat the flesh of cranes, a kind of food
to which they had not been accustomed. Dellegrout, maupigyrum,
karumpie, and other dishes were then used, the
composition of which is now unknown, or doubtful. Persons
of rank and wealth had variety of drinks, as well as meats; for,
besides wines of various kinds, they had pigment, morat, mead,
hypocras, claret, cider, perry, and ale. The claret of those times
was wine clarified and mixed with spices, and hypocras was wine
mixed with honey.
a cook of the period.The profusion of viands and drinks, obtained at great expense
from different parts of the world for the gratification of the
animal appetites at such festivals as have been described,
naturally led to
Excesses in Eating and Drinking,
and from the statements and illustrations in old manuscripts
it would appear that "the merry monks" were prominent in
gastronomical circles. And extant records also state that the
abbots of some of the monasteries found it necessary to make
regulations restraining the monks, and to these regulations the
monks objected. Consequently the monks of St. Swithin at
Winchester made a formal complaint to Henry II. against
their abbot for taking away three of the thirteen dishes they
used to have at dinner. The monks of Canterbury were still
more luxurious, for they had at least seventeen dishes every
day besides a dessert; and these dishes were dressed with
spices and sauces which excited the appetite as well as pleased
the taste. And of course the festive season of Christmas was
an occasion of special indulgence. Sometimes serious excesses
were followed by severe discipline, administered after the
manner shown in the ancient illustration which is reproduced
here.
monk undergoing discipline.But these excesses were by no means confined to the
monks. The Norman barons and gentry adopted many
of the manners of the English among whom they lived,
and especially was this the case in regard to the drinking
customs of Christmastide. Instead of commending the
Normans of his time for their sobriety, as he might
have done their ancestors, Peter of Blois, who was
chaplain to Henry II., says: "When you behold our barons
and knights going upon a military expedition you see their
baggage horses loaded, not with iron but wine, not with
lances but cheeses, not with swords but bottles, not with
spears but spits. You would imagine they were going to
prepare a great feast rather than to make war. There are
even too many who boast of their excessive drunkenness and
gluttony, and labour to acquire fame by swallowing great
quantities of meat and drink." The earliest existing carol
known to antiquaries is in the Anglo-Norman language, and
contains references to the drinking customs of the period:—
"To English ale, and Gascon wine,
And French, doth Christmas much incline—
And Anjou's too;
He makes his neighbour freely drink,
So that in sleep his head doth sink
Often by day.
May joys flow from God above
To all those who Christmas love.
Lords, by Christmas and the host
Of this mansion hear my toast—
Drink it well—
Each must drain his cup of wine,
And I the first will toss off mine:
Thus I advise,
Here then I bid you all Wassail,
Cursed be he who will not say Drinkhail."
[17]
wassailing at christmastide.
Proceeding with our historical narrative we come now to
The Romantic Reign of Richard the First,
surnamed Cœur de Lion, the second son of Henry II. and Eleanor
of Aquitaine, who succeeded to the English throne on the death of his
father in 1189. Richard is generally supposed to have derived his
surname from a superiority of animal courage; but, if the metrical
romance bearing his name, and written in the thirteenth century, be
entitled to credit, he earned it nobly and literally, by plucking out
the heart of a lion, to whose fury he had been exposed by the Duke of
Austria for having slain his son with a blow of his fist. In the
numerous descriptions afforded by the romance Richard is a most
imposing personage. He is said to have carried with him to the
Crusades, and to have afterwards presented to Tancred, King of Sicily,
the wonder-working sword of King Arthur—
"The gude sword
that Arthur luffed so well."
He is also said to have carried a shaft, or lance, 14 feet in length,
and
"An axe for the nones,
To break therewith the Sarasyns bones.
The head was wrought right wele,
Therein was twenty pounds of steel."
But, without attempting to follow Richard through all the
brilliant episodes of his romantic career, there can be no doubt
that he was a king of great strength and courage, and that his
valorous deeds won the admiration of poets and chroniclers,
who have surrounded him with a splendid halo of romance.
Contemporary writers tell us that while Richard kept magnificent
Christmases abroad with the King of Sicily and other
potentates, his justiciars (especially the extravagant William
Longchamp, Bishop of Ely) were no less lavish in their
expenditure for festive entertainments at home. And the old
romance of "Richard Cœur de Lion" assures us that—
"Christmas is a time full honest;
Kyng Richard it honoured with gret feste.
All his clerks and barouns
Were set in their pavylouns,
And seryed with grete plenté
Of mete and drink and each dainté."
There is no doubt that the Crusades had a vast influence
upon our literary tastes, as well as upon the national manners
and the festivities of Christmastide. On their return from the
Holy Land the pilgrims and Crusaders brought with them new
subjects for theatrical representation, founded on the objects
of their devotion and the incidents in their wars, and these
found expression in the early mysteries and other plays of
Christmastide—that of St. George and the Dragon, which
survived to modern times, probably owing its origin to this
period. It is to Richard Cœur de Lion that we are indebted
for the rise of chivalry in England. It was he who developed
tilts and tournaments, and under his auspices these diversions
assumed a military air, the genius of poetry flourished, and the
fair sex was exalted in admiration. How delightful was it then,
beneath the inspiring gaze of the fair—
"Sternly to strike the quintin down;
Or fiercely storm some turf-formed town;
To rush with valour's doughty sway,
Against a Babylon of clay;
A Memphis shake with furious shock,
Or raze some flower-built Antioch!"[18]
On the death of Richard, in 1199, his brother
John was crowned King of England.
The youngest and favourite son of Henry II., John, was
humoured in childhood and grew to be an arrogant and
petulant man, and was one of the worst of English kings.
He possessed ability, but not discipline. He could neither
govern himself nor his kingdom. He was tyrannical and passionate,
and spent a good deal of time in the gratification of
his animal appetites. He was fond of display and good living,
and extravagant in his Christmas entertainments. When, in
1201, he kept Christmas at Guildford he taxed his purse and
ingenuity in providing all his servitors with costly apparel, and
he was greatly annoyed because the Archbishop of Canterbury,
in a similar fit of sumptuary extravagance, sought to outdo his
sovereign. John, however, cunningly concealed his displeasure
at the time, but punished the prelate by a costly celebration
of the next Easter festival at Canterbury at the Archbishop's
expense. In consequence of John's frequent quarrels with his
nobles the attendance at his Christmas feasts became smaller
every year, until he could only muster a very meagre company
around his festive board, and it was said that he had almost as
many enemies as there were nobles in the kingdom.
In 1205 John spent his Christmas at the ancient town of Brill,
in the Vale of Aylesbury, and in 1213 he kept a Royal Christmas
in the great hall at Westminster.
Magna Charta demanded at a Christmas Festival.
The Christmas of 1214 is memorable in English history as the
festival at which the barons demanded from King John that
document which as the foundation of our English liberties is
known to us by the name of Magna Charta, that is, the Great
Charter. John's tyranny and lawlessness had become intolerable,
and the people's hope hung on the fortunes of the French campaign
in which he was then engaged. His defeat at the battle
of Bouvines, fought on July 27, 1214, gave strength to his
opponents; and after his return to England the barons secretly
met at St. Edmundsbury and swore to demand from him, if
needful by force of arms, the restoration of their liberties
by charter under the king's seal. Having agreed to assemble
at the Court for this purpose during the approaching festival
of Christmas they separated. When Christmas Day arrived John
was at Worcester, attended only by a few of his immediate
retainers and some foreign mercenaries. None of his great
vassals came, as was customary at Christmas, to offer their
congratulations. His attendants tried in vain to assume an
appearance of cheerfulness and festivity; but John, alarmed
at the absence of the barons, hastily rode to London and there
shut himself up in the house of the Knights Templars. On the
Feast of the Epiphany the barons assembled in great force at
London and presenting themselves in arms before the King
formally demanded his confirmation of the laws of Edward the
Confessor and Henry I. At first John assumed a bold and
defiant air and met the barons with an absolute refusal and
threats; but, finding the nobles were firm, he sank to the meanness
of subterfuge, and pleaded the necessity of time for the
consideration of demands so weighty. With some reluctance
the barons granted the delay, and ultimately, in 1215, the tyrant
bowed to the inevitable, called the barons to a conference at
Runnymede, and there signed the Great Charter, whose most
important clauses protect the personal liberty and property of
every freeman in the kingdom by giving security from arbitrary
imprisonment and unjust exactions.
(1215-1485.)
Soon after the disaster which overtook John's army at the
Wash the King ended his wretched career by death. He died
on October 18, 1216, in the castle of Newark on the Trent, and
the old chroniclers describe him as dying in an extremity of
agony and remorse.
Henry the Third,
sometimes called "Henry of Winchester," came to the throne
in troublous times, before he was ten years of age. The tyranny
of his father had alienated every class of his subjects, and the
barons who had obtained Magna Charta from King John had
called in Louis of France. But through the conciliatory
measures of the Regent Pembroke towards the barons, and the
strong support which the Roman Church gave the boy-king
(whose father had meanly done homage to the Pope), the
foreigners were expelled, and the opposition of the barons was
suppressed for a time, though in later years they again struggled
with the crown for supremacy of power. When Henry had
grown to manhood and the responsibility of government rested
upon his own shoulders, he still exulted in the protection of the
Holy See, which found in him a subservient vassal. He fasted
during Lent, but feasted right royally both at Christmas and
Easter. In 1234 he kept a grand Christmas in the Great Hall at
Westminster, and other royal Christmases were celebrated at
Windsor Castle and at his palace at Winchester. He made
large additions to Windsor Castle, and some of his mandates
giving minute directions for the decoration of his palace at
Winchester are still preserved. He enjoyed the old plays and
ballets of Christmastide introduced from France at this period.
Henry the Third's most splendid Christmas was in the twentieth
year of his reign, when he welcomed Eleanor, daughter of the
Count of Provence, to whom he was married on January 14,
1236. The youthful princess left Provence amidst the rejoicings
royal party dining in state.of the whole kingdom. She was accompanied by Henry's
ambassadors and a grand cavalcade, in which were more than
three hundred ladies on horseback. Her route lay through
Navarre and France. On reaching England, at Dover, the
princess and her train proceeded to Canterbury, where Henry
awaited their coming. It was in that ancient city that the royal
pair were married by the Archbishop Edmund and the prelates
who accompanied Eleanor. From Canterbury the newly-wedded
king and queen set out for London, attended by a
splendid array of nobles, prelates, knights and ladies. On the
20th of January, Eleanor was crowned at Westminster with
great splendour. Matthew Paris, the historian, gives an interesting
description of the royal procession, and the loyal welcome of
the citizens of London: "There had assembled together so
great a number of the nobility of both sexes, so great a number
of religious orders, so great a concourse of the populace, and so
great a variety of players, that London could scarcely contain
them in her capacious bosom. Therefore was the city adorned
with silk hangings, and with banners, crowns, palls, tapers, and
lamps, and with certain marvellous ingenuities and devices; all
the streets being cleaned from dirt, mud, sticks and everything
offensive. The citizens of London going to meet the king and
queen, ornamented and trapped and wondrously sported their
swift horses; and on the same day they went from the City to
Westminster, that they might discharge the service of butler to
the king in his coronation, which is acknowledged to belong to
them of ancient right. They went in well-marshalled array,
adorned in silken vestments, wrapped in gold-woven mantles,
with fancifully-devised garments, sitting on valuable horses
refulgent with new bits and saddles: and they bore three hundred
and sixty gold and silver cups, the king's trumpeters going before
and sounding their trumpets; so that so wonderful a novelty
produced a laudable astonishment in the spectators." The
literary monk of St. Albans also describes the splendour of
the feast, and the order of the service of the different vassals of
the crown, many of whom were called upon at the coronation to
perform certain peculiar services. According to the ancient
City records, "these served in order in that most elegant and
unheard-of feast: the Bishop of Chichester, the Chancellor,
with the cup of precious stones, which was one of the ancient
regalia of the king, clothed in his pontificals, preceded the king,
who was clad in royal attire, and wearing the crown. Hugh
de Pateshall walked before with the patine, clothed in a dalmatica;
and the Earls of Chester, Lincoln, and Warren, bearing
the swords, preceded him. But the two renowned knights, Sir
Richard Siward and Sir Nicholas de Molis, carried the two royal
sceptres before the king; and the square purple cloth of silk,
which was supported upon four silver lances, with four little
bells of silver gilt, held over the king wherever he walked, was
carried by the barons of the Cinque Ports; four being assigned
to each lance, from the diversity of ports, that one port should
not seem to be preferred before the other. The same in like
manner bore a cloth of silk over the queen, walking behind the
king, which said cloths they claimed to be theirs by right, and
obtained them. And William de Beauchamp of Bedford, who
had the office of almoner from times of old, found the striped
cloth or burel, which was laid down under the king's feet as he
went from the hall as far as the pulpit of the Church of Westminster;
and that part of the cloth that was within the Church
always fell to the sexton in whatever church the king was
crowned; and all that was without the church was distributed
among the poor, by the hands of William the almoner." The
ancient records contain many other particulars respecting the
ceremonies which graced the marriage feast of Henry and
Eleanor of Provence, but enough has been quoted to show the
magnificence of the celebration.
Year by year, as the Christmas festival came round, it was
royally celebrated wherever the Court happened to be, even
though the king had to pledge his plate and jewels with the
citizens of London to replenish his exchequer. But Henry's
Royal Christmases did not allay the growing disaffection of his
subjects on account of his showing too much favour to foreigners;
and some of the barons who attended the Royal Christmas at
Westminster in 1241, left in high dudgeon, because the place of
honour at the banquet was occupied by the papal legate, then
about to leave England, "to the sorrow of no man but the king."
In 1252, Henry gave in marriage his beautiful daughter
Margaret, to Alexander, King of the Scots, and held his
Christmas at the same time. The city of York was the scene
of the regal festivities. The marriage took place on Christmas
Day, the bridegroom and many of his nobles receiving knighthood
at the hands of the English king. Henry seems to have
conciliated the English barons for a time, for most of them were
present at the marriage festivities, and he counted a thousand
knights in his train; while Alexander brought sixty splendidly-attired
Scottish knights with him. That the banqueting was on
no mean scale is evident from the fact that six hundred fat oxen
were slaughtered for the occasion, the gift of the Archbishop of
York, who also subscribed four thousand marks (£2,700) towards
the expenses. The consumption of meats and drinks at such
feasts was enormous. An extant order of Henry's, addressed to
his keeper of wines, directs him to deliver two tuns of white and
one of red wine, to make garhiofilac and claret 'as usual,' for the
king at Christmas; and upon another occasion the Sheriffs of
Gloucestershire and Sussex were called upon to supply part of
the necessary provisions; the first named being directed to get
twenty salmon, and make pies of them; while the latter was
instructed to send ten peacocks, ten brawns with their heads,
and other things. And all this provision was necessary, for
while Henry feasted the rich, he did not forget the poor.
When he kept his Christmas at Winchester in 1248, he ordered
his treasurer to fill Westminster Hall with poor people, and
feast them there for a week. Twenty years afterwards, he kept
his Royal Christmas in London for fifteen days, opening a fair
meantime at Westminster, and forbidding any shop to be
opened in London as long as the festival lasted. This prohibition
of business naturally displeased the citizens of London,
but the king would not withdraw his prohibition until they
agreed to make him a present of two thousand pounds, upon
the receipt of which the prohibition was withdrawn.
We cannot pass over this period without reference to the
summoning of
The First English Parliament,
which was a great event of Christmastide.
The Barons' Wars interfered seriously with the Christmas
festivities, but they solved the problem of how to ensure the
government of the realm in accordance with the provisions of
the Great Charter. The King (Henry III.) had sworn again and
again to observe the Charter, but his oath was no sooner taken
than it was unscrupulously broken. The barons, with the
patriotic Simon de Montfort at their head, were determined to
uphold the rights of the people, and insisted on the king's compliance
with the provisions of the Charter; and this struggle
with the Crown yielded one of the greatest events of Christmastide:
the summoning of the first national Parliament. By
summoning the representatives of the cities and boroughs to sit
beside the knights of the shires, the barons and the bishops in
the Parliament of the realm, Simon de Montfort created a new
force in English politics. This first national assembly met at
Westminster, in January, 1265, while the king was a prisoner of
Earl Simon. The form of national representation thus inaugurated
had an immense influence on the rising liberties of the
people, and has endured to our own times. It is not surprising,
therefore, that the adoption of this measure by the great Earl of
Leicester invested his memory with a lustre which has not been
dimmed by the lapse of centuries. The paltering of the king
called forth the patriotism of the people. "So may a glory
from defect arise." The sevenfold lustre of the rainbow is only
seen when there is rain as well as sun.
"Only the prism's obstruction shows aright
The secret of a sunbeam, breaks its light
Into the jewelled bow from blankest white;
So may a glory from defect arise."[19]
The Death of Robin Hood on Christmas Eve.
The famous freebooter, Robin Hood, who, according to
tradition, flourished in Sherwood Forest in the distracted reign
of Henry the Third, is said to have died on Christmas Eve, in
the year 1247. The career of this hero of many popular ballads
is not part of our subject, though Hone[20] records his death as a
Christmas event; and Stowe, writing in 1590, evidently believes
in Robin Hood as an historical personage, for he says, "he
suffered no woman to be oppressed ... poor men's goods he
spared, abundantly relieving them with that which by theft he
got from the abbeys, and the houses of rich old earles."
From the doubtful doings of the romantic chief and his band
of freebooters, we now pass on to the
Reign of Edward the First.
Edward the First was in the truest sense a national king.
He was English to the core, and he won the love of his people
by his bravery, justice, and good government. He joined freely
in the national sports and pastimes, and kept the Christmas
festival with great splendour. There was much of the chivalric
in his character, and he shared to the full his people's love of
hard fighting. He was invested with the honour of knighthood
and went to foreign courts to display his prowess. Matthew of
Westminster states that while Edward was travelling in France,
he heard that a lord of Burgundy was continually committing
outrages on the persons and property of his neighbours. In
the true spirit of chivalry Edward attacked the castle of the
uncourteous baron. His prowess asserted the cause of justice,
and he bestowed the domains which he had won upon a nobler
lord. For the sake of acquiring military fame he exposed himself
to great dangers in the Holy Land, and, during his journey
homeward, saved his life by sheer fighting in a tournament at
Challon. At his "Round Table of Kenilworth" a hundred
lords and ladies "clad all in silk" renewed the faded glories of
Arthur's Court, and kept Christmas with great magnificence.
In 1277, Llewellyn, Prince of Wales, bidden from his mountain
fastnesses "with a kiss of peace," sat a guest at the Christmas
feast of Edward, but he was soon to fall the last defender of his
weeping country's independence in unequal battle with the
English King. In 1281-2, Edward kept his feast of Christmas
at Worcester, and there was "such a frost and snow as no man
living could remember the like." Rivers were frozen over, even
including the Thames and Severn; fish in ponds, and birds in
woods died for want of food; and on the breaking up of the
ice five of the arches of old London bridge were carried away
by the stream, and the like happened to many other bridges.
In 1286 Edward kept his Christmas at Oxford, but the honour
was accompanied by an unpleasant episode in the hanging of
the Mayor by the King's command. In 1290, 1292, and 1303,
Edward the First kept Royal Christmases in the great hall at
Westminster. On his way to Scotland, in the year 1299, the
King witnessed the Christmas ceremonial of the Boy Bishop.
He permitted one of the boy bishops to say vespers before him
in his chapel at Heton, near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and made a
present to the performers of forty shillings, no inconsiderable
sum in those days. During his Scotch wars, in 1301, Edward,
on the approach of winter, took up his quarters in Linlithgow,
where he built a castle and kept his Christmas; and during his
reign he celebrated the festival at other places not usually so
honoured—namely, Bury, Ipswich, Bristol, Berwick, Carlisle,
and Lincoln.
Edward the Second
succeeded his father in 1307, being the fourth son of Edward I.
and Eleanor of Castile. He took great delight in the Christmas
revels and expended large sums of money in the entertainment
of his court favourites. In 1311 he kept his Christmas at York,
rejoicing in the presence of Piers Gaveston, whom he had
recalled from banishment in utter disregard of advice given to
him by his father (Edward I.) on his death-bed. Edward II.
kept his Christmas in the great hall at Westminster in 1317,
when, however, few nobles were present, "because of discord
betwixt them and the King;" but in 1320 the Royal Christmas
was kept at Westminster "with great honour and glorie." In
1324-5 the King's Christmas was sumptuously observed at
Nottingham, but the following year found Edward a prisoner at
Kenilworth, while his wife, who had successfully intrigued with
Roger Mortimer, leader of the Barons, observed the Christmas
festivities with her son at Wallingford, glad at the downfall of
her husband. Edward was an irresolute and weak-minded
king. He displayed singular incapacity for government, wasting
almost all his time in frivolous amusements. The chief
characteristics of his reign were defeat and disgrace abroad,
and misrule ending in misery at home. Instead of following
the example of his noble father, Edward I., who has been
deservedly styled "the greatest of the Plantagenets," he proved
himself the weakest of that line of kings, spending his time in
such trifling diversions as "cross and pile," a game of chance
with coins. He was so utterly devoid of self-respect that he
even borrowed money of his barber to carry on this frivolous
pastime, such items as the following being found in his wardrobe
rolls:—"Item, paid to Henry, the king's barber, for money
which he lent the king to play at cross and pile, five shillings.
Item, paid to Pires Barnard, usher of the king's chamber, money
which he lent the king, and which he lost at cross and pile; to
Monsieur Robert Wattewille eightpence." At length the barons,
tired of Edward's misgovernment, revolted, and made the king
a prisoner. During the Christmas festival of 1326, Edward was
imprisoned in Kenilworth Castle. While there he was informed
that in a Parliament held at Westminster, during Christmas
1326-7, he was deposed, and his son Edward, then only
fourteen years of age, elected in his stead. On the 21st of
September in the same year Edward II. ended his miserable
career in Berkeley Castle, being, it is supposed, cruelly murdered
by his keepers.
Edward The Third's Coronation
festivities were a sumptuous enlargement of the Christmas
celebration, which usually extended over Twelfth Night. It is
said that the banqueting cost the equivalent of forty thousand
pounds of our money; and before the young king there
appeared quite a multitude of minstrels, mimics, and gleemen.
Professor Henry Morley[21] gives a specimen of the metrical
romances which were translated from the French for recitation
at the royal and noble banquets of this period. They were
"busy with action, and told with a lively freedom;" and, in
the one quoted, "The Fabliau of Sir Cleges," we catch some
interesting references to the celebration of Christmas:—
"Every year Sir Cleges would
At Christmás a great feast hold
In worship of that day,
As royál in allé thing
As he haddé been a king
For sooth as I you say.
Rich and poor in the country about
Should be there withouten doubt;
There would no man say nay.
Minstrels would not be behind,
For there they might most mirthés find
There would they be aye.
"Minstrels when the feast was done
Withouten giftés should not gon,
And that both rich and good:
Horsé, robes and riché ring,
Gold, silver, and other thing,
To mend with their mood.
Ten yearé such feast be held,
In the worship of Mary mild
And for Him that died on the rood.
By that his good began to slake
For the great feasts that he did make.
The knight gentil of blood."
"Kepe Open Court" At Christmas.
Froissart, in Cap. XIIII. of his "Chronicles,"[22] gives the
following account of the Christmas Celebration at which
Edward the Third was crowned:—
"After that the most part of the company of Heynaulte were
departed, and syr John Heynaulte lorde of Beamonde taryed,
the Quene gave leve to her people to departe, savynge a
certayne noble knightis the whiche she kept styl about her and
her sōne, to counsell them, and commaunded all them that
departed, to be at London the next Christmas, for as than she
was determyned to kepe open court, and all they promysed her
so to do. And whan Christmas was come, she helde a great
court. And thyther came dukes, erles, barons, knightis, and all
the nobles of the realme, with prelates, and burgesses of good
townes, and at this assemble it was advised that the realme
coud nat long endure without a head and a chief lord. Than
they put in wrytynge all the dedis of the kyng who was in
prison, and all that he had done by evyll counsell, and all his
usages, and evyll behavyngis, and how evyll he had governed
his realme, the which was redde openly in playn audience, to
thentent that the noble sagis of the realme might take therof
good advyce, and to fall at acorde how the realme shuld be
governed from thensforth; and whan all the cases and dedis
that the kyng had done and cōsented to, and all his behavyng
and usages were red, and wel understand, the barons and
knightis and al ye coūsels of the realme, drew them aparte to
coūsell, and the most part of them accorded, and namely the
great lordes and nobles, with the burgesses of ye good townes,
accordyng as they had hard say, and knew themselfe the most
parte of his dedis. Wherfore they cōcluded that such a man
was nat worthy to be a kyng. But they all accorded that
Edward his eldeste son who was ther present, and was ryghtful
heyre, shuld be crowned kyng in stede of his father, so that he
would take good counsell, sage and true about hym, so that the
realme from thensforth myght be better governed than it was
before, and that the olde kyng his father shuld be well and
honestly kept as long as he lyved accordyng to his astate; and
thus as it was agreed by all the nobles, so it was accomplysshed,
and than was crowned with a crowne royall at the palaice of
Westminster, beside Lōdon, the yong kyng Edward the III. who
in his dayes after was right fortunate and happy in armes. This
coronacion was in the yere of our Lorde MCCCXXVI, on
Christymas day, and as than the yong kyng was about the age
of XVI., and they held the fest tyl the cōvercion of saynt Paule
followyng: and in the mean tyme greatly was fested sir John of
Heynaulte and all the princis and nobles of his coūtre, and
was gyven to hym, and to his company, many ryche jewels.
And so he and his company in great feast and solas both with
lordis and ladyes taried tyll the XII. day."
Edward Balliol, of Scotland, defeated at Christmas.
The Christmas of 1332 is memorable in Scottish annals as the
time of the defeat of Edward Balliol, the "phantom king" of
Scotland. His success was as unreal as a dream. He was
solemnly crowned at Scone in the month of September, 1332,
fondly imagining that he had permanently conquered the
patriotic Scottish nobles who had opposed him. His reign,
however, only lasted for a few months. The leaders of the
national party suddenly assembled a force, and attacked him,
while he was feasting at Annan, in Dumfriesshire, where he had
gone to keep his Christmas. A body of horse under Sir
Archibald, the young Earl of Moray, and Sir Simon Fraser,
made a dash into the town to surprise Balliol, and he escaped
only by springing upon a horse without any saddle, leaving
behind him his brother Henry slain. Balliol escaped to
England and was kindly received by Edward III., who afterwards
made fresh expeditions into Scotland to support him.
"Whenever the English king appeared the Scots retired to
their mountain fastnesses, while Edward and his army overran
the country with little opposition, burnt the houses, and laid
waste the lands of those whom he styled rebels; but whenever
he returned to England they came forth again, only the more
embittered against the contemptible minion of the English
king, the more determined against the tyranny of England.
The regent, Sir Andrew Murray, pursued, with untiring activity,
Balliol and his adherents. When Edward marched homeward
to spend in London the Christmas of 1336, he left Scotland to
all appearance prostrate, and flattered himself that it was completely
subdued. Never was it further from such a condition.
Only one spirit animated the Scottish nation—that of eternal
resistance to the monarch who had inflicted on it such
calamities, and set a slave on its throne."[23]
Cottage Christmas-Keeping in the Fourteenth Century.
At this period the greatest of the Bishops of Winchester,
William of Wykeham, was a schoolboy. He was born of
humble parents, educated at Winchester school, and afterwards
became secretary to Uvedale, Lord of Wickham Manor, through
whom he was introduced to King Edward III. In his interesting
"Story of the Boyhood of William of Wykeham," the
Rev. W. A. C. Chevalier thus pictures William's Christmas
holidays:—
"Three days after William's arrival home was Christmas-eve.
There were great preparations in the cottage for spending
Christmas worthily, for if there was one thing more than
another that John Longe believed in, it was the proper keeping
of Christmas. It was a part of the worthy yeoman's faith. He
was a humble and thorough believer in all the tenets of Christianity,
he worshipped the Saviour and adored His Nativity, but
his faith was a cheerful one, and he thought he best honoured
his Master by enjoying the good gifts which He sent. Hence
it was a part of his creed to be jovial at Christmas-tide. And
so Dame Alice had been busy all that day, and a part of the
day before, making Christmas pies, dressing Christmas meats,
and otherwise making ready for the great festival. John
Longe, too, had not been idle. He and his men had been
working hard all day getting in huge Yule-logs for the great
kitchen fire, whilst William and little Agnes had been employed
in decorating the kitchen with evergreens and mistletoe, displaying
in great profusion the red berries of the holly bushes.
Everything was decked with evergreens, from the cups and
platters on the shelves to the hams and bacon hanging from the
ceiling."
At length the preparations were completed; then came the
telling of tales and cheerful gossip round the blazing fire on
Christmas Eve, and the roasting of chestnuts on the embers.
"Christmas Day passed at the little homestead with all the
social and religious honours that the honest yeoman could think
of. The little household attended the service of Mass in the
morning, and then, with clear consciences and simple hearts,
spent the rest of the day in domestic and convivial enjoyment."
Returning to royalty, we next see illustrated Froissart's statement
that "Edward the third was right fortunate and happy in
armes."
Edward the Third's Victories and Festivities.
During the invasion of France,
Edward III. raised the martial glory
of England by his splendid victories
at Crecy, Poictiers, and other places;
and he kept Christmas right royally
with his soldiers on French soil. After
the battle of Crecy, at which the Prince
of Wales gained the celebrated title of
the Black Prince, Edward marched
upon Calais, and laid siege to it;
and at length he took the place.
During Edward's absence, England
was invaded by David II. of Scotland,
who was defeated and taken prisoner
by the army under Philippa, Edward's
Queen. The brave Queen then joined
King Edward on the French battle-ground,
and they kept the Christmas
of 1346 with much rejoicing.
During the Christmas festivities of this period the most noble
Order of the Garter was instituted by King Edward III. to
excite emulation amongst the aristocratic warriors of the time,
in imitation of orders of a similar kind, both religious and
military, which had been instituted by different monarchs of
Europe; and that those who were admitted to the order were
enjoined to exalt the religion of Christ is evident from some
lines which Chaucer addressed to the Lords and Knights—
"Do forth, do forth, continue your succour,
Hold up Christ's banner, let it not fall."
And again—
"Ye Lordis eke, shining in noble fame,
To which appropered is the maintenance
Of Christ 'is cause; in honour of his name,
Shove on, and put his foes to utterance."
In imitation of King Arthur, Edward III. set up at Windsor
a Round Table, which was consecrated with feasts and tournaments,
and baptized with the blood of the brave. On New
Year's Day, 1344, he issued his royal letters of protection for
the safe-coming and return of foreign knights to the solemn
jousts which he appointed to be held at Windsor on St. Hilary's
Day, in extension of the Christmas festivities. The festival was
opened with a splendid supper; and the next day, and until
Lent, all kinds of knightly feats of arms were performed. "The
queen and her ladies," says an old historian, "that they might
with more convenience behold this spectacle, were orderly seated
upon a firm ballustrade, or scaffold, with rails before it, running
all round the lists. And certainly their extraordinary beauties,
set so advantageously forth with excessive riches of apparel,
did prove a sight as full of pleasant encouragement to the
combatants, as the fierce hacklings of men and horses, gallantly
armed, were a delightful terror to the feminine beholders."
ladies looking from the hustings upon the tournament.In 1348 Edward III. kept a grand Christmas at Guildford.
"Orders were given to manufacture for the Christmas sports
eighty tunics of buckram of different colours, and a large
number of masks—some with faces of women, some with
beards, some like angel heads of silver. There were to be
mantles embroidered with heads of dragons, tunics wrought
with heads and wings of peacocks, and embroidered in many
other fantastic ways. The celebration of Christmas lasted from
All Hallow's Eve, the 31st of October, till the day after the
Purification, the 3rd of February. At the court a lord of
misrule was appointed, who reigned during the whole of this
period, and was called 'the master of merry disports.' He
ruled over and organised all the games and sports, and during
the period of his rule there was nothing but a succession of
masques, disguisings, and dances of all kinds. All the nobles,
even the Mayor of London, had an officer of this kind chosen
in their households. Dancing was a very favourite amusement.
It was practised by the nobility of both sexes. The damsels of
London spent their evenings in dancing before their masters'
doors, and the country lasses danced upon the village green."[24]
the lord of misrule.A Royal Christmas was kept at Westminster, with great
splendour, in 1358, when King Edward had two crowned
guests at his feast; but these were present from no choice of
their own: they were the victims to the fortune of war
at Poictiers and Neville's Cross. And in 1362, King David
of Scotland and the King of Cyprus met at King Edward's
grand entertainments. The later years of his life were spent
by this great warrior-king in partial retirement from public
affairs, and under the influence of his mistress, Alice Perrers,
while John of Gaunt took a leading part in the government of
the state. In 1376 Edward the Black Prince died, and the
same year King Edward III. kept his last Christmas at Westminster,
the festival being made memorable by all the nobles of
the realm attending to swear fealty to the son of the Black
Prince, who, by the King's desire, took precedence of his uncles
at the banquet as befitted the heir apparent to the crown. The
King died on the 21st of June, 1377, having reigned for just
over half a century.
The old chronicler, Stowe, refers to a
Terrible Christmas Tempest,
which he says occurred in 1362: "The King held his Christmas
at Windsore, and the XV. day following a sore and vehement
south-west winde brake forth, so hideous that it overthrew high
houses, towers, steeples, and trees, and so bowed them, that
the residue which fell not, but remained standing, were the
weaker."
King Edward the Third's wardrobe accounts witness to the
Costly Christmas Robes
that were worn at this period. And these accounts also show
that Alice Perrers was associated with the King's daughter and
granddaughter in the Christmas entertainments. There are
items in 1376 stating that the King's daughter Isabella (styled
Countess of Bedford), and her daughter (afterwards wife of
Vere, Earl of Oxford), were provided with rich garments
trimmed with ermine, in the fashion of the robes of the Garter,
and with others of shaggy velvet, trimmed with the same fur,
for the Christmas festival; while articles of apparel equally
costly are registered as sent by the King to his chamber at
Shene, to be given to Alice Perrers. And at a festival at
Windsor the King caused twelve ladies (including his daughters
and Alice Perrers) to be clothed in handsome hunting suits,
with ornamented bows and arrows, to shoot at the King's deer;
and a very attractive band of foresters they made. We have
also seen that eighty costly tunics were provided for the Christmas
sports and disguisings at Guildford.
We now come to a
Comically Cruel Christmas Incident,
recorded by Sir John Froissart, and which he says gave "great
joye" to the hilarious "knightes and squyers" who kept the
festival with "the Erle of Foiz":—
"So it was on a Christmas day the Erle of Foiz helde a great
feest, and a plentifull of knightes and squyers, as it is his
usage; and it was a colde day, and the erle dyned in the hall,
and with him great company of lordes; and after dyner he
departed out of the hall, and went up into a galarye of xxiiii
stayres of heyght, in which galarye ther was a great chymney,
wherin they made fyre whan therle was ther; and at that
tyme there was but a small fyre, for the erle loved no great
fyre; howbeit, he hadde woode ynoughe there about, and in
Bierne is wode ynoughe. The same daye it was a great frost
and very colde: and when the erle was in the galarye, and saw
the fyre so lytell, he sayde to the knightes and squiers about
hym, Sirs, this is but a small fyre, and the day so colde: than
Ernalton of Spayne went downe the stayres, and beneth in the
courte he sawe a great meny of asses, laden with woode to
serve the house: than he went and toke one of the grettest
asses, with all the woode, and layde hym on his backe, and
went up all the stayres into the galary, and dyde cast downe
the asse with all the woode into the chymney, and the asses fete
upward; wherof the erle of Foiz had great joye, and so hadde
all they that were there, and had marveyle of his strength howe
he alone came up all the stayres with the asse and the woode in
his necke."
Passing on to
The Reign of Richard the Second,
the son of Edward the Black Prince and Joan of Kent, who
came to the throne (in tutelage) on the death of his grandfather,
Edward III. (1377), we find that costly banquetings, disguisings,
pageants, and plays continued to be the diversions
of Christmastide at court. From the rolls of the royal wardrobe,
it appears that at the Christmas festival in 1391, the sages
of the law were made subjects for disguisements, this entry
being made: "Pro XXI coifs de tela linea pro hominibus de
lege contrafactis pro Ludo regis tempore natalis Domini anno
XII." That is, for twenty-one linen coifs for counterfeiting
men of the law in the King's play at Christmas. And Strutt[25]
says that in the same year (1391) the parish clerks of London
put forth a play at Skinners' Wells, near Smithfield, which
continued three days: the king, queen, and many of the
nobility, being present at the performance.
moneta nova adriani stvltorv pape.
| [On one side is the legend, moneta nova adriani
stvltorv pape, the last e being in the field of the
piece, on which is represented the Pope, with his double
cross and tiara, with a fool in full costume approaching
his bauble to the pontifical cross, and two persons
behind, who form part of his escort. On the reverse is
a "mother fool," with her bauble, attended by a grotesque
person with a cardinal's hat, with the oft-recurring
legend, STVLTORV INFINITVS EST NVMERVS.] |
But the miracle plays and mysteries performed by the
Churchmen differed greatly from the secular plays and interludes
which at this period "were acted by strolling companies
of minstrels, jugglers, tumblers, dancers, bourdours, or jesters,
and other performers properly qualified for the different parts
of the entertainment, which admitted of a variety of exhibitions.
These pastimes are of higher antiquity than the ecclesiastical
plays; and they were much relished not only by the vulgar
part of the people, but also by the nobility. The courts of the
kings of England, and the castles of the great earls and barons,
were crowded with the performers of the secular plays, where
they were well received and handsomely rewarded; vast sums
of money were lavishly bestowed upon these secular itinerants,
which induced the monks and other ecclesiastics to turn actors
themselves, in order to obtain a share of the public bounty.
But to give the better colouring to their undertaking, they took
the subjects of their dialogues from the holy writ, and performed
them in the churches. The secular showmen, however, retained
their popularity notwithstanding the exertions of their clerical
rivals, who diligently endeavoured to bring them into disgrace,
by bitterly inveighing against the filthiness and immorality of
their exhibitions. On the other hand, the itinerant players
sometimes invaded the province of the churchmen, and performed
their mysteries, or others similar to them, as we find
from a petition presented to Richard II. by the scholars of
St. Paul's School, wherein complaint is made against the secular
actors, because they took upon themselves to act plays composed
from the Scripture history, to the great prejudice of
the clergy, who had been at much expense to prepare such
performances for public exhibition at the festival of Christmas."
a court fool.In his Christmas feasts Richard the Second outdid his
predecessors in prodigal hospitality. He delighted in the
neighbourhood of Eltham, and spent much of his time in
feasting with his favourites at the royal palace there. In 1386
(notwithstanding the still prevalent distress, which had continued
from the time of the peasant revolt) Richard kept the
Christmas festivities at Eltham with great extravagance, at the
same time entertaining Leon, King of Armenia, in a manner
utterly unjustified by the state of the royal exchequer, which
had been replenished by illegal methods. And, on the completion
of his enlargements and embellishments of Westminster
Hall, Richard reopened it with "a most royal Christmas feast"
of twenty-eight oxen and three hundred sheep, and game and
fowls without number, feeding ten thousand guests for many
days. Yet but a few years afterwards (such is the fickleness
of fortune and the instability of human affairs) this same king,
who had seen the "Merciless Parliament," who had robbed
Hereford of his estates, who had been robed in cloth of gold
and precious stones, and who had alienated his subjects by his
own extravagance, was himself deposed and sentenced to lifelong
banishment, his doom being pronounced in the very hall
which he had reared to such magnificence for his own glory.
Thus ingloriously Richard disappears from history, for nothing
certain is known of the time, manner, or place of his death,
though it is conjectured that he was speedily murdered. How
history repeats itself! Richard's ignominious end recalls to
mind the verse in which an English poet depicts the end of an
Eastern king who was too fond of revelling:—
"That night they slew him on his father's throne,
The deed unnoticed and the hand unknown:
Crownless and sceptreless Belshazzar lay,
A robe of purple round a form of clay!"
Grand Christmas Tournament.
An example of the tournaments which were favourite diversions
of kings and nobles at this period is found in that held at
Christmastide in London in 1389. Richard II., his three uncles,
and the greater barons having heard of a famous tournament at
Paris at the entry of Isabel, Queen of France, resolved to hold
one of equal splendour at London, in which sixty English
knights, conducted to the scene of action by sixty ladies,
should challenge all foreign knights. They therefore sent
heralds into all parts of England, Scotland, Germany, Italy,
Flanders, Brabant, Hainault, and France to proclaim the time,
place, and other circumstances of the proposed gathering, and
to invite all valorous knights and squires to honour it with their
presence. This, says the historian, excited a strong desire in
the knights and squires of all these countries to attend to see
the manners and equipages of the English, and others to tourney.
The lists were prepared in Smithfield, and chambers erected
around them for the accommodation of the king, queen,
princes, lords, ladies, heralds, and other spectators. As the
time approached many important personages of both sexes,
attended by numerous retinues, arrived in London. On the
first day of the tournament (Sunday) sixty-five horses, richly
furnished for the jousts, issued one by one from the Tower, each
conducted by a squire of honour, and proceeded in a slow pace
through the streets of London to Smithfield, attended by a
numerous band of trumpeters and other minstrels. Immediately
after, sixty young ladies, elegantly attired and riding
on palfreys, issued from the same place, and each lady leading
a knight completely armed by a silver chain, they proceeded
slowly to the field. When they arrived there the ladies were
lifted from the palfreys and conducted to the chambers provided
for them; the knights mounted their horses and began
the jousts, in which they exhibited such feats of valour and dexterity
as won the admiration of the spectators. When the
approach of night put an end to the jousts the company repaired
to the palace of the Bishop of London, in St. Paul's Street,
where the king and queen then staying, the supper was prepared.
The ladies, knights, and heralds who had been appointed
judges awarded one of the prizes, a crown of gold, to the Earl
of St. Paul as the best performer among the foreign knights,
and the other, a rich girdle adorned with gold and precious
stones, to the Earl of Huntingdon as the best performer of
the English. After a sumptuous supper the ladies and knights
spent the remainder of the night in dancing. The tournaments
were continued in a similar manner on Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and on Saturday the
Court, with all the company, removed to Windsor, where the
jousts, feasting, and other diversions were renewed, and lasted
several days longer. Subsequently the king presented the
foreign ladies, lords, and knights with valuable gifts, and they
returned to their own countries highly pleased with the entertainment
which they had enjoyed in England.
King Henry the Fourth
was born at Bolingbroke, in Lincolnshire, being the eldest son
of John of Gaunt and of his first wife, the heiress of the house
of Lancaster, and a grandson of Edward III. On the death of
John of Gaunt in 1399, Richard II. seized his lands, having
in the previous year banished Henry of Bolingbroke. On
Henry hearing what had occurred, knowing his own popularity
and Richard's unpopularity, Henry returned from
banishment, and succeeded in an attack on Richard, whom
he made a prisoner. Then summoning a Parliament, at which
Richard was formally deposed and himself made king, Henry
came to the throne with the title of Henry IV. Soon, however,
he found himself menaced by danger. Some of the lords who
had been stripped of the honours and wealth heaped upon
them by Richard entered into a conspiracy to assassinate
Henry the usurper. During the Christmas holidays they met
frequently at the lodgings of the Abbot of Westminster to plan
the king's destruction. After much deliberation they agreed to
hold a splendid tournament at Oxford on the 3rd of January,
1400. Henry was to be invited to preside, and while intent on
the spectacle a number of picked men were to kill him and his
sons. The king was keeping his Christmas at Windsor, whither
the Earl of Huntingdon presented himself and gave him the
invitation. Henry accepted it, but on the 2nd of January, the
day previous to the tournament, the Earl of Rutland, who was
privy to the plot, went secretly to Windsor and informed the
king of the arrangements which had been made for his assassination.
The same evening, after dusk, the king proceeded to
London; and the next day when the conspirators assembled
at Oxford they were surprised to find that neither the king
nor their own accomplice, Rutland, had arrived. Suspecting
treachery they resolved to proceed at once to Windsor and
surprise Henry, but arrived only to find that he had escaped.
They afterwards raised the standard of revolt, but their insurrection
proved abortive, and the fate of the leaders was
summary and sanguinary.
The favourite palace of Henry the Fourth was at Eltham,
where, in the second year of his reign, he kept a grand
Christmas, and entertained the Emperor of Constantinople.
At this festival the men of London made a "gret mummyng
to him of XII. Aldermen and theire sones, for which they had
gret thanke." Similar festivities were observed at several subsequent
festivals; then the king's health gave way, and he
passed the last Christmas of his life in seclusion at Eltham,
suffering from fits of epilepsy, and lying frequently for hours
in an unconscious state. After Candlemas he was so much
better as to be able to return to his palace at Westminster, but
he died there on the 20th of March the same year (1413). The
final scene and the parting words of the king to his son, who
became Henry V., have been beautifully depicted by Shakespeare.
King Henry the Fifth.
In connection with the Christmas festival in 1414 a conspiracy
to murder the king is alleged against the Lollards,
but the charge has never been satisfactorily proved. "If we
are to believe the chroniclers of the times the Lollards resolved
to anticipate their enemies, to take up arms and to repel force by
force. Seeing clearly that war to the death was determined
against them by the Church, and that the king had yielded at
least a tacit consent to this iniquitous policy, they came to the
conclusion to kill not only the bishops, but the king and all his
kin. So atrocious a conspiracy is not readily to be credited
against men who contended for a greater purity of gospel
truth, nor against men of the practical and military knowledge
of Lord Cobham. But over the whole of these transactions
there hangs a veil of impenetrable mystery, and we can only
say that the Lollards are charged with endeavouring to surprise
the king and his brother at Eltham, as they were keeping their
Christmas festivities there, and that this attempt failed through
the Court receiving intimation of the design and suddenly
removing to Westminster."[26] Lord Cobham was put to death
by cruel torture in St. Giles's Fields, London, on Christmas Day,
1418.
In the early part of his reign Henry invaded France and
achieved a series of brilliant successes, including the famous
victory at Agincourt. The hero of this great battle did not
allow the holiday season to interfere with his military operations;
but he did generously suspend proceedings against
Rouen upon Christmas Day and supply his hungry foes with
food for that day only, so that they might keep the feast of
Christmas. After his military successes in France Henry married
the Princess Katherine, the youngest daughter of Charles VI.,
King of France, and the king and queen spent their first Christmas
of wedded life at Paris, the festival being celebrated by
a series of magnificent entertainments. Henry's subsequent
journey to England was "like the ovation of an ancient conqueror."
He and his queen were received with great festivity
at the different towns on their way, and on the 1st of February
they left Calais, and landed at Dover, where, according to
Monstrelet, "Katherine was received as if she had been an
angel of God." All classes united to make the reception
of the hero of Agincourt and his beautiful bride a most magnificent
one. They proceeded first to Eltham, and thence,
after due rest, to London, where Katherine was crowned with
great rejoicing on the 24th of February, 1421. Henry's
brilliant career was cut short by his death on the last day of
August, 1422.
"Small time, but, in that small, most greatly liv'd
This star of England: fortune made his sword;
By which the world's best garden he achiev'd,
And of it left his son imperial lord."[27]
Fabian's account of the stately feast at the coronation of
Henry the Fifth's newly-wedded consort is an interesting
picture of the
Court Life and Christmas Festivities of the Period.
Queen Katherine was conveyed to the great hall at Westminster
and there set to dinner. Upon her right hand, at the
end of the table, sat the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Henry,
surnamed the rich Cardinal of Winchester; and upon her left
hand the King of Scotland in his royal robes; near the end sat
the Duchess of York and the Countess of Huntingdon. The
Earl of March, holding a sceptre, knelt upon her right side, and
the Earl-Marshal upon her left; his Countess sat at the Queen's
left foot under the table, and the Countess of Kent at her right
foot. Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, was overlooker, and
stood before the Queen bareheaded; Sir Richard Nevill was
carver, the Earl of Suffolk's brother cupbearer, Sir John Steward
server, Lord Clifford panterer, Lord Willoughby butler, Lord
Grey de Ruthyn naperer, the Lord Audley almoner, and the
Earl of Worcester, Earl-Marshal, rode about the hall during
dinner on a charger, with a number of constables to keep order.
The bill of fare consisted of: First course—Brawn and
mustard, dedells in burneaux, frument with balien, pike in
erbage (pike stuffed with herbs), lamprey powdered, trout,
codling, fried plaice and marling, crabs, leche lumbard
flourished, and tarts. Then came a subtlety representing a
pelican sitting on her nest with her young and an image of St.
Katherine bearing a book and disputing with the doctors,
bearing a reason (motto) in her right hand, saying, in the
French apparently of Stratford-at-the-Bow, "Madame le
Royne," and the pelican as an answer—
"Ce est la signe
Et lu Roy
Pur tenir ioy
Et a tout sa gent,
Elle mete sa entent."
Second course—Jelly coloured with columbine flowers, white
potage, or cream of almonds, bream of the sea, conger, soles,
cheven, barbel with roach, fresh salmon, halibut, gurnets,
broiled roach, fried smelt, crayfish or lobster, leche damask
with the king's word or proverb flourished "une sanz plus."
Lamprey fresh baked, flampeyn flourished with an escutcheon
royal, therein three crowns of gold, planted with flowers de
luce, and flowers of camomile wrought of confections. Then
a subtlety representing a panther with an image of St.
Katherine having a wheel in one hand and a roll with a
reason in the other, saying—
"La royne ma file,
In ceste ile,
Par bon reson
Alues renoun."
Third course—Dates in composite, cream mottled, carp,
turbot, tench, perch, fresh sturgeon with whelks, porpoise
roasted, memis fried, crayfish, prawns, eels roasted with
lamprey, a leche called the white leche flourished with hawthorn
leaves and red haws, and a march pane, garnished with
figures of angels, having among them an image of St. Katherine
holding this reason—
"Il est ecrit,
Pour voir et dit
Per mariage pur
C'est guerre ne dure."
And lastly, a subtlety representing a tiger looking into a mirror,
and a man sitting on horseback fully armed, holding in his arms
a tiger's whelp, with this reason, "Par force sanz reson il ay
pryse ceste beste," and with his one hand making a countenance
of throwing mirrors at the great tiger, the which held
this reason—
"Gile de mirror,
Ma fete distour."
Marble Panel Florentine 1420,
S. Kensington museum.
King Henry the Sixth
became king in 1422, before he was nine months old, and
although the regency of the two kingdoms to which he was
heir had been arranged by Henry V. before his death, the reign
of the third king of the House of Lancaster saw the undoing of
much that had been accomplished in the reigns of his father
and grandfather. It was during the reign of Henry VI. that
Joan of Arc came forward alleging her Divine commission to
rescue France from the English invader. But it is not part
of our subject to describe her heroic career. The troublous
times which made the French heroine a name in history were
unfavourable to Christmas festivities. The Royal Christmases
of Henry the Sixth were less costly than those of his immediate
predecessors. But as soon as he was old enough to do so he
observed the festival, as did also his soldiers, even in time
of war. Mills[28] mentions that, "during the memorable siege
of Orleans [1428-9], at the request of the English the festivities
of Christmas suspended the horrors of war, and the nativity of
the Saviour was commemorated to the sound of martial music.
Talbot, Suffolk, and other ornaments of English chivalry made
presents of fruits to the accomplished Dunois, who vied with
their courtesy by presenting to Suffolk some black plush he
wished for as a lining for his dress in the then winter season.
The high-spirited knights of one side challenged the prowest
knights of the other, as their predecessors in chivalry had done.
It is observable, however, that these jousts were not held in
honour of the ladies, but the challenge always declared that
if there were in the other host a knight so generous and loving
of his country as to be willing to combat in her defence, he
was invited to present himself."
Henry IV.'s Cradle.In 1433 Henry kept his Christmas at Bury, and in 1436 at
Kenilworth Castle. Nothing remarkable, however, is recorded
respecting these festivities. But some interesting particulars
have been preserved of a
Christmas Play Performed in 1445
at Middleton Tower, Norfolk, the family seat of Lord Scales,
one of the early owners of Sandringham, which is now a
residence of the Prince of Wales. Mrs. Herbert Jones[29] says:—
"One winter, when he was about forty-six years old, in a
quiet interval soon after Henry the Sixth's marriage to Margaret
of Anjou, Lord Scales and his wife were living at Middleton.
In a south-east direction lay the higher ground where rose the
Blackborough Priory of nuns, founded by a previous Lady
Scales; west of them, at three miles' distance, bristling with
the architecture of the Middle Ages in all its bloom and beauty,
before religious disunion had defaced it, prosperous in its self-government,
stood the town of Lynn.
"The mayor and council had organised a play to be acted on
Christmas Day, 1445, before the Lord Scales at Middleton, representing
scenes from the Nativity of our Lord. Large sums were
paid by order of the mayor for the requisite dresses, ornaments,
and scenery, some of which were supplied by the 'Nathan' of
Lynn, and others prepared and bought expressly. 'John Clerk'
performed the angel Gabriel, and a lady of the name of Gilbert
the Virgin Mary. Their parts were to be sung. Four other
performers were also paid for their services, and the whole
party, headed by the mayor, set off with their paraphernalia
in a cart, harnessed to four or more horses, for Middleton on
Christmas morning. The breakfast of the carters was paid for
at the inn by the town, but the magnates from Lynn and the
actors were entertained at the castle.[30]
"It was in the courtyard that this quaint representation took
place; the musical dialogues, the songs and hymns, the profusion
of ornaments, personal and otherwise, recorded as pressed
on to the stage, the grotesque angel and virgin, must have furnished
a lively hour under the castle walls on that long-ago
Christmas Day."
The Wars of the Roses.
During the destructive wars of York and Lancaster the
festivities of Christmas were frequently interrupted by hostilities,
for some of the most bloody encounters (as, for example,
the terrible battle of Wakefield) occurred at Christmastide. The
wars of the contending factions continued throughout the reign
of Henry VI., whose personal weakness left the House of Lancaster
at the mercy of the Parliament, in which the voice of the
Barons was paramount. That the country was in a state of
shameful misgovernment was shown by the attitude of the
commercial class and the insurrection under John Cade; yet
Henry could find time for amusement. "Under pretence of
change of air the court removed to Coventry that the king
might enjoy the sports of the field."[31]
The Christmases of Henry were not kept with the splendour
which characterised those of his rival and successor, Edward IV.
Henry's habits were religious, and his house expenses parsimonious—sometimes
necessarily so, for he was short of
money. From the introduction to the "Paston Letters"
(edited by Mr. James Gairdner) it appears that the king was
in such impecunious circumstances in 1451 that he had to
borrow his expenses for Christmas: "The government was
getting paralysed alike by debt and by indecision. 'As for
tidings here,' writes John Bocking, 'I certify you all that is
nought, or will be nought. The king borroweth his expenses.'"
Henry anticipated what Ben Jonson discovered in a later age,
that—
"Christmas is near;
And neither good cheer,
Mirth, fooling, nor wit,
Nor any least fit
Of gambol or sport
Will come at the Court,
If there be no money."
And so rather than leave Christmas unobserved the poor king
"borrowed his expenses." Subsequently Henry's health failed,
and then later comes the record: "At Christmas [1454], to
the great joy of the nation, the king began to recover from his
painful illness. He woke up, as it were, from a long sleep.
So decidedly had he regained his faculties that on St. John's
Day (27th December) he commanded his almoner to ride to
Canterbury with an offering, and his secretary to present
another at the shrine of St. Edward."[32]
The terrible battle of Wakefield at Christmastide, 1460, was
one of the most important victories won by the Lancastrians
during the Wars of the Roses. The king, Henry VI., had secretly
encouraged Richard, Duke of York, that the nation would soon
be ready to assent to the restoration of the legitimate branch
of the royal family. Richard was the son of Anne Mortimer,
who was descended from Philippa, the only daughter of the
Duke of Clarence, second son of Edward III.; and consequently
he stood in the order of succession before the king actually on
the throne, who was descended from John of Gaunt, a younger
son of Edward III. The Duke of York at length openly
advanced his title as the true heir to the crown, and urged
Parliament to confer it upon him. As, however, the Lancastrian
branch of the royal family had enjoyed the crown for three
generations it was resolved that Henry VI. should continue to
reign during his life and that Richard should succeed him.
This compromise greatly displeased the queen, Margaret, who
was indignant at the injury it inflicted on her son. She therefore
urged the nobles who had hitherto supported her husband to
take up arms on behalf of his son. Accordingly the Earl
of Northumberland, with Lords Dacre, Clifford, and Nevil,
assembled an army at York, and were soon joined by the
Duke of Somerset and the Earl of Devon. "Parliament being
prorogued in December, the Duke of York and the Earl of
Salisbury hastened from London with a large armed force
towards York, but coming unexpectedly upon the troops of
the Duke of Somerset at Worksop, their vanguard was destroyed.
On the 21st of December, however, they reached
Sandal Castle with six thousand men, and kept their Christmas
there, notwithstanding that the enemy under the Duke of
Somerset and the Earl of Northumberland were close by at
Pontefract" (William Wyrcester). On the 30th of December
the opposing forces met at Wakefield, and in the terrible battle
which ensued Richard, Duke of York was slain, his son, Lord
Rutland, was murdered by Lord Clifford while escaping from
the battlefield, and the Earl of Salisbury and others were taken
as prisoners to Pontefract, where they were beheaded.
Edward, son of Richard Duke of York, was afterwards joined
by his cousin, Richard, Earl of Warwick, the famous "kingmaker."
They hastened northwards and met the Lancastrians
at Towton, where a decisive battle was fought, and won by
the Yorkists. Edward was then recognised by Parliament and
proclaimed king as Edward IV., and Henry VI. was attainted
of high treason.
In 1461 Edward the Fourth
called his first Parliament at Westminster, and concluded the
session by the unusual but popular measure of a speech from
the throne to the Commons delivered by himself. It was during
this session that the statute was passed prohibiting the great
and rich from giving or wearing any liveries or signs of
companionship, except while serving under the king; from
receiving or maintaining plunderers, robbers, malefactors, or
unlawful hunters; and from allowing dice and cards in their
houses beyond the twelve days of Christmas (Parl. Rolls, 488).
The Christmas festival was kept by Edward IV. with great
magnificence, the king's natural inclinations leading him to
adopt whatever was splendid and costly. "At the Christmas
festivities he appeared in a variety of most costly dresses, of a
form never seen before, which he thought displayed his person
to considerable advantage" (Croyland Chronicler). Sir Frederick
Madden's narrative of the visit of the Lord of Granthuse,
Governor of Holland, to Edward, in 1472, paints in glowing
colours the luxury of the English Court. On his arrival at
Windsor he was received by Lord Hastings, who conducted
him to the chambers of the King and Queen. These apartments
were richly hung with cloth of gold arras. When he had
spoken with the King, who presented him to the Queen's Grace,
the Lord Chamberlain, Hastings, was ordered to conduct him to
his chamber, where supper was ready for him. "After he had
supped the King had him brought immediately to the Queen's
own chamber, where she and her ladies were playing at the
marteaux [a game played with small balls of different colours];
and some of her ladies were playing at closheys [ninepins] of
ivory, and dancing, and some at divers other games: the which
sight was full pleasant to them. Also the King danced with my
Lady Elizabeth, his eldest daughter. In the morning when
Matins was done, the King heard, in his own chapel, Our
Lady-Mass, which was most melodiously chaunted, the Lord
Granthuse being present. When the Mass was done, the King
gave the said Lord Granthuse a cup of gold, garnished with
pearl. In the midst of the cup was a great piece of unicorn's
horn, to my estimation seven inches in compass; and on the
cover of the cup a great sapphire." After breakfast the King
came into the Quadrangle. "My Lord Prince, also, borne by
his Chamberlain, called Master Vaughan, which bade the Lord
of Granthuse welcome. Then the King had him and all his
company into the little Park, where he made him have great
sport; and there the King made him ride on his own horse, on
a right fair hobby, the which the King gave him." The King's
dinner was "ordained" in the Lodge, Windsor Park. After
dinner they hunted again, and the King showed his guest his
garden and vineyard of pleasure. Then "the Queen did ordain
a great banquet in her own chamber, at which King Edward,
her eldest daughter the Lady Elisabeth, the Duchess of Exeter,
the Lady Rivers, and the Lord of Granthuse, all sat with her at
one mess; and, at the same table, sat the Duke of Buckingham,
my Lady, his wife, with divers other ladies, my Lord Hastings,
Chamberlain to the King, my Lord Berners, Chamberlain to the
Queen, the son of Lord Granthuse, and Master George Barthe,
Secretary to the Duke of Burgundy, Louis Stacy, Usher to the
Duke of Burgundy, George Martigny, and also certain nobles of
the King's own court. There was a side table, at which sat
a great view (show) of ladies, all on the one side. Also, in the
outer chamber, sat the Queen's gentlewomen, all on one side.
And on the other side of the table, over against them, as many
of the Lord Granthuse's servants, as touching to the abundant
welfare, like as it is according to such a banquet. And when
they had supped my Lady Elizabeth, the King's eldest daughter,
danced with the Duke of Buckingham and divers other ladies
also. Then about nine of the clock, the King and the Queen,
with her ladies and gentlewomen, brought the said Lord of
Granthuse to three chambers of plesance, all hanged with white
silk and linen cloth, and all the floors covered with carpets.
There was ordained a bed for himself of as good down as could
be gotten. The sheets of Rennes cloth and also fine fustians;
the counterpane, cloth of gold, furred with ermines. The tester
and ceiler also shining cloth of gold; the curtains of white
sarcenet; as for his head-suit and pillows, they were of the
Queen's own ordonnance. In the second chamber was likewise
another state-bed, all white. Also, in the same chamber, was
made a couch with feather beds, and hanged with a tent, knit
like a net, and there was a cupboard. In the third chamber
was ordained a bayne (bath) or two, which were covered with
tents of white cloth. And, when the King and the Queen with
all her ladies and gentlemen had showed him these chambers,
they turned again to their own chambers, and left the said Lord
Granthuse there, accompanied with the Lord Chamberlain
(Hastings), who undressed him, and they both went together
to the bath.—And when they had been in their baths as long as
was their pleasure, they had green ginger, divers syrups, comfits,
and ipocras, and then they went to bed. And in the morning
he took his cup with the King and Queen, and returned to
Westminster again."
In 1465 Edward the Fourth and his Queen kept Christmas in
the Abbey at Coventry, and for six days (says William Wyrcester)
"the Duke of Clarence dissembled there."
In 1478 the King celebrated the Christmas festival at Westminster
with great pomp, wearing his crown, feasting his nobles,
and making presents to his household; and in 1482-3 he kept a
splendid Christmas at Eltham, more than two thousand people
being fed at his expense every day. Edward almost entirely
rebuilt Eltham Palace, of which the hall was the noblest part.
In that hall he kept the Christmas festival, "with bountiful
hospitality for high and low, and abundance of mirth and
sport."
One of the continental visitors who participated in the royal
festivities of this period was Leo von Rozmital, brother of
George, King of Bohemia. His retinue included Tetzel, who,
in describing the Court of Edward the Fourth, after remarking
upon Edward's own handsome person, says, "The king has the
finest set of courtiers that a man may find in Christendom. He
invited my Lord Leo and all his noble companions, and gave
them a very costly feast, and also he gave to each of them the
medal of his order, to every knight a golden one, and to every
one who was not a knight a silver one; and he himself hung
them upon their necks. Another day the king called us to
court. In the morning the queen (Elizabeth Woodville) went
from child-bed to church with a splendid procession of many
priests, bearing relics, and many scholars, all singing, and
carrying burning candles. Besides there was a great company
of women and maidens from the country and from London, who
were bidden to attend. There were also a great number of
trumpeters, pipers, and other players, with forty-two of the
king's singing men, who sang very sweetly. Also, there were
four and twenty heralds and pursuivants, and sixty lords and
knights. Then came the queen, led by two dukes, and with
a canopy borne over her. Behind her followed her mother and
above sixty ladies and maidens. Having heard the service sung,
and kneeled down in the church, she returned with the same
procession to her palace. Here all who had taken part in the
procession were invited to a feast, and all sat down, the men
and the women, the clergy and the laity, each in his rank, filling
four large rooms. Also, the king invited my lord and all his
noble attendants to the table where he usually dined with his
courtiers. And one of the king's greatest lords must sit at the
king's table upon the king's stool, in the place of the king; and
my lord sat at the same table only two steps below him. Then
all the honours which were due to the king had to be paid to
the lord who sat in his place, and also to my lord; and it is
incredible what ceremonies we observed there. While we were
eating, the king was making presents to all the trumpeters,
pipers, players, and heralds; to the last alone he gave four
hundred nobles, and every one, when he received his pay, came
to the tables and told aloud what the king had given him.
When my lord had done eating, he was conducted into a costly
ornamented room, where the queen was to dine, and there he
was seated in a corner that he might see all the expensive
provisions. The queen sat down on a golden stool alone at her
table, and her mother and the queen's sister stood far below
her. And when the queen spoke to her mother or to the king's
sister, they kneeled down every time before her, and remained
kneeling until the queen drank water. And all her ladies and
maids, and those who waited upon her, even great lords, had
to kneel while she was eating, which continued three hours(!).
After dinner there was dancing, but the queen remained sitting
upon her stool, and her mother kneeled before her. The king's
sister danced with two dukes, and the beautiful dances and
reverences performed before the queen—the like I have never
seen, nor such beautiful maidens. Among them were eight
duchesses, and above thirty countesses and others, all daughters
of great people. After the dance the king's singing men came
in and sang. When the king heard mass sung in his private
chapel my lord was admitted: then the king had his relics
shown to us, and many sacred things in London. Among them
we saw a stone from the Mount of Olives, upon which there is
the footprint of Jesus Christ, our Lady's girdle, and many other
relics."
Cards and other Christmas Diversions in the Fifteenth
Century.
The amusements of the people in the fifteenth century are
referred to by Thomas Wright, Esq., M.A., F.S.A., who says:
"In England, in the third year of the reign of Edward IV.
(1463), the importation of playing-cards, probably from Germany,
was forbidden, among other things, by Act of Parliament; and
as that Act is understood to have been called for by the English
manufacturers, who suffered by the foreign trade, it can hardly
be doubted that cards were then manufactured in England on
a rather extensive scale. Cards had then, indeed, evidently
become very popular in England; and only twenty years
afterwards they are spoken of as the common Christmas game,
for Margery Paston wrote as follows to her husband, John
Paston, on the 24th of December in 1483:—'Please it you to
weet (know) that I sent your eldest son John to my Lady
Morley, to have knowledge of what sports were used in her
house in the Christmas next following after the decease of my
lord her husband; and she said that there were none disguisings,
nor harpings, nor luting, nor singing, nor none loud disports,
but playing at the tables, and the chess, and cards—such
disports she gave her folks leave to play, and none other....
I sent your younger son to the lady Stapleton, and she said
according to my lady Morley's saying in that, and as she had
seen used in places of worship (gentlemen's houses) there as she
had been.' ... After the middle of the fifteenth century, cards
came into very general use; and at the beginning of the following
century, there was such a rage for card-playing, that an
attempt was made early in the reign of Henry VIII. to restrict
their use by law to the period of Christmas. When, however,
people sat down to dinner at noon, and had no other occupation
for the rest of the day, they needed amusement of some sort
to pass the time; and a poet of the fifteenth century observes
truly—
'A man may dryfe forthe the day that long tyme dwellis
With harpyng and pipyng, and other mery spellis,
With gle, and wyth game.'"
lady musician of the 15th century.Another book well known to bibliomaniacs ("Dives and
Pauper," ed. W. de Worde; 1496) says: "For to represente in
playnge at Crystmasse herodes and the thre kynges and other
processes of the gospelles both then and at Ester and other
tymes also it is lefull and cōmendable."
rustic christmas minstrel with pipe and tabor.Edward the Fifth
succeeded his father, Edward IV., in the dangerous days of
1483. He was at Ludlow when his father died, being under the
guardianship of his uncle, Earl Rivers, and attended by other
members of the Woodville family. Almost immediately he set
out for London, but when he reached Stony Stratford, on April
29th, he was met by his uncle Richard, Duke of Gloucester,
who had arrested Lord Rivers and Lord Richard Grey. The
young king (a boy of thirteen) renewed his journey under
Gloucester's charge, and on reaching London was lodged in
the Tower. His mother, on hearing of the arrest of Rivers and
Grey, had taken sanctuary at Westminster. Lord Hastings, a
supporter of the king, was arrested and executed because he
would not sanction Gloucester's nefarious schemes for obtaining
the throne. About the same time Rivers and Grey were
beheaded at Pontefract, whither they had been taken by
Gloucester's orders. Soon afterwards the Queen was compelled
to deliver up the young Duke of York to Richard, who sent him
to join his brother in the Tower. On June 22nd, at the request
of Richard, Dr. Shaw, brother of the Lord Mayor of London,
delivered a sermon at St. Paul's Cross, in which he insisted on
the illegitimacy of Edward V. and his brother. On June 25th
a deputation of nobles and citizens of London offered the crown
to Richard. He accepted it, and began to reign as Richard III.
And, according to a confession afterwards made by Sir James
Tyrell, one of Richard's officers, the two young princes remained
in the Tower, being put to death by their Uncle Richard's
orders. Thus, atrociously, began the reign of the murderous
usurper,
Richard the Third.
The King kept his first Christmas at Kenilworth Castle,
having previously visited the city of Coventry, at the festival
of Corpus Christi, to see the plays. The accounts of Kenilworth
Castle show that in 1484 John Beaufitz was paid £20 "for
divers reparacions made in the Castell of Kyllingworth" by
order of Richard III. At this time, says Philip de Comines,
"he was reigning in greater splendour and authority than any
king of England for the last hundred years." The following
year Richard kept Christmas in the great hall at Westminster,
celebrating the festival with great pomp and splendour, encouraging
the recreations usual at the season, and so attentively
observing the ancient customs that a warrant is entered for the
payment of "200 marks for certain new year's gifts bought
against the feast of Christmas." The festivities continued
without interruption until the day of the Epiphany, when they
terminated with an entertainment of extraordinary magnificence
given by the monarch to his nobles in Westminster Hall—"the
King himself wearing his crown," are the words of the Croyland
historian, "and holding a splendid feast in the great hall, similar
to that of his coronation." "Little did Richard imagine that
this would be the last feast at which he would preside—the last
time he would display his crown in peace before his assembled
peers."[33] An allusion to this Christmas festival, and to the
King's wicked nature, is contained in a note to Bacon's "Life
of King Henry VII.," which says: "Richard's wife was Anne,
the younger daughter of Warwick the King-maker. She died
16th March, 1485. It was rumoured that her death was by
poison, and that Richard wished to marry his niece Elizabeth
of York, eldest daughter of Edward IV. It is said that in the
festivities of the previous Christmas the Princess Elizabeth had
been dressed in robes of the same fashion and colour as those
of the Queen. Ratcliffe and Catesby, the King's confidants, are
credited with having represented to Richard that this marriage
of so near a kinswoman would be an object of horror to the
people, and bring on him the condemnation of the clergy."
At a Christmas festival at Rhedon, in Brittany, Henry of
Richmond met English exiles to the number of 500, and swore
to marry Elizabeth of York as soon as he should subdue the
usurper; and thereupon the exiles unanimously agreed to
support him as their sovereign. On the 1st of August, 1485,
Henry set sail from Harfleur with an army of 3,000 men, and a
few days afterwards landed at Milford Haven. He was received
with manifest delight, and as he advanced through Wales his
forces were increased to upwards of 6,000 men. Before the
close of the month he had encountered the royal army and slain
the King at Bosworth Field, and by this memorable victory had
terminated the terrible Wars of the Roses and introduced into
England a new dynasty.
(1485-1547.)
Henry the Seventh
Was the son of Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond, son of
Owen Tudor, a Welsh gentleman who had married the widow
of Henry V. His mother, Margaret, was a great-granddaughter
of John of Gaunt by Catherine Swynford. In early life Henry
was under the protection of Henry VI.; but after the battle of
Tewkesbury he was taken by his uncle, Jasper Tudor, Earl of
Pembroke, to Brittany for safety. Edward IV. made several
unsuccessful attempts to get him into his power, and Richard
III. also sent spies into Brittany to ascertain his doings. On
Christmas Day, 1483, the English exiles, who gathered round
Henry in Brittany, took an oath in the Cathedral of Rheims to
support him in ousting Richard and succeeding him to the
English throne. Henry, on his part, agreed to reconcile the
contending parties by marrying Elizabeth of York, eldest
daughter and co-heir of Edward IV., and this promise he
faithfully kept. After his defeat of Richard the Third at
Bosworth he assumed the royal title, advanced to London,
and had himself crowned King of England; and at the following
Christmas festival he married Elizabeth of York. The
Archbishop who married them (Archbishop Bourchier) had
crowned both Richard III. and Henry VII., and Fuller quaintly
describes this last official act of marrying King Henry to Elizabeth
of York as the holding of "the posie on which the White
Rose and the Red Rose were tied together." And Bacon says,
"the so-long-expected and so-much-desired marriage between
the King and the Lady Elizabeth was celebrated with greater
triumph and demonstrations, especially on the people's part, of
joy and gladness, than the days either of his entry or coronation."
The Christmas festivities were attended to with increasing
zest during the reign of Henry VII., for the King studied
magnificence quite as much as his predecessors had done. His
riding dress was "a doublet of green or white cloth of gold
satin, with a long gown of purple velvet, furred with ermine,
powdered, open at the sides, and purpled with ermine, with a
rich sarpe (scarf) and garter." His horse was richly caparisoned,
and bore a saddle of estate, covered with gold. His Majesty
was attended by seven henchmen, clothed in doublets of crimson
satin, with gowns of white cloth of gold. The Queen appeared
with equal splendour, "wearing a round circle of gold, set with
pearls and precious stones, arrayed in a kirtle of white damask
cloth of gold, furred with miniver pure, garnished, having a
train of the same, with damask cloth of gold, furred with ermine,
with a great lace, and two buttons and tassels of white silk, and
gold at the breast above." And the royal apartments were kept
with great splendour. At his ninth Christmas festival (Dec. 31,
1494) the King established new rules for the government of the
royal household (preserved among the Harleian MSS.), which
he directed should be kept "in most straightest wise." The
Royal Household Book of the period, in the Chapter-house at
Westminster, contains numerous disbursements connected with
Christmas diversions. In the seventh year of this reign is a
payment to Wat Alyn (Walter Alwyn) in full payment for
the disguising made at Christmas, £14 13s. 4d., and payments
for similar purposes occur in the following years. Another
book, also in the Chapter-house, called "The Kyng's boke of
paymentis," contains entries of various sums given to players
and others who assisted to amuse the King at Christmas, and
among the rest, to the Lord of Misrule (or Abbot as he is sometimes
called), for several years, "in rewarde for his besynes in
Crestenmes holydays, £6 13s. 4d." The plays at this festival
seem to have been acted by the "gentlemen of the King's
Chapell," as there are several liberal payments to certain of
them for playing on Twelfth Night; for instance, an entry
on January 7th, 23 Henry VII., of a reward to five of
them of £6 13s. 4d., for acting before the King on the
previous night; but there was a distinct set of players for
other times.
Leland, speaking of 1489, says: "This Cristmas I saw no disgysyngs,
and but right few plays. But ther was an Abbot of
Misrule, that made much sport and did right well his office."
In the following year, however, "on neweres day at nyght,
there was a goodly disgysyng," and "many and dyvers
pleyes."
That the Christmas festival did not pass unobserved by the
men of this period who navigated the high seas we know from
the name of a Cuban port which was
A Christmas Discovery by Christopher Columbus.
On Christmas Day, 1492, Christopher Columbus, the celebrated
Genoese navigator, landed at a newly-discovered port
in Cuba, which he named Navidad, because he landed there
on Christmas Day.
The Fire at the Royal Residence, Shene,
was the event of Christmas, 1497. It broke out in the palace,
on the evening of December 21st, while the royal family were
there, and for three hours raged fiercely, destroying, with the
fairest portion of the building, the rich furniture, beds, tapestry,
and other decorations of the principal chambers. Fortunately
an alarm was given in time, and the royal and noble personages
of the Court escaped to a place of safety. In consequence of
this fire the King built the fine new palace of Richmond.
Royal Christmases
were kept by Henry VII. at Westminster Hall with great hospitality,
the King wearing his crown, and feasting numerous
guests, loading the banquet-table with peacocks, swans, herons,
conger, sturgeon, brawn, and all the delicacies of the period.
At his ninth Christmas festival the Mayor and Aldermen of
London were feasted with great splendour at Westminster,
the King showing them various sports on the night following
in the great hall, which was richly hung with tapestry: "which
sports being ended in the morning, the king, queen, and court
sat down at a table of stone, to 120 dishes, placed by as many
knights and esquires, while the Mayor was served with twenty-four
dishes and abundance of wine. And finally the King and
Queen being conveyed with great lights into the palace, the
Mayor, with his company in barges, returned to London by
break of the next day."
From the ancient records of the Royal Household it appears
that on the morning of New Year's Day, the King "sitting in his
foot-sheet," received according to prescribed ceremony a new
year's gift from the Queen, duly rewarding the various officers
and messengers, according to their rank. The Queen also "sat
in her foot-sheet," and received gifts in the same manner,
paying a less reward. And on this day, as well as on Christmas
Day, the King wore his kirtle, his surcoat and his pane
of arms; and he walked, having his hat of estate on his head,
his sword borne before him, with the chamberlain, steward,
treasurer, comptroller, preceding the sword and the ushers;
before whom must walk all the other lords except those who
wore robes, who must follow the King. The highest nobleman
in rank, or the King's brother, if present, to lead the Queen;
another of the King's brothers, or else the Prince, to walk with
the King's train-bearer. On Twelfth Day the King was to go
"crowned, in his royal robes, kirtle, and surcoat, his furred hood
about his neck, and his ermines upon his arms, of gold set full of
rich stones with balasses, sapphires, rubies, emeralds, and pearls."
This ornament was considered so sacred, that "no temporal
man" (none of the laity) but the King was to presume to touch
it; an esquire of the body was to bring it in a fair handkerchief,
and the King was to put it on with his own hands; he must also
have his sceptre in his right hand, the ball with the cross in his
left hand, and must offer at the altar gold, silver, and incense,
which offering the Dean of the Chapel was to send to the
Archbishop of Canterbury, and this was to entitle the Dean to
the next vacant benefice. The King was to change his mantle
when going to meat, and to take off his hood and lay it about
his neck, "clasping it before with a rich owche." The King and
the Queen on Twelfth Night were to take the void (evening
repast) in the hall; as for the wassail, the steward and treasurer
were to go for it, bearing their staves; the chapel choir to stand
on the side of the hall, and when the steward entered at the hall
door he was to cry three times, "Wassail! Wassail! Wassail!"
and the chapel to answer with a good song; and when all was
done the King and Queen retired to their chamber.
Among the special features of the banquets of this period
were the devices for the table called subtleties, made
of paste, jelly, or blanc-mange, placed in the middle of
the board, with labels describing them; various shapes
of animals were frequent; and on a saint's day,
angels, prophets, and patriarchs were set upon the table in
plenty. Certain dishes were also directed as proper for
different degrees of persons; as "conies parboiled, or else
rabbits, for they are better for a lord"; and "for a great
lord take squirrels, for they are better than conies"; a whole
chicken for a lord; and "seven mackerel in a dish, with a
dragge of fine sugar," was also a dish for a lord. But the
most famous dish was "the peacock enkakyll, which is foremost
in the procession to the king's table." Here is the recipe for
this royal dish: Take and flay off the skin with the feathers, tail,
and the neck and head thereon; then take the skin, and all the
feathers, and lay it on the table abroad, and strew thereon
ground cinnamon; then take the peacock and roast him, and
baste him with raw yolks of eggs; and when he is roasted, take
him off, and let him cool awhile, and take him and sew him in
his skin, and gild his comb, and so serve him with the last
course.
Card-Playing was Forbidden except at Christmas,
by a statute passed in the reign of Henry VII. A Scotch
writer,[34] referring to this prohibition, says: "A universal Christmas
custom of the olden time was playing at cards; persons
who never touched a card at any other season of the year felt
bound to play a few games at Christmas. The practice had
even the sanction of the law. A prohibitory statute of Henry
VII.'s reign, forbade card-playing save during the Christmas
holidays. Of course, this prohibition extended only to persons
of humble rank; Henry's daughter, the Princess Margaret,
played cards with her suitor, James IV. of Scotland; and
James himself kept up the custom, receiving from his treasurer,
at Melrose, on Christmas Night, 1496, thirty-five unicorns, eleven
French crowns, a ducat, a ridare, and a leu, in all about equal to
£42 of modern money, to use at the card-table." Now, as the
Scottish king was not married to the English princess until
1503, it is quite clear that he had learned to play cards
long before his courtship with Margaret; for in 1496, when
he received so much card-money from his treasurer, the English
princess was but seven years of age. James had evidently
learned to play at cards with the Scottish barons who frequented
his father's Court, and whose lawlessness led to the
revolt which ended in the defeat and melancholy fate of
James III. (1488), and gave the succession to his son, James
IV., at the early age of fifteen years. The no less tragic end
of James IV. at Flodden Field, in 1513, is strikingly depicted by
Sir Walter Scott, who tells:—
"Of the stern strife, and carnage drear,
Of Flodden's fatal field,
Where shiver'd was fair Scotland's spear,
And broken was her shield."
The Reign of Henry the Eighth.
On the death of Henry VII., who had given England peace
and prosperity, and established firmly his own house on the
English throne, in 1509, his son Henry became king as Henry
VIII. He was a handsome and accomplished young man, and
his accession was an occasion of great rejoicing. Henry kept
his first
Royal Christmas at Richmond,
with great magnificence. Proclaimed king on the 22nd of April
at the age of eighteen, and married on the 3rd of June to
Katherine of Arragon, widow of his deceased brother Arthur,
Prince of Wales, the youthful Monarch and his Queen were
afterwards crowned at Westminster Abbey by the Archbishop
of Canterbury, and spent the first Christmas of their wedded
life at Richmond. "And a very pleasant time it ought to have
been to the Queen, for every species of entertainment was there
got up by the handsome young king and his gallant company of
courtiers, for her particular gratification. There was a grand
tournament on the green, before the palace, which was rendered
brilliant with pavilions, and the other gay structures always
erected for these chivalrous ceremonies. The King and Queen
took their places in the customary elevated position, surrounded
by the nobles and beauties of the Court, to witness the feats of
arms of the many gallant knights who had thronged to display
their prowess before their sovereign; these, with their esquires,
the heralds, pages, and other attendants, mounted and on foot,
clad in their gay apparel, the knights wearing handsome suits
of armour, and careering on gaily caparisoned horses, made a
very inspiriting scene, in which the interest deepened when the
usual combats between individuals or select companies commenced."[35]
"For every knight that loved chivalry,
And would his thanks have a passant name,
Hath prayed that he might be of that game,
And well was him that thereto chosen was."[36]
The spectacle presented was one of great splendour; for "the
commencement of the reign of Henry VIII., who was then
styled by his loving subjects 'the rose without a thorn,' witnessed
a remarkable revival of magnificence in personal
decoration. So brilliant were the dresses of both sexes at
the grand entertainment over which the King and Queen
presided at Richmond, that it is difficult to convey an adequate
idea of their splendour. But in the first half of the sixteenth
century the principal Courts of Europe were distinguished by a
similar love of display, which, though it fostered habits of
luxury, afforded an extraordinary impulse towards art."[37] In
England the love of finery became so general among the people
that several statutes were passed during Henry's reign to restrain
it. But while the King was quite willing that his subjects should
observe due propriety in regard to their own dress and adornments,
not exceeding the regulations laid down for their
particular rank or station in life, he was lavish in his own
expenditure, and it pleased the people to see Henry dressed
in kingly fashion. He greatly increased his own popularity by
taking part in the tournaments, in which "he did exceedingly
well"; and he also assisted in the several curious and picturesque
masques of Christmastide.
On one occasion the King with some of the chief nobles of
his Court appeared apparelled as Robin Hood and his foresters,
in which disguise he entered unexpectedly into the Queen's
chamber, "whereat," says Holinshed, "the Queen and her
ladies were greatly amazed, as well for the strange sight as
for the sudden appearance."
The splendour of the Court festivities necessitated
Increased Expenditure for Christmas-Keeping,
notwithstanding that the King's domestic affairs were managed
by "a good number of honourable, virtuous, wise, expert, and
discreet persons of his Council." The preserved bills of fare
show that the Court diet was liberal generally, but especially
sumptuous at the grand entertainments of Christmas. And the
Royal Household Accounts also show increased expenditure for
the diversions, as well as for the banquetings, of the festival.
For instance, the payments to the Lord of Misrule, which in
Henry the Seventh's time never exceeded £6 13s. 4d., were
raised by Henry the Eighth in his first year to £8 6s. 8d., and
subsequently to £15 6s. 8d. In the first year is a payment to
"Rob Amadas upon his bill for certain plate of gold stuf bought
of him for the disguisings," £451 12s. 2d.; and another to
"Willm. Buttry upon his bill for certen sylks bought of him for
the disguisings," £133 7s. 5d. In the sixth year are charges
"To Leonard Friscobald for diverse velvets, and other sylks, for
the disguising," £247 12s. 7d.; and "To Richard Gybson for
certen apparell, &c., for the disguysing at the fest of Cristemes
last," £137 14s. ½d. Considerable payments are made to the
same Gybson in after years for the same purpose, particularly in
the eleventh, for revels, called a Maskelyn. In the tenth year
large rewards were given to the gentlemen and children of the
King's Chapel; the former having £13 6s. 8d. "for their good
attendance in Xtemas"; and "Mr. Cornisse for playing affore
the King opon newyeres day at nyght with the children,"
£6 13s. 4d.
Hall, in his Chronicle, Henry VIII. folio 15b, 16a, gives the
following account of a
Royal Masquerade at Greenwich,
where the King was keeping his Christmas in 1512: "On the
daie of the Epiphanie, at night, the King with XI others, wer
disguised after the maner of Italie, called a maske, a thing not
seen afore in England; thei were appareled in garments long
and brode, wrought all with gold, with visers and cappes of
gold; and after the banket doen, these maskers came in with
six gentlemen disguised in silke, bearing staffe torches, and
desired the ladies to daunce: some were content, and some that
new the fashion of it refused, because it was a thing not
commonly seen. And after thei daunced and communed
together, as the fashion of the maske is, thei tooke their leave
and departed, and so did the quene and all the ladies."
In 1521 the King kept his Christmas at Greenwich "with
great nobleness and open court," and again in 1525. In 1527,
he received the French Embassy here, and also kept his
Christmas "with revels, masks, disguisings, and banquets
royal;" as he did again in 1533, in 1537, and in 1543; the last-mentioned
year "he entertained twenty-one of the Scottish
nobility whom he had taken prisoners at Salom Moss, and gave
them their liberty without ransom."[38]
On all these occasions Henry diverted his guests right
royally, spending vast sums on the masques and disguisings;
but none of the Christmas diversions proved greater attractions
than
The King's Tournament Displays.
To these splendid exercises Henry gave unremitting attention,
and not to display proficiency in them was almost to lose
his favour; yet some discretion was required to rival, but not
to excel the King, whose ardent temper could not brook
superiority in another. But, although victory was always
reserved for royalty, it is but fair to allow that the King was
no mean adept in those pursuits for which his bodily powers
and frequent exercise had qualified him.
Among the most distinguished Knights of Henry's Court
Charles Brandon was pre-eminent, not only for his personal
beauty and the elegance that attended every movement which
the various evolutions of the game required, but for his courage,
judgment, and skill, qualities which he displayed to great
advantage at the royal festivities. This celebrated man was
the son of Sir William Brandon, who, bearing the standard of
Henry the Seventh, was slain by Richard the Third at Bosworth
Field. Three sons of the Howard family were also distinguished
at the royal tournaments. Lord Thomas Howard was one of
the most promising warriors, and, unfortunately, one of the
most dissolute men at the Court of Henry. Sir Edward and
Sir Edmund Howard, the one famed for naval exploits, the
other less remarkable, but not without celebrity for courage.
Sir Thomas Knevet, Master of the Horse, and Lord Neville,
brother to the Marquis of Dorset, were also prominent in the
lists of combat. The trumpets blew to the field the fresh,
young gallants and noblemen, gorgeously apparelled with
curious devices of arts and of embroideries, "as well in their
coats as in trappers for their horses; some in gold, some in
silver, some in tinsel, and divers others in goldsmith's work
goodly to behold." Such was the array in which the young
knights came forth at Richmond, in the splendid tournament
which immediately succeeded Henry's coronation, "assuming
the name and devices of the knights or scholars of Pallas,
clothed in garments of green velvet, carrying a crystal shield,
on which was pourtrayed the goddess Minerva, and had the
bases and barbs of their horses embroidered with roses and
pomegranates of gold; those of Diana were decorated with the
bramble-bush, displayed in a similar manner. The prize of
valour was the crystal shield. Between the lists the spectators
were amused with a pageant, representing a park enclosed with
pales, containing fallow deer, and attended by foresters and
huntsmen. The park being moved towards the place where the
queen sat, the gates were opened, the deer were let out,
pursued by greyhounds, killed and presented by Diana's
champions to the Queen and the ladies. Thus were they
included in the amusement, not only as observers, but as
participators; nor were the populace without their share of
enjoyments; streams of Rhenish wine and of claret, which
flowed from the mouths of animals sculptured in stone and
wood, were appropriated to their refreshment. Night closed
on the joyous scene; but before its approach the King, perceiving
that the ardour of the combatants had become intemperate
and dangerous, wisely limited the number of strokes, and closed
the tourney.
"It was about this period that the tournament ceased to be
merely a chivalric combat; and, united with the pageant,
acquired more of the dramatic character. The pageant consisted
of a temporary building, moved on biers, generally
representing castles, rocks, mountains, palaces, gardens, or
forests. The decoration of these ambulating scenes was
attended with considerable expense, but was seldom conducted
with taste or consistency. They generally contained figures,
personating a curious medley of nymphs, savages, heathen
gods, and Christian saints, giants and the nine worthies, who
descended and danced among the spectators.
"On the night of the Epiphany (1516) a pageant was introduced
into the hall at Richmond, representing a hill studded
with gold and precious stones, and having on its summit a tree
of gold, from which hung roses and pomegranates. From the
declivity of the hill descended a lady richly attired, who, with
the gentlemen, or, as they were then called, children of honour,
danced a morris before the King.
"On another occasion, in the presence of the Court, an
artificial forest was drawn in by a lion and an antelope, the
hides of which were richly embroidered with golden ornaments;
the animals were harnessed with chains of gold, and on
each sat a fair damsel in gay apparel. In the midst of the
forest, which was thus introduced, appeared a gilded tower,
at the gates of which stood a youth, holding in his hands a
garland of roses, as the prize of valour in a tournament which
succeeded the pageant."[39]
Christmas Festivities of Noblemen and Others.
The royal magnificence was imitated by the nobility and
gentry of the period, who kept the Christmas festival with much
display and prodigality, maintaining such numerous retinues as
to constitute a miniature court. The various household books
that still exist show the state in which they lived. From that
of the Northumberland family (1512), it appears that the
"Almonar" was often "a maker of Interludys," and had "a
servaunt to the intent for writynge the parts." The persons on
the establishment of the Chapel performed plays from some
sacred subject during Christmas; as "My lorde usith and
accustomyth to gyf yerely, if his lordship kepe a chapell and be
at home, them of his lordschipes chapell, if they doo play the
Play of the Nativitie uppon Cristynmes day in the mornnynge
in my lords chapell befor his lordship, xxs." Other players
were also permitted and encouraged, and a Master of the
Revells appointed to superintend. And "My lorde useth and
accustomyth yerly to gyf hym which is ordynede to be Master
of the Revells yerly in my lordis hous in Cristmas for the
overseyinge and orderinge of his lordschips Playes, Interludes,
and Dresinge that is plaid befor his lordship in his hous in the
XII dayes of Christenmas, and they to have in rewarde for that
caus yerly, xxs." Another entry shows that 13s. 4d. was the
price paid to the chaplain, William Peres, in the 17th Henry
VIII., "for makyng an Enterlued to be playd this next
Christenmas."
In this reign the working classes were allowed greater
privileges at Christmas than at any other part of the year.
The Act of 11 Henry VII. c. 2, against unlawful games, expressly
forbids Artificers, Labourers, Servants, or Apprentices,
to play at any such games, except at Christmas, and then only
in their masters' houses by the permission of the latter; and a
penalty of 6s. 8d. was incurred by any householder allowing
such games, except during those holidays; which, according to
Stow, extended from All-hallows evening to the day after
Candlemas Day. The Act of 33 Henry VIII. c. 9, enacts more
particularly, "That no manner of Artificer or Craftsman of any
handicraft or occupation, Husbandman, Apprentice, Labourer,
Servant at husbandry, Journeyman, or Servant of Artificer,
Mariners, Fishermen, Watermen, or any Serving-man, shall
from the said feast of the Nativity of St. John Baptist, play at
the Tables, Tennis, Dice, Cards, Bowls, Clash, Coyting, Logating,
or any other unlawful Game, out of Christmas, under the
pain of xxs. to be forfeit for every time; and in Christmas to
play at any of the said Games in their Masters' houses, or in
their Masters' presence."
In his description of the "mummings and masquerades" of this
period, Strutt[40] says that the "mummeries" practised by the
lower classes of the people usually took place at the Christmas
holidays; and such persons as could not procure masks rubbed
their faces over with soot, or painted them; hence Sebastian
Brant, in his "Ship of Fools" (translated by Alexander Barclay,
and printed by Pynson, in 1508) alluding to this custom, says:
"The one hath a visor ugley set on his face,
Another hath on a vile counterfaite vesture,
Or painteth his visage with fume in such case,
That what he is, himself is scantily sure."
Sandys,[41] in reference to this period, says: "The lower classes,
still practising the ceremonies and superstitions of their forefathers,
added to them some imitations of the revelries of their
superiors, but, as may be supposed, of a grosser description; and
many abuses were committed. It was, therefore, found necessary
by an Act passed in the 3rd year of Henry VIII. to order that no
person should appear abroad like mummers, covering their faces
with vizors, and in disguised apparel, under pain of three months'
imprisonment; and a penalty of 20s. was declared against such
as kept vizors in their house for the purpose of mumming. It
was not intended, however, to debar people from proper recreations
during this season, but, on the contrary, we have reason to
believe that many indulgencies were afforded them, and that
landlords and masters assisted them with the means of enjoying
the customary festivities; listening to their tales of legendary
lore, round the yule block, when weary of more boisterous
sports, and encouraging them by their presence."
King Henry VIII.'s "Still Christmas."
In the 17th year of his reign, in consequence of the prevalence
of the plague in London, the King kept his Christmas quietly
in the old palace at Eltham, whence it was called the "still
Christmas." This suppression of the mirth and jollity which
were the usual concomitants of the festive season did not satisfy
the haughty Cardinal Wolsey, who "laye at the Manor of
Richemond, and there kept open householde, to lordes, ladies,
and all other that would come, with plaies and disguisyng in
most royall maner; whiche sore greved the people, and in
especiall the Kynges servauntes, to se hym kepe an open Court
and the Kyng a secret Court."[42]
The Royal Christmases
subsequently kept, however, made amends for the cessation of
festivities at the Kyng's "Still Christmas," especially the royal
celebrations at Greenwich. In 1527 the "solemne Christmas"
held there was "with revels, maskes, disguisings, and banquets;
and on the thirtieth of December and the third of January were
solemne Justs holden, when at night the King and fifteen other
with him, came to Bridewell, and there putting on masking
apparell, took his barge, and rowed to the Cardinall's (Woolsey)
place, where were at supper many Lords and Ladyes, who
danced with the maskers, and after the dancing was made
a great Banquet."[43]
During the girlhood of the Princess (afterwards Queen) Mary,
entertainments were given for her amusement, especially at
Christmastide; and she gave presents to the King's players, the
children of the Chapel, and others. But, Sandys says, that "as
she grew up, and her temper got soured, she probably lost all
enjoyment of such scenes." Ellis, in his "Original Letters,"
gives a curious application from the Council for the household
of the Lady Mary to the Cardinal Wolsey, to obtain his directions
and leave to celebrate the ensuing Christmas. In this
letter the reader is reminded of the long train of sports and
merriment which made Christmas cheerful to our ancestors.
The Cardinal, at the same time that he established a household
for the young Duke of Richmond, had also "ordained a council,
and stablished another household for the Lady Mary, then
being Princess of the Realm."[44] The letter which seems to have
been written in the same year in which the household was
established, 1525, is as follows:—
"Please it youre Grace for the great repaire of straungers supposed
unto the Pryncesse honorable householde this solempne
fest of Cristmas, We humbly beseche the same to let us knowe
youre gracious pleasure concernyng as well a ship of silver for
the almes disshe requysite for her high estate, and spice plats,
as also for trumpetts and a rebek to be sent, and whither we
shall appoynte any Lord of Mysrule for the said honorable
householde, provide for enterluds, disgysyngs, or pleyes in the
said fest, or for banket on twelf nyght. And in likewise whither
the Pryncesse shall sende any newe yeres gifts to the Kinge, the
Quene, your Grace, and the Frensshe Quene, and of the value
and devise of the same. Besechyng yowre Grace also to pardon
oure busy and importunate suts to the same in suche behalf
made. Thus oure right syngler goode lorde we pray the holy
Trynyte have you in his holy preservacion. At Teoxbury, the
xxvij day of November.
| |
Youre humble orators, |
"To the most reverent Father in God the Lord Cardinall his good Grace." |
|
John Exon |
| |
Jeilez Grevile |
| |
Peter Burnell |
| |
John Salter |
| |
G. Bromley |
| |
Thomas Audeley. |
Christmas and the Reformation.
The great Reformer, Martin Luther, took much interest in
the festivities of Christmastide, including, of course, the
Christmas-tree. One of his biographers[45] tells how young
Luther, with other boys of Mansfeld, a village to the north-west
of Eisleben, sang Christmas carols "in honour of the Babe of
Bethlehem." And the same writer says, "Luther may be justly
regarded as the central representative of the Reformation in its
early period, for this among other reasons—that he, more
powerfully than any other, impressed upon the new doctrine
the character of glad tidings of great joy." On Christmas Day,
1521, Martin Luther "administered the communion in both
kinds, and almost without discrimination of applicants," in the
parish church of Eisenach, his "beloved town."
martin luther and the christmas tree.In England, the desire for some reform in the Church was
recognised even by Cardinal Wolsey, who obtained from the
Pope permission to suppress thirty monasteries, and use their
revenues for educational purposes; and Wolsey's schemes of
reform might have progressed further if Henry VIII. had not
been fascinated by Anne Boleyn. But the King's amour with
the "little lively brunette" precipitated a crisis in the relations
between Church and State. Henry, who, by virtue of a papal
dispensation, had married his brother's widow, Katherine, now
needed papal consent to a divorce, that he might marry Anne
Boleyn, and when he found that he could not obtain it, he
resolved to be his own Pope, "sole protector and supreme head
of the Church and clergy of England." And among the events
The Little Orleans Madonna of Raphael.of Christmastide may be mentioned the resolution of the King's
minister, Thomas Cromwell, and his party, in 1533, to break
the ecclesiastical connection with Rome, and establish an
independent Church in England. The necessary Bills were
framed and introduced to Parliament soon after the Christmas
holidays by Cromwell, who for his successful services was made
Chancellor of the Exchequer for life. Authority in all matters
ecclesiastical, as well as civil, was vested solely in the Crown,
and the "courts spiritual" became as thoroughly the King's
courts as the temporal courts at Westminster. The enslavement
of the clergy, the dissolution of the monasteries, and the
gagging of the pulpits followed, the years of Cromwell's
administration being an English reign of terror. But the ruthless
manner in which he struck down his victims sickened the
English people, and they exhibited their disapprobation in a
manner which arrested the attention of the King. The time
of Cromwell himself was coming, for the block was the goal to
which Henry's favourite minister was surely hastening; and
it is only anticipating events by very few years, to say that
he was beheaded on Tower Hill, July 28, 1540.
Another Royal Christmas.
That following the execution of Anne Boleyn (1536), Henry
spent in the company of his third Queen, Jane Seymour, at
Richmond Palace, with a merry party, and subsequently crossed
the frozen Thames to Greenwich. During the following summer
the Queen went with her husband on a progress, and in the
autumn retired to Hampton Court, where she gave birth to
a son (who became Edward VI.), and died twelve days afterwards,
on the 14th of October, 1537.
During the married life of Queen Jane, the Princess Mary
was often with the Court at Richmond, affecting affectionate
attachment for the Queen, apparently to conciliate her father.
The birth of a prince, followed by the death of the queen,
it might have been thought would have a chastening effect upon
Mary, as somewhat altering her prospects; but after acting
as chief mourner to her friendly stepmother, she spent a
pleasant Christmas at Richmond, where she remained till
February. Her losses at cards during the Christmas festivities
were very considerable, for she was fond of gambling. And
she appears to have also amused herself a good deal with her
attendant, "Jane the Fool," to whose maintenance she contributed
while staying at Richmond. One curious entry in the
Household Book of the Princess Mary is: "Item, for shaving
Jane fooles hedde, iiiid." Another is: "Item, geven Heywood,
playeng an enterlude with his children before my Ladye's
grace xls."
The great event of Christmas, 1539, was
The Landing of Anne of Cleves,
at Deal, on the 27th of December. King Henry had become
alarmed at the combination between France and Spain, and his
unprincipled Chancellor, Cromwell, desirous of regaining his
lost influence with the King, recommended a Protestant
marriage. He told Henry that Anne, daughter of John III.,
Duke of Cleves, was greatly extolled for her beauty and good
sense, and that by marrying her he would acquire the friendship
of the Princes of Germany, in counterpoise to the designs of
France and Spain. Henry despatched Hans Holbein to take
the lady's portrait, and, being delighted with the picture produced,
soon concluded a treaty of marriage, and sent the Lord
Admiral Fitzwilliam, Earl of Southampton, to receive the
Princess at Calais, and conduct her to England. On her arrival
Henry was greatly disappointed. He did not think the Princess
as charming as her portrait; and, unfortunately for her, she
was unable to woo him with winning words, for she could
speak no language but German, and of that Henry did not
understand a word. Though not ugly (as many contemporaries
testify), she was plain in person and manners, and she and her
maidens, of whom she brought a great train, are said to have
been as homely and awkward a bevy as ever came to England
in the cause of Royal matrimony. The Royal Bluebeard, who
had consorted with such celebrated beauties as Anne Boleyn
and Jane Seymour, recollecting what his queens had been, and
what Holbein and Cromwell had told him should again be,
entered the presence of Anne of Cleves with great anticipation,
but was thunderstruck at the first sight of the reality. Lord John
Russell, who was present, declared "that he had never seen his
highness so marvellously astonished and abashed as on that
occasion." The marriage was celebrated on the 6th of January,
1540, but Henry never became reconciled to his German
queen; and he very soon vented his anger upon Cromwell for
being the means of bringing him, not a wife, but "a great
Flanders mare."
Christmas at the Colleges.
The fine old tower of Magdalen College, embowered in
verdure (as though decorated for Christmas), is one of the most
picturesque of the venerable academical institutions of Oxford.
It stands on the east side of the Cherwell, and is the first
object of interest to catch the eye of the traveller who enters
the city from the London Road. This college was the scene of
many Christmas festivities in the olden time, when it was the
custom of the several colleges to elect a "Christmas Lord, or
Lord of Misrule, styled in the registers Rex Fabarum and Rex
Regni Fabarum; which custom continued till the Reformation
of Religion, and then that producing Puritanism, and Puritanism
Presbytery, the profession of it looked upon such laudable and
ingenious customs as Popish, diabolical and anti-Christian."[46]
Queen's College, Oxford (whose members have from time
immemorial been daily summoned to dine in hall by sound
of trumpet, instead of by bell as elsewhere), is noted for its
ancient Christmas ceremony of ushering in the boar's head with
the singing of the famous carol—
"Caput afri differo
Reddens laudes Domino.
The boar's head in hand bring I,
With garlands gay and rosemary,
I pray you all sing merrily
Qui estis in convivio."
Tradition says that this old custom commemorates the deliverance
of a student of the college, who, while walking in the
country, studying Aristotle, was attacked by a wild boar from
Shotover Forest, whereupon he crammed the philosopher down
the throat of the savage, and thus escaped from its tusks.
magdalen college, oxford.Warton[47] mentions that, "in an original draught of the
Statutes of Trinity College, at Cambridge, founded in 1546, one
of the chapters is entitled De Præfecto Ludorum qui Imperator
dicitur, under whose direction and authority Latin Comedies
and Tragedies are to be exhibited in the hall at Christmas.
With regard to the peculiar business and office of Imperator
it is ordered that one of the Masters of Arts shall be placed
over the juniors, every Christmas, for the regulation of their
games and diversions at that season of festivity. At the same
time, he is to govern the whole society in the hall and chapel,
as a republic committed to his special charge by a set of laws
which he is to frame in Latin and Greek verse. His sovereignty
is to last during the twelve days of Christmas, and he is to
exercise the same power on Candlemas. His fee amounted
to forty shillings. Similar customs were observed at other
colleges during Christmastide. In a subsequent chapter of this
work will be found an account of a grand exhibition of the
Christmas Prince, at St. John's College, Oxford, in the year
1607.
bringing in the boar's head with minstrelsy.
Christmas at the Inns of Court and Great Houses.
In the time of Henry the Eighth the Christmases at the Inns
of Court became celebrated, especially those at Lincoln's Inn,
which had kept them as early as the reign of Henry VI. The
Temples and Gray's Inn afterwards disputed the palm with it.
Every Corporation appointed a Lord of Misrule or Master of
Merry Disports, and, according to Stow, there was the like
"in the house of every nobleman of honour or good worship,
were he spiritual or temporal." And during the period of the
sway of the Lord of Misrule, "there were fine and subtle
disguisings, masks, and mummeries, with playing at cards for
counters, nails, and points in every house, more for pastime
than for gain." Town and country would seem to have vied
with each other as to which should exhibit the greatest extravagance
in the Christmas entertainments, but (as in the days of
Massinger the poet), the town carried off the palm:—
"Men may talk of country Christmasses—
Their thirty-pound buttered eggs, their pies of carps' tongues,
Their pheasants drenched with ambergris, the carcases
Of three fat wethers bruised for gravy; to
Make sauce for a single peacock; yet their feasts
Were fasts, compared with the city's."
The earliest particular account of the regulations for conducting
one of these grand Christmases is in the 9th of Henry
VIII.,[48] when, besides the King for Christmas Day, the Marshal
and the Master of the Revels, it is ordered that the King of
Cockneys, on Childermas Day, should sit and have due service,
and "that Jack Straw, and all his adherents, should be thenceforth
utterly banished, and no more to be used in this house,
upon pain to forfeit for every time five pounds, to be levied
on every fellow hapning to offend against this rule." "Jack
Straw" was a kind of masque, which was very much disliked
by the aristocratic and elder part of the community, hence the
amount of the fine imposed. The Society of Gray's Inn, however,
in 1527, got into a worse scrape than permitting Jack
Straw and his adherents, for they acted a play (the first on
record at the Inns of Court) during this Christmas, the effect
whereof was, that Lord Governance was ruled by Dissipation
and Negligence, by whose evil order Lady Public Weal was
put from Governance. Cardinal Wolsey, conscience-smitten,
thought this to be a reflection on himself, and deprived the
author, Sergeant Roe, of his coif, and committed him to the
Fleet, together with Thomas Moyle, one of the actors, until
it was satisfactorily explained to him.
It was found necessary from time to time to make regulations
to limit the extent of these revels and plays, and to provide for
the expenses, which were considerable, and they were therefore
not performed every year. In 1531 the Lincoln's Inn Society
agreed that if the two Temples kept Christmas, they would also
do so, not liking to be outdone. And later an order was made
in Gray's Inn that no Comedies, commonly called Interludes,
should be acted in the refectory in the intervals of vacation,
except at the celebration of Christmas; and that then the whole
body of students should jointly contribute towards the dresses,
scenes, and decorations.
As an example of the Christmas hospitality of the period, we
refer to the establishment of John Carminow, whose family was
of high repute in the county of Cornwall in the time of Henry
the Eighth. Hals says that "he kept open house for all comers
and goers, drinkers, minstrells, dancers, and what not, during the
Christmas time, and that his usual allowance of provision for
those twelve days, was twelve fat bullocks, twenty Cornish
bushels of wheat (i.e., fifty Winchesters), thirty-six sheep, with
hogs, lambs, and fowls of all sort, and drink made of wheat and
oat-malt proportionable; for at that time barley-malt was little
known or used in those parts."
That the beneficed clergy of this period also "made merry"
with their parishioners is quite clear from the writings of
"Master Hugh Latimer," who, in Henry's reign, held the
benefice of West Kington, in Wiltshire. A citation for heresy
being issued against Latimer, he wrote with his peculiar medley
of humour and pathos: "I intend to make merry with my
parishioners this Christmas, for all the sorrow, lest perchance
I may never return to them again."
One of the most celebrated personages of this period was
Will Somers, the King's Jester.
This famous fool enlivened the Christmas festivities at the
Court of Henry the Eighth, and many quaint stories are told
of his drolleries and witticisms. Though a reputed fool, his
sarcastic wit and sparkling talents at repartee won him great
celebrity. Very little is known of his actual biography, but
some interesting things are told about him in a scarce tract,
entitled "A pleasant History of the Life and Death of Will
Somers," &c. (which was first published in 1676, and a great
part of which is said to have been taken from Andrew Borde's
collection of "The Merry Jests and Witty Shifts of Scoggin").
"And now who but Will Sommers, the King's Fool? who had
got such an interest in him by his quick and facetious jests, that
he could have admittance to his Majesty's Chamber, and have
his ear, when a great nobleman, nay, a privy counsellor, could
not be suffered to speak with him: and farther, if the King
were angry or displeased with anything, if no man else durst
demand the cause of his discontent, then was Will Sommers
provided with one pleasant conceit or another, to take off the
edge of his displeasure. Being of an easy and tractable disposition
he soon found the fashions of the court, and obtained
a general love and notice of the nobility; for he was no carry-tale,
nor flattering insinuator to breed discord and dissension,
but an honest, plain, downright [man], that would speak home
without halting, and tell the truth of purpose to shame the devil—so
that his plainness, mixed with a kind of facetiousness, and
tartness with pleasantry, made him acceptable into the company
of all men." There cannot, perhaps, be a greater proof of the
estimation in which Somers was held by King Henry, than
the circumstance of his portrait having been twice introduced
into the same piece with that of the King; once in the fine
picture by Holbein of Henry VIII. and his family, and again, in
an illuminated Psalter which was expressly written for the
King, by John Mallard, his chaplain and secretary ("Regis
Orator et Calamo"), and is now preserved in the British
Museum. According to an ancient custom, there is prefixed
to Psalm lii., "dixit incipens" in the Psalter, a miniature
illumination of King David and a Fool, whose figures, in this
instance, are portraits of Henry VIII. and his favourite Will
Somers. The King is seated at a kind of altar table, and
playing on the harp, whilst Somers who is standing near him,
with his hands clasped over his breast, appears to listen with
admiration. The King wears a round flat cap, furred, and a
vest of imperial purple striped with gold, and fluted at bottom;
his doublet is red, padded with white; his hose crimson; on
his right leg is a blue garter. Somers is in a vest, with a hood
thrown over the back; his stockings are blue; at his girdle is
a black pouch.
When Henry VIII. became old and inactive, his Christmases
grew gradually duller, until he did little more than sit out a
play or two, and gamble with his courtiers, his Christmas play-money
requiring a special draught upon the treasury, usually for
a hundred pounds. He died on January 28, 1547.
(1547-1603.)
Christmas under King Edward VI.—George Ferrers
"Master of the King's Pastimes."
During the short reign of the youthful monarch Edward the
Sixth (1547-1553), the splendour of the Royal Christmases
somewhat abated, though they were still continued; and the
King being much grieved at the condemnation of the Duke of
Somerset, his uncle and Protector, it was thought expedient to
divert his mind by additional pastimes at the Christmas
festival, 1551-2. "It was devised," says Holinshed, "that the
feast of Christ's nativitie, commonlie called Christmasse, then
at hand, should be solemnlie kept at Greenwich, with open
houshold, and franke resort to Court (which is called keeping
of the hall), what time of old ordinarie course there is alwaise
one appointed to make sport in the court, commonlie Lord of
Misrule; whose office is not unknown to such as have been
brought up in noblemen's houses, and among great housekeepers,
who use liberall feasting in that season. There was therefore
by order of the Councell, a wise gentleman, and learned, named
George Ferrers, appointed to that office for this yeare; who,
being of better credit and estimation than comonlie his predecessors
had been before, received all his commissions and
warrants by the name of the maister of the King's pastimes.
Which gentleman so well supplied his office, both in show of
sundry sights and devices of rare inventions, and in act of
diverse interludes, and matters of pastime plaied by persons, as
not onlie satisfied the common sort, but also were verie well
liked and allowed by the Councell, and other of skill in the like
pastimes; but best of all by the young King himselfe, as
appeered by his princelie liberalitie in rewarding that service."
The old chronicler quaintly adds, that "Christmas being thus
passed with much mirth and pastime, it was thought now good
to proceed to the execution of the judgment against the Duke
of Somerset." The day of execution was the 22nd of January,
1552, six weeks after the passing of the sentence.
King Edward took part in some of the Christmas masques
performed at his Court, with other youths of his age and stature,
all the performers being suitably attired in costly garments.
Will Somers also figured in some of these masques. The young
King seems to have found more amusement in the pageants
superintended by Master Ferrers than he had gained from some
of the solemnities of the state in which he had been obliged to
play a prominent part; but none of the diversions restored him
to good health. Large sums of money were expended on these
Christmas entertainments, and the King handsomely rewarded
the Master of his pastimes.
George Ferrers, who was a lawyer, a poet, and an historian,
was certainly well qualified for his task, and well supplied with
the means of making sport, as "Master of the King's Pastimes."
He complained to Sir Thomas Cawarden that the dresses
provided for his assistants were not sufficient, and immediately
an order was given for better provision. He provided clowns,
jugglers, tumblers, men to dance the fool's dance, besides being
assisted by the "Court Fool" of the time—John Smyth. This
man was newly supplied for the occasion, having a long fool's
coat of yellow cloth of gold, fringed all over with white, red,
and green velvet, containing 7½ yards at £2 per yard, guarded
with plain yellow cloth of gold, 4 yards at 33s. 4d. per yard;
with a hood and a pair of buskins of the same figured gold
containing 2½ yards at £5, and a girdle of yellow sarsenet
containing one quarter 16d., the whole value of "the
fool's dress" being £26 14s. 8d. Ferrers, as the "Lord of
Misrule" wore a robe of rich stuff made of silk and golden
thread containing 9 yards at 16s. a yard, guarded with
embroidered cloth of gold, wrought in knots, 14 yards at
11s. 4d. a yard; having fur of red feathers, with a cape of
camlet thrum. A coat of flat silver, fine with works, 5 yards
at 50s., with an embroidered garb of leaves of gold and coloured
silk, containing 15 yards at 20s. a yard. He wore a cap of
maintenance, hose buskins, panticles of Bruges satin, a girdle of
yellow sarsenet with various decorations, the cost of his dress
being £52 8s. 8d., which, considering the relative value of
money, must be considered a very costly dress.
The office which George Ferrers so ably filled had been
too often held by those who possessed neither the wit nor
the genius it required; but, originally, persons of high rank and
ability had been chosen to perform these somewhat difficult
duties. Ferrers received £100 for the charges of his office;
and afterwards the Lord Mayor, who probably had been at the
Royal festival, entertained him in London. The cost of the
Royal festivities exceeded £700.
Stowe, in his "Annals," thus refers to the celebration: "The
King kept his Christmasse with open houshold at Greenwich,
George Ferrers, Gentleman of Lincolnes Inne, being Lord of
the merry Disports all the 12 dayes, who so pleasantly and
wisely behaved himselfe, that the King had great delight in his
pastimes. On Monday the fourth of January, the said Lord of
Merry Disports came by water to London, and landed at the
Tower-wharfe, entered the Tower, and then rode through the
Tower-streete, where he was received by Sergeant Vawce, Lord
of Misrule to John Mainard, one of the Sheriffes of London, and
so conducted through the Citie with a great company of young
Lords and gentlemen, to the house of Sir George Barne, Lord
Maior; where he, with the chiefe of his company dined, and
after had a great banquet; and, at his departure, the Lord
Maior gave him a standing cup, with a cover of silver and gilt,
of the value of ten pounds, for a reward; and also set a hogs-head
of wine, and a barrell of beere, at his gate, for his traine
that followed him; the residue of his gentlemen and servants
dined at other Aldermen's houses, and with the sheriffes, and so
departed to the Tower wharfe againe, and to the Court by water,
to the great commendation of the Maior and Aldermen, and
highly accepted of the King and Councell."
Religious Matters
occupied public attention throughout the reign of Edward VI.
The young king was willing to support the reforming projects
of Archbishop Cranmer, and assented to the publication of the
new Liturgy in the Prayer Book of 1549, and the Act of
Uniformity. And with the sanction of the sovereign, Cranmer,
in 1552, issued a revised Liturgy, known as the Second Prayer
Book of King Edward VI., and the Forty-two Articles, which
were markedly Protestant in tendency. On his health failing,
the King, acting on the advice of the Duke of Northumberland,
altered the settlement of the crown as arranged in the will of
Henry VIII., and made a will excluding Mary and Elizabeth
from the succession in favour of Lady Jane Grey, daughter-in-law
of Northumberland, which was sanctioned by Archbishop
Cranmer and the Privy Council. Although Cranmer had
sanctioned this act with great reluctance, and on the assurance
of the judges, it sufficed to secure his condemnation for high
treason on Mary's accession. Edward sank rapidly and died
on July 6, 1553.
The Duke of Northumberland then
Proclaimed Lady Jane Grey Queen,
but the people refused to recognise the usurpation. After a
brief reign of eleven days,
The Crown was transferred to Mary,
daughter of Henry VIII. and Catherine of Arragon, and Lady Jane
Grey and her husband were sent to the Tower, and subsequently
condemned to death. They were kept in captivity for some
time, and were not executed until after Wyatt's rebellion in 1554.
Virgin & Child, Chirbury.Mary was a firm Roman Catholic,
and she looked to her uncle, Charles V.
of Spain, for assistance and support.
In January, 1554, much to the disappointment
of her subjects, she concluded
a treaty of marriage with Philip
of Spain, son of Charles V. Afterwards
her reign was disturbed by
insurrections, and also by the persecution
of Protestants by Cardinal Pole,
who came over to England to push
forward the Roman Catholic reaction.
This Troubled Reign
was not congenial to Christmas festivities,
though they were still kept up
in different parts of the country. During
the Christmas festival (January 2,
1554) a splendid embassy, sent by the
Emperor, Charles the Fifth, headed by
the Counts Egmont and Lalain, the Lord
of Courrieres, and the Sieur de Nigry,
landed in Kent, to arrange the marriage
between Queen Mary and Philip. The
unpopularity of the proceeding was
immediately manifested, for the men of Kent, taking Egmont
for Philip, rose in fury and would have killed him if they could
have got at him. Although an attempt was made to allay the
fears of the English, within a few days three insurrections broke
out in different parts of the kingdom, the most formidable
being that under Sir Thomas Wyatt, who fixed his headquarters
at Rochester. In city and court alike panic prevailed. The
lawyers in Westminster Hall pleaded in suits of armour hidden
under their robes, and Dr. Weston preached before the Queen
in Whitehall Chapel, on Candlemas Day, in armour under his
clerical vestments. Mary alone seemed calm and self-possessed.
She mounted her horse, and, attended by her ladies and her
Council, rode into the City, where, summoning Sir Thomas White,
Lord Mayor, and the Aldermen, who all came clad in armour
under their civic livery, she ascended a chair of State, and with
her sceptre in her hand addressed them, declaring she would
never marry except with the leave of her Parliament. Her
courage gained the day. The rebellion was speedily quelled
and the ringleaders put to death; and the following July the
marriage took place. Mary's subsequent reign was a "reign of
terror, a time of fire and blood, such as has no parallel in the
history of England."[49]
Christmas Diversions of Queen Mary.
During her "reign of terror" Queen Mary was diverted by
Christmas plays and pageants, and she showed some interest in the
amusements of the people. Strutt's "Sports and Pastimes," in an
article on the "Antiquity of Tumbling," says: "It would seem
that these artists were really famous mirth-makers; for one of
them had the address to excite the merriment of that solemn bigot
Queen Mary. 'After her Majesty,' observes Strype, 'had reviewed
the royal pensioners in Greenwich Park, there came a tumbler,
and played many pretty feats, the Queen and Cardinal Pole
looking on; whereat she was observed to laugh heartily.'"
Strutt also mentions that "when Mary visited her sister, the
Princess Elizabeth, during her confinement at Hatfield House,
the next morning, after mass, a grand exhibition of bear-baiting
was made for their amusement, with which, it is said, 'their
highnesses were right well content.'" The idle pageantry of
the Boy-bishop, which had been formally abrogated by proclamation
from the King, in the thirty-third year of Henry VIII.,
was revived by his daughter Mary. Strutt says that "in the
second year of her reign an edict, dated November 13, 1554,
was issued from the Bishop of London to all the clergy of his
diocese, to have a Boy-bishop in procession. The year following,
'the child Bishop, of Paules Church, with his company,'
were admitted into the Queen's privy chamber, where he sang
before her on Saint Nicholas Day, and upon Holy Innocents
Day. After the death of Mary this silly mummery was totally
discontinued."
The Christmas entertainments of Philip and Mary at Richmond
are thus described by Folkstone Williams:[50] "The Queen
strove to entertain her Royal husband with masques, notwithstanding
that he had seen many fair and rich beyond the seas;
and Nicholas Udall, the stern schoolmaster, was ordered to
furnish the drama. An idea of these performances may be
gathered from the properties of a masque of patrons of gallies
like Venetian senators with galley-slaves for their torch-bearers,
represented at Court in Christmas of the first and second years
of Philip and Mary, with a Masque of six Venuses, or amorous
ladies, with six Cupids, and as many torch-bearers. Among
them were lions' heads, sixteen other headpieces, made in
quaint fashion for the Turkish magistrates, as well as eight
falchions for them, the sheaths covered with green velvet, and
bullioned with copper. There were eight headpieces for
women-masks, goddesses and huntresses. A masque of eight
mariners, of cloth of gold and silver, and six pairs of chains for
the galley slaves. Another mask of goddesses and huntresses,
with Turks, was performed on the following Shrovetide; and
one of six Hercules, or men of war, coming from the sea with
six Mariners to their torch-bearers, was played a little later.
Besides which, we find mention of a masque of covetous men
with long noses—a masque of men like Argus—a masque of
women Moors—a masque of Amazons—one of black and tawney
tinsel, with baboons' faces—one of Polanders, and one of women
with Diana hunting."
Nichols ("Progresses," vol. i. p. 18) says that in 1557 the Princess
Elizabeth was present at a Royal Christmas kept with great
solemnity by Queen Mary and King Philip at Hampton Court.
"On Christmas Eve, the great hall of the palace was illuminated
with a thousand lamps curiously disposed. The Princess supped
at the same table in the hall with the King and Queen, next the
cloth of state; and after supper, was served with a perfumed
napkin and plates of confects by the Lord Paget. But she
retired to her ladies before the revels, maskings, and disguisings
began. On St. Stephen's day she heard mattins in the Queen's
closet adjoining to the chapel, where she was attired in a robe
of white sattin, strung all over with large pearls. On the 29th
day of December she sate with their majesties and the nobility
at a grand spectacle of justing, when two hundred spears were
broken. Half of the combatants were accoutred in the Almaine
and half in the Spanish fashion. Thus our chronicler, who is
fond of minute description. But these and other particularities,
insignificant as they seem, which he has recorded so carefully,
are a vindication of Queen Mary's character in the treatment of
her sister; they prove that the Princess, during her residence at
Hatfield, lived in splendour and affluence; that she was often
admitted to the diversions of the Court; and that her present
situation was by no means a state of oppression and imprisonment,
as it has been represented by most of our
historians."
The Romish Priestly Practices
on "Christmass-daye," at this period, are referred to in the
following translation from Naogeorgus, by Barnaby Googe:—
"Then comes the day wherein the Lorde did bring his birth to passe;
Whereas at midnight up they rise, and every man to Masse,
This time so holy counted is, that divers earnestly
Do think the waters all to wine are chaunged sodainly;
In that same houre that Christ Himselfe was borne, and came to light,
And unto water streight againe transformde and altred quight.
There are beside that mindfully the money still do watch,
That first to aultar commes, which then they privily do snatch.
The priestes, least other should it have, take oft the same away,
Whereby they thinke throughout the yeare to have good lucke in play,
And not to lose: then straight at game till day-light do they strive,
To make some present proofe how well their hallowde pence wil thrive.
Three Masses every priest doth singe upon that solemn day,
With offrings unto every one, that so the more may play.
This done, a woodden childe in clowtes is on the aultar set,
About the which both boyes and gyrles do daunce and trymly jet;
And Carrols sing in prayse of Christ, and, for to helpe them heare,
The organs aunswere every verse with sweete and solemne cheare.
The priestes do rore aloude; and round about the parentes stande
To see the sport, and with their voyce do helpe them and their hande."
The Christmas Mummers
played a prominent part in the festivities of this period, and
the following illustration shows how they went a-mumming.
riding a-mumming at christmastide.Queen Mary died on November 17, 1558, and her half-sister,
Elizabeth, came to the Throne
in perilous times, for plots of assassination were rife, and
England was engaged on the side of Spain in war with France.
But the alliance with Spain soon came to an end, for Queen
Elizabeth saw that the defence of Protestantism at home and
peace with France abroad were necessary for her own security
and the good of her subjects. She began her reign by regarding
the welfare of her people, and she soon won and never lost
their affection.
With the accession of Queen Elizabeth there was a revival of
the courtly pomp and pageantry which were marked characteristics
of her father's reign. Just before the Christmas festival
(1558) the new queen made a state entry into the metropolis,
attended by a magnificent throng of nobles, ladies, and gentlemen,
and a vast concourse of people from all the country round.
At Highgate she was met by the bishops, who kneeled by the
wayside and offered their allegiance. She received them
graciously and gave them all her hand to kiss, except Bonner,
whom she treated with marked coldness, on account of his
atrocious cruelties: an intimation of her own intentions on the
score of religion which gave satisfaction to the people. In the
pageantry which was got up to grace her entry into London, a
figure representing "Truth" dropped from one of the triumphal
arches, and laid before the young Queen a copy of the Scriptures.
Holinshed says she revived the book with becoming reverence,
and, pressing it to her bosom, declared that of all the gifts and
honours conferred upon her by the loyalty of the people this
was the most acceptable. Yet Green,[51] in describing Elizabeth's
reign, says: "Nothing is more revolting in the Queen, but
nothing is more characteristic, than her shameless mendacity.
It was an age of political lying, but in the profusion and
recklessness of her lies Elizabeth stood without a peer in
Christendom."
Sir William Fitzwilliam, writing to Mr. More, of Loseley,
Surrey, a few weeks after the accession of Elizabeth, as an
important piece of Court news, says: "You shall understand
that yesterday, being Christmas Day, the Queen's Majesty
repaired to her great closet with her nobles and ladies, as
hath been accustomed in such high feasts; and she, perceiving
a bishop preparing himself to mass, all in the old form, tarried
there until the gospel was done, and when all the people looked
for her to have offered according to the old fashion, she with
her nobles returned again from the closet and the mass, on to
her privy chamber, which was strange unto divers. Blessed be
God in all His gifts."
During the Christmas festival (1558) preparations went on for
the coronation of Elizabeth, which was to take place on the 15th
of January. On the 12th of that month she proceeded to the
Tower by water, attended by the lord mayor and citizens, and
greeted with peals of ordnance, with music and gorgeous
pageantry—a marked contrast to her previous entrance there
as a suspected traitor in imminent peril of her life. Two days
later the Queen rode in state from the Tower to Westminster,
"most honourably accompanied, as well with gentlemen, barons,
and other the nobility of this realm, as also with a notable train
of godly and beautiful ladies, richly appointed," and all riding
on horseback. The streets through which the procession passed
were adorned with stately pageants, costly decorations, and
various artistic devices, and were crowded with enthusiastic
spectators, eager to welcome their new sovereign, and to
applaud "the signs they noticed in her of a most prince-like
courage, and great readiness of wit." On the following day
(Sunday, the 15th of January) Elizabeth was crowned in Westminster
Abbey, by Dr. Oglethorpe, Bishop of Carlisle, "Queen
of England, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith." The
ceremonials of the coronation were regulated according to
ancient custom, and the entertainment in Westminster Hall
was on a scale of great magnificence.
a dumb show in the time of elizabeth.
(From Messrs. Cassels & Co.'s "English Plays," by permission.)
Elizabeth was particularly fond of dramatic displays, and her
first Royal Christmas was celebrated with plays and pageants of
a most costly description. Complaints, however, being made
of the expense of these entertainments, she determined to control
them, and directed an estimate to be made in the second
year of her reign for the masques and pastimes to be shown
before her at Christmas and Shrovetide. Sir Thomas Cawarden
was then, as he had for some time previous been, Master of
the Revels. According to Collier, the estimate amounted to
£227 11s. 2d., being nearly £200 less than the expenses in the
former year. The control over the expenses, however, must
soon have ceased, for in subsequent years the sums were greatly
enlarged.
Nichols[52] mentions that on Twelfth Day, 1559, in the afternoon,
the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, and all the crafts of London,
and the Bachelors of the Mayor's Company, went in procession
to St. Paul's, after the old custom, and there did hear a sermon.
The same day a stage was set up in the hall for a play; and
after the play was over, there was a fine mask; and, afterwards,
a great banquet which lasted till midnight.
In this reign a more decorous and even refined style of entertainment
had usurped the place of the boisterous feastings of
former times, but there was no diminution in that ancient spirit
of hospitality, the exercise of which had become a part of the
national faith. This is evident from the poems of Thomas
Tusser (born 1515—died 1580) and other writers, who show that
the English noblemen and yeomen of that time made hospitality
a prominent feature in the festivities of the Christmas season.
In his "Christmas Husbandry Fare," Tusser says:—
"Good husband and housewife, now chiefly be glad
Things handsome to have, as they ought to be had,
They both do provide against Christmas do come,
To welcome their neighbour, good cheer to have some;
Good bread and good drink, a good fire in the hall,
Brawn pudding and souse, and good mustard withal.
Beef, mutton, and pork, shred pies of the best,
Pig, veal, goose, and capon, and turkey well dressed;
Cheese, apples, and nuts, jolly carols to hear,
As then in the country is counted good cheer.
What cost to good husband is any of this?
Good household provision only it is;
Of other the like I do leave out a many,
That costeth the husbandman never a penny."
Grand Christmas of the Inner Temple, 1561-2.
Professor Henry Morley[53] says the first English tragedy,
"Gorboduc," was written for the Christmas festivities of the
Inner Temple in the year 1561 by two young members of
that Inn—Thomas Norton, then twenty-nine years old, and
Thomas Sackville, then aged twenty-five. And the play was
performed at this "Grand Christmass" kept by the members
of the Inner Temple. Before a "Grand Christmas" was kept
the matter was discussed in a parliament of the Inn, held on the
eve of St. Thomas's Day, December 21st. If it was resolved
upon, the two youngest of those who served as butlers for the
festival lighted two torches, with which they preceded the
benchers to the upper end of the hall. The senior bencher
there made a speech; officers were appointed for the occasion,
"and then, in token of joy and good liking, the Bench and
company pass beneath the hearth and sing a carol."[54] The
revellings began on Christmas Eve, when three Masters of the
Revels sat at the head of one of the tables. All took their
places to the sound of music played before the hearth. Then
the musicians withdrew to the buttery, and were themselves
feasted. They returned when dinner was ended to sing a song
at the highest table. Then all tables were cleared, and revels
and dancing were begun, to be continued until supper and after
supper. The senior Master of the Revels, after dinner and
after supper, sang a carol or song, and commanded other gentlemen
there present to join him. This form of high festivity
was maintained during the twelve days of Christmas, closing
on Twelfth Night. On Christmas Day (which in 1561 was a
Thursday), at the first course of the dinner, the boar's head
was brought in upon a platter, followed by minstrelsy. On
St. Stephen's Day, December the 26th, the Constable Marshal
entered the hall in gilt armour, with a nest of feathers of all
colours on his helm, and a gilt pole-axe in his hand; with him
sixteen trumpeters, four drums and fifes, and four men armed
from the middle upward. Those all marched three times about
the hearth, and the Constable Marshal, then kneeling to the
Lord Chancellor, made a speech, desiring the honour of admission
into his service, delivered his naked sword, and was
solemnly seated. That was the usual ceremonial when a Grand
Christmas was kept. At this particular Christmas, 1561, in the
fourth year of Elizabeth, it was Lord Robert Dudley, afterwards
Earl of Leicester, who was Constable Marshal, and with
chivalrous gallantry, taking in fantastic style the name of
Palaphilos, Knight of the Honourable Order of Pegasus,
Pegasus being the armorial device of the Inner Temple, he
contributed to the splendour of this part of the entertainment.
After the seating of the Constable Marshal, on the same St.
Stephen's Day, December the 26th, the Master of the Game
entered in green velvet, and the Ranger of the Forest in green
satin; these also went three times about the fire, blowing their
hunting-horns. When they also had been ceremoniously seated,
there entered a huntsman with a fox and a cat bound at the end
of a staff. He was followed by nine or ten couple of hounds,
who hunted the fox and the cat to the glowing horns, and killed
them beneath the fire. After dinner, the Constable Marshal
called a burlesque Court, and began the Revels, with the help
of the Lord of Misrule. At seven o'clock in the morning of St.
John's Day, December the 27th (which was a Saturday in 1561)
the Lord of Misrule was afoot with power to summon men to
breakfast with him when service had closed in the church.
After breakfast, the authority of this Christmas official was in
abeyance till the after-dinner Revels. So the ceremonies went
on till the Banqueting Night, which followed New Year's Day.
That was the night of hospitality. Invitations were sent out to
every House of Court, that they and the Inns of Chancery might
see a play and masque. The hall was furnished with scaffolds
for the ladies who were then invited to behold the sports.
After the play, there was a banquet for the ladies in the
library; and in the hall there was also a banquet for the
Lord Chancellor and invited ancients of other Houses. On
Twelfth Day, the last of the Revels, there were brawn, mustard,
and malmsey for breakfast after morning prayer, and the dinner
as on St. John's Day.
The following particulars of this "Grand Christmas" at the
Inner Temple are from Nichols's "Progresses of Queen Elizabeth":—
"In the fourth year of Queen Elizabeth's reign there was kept
a magnificent Christmas here; at which the Lord Robert Dudley
(afterwards Earl of Leicester) was the chief person (his title
Palaphilos), being Constable and Marshall; whose officers were
as followeth:
| Mr. Onslow, Lord Chancellour. |
| Anthony Stapleton, Lord Treasurer. |
| Robert Kelway, Lord Privy Seal. |
| John Fuller, Chief Justice of the King's Bench. |
| William Pole, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. |
| Roger Manwood, Chief Baron of the Exchequer. |
| Mr. Bashe, Steward of the Household. |
| Mr. Copley, Marshall of the Household. |
| Mr. Paten, Chief Butler. |
| Christopher Hatton, Master of the Game. (He was afterwards Lord Chancellor of England.) |
| Mr. Blaston |
 |
Masters of the Revells. |
| Mr. Yorke |
| Mr. Penston |
| Mr. Jervise |
| Mr. Parker, Lieutenant of the Tower. |
| Mr. Kendall, Carver. |
| Mr. Martin, Ranger of the Forests. |
| Mr. Stradling, Sewer. |
"And there were fourscore of the Guard; beside divers others
not here named.
"Touching the particulars of this Grand Feast, Gerard Leigh,
in his 'Accidence of Armory,' p. 119, &c., having spoken of
the Pegasus borne for the armes of this Society, thus goes on:
'After I had travelled through the East parts of the unknown
world, to understand of deedes of armes, and so arriving in the
fair river of Thames, I landed within half a league from the City
of London, which was (as I conjecture) in December last; and
drawing neer the City, suddenly heard the shot of double canons,
in so great a number, and so terrible, that it darkened the whole
ayr; wherewith, although I was in my native country, yet stood
I amazed, not knowing what it meant. Thus, as I abode in
despair, either to return or to continue my former purpose, I
chanced to see coming towards me an honest citizen, clothed in
a long garment, keeping the highway, seeming to walk for his
recreation, which prognosticated rather peace than perill; of
whom I demanded the cause of this great shot; who friendly
answered, "It is," quoth he, "a warning shot to the Constable
Marshall of the Inner Temple, to prepare to dinner."
"'"Why," said I, "what, is he of that estate that seeketh no
other means to warn his officers than with so terrible shot in so
peaceable a country?" "Marry," saith he, "he uttereth himself
the better to be that officer whose name he beareth."
"'I then demanded, "What province did he govern, that needed
such an officer?" He answered me, "The province was not
great in quantity, but antient in true nobility. A place," said
he, "privileged by the most excellent Princess the High
Governor of the whole Island, wherein are store of Gentlemen
of the whole Realm, that repair thither to learn to rule and
obey by Law, to yield their fleece to their Prince and Commonweal;
as also to use all other exercises of body and mind
whereunto nature most aptly serveth to adorn, by speaking,
countenance, gesture, and use of apparel the person of a
Gentleman; whereby amity is obtained, and continued, that
Gentlemen of all countries, in their young years, nourished
together in one place, with such comely order, and daily conference,
are knit by continual acquaintance in such unity of
minds and manners as lightly never after is severed, than which
is nothing more profitable to the Commonweale."
"'And after he had told me thus much of honour of the place,
I commended in mine own conceit the policy of the Governour,
which seemed to utter in itself the foundation of a good
Commonweal; for that, the best of their people from tender
years trained up in precepts of justice, it could not choose but
yield forth a profitable People to a wise Commonweal; wherefore
I determined with myself to make proof of what I heard
by report.
"'The next day I thought of my pastime to walk to this
Temple, and entring in at the gates, I found the building
nothing costly; but many comely Gentlemen of face and
person, and thereto very courteous, saw I to pass to and fro,
so as it seemed a Prince's port to be at hand; and passing
forward, entred into a Church of antient building, wherein
were many monuments of noble personages armed in knightly
habit, with their cotes depainted in ancient shields, whereat I
took pleasure to behold. Thus gazing as one bereft with the
rare sight, there came unto me an Hereaught, by name Palaphilos,
a King of Armes, who courteously saluted me, saying,
"For that I was a stranger, and seeming by my demeanour a
lover of honour, I was his guest of right," whose courtesy (as
reason was) I obeyed; answering, "I was at his commandment."
"'"Then," said he, "ye shall go to mine own lodging here
within the Palace, where we will have such cheer as the
time and country will yield us;" where, I assure you I was so
entertained, and no where I met with better cheer or company,
&c.
"'—Thus talking, we entred the Prince his Hall, where anon
we heard the noise of drum and fyfe. "What meaneth this
drum?" said I. Quoth he, "This is to warn Gentlemen of the
Houshold to repair to the dresser; wherefore come on with
me, and ye shall stand where ye may best see the Hall served:"
and so from thence brought me into a long gallery, that
stretched itself along the Hall neer the Prince's table, where I
saw the Prince set: a man of tall personage, a manly countenance,
somewhat brown of visage, strongly featured, and
thereto comely proportioned in all lineaments of body. At the
nether end of the same table were placed the Embassadors of
sundry Princes. Before him stood the carver, sewer, and cupbearer,
with great number of gentlemen-wayters attending his
person; the ushers making place to strangers, of sundry regions
that came to behold the honour of this mighty Captain. After
the placing of these honourable guests, the Lord Steward,
Treasurer, and Keeper of Pallas Seal, with divers honourable
personages of that Nobility, were placed at a side-table neer
adjoining the Prince on the right hand: and at another table,
on the left side, were placed the Treasurer of the Houshold,
Secretary, the Prince his Serjeant at the Law, four Masters of
the Revels, the King of Arms, the Dean of the Chappel, and
divers Gentlemen Pensioners to furnish the same.
"'At another table, on the other side, were set the Master of
the Game, and his Chief Ranger, Masters of Houshold, Clerks
of the Green Cloth and Check, with divers other strangers to
furnish the same.
"'On the other side against them began the table, the
Lieutenant of the Tower, accompanied with divers Captains of
foot-bands and shot. At the nether end of the Hall began the
table, the High Butler, the Panter, Clerks of the Kitchen,
Master Cook of the Privy Kitchen, furnished throughout with
the souldiers and Guard of the Prince: all which, with number
of inferior officers placed and served in the Hall, besides the
great resort of strangers, I spare to write.
"'The Prince so served with tender meats, sweet fruits, and
dainty delicates confectioned with curious cookery, as it seemed
wonder a world to observe the provision: and at every course
the trumpetters blew the couragious blast of deadly war, with
noise of drum and fyfe, with the sweet harmony of violins, sack-butts,
recorders, and cornetts, with other instruments of musick,
as it seemed Apollo's harp had tuned their stroke.
"'Thus the Hall was served after the most ancient order of
the Island; in commendation whereof I say, I have also seen
the service of great Princes, in solemn seasons and times of
triumph, yet the order hereof was not inferior to any.
"'But to proceed, this Herehaught Palaphilos, even before the
second course came in, standing at the high table, said in this
manner: "The mighty Palaphilos, Prince of Sophie, High
Constable Marshall of the Knights Templars, Patron of the
Honourable Order of Pegasus:" and therewith cryeth, "A
Largess." The Prince, praysing the Herehaught, bountifully
rewarded him with a chain to the value of an hundred talents.
"'I assure you I languish for want of cunning ripely to utter
that I saw so orderly handled appertaining to service; wherefore
I cease, and return to my purpose.
"'The supper ended, and tables taken up, the High Constable
rose, and a while stood under the place of honour, where his
achievement was beautifully embroidered, and devised of
sundry matters, with the Ambassadors of foreign nations, as he
thought good, till Palaphilos, King of Armes, came in, his
Herehaught Marshal, and Pursuivant before him; and after
followed his messenger and Calligate Knight; who putting off
his coronal, made his humble obeysance to the Prince, by whom
he was commanded to draw neer, and understand his pleasure;
saying to him; in few words, to this effect: "Palaphilos,
seeing it hath pleased the high Pallas, to think me to demerit
the office of this place; and thereto this night past vouchsafed
to descend from heavens to increase my further honour, by
creating me Knight of her Order of Pegasus; as also commanded
me to join in the same Society such valiant Gentlemen
throughout her province, whose living honour hath best
deserved the same, the choice whereof most aptly belongeth
to your skill, being the watchman of their doings, and register
of their deserts; I will ye choose as well throughout our whole
armyes, as elsewhere, of such special gentlemen, as the gods
hath appointed, the number of twenty-four, and the names of
them present us: commanding also those chosen persons to
appear in our presence in knightly habit, that with conveniency
we may proceed in our purpose." This done, Palaphilos obeying
his Prince's commandement, with twenty-four valiant
Knights, all apparelled in long white vestures, with each man a
scarf of Pallas colours, and them presented, with their names,
to the Prince; who allowed well his choise, and commanded
him to do his office. Who, after his duty to the Prince, bowed
towards these worthy personages, standing every man in his
antienty, as he had borne armes in the field, and began to shew
his Prince's pleasure; with the honour of the Order.'"
"Other Particulars touching these Grand Christmasses, extracted
out of the Accompts of the House.
"First, it hath been the duty of the Steward, to provide five
fat brawns, vessels, wood, and other necessaries belonging to the
kitchen: as also all manner of spices, flesh, fowl, and other
cates for the kitchen.
"The office of the Chief Butler, to provide a rich cupboard
of plate, silver and parcel gilt: seaven dozen of silver and gilt
spoons: twelve fair salt-cellers, likewise silver and gilt: twenty
candlesticks of the like.
"Twelve fine large table cloths, of damask and diaper.
Twenty dozen of napkins suitable at the least. Three dozen
of fair large towels; whereof the Gentleman Sewers, and
Butlers of the House, to have every of them one at mealtimes,
during their attendance. Likewise to provide carving knives;
twenty dozen of white cups and green potts: a carving table;
torches; bread, beer, and ale. And the chief of the Butlers
was to give attendance on the highest table in the Hall, with
wine, ale and beer: and all the other Butlers to attend at the
other tables in like sort.
"The cupboard of plate is to remain in the Hall on Christmas
Day, St. Stephen's Day and New Year's Day, from breakfast
time ended untill after supper. Upon the banquetting night it
was removed into the buttry; which in all respects was very
laudably performed.
"The office of the Constable Marshall to provide for his
employment, a fair gilt compleat harneys, with a nest of
fethers in the helm; a fair pole-axe to bear in his hand,
to be chevalrously ordered on Christmas Day and other days,
as afterwards is shewed; touching the ordering and settling
of all which ceremonies, during the said Grand Christmas, a
solemn consultation was held at their Parliament in this house;
in the form following:
"First, at the Parliament kept in their Parliament Chamber
in this House, on the even at night of St. Thomas the Apostle,
officers are to attend, according as they had been long before
that time, at a former Parliament named and elected to undergo
several offices for this time of solemnity, honour, and pleasance;
of which officers these are the most eminent; namely, the
Steward, Marshall, Constable Marshall, Butler and Master of
the Game. These officers are made known and elected in
Trinity Term next before; and to have knowledg thereof
by letters, in the country, to the end they may prepare themselves
against All-Hallow-tide; that, if such nominated officers
happen to fail, others may then be chosen in their rooms. The
other officers are appointed at other times nearer Christmas Day.
"If the Steward, or any of the said officers named in Trinity
Term, refuse or fail, he or they were fined every one, at the discretion
of the Bench; and the officers aforenamed agreed upon.
And at such a Parliament, if it be fully resolved to proceed with
such a Grand Christmas, then the two youngest Butlers must
light two torches, and go before the Bench to the upper end of
the Hall; who being set down, the antientest Bencher delivereth
a speech briefly, to the whole society of Gentlemen then present,
touching their consent as afore: which ended, the eldest Butler
is to publish all the officers' names, appointed in Parliament;
and then in token of joy and good-liking, the Bench and Company
pass beneath the harth, and sing a carol, and so to boyer.
"Christmas Eve.—The Marshall at dinner is to place at the
highest table's end, and next to the Library, all on one side
thereof, the most antient persons in the company present: the
Dean of the Chappel next to him; then an antient or Bencher,
beneath him. At the other end of the table, the Sewer, Cup-bearer,
and Carver. At the upper end of the bench-table, the
King's Serjeant and Chief Butler; and when the Steward hath
served in, and set on the table the first mess, then he is also to
sit down.
"Also at the supper end of the other table, on the other side
of the Hall, are to be placed the three Masters of the Revels;
and at the lower end of the bench-table are to sit, the King's
Attorney, the Ranger of the Forest, and the Master of the
Game. And at the lower end of the table, on the other side
of the Hall, the fourth Master of the Revels, the Common
Serjeant, and Constable-Marshall. And at the upper end of
the Utter Barrister's table, the Marshal sitteth, when he hath
served in the first mess; the Clark of the Kitchen also, and the
Clark of the Sowce-tub, when they have done their offices in
the kitchen, sit down. And at the upper end of the Clark's
table, the Lieutenant of the Tower, and the attendant to the
Buttery are placed.
"At these two tables last rehersed, the persons they may sit
upon both sides of the table; but of the other three tables all
are to sit upon one side. And then the Butlers or Christmas
Servants, are first to cover the tables with fair linnen table-cloths;
and furnish them with salt-cellers, napkins, and
trenchers, and a silver spoon. And then the Butlers of the
House must place at the salt-celler, at every the said first three
highest tables, a stock of trenchers and bread; and at the other
tables, bread onely without trenchers.
"At the first course the minstrels must sound their instruments,
and go before; and the Steward and Marshall are next
to follow together; and after them the Gentleman Sewer;
and then cometh the meat. Those three officers are to make
altogether three solemn curtesies, at three several times, between
the skreen and the upper table; beginning with the first at the
end of the Bencher's table; the second at the midst; and the
third at the other end; and then standing by the Sewer
performeth his office.
"When the first table is set and served, the Steward's table
is next to be served. After him the Master's table of the
Revells; then that of the Master of the Game. The High
Constable-Marshall; then the Lieutenant of the Tower; then
the Utter Barrister's table; and lastly the Clerk's table; all
which time the musick must stand right above the harth side,
with the noise of their musick; their faces direct towards the
highest table; and that done, to return into the buttry, with
their music sounding.
"At the second course every table is to be served as at the
first course, in every respect; which performed the Servitors
and Musicians are to resort to the place assigned for them to
dine at; which is the Valects or Yeoman's table, beneath the
skreen. Dinner ended the musicians prepare to sing a song,
at the highest table: which ceremony accomplished, then the
officers are to address themselves every one in his office, to
avoid the tables in fair and decent manner, they beginning
at the Clerk's table; thence proceed to the next; and thence
to all the others till the highest table be solemnly avoided.
"Then, after a little repose, the persons at the highest table
arise and prepare to revells: in which time, the Butlers, and
other Servitors with them, are to dine in the Library.
"At both the doors in the hall are porters, to view the comers
in and out at meal times; to each of them is allowed a cast of
bread, and a caudle nightly after supper.
"At night before supper are revels and dancing, and so
also after supper during the twelve daies of Christmas. The
antientest Master of the Revels is, after dinner and supper, to
sing a caroll or song; and command other gentlemen then
there present to sing with him and the company; and so it
is very decently performed.
"A repast at dinner is 8d.
"Christmas Day.—Service in the Church ended, the Gentlemen
presently repair into the hall to breakfast, with brawn,
mustard and malmsey.
"At dinner, the Butler appointed for the Grand Christmas,
is to see the tables covered and furnished: and the Ordinary
Butlers of the House are decently to set bread, napkins, and
trenchers in good form, at every table; with spoones and knives.
"At the first course is served in a fair and large bore's-head,
upon a silver platter, with minstralsye. Two Gentlemen in
gowns are to attend at supper, and to bear two fair torches
of wax, next before the Musicians and Trumpetters, and to
stand above the fire with the musick till the first course be
served in through the Hall. Which performed, they, with
the musick, are to return into the buttery. The like course
is to be observed in all things, during the time of Christmas.
The like at supper.
"At service time, this evening, the two youngest Butlers are
to bear two torches Genealogia.
"A repast at dinner is 12d. which strangers of worth are
admitted to take in the Hall; and such are to be placed at the
discretion of the Marshall.
"St. Stephen's Day.—The Butler, appointed for Christmas,
is to see the tables covered, and furnished with salt-sellers,
napkins, bread, trenchers, and spoons. Young Gentlemen
of the House are to attend and serve till the latter dinner,
and then dine themselves.
"This day the Sewer, Carver, and Cup-bearer are to serve
as afore. After the first course served in, the Constable-Marshall
cometh into the Hall, arrayed with a fair rich
compleat harneys, white and bright, and gilt, with a nest of
fethers of all colours upon his crest or helm, and a gilt pole-axe
in his hand: to whom is associate the Lieutenant of the Tower,
armed with a fair white armour, a nest of fethers in his helm,
and a like pole-axe in his hand; and with them sixteen Trumpetters;
four drums and fifes going in rank before them; and
with them attendeth four men in white harneys, from the
middle upwards, and halberds in their hands, bearing on
their shoulders the Tower: which persons, with the drums,
trumpets and musick, go three times about the fire. Then the
Constable-Marshall, after two or three curtesies made, kneeleth
down before the Lord Chancellor; behind him the Lieutenant;
and they kneeling, the Constable-Marshall pronounceth an
oration of a quarter of an hour's length, therby declaring
the purpose of his coming; and that his purpose is to be
admitted into his Lordship's service.
"The Lord Chancellor saith, 'He will take further advice
therein.'
"Then the Constable-Marshall, standing up, in submissive
manner delivereth his naked sword to the Steward; who giveth
it to the Lord Chancellor: and thereupon the Lord Chancellor
willeth the Marshall to place the Constable-Marshall in his seat:
and so he doth, with the Lieutenant also in his seat or place.
During this ceremony the Tower is placed beneath the fire.
"Then cometh the Master of the Game, apparelled in green
velvet, and the Ranger of the Forest also, in a green suit of satten;
bearing in his hand a green bow and divers arrows, with either
of them a hunting horn about their necks; blowing together
three blasts of venery, they pace round about the fire three
times. Then the Master of the Game maketh three curtesies;
as aforesaid; and kneeleth down before the Lord Chancellor,
declaring the cause of his coming; and desireth to be admitted
into his service, &c. All this time the Ranger of the Forest
standeth directly behind him. Then the Master of the Game
standeth up.
"This ceremony also performed, a Huntsman cometh into the
Hall, with a fox and a purse-net; with a cat, both bound at the
end of a staff; and with them nine or ten couple of hounds,
with the blowing of hunting hornes. And the fox and cat are
by the hounds set upon, and killed beneath the fire. This sport
finished the Marshall placeth them in their several appointed
places.
"Then proceedeth the second course; which done, and
served out, the Common Serjeant delivereth a plausible
speech to the Lord Chancellour, and his company at the
highest table, how necessary a thing it is to have officers at
this present; the Constable-Marshall and Master of the Game,
for the better honour and reputation of the Commonwealth;
and wisheth them to be received, &c.
"Then the King's Serjeant at Law declareth and inferreth
the necessity; which heard the Lord Chancellor desireth
respite of farther advice. Then the antientest of the Masters
of the Revels singeth a song with the assistance of others there
present.
"At Supper the Hall is to be served in all solemnity, as upon
Christmas Day, both the first and second course to the highest
table. Supper ended the Constable-Marshall presenteth himself
with drums afore him, mounted upon a scaffold, born by
four men; and goeth three times round about the harthe, crying
out aloud, 'A Lord, a lord,' &c. Then he descendeth and goeth
to dance, &c. And after he calleth his Court every one by
name, one by one, in this manner:
"Sir Francis Flatterer of Fowlehurst, in the county of
Buckingham.
"Sir Randle Rakabite, of Rascall-Hall, in the county of Rakehell.
"Sir Morgan Mumchance, of Much Monkery, in the county of
Mad Mopery.
"Sir Bartholomew Baldbreech, of Buttocks-bury, in the county
of Brekeneck.
"This done the Lord of Misrule addresseth himself to the
banquet; which ended with some minstralsye, mirth and
dancing every man departeth to rest.
"At every mess is a pot of wine allowed.
"Every repast is 6d.
"St. John's Day.—About seaven of the clock in the morning,
the Lord of Misrule is abroad, and if he lack any officer or
attendant, he repaireth to their chambers, and compelleth them
to attend in person upon him after service in the church, to
breakfast, with brawn, mustard, and malmsey. After breakfast
ended, his Lordship's power is in suspense, until his personal
presence at night; and then his power is most potent.
"At dinner and supper is observed the diet and service performed
on St. Stephen's Day. After the second course served
in, the King's Serjeant, orator-like, declareth the disorder of the
Constable-Marshall, and of the Common-Serjeant: which complaint
is answered by the Common-Serjeant; who defendeth
himself and the Constable-Marshall with words of great efficacy.
Hereto the King's Serjeant replyeth. They rejoyn, &c., and
who so is found faulty is committed to the Tower, &c.
"If any officer be absent at dinner or supper times; if it be
complained of, he that sitteth in his place is adjudged to have
like punishment as the officer should have had being present:
and then withal he is enjoyned to supply the office of the true
absent officer, in all pointe. If any offendor escape from the
Lieutenant into the Buttery, and bring into the Hall a manchet
upon the point of a knife, he is pardoned: for the buttry in
that case is a sanctuary. After cheese served to the table not
any is commanded to sing.
"Childermas Day.—In the morning, as afore on Monday, the
Hall is served; saving that the Sewer, Carver, and Cup-bearer,
do not attend any service. Also like ceremony at supper.
"Thursday.—At breakfast, brawn, mustard, and malmsey. At
dinner, roast beef, venison-pasties, with like solemnities as afore.
And at supper, mutton and hens roasted.
"New Year's Day.—In the morning, breakfast as formerly.
At dinner like solemnity as on Christmas Eve.
"The Banquetting Night.—It is proper to the Butler's office,
to give warning to every House of Court, of this banquet; to
the end that they and the Innes of Chancery, be invited thereto
to see a play and mask. The hall is to be furnished with
scaffolds to sit on, for Ladies to behold the sports, on each
side. Which ended the ladyes are to be brought into the
Library, unto the Banquet there; and a table is to be covered
and furnished with all banquetting dishes, for the Lord Chancellor,
in the Hall; where he is to call to him the Ancients of
other Houses, as many as may be on the one side of the table.
The Banquet is to be served in by the Gentlemen of the House.
"The Marshall and Steward are to come before the Lord
Chancellour's mess. The Butlers for Christmas must serve wine;
and the Butlers of the House beer and ale, &c. When the
banquet is ended, then cometh into the Hall the Constable-Marshall,
fairly mounted on his mule; and deviseth some sport
for passing away the rest of the night.
"Twelf Day.—At breakfast, brawn, mustard, and malmsey,
after morning prayer ended. And at dinner, the Hall is to be
served as upon St. John's Day."
The performance of "Gorboduc" at the Inner Temple was
received with such great applause, and the services of Lord
Robert Dudley, first favourite of the Queen, so highly appreciated
at that particular "grand Christmasse," that Queen
Elizabeth commanded a repetition of the play about a fortnight
later, before herself, at her Court at Whitehall. A contemporary
MS. note (Cotton MSS., Vit. F. v.) says of
The Performance before the Queen,
that "on the 18th of January, 1562, there was a play in the
Queen's Hall at Westminster by the gentlemen of the Temple
after a great mask, for there was a great scaffold in the hall,
with great triumph as has been seen; and the morrow after,
the scaffold was taken down." An unauthorised edition of the
play was first published, in September of that year, by William
Griffith, a bookseller in St. Dunstan's Churchyard; but nine
years afterwards an authorised and "true copy" of the play
was published by John Day, of Aldersgate, the title being then
altered from "Gorboduc" (in which name the spurious edition
had been issued) to "Ferrex and Porrex." The title of this
edition set forth that the play was "without addition or alteration,
but altogether as the same was shewed on stage before
the Queen's Majestie, by the gentlemen of the Inner Temple."
The argument of the play was taken from Geoffrey of Monmouth's
"History of British Kings," and was a call to Englishmen
to cease from strife among themselves and become an united
people, obedient to one undisputed rule:—
"Within one land one single rule is best:
Divided reigns do make divided hearts;
But peace preserves the country and the prince."
It recalled the horrors of the civil wars, and forbade the like
again:—
"What princes slain before their timely hour!
What waste of towns and people in the land!
What treasons heap'd on murders and on spoils!
Whose just revenge e'en yet is scarcely ceas'd:
Ruthful remembrance is yet raw in mind.
The gods forbid the like to chance again."
A good description of the play, with copious extracts, is published
in Morley's "English Plays," from which it also appears
that "Queen Mary's expenditure on players and musicians had
been between two and three thousand pounds a year in salaries.
Elizabeth reduced this establishment, but still paid salaries
to interlude players and musicians, to a keeper of bears and
mastiffs, as well as to the gentlemen and children of the chapel.
The Master of the Children had a salary of forty pounds a year;
the children had largesse at high feasts, and when additional
use was made of their services; and each Gentleman of the
Chapel had nineteenpence a day, with board and clothing.
The Master of the Chapel who at this time had the training
of the children was Richard Edwards, who had written lighter
pieces for them to act before her Majesty, and now applied his
skill to the writing of English comedies, and teaching his boys
to act them for the pleasure of the Queen. The new form of
entertainment made its way at Court and through the country."
the fool of the old play
(From a print by Bruegel.)At this period
The Christmas Revels at the Inns of Court
were observed with much zest and jollity. Sandys (writing in
1833 of Elizabeth's time) says:—
"The order of the usual Christmas amusements at the Inns
of Court at this period would cause some curious scenes if
carried into effect in the present day. Barristers singing and
dancing before the judges, serjeants and benchers, would
'draw a house' if spectators were admitted. Of so serious
import was this dancing considered, that by an order in
Lincoln's Inn of February, 7th James I., the under barristers
were by decimation put out of commons because the whole
bar offended by not dancing on Candlemas Day preceding,
according to the ancient order of the society, when the judges
were present; with a threat that if the fault were repeated, they
should be fined or disbarred."
Sir William Dugdale makes the following reference to
The Christmas Revels of the Inner Temple:—
"First, the solemn Revells (after dinner, and the play ended,)
are begun by the whole House, Judges, Sergeants at Law,
Benchers; the Utter and Inner Barr; and they led by the Master
of the Revells: and one of the Gentlemen of the Utter Barr are
chosen to sing a song to the Judges, Serjeants, or Masters of
the Bench; which is usually performed; and in default thereof,
there may be an amerciament. Then the Judges and Benchers
take their places, and sit down at the upper end of the Hall.
Which done, the Utter-Barristers and Inner-Barristers, perform a
second solemn Revell before them. Which ended, the Utter-Barristers
take their places and sit down. Some of the Gentlemen
of the Inner-Barr, do present the House with dancing,
which is called the Post Revells, and continue their Dances, till
the Judges or Bench think meet to rise and depart."
The Hard Frost of 1564
gave the citizens of London an opportunity of keeping
Christmas on the ice. An old chronicler says: "From
21st December, 1564, a hard frost prevailed, and on new
year's eve, people went over and alongst the Thames on the ise
from London Bridge to Westminster. Some plaied at the football
as boldlie there, as if it had been on the drie land; divers
of the Court, being then at Westminster shot dailie at prickes
set upon the Thames, and tradition says, Queen Elizabeth
herself walked upon the ise. The people both men and
women, went on the Thames in greater numbers than in any
street of the City of London. On the third daie of January,
1565, at night it began to thaw, and on the fifth there was no
ise to be seene between London Bridge and Lambeth, which
sudden thaw caused great floods, and high waters, that bore
downe bridges and houses and drowned Manie people in
England."
How Queen Elizabeth went to Worship, Christmas, 1565.
Nichols[55] gives the following particular account of Queen
Elizabeth's attendance at Divine worship, at the "Chappell of
Whitehall, Westminster," Christmas Eve and Christmas Day,
1565:—
"Item, on Monday, the 24th of December, the Officers of
Arms being there present, the Queen's Majesty came to the
evening prayer, the sword borne by the Earle of Warwick, her
trayn borne by the Lady Strange.
"Item, on Christmas Day her Majesty came to service very
richly apparelled in a gown of purple velvet embroidered with
silver very richly set with stones, with a rich collar set with
stones; the Earl of Warwick bare the sword, the Lady Strange
the trayn. After the Creed, the Queene's Majesty went down to
the offering, and having a short forme with a carpet, and a
cushion laid by a gentleman usher, the ... taken by the
Lord Chamberlain, her Majesty kneeled down, her offering
given her by the Marquis of Northampton; after which she
went into her traverse, where she abode till the time of the
communion, and then came forth, and kneeled down at the
cushion and carpet aforesaid; the Gentlemen Ushers delivered
the towel to the Lord Chamberlain, who delivered the same to
be holden by the Earl of Sussex on the right hand, and the
Earl of Leicester on the left hand; the Bishop of Rochester
served the Queen both of wine and bread; then the Queen
went into the traverse again; and the Ladie Cicilie, wife of the
Marquis of Baden, came out of the traverse, and kneeled at
the place where the Queen kneeled, but she had no cushion,
but one to kneel on; after she had received she returned to the
traverse again; then the Archbishop of Canterbury and the
Lord Chamberlain received the Communion with the Mother of
the Maids; after which the service proceeded to the end, and
the Queen returned again to the Chamber of presence strait,
and not the closet. Her Majesty dined not abroad; the said
Officers of Arms had a mess of meat of seven dishes, with
bread, beer, ale, and wine."
Royal Christmases at Hampton Court.
In 1568, the Earl of Shrewsbury, writing from Hampton
Court to his countess, says, "The Plage is disposed far abrode
in London, so that the Queene kepes hur Kyrsomas her, and
goth not to Grenwych as it was mete." Meet or not, Elizabeth
kept many Christmases at Hampton Court, banqueting,
dancing, and dicing—the last being a favourite amusement
with her, because she generally won, thanks to her dice being
so loaded as to throw up the higher numbers. Writing from
Hampton Court at Christmas, 1572, Sir Thomas Smith says:
"If ye would what we do here, we play at tables, dance, and
keep Christmasse."
Queen Elizabeth's Singers and Players.
The Christmas entertainments of Queen Elizabeth were
enlivened by the beautiful singing of the children of her
Majesty's Chapel. From the notes to Gascoigne's Princely
Pleasures (1821) it appears that Queen Elizabeth retained on
her Royal establishment four sets of singing boys; which
belonged to the Cathedral of St. Paul, the Abbey of Westminster,
St. George's Chapel, Windsor, and the Household
Chapel. For the support and reinforcement of her musical
bands, Elizabeth, like the other English Sovereigns, issued
warrants for taking "up suche apt and meete children, as are fitt
to be instructed and framed in the Art and Science of Musicke
and Singing." Thomas Tusser, the well-known author of "Five
Hundreth Points of Good Husbandrye," was in his youth a
choir boy of St. Paul's. Nor is it astonishing, that although
masses had ceased to be performed, the Queen should yet
endeavour to preserve sacred melody in a high state of perfection;
since, according to Burney, she was herself greatly
skilled in musical learning. "If her Majesty," says that
eminent author, "was ever able to execute any of the pieces
that are preserved in a MS. which goes under the name of
Queen Elizabeth's Virginal-book, she must have been a very
great player, as some of the pieces which were composed by
Tallis, Bird, Giles, Farnaby, Dr. Bull, and others, are so difficult
that it would be hardly possible to find a master in Europe who
would undertake to play any of them at the end of a month's
practice."[56] But the children of the chapel were also employed
in the theatrical exhibitions represented at Court, for which
their musical education had peculiarly qualified them. Richard
Edwards, an eminent poet and musician of the sixteenth
century, had written two comedies; Damon and Pythias, and
Palemon and Arcite, which, according to Wood, were often
acted before the Queen, both at Court and at Oxford.
the acting of one of shakespeare's plays.
in the time of queen elizabeth.
(By permission, from Messr Cassell & Cos "Illustrated History
of England")With the latter of these Queen Elizabeth was so much delighted that
she promised Edwards a reward, which she subsequently gave
him by making him first Gentleman of her Chapel, and in 1561
Master of the Children on the death of Richard Bowyer. As
the Queen was particularly attached to dramatic entertainments,
about 1569 she formed the children of the Royal Chapel into a
company of theatrical performers, and placed them under the
superintendence of Edwards. Not long after she formed a
second society of players under the title of the "Children of the
Revels," and by these two companies all Lyly's plays, and many
of Shakespeare's and Jonson's, were first performed. Jonson
has celebrated one of the chapel children, named Salathiel
Pavy, who was famous for his performance of old men, but
who died about 1601, under the age of thirteen. In his
beautiful epitaph of Pavy, Jonson says:—
"'Twas a child that did so thrive
In grace and feature,
As heaven and nature seem'd to strive
Which own'd the creature.
Years he number'd scarce thirteen
When fates turn'd cruel,
Yet three fill'd Zodiacs had he been
The stage's jewel;
And did act, what now we moan.
Old men so duly,
That the Parcœ thought him one
He played so truly."
The Shakespearian period had its grand Christmases, for
The Christmas Players
at the Court of Queen Elizabeth included England's greatest
dramatist, William Shakespeare; and the Queen not only took
delight in witnessing Shakespeare's plays, but also admired the
poet as a player. The histrionic ability of Shakespeare was by
no means contemptible, though probably not such as to have
transmitted his name to posterity had he confined himself
exclusively to acting. Rowe informs us that "the tip-top of
his performances was the ghost in his own Hamlet;" but
Aubrey states that he "did act exceedingly well"; and Cheetle,
a contemporary of the poet, who had seen him perform, assures
us that he was "excellent in the quality he professed." An
anecdote is preserved in connection with Shakespeare's playing
before Queen Elizabeth. While he was taking the part of a
king, in the presence of the Queen, Elizabeth rose, and, in
crossing the stage, dropped her glove as she passed the poet.
No notice was taken by him of the incident; and the Queen,
desirous of finding out whether this was the result of inadvertence,
or a determination to preserve the consistency of
his part, moved again towards him, and again dropped her
glove. Shakespeare then stooped down to pick it up, saying,
in the character of the monarch whom he was playing—
"And though now bent on this high embassy,
Yet stoop we to take up our cousin's glove."
He then retired and presented the glove to the Queen, who was
highly pleased with his courtly performance.
Grand Christmas at Gray's Inn.
In 1594 there was a celebrated Christmas at Gray's Inn, of
which an account was published in 1688 under the following
title:—
"Gesta Grayorum: or the History of the High and Mighty
Prince, Henry Prince of Purpoole, Arch-Duke of Stapulia and
Bernardia, Duke of High and Nether Holborn, Marquis of St.
Giles and Tottenham, Count Palatine of Bloomsbury and
Clerkenwell, Great Lord of the Cantons of Islington, Kentish-Town,
Paddington, and Knights-bridge, Knight of the most
Heroical Order of the Helmet, and Sovereign of the same;
Who Reigned and Died, a.d. 1594. Together with a Masque,
as it was presented (by his Highness's Command) for the entertainment
of Q. Elizabeth; who, with the Nobles of both Courts,
was present thereat. London, Printed for W. Canning, at his
shop in the Temple-Cloysters, MDCLXXXVIII. Price one
shilling." 4to nine sheets, dedicated "To the most honourable
Matthew Smyth, Esq., Comptroller of the honourable society of
the Inner Temple."
The Prince of Purpoole was Mr. Henry Helmes, a Norfolk
gentleman, "who was thought to be accomplished with all good
parts, fit for so great a dignity; and was also a very proper man
of personage, and very active in dancing and revelling." His
coffers were filled by voluntary contributors, amongst whom the
lord treasurer, Sir William Cecil, sent him ten pounds, and a
purse of rich needlework.
The performers were highly applauded by Queen Elizabeth,
who expressed satisfaction in her own peculiar style. When
the actors had performed their Masque, some of her Majesty's
courtiers danced a measure, whereupon the Queen exclaimed:
"What! shall we have bread and cheese after a banquet?"
Finally the Prince and his Officers of State were honoured by
kissing her fair hands, and receiving the most flattering commendations.
The whole amusement terminated in fighting at
barriers; the Earl of Essex, and others, challengers; the Earl
of Cumberland and company defendants, "into which number,"
says the narrator, "our Prince was taken, and behaved himself
so valiantly and skilfully therein, that he had the prize adjudged
due unto him, which it pleased her Majesty to deliver him with
her own hands; telling him, that it was not her gift, for if it
had, it should have been better; but she gave it to him, as that
prize which was due to his desert, and good behaviour in those
exercises; and that hereafter he should be remembered with a
better reward from herself. The prize was a jewel, set with
seventeen diamonds and four rubies; in value accounted worth
a hundred marks."
The following is the Gray's Inn list of performers, which
included some gentlemen who were afterwards "distinguished
members in the law."
[From "Gesta Grayorum," page 6.]
"The order of the Prince of Purpoole's proceedings, with his
officers and attendants at his honourable inthronization; which
was likewise observed in all his solemn marches on grand days,
and like occasions; which place every officer did duly attend,
during the reign of his highness's government.
A Marshal. |
|
 |
A Marshal. |
Trumpets. |
Trumpets. |
Pursuevant at Arms |
Lanye. |
Townsmen in the Prince's Livery with Halberts |
|
|
Yeomen of the Guard
three couples. |
Captain of the Guard |
Grimes. |
Baron of the Grand Port |
Dudley. |
Baron of the Base Port |
Grante. |
| Gentlemen for Entertainment, three couples |
Binge, &c. |
| Baron of the Petty Port |
Williams. |
| Baron of the New Port |
Lovel. |
| Gentlemen for Entertainment, three couples |
|
Wentworth. |
| Zukenden. |
| Forrest. |
| Lieutenant of the Pensioners |
Tonstal. |
| Gentlemen Pensioners, twelve couples, viz.: |
| Lawson. |
|
|
Rotts. |
|
|
Davison. |
| Devereux. |
Anderson. |
|
| Stapleton. |
Glascott. |
|
| Daniel. |
Elken. |
cum reliquis. |
| Chief Ranger and Master of the Game |
Forrest. |
| Master of the Revels |
Lambert. |
| Master of the Revellers |
Tevery. |
| Captain of the Pensioners |
Cooke. |
| Sewer |
Archer. |
| Carver |
Moseley. |
| Another Sewer |
Drewery. |
| Cup-bearer |
Painter. |
| Groom-porter |
Bennet. |
| Sheriff |
Leach. |
| Clerk of the Council |
Jones. |
| Clerk of the Parliament. |
|
| Clerk of the Crown |
Downes. |
| Orator |
Heke. |
| Recorder |
Starkey. |
| Solicitor |
Dunne. |
| Serjeant |
Goldsmith. |
| Speaker of the Parliament |
Bellen. |
| Commissary |
Greenwood. |
| Attorney |
Holt. |
| Serjeant |
Hitchcombe. |
| Master of the Requests |
Faldo. |
| Chanplayersor of the Exchequer |
Kitts. |
| Master of the Wards and Idiots |
Ellis. |
| Reader |
Cobb. |
| Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer |
Briggs. |
| Master of the Rolls |
Hetlen. |
| Lord Chief Baron of the Common Pleas |
Damporte. |
| Lord Chief Justice of the Princes Bench |
Crew. |
| Master of the Ordnance |
Fitz-Williams. |
| Lieutenant of the Tower |
Lloyd. |
| Master of the Jewel-house |
Darlen. |
| Treasurer of the House-hold |
Smith. |
| Knight Marshal |
Bell. |
| Master of the Ward-robe |
Conney. |
| Comptroller of the House-hold |
Bouthe. |
| Bishop of St. Giles's in the Fie |
Dandye. |
| Steward of the House-hold |
Smith. |
| Lord Warden of the four Ports |
Damporte. |
| Secretary of State |
Jones. |
| Lord Admiral |
Cecil (Richard). |
| Lord Treasurer |
Morrey. |
| Lord Great Chamberlain |
Southworth. |
| Lord High Constable. |
|
| Lord Privy Seal |
Knapolck. |
| Lord Marshal |
Lamphew. |
| Lord MarshalLord Chamberlain of the House-hold |
Markham. |
| Lord High Steward |
Kempe. |
| Lord Chancellor |
Johnson. |
| Archbishop of St. Andrews in Holborn |
Bush. |
| Serjeant at Arms, with the Mace |
Flemming. |
| Gentleman-Usher |
Chevett. |
| The Shield of Pegasus, for the Inner-Temple |
Scevington. |
| Serjeant at Arms, with the Sword |
Glascott. |
| Gentleman-Usher |
Paylor. |
| The Shield of the Griffin, for Gray's-Inn |
Wickliffe. |
| The King at Arms |
Perkinson. |
| The great Shield of the Prince's Arms |
Cobley. |
| The Prince of Purpoole |
Helmes. |
| A Page of Honour |
Wandforde. |
| Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber, six couples. |
|
| A Page of Honour |
Butler (Roger). |
| Vice-Chamberlain |
Butler (Thomas). |
| Master of the Horse |
Fitz-Hugh. |
| Yeomen of the Guard, three couples. |
|
| Townsmen in Liveries. |
|
| The Family and Followers." |
Christmas's Lamentation
is the subject of an old song preserved in the Roxburgh Collection
of Ballads in the British Museum. The full title is:
"Christmas's Lamentation for the losse of his acquaintance;
showing how he is forst to leave the country and come to
London." It appears to have been published at the end of the
sixteenth or the beginning of the seventeenth century. The
burden of the song is that Christmas "charity from the country
is fled," and the first verse will sufficiently indicate the style of
the writing:—
Christmas is my name, far have I gone,
Have I gone, have I gone, have I gone, without regard,
Whereas great men by flocks there be flown,
There be flown, there be flown, there be flown, to London-ward;
Where they in pomp and pleasure do waste
That which Christmas was wonted to feast, Welladay!
Houses where music was wont for to ring
Nothing but bats and owlets do sing.
Welladay! Welladay! Welladay! where should I stay?
Old Christmas Returned
is the title of a lively Christmas ditty which is a kind of reply
to the preceding ballad. It is preserved in the collection formed
by Samuel Pepys, some time Secretary to the Admiralty, and
author of the famous diary, and by him bequeathed to Magdalene
College, Cambridge. The full title and first verse of the
old song are as follows:—
"Old Christmas returned, or Hospitality revived; being a
Looking-glass for Rich Misers, wherein they may see (if they
be not blind) how much they are to blame for their penurious
house-keeping, and likewise an encouragement to those noble-minded
gentry, who lay out a great part of their estates in
hospitality, relieving such persons as have need thereof:
'Who feasts the poor, a true reward shall find,
Or helps the old, the feeble, lame, and blind.'"
"All you that to feasting and mirth are inclined,
Come, here is good news for to pleasure your mind;
Old Christmas is come for to keep open house,
He scorns to be guilty of starving a mouse;
Then come, boys, and welcome, for diet the chief,
Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minc'd pies, and roast beef."
Christmas-Keeping in the Country
was revived in accordance with the commands of Queen Elizabeth,
who listened sympathetically to the "Lamentations" of her
lowlier subjects. Their complaint was that the royal and public
pageants at Christmastide allured to the metropolis many country
gentlemen, who, neglecting the comforts of their dependents in
the country at this season, dissipated in town part of their means
for assisting them, and incapacitated themselves from continuing
that hospitality for which the country had been so long noted.
In order to check this practice, the gentlemen of Norfolk and
Suffolk were commanded by Queen Elizabeth to depart from
London before Christmas, and "to repair to their counties, and
there to keep hospitality amongst their neighbours." The
presence of the higher classes was needed among the country
people to give that assistance which was quaintly recommended
by Tusser in his "Hundreth good Points of Husbandrie":
"At Christmas be mery, and thanke God of all:
And feast thy pore neighbours, the great with the small.
Yea al the yere long have an eie to the poore:
And God shall sende luck to kepe open thy doore."
Henry Lord Berkeley, who had a seat in Warwickshire,
appears to have set a good example in this respect to the
noblemen of the period, for, according to Dugdale, "the greatest
part of this lord's abydinge after his mother's death, happenynge
in the sixth yeare of Queen Elizabeth, was at Callowdon, till his
own death in the eleventh of Kinge James, from whence, once
in two or three yeares, hee used in July to come to Berkeley."
The historic house of Berkeley essentially belongs to Gloucestershire;
but on the death of Edward VI., Henry Lord Berkeley,
With a good old fashion,
when when Christmas was come,
To call in all his old neighbours with bagpipe and drum.
by descent from the Mowbrays and the Segraves, became
possessed of the ancient Manor and castellated mansion of
Caludon, near Coventry, where he lived in splendour, and kept
a grand retinue, being profuse in his hospitalities at Christmas,
as well as in his alms to the poor throughout the year. "As
touchinge the Almes to the poore of 5 & six country p'ishes &
villages hard adjoyninge to Callowdon were relieved, with each
of them a neepe of holsome pottage, with a peece of beoffe or
mutton therin, halfe a cheate loafe, & a kan of beere, besides
the private Almes that dayly went out of his purse never without
eight or ten shillings in single money of ijd iijd & groates, &
besides his Maundy & Thursday before Ester day, wherein
many poore men and women were clothed by the liberality of
this lord and his first wife, whilest they lived; and besides
twenty markes, or twenty pound, or more, which thrice each
yeare, against the feaste of Christmas, Ester, and Whitsontide,
was sent by this Lord to two or three of the chiefest Inhabitants
of these villages, and of Gosford Street at Coventry, to bee distributed
amongst the poore accordinge to their discretions.
Such was the humanity of this Lord, that in tymes of Christmas
and other festyvalls, when his neighbor townships were invited
and feasted in his Hall, hee would, in the midst of their dynner,
ryse from his owne, & goynge to each of their tables in his Hall,
cheerfully bid them welcome. And his further order was, having
guests of Honour or remarkable ranke that filled his owne table,
to seate himselfe at the lower end; and when such guests filled
but half his bord, & a meaner degree the rest of his table, then
to seate himselfe the last of the first ranke, & the first of the
later, which was about the midst of his large tables, neare the
salt."
Another home of Christmas hospitality in the days of "Good
Queen Bess" was Penshurst in Kent, the birthplace of the distinguished
and chivalrous Sir Philip Sidney. "All who enjoyed
the hospitality of Penshurst," says Mills's History of Chivalry,
"were equal in consideration of the host; there were no odious
distinctions of rank or fortune; 'the dishes did not grow coarser
as they receded from the head of the table,' and no huge salt-cellar
divided the noble from the ignoble guests." That hospitality
was the honourable distinction of the Sidney family in
general is also evident from Ben Jonson's lines on Penshurst:
"Whose liberal board doth flow
With all that hospitality doth know!
Where comes no guest but is allow'd to eat,
Without his fear, and of thy Lord's own meat
Where the same beer and bread, and self-same wine,
That is His Lordship's, shall be also mine."[57]
A reviewer of "The Sidneys of Penshurst," by Philip Sidney,
says there is a tradition that the Black Prince and his Fair Maid
of Kent once spent their Christmastide at Penshurst, whose
banqueting hall, one of the finest in England, dates back to
that age of chivalry. At Penshurst Spenser wrote part of his
"Shepherd's Calendar," and Ben Jonson drank and rhymed and
revelled in this stateliest of English manor houses.
christmas in the hall.
"A man might then behold,
At Christmas, in each hall,
Good fires to curb the cold,
And meat for great and small."
Queen Elizabeth died on March 23, 1603, after nominating
James VI. of Scotland as her successor, and
The Accession of King James,
as James I. of England, united the crowns of England and
Scotland, which had been the aim of Mary Queen of Scots
before her death.
(1603-1625.)
Court Masques.
The Court entertainments of Christmastide in the reign of
James the First consisted chiefly of the magnificent masques of
Ben Jonson and others, who, by their training in the preceding
reign, had acquired a mastery of the dramatic art. The
company to which Shakespeare belonged (that of Lord
Chamberlain's players) became the King's players on the
accession of James, and several of Shakespeare's plays were
produced at Court. But very early in this reign plays gave
place to the more costly and elaborate entertainments called
masques, but which were very different from the dumb-show
masques of Elizabeth's reign, the masquerades of Henry the
Eighth, and the low-buffoonery masques of earlier times. At
the Court of James thousands of pounds were sometimes
expended on the production of a single masque. To the aid
of poetry, composed by poets of the first rank, came the most
skilful musicians and the most ingenious machinists. Inigo
Jones, who became architect to the Court in 1606, shared
honours with Ben Jonson in the production of the Court
masques, as did also Henry Lawes, the eminent musician.
In some of the masques the devices of attire were the work of
"Master Jones," as well as the invention and the architecture
of the whole of the scenery. D'Israeli[58] says:—"That the
moveable scenery of these masques formed as perfect a scenical
illusion as any that our own age, with all its perfection and
decoration, has attained to, will not be denied by those who
have read the few masques that have been printed. They
usually contrived a double division of the scene; one part was
for some time concealed from the spectator, which produced
surprise and variety. Thus in the Lord's Masque, at the
marriage of the Palatine, the scene was divided into two parts
from the roof to the floor; the lower part being first discovered,
there appeared a wood in perspective, the innermost part being
of "releeve or whole round," the rest painted. On the left a
cave, and on the right a thicket from which issued Orpheus.
At the back of the scene, at the sudden fall of a curtain, the
upper part broke on the spectators, a heaven of clouds of all
hues; the stars suddenly vanished, the clouds dispersed; an
element of artificial fire played about the house of Prometheus—a
bright and transparent cloud reaching from the heavens to
the earth, whence the eight maskers descended with the music
of a full song; and at the end of their descent the cloud broke
in twain, and one part of it, as with a wind, was blown athwart
the scene. While this cloud was vanishing, the wood, being
the under part of the scene, was insensibly changing: a perspective
view opened, with porticoes on each side, and female
statues of silver, accompanied with ornaments of architecture,
filled the end of the house of Prometheus, and seemed all of
goldsmith's work. The women of Prometheus descended from
their niches till the anger of Jupiter turned them again into
statues. It is evident, too, that the size of the procenium
accorded with the magnificence of the scene; for I find
choruses described, 'and changeable conveyances of the song,'
in manner of an echo, performed by more than forty different
voices and instruments in various parts of the scene."
The masque, as Lord Bacon says, was composed for princes,
and by princes it was played. The King and Queen, Prince
Henry, and Prince Charles (afterwards Charles the First) all
appeared in Court masques, as did also the nobility and gentry
of the Court, foreign ambassadors, and other eminent personages.
In his notes to "The Masque of Queens," Ben Jonson refers
several times to "the King's Majesty's book (our sovereign) of
Demonology." The goat ridden was said to be often the devil
himself, but "of the green cock, we have no other ground (to
confess ingenuously) than a vulgar fable of a witch, that with a
cock of that colour, and a bottom of blue thread, would transport
herself through the air; and so escaped (at the time of her
being brought to execution) from the hand of justice. It was a
tale when I went to school."
That there was no lack of ability for carrying out the Court
commands in regard to the Christmas entertainments of this
period is evident from the company of eminent men who used
to meet at the "Mermaid." "Sir Walter Raleigh," says
Gifford,[59] "previously to his unfortunate engagement with the
wretched Cobham and others, had instituted a meeting of beaux
esprits at the Mermaid, a celebrated tavern in Friday Street.
Of this club, which combined more talent and genius, perhaps,
than ever met together before or since, Jonson was a member;
and here, for many years, he regularly repaired with Shakespeare,
Beaumont, Fletcher, Selden, Cotton, Carew, Martin,
Donne, and many others, whose names, even at this distant
period, call up a mingled feeling of reverence and respect."
Here, in the full flow and confidence of friendship, the lively
and interesting "wit-combats" took place between Shakespeare
and Jonson; and hither, in probable allusion to them, Beaumont
fondly lets his thoughts wander in his letter to Jonson
from the country.
"What things have we seen,
Done at the Mermaid? heard words that have been,
So nimble, and so full of subtle flame,
As if that every one from whom they came,
Had meant to put his whole wit in a jest," &c.
Masques, however, were not the only Christmas diversions of
royalty at this period, for James I. was very fond of hunting,
and Nichols[60] says that, in 1604, the King kept
A Royal Christmas at Royston,
at his new hunting seat there, and "between the 18th of
December and 22nd of January he there knighted Sir Richard
Hussey, of Salop; Sir Edward Bushell, of Gloucestershire; Sir
John Fenwick, of Northumberland; Sir John Huet, of London;
Sir Robert Jermyn, of Suffolk; Sir Isaac Jermyn, of Suffolk;
Sir John Rowse; Sir Thomas Muschamp, of Surrey. Mr.
Chamberlaine, in a letter to Mr. Winwood from London,
December 18th, says: 'The King came back from Royston on
Saturday; but so far from being weary or satisfyed with those
sports, that presently after the holy-days he makes reckoning to
be there againe, or, as some say, to go further towards Lincolnshire,
to a place called Ancaster Heath.'"
In this letter Mr. Chamberlaine also refers to
Other Court Amusements of Christmastide,
for, proceeding, he says:—
"In the meantime here is great provision for Cockpit, to
entertaine him at home, and of Masks and Revells against the
marriage of Sir Philip Herbert and the Lady Susan Vere, which
is to be celebrated on St. John's Day. The Queen hath likewise
a great Mask in hand against Twelfth-tide, for which
there was £3,000 delivered a month ago. Her brother, the
Duke of Holst, is here still, procuring a levy of men to carry
into Hungary. The Tragedy of 'Gowry,' with all the action
and actors, hath been twice represented by the King's Players,
with exceeding concourse of all sorts of people; but whether
the matter or manner be not well handled, or that it be thought
unfit that Princes should be played on the stage in their lifetime,
I hear that some great Councellors are much displeased
with it, and so 'tis thought shall be forbidden. And so wishing
a merry Christmas and many a good year to you and Mrs.
Winwood, I committ you to God. Yours, most assuredly,
John Chamberlaine."
"On the 26th of January, Mr. Chamberlaine writes thus to
Mr. Winwood: 'I doubt not but Dudley Carleton hath
acquainted you with all their Christmas-games at Court, for
he was a spectator of all the sports and shows. The King went
to Royston two days after Twelfth-tide, where and thereabout
he hath continued ever since, and finds such felicity in that
hunting life, that he hath written to the Councill that it is the
only means to maintain his health, which being the health and
welfare of us all, he desires them to take the charge and burden
of affairs, and foresee that he be not interrupted or troubled
with too much business.'"
Campion's Masque in honour of Lord Hayes and his bride
was presented before King James, at Whitehall, on Twelfth
Night, 1606; and in reference to the Christmas festivities at
Court the following year (1607), Mr. Chamberlaine, writing to
Sir D. Carleton, on the 5th of January, says:
"The Masque goes forward at Court for Twelfth-day, though
I doubt the New Room will be scant ready. All the Holidays
there were Plays; but with so little concourse of strangers, that
they say they wanted company. The King was very earnest to
have one on Christmas-night; but the Lords told him it was
not the fashion. Which answer pleased him not a whit; but
he said, 'What do you tell me of the fashion? I will make it a
fashion.' Yesterday he dined in the Presence in great pomp,
with two rich cupboards of plate, the one gold, the other that
of the House of Burgundy pawned to Queen Elizabeth by the
States of Brabant, and hath seldom been seen abroad, being
exceeding massy, fair, and sumptuous. I could learn no reason
of this extraordinary bravery, but that he would show himself in
glory to certain Scots that were never here before, as they say
there be many lately come, and that the Court is full of new
and strange faces. Yesterday there were to be shewn certain
rare fire-works contrived by a Dane, two Dutchmen, and Sir
Thomas Challoner, in concert."
On January 8th, another letter of Mr. Chamberlaine thus
refers to gaming at Court: "On the Twelfth-eve there was
great golden play at Court. No Gamester admitted that
brought not £300 at least. Montgomery played the King's
money, and won him £750, which he had for his labour. The
Lord Montegle lost the Queen £400. Sir Robert Cary, for the
Prince, £300; and the Earl Salisbury, £300; the Lord Buckhurst,
£500; et sic de cæteris. So that I heard of no winner but
the King and Sir Francis Wolley, who got above £800. The
King went a hawking-journey yesterday to Theobalds and
returns to-morrow.
"Above Westminster the Thames is quite frozen over; and
the Archbishop came from Lambeth, on Twelfth-day, over the
ice to Court. Many fanciful experiments are daily put in
practice; as certain youths burnt a gallon of wine upon the ice,
and made all the passengers partakers. But the best is, of an
honest woman (they say) that had a great longing to encrease
her family on the Thames" (Nichols's "Progresses").
The Reign of James I.'s Favourites
dates from Christmas Day, 1607, when he knighted Robert
Carr, or Ker, a young border Scot of the Kers of Fernihurst,
the first of the favourites who ruled both the King and the
kingdom. Carr had been some years in France, and being
a handsome youth—"straight-limbed, well-formed, strong-shouldered,
and smooth-faced"—he had been led to believe
that if he cultivated his personal appearance and a courtliness
of address, he was sure of making his fortune at the Court of
James. "Accordingly he managed to appear as page to Lord
Dingwall at a grand tilting match at Westminster, in 1606.
According to chivalric usage it became his duty to present his
lord's shield to his Majesty; but in manœuvring his horse on
the occasion it fell and broke his leg. That fall was his rise.
James was immediately struck with the beauty of the youth
who lay disabled at his feet, and had him straightway carried
into a house near Charing Cross, and sent his own surgeon to
him.... On Christmas Day, 1607, James knighted him and
made him a gentleman of the bedchamber, so as to have him
constantly about his person. Such was his favour that every
one pressed around him to obtain their suits with the King. He
received rich presents; the ladies courted his attention; the
greatest lords did him the most obsequious and disgusting
homage."[61] He afterwards formed that connection with Frances
Howard, Countess of Essex, which resulted in her divorce from
her husband, and, subsequently, on his marrying Lady Essex,
the King made him Earl of Somerset, that the lady might not
lose in rank. On the circumstances attending the murder of
Sir Thomas Overbury being brought to light, the complicity of
Somerset was thought to be involved in the ascertained guilt
of his wife. In May, 1616, the Countess was convicted; a
week later her husband shared her fate. After a long imprisonment
Somerset was pardoned, and ended his life in obscurity.
In this reign the Court revels and shows of Christmas were
imitated at the country seats of the nobility and gentry, and at
the Colleges of Oxford and Cambridge. An account has been
preserved of one of the most remarkable exhibitions of this
kind, entitled—
"the christmas prince."
It took place in the year 1607, at St. John's College, Oxford,
and the authentic account was published from the original
manuscript, in 1816, by Robert Tripbook, of 23, Old Bond
Street, London: "To the President, Fellows, and Scholars of
St. John Baptist College, in the University of Oxford, this
curious Record of an ancient custom in their Society, is respectfully
inscribed by the Publisher." Of the authenticity of this
description the Publisher says "no doubt can possibly exist, it
was written by an eye-witness of, and performer in, the sports;
and is now printed, for the first time, from the original manuscript
preserved in the College Library.
"From the Boy Bishop, the Christmas Prince may be supposed
to derive his origin. Whilst the former was bearing
sway in the ecclesiastical foundations, the latter was elected to
celebrate the festivities of Christmas in the King's palace, at the
seats of the nobility, at the universities, and in the Inns of Court.
The custom prevailed till the ascendancy of the Puritans during
the civil war; and some idea of the expense, and general
support it received, may be formed from the account of the
Gray's Inn Prince and an extract from one of the Strafford
Papers. The latter is from a letter written by the Rev. G.
Garrard to the Earl of Strafford, dated Jan. 8, 1635: 'The
Middle Temple House have set up a prince, who carries himself
in great state; one Mr. Vivian a Cornish gentleman, whose
father Sir Francis Vivian was fined in the Star-Chamber about
a castle he held in Cornwall, about three years since. He hath
all his great officers attending him, lord keeper, lord treasurer,
eight white staves at the least, captain of his pensioners, captain
of his guard, two chaplains, who on Sunday last preached
before him, and in the pulpit made three low legs to his
excellency before they began, which is much laughed at. My
lord chamberlain lent him two fair cloths of state, one hung up
in the hall under which he dines, the other in his privy
chamber; he is served on the knee, and all that come to see
him kiss his hand on their knee. My lord of Salisbury hath
sent him pole-axes for his pensioners. He sent to my lord of
Holland, his justice in Eyre, for venison, which he willingly
sends him; to the lord mayor and sheriffs of London for wine,
all obey. Twelfth-day was a great day, going to the chapel
many petitions were delivered him, which he gave to his
masters of the requests. He hath a favourite, whom with some
others, gentlemen of great quality, he knighted at his return
from church, and dined in great state; at the going out of the
chambers into the garden, when he drank the King's health, the
glass being at his mouth he let it fall, which much defaced his
purple satten suit, for so he was clothed that day, having a
cloak of the same down to his foot, for he mourns for his father
who lately died. It cost this prince £2,000 out of his own
purse. I hear of no other design, but that all this is done to
make them fit to give the prince elector a royal entertainment
with masks, dancings, and some other exercises of wit, in
orations or arraignments, that day that they invite him.'
"The writer, or narrator, of the events connected with the
Christmas Prince of St. John's was Griffin Higgs, who was
descended of a respectable and opulent family in Gloucestershire,
though he was himself born at Stoke Abbat, near Henley
on Thames, in 1589. He was educated at St. John's, and
thence, in 1611, elected fellow of Merton college, where he
distinguished himself, in the execution of the procuratorial
duties, as a man of great courage, though, says Wood, of little
stature. In 1627 he was appointed chaplain to the Queen of
Bohemia, by her brother Charles the First, and during his
absence, in the performance of his duties, was created a doctor
of divinity at Leyden by the learned Andrew Rivet. He
returned, after a residence abroad of about twelve years, when
he had the valuable rectory of Clive or Cliff, near Dover, and
shortly after the deanery of Lichfield, conferred upon him.
During the civil wars he was a sufferer for the royal cause, and,
losing his preferment, retired to the place of his birth, where he
died in the year 1659, and was buried in the chancel of the
church of South Stoke.
"Thomas Tucker, the elected Prince, was born in London,
in 1586, entered at St. John's in 1601, became fellow of that
house and took holy orders. He afterwards had the vicarage
of Pipping-burge, or Pemberge, in Kent, and the rectory of
Portshead, near Bristol, and finally obtained the third stall in
the cathedral church of Bristol, in which he was succeeded,
August 25, 1660, by Richard Standfast."
The following explanation is given of "the apparently
strange titles of the Prince of St. John's: 'The most magnificent
and renowned Thomas, by the favour of Fortune, Prince
of Alba Fortunata, Lord St. Johns, high Regent of the Hall,
Duke of St. Giles, Marquis of Magdalens, Landgrave of the
Grove, County Palatine of the Cloisters, Chief Bailiff of the
Beaumonts, High Ruler of Rome, Master of the Manor of
Waltham, Governor of Gloucester Green, Sole Commander of
all Tilts,' &c. The Prince of Alba Fortunata alludes, as may be
readily conjectured, to the name of the founder, Sir Thomas
White; St. John's, and the Hall, are equally clear; Magdalens
is the parish in which a portion of the college stands, and a
part of which belongs to the society; the Grove and the
Cloisters are again parts of the home domain of the college;
Beaumonts is the name of a portion of land belonging to the
college, on which stands the ruin of the palace of Beaumonts,
built about the year 1128 by King Henry the First; Rome is a
piece of land so called, near to the end of the walk called
Non Ultra, on the north side of Oxford. The manor of
Waltham, or Walton, is situate in the north suburb of Oxford,
and is the property of the college, as is a considerable portion
of Gloucester-green, which though now better known as the
site of an extensive bridewell, was in 1607 literally a meadow,
and without any building more contiguous than Gloucester-hall,
from which house it derived its name."
Then follows "A true and faithfull relation of the rising and
fall of Thomas Tucker, Prince of Alba Fortunata, Lord St.
Johns, &c., with all the occurrents which happened throughout
his whole domination."
"It happened in the yeare of our Lord 1607, the 31 of
October, beinge All Sayntes Eve, that at night a fier was made
in the Hall of St. John Baptist's Colledge, in Oxon, accordinge to
the custome and statuts of the same place, at which time the
whole companye or most parte of the Students of the same
house mette together to beginne their Christmas, of which
some came to see sports, to witte the Seniors as well Graduates,
as Under-graduates. Others to make sports, viz., Studentes of
the seconde yeare, whom they call Poulderlings, others to make
sporte with all, of this last sorte were they whome they call
Fresh-menn, Punies of the first yeare, who are by no meanes
admitted to be agents or behoulders of those sports, before
themselves have been patient perfourmers of them. But (as it
often falleth out) the Freshmen or patients, thinkinge the
Poulderlings or Agentes too buysie and nimble, They them too
dull and backwarde in theyr duety, the standers by findinge
both of them too forwarde and violente, the sportes for that
night for feare of tumultes weare broken upp, everye mann
betakinge himself to his reste.
"The next night followinge, beinge the feast of All Sayntes,
at nighte they mett agayne together; And whereas it was
hoped a night's sleepe would have somewhat abated their rage,
it contraryewise sett a greater edge on theyr furye, they havinge
all this while but consulted how to gett more strength one
agaynst another, and consequently to breed newe quarrells and
contradictions, in so much that the strife and contentions of
youthes and children had like to have sett Men together by the
eares, to the utter annihilatinge of all Christmas sportes for the
whole yeare followinge.
"Wherfore for the avoydinge both the one, and the other,
some who studied the quiet of all, mentioned the choosinge of a
Christmas Lord, or Prince of the Revells, who should have
authorytie both to appoynt & moderate all such games, and
pastimes as should ensue, & to punishe all offenders which
should any way hinder or interrupte the free & quiet passage
of any antient & allowed sporte.
"This motion (for that the person of a Prince or Lorde of the
Revells had not been knowen amongst them for thirty yeares
before, and so consequentlye the danger, charge and trouble of
such jestinge was cleane forgotten) was presentlye allowed and
greedilye apprehended of all; Wher upon 13 of the senior
Under graduates (7 of the bodye of the House & 6 Comoners,
Electors in such a case) withdrew themselves into the parlour,
where after longe debatinge whether they should chouse a
Graduate or an Under Graduate, thinkinge the former would
not vouchsafe to undertake it at theyr appoyntmentes, the latter
should not be upheld & backed as it was meete & necessary for
such a place, they came forth rather to make triall what would
be done, than to resolve what should be done. And therefore
at their first entrance into the Hall meeting Sir Towse a younge
man (as they thought) fitt for the choyse, they laid handes on
him, and by maine strength liftinge him upp, viva voce, pronounced
him Lord. But hee as stronglye refusinge the place
as they violentlye thrust it upon him, shewing with all reasons
why hee could by no meanes undergoe such a charge, they gott
onlye this good by their first attempt, that they understood heer
by how that the whole Colledge was rather willinge a Seniour
Batchelour at least, if not a junior Master should be chosen in
to the place rather than any Under graduate, because they
would rather an earnest sporte than a scoffinge jest should be
made of it. Wher fore the Electors returninge againe into the
Parlour and shuttinge the dore close upon themselves begaune
more seriously to consult of the matter, and findinge some
unable, some unwillinge to take the place, at length they concluded
to make the 2 assay but with more formalitie and
deliberation; resolvinge, if they were not now seconded of all
handes, to meddle no more with it. Wherfore, enteringe the
second time in to the Hall they desired one of the 10 Seniors
& one of the Deanes of the Colledge to hold the Scrutinye and
the Vice-President to sitt by as overseer, who willingly harkeninge
to their request, sate all 3 downe at the highe table: Then
the Electors went up one by one in senioritye to give their
voyce by writinge. In the meane time there was great expectation
who should bee the Man. Some in the lower ende of the
Hall, to make sporte, had theyr Names loudest in their mouthes
whome they least thought of in their mindes, & whome they
knew should come shortest of the place. At length all the
voyces being given and, accordinge to custome, the Scrutinie at
large being burned, the Vice-president with the rest stoode
upp, and out of the abstract the Deane read distinctly in the
hearinge of all present as followeth
"Nominantur in hoc Scrutinio duo quorum
|
1 Joanes Towse, habet suffragia sex. |
| 2us Thomas Tucker, habet suffragia septem. |
"These wordes were not out of his mouthe before a generall
and loud crie was made of Tucker, Tucker, Vivat, Vivat, &ct.
After which all the younger sorte rane forth of the Colledge
crieinge the same in the streets; which Sir Tucker beinge
then howsde not farr from the Colledge, over hearinge, kept
himself close till the companye were past, and then, as soone
and secretly as he could, gott him to his Chamber; where
(after he had been longe sought for abroad in the Towne, and
at home in the Colledge, haste and desire out runinge it self, and
seekinge there last where it might first finde) he was in a
manner surprised, and more by violence than any will of his
owne, taken upp & with continuall & joyfull outcries, carried
about the Hall, and so backe to his Chamber, as his owne
request was, where for that night he rested, dismissinge the
Company and desiringe some time to think of their loves and
goodwill, and to consider of his owne charge and place.
"About 3 or 4 dayes after, on the 5 of November the Lord
Elect with the Batchelours, and some of the Senior Under-graduates
came into the Hall where every man beinge seated in
his order, many speaches were made by diverse of diverse
matters, some commendinge a monarchicall state of Governmente,
and the sometimes suddayne necessitye of Dictators,
others discommendinge both. Some again extollinge sportes
& revells, others mainely disallowinge them, all of them drawinge
some conclusion concerninge the like or dislike of the
government newly begune, and like for a little space to continue
amongst them. In the ende the Lord Elect himselfe, to
conclude all, delivered his owne minde in manner followinge:—
"Quæ beneficia (Viri Electores clarissimi) plus difficultatis
atque, oneris apportant collacata, quā debite administrata; poterunt
honoris, cautè magis primo in limine credo excipienda quā
aut imensæ dignitatis expectatione appetenda auidè, aut boni
incogniti cœco appetitu app'hendenda temere. Quorū in albo
(Electores conscripti) cū semper dignitates istiusmodi serio
retulerim, Vos (pace dicā vestræ diligentiæ) non tam mihi
videmini gratias debere expectare, qua ipse istud onus suscepturus
videor promereri. Nā illud demum gratijs excipitur
beneficiū (pro temporū ratione loquor) quod nec sollicitudo
vrget nec officiū—Infinitæ autem adeo sunt anxietates, quæ vel
istam dominatus ανατύπωσιν circumcingunt, vt pauci velint ipsas
cū dominatu lubentèr amplecti, nulli possint euitare, nulli sustinere.
Nā vbi veri imperij facies est repræsentanda expectanda
semper est aliqua curarū proportio. Veru cum dignitas Electoria,
amicitia suffragatoria, populi applausus, ōniū consensus Democratiæ
tollendæ causâ ad primatum euocauerint, lubens animi
nostri strenuæ renuentis temperabo impetū, et sedulò impendà
curam, vt Reip: (si vobis minus possim singulis) toti satisfaciā.
Hic ego non ità existimo opportunū progressuū nostrorū
aduersarijs curā imperij promiscuam et indigestam collaudantibus
respondere, aut status Monarchici necessitatē efferentibus
assentari: Disceptationū vestrarū non accessi judex, accersor
imperator; Amori vestro (Viri nobis ad prime chari) lubens
tribuo gloriæ nostræ ortū; progressū augustū atque, gloriosu a
vobis ex officio vestro exigere, præter amorē nostrum fore no
arbitror. Tyraūidem non profiteor, imperiū exercebo. Cujus
fœliciores processus vt promoueantur, atque indies stabiliant æris
magis quam oris debetis esse prodigi. Quarè primitias amoris,
atque officij vestri statuo extemplo exigendas, nè aut ipse sinè
authoritate imperare, aut imperium sinè gloriâ capessisse videar
Πολιτείαν Atheniensem sequimur, cujus ad norman Ego ad
munus regui jam suffectus, Mineruæ, Vulcano et Prometheo
sacra cū ludorum curatoribus pro moris vsu, primâ meâ in his
sacris authoritate fieri curabo. Interim vero (Viri nostrâ
authoritate adhuc majores) juxta prædictæ Reipublicæ jmaginē
choragos, seu adjutores desidero, qui nō tantum ludis præponantur,
sed et liberalitate pro opū ratione in Reipublicæ impensas
vtentes, ex ære publico præmia partim proponant, partim de
suo insumant, hoc nomine quod illorū sint præfecti. Quæ alia
vestri sunt officij moniti præstabitis, quæ amoris, vltro (vti
Spero) offeretis.
"This was counted sufficient for his private installmente, but
with all it was thought necessary that some more publicke
notice hereof should be given to the whole Universitie, with
more solemnitie and better fashion; yet before they would
venter to publish their private intendements, they were desirous
to knowe what authoritie and jurisdiction would be graunted to
them, what money allowed them towards the better going
through with that they had begune. And not long after the
whole company of the Batchelours sent 2 bills to the Masters
fire, the one cravinge duety and alleageance, the other money
and maintenance in manner & forme followinge:
"The coppye of a Bill sent by the Lord Elect, and the
whole Company of the Batchelours to the Masters fire,
cravinge their duety and alleageance.
"Not doubtinge of those ceremonious and outward duetyes
which yourselves (for example sake) will performe, Wee Thomas
Tucker with the rest of the Bacchelours are bold to entreat, but
as Thomas, Lord Elect, with the rest of our Councell are ready to
expect, that no Tutor or Officer whatsoever shall at any time, or
upon any occasion, intermeddle, or partake with any scholler,
or youth whatsoever, but leavinge all matters to the discretion
of our selves, stand to those censures and judgementes which
wee shall give of all offenders that are under our govermente in
causes appertaininge to our government. All wayes promisinge
a carefull readinesse to see schollerlike excercise performed,
and orderly quietnesse mayntained in all sortes; This as Wee
promise for our owne partes, so Wee would willingly desire
that you should promise the performance of the rest of your
partes, accordinge to that bountye & love which allready you
have shewed us.
| Joseph Fletcher |
|
Thomas Downer |
|
| John Smith |
|
Rouland Juxon |
|
| Richard Baylye |
|
John Huckstepp |
|
| Richard Baylye |
|
James Bearblocke |
|
| John Towse |
|
John English |
|
"This Bill subscribed with all their handes was seene and
allowed by all the Masters, who promised rather more than
lesse than that which was demanded. But concerninge the
other Bill for Subsidyes, it was answered that it was not in their
power to grant it without the President, whose cominge home
was every day expected: against which time it was provided,
and delivered unto him; who together with the 10 Seniors, was
loath to grant any thinge till they were certified what sportes
should bee, of what quality & charge, that so they might the
better proportion the one to the other, the meanes to the
matter: They were allso willinge to knowe what particular Men
would take upon them the care of furnishinge particular nightes.
For they would by no meanes relye upon generall promises
because they were not ignorant how that which concerneth all
in generall is by no man in speciall regarded. Wherfore they
beinge somewhat, although not fully, satisfied in their demaundes
by some of the Masters, whom they seemed cheefly to trust with
the whole businesse, the Bill was againe perused, and every man
ceazed in manner and forme followinge:
"'The coppye of an auncient Act for taxes and subsidyes
made in the raygne of our Predecessor of famous
memorye, in this Parliament held in Aula Regni the
vith of November 1577 and now for Our Self new
ratified and published, anno regni jº November 7º 1607.
"'Because all lovinge & loyall Subjects doe owe not onely
themselves, but allso their landes, livinges, goodes, and what
soever they call theirs, to the good of the Commonwealth, and
estate under which they peaceably enjoy all, It is further
enacted that no man dissemble his estate, or hide his abilitye,
but be willinge at all times to pay such duetyes, taxes, and
subsidies, as shall be lawfully demaunded & thought reasonable
without the hinderance of his owne estate, upon payne of
forfettinge himself and his goodes whatsoever.'
[List of contributions amounting to 52li xiiis. vii]
"Though the whole company had thus largely contributed
towards the ensuinge sportes, yet it was found that when all
thinges necessary should be layed toegether, a great sum of money
would be wantinge, and therfore a course was thought upon of
sendinge out privie Seales to able & willinge Gentlemen which
had been sometimes Fellowes or commoners of the Colledge
that it would please them to better the stocke, and out of their
good will contribute somewhat towardes the Prince's Revells."
Then followed the form of the writ issued, "To our trustye
and welbeloved Knight, or Esquire," &c. "Given under our
privye Seale at our Pallace of St. John's in Oxen, the seventh of
December in the first yeare of our rayne, 1607." Then follow
"the names of those who were served with this writt, and who
most willingly obeyed upon the receipt thereof," contributing
altogether xvili xs 0. "Others were served and bragd of it, as
though they had given, but sent nothing."
"For all these Subsidies at home, and helpes abroad, yet it
was founde that in the ende there would rather be want (as
indeed it happened) than any superfluitye, and therfore the
Prince tooke order with the Bowsers to send out warrantes to
all the Tenantes & other friendes of the Colledge, that they
should send in extraordinary provision against every Feast,
which accordingly was performed; some sendinge money, some
wine, some venison, some other provision, every one accordinge
to his abilitye.
"All thinges beinge thus sufficiently (as it was thought)
provided for, the Councell table, with the Lord himself, mett
together to nominate officers & to appoint the day of the Prince's
publike installment which was agreed should be on St. Andrews
Day at night; because at that time the Colledge allso was to
chouse their new officers for the yeare followinge.
"Now for that they would not playnely and barely install him
without any farther ceremonies, it was thought fitt that his
whole ensuinge Regiment (for good lucke sake) should be
consecrated to the Deitie of Fortune, as the sole Mistres and
Patronesse of his estate, and therfore a schollerlike devise called
Ara Fortunæ was provided for his installment; which was
performed in manner & forme followinge:
ARA FORTUNÆ.
| Inter-locutores. |
| Princeps. |
|
Princeps. |
|
| Fortuna. |
|
Stultus. |
|
| Tolmæa. |
|
Rebellis Primus. |
| Thesaurarius. |
|
———— Secundus. |
| >Camerarius. |
|
———— Tertius. |
| Jurisconsultus. |
|
———— Quartus. |
| Philosophus. |
|
Nuncius. |
[The Drama is not given on account of its length. And it
will be remarked that, whenever asterisks are substituted, some
portion of the MS. has been omitted.]
"This showe by ourselves was not thought worthye of a stage
or scaffoldes, and therfore after supper the tables were onlye
sett together, which was not done with out great toyle & difficulty,
by reason of the great multitude of people (which, by the
default of the dorekeepers, and divers others, every man bringinge
in his friends) had filled the Hall before wee thought of it.
But for all this it began before 8 of clock, and was well liked by
the whole audience, who, how unrulye so ever they meante to
bee afterwardes, resolved I think at first with their good applause
and quiet behaviour to drawe us on so farr, as wee should not
bee able to returne backwardes without shame & discreditt.
They gave us at the ende 4 severall & generall plaudites; at the
2 wherof the Canopie which hunge over the Altare of Fortune
(as it had been frighted with the noise, or meante to signifie
that 2 plaudites were as much as it deserved) suddenly fell
downe; but it was cleanly supported by some of the standers by
till the company was voyded, that none but our selves took notice
of it.
"Some upon the sight of this Showe (for the better enoblinge
of his person, and drawinge his pedigree even from the Godes
because the Prince's name was Tucker, and the last Prince
before him was Dr. Case) made this conceipt that Casus et
Fortuna genuerunt Τυχερον Principem Fortunatum—so the one his
father, and the other his mother.
"Another accident worthy observation (and which was allso
then observed) was that the Foole carelesly sittinge downe at the
Prince's feete brake his staff in the midst, whence wee could not
but directly gather a verye ill omen, that the default and follye of
some would bee the very breaknecke of our ensueing sports,
which how it fell out, I leave to the censures of others; our
selves (I am sure) were guilty to our selves of many weaknesses
and faultes, the number wherof were increased by the crossinge
untowardnesse, and backwardnesse of divers of the Prince's
neerest followers, nay the Prince himself had some weaknesses
which did much prejudice his state, wherof the chiefest weere
his openesse, and familiaritye with all sortes, beinge unwillinge to
displease eny, yet not able to please all. But to proceede:—On
St. Thomas day at night the officers before elect were solemnly
proclaimed by a Sergeant at armes, and an Herauld, the trumpetts
soundinge beetwixt every title. This proclamation after it
was read, was for a time hunge up in the Hall, that every man
might the better understande the qualitie of his owne place, and
they that were of lower, or no place, might learne what duety to
performe to others.
"The manner wherof was as followeth:
"Whereas by the contagious poyson, and spreadinge malice
of some ill disposed persons, hath been threatned not
onelye the danger of subvertinge peaceable & orderlye proceedinges,
but the allmost utter annihilatinge of auncient &
laudable customes—It hath been thought convenient, or
rather absolutely necessarye for the avoydinge of a most
dangerous ensuinge Anarchie, a more settled order of
goverment, for the better safetye of all well meaninge
Subjects, and curbinge of discontented, headstronge persons,
should bee established. And whereas through wante of good
lawes by wise and discreet Magistrates to bee duely and
truely executed, a giddye conceipt hath possest the
mindes of manye turbulent spirites, of endueringe no
superiour, hardly an equall, whereby the common-wealth
might growe to bee a manye-headed monster—It hath
been provided by the staide and mature deliberations of
well-experienced governours and provident counsellours, that
one whose highe deserts might answere his high advancement
should bee sett over all to the rulinge and directinge
of all—Therefore by these presentes bee it knowne unto
all of what estate or condicion soever whome it shall
concerne that Thomas Tucker, an honorable wise & learned
Gentleman to the great comeforte of the weale-publique from
hence-forth to be reputed, taken and obayed for the true,
onely and undoubted Monarche of this revellinge Climate,
whom the generall consent and joynte approbation of the
whole Common-wealth hath invested and crowned with
these honours and titles followinge:
"The most magnificent and renowned Thomas by the favour
of Fortune, Prince of Alba Fortunata, Lord St. Johns,
high Regent of the Hall, Duke of St. Giles, Marquesse
of Magdalens, Landgrave of the Grove, County Palatine
of the Cloisters, Chiefe Bailiffe of the Beaumonts, high
Ruler of Rome, Maister of the Manor of Waltham, Governour
of Gloster-greene, sole Commaunder of all Titles, Tourneaments,
and Triumphes, Superintendent in all Solemnities
whatsoever.
"Now because they whom the unknowne cares, & unweildie
burdens of a sole regiment shall relie upon, neede extraordinary
helpe in the more than ordinarye affaires, Hee hath as well for
the better discharge & ease of those royall duetyes (as it were)
which attend on his place, as for the avoidinge the odious &
ingratefull suspition of a single dominion, and private Tyranye,
selected and chosen unto himself a grave and learned assistance
both for Councell and government, whom, and every of which,
his princely will is, shall in their severall places & dignities bee
both honoured and obeid, with no lesse respect and observance
than if himself were there present in person. And that carelesse
ignorance may bee no lawfull excuse for the breach of his
will therin hee hath appointed their severall names and titles,
with their subordinate officers and deputies to be signified
& proclaimed to all his lovinge and leige Subjects, in manner
followinge:
"The right gracious John Duke of Groveland, Earle de Bello-Monte,
Baron Smith, chiefe Ranger of the Woods & Forests,
great Master of the Prince's Game, hath for his subordinate
officers—
Sir Frauncis Hudson, Keeper of the Parkes, & Warder
of the Warrens.
Sir Thomas Grice, Forrester & Sargeaunt of the Woodhowse.
"The right honourable Rowland Lord Juxon, Lord Chauncelour,
Keeper of the Great Seale, Signer of all publicke Charters,
Allower of all Priviledges, hath for his subordinate officers.
Sir William Dickenson, Master of the Requests, & the
Prince's Remembrancer.
Sir Owen Vertue, Clerke of the Signet, and Chafer of
Waxe.
"The right honourable Thomas Lord Downer, Lord high
Treasurer, Receaver General of all Rents, Revenues,
Subsidies, belonginge by Nature, custome or accident to
the Prince; the great Payemaster of all necessary charges
appertayninge to the Court, hath for his subordinate
Officers—
Sir John Williamson, Steward of the Household, Disburser
for the Familye.
Sir Christopher Wren, Cofferer, and Clerke of the
Exchequer.
"The right honourable Joseph Lord Fletcher, Lord high
Admirall, great Commaunder of all the narrow seas, floods
and passages; Surveyor of the Navye, Mayster of the
Ordinance, hath for his subordinate Officers,
Sir Stephen Angier, Warden of the Cinque Ports, and
Victualler of the Fleet.
Sir Anthony Steevens, Captayne of the Guard.
"The right honourable Richard Lord Baylie, Lord high
Marshall, President of all Titles, and Tourneaments,
Commander in all Triumphes, Suppressor of suddayne
tumultes, Supervisor of all games, and publique pastimes,
hath for his subordinate Officers,
Sir William Blagrove, Master of the Revells.
Sir John Hungerford, Knight Marshall, severe Commander
of the Wayes for the Prince's passage.
"The right honourable John Lord Towse, Lord high Chamberlayne,
Purveyor for the Prince's pallace, Overseer of all
feasts and banquets, furnisher of all Chambers, and
Galleries, Examiner of all private pastimes, hath for his
subordinate Officers,
| |
Sir Richard Swinerton |
|
the Prince's Wards and Squiers of his bodye. |
| |
Sir William Cheyney |
| |
Mr. Edward Cooper, Groome-Porter. |
"The right honourable Richard Lord Holbrooke, Comptroller
Generall, Chiefe overseer of all Purseavants, Orderer of all
household Servaunts, hath for his subordinate officers,
| |
Sir Thomas Stanley |
|
Sergeaunts at Armes & Gentlemen Ushers to the Prince |
| |
Mr. John Alford |
| |
Mr. Brian Nailor, Master of the Robes of State,
Keeper of the Wardrobe, and Surveyor of
Liveries. |
"The right honourable James Lord Berbloke, principall
Secretarye, Lord privye Seale, designer of all Embasies,
Drawer of all Edicts and Letters, Scribe to the State, hath
for his subordinate Officers,
| |
Sir Thomas Clarke, Master of the Roles, & Prothonotarye. |
| |
Mr. Marcheaumount Nedham, Clerke of the Councell-table. |
"The right honourable John Lord English, Lord Chiefe Justice,
Examiner of all causes Capitall; Sessor upon life and
death, Judge of controversies criminall, hath for his subordinate
Officers,
| |
Sir John Alder, Attourney Generall, and the Prince's
Solicitor. |
| |
Mr. John Sackevile, Baylife Erraunt. |
"Now because good Governours without good laws, carefull
Magistrates without wholesome Statutes are like dumb (though
paynted) images, or unweapon'd soldiers—Hee of his absolute
authoritye, conferred upon him in the late free election, doth
ratifie and establish all such Decrees and Statutes, as Hee now
findeth wisely and warely ordayned of his famous Predecessor;
promisinge onely by a full and severe execution to put life
in their dead remembrance, Adding moreover some few
cautions to be observed in his ensuinge Triumphs."
These statutes were ratified and established by the Prince
"at our Manor of Whites-Hall, December the 21st in the first
of our Raygne."
"The same night the Prince, with the rest of his Councell
meetinge at the high table in the Hall, a Bill was preferred
by the Lord Treasurer for the advancement of Mr. Henery
Swinarton to the Earldome of Cloyster-sheere, and the over-seeinge
of the Princes great Librarye." After due consideration,
"the Prince at length graunted the request, and his title was
presently drawne by the Clerke of the Councell-table, and
pronounced in manner followinge:
"The right honourable Henry Lord Swinarton, Earle of Cloister-Sheer,
Barron of the Garden, chiefe Master of the Presse,
and overseer of the Prince's great Librarye, hath for his
subordinate Officers,
Mr. William Rippin, Surveyor of the Walkes.
Mr. Christopher Riley, Corrector of the Printe.
"From this time forward, and not before, the Prince was
thought fully to be instal'd, and the forme of government fully
established, in-so-much that none might or durst contradict
anything which was appoynted by himself, or any of his
officers.
"The Holy-dayes beinge now at hand, his privye-chamber
was provided and furnisht, wherein a chayre of state was placed
upon a carpett with a cloth of state hanged over it, newly made
for the same purpose. On Christmas Day in the morninge he
was attended on to prayers by the whole companye of the
Bacchelours, and some others of his Gentlemen Ushers, bare
before him. At dinner beinge sett downe in the Hall at the
high table in the Vice-president's place (for the President
himself was then allso present) he was served with 20 dishes
to a messe, all which were brought in by Gentlemen of the
Howse attired in his Guard's coats, ushered in by the Lord
Comptroller, and other Officers of the Hall. The first messe
was a Boar's Head, which was carried by the tallest and lustiest
of all the Guard, before whom (as attendants) wente first, one
attired in a horseman's coate, with a Boars-speare in his hande,
next to him an other Huntsman in greene, with a bloody faucion
drawne; next to him 2 Pages in tafatye sarcenet, each of them
with a messe of mustard; next to whome came hee that carried
the Boares-head crost with a greene silk scarfe, by which hunge
the empty scabbard of the faulcion which was carried before
him. As they entered the Hall, he sang this Christmas Caroll,
the three last verses of everie staffe beinge repeated after him
by the whole companye:
1. The Boare is dead,
Loe, here is his head,
What man could have done more
Than his head off to strike,
Meleager like,
And bringe it as I doe before?
2. He livinge spoyled
Where good men toyled,
Which made kinde Ceres sorrye;
But now dead and drawne,
Is very good brawne,
And wee have brought it for you.
3. Then sett downe the Swineyard,
The foe to the Vineyard,
Lett Bacchus crowne his fall,
Lett this Boare's-head and mustard
Stand for Pigg, Goose, and Custard,
And so you are wellcome all.
"At this time, as on all other Holy-dayes, the Princes allowed
Musitions (which were sent for from Readinge, because our
owne Town Musick had given us the slipp, as they use to doe
at that time when we had most need of them) played all dinner
time, and allso at supper. The Prince as ofte as hee satt in the
Hall was attended on by a Commoner and Scholler of the
Colledge in tafaty sarcenett. After supper there was a private
Showe performed in the manner of an Interlude, contayninge
the order of the Saturnalls, and shewinge the first cause of
Christmas-candles, and in the ende there was an application
made to the Day and Nativitie of Christ, all which was
performed in manner followinge:
SATURNALIA.
"This shew was very well liked of our selves, and the better:
first, because itt was the voluntary service of a younge youth;
nexte, because there were no strangers to trouble us.
"St. Steevens day was past over in silence, and so had St.
John's day also; butt that some of the Prince's honest neighbours
of St. Giles's presented him with a maske, or morris,
which though it were but rudely performed, yet itt being so
freely and lovingly profered, it could not but bee as lovingly
received.
"The same nighte, the twelve daies were suddenly, and as
it were extempore, brought in, to offer their service to the
Prince, the holy-daies speaking Latine, and the working-daies
English, the transition was this:
Yee see these working-daies they weare no satten,
And I assure you they can speake no Latten;
But if you please to stay a-while,
Some shepheard for them will change the style.
"After some few daunces the Prince, not much liking the
sporte (for that most of them were out both in their speeches
and measures, having but thought of this devise some few
houres before) rose, and lefte the hall, after whose departure,
an honest fellow to breake of the sportes for that night, and
to void the company made suddenly this Epilogue:
These daunces were perform'd of yore
By many worthy Elfes,
Now if you will have any more
Pray shake your heeles your selves.
"The next day being Innocents-day, it was expected, and
partly determined by our selves, that the Tragedy of Philomela
should have been publickly acted, which (as wee thought) would
well have fitted the day, by reason of the murder of Innocent
Itis. But the carpenters being no way ready with the stage, or
scaffolds (whereof notwithstanding some were made before
Christmas), wee were constrained to deferre it till the nexte
day, which was the 29th of December.
PHILOMELA.
| Tereus, Rex Thraciæ. |
| Progne, Regina, Uxor Terei, |
| Eugenes, a consilijs Terei. |
| Tres Socii Terei a Classe, |
| Ancilla Prognes. |
| Philomela, Soror Prognes |
| Itis, Filius Pronges et Terei |
| Ancilla Philomelæ. |
| Faustulus, Pastor Regius. |
| Faustula, Pastoris Filia. |
Chorus.
Terra
Mare.
"The whole play was wel acted and wel liked.
"New-yeare's eve was wholly spent in preparation for the
Prince's triumphs, so that nothing was done or expected that
night.
"Next day in the morning (beeing New-yeare's-day) the
Prince sent Mr. Richard Swinnerton, one of the Squires of his
body to Mr. President with a paire of gloves, charging him to
say nothing but these two verses:
The Prince and his Councell, in signe of their loves,
Present you, their President, with these paire of gloves.
"There was some what else written in the paper which
covered them, but what it is uncertaine.
"At night were celebrated the Prince's triumphs, at which
time onely and never before nor after he was carryed in full
state from his pallace to the hall, where in the sight of the
whole University a supplication was presented unto him by
Time and seconded with a shew called Times Complaint. It
was performed in manner and forme following:
TIME'S COMPLAINT.
| Time. |
| Veritas, the Daughter of Time. |
| Opinion |
|
Seducers of Veritas. |
| Error |
| Studioso, a Scholler. |
| Manco, a lame Souldiour. |
| Clinias, a poore Country-man. |
| Humphry Swallow, a drunken Cob |
| Goodwife Spiggot, an Ale-wife. |
| Philonices, a rangling Lawyer. |
| Seruus Philonices. |
| Bellicoso, a Casheere Corporall. |
| |
"Worthelie heere wee bring you Time's Complaint |
| |
Whom we have most just cause for to complaine of, |
| |
For hee hath lent us such a little space |
| |
That what wee doe wants much of its true grace. |
| |
Yet let your wonted love that kindelie take, |
| |
Which we could wish were better for your sake. |
| |
EnterTime with the Musicians to place them |
Time. |
O wellsaid, wellsaid; wellcome, wellcome, faith! |
| |
It doth mee good to see I have some friends. |
| |
Come, true observers of due time, come on: |
| |
A fitt of musicke, but keepe time, keepe time |
| |
In your remembrance still, or else you jarre: |
| |
These for my sake too much neglected are. |
| |
The world termes them beggars, fidling roagues, |
| |
But come my fidling friends, I like you well, |
| |
And for my sake I hope this company, |
| |
Naie more the Prince himselfe, will like your tunes. |
| |
Here take your place and shew your greatest skill, |
| |
All now is well that is not verie ill. |
Time expecting the comming of the Prince (to whom hee preferreth a petition)
placeth himselfe on the stage till the traine bee past.
| |
This waie hee comes, here will I place my selfe, |
| |
They saie hee is an honourable Prince, |
| |
Respectfull, curteous, liberall, and learn'd: |
| |
If hee bee soe hee will not choose but heare mee. |
| |
Poore aged Time was never so abused, |
| |
If not for my sake, yet for his owne good, |
| |
Hee will read over my petition. |
| |
Oft hath the like beene drawne and given up |
| |
To his nobilitie; But carelesse they |
| |
In theire deepe pockets swallow good men's praiers. |
| |
This his owne hand shall have, or I will keepe it:— |
| |
But here they come, stand close and viewe the traine. |
Enter first six Knighte Marshalls men in suitable liveries with
links and truncheons two by two.
Next the Knighte Marshall alone in armour and bases with
a truncheon.
Then fower other of his men as before.
After these fower Knightes in rich apparell with hats and
feathers, rapiers and daggers, bootes and spurres, everie
one his Lackie attending on him with torch-light, all two
by two.
After these the Master of the Requests, the Master of the
Robes in vaste velvet gownes, with Lackies and torches
before them.
After these fower Barons in velvet cloakes, likewise attended
with Lackies and torches.
After these an Herald at Armes bare, with two Lackies
attendant bearing torches.
After these six of the privie Counsell in Schollars gownes and
civill hoods, everie one attended on by a Footman bearing
on his jacket both behind and before his Lord's
armes according to his office (as it is before mentioned)
with torches alsoe in theire hands.
After those two Sergeants at armes, with great Maces, and
two Squiers before them with torches, all bare.
After these two Hench-men, the one with a sword, the other
with a scepter, likewise attended by two Squiers with
torch lights, all bare.
After these the Prince himselfe in a scholler's gowne and
civill hood, with a coronett of laurell about his hat,
attended on by fower footmen in suitable liveries with
torches.
After these the Captaine of the guard alone in hose and
dublett, hatt and feather, etc., and following him, twenty
of the guard in suitable guards' coats and halberds in
their hands, and lightes intermingled here and there.
"When this traine first entered out of the Prince's palace
there was a volye of shotte to the number of fiftie or three-score
gunnes, and once againe as it passed through the quadrangle,
and the third time when the Prince was readie to enter uppon
the stage in the hall, after which third peale ended, the nobilitie
having past along some parte of the stage, the rest of the traine
disposed in places provided for them, and the Prince himselfe
newlie entered, the showe went forward.
"It hath beene observed if they which performe much in
these kinde of sportes must needs doe something amisse, or
at the least such is the danger and trouble of them, that something
in the doing will miscarry, and so be taken amisse, and
such was our fortune at this time; for the Prologue (to the
great prejudice of that which followed) was most shamefully
out, and having but halfe a verse to say, so that by the very
sense the audience was able to prompt him in that which
followed, yet hee could not goe forward, but after long stay and
silence, was compelled abruptly to leave the stage, whereupon
beeing to play another part, hee was so dasht, that hee did
nothing well that night.
"After him Good-wife Spiggot, comming forth before her
time, was most miserably at a non plus & made others so also,
whilst her selfe staulked in the middest like a great Harry-Lion
(as it pleased the audience to terme it), either saying nothing
at all, or nothing to the purpose.
"The drunken-man, which in the repetitions had much
pleased and done very well, was now so ambitious of his
action, that he would needs make his part much longer than
it was, and stood so long upon it all, that he grew most tedious,
whereuppon it was well observed and said by one that
————'twas pitty there should bee
In any pleasing thing satiety.
"To make up the messe of absurdities the company had so
fil'd the stage, that there was no roome to doe any thing well,
to bee sure many thinges were mistaken and therefore could
not but bee very distastfull, for it was thought that particular
men were aymed at, and disciphered by the drunken-man, and
Justice Bryar, though it was fully knowne to our-selves that the
author had no such purpose.
"In fine, expectation the devourer of all good endeavours
had swallowed more in the very name and title of the interlude
than was either provided or intended in the whole matter, for
wee onely proposed to our selves a shew, but the towne expected
a perfect and absolute play, so that all things mett to make us
unhappy that night, and had not Time him selfe (whose lines
and actions were thought good) somewhat pleased them, they
would never have endured us without hissing, howsoever in
the end they gave us two or three cold plaudites, though they
departed no way satisfyed, unlesse it were in the shew about
the quadrangle, wherein the Prince was carryd to his chamber
in the same state that hee came from thence in the beginning
(as is above mentioned), the whole company of actors beeing
added to his traine who immediately followed him before the
guard in this order:
First, Time alone, attended, with two pages and lightes.
Next, Veritas alone, likewise attended.
Then Error and Opinion, which all the way they went pull'd
Veritas by the sleeve, one by one and the other by the
other, but shee would not harken to them.
After these came Studioso and Philonices, both pleading the
case, one upon his ringers and the other with both his
hands.
Then came Manco, the lame souldiour and Philonices his
man; the souldiour haulting without his cruch, the other
beating him with the cruch for counterfeyting.
After these came Clinias and Bellicoso houlding the halter
betwixt them, which Bellicoso had found in Clinias his
pocket.
Last after these came Humphry Swallow and good wife
Spiggot, hee reeling uppon her, she pulling and hayling
him for the money he ought her.
After these came the guard as before, and so the Prince in
full state was conveyed to his pallace.
"Here wee were all so discouraged that wee could have
found in our heartes to have gone no farther. But then consulting
with our selves wee thought it no way fitt to leave when
thinges were at the worst, and therefore resolved by more
industry and better care of those things which should follow,
to sue out a fine of recovery for our credites. Whereuppon
the comedy which was already a foote and appointed to bee
done on 12 day, was revewed and corrected by the best judgments
in the house, & a Chorus by their direction inserted, to
excuse former faults, all which was a cause that Twelfe eve &
Twelfe day past away in silence, because the comedy beeing
wholy altered could not bee so soone acted, neyther could any
other thing bee so suddenly provided to furnish those nights.
"Heere the Lord-treasurer made a complaint to the King
and the rest of his councell that his treasure was poore and
almost exhausted, so that without a fresh supply or new subsidy
nothing more could bee done. And that this might not seem
an idle complaint, a bill of some of the particulars and chiefe
expences was exhibited, wherein it might appeare how costly
the presedent revels had beene."
The "Bill of Expences" amounted to lxiiijli vs od.
"This bill beeing seene and allowed, they begane to cast about
for more money, whereuppon a new privy seale was drawn in
Latin." "Those which were served with this writte and
obey'd" contributed a total sum of 5li.
"This beeing not as yet sufficient there was a new subsedy
levyed by the Junior Masters and the rest of the Colledge to the
summe of Six Poundes three shillings, whereuppon finding themselves
againe before hand, and resolving to save nothing for a
deare yeare, they proceeded to new expences and new troubles.
"The Suneday after, beeing the last day of the Vacation and
tenth day of the moneth, two shewes were privately performed
in the Lodging, the one presently after dinner called Somnium
Fundatoris, viz., the tradition that wee have concearning the
three trees that wee have in the President his garden. This
interlude by the reason of the death of him that made it, not
long after was lost, and so could not bee heere inserted; but it
was very well liked, and so wel deserved, for that it was both
wel penned and well acted.
"Now because before were divers youths whose voyces or
personages would not suffer them to act any thing in publicke,
yet withall it was thought fitt, that in so publicke a buisnes
every one should doe some thing, therefore a mocke play was
provided called The 7 Dayes of the Weeke, which was to be performed
by them which could do nothing in earnest, and, that
they should bee sure to spoyle nothing, every man's part was
sorted to his person, and it was resolved that the worse it
was done, the better it would be liked, and so it fell out; for
the same day after supper it was presented by one who bore
the name of the Clerke of St. Gyleses, and acted privately in
the lodging in manner and forme following:
THE SEVEN DAYES OF THE WEEKE.
Interloqutores.
| The Clerke of St. Gyleses. |
| Mooneday. |
| Tuseday. |
| Wenesday. |
| Thurseday. |
| Frieday. |
| Satterday. |
| Suneday. |
| Night. |
Chorus.
A Woman
A Paire of Snuffers.
Enter the Clerke with all his Acteurs.
Prologue
Clerke. |
"I am the poore, though not unlettered, Clerke, |
| |
And these your subjects of St. Gyles his parishe, |
| |
Who in this officious season would not sharke |
| |
But thought to greet your highnesse with a morrice, |
| |
Which since my riper judgement thought not fitt, |
| |
They have layd down their wisedomes to my witt. |
| |
|
| |
And that you might perceive (though seeminge rude) |
| |
Wee savour somewhat of the Academie, |
| |
Wee had adventur'd on an enterlude |
| |
But then of actors wee did lacke a manye; |
| |
Therefore we clipt our play into a showe, |
| |
Yet bigg enough to speake more than wee knowe. |
| |
|
| |
The subject of it was not farr to seeke |
| |
Fine witts worke mickle matter out of nifle: |
| |
Nam'd it I have The Seven Dayes of the Weeke, |
| |
Which though perchaunce grave heads may judge a trifle, |
| |
Yet if their action answere but my penninge, |
| |
You shall heare that, that will deserve a hemminge. |
| |
|
| |
To tell the argument, were to forstalle |
| |
And sour the licquour of our sweete conceate; |
| |
Here are good fellowes that will tell you all |
| |
When wee begin once, you shall quickely ha'te, |
| |
Which if your grace will grace with your attention, |
| |
You shall soone sounde the depth of our invention." |
[Then follows the mock play in seven Acts.]
"Nothing, throughout the whole yeare, was better liked and
more pleasant than this shewe, in so much that, although it
were more privately done before our selves onely or some few
friends, yet the report of it went about all the towne, till it
came to the Vice-chauncellours and L. Clifford's eares, who
were very desyrous to see it acted againe, and so it was as
heereafter shal bee specifyed.
"The next day beeing Munday the 11 of January the terme
should have begun in the house, but because of the extreame
cold and froast which had now continued full six weekes and
better without any intermission, as also by reason the hall was
still pestered with the stage and scaffolds which were suffered
to stand still in expectation of the Comedy, therefore it was
agreed by the President and the officers that the terme should
bee prorogued for 7 dayes longer in which time it was agreed
the Comedy should bee publickely acted on Friday, the 15th
day of January.
"But heere the President and some of the Seniors in abundance
of care were affrayd to put any thing againe to the
publicke view of the University, because their last paines at
The Complaint of Time had so ill thriving. Besides the season
was so severe and tempestuous with wind and snow, which had
continued some dayes without ceasing, and the complaint of
the poore was so grievious for want of wood and meate, which
by this time were growne very scant and deere, that they urged
it was a time rather to lament and weepe than make sports in,
whereupon a streight inhibition was sent out from the officers,
that no man should thinke of playing that night or any time
after, till the weather should breake up and bee more temperate,
for they thought it no way fitt publickly to revell at a time of
such generall wo and calamity.
"But yet because all thinges were in a readinesse and the
expectation of the whole towne was set uppon that night, the
younger men of the Colledge went forward with their buisnes,
intending to take no notice of what the officers had aggreed
uppon, wherefore some of the officers were fayne to come in
person to forbid the worke-men, and to undo some things which
were already done, to the great griefe and discouragement of
all the youth, who, though the weather was extreame cold, were
themselves most hotte uppon the matter in hand, resolving now
or never to recover their losse credit.
"And, as though the heavens had favoured their designes,
so it happened that about noone the weather brake up and it
begann to thaw, whereuppon the President was agayne importun'd
by the Prince himselfe and his councell for the performance
of the Comedy that night; who (seeing they were all so earnest)
did not so much graunt, as not deny them, their request, whereuppon
they begann againe to sett forward the buisnes, and what
they wanted in time they made up by their willingnesse and
paynes, so that for all these crosses they begann the play before
7 a clocke and performed it in manner following:
PHILOMATHES.
interloqutores.
Chorus.
Janus.
Tempus.
| |
Motus. |
|
Locus. |
| |
Quies. |
|
Vacuum. |
| |
|
|
|
| Philomathes. |
|
Sophia. |
| Chrysophilos, Senex Avarus. |
|
Antarchia. |
| Phantasta, Stolidus Generosus. |
|
Anthadia. |
| Phantasta, Stolidus Generosus. |
|
Anthadia. |
| Αφρόνιος, Filius Chrysophili. |
|
Anæa, Mulier Inepta. |
| |
|
|
|
| |
Chrestophilos, Socius Philomathis. |
| |
Crito, Senex, Pater Sophiæ. |
| |
Critonis Seruus. |
| |
Cerdoos, Seruus Chrysophili. |
| |
Petinus, Seruus Phantastæ. |
"This play was very well acted, but especially the Chorus, the
stage was never more free, the audience never more quiett and
contented, so that they went away many of them crieing—Abundè
satisfactum est! itt was so well liked and applauded
of all that saw itt.
"Here the stage & scaffold were pul'd downe which had
stood from Cristmas, and it was resolved that upon the
chaunge of the weather, the terme should begin on the
Munday following.
"But in the meane time on Sunday nighte, being the Seventeenth
of January, the Vice-chancelor, and the L. Clifford, with
many other Doctors and Gentlemen were invited to supper in
the President's lodging, where after supper they were entertained
with a shew before mentioned, to witt, The Seven Dayes
in the Weeke, to which, by this time, there was somewhat added,
but not much: all was most kindly accepted, and the nighte was
spent in great mirth. For the straungenes of the matter, and
rarity of the fashion of their action pleased above expectation.
"At the end of this shew for the more rarity, there was one
brought in my Lord's Stockes with this speech made uppon itt:
"'My Lord, I which am the lowest, am now become the
lowdest, though (I hope) not the lewdest of your Lordshippe's
servauntes. And though I come pridie Calendas, before I am
cald, yet (I hope) my audacity shall have audience, and my
faithfulnes favor. I am your Lordshippe's Elephaunt and
heere is your castell, so that where other Lords are brought
to their castells, heere your castell is brought to you. Est locus
in carcere, there is a locke upon your Lordshippe's castell, which
was committed unto my trust, how faithfull I have been therein
they can tell who have taken an exact measure of my office by
the foote: the matter of which your castell is builded is so
precious, that there is none amongst company but is contented
to wear of it within his buttons, the end for which it was builded
is very commendable, that they may bee kepte in order with
wood, which otherwise would not bee kepte in order, heere
is fons latus pedibus tribus, a fountaine to wash three mens legs,
that they which have bene aurium tenus, over shoes, heere may
be crurum tenus over bootes too, This your Lordshippe's oracle
or Tripos, out of which malefactors tell the truth and foretell
of their amendment. Nay, I wil bee bould to compare it to
your Lordshippe's braine, for what is there designed is heere
executed. In these sells or ventricles are fancy, understanding,
and memory. For such as your Lordshippe doth not fancy are
put in the first hole, such as were dull and without understanding
were put in the second hole, but such as your
Lordshippe threatned (remember this) or I'le remember you,
were put in the last and lowest dungeon, cum nemini obtrudi
potest itur ad me. When they cannot bee ruled otherwise they
are brought unto mee, and my entertainment is strato discumbitur
ostro, they straite sett downe att this oister table, where they
are fast and doe fast, ffor vinitur exiguo melius, they make small
meales, till the flames of clemency doe mitigate the Salamanders
of your Lordshippe's severity. Now, my Lord, since I have
told you what I am, I will bee bold to tell you what you may
bee—You are mortall—Ergo you must die, the three sisters will
not spare you, though you were their owne brother, and therefore
while you have your good witts about you, fac quid vobis,
make your will, that wee may know amongst so many well
deserving men, that doe lay claime to this your castell, to
whome as rightfull heire itt shall lawfully descend, that
so all controversies being ended, before your Lordshippe's
deceasse, hereafter your bones may ly, and wee your subjects
live, in all rest and quietnes.
"'Dixi.'
"To make an end of this nighte's sporte, all departed merry
and very well pleased, the actors were much commended, and
the terme for their sakes prorogued one day longer.
"On the Thursday following the Prince was solemnly invited
by the Canons of Christchurch to a comedy called Yuletide,
where many thinges were either ill ment by them, or ill taken
by us, but wee had very good reason to think the former, both
for that the whole towne thought so, and the whole play was
a medley of Christmas sportes, by which occasion Christmas
Lords were much jested at, and our Prince was soe placed that
many thinges were acted upon him, but yet, Mr. Deane himselfe,
then vice-chancelor, very kindly sent for the Prince and
some others of our howse, and laboured to satisfie us, protesting
that no such thing was mente, as was reported, whereupon wee
went away contented, and forebore the speaking of many things
which otherwise were afterwards intended, for aunswering of
them in their owne kind.
"On Candlemas nighte it was thoughte by our selves, and
reported in the towne, that the Prince should resigne his
place, but nothing being in readines for that purpose itt was
deferred, but yet, least nothing should bee done, there was a
Vigilate (as they terme it) a watching nighte procured by the
Prince and his Counsell, and graunted by the officers of the
Colledge, which was performed in manner following.
"THE VIGILATE.
"First, about eighte of the Clocke (for then itt was to begin,
and to continue till fowre in the morning) the Colledge gates
were shutt, and all the students summon'd by the sounding of a
Trumpett three times, to make their personall appearance in the
greate Hall, where after they were all come together, that the
Prince's pleasure might bee the better knowne, this proclamation
was publikely pronounced by a Serjeant att Armes, in
the hearing of them all.
"The high and mighty Thomas by the favour of Fortune Prince
of Alba Fortunata, Lord St. Johns, High Regent of the
Hall, &c. To all Presidents, Vice Presidents, Officers,
Readers, Masters, Batchelors, Felowes, Schollers, Commoners,
Under-commoners, Servaunts, Scruitors, sendeth
greeting.
Whereas of late by the turbulent spirits of seditious minded
persons hath bene buzzed into the eares of many of our loving
and liege subjectes a fearefull and dangerous report of our
sudden downefall, which according to their libelling speeches
should att this nighte fall upon us—We have thought it
necessary not so much for our owne feares which are none
at all, as for satisfieing and strengthening our welmeaning
friends in their love and duty, to publish and by these presents
to all our loyal subjects of what state and condicion soever,
that they make their personall appearance to the setting and
furnishing of a most strong guarde and carefull watch as well
for their security as the safety of our owne royall person, &
the whole Common-wealth; In the which generall watch for
the better comfort and ease of all men, our selfe, with our
honourable privy Counsell, and the rest of our Nobility, intend
to bee personally present.
"But because wee are no way minded to oppresse any man
above his power, on our princely bounty, wee give licence to
such as (for age or infirmity) are not able to perform that duty,
to forfaite for their absence, yf they plead age ijs. vid.; if
infirmity, xiid., towards the furnishing of his Highnes with a
tall and sufficient watchman.
"Now because that which wee have wisely thought, and for
our peace and safety, may not proove the cause of new troubles
and dissentions, wee have thought good to adjoine some few
cautions, in way of admonitions to bee observed.
"First, for that the disorders of an unruly and mutinous watch
doe often open as it were the gate of danger and outrage,
our princely will and pleasure is, that each man keepe his
station with out murmuring, performing cheerefully all such
offices and duties, as shal bee lawfully enjoin'd by us, or
our offices, upon paine of forfeiting ijs. vid., as for age.
"Secondly, because sloth is a kind of disease in a well-ordered
Common-wealth wee further charge and command by the
vertue of our absolute authority, that no man bee found
winking, or pincking, or nodding, much lesse snorting,
upon paine of forfaiting twelve pence, as for infirmity.
"Thirdly, for the avoiding of a sudden dearth, or lingring famine
which may ensue and justly follow the free and undoubted
liberty of a riotous and luxurious time, yt is by us thought
necessary that no man should in hugger mugger eate or
drincke more than is publickly seene and allowed by the
face of the body civill and politicke, upon paine of paieing
twise, for such is in a manner stolen provision, and the
second paiement to bee arbitrary.
"Given att our Mannor of Whites-hall, the seacond of
February, and in the first of our Raigne.
"This proclamation being read and set up in the great hall,
the Prince called for his officers and servants about him,
charging every man carefully to execute his office. First the
steward and buttler (who for their auncient fidelity kept their
places according as they had long before beene appointed by
the Colledge) were commaunded to bring their bookes, and by
them to call up all the howse, whereupon (every one beeing first
charged to aunswere to his name) it presently appeared who
were present and who were absent.
"After this the Master of the Revels and the Knight Marshall
were willed to appoint severall sportes that no man might bee
seene idle upon payne of the Prince's high displeasure whereupon
presently some went to cardes, some to dice, some to
dauncing, every one to some thing.
"Not long after, for more variety sake, there was brought in
a maske; the devise was sudden and extempore, videl: a little
page attired in his long coats, with these six verses which were
spoke as soone as he entered the hall.
"These are six carpet knights, and I one page
Can easily bring in six that bee of age,
They come to visite this your highnes court,
And if they can, to make your honour sport.
Nay, this is all, for I have seene the day
A richer maske had not so much to say.
"After these maskers had finished the measures, and some
few other daunces, the said page waved them forth with his
wan, and spake these two verses:
"There are three they say would shew you an anticke,
But when you see them, you'll thinke them franticke.
"Then there came in three in an anticke which were well
attyred for that purpose, and daunced well to the great delite
of the beholders.
"After these had stollen away one by one, as the manner is,
it pleased the Prince to aske what was a clocke, it beeing
aunswered almost twelve hee presently called in for supper.
But first the bill of those which were before noted to bee
absent was called, to see whether any of them would yet
appeare, and the Prince would deale favourably with them. It
was also examined whether any of those which were present
before were now gon to bed, and accordingly authority was
given by the Prince to the marshalls of the hall and other
officers to search the chambers for sleepers, and where they
made aunswere to aske the reason of their slothfull neglect or
wilfull contempt of the Prince's commands, and if they pleaded
either infirmity or age to take their fine, and so quietly to
depart, first causing them faithfull to give their words that they
harboured no other idle or suspicious parsons. But if they
knoct at any of the chambers of those that were absent and
nobody would answer, then they had full authority to breake
open the dores and to make a privy search, and if they found
any abed they tooke them as they were in their shirts and
carryed them downe in state to the hall after this manner:—
"First went the marshals with lights to make room.
Then came one squire carrying the goune of him whom they
brought and another that carryed his hatt & band.
Then came two other squires whereof one carryed his dublet
the other his breeches.
Then came two with lights.
Next came he that was in his shirt carryed by two in a chaire
and covered with a blanket.
Last behind came one squire more that carryed his shoes &
stockings.
"All these beeing entered the hall, the squires made their
attendance about him, with great observance, every one
reaching him his apparrell as it pleased him to call for it, and
then also helping him on with it. And this was the punishment
of those that were found a bed.
"Others which were found up in their chambers & would
not answer were violently brought downe with bills and staves
as malefactors and by the Knight Marshals appointment were
committed close prisoners to the Prince's castle, videl. the
stocks, which were placed upon a table to that purpose, that
those which were punished might bee seene to the terrour of
others.
"By this time supper was ready and the sewer called to the
dresser whereupon the buttery bell was presently rung, as it
uses to bee at other ordinary meales, besides a trumpet was
sounded at the kitchen hatch to call the wayters together.
"After the first messe was served in, the Prince with the rest
of his councell satt downe, then all the rest of the howse in
seniority.
"Towardes the end of supper two gentlemen of the second
table fell out, wee could never distinctly know about what, it
was verely supposed themselves scarsly knew, but from wordes
they fell suddenly to blowes, and ere any man was aware, one
of them had stabbed the other into the arme with his knife to
the great prejudice of the mirth, which should or would have
followed that night. But the offender was presently apprehended
(and though a gentleman of some worth) put into my
Lord's stocks, where hee lay most part of that night with shame
and blame enough. And yet for all that punishment the next
day he was convented before the officers of the Colledge, and
there agayne more grievously punished; for the fault was much
agravated by the circumstances of the time, place and person
that was hurt, who was a very worshipfull knight's sonne and
heyre.
"After this the Prince with some of the better sort of the
howse beeing much disconted with the mischaunce that had
happened, retyred themselves into the president lodging, where
privatly they made themselves merry, with a wassall called the
five bells of Magdalen Church, because it was an auncient note
of those bells, that they were almost never silent. This shew
for the better grace of the night was performed by some of the
Masters and officers themselves in manner following:
"Enter the Clerke of Magdalens alone,
"Your kind acceptance of the late devise
Presented by St. Gyles's clerke, my neighbour,
Hath hartned mee to furnish in a trice
This nights up sitting with a two houres labour:
For any thing I hope, though ne're so naghty
Wil be accepted in a Vigilate.
I have observed as your sportes did passe all
(A fault of mine to bee too curious)
The twelfe night slipt away without a wassall,
A great defect, to custome most injurious:
Which I to mend have done my best endeavour
To bring it in, for better late than never.
And more, for our more tuneable proceeding,
I have ta'ne downe the five bells in our towre,
Which will performe it, if you give them heeding,
Most musically, though they ring an houre.—
Now I go in to oyle my bells and pruin them,
When I come downe Ile bring them downe & tune them.
Exit.
"After a while he returned with five others presenting his
five bells, and tyed with five bell-ropes, which after he had
pulled one by one, they all began a peale, and sang in Latin as
followeth:—
"Jam sumus lætis dapibus repleti,
Copiam vobis ferimus fluentem,
Gaudium vobis canimus jocose
Vivite læti.
Te deum dicunt (venerande Bacche)
Te deum dicunt (reverenda mater)
Vos graves vobis removete luctus:
Vivite læti.
Dat Ceres vires, hominumque firmat
Corpora, et Bacchus pater ille vini
Liberat curis animos molestis:
Vivite læti.
Ne dolor vestros animos fatiget,
Vos jubet læta hæc removere curas
Turba, lætari feriæque suadent
Vivite læti.
En Ceres lætæ segetis creatrix,
Et pater vini placidique somni
Pocula hæc vobis hilares ministrant
Sume {monarcha
{magister.
Bibunt omnes ordine dum, actores hæc ultima carmina sæpius repetunt; max
singuli toti conventui sic ordine gratulantur.
Tenor. |
Reddere fælicem si quemquam copia possit |
|
Copia fælicis nomen habere jubet, |
|
Copia læte jubet tristes depellere curas, |
|
Copia quam cingit Bacchus et alma Ceres. |
|
|
Counter. |
Copia quam cingit Bacchus et alma Ceres. |
|
|
Tenor. |
Cujus non animum dulcia vina juvant? |
|
Dulcia vina juvant dulcem dant vina soporem, |
|
Magnificas ornant dulcia vina dapes. |
|
|
Meane. |
Frugibus alma Ceres mortalia pectora nutrit, |
|
Exornant campurn frugibus alma Ceres. |
|
Si cuiquam desint Cerelia dona, nec illi |
|
Lenæi patris munera grata placent. |
|
|
|
Nec vobis Cereris nec Bacchi munera desint, |
|
Annuat et votis Jupiter ipse meis. |
|
|
Treble. |
Copia cum Baccho gaudia læta canunt |
|
Copia cum Baccho gaudia læta canunt |
|
Mox omnes cantantes Exeunt. |
|
Gaudium lætum canimus, canemus |
|
Hoc idem semper, nec enim dolere |
|
Jam licet, lætae feriæ hic aguntur |
|
Vivite læti. |
|
|
|
Sæpius nobis reriæ revertant, |
|
Sæpius vinum liceat potare, |
|
Sæpius vobis hilares cánamus |
|
Vivite læti. |
"This then was suddenly and extempore clapt together for
want of a better, but notwithstanding was as willingly and
chearefully receaved as it was proferd.
"By this time it was foure a clocke and liberty was given to
every one to goe to bed or stay up as long as they pleased.
The Prince with his councell brake up their watch, so did most
of the Masters of the house, but the younger sort stayed up
till prayers time, and durst not goe to bed for feare of one
another. For some, after they had licence to depart, were
fetcht out of their beds by their fellowes, and not suffered to
put on their clothes till they came into the hall. And thus the
day came and made an end of the night's sport.
"On the sixt of February, beeing egge Satterday, it pleased
some gentlemen schollers in the towne to make a dauncing
night of it. They had provided many new and curious daunces
for the maske of Penelope's Woers, but the yeare beeing far
spent and Lent drawing on and many other thinges to bee performed,
the Prince was not able to bestow that state upon them
which their love & skill deserved. But their good will was
very kindely received by the Prince in this night's private
travels. They had some apparell suddenly provided for them,
and these few Latin verses for their induction:
"Isti fuere credo Penelopes proci
Quos justa forsan ira Telemachi domo
Expulit Ulyssis.
"After all this sport was ended the Prince entertayned them
very royally with good store of wine and a banquet, where they
were very merry and well pleased all that night.
"Against the next Tuesday following, beeing Shrovetuesday,
the great stage was againe set up and the scaffolds built about
the hall for the Prince's resignation, which was performed that
night with great state and solemnity in manner and forme
following:
IRA SEU TUMULUS FORTUNE.
INTERLOCUTORES.
|
Princeps. |
|
Admiralius. |
|
Thesaurarius. |
|
Comptrollarius. |
|
Cancellarius. |
|
Justitiarius. |
|
Marescallus. |
|
Camerarius. |
|
Camerarius. |
Philosophus. |
Juridicus. |
Cynicus. |
Magister Ludorem. |
Momus. |
Anteambulo Primus. |
Polycrates. |
Anteambulo Secundus. |
Philadelphus. |
Stultus. |
CHORUS.
Minerva |
Fortuna. |
Euphemia |
Tolmæa. |
"Many straungers of all sorts were invited to this shew, and
many more came together, for the name's sake only of a resignacon,
to see the manner and solemnity of it, for that it was
reported (and truly) that there was nothing els to bee done or
seene beside the resignacon and no man thought so much could
have beene said of so little matter.
"The stage was never so oppressed with company, insomuch
that it was verely thought it could not bee performed that night
for want of roome; but the audience was so favourable as to
stand as close and yeeld as much backe as was possible; so
that for all tumults it began about 7 a clocke, and was very well
liked of all.
"Only some few, more upon their owne guilty suspicion than
our plaine intention, thinking themselves toucht at that verse of
Momus:
"Dixi et quem dederat cursum fortuna peregi,
laboured to raise an hissing, but it was soon smothered, and the
whole company in the end gave us good applause and departed
very well pleased.
"After the shew was ended, the sometimes Lord was carried
in state to his owne private chamber after this manner:
First went two Squires with lights.
Next Euphemia and Tolmæa.
Then 2 other Squires with lightes.
Next Minerva and Fortuna.
Then came 4 other Squires with lightes, and in the midst of
them 4 schollers bearing on their shoulders a tombe
or sepulcher adorned with scutchions and little flagges,
wherein all the Prince's honours had bene buried before.
After this came the Prince alone in his schollers gowne and
hood as the chiefe mourner.
Then all the rest of his Counsell and company likewise in
blacke gownes and hoodes, like mourners, two by two.
"All these were said to goe to the Temple of Minerva there
to consecrate and erecte the sepulcher, and this state was very
well liked of all that saw itt.
"Heere wee thought to have made an end of all, and to have
puld downe the scaffolds and stage, but then many said
that so much preparacon was too much for so small a show.
Besides there was an English Tragedy almost ready, which
they were very earnest should bee performed, but many arguments
were alledged against it: first, for the time, because it
was neere Lent, and consequently a season unfitt for plaies—Secondly,
the stile for that itt was English, a language unfitt for
the Universitie, especially to end so much late sporte with all—Thirdly,
the suspicon of some did more hinder it than all the
rest, for that it was thought that some particulars were aimed
att in the Chorus, which must needs bee distastfull—Lastly, the
ill lucke, which wee had before with English, made many very
loth to have any thing done againe in that straine.
"But these objections being aunswered all well as might bee,
and faithfull promise being made and taken that if any word
were thought personall, it should be presently put out, the
stage was suffered to stand, and the scaffolds somewhat
enlarged against the Saturday following. Att which time such
a concourse of people from all places, and of all sorts came
together presently after dinner, that itt was thought impossible
any thing should have beene done that night for tumults. Yet
in the beginning such order and care was taken (every one being
willing att the last cast to helpe towardes the making a good
end,) that the stage was kept voide of all company, and the
scaffoldes were reserved for straungers and men sorte, better
than ever they were before, so that it began very peaceably
somewhat before six a clocke, and was performed in manner
following:
PERIANDER.
CHORUS
The Master of the Revels. |
Detraction. |
The Master of the Revels Boy. |
Resolution. |
Ingenuity a Doctor of Physicke. |
INTERLOCUTORES.
Periander, Tyrannus Corinthi. |
Cypsilus, Hæres Periandri, Stultus. |
Lycophron Frater Cypsili. |
Neotinos, Puer, Satelles Lycoph. |
Lysimachos |
|
Nobiles et a Consilijs Periandri. |
Aristhæus |
Philarches |
|
Juuenes Nobiles in Aulâ Periandri. |
Eriterus |
Symphilus |
Cratæa Mater Periandri. |
Melissa Uxor Periandri. |
Melissæ Umbra. |
Eugenia Filia Periandri. |
Pronæa |
|
Duæ Meritriculæ Periandri. |
Zona |
Larissæa Soror Philarchis. |
Europe Aristhæi Filia. |
Fæminæ Quatuor Corinthiæ cum 4 or Pueris Inseruientibus. |
Arion Celebris Musicus. |
Nantæ Quatuor. |
Cines Duo Togati. |
Vigiles Duo. |
Calistus |
|
Satellites Periandri. |
Stratocles |
Borius |
Tres Aut 4 or Alij Satellites. |
Epilogus. |
"EPILOGUE.
"Gentlemen, welcome! our great promises
Wee would make upp, your selves must needs confesse,
But our small timbred actors, narrow roome,
Necessity of thrifte make all short come
Of our first apprehensions; wee must keepe
Our auntient customes though wee after creepe.
But wee forgett times limitts, Nowe tis Lente—
Old store this weeke may lawfully be spente
Our former shewes were giv'n to our cal'd Lorde,
This, and att his request, for you was storde.
By many hands was Periander slaine,
Your gentler hands will give him live againe.
FINIS.
"A certain gentlewoman, upon the hearing of these two last
verses, made two other verses, and in way of an aunswer sent
them to the Prince, who having first plaied Periander afterwards
himselfe also pronounced the Epilogue.
"The verses were these
If that my hand or hart him life could give,
By hand and hart should Periander live.
"But it is almost incredible to thinke how well this Tragedy
was performed of all parties, and how well liked of the whole,
which (as many of them as were within the hall) were very
quiet and attentive. But those that were without and could
not get in made such an hideous noice, and raised such a
tumult with breaking of windows all about the colledge, throwinge
of stones into the hall and such like ryott, that the officers
of the coll: (beeing first dar'd to appeare) were faine to rush
forth in the beginning of the play, with about a dozen whiflers
well armed and swords drawne, whereat the whole company
(which were gathered together before the chapell doore to try
whether they could breake it open) seeing them come behind
them out of the lodging, presently gave backe, and ranne away
though itt was thought they were not so few as 4 or 500.
"The officers gave some faire words and some fowle as they
saw occasion, the whiflers were very heedfull to marke who were
the ringleaders of the rest, and having some notice given of
them by some of our friendes, they took some of them and
committed them to the Porter's lodge, where they lay close
prisoners till the play was done, and then they were brought
forth and punished, and so sente home.
"After this all was quiet only some were so thrust in the hall,
that they were carried forth for dead but soone recovered,
when they came into the aire.
"The Chorus of this Tragedy much pleased for the rarity of
it. Detraction beeing taken from among the company, where
hee had liked to have been beaten for his sawsines (as it was
supposed) for nobody at first toke him for an actor. The
chiefest in the hall commaunded that notice should be taken of
him, that hee might afterwards bee punished for his boldnes;—but
as soone as it at once appeared that he was an actor, their
disdaine and anger turned to much pleasure and content.
"All were so pleased att the whole course of this play, that
there were at least eight generall plaudites given in the midst
of it in divers places and to divers persons.
"In the end, they clapped their hands so long, that they went
forth of the colledge clapping.
"But in the midst of all this good liking wee were neere two
mischaunces, the one from Lycophron who lost a faire gold
ring from his finger, which notwithstanding all the hurleburly
in the end of the play, was soone found againe; the other from
Periander, who, going to kill his daughter Eugenia, did not
so couch his dagger within his hand, but that hee prickt her
through all her attire, but (as God would have it) it was onely a
scratch and so it passed.
THE CONCLUSION.
"Many other thinges were in this yeare intended which neither
were nor could be performed. As the maske of Penelope's
Wooer, with the State of Telemachus, with a Controversie of Jrus
and his ragged Company, whereof a great parte was made. The
devise of the Embassage from Lubber-land, whereof also a parte
was made. The Creation of White Knights of the order of
Aristotle's Well, which should bee sworne to defend Aristotle
against all authors, water against wine, footemen against horsemen,
and many more such like injunctions. A lottery for those
of the colledge or straungers as itt pleased them to draw, not
for matters of wealth, but only of mirth and witt. The triumph
of all the founders of the colledges in Oxford, a devise much
thought on, but it required more invention, more cost than the
time would affoord. The holding of a court leet and baron
for the Prince, wherein there should have beene leasses drawne,
copies taken, surrenders made, all which were not so much
neglected as prevented by the shortnes of time and want of
money, better wits and richer daies may hereafter make upp
which was then lefte unperfect.
"Here some letters might be inserted, and other gratulatory
messages from divers friends to the Prince, but it is high time
to make an end of this tedious and fruitelesse relation, unlesse
the knowledge of trouble and vanity bee fruitefull.
"Wee intended in these exercises the practise and audacity
of our youth, the credit and good name of our colledge, the
love and favor of the University; but instead of all these (so
easie a thing it is to be deceived in a good meaning) wee met
with peevishnesse at home, perversnes abroad, contradictions
everywhere; some never thought themselves entreated enough
to their owne good and creditt; others thought themselves able
to doe nothing if they could not thwarte and hinder something;
most stood by and gave aime, willing to see much and
doe nothing, nay perchaunce they were ready to procure most
trouble, which would bee sure to yield least helpe. And yet
wee may not so much grudge at faults at home as wee may
justly complaine of hard measure abroad; for instead of the
love and favour of the Universitie, wee found our selves (wee will
say justly) taxed for any the least error (though ingenious spirits
would have pardoned many things, where all things were intended
for their owne pleasure) but most unjustly censured,
and envied for that which was done (wee dare say) indifferently
well: so that, in a word, wee paide deere for trouble, and in
a manner hired and sent for men to doe us wrong.
"Let others herafter take heed how they attempte the like,
unlesse they find better meanes at home, and better mindes
abroad. And yet wee cannot complaine of all, some ment well
and said well, and those tooke good will for good paiment,
good endevors for good performaunce, and such (in this kind)
shall deserve a private favour, when other shal bee denied a
common benefitt.
"Seria vix recte agnoscit, qui ludicra nescit.
"finis"
Christmas Tournaments.
During the reign of James the First there was a revival of
chivalric exercises, especially in connection with the training of
the young Prince Henry. Almost as soon as he could wield a
lance and manage his horse when clothed in complete armour,
he insisted on taking his place at the lists; and from this time
no great tournament took place in England in which his Royal
Highness did not take part. The most important of these
exhibitions was
The Grand "Feat of Armes"
which took place on Twelfth Night, 1610, at the palace of
Whitehall, in the presence of King James I. and his queen, and
a brilliant assemblage of lords, ladies, and gentlemen, among
whom were several foreign ambassadors, when the heir-apparent,
Prince Henry, was in the 16th year of his age, and
therefore arrived at the period for claiming the principality
of Wales and the duchy of Cornwall. It was granted to him
by the king and the High Court of Parliament, and the 4th of
June following appointed for his investiture: "the Christmas
before which," Sir Charles Cornwallis says, "his highnesse, not
onely for his owne recreation, but also that the world might
know what a brave prince they were likely to enjoy, under the
name of Meliades, lord of the isles, (an ancient title due to the
first born of Scotland,) did, in his name, by some appointed for
the same purpose, strangely attired, accompanied with drummes
and trumpets, in the presence, before the king and queene, and
in the presence of the whole Court, deliver a challenge to all
knights of Great Britaine." The challenge was to this effect,
"That Meliades, their noble master, burning with an earnest desire
to trie the valour of his young yeares in foraigne countryes, and
to know where vertue triumphed most, had sent them abroad to
espy the same, who, after their long travailes in all countreys,
and returne," had nowhere discovered it, "save in the fortunate
isle of Great Britaine: which ministring matter of
exceeding joy to their young Meliades, who (as they said) could
lineally derive his pedegree from the famous knights of this
isle, was the cause that he had now sent to present the first
fruits of his chivalrie at his majesties' feete: then after returning
with a short speech to her majestie, next to the earles,
lords, and knights, excusing their lord in this their so sudden
and short warning, and, lastly, to the ladies; they, after humble
delivery of their chartle concerning time, place, conditions,
number of weapons and assailants, tooke their leave, departing
solemnly as they entered."
Then preparations began to be made for this great fight, and
each was happy who found himself admitted for a defendant,
much more an assailant. "At last to encounter his highness,
six assailants, and fifty-eight defendants, consisting of earles,
barons, knights, and esquires, were appointed and chosen;
eight defendants to one assailant, every assailant being to fight
by turnes eight several times fighting, two every time with push
and pike of sword, twelve strokes at a time; after which, the
barre for separation was to be let downe until a fresh onset."
The summons ran in these words:
"To our verie loving good ffreind sir Gilbert Loughton, knight, geave theis with
speed:
"After our hartie commendacions unto you. The prince, his highnes, hath
commanded us to signifie to you that whereas he doth intend to make a challenge
in his owne person at the Barriers, with six other assistants, to bee performed
some tyme this Christmas; and that he hath made choice of you for one of the
defendants (whereof wee have comandement to give you knowledge), that
theruppon you may so repaire hither to prepare yourselfe, as you may bee fitt to
attend him. Hereunto expecting your speedie answer wee rest, from Whitehall
this 25th of December, 1609. Your very loving friends,
| Nottingham. |
T. Suffolke. |
E. Worcester. |
On New Year's Day, 1610, or the day after, the Prince's
challenge was proclaimed at court, and "his highnesse, in his
own lodging, in the Christmas, did feast the earles, barons, and
knights, assailants and defendants, until the great Twelfth
appointed night, on which this great fight was to be performed."
On the 6th of January, in the evening, "the barriers" were
held at the palace of Whitehall, in the presence of the king
and queen, the ambassadors of Spain and Venice, and the peers
and ladies of the land, with a multitude of others assembled in
the banquetting-house: at the upper end whereof was the
king's chair of state, and on the right a sumptuous pavilion for
the prince and his associates, whence, "with great bravery and
ingenious devices, they descended into the middell of the roome,
and there the prince performed his first feates of armes, that is
to say, at Barriers, against all commers, being assisted onlie with
six others, viz., the duke of Lenox, the earle of Arundell, the
earle of Southampton, the lord Hay, sir Thomas Somerset, and
sir Richard Preston, who was shortly afterwards created lord
Dingwell."
To answer these challengers came fifty-six earles, barons,
knights, and esquiers. They were at "the lower end of the
roome, where was erected a very delicat and pleasant place,
where in privat manner they and their traine remained, which
was so very great that no man imagined that the place could
have concealed halfe so many." Thence they issued in comely
order, "to the middell of the roome, where sate the king and
the queene, and the court, to behold the barriers, with the
several showes and devices of each combatant." Every challenger
fought with eight several defendants two several combats
at two several weapons, viz. at push of pike, and with single
sword. "The prince performed this challenge with wonderous
skill and courage, to the great joy and admiration of the
beholders," he "not being full sixteene yeeres of age until the
19th of February." These feats, and other "triumphant
shewes," began before ten o'clock at night, and continued until
three o'clock in the morning, "being Sonday." The speeches
at "the barriers" were written by Ben Jonson. The next day
(Sunday) the prince rode in great pomp to convoy the king to
St. James', whither he had invited him and all the court to
supper, the queen alone being absent; and then the prince
bestowed prizes to the three combatants best deserving; namely,
the Earl of Montgomery, Sir Thomas Darey (son of Lord
Darey), and Sir Robert Gourdon. Thus ended the Twelftide
court festivities in 1610.
During the early years of James's reign tournaments divided
with masques the favour of the Court; and, as we have just
seen when Prince Henry reached his sixteenth year, he put
himself forth in a more heroic manner than usual with princes
of his time to engage in "feats of armes" and chivalric exercises;
but after his death (1612) these sports fell quite out of
fashion, and George Wither, a poet of the period, expresses, in
the person of Britannia, the feelings of the nation:—
"Alas! who now shall grace my tournaments,
Or honour me with deeds of chivalry?
What shall become of all my merriments,
My ceremonies, shows of heraldry,
And other rites?"
Religious matters received a good deal of attention from
James I. in the later years of his reign, and his Majesty's
proposals raised the question of the observance of
The Christmas Festival in Scotland.
In 1617 the King made a journey to Scotland with the
object of establishing the English Church in all its forms
and authority as the State Church of Scotland for ever. One
of the famous Five Articles in which the King set forth his
will proposed "That the festivals of Christmas, Good Friday,
Easter, Ascension Day, and Whit Sunday, should be observed
in Scotland just as in England." The Articles were
received with unequivocal marks of displeasure, many of the
churches refusing to obey the royal command, and the
revival of the festival of Christmas was denounced as the return
of the ancient Saturnalia. Three years later the King obtained
an Act of Parliament enforcing the Articles on the repugnant
spirit of the people. "Dr. Laud, whose name we now meet
for the first time, afterwards to become so notorious, even
urged James to go further lengths; but his fatal advice was
destined to act with more force on the next generation."[63]
The King returned to London very much displeased with the
religious views of his Scotch subjects, and his sourness seems
to have manifested itself even at Christmastide, for on December
20th of this year Mr. Chamberlaine thus wrote to Sir Dudley
Carleton: "The King hath been at Theobald's ever since
Wednesday, and came to town this day. I am sorry to hear
that he grows every day more froward, and with such a kind of
morosity, that doth either argue a great discontent in mind, or
a distemper of humours in his body. Yet he is never so out of
tune but the very sight of my Lord of Buckingham doth settle
and quiet all."[64]
So soothed and softened was the King by "my Lord of
Buckingham" that Mr. Chamberlaine, writing again on the 3rd
of January, says that on New Year's Day the earl was created
"Marquis of Buckingham, a dignity the King hath not bestowed
since his coming to this crown." And, says the same
writer, "This night was the Lord Marquiss's [Buckingham's]
great
Feast, where were the King and Prince,
with Lords and Ladies sans nombre. You may guess at the
rest of the cheer by this scantling, that there were said to be
seventeen dozen of pheasants, and twelve partridges in a dish
throughout; which methinks was rather spoil than largess;
yet for all the plenty of presents, the supper cost £600. Sir
Thomas Edmondes undertook the providing and managing of
all, so that it was much after the French. The King was
exceedingly pleased, and could not be satisfied with commending
the meat and the Master; and yet some stick not to say,
that young Sir Henry Mildmay, a son of George Brooke, that
was executed at Winchester, and a son of Sir William Monson's,
begins to come into consideration."
The Failing Health of the King
interfered somewhat with the celebration of the subsequent
Royal Christmases of this reign; and Nichols, referring to the
Court celebrations of Twelfth Day, 1620-1, says:
"'On Twelfth Day the King went to Chappel, but they had
much ado to support him. He offered gold, frankincence, and
myrrhe, and touched 80 of the evil.'[65] In the evening 'the
French Ambassador and his choise followers were brought to
court by the Earle of Warwick to be present at a Maske; he
seated as before with the King, the better sort of the other on a
fourme behind the Lords, the Lord Treasurer onely and the
Marquesse of Hamilton sitting at the upper end of it, and all
the rest in a box, and in the best places of the scaffolds on the
right hand of his Majesty. No other Ambassadors were at
that time present or invited.'"
As to
The Christmas Festivities
of the next year (1621-2) Nichols[66] says Mr. Meade wrote thus
to Sir Martin Stuteville:—
"'The Lieutenant of Middle Temple played a game this
Christmas-time, whereat his Majesty was highly displeased.
He made choise of some thirty of the civillest and best-fashioned
gentlemen of the House to sup with him; and, being
at supper, took a cup of wine in one hand, and held his sword
drawn in the other, and so began a health to the distressed
Lady Elizabeth [the Queen of Bohemia], and having drunk,
kissed his sword, and laying his hand upon it, took an oath to
live and die in her service; then delivered the cup and sword
to the next, and so the health and ceremonie went round.
"'The Gentlemen of Graye's Inne, to make an end of Christmas
on Twelfe-night, in the dead time of the night, shot off
all the chambers they had borrowed from the Tower, being as
many as filled four carts. The King, awakened with this noise,
started out of his bed, and cryed, "Treason, treason," &c., and
that the Cittie was in an uprore, in such sort (as it is told) that
the whole court was raised and almost in armes, the Earle of
Arundell running to the Bed-chamber with his sword drawne as
to rescue the King's person.'"
In this reign many accomplished writers assisted in the
Christmas festivities. Professor Henry Morley[67] mentions that
in December, 1623, the name of Philip Massinger, poet and
dramatist, first appeared in the office book of the Master of the
Revells, when his "Bondman" was acted, and the play was
first printed in 1624.
King James I. died at Theobald's, Herts, on the 27th March,
1625, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
King James I. and Bishop Andrewes on Christmas Days.
The remarkable fact that Bishop Andrewes preached seventeen
sermons on the Nativity before James I. gives an unusual
interest to the Christmas Day services of this reign. Nichols
makes the following references to them:—
1605. "On Christmas Day the King attended Divine Service
at Whitehall, where Dr Lancelot Andrews, then recently
promoted to the Bishoprick of Chichester, preached before his
Majesty, on the Epistle of St. Paul to the Hebrews, ii. 16."
1606. "On Christmas Day, the King attended Divine Service
at Whitehall, where Bishop Andrews, now decidedly the King's
favourite Preacher, discoursed on Esaias ix. 6."
1607. "On Thursday, being Christmas Day, the King attended
Divine Service at Whitehall, and there heard Bishop Andrews
preach on 1 Tim. iii. 16."
1609. "Monday, December 25, being Christmas Day, the
King attended Divine Service at Whitehall, and there heard
the Bishop of Ely, Dr. Andrews, on Galat. iv. 4, 5." In a note
Nichols says: "This sermon was much admired by the King.
This was probably the reason that it was printed in 1610,
together with that the Bishop preached on the same occasion
in that year, under the following title: 'Two Sermons preached
before the King's Majestie at Whitehall; of the Birth of Christ;
the one on Christmas Day, anno 1609, the other on Christmas
Day last, anno 1610. By the Bishop of Elie, his Majestie's
Almoner. Imprinted at London by Robert Barker, Printer to
the King's most excellent Majestie, anno 1610.'"
1610. "On Tuesday, the 25th December, Christmas Day, the
King attended Divine Service at Whitehall, where Bishop
Andrews preached on Luke ii. 9, 10."
1611. "On Christmas Day the King attended Divine Service
at Whitehall, and Bishop Andrews preached on John. i. 14."
1612. "On Friday, 25th December, Christmas Day was kept
as usual at Whitehall; where the King attended Divine Service,
and Bishop Andrews (as usual) preached."
1613. "Saturday, 25th December, being Christmas Day, was
kept with the usual solemnities; the King attended Divine
service at Whitehall, and Bishop Andrews preached."
1614. "His Majesty returned to keep Christmas Day, as was
customary, at Whitehall. Bishop Andrews addressed him from
the pulpit as usual."
1615. "'On Christmas Day, the King, being sorely troubled
with the gout, was not able to go to Divine service; but heard
a sermon in private, and took the Sacrament.' The Preacher
was, as usual, Bishop Andrews."
1616. "On Christmas Day, Thomas, Earl of Arundel, who
was educated from his youth in the Popish Religion, and had
lately travelled all over Italy detesting the abuses of the Papists,
embraced the Protestant religion, and received the Sacrament
in the King's Chapel at Whitehall, where Bishop Andrews
preached, as was customary, a sermon suited to the Festival of
the Nativity."
1618. "On the 25th [December], Bishop Andrews resumed
his post as preacher on Christmas Day, before the King at
Whitehall. His text was from Luke ii. 12, 13."
1619. "Christmas was kept by the King at Whitehall, as had
ever been his practice; and Bishop Andrews preached then
before him, on Saturday, the 25th."
1620. "During the month of December, before the King left
the country, he knighted at Newmarket, Sir Francis Michell,
afterward degraded in June 1621; and at Theobalds, Sir Gilbert
Cornwall. On the 23rd, his Majestie 'came to Westminster,
but went not to Chappel, being prevented by the gout.' On
Monday, the 25th, however, being Christmas Day, Bishop
Andrews preached before him at Whitehall, on Matt. ii. 1, 2;
and during Christmas, Sir Clement Cotterell and Sir Henry
Carvell were there knighted."
1622. "On the 25th [December] Bishop Andrews resumed
his Christmas station in the pulpit at Whitehall, and thence
preached to the King and his Court on the same text
as he had adopted on the same occasion two years before,
Matt. ii. 1, 2."
1623. "The King kept inviolate his old custom of being at
Whitehall on Christmas Day, and hearing there a sermon from
Bishop Andrews, who this year preached on Ephes. i. 10."
1624. "On Saturday, the 25th of December, Bishop Andrews
preached before his Majesty at Whitehall, on Psalm ii. 7, it
being at least the seventeenth, as it was the last, Christmas Day
on which King James heard that favourite preacher."
The unique series of "Seventeen Sermons on the Nativity,
preached before King James I. at Whitehall, by the Right
Honourable and Reverend Father in God, Lancelot Andrewes,
sometime Lord Bishop of Winchester," were preserved to
posterity by an order of Charles I., who, after Bishop Andrewes's
death, commanded Bishops Laud and Buckeridge to collect
and publish his sermons. This series of sermons on the
Nativity have recently been reprinted in "The Ancient and
Modern Library of Theological Literature," and the editor, after
referring to the ability and integrity of Bishop Andrewes, says:
"An interest apart from that which must be created by his
genius, learning, and character, belongs to him as the exponent
of the mind and practice of the English Church in the years
that intervened between the Reformation and the Revolution."
The Popular Amusements of Christmastide
at this period are thus enumerated by Robert Burton in his
"Anatomy of Melancholy," published in 1621:—
"The ordinary recreations which we have in winter are
cards, tables and dice, shovelboard, chess-play, the philosopher's
game, small trunks, billiards, music, masks, singing, dancing,
ule games, catches, purposes, questions; merry tales of errant
knights, kings, queens, lovers, lords, ladies, giants, dwarfs,
thieves, fairies, goblins, friars, witches, and the rest."
The following curious cut is from the title-page of the amusing
story of the great "Giant Gargantua" of this period:—
The legends of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table,
Bevis of Southampton, Guy of Warwick, Adam Bell, and
Clymme of Clough, were favourites among the lovers of
romance; but the people of this age, being very superstitious,
were very fond of stories about ghosts and goblins, believing
them to be founded on fact, and also attributing feats performed
by conjurors and jugglers to supernatural agency. The King
himself was equally superstitious, for Strutt in describing the
tricks of jugglers says: "Our learned monarch, James I., was
perfectly convinced that these, and other inferior feats exhibited
by the tregetours, could only be performed by the agency of
the devil, 'who,' says he, 'will learne them many juglarie
tricks, at cardes and dice, to deceive men's senses thereby, and
such innumerable false practiques, which are proved by over-many
in this age.'"[68]
Looking back to the ancient superstitions about ghosts and
fairies, Dryden, the poet, has some lines which may fitly close
this chapter:—
"I speak of ancient times, for now the swain
Returning late may pass the woods in vain,
And never hope to see the mighty train;
In vain the dairy now with mint is dressed,
The dairy-maid expects no fairy guest,
To skim the bowls and after pay the feast.
She sighs and shakes her empty shoes in vain,
No silver penny to reward her pain:
For priests, with prayers and other godly gear,
Have made the merry goblins disappear."
(1625-1660.)
King Charles the First
was the second son of James I. and of Anne, daughter of
Frederick III., King of Denmark, and he came to the throne
on the death of his father in March 1625. As Prince Charles
he had taken part in the Court entertainments of Christmastide,
and had particularly distinguished himself in Ben Jonson's
masque, "The Vision of Delight." These magnificent Christmas
masques were continued after Charles's accession to the
throne until the troubles of his reign stopped them. Gifford[69]
mentions that Jonson's "Masque of Owls" was presented at
Kenilworth Castle, "By the Ghost of Captain Cox mounted on
his Hobby-horse, in 1626":—
"Enter Captain Cox, on his Hobby-horse.
Room! room! for my horse will wince,
If he come within so many yards of a prince;
And though he have not on his wings,
He will do strange things,
He is the Pegasus that uses
To wait on Warwick Muses;
And on gaudy-days he paces
Before the Coventry Graces;
For to tell you true, and in rhyme,
He was foal'd in Queen Elizabeth's time,
When the great Earl of Lester
In this castle did feast her."
the hobby-horse.Jonson's "The Fortunate Isles, and Their Union," a masque
designed for the Court, was presented on Twelfth Night, 1626;
and "Love's Triumph through Callipolis" (a masque invented
by Ben Jonson and Inigo Jones) was presented at Court
in 1630.
The Lord of Misrule
also made merry at Christmas at this period; but it sometimes
happened that when he went forth with his band of merry men,
they got into trouble. An instance of this, which occurred in
1627, is recorded in one of Meade's letters to Sir Martin Stuteville.
The letter is worth reprinting as an illustration of the
manners of the age, and as relating to what was probably the
last Lord of Misrule elected by the barristers. Meade writes:—"On
Saturday the Templars chose one Mr. Palmer their Lord of
Misrule, who, on Twelfth-eve, late in the night, sent out to
gather up his rents at five shillings a house in Ram-alley and
Fleet Street. At every door they came to they winded the
Temple-horn, and if at the second blast or summons they
within opened not the door, then the Lord of Misrule cried
out, 'Give fire, gunner!' His gunner was a robustious Vulcan,
and the gun or petard itself was a huge overgrown smith's
hammer. This being complained of to my Lord Mayor, he
said he would be with them about eleven o'clock on Sunday
night last; willing that all that ward should attend him with
their halberds, and that himself, besides those that came out of
his house, should bring the watches along with him. His lordship,
thus attended, advanced as high as Ram-alley in martial
equipage: when forth came the Lord of Misrule, attended by
his gallants, out of the Temple-gate, with their swords all armed
in cuerpo. A halberdier bade the Lord of Misrule come to my
Lord Mayor. He answered, No! let the Lord Mayor come
to me! At length they agreed to meet halfway: and, as the
interview of rival princes is never without danger of some ill
accident, so it happened in this: for first, Mr. Palmer being
quarrelled with for not pulling off his hat to my Lord Mayor,
and giving cross answers, the halberds began to fly about his
ears, and he and his company to brandish their swords. At
last being beaten to the ground, and the Lord of Misrule sore
wounded, they were fain to yield to the longer and more
numerous weapon. My Lord Mayor taking Mr. Palmer by the
shoulder, led him to the Compter, and thrust him in at the
prison-gate with a kind of indignation; and so, notwithstanding
his hurts, he was forced to lie among the common prisoners for
two nights. On Tuesday the King's attorney became a suitor
to my Lord Mayor for their liberty: which his lordship granted,
upon condition that they should repay the gathered rents, and
do reparations upon broken doors. Thus the game ended.
Mr. Attorney-General, being of the same house, fetched them
in his own coach, and carried them to the court, where the
King himself reconciled my Lord Mayor and them together
with joining all hands; the gentlemen of the Temple being this
Shrovetide to present a Mask to their majesties, over and besides
the King's own great Mask, to be performed at the Banquetting-house
by an hundred actors."
We get other glances at
The Christmas Festivities in the 17th Century
through contemporary writers of the period. Nicholas Breton,[70]
writing in merry mood, says: "It is now Christmas, and not a
cup of drink must pass without a carol; the beasts, fowl, and
fish come to a general execution, and the corn is ground to
dust for the bakehouse and the pastry: cards and dice purge
many a purse, and the youth show their agility in shoeing of
the wild mare: now, good cheer, and welcome, and God be
with you, and I thank you:—and against the New Year provide
for the presents:—The Lord of Misrule is no mean man for his
time, and the guests of the high table must lack no wine: the
lusty bloods must look about them like men, and piping and
dancing puts away much melancholy: stolen venison is sweet,
and a fat coney is worth money: pit-falls are now set for
small birds, and a woodcock hangs himself in a gin: a good
fire heats all the house, and a full alms-basket makes the
beggar's prayers:—the maskers and the mummers make the
merry sport, but if they lose their money their drum goes dead:
swearers and swaggerers are sent away to the ale-house, and
unruly wenches go in danger of judgment; musicians now make
their instruments speak out, and a good song is worth the
hearing. In sum it is a holy time, a duty in Christians for the
remembrance of Christ and custom among friends for the maintenance
of good fellowship. In brief I thus conclude it: I hold
it a memory of the Heaven's love and the world's peace, the
mirth of the honest, and the meeting of the friendly. Farewell."
In 1633, William Prynne, a Puritan lawyer, published his "Histriomastix,"
against plays, masques, balls, the decking of houses
with evergreens at Christmas, &c., for which he was committed
to the Tower, prosecuted in the Star Chamber, and sentenced
to pay a fine to the King of £5,000, to be expelled from the
University of Oxford, from the Society of Lincoln's Inn, and
from his profession of the law; to stand twice in the pillory,
each time losing an ear; to have his book burnt before his face
by the hangman; and to suffer perpetual imprisonment: a most
barbarous sentence, which Green[71] says, "showed the hard cruelty
of the Primate."
Milton's masque of "Comus" was produced the following year
(1634) for performance at Ludlow Castle, in Shropshire, which
was the seat of government for the Principality of Wales, the
Earl of Bridgewater being then the Lord President, and having
a jurisdiction and military command that comprised the English
counties of Gloucester, Worcester, Hereford and Shropshire.
Ludlow Castle was to the Lord President of Wales of that
period what Dublin Castle is to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
in the present day; and, as hospitality was one of the duties of
the Lord President's office, the Earl and Countess of Bridgewater
gave a grand entertainment to the country people, in
which the masque of "Comus" was an important feature. The
music was composed by the eminent musician Henry Lawes,
and the masque was adapted for performance by the family
of the earl and countess, who then had ten children—eight
daughters and two sons.
It is quite refreshing to think of the author of "Paradise
Lost," with his friend Lawes, the musician, among the country
dancers, listening to the song of the attendant spirit:—
"Back, shepherds, back; enough your play
Till next sun-shine holiday:
Here be, without duck or nod,
Other trippings to be trod
Of lighter toes, and such court guise
As Mercury did first devise
With the mincing Dryades,
On the lawns, and on the leas."
"But Milton was a courtier when he wrote the Masque at
Ludlow Castle," says Charles Lamb, "and still more of a
courtier when he composed the 'Arcades'" (a masque, or
entertainment presented to the Countess Dowager of Derby, at
Harefield, by some noble persons of her family). "When the
national struggle was to begin, he becomingly cast these varieties
behind him."
From "Archæologia" (vol. xviii. p. 335), we learn that
"Richard Evelyn, Esq., High Sheriff of Surrey and Sussex in
1634, held a splendid Christmas at his mansion at Wotton,
having a regular Lord of Misrule for the occasion: and it
appears it was then the custom for the neighbours to send
presents of eatables to provide for the great consumption
consequent upon such entertainments. The following is a list
of those sent on this occasion: two sides of venison, two half
brawns, three pigs, ninety capons, five geese, six turkeys, four
rabbits, eight partridges, two pullets, five sugar loaves, half a
pound of nutmeg, one basket of apples, two baskets of pears."
Hone[72] states that "in the ninth year of King Charles I. the
four Inns of Court provided a Christmas mask, which cost
£2,400, and the King invited a hundred and twenty gentlemen
of the four Inns to a mask at Whitehall on Shrove Tuesday
following." And Sandys says that on the 13th December, 1637,
a warrant under Privy Seal was issued to George Kirke, for
£150 to provide masking apparel for the King; and on the 1st
of the same month Edmund Taverner had a warrant for £1,400
towards the charge of a mask to be presented at Whitehall the
next Twelfth Night. A similar sum for a similar purpose was
granted to Michael Oldisworth on the 3rd of January, 1639.
In connection with the entertainments at the Inns of Court,
Sandys mentions that by an order, 17th November, 4th Charles
I., all playing at dice, cards, or otherwise was forbidden at
Gray's Inn, except during the 20 days in Christmas.
As indicating the prolongation of the Christmas revels at this
period, it is recorded that in February, 1633, there was a
celebrated masque, called "The Triumph of Peace," presented
jointly by the two Temples, Lincoln's Inn and Gray's Inn, which
cost the Societies about £20,000. Evelyn, in his "Memoirs,"
relates, that on the 15th December, 1641, he was elected one of
the Comptrollers of the Middle Temple revellers, "as the custom
of ye young students and gentlemen was, the Christmas being
kept this yeare with greate solemnity"; but he got excused.
An order still existed directing the nobility and gentry who
had mansions in the country "to repair to them to keep
hospitality meet to their degrees;" for a note in Collier's
History states that Sir J. Astley, on the 20th of March, 1637,
in consequence of ill-health, obtained a license to reside in
London, or where he pleased, at Christmas, or any other times;
which proves such license to have been requisite.
At this period noblemen and gentlemen lived like petty
princes, and in the arrangement of their households copied
their sovereign, having officers of the same import, and even
heralds wearing their coat of arms at Christmas, and other
solemn feasts, crying largesse thrice at the proper times. They
feasted in their halls where many of the Christmas sports were
performed. When coals were introduced the hearth was commonly
in the middle, whence, according to Aubrey, is the saying,
"Round about our coal-fire." Christmas was considered as the
commemoration of a holy festival, to be observed with cheerfulness
as well as devotion. The comforts and personal gratification
of their dependants were provided for by the landlords,
their merriment encouraged, and their sports joined. The
working man looked forward to Christmas as the time which
repaid his former toils; and gratitude for worldly comforts then
received caused him to reflect on the eternal blessings bestowed
on mankind by the event then commemorated.
servants' christmas feast.Of all our English poets, Robert Herrick, a writer of the
seventeenth century, has left us the most complete contemporary
picture of the Christmas season. He was born in
Cheapside, London, and received his early education, it is
supposed, at Westminster School, whence he removed to Cambridge,
and after taking his M.A. degree in 1620, left Cambridge.
He afterwards spent some years in London in familiar intercourse
with the wits and writers of the age, enjoying those "lyric
feasts" which are celebrated in his "Ode to Ben Jonson":—
"Ah Ben!
Say how or when
Shall we, thy guests
Meet at those lyric feasts
Made at the Sun,
The Dog, the Triple Tun;
Where we such clusters had
As made us nobly wild, not mad?
And yet each verse of thine
Outdid the meat, outdid the frolic wine.
In 1629 he accepted the living of Dean Prior, in Devonshire,
where he lived as a bachelor Vicar, being ejected by the Long
Parliament, returning on the Restoration under Charles the
Second, and dying at length at the age of eighty-four. He was
buried in the Church at Dean Prior, where a memorial tablet
has latterly been erected to his memory. And it is fitting that
he should die and be buried in the quiet Devonshire hamlet
from which he drew so much of his happiest inspiration, and
which will always be associated now with the endless charm
of the "Hesperides."
In "A New Year's Gift, sent to Sir Simeon Steward," included
in his "Hesperides," Herrick refers to the Christmas sports of
the time, and says:—
"No new device or late-found trick
- - -
- -
We send you; but here a jolly
Verse crowned with ivy and with holly;
That tells of winter's tales and mirth,
That milk-maids make about the hearth,
Of Christmas sports, the Wassail bowl,
That's tossed up after Fox-i'-th'-hole;
Of Blind-man's-buff, and of the care
That young men have to shoe the Mare;
Of Twelfth-tide cake, of peas and beans,
Wherewith ye make those merry scenes,
When as ye choose your king and queen,
And cry out, 'Hey for our town green.'
Of ash-heaps in the which ye use
Husbands and wives by streaks to choose:
Of crackling laurel, which fore-sounds
A plenteous harvest to your grounds;
Of these, and such like things, for shift,
We send instead of New-year's gift.
Read then, and when your faces shine
With bucksome meat and cap'ring wine,
Remember us in cups full crowned,
And let our city's health go round,
Quite through the young maids and the men,
To the ninth number, if not ten,
Until the firèd chestnuts leap
For joy to see the fruits ye reap,
From the plump chalice and the cup
That tempts till it be tossèd up.
Then as ye sit about your embers,
Call not to mind those fled Decembers;
But think on these, that are t' appear,
As daughters to the instant year;
Sit crowned with rose-buds and carouse,
Till Liber Pater twirls the house
About your ears, and lay upon
The year, your cares, that's fled and gone.
And let the russet swains the plough
And harrow hang up resting now;
And to the bagpipe all address
Till sleep takes place of weariness.
And thus, throughout, with Christmas plays,
Frolic the full twelve holy-days."
Sir Isaac Newton's Birth, on Christmas Day,
at Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, was the most important Christmas
event of the memorable year which saw the outbreak of the
Civil War (1642). In the year of the Restoration he entered
Cambridge, where the teaching of Isaac Barrow quickened his
genius for mathematics, and from the time he left College his
life became a series of wonderful physical discoveries. As early
as 1666, he discovered the law of gravitation, but it was not
till the eve of the Revolution that his "Principia" revealed to
the world his new theory of the universe.
The Customs of Christmastide in the Seventeenth
Century.
"A Christmas Carol," by George Wither, a well-known
poet of this period, contains many allusions to the customs of
Christmastide:—
So, now is come our joyful'st feast;
Let every man be jolly;
Each room with ivy leaves is drest,
And every post with holly.
Though some churls at our mirth repine,
Round your foreheads garlands twine;
Drown sorrow in a cup of wine,
And let us all be merry.
Now all our neighbours' chimneys smoke,
And Christmas blocks are burning;
Their ovens they with baked meats choke,
And all their spits are turning.
Without the door let sorrow lie;
And if for cold it hap to die,
We'll bury 't in a Christmas pie,
And ever more be merry.
Now every lad is wondrous trim,
And no man minds his labour;
Our lasses have provided them
A bag-pipe and a tabour;
Young men and maids, and girls and boys,
Give life to one another's joys;
And you anon shall by their noise
Perceive that they are merry.
Rank misers now do sparing shun;
Their hall of music soundeth;
And dogs thence with whole shoulders run,
So all things there aboundeth.
The country folks themselves advance
With crowdy-muttons[73] out of France;
And Jack shall pipe, and Jill shall dance,
And all the town be merry.
Ned Squash hath fetched his bands from pawn,
And all his best apparel;
Brisk Nell hath bought a ruff of lawn
With droppings of the barrel;
And those that hardly all the year
Had bread to eat, or rags to wear,
Will have both clothes and dainty fare,
And all the day be merry.
Now poor men to the justices
With capons make their errants;
And if they hap to fail of these;
They plague them with their warrants;
But now they feed them with good cheer.
And what they want they take in beer;
For Christmas comes but once a year,
And then they shall be merry.
Good farmers in the country nurse
The poor that else were undone;
Some landlords spend their money worse,
On lust and pride at London.
There the roys'ters they do play,
Drab and dice their lands away,
Which may be ours another day;
And therefore let's be merry.
The client now his suit forbears,
The prisoner's heart is eased:
The debtor drinks away his cares,
And for the time is pleased.
Though other purses be more fat,
Why should we pine or grieve at that?
Hang sorrow! care will kill a cat,
And therefore let's be merry.
Hark! how the wags abroad do call
Each other forth to rambling:
Anon you'll see them in the hall
For nuts and apples scrambling.
Hark! how the roofs with laughter sound!
Anon they'll think the house goes round,
For they the cellar's depth have found,
And there they will be merry.
The wenches with their wassail bowls
About the streets are singing;
The boys are come to catch the owls,
The wild mare in is bringing.
Our kitchen-boy hath broke his box,[74]
And to the dealing of the ox
Our honest neighbours come by flocks,
And here they will be merry.
Now kings and queens poor sheep cotes have,
And mate with everybody;
The honest now may play the knave,
And wise men play the noddy.
Some youths will now a mumming go,
Some others play at Rowland-ho
And twenty other gambols mo,
Because they will be merry.
Then wherefore in these merry days
Should we, I pray, be duller?
No, let us sing some roundelays,
To make our mirth the fuller.
And, whilst thus inspired we sing,
Let all the streets with echoes ring,
Woods and hills, and everything,
Bear witness we are merry.
The preceding poem was evidently written by Wither before
the Civil War troubles of the reign of Charles the First had
interfered to damp the national hilarity, or check the rejoicings
at the festive season of Christmas.
The Defeat of the Royalists,
the overthrow of the monarchy, and the changes resulting therefrom
at Christmastide are alluded to in "The Complaint of
Christmas, written after Twelftide, and printed before Candlemas,
1646," by old John Taylor, the Water Poet, who says:
"All the liberty and harmless sports, the merry gambols, dances
and friscols, with which the toiling ploughman and labourer
once a year were wont to be recreated, and their spirits and
hopes revived for a whole twelvemonth, are now extinct and
put out of use, in such a fashion as if they never had been.
Thus are the merry lords of bad rule at Westminster; nay,
more, their madness hath extended itself to the very vegetables;
senseless trees, herbs, and weeds, are in a profane estimation
amongst them—holly, ivy, mistletoe, rosemary, bays, are
accounted ungodly branches of superstition for your entertainment.
And to roast a sirloin of beef, to touch a collar of brawn,
to take a pie, to put a plum in the pottage pot, to burn a great
candle, or to lay one block the more in the fire for your sake,
Master Christmas, is enough to make a man to be suspected and
taken for a Christian, for which he shall be apprehended for
committing high Parliament Treason and mighty malignancy
against the general Council of the Directorian private Presbyterian
Conventicle."
With the success of the Parliamentarians, certain changes
came in the ruling manners of the age; but
The Attempt to Abolish Christmas Day
was, of course, a signal failure. The event commemorated
made it impossible for the commemoration to cease. Men
may differ as to the mode of celebration, but the Christ must
and will be celebrated.
"In 1642," says Sandys, "the first ordinances were issued
to suppress the performance of plays, and hesitation was
expressed as to the manner of keeping Christmas. Some shops
in London were even opened on Christmas Day, 1643, part of
the people being fearful of a Popish observance of the day.
The Puritans gradually prevailed, and in 1647 some parish
officers were committed for permitting ministers to preach upon
Christmas Day, and for adorning the church. On the 3rd of
June in the same year, it was ordained by the Lords and
Commons in Parliament that the feast of the Nativity of Christ,
with other holidays, should be no longer observed, and that all
scholars, apprentices, and other servants, with the leave and
approbation of their masters, should have such relaxation from
labour on the second Tuesday in every month as they used to
have from such festivals and holy days; and in Canterbury, on
the 22nd of December following, the crier went round by
direction of the Mayor, and proclaimed that Christmas Day and
all other superstitious festivals should be put down, and a market
kept upon that day."
In describing "The First Christmas under the Puritan
Directory," the Saturday Review (December 27, 1884) says:—"It
must have been taken as a piece of good luck by the
Parliamentary and Puritanical masters of England, or, as they
would have said, as 'a providence,' that the Christmas Day of
1645 fell upon a week-day. It was the first Christmas Day after
the legislative abolition of the Anglican Prayer-book and the
establishment of 'the Directory' in its stead; and, if it had
fallen upon a Sunday, the Churches must have been opened.
A 'Sabbath' could not be ignored, even though it chanced to be
the 25th of December. There can be small doubt that, if the
Presbyterian and Independent preachers who held all the
English parishes subject to the Parliament had been obliged to
go into the pulpits on the 25th of December 1645, they would
again have irritated the masses of the people by ferociously
'improving the occasion.' The Parliament had not the courage
to repeat the brutal experiment of the previous year. It was
easy to abolish the feast by an ordinance; but it was risky to
insist by an ordinance that the English people and English
families should keep the dearest and most sacred of their
festivals as a fast. The rulers knew that such an ordinance
would not be obeyed. They resolved simply to ignore the
day, or treat it as any ordinary Thursday. Doubtless many of
the members kept up some sort of celebration of the old family
festival in their own private houses. But the legislators marched
solemnly to the Lower House, and the 'divines' marched as
solemnly to the Assembly in the Jerusalem Chamber, affecting
to take no notice of the unusual aspect of the shops and streets,
which everywhere bore witness to the fact that there was a deep
and fundamental estrangement between 'the State' and 'the
people,' and that the people were actually keeping the festival
which the 'Synod' had declared to be profane and superstitious,
and which the Parliament to please the Scots, the Nonconformists,
and the Sectaries, had abolished by law. 'Notwithstanding
the Ordinance,' wrote a Member of the House of
Commons, the Erastian Whitelock, in his 'Memorials,' 'yet
generally this day, in London, the shops were shut and the day
observed.' The Christmas number of the Mercurius Academicus
(December 25 to 31, 1645), states that General Browne, who
was a Presbyterian zealot, 'proclaimed' the abolition of
Christmas Day at Abingdon, and 'sent out his warrants for men to
work on that day especially.' ... The Parliamentary newspaper,
The Weekly Account, (LIII. week, 1645), has the bald
record: 'Thursday, Decemb. 25. The Commons sate in a
Grand Committee concerning the privileges of members of their
House.' The news in the Tuesday paper, The Kingdome's
Weekly Intelligencer (No. 152), is equally thin: 'Thursday,
Decemb. 25, vulgarly known by the name of Christmas Day,
both Houses sate. The House of Commons more especially
debated some things in reference to the privileges of that House,
and made some orders therein.' ... The Presbyterian and
Independent divines spent Christmas Day in the 'Synod' of
Westminster. December the 25th, 1645, was entered in their
minutes as 'Session 561.' ... The City newspaper of that
period, Mercurius Civicus, or London's Intelligencer, in what we
may call its Christmas number (No. 135, December 18 to
December 24, 1645), printed an article explaining to the
citizens of London the absurdity, if not the impiety, of keeping
Christmas Day. Every good citizen was expected to open his
shop as usual on the coming Thursday, and compel his apprentices
to keep behind the counter. The City newspaper stated,
that it was more probable that the Saviour was born in September
than in December, and quotes 'a late reverend minister's
opinion, that God did conceale the time when Christ was borne,
upon the same reason that He tooke away the body of Moses,
that they might not put an holinesse upon that day.' If the
apprentices want a holiday, 'let them keep the fift of November,
and other dayes of that nature, or the late great mercy of God
in the taking of Hereford, which deserves an especiall day of
thanksgiving.' The mass of the English folk meanwhile protested
by all such ways as were open to them against the
outlandish new religion which was being invented for them.
The Mercuricus Civicus complained that, 'Many people in these
times are too much addicted to the superstitious observance of
this day, December 25th, and other saints days, as they are
called.' It was asked in a 'Hue and Cry after Christmas,'
published anonymously at the end of the year 1645, 'Where
may Christmas be found?' The answer is, 'In the corner of a
translator's shop, where the cobbler was wont so merrily to
chant his carols.' The Moderate Intelligencer, which devoted
itself to 'impartially communicating martiall affaires,' in its
forty-third number (December 25, 1645, to January 1, 1646),
expressed itself as scandalized at the zeal with which the
English people, in spite of Parliament and the Assembly, had
kept their Christmas. Social phenomena lay beyond the usual
ken of the military chroniclers; but 'we shall only observe,'
they wrote, 'the loathnesse of the People to part with it, which
certainly argues a greater adoration than should have been.
Hardly forty shops were open within the lines upon that day.
The State hath done well to null it out of this respect, as Moses
did the Brazen Serpent.' The Scriptural knowledge of the
Puritan military newsmen was curiously at fault; they evidently
confounded Moses with Hezekiah, unless they substituted the
lawgiver for the king, because they thought it unwise to represent
the King as the foe of idolatry. The traditional scorn of
the Pharisee for the common people which know not the law
comes out in the ironical passage with which the 'martiall'
organ concludes its reference to the distressing social symptom;
'Sure if there were an ordinance for recreation and labour upon
the Lord's Day, or Sabbath (like the prelatical Book of Sports),
these would want no observers. Unwillingness to obey, in a
multitude, argues generally the goodnesse of a law, readinesse
the contrary, especially in those laws which have anything of
religion in them.' Hence the puritanical tyrants thought the
observation of Christmas Day should be visited in future years
with more severe penalties. A few days after Christmas a
pamphlet was issued under the title of 'The Arraignment, Conviction,
and Imprisonment of Christmas.' A letter from a
'Malignant scholar' in Oxford, where Christmas had been
observed as usual, to 'a Malignant lady in London,' had contained
the promise or threat, according to the pamphleteer,
that the King would shortly appear in London, and restore to
his poor people their old social and religious liberties. 'We
shall soon be in London, and have all things as they were wont.'
There was small chance, six months after Naseby, of the fulfilment
of the prediction. The puritanical pamphleteer, however,
owns that it would be welcome to 'every 'prentice boy,' because
the return of the King would have meant the return of a free
Christmas, which he sorely missed. 'All popish, prelatical,
Jesuitical, ignorant, Judaical, and superstitious persons,' said he,
'ask after the old, old, old, very old grey-bearded gentleman
called Christmas, who was wont to be a very familiar ghest (sic).
Whoever finds him again shall be rewarded with a benediction
from the Pope, a hundred oaths from the Cavaliers, forty kisses
from the wanton wenches, and be made pursuivant to the next
Archbishop.' 'The poor,' he added, 'are sorry for it. They
go to every door a-begging, as they were wont to do, 'Good
Mistress, somewhat against this good time.' Instead of going
to the alehouse to be drunke, they are fain to work all the holy
dayes.' Again, 'The schollars come into the hall, where their
hungry stomacks had thought to have found good brawne and
Christmas pie, roast-beef and plum-porridge. But no such
matter. Away, ye profane! These are superstitious meats;
your stomacks must be fed with sound doctrine.'"
In the National Magazine (1857), Dr. Doran, on "The Ups
and Downs of Christmas," remarks upon the stout resistance
given by the citizens of London to the order of the Puritan
Parliament, that shops should be opened and churches closed
on Christmas Day. "We may have a sermon on any other
day," said the London apprentices, who did not always go to
hear it, "why should we be deprived on this day?" "It is no
longer lawful for the day to be kept," was the reply. "Nay,"
exclaimed the sharp-witted fellows, "you keep it yourselves by
thus distinguishing it by desecration." "They declared," says
Dr. Doran, "they would go to church; numerous preachers
promised to be ready for them with prayer and lecture; and
the porters of Cornhill swore they would dress up their conduit
with holly, if it were only to prove that in that orthodox and
heavily-enduring body there was some respect yet left for
Christianity and hard drinking—for the raising of the holly was
ever accompanied by the lifting of tankards.
"Nor was the gallant Christmas spirit less lively in the country
than in the capital. At Oxford there was a world of skull-breaking;
and at Ipswich the festival was celebrated by some
loss of life. Canterbury especially distinguished itself by its
violent opposition to the municipal order to be mirthless. There
was a combat there, which was most rudely maintained, and in
which the mayor got pummelled until he was as senseless as a
pocket of hops. The mob mauled him terribly, broke all his
windows, as well as his bones, and, as we are told, 'burnt the
stoupes at the coming in of his door.' So serious was the riot,
so complete the popular victory, and so jubilant the exultation,
that thousands of the never-conquered men of Kent and Kentish
men met in Canterbury, and passed a solemn resolution that if
they could not have their Christmas Day, they were determined
to have the King on his throne again."
Of the Canterbury riot an account is given in a rare tract,
published in 1647 (preserved in the British Museum), and
entitled—
"The Declaration of many thousands of the city of Canterbury,
or county of Kent. Concerning the late tumult in the
city of Canterbury, provokt by the Mayor's violent proceedings
against those who desired to continue the celebration of
the Feast of Christ's Nativity, 1,500 years and upwards maintained
in the Church. Together with their Resolutions for the
restitution of His Majestie to his Crown and dignity, whereby
Religion may be restored to its ancient splendour, and the
known Laws of this Kingdom maintained. As also their desires
to all His Majesties loyall subjects within his Dominions, for
their concurrence and assistance in this so good and pious a
work."
The resolutions of the Canterbury citizens were not couched
in the choicest terms, for the tract states that the two Houses
of Parliament "have sate above seven years to hatch Cocatrices
and Vipers, they have filled the kingdom with Serpents, bloodthirsty
Souldiers, extorting Committees, Sequestrators, Excisemen;
all the Rogues and scumme of the kingdom have they
set on work to torment and vex the people, to rob them, and to
eat the bread out of their mouthes; they have raised a causelesse
and unnaturall Warre against their own Soveraigne Lord and
King, a most pious Christian Prince, contrary to their allegiance
and duty, and have shed innocent blood in this Land. Religion
is onely talkt of, nothing done; they have put down what is
good," &c., &c. And further on the tract says:—"The cause of
this so sudden a posture of defence which we have put our
selves into was the violent proceedings of the Mayor of this
city of Canterbury and his uncivill carriage in persuance of
some petty order of the House of Commons for hindering the
celebration of Christ's Nativity so long continued in the Church
of God. That which we so much desired that day was but a
Sermon, which any other day of the weeke was tollerable by
the orders and practise of the two Houses and all their
adherents, but that day (because it was Christ's birth day) we
must have none; that which is good all the yeer long, yet is
this day superstitious. The Mayor causing some of us to be
beaten contrary to his oath and office, who ought to preserve
the peace, and to that purpose chiefly is the sword of justice
put into his hands, and wrongfully imprisoned divers of us,
because we did assemble ourselves to hear the Word of God,
which he was pleased to interpret a Ryot; yet we were
unarmed, behaved ourselves civilly, intended no such tumult
as afterwards we were forc'd unto; but at last, seeing the
manifest wrong done to our children, servants, and neighbours,
by beating, wounding, and imprisoning them, and to release
them that were imprisoned, and did call unto our assistance our
brethren of the county of Kent, who very readily came in to
us, as have associated themselves to us in this our just and
lawfull defence, and do concurre with us in this our Remonstrance
concerning the King Majestie, and the settlement of
the peace in this Kingdome." And the tract afterwards expresses
the desire that "all his Majesties loyall subjects within
his Dominions" will "readily and cheerfully concurre and
assist in this so good and pious a work."
Among the single sheets in the British Museum is an order of
Parliament, dated the 24th of December, 1652, directing,
"That no observation shall be had of the five and twentieth
day of December, commonly called Christmas Day; nor any
solemnity used or exercised in churches upon that day in
respect thereof."
Referring to the celebration of Christmas Day in 1657,
Evelyn says:—
"I went to London with my wife to celebrate Christmas Day,
Mr. Gunning preaching in Exeter Chapel, on Micah vii. 2.
Sermon ended; as he was giving us the Holy Sacrament the
chapel was surrounded with soldiers, and all the communicants
and assembly surprised and kept prisoners by them, some in
the house, others carried away. It fell to my share to be
confined to a room in the house, where yet I was permitted to
dine with the master of it, the Countess of Dorset, Lady
Hatton, and some others of quality who invited me. In the
afternoon came Colonel Whalley, Goffe, and others from
Whitehall to examine us one by one; some they committed to
the Marshal, some to prison. When I came before them they
took my name and abode, examined me why, contrary to the
ordinance made that none should any longer observe the
superstitious time of the Nativity (as esteemed by them), I
durst offend, and particularly be at Common Prayers, which
they told me was but the mass in English, and particularly pray
for Charles Stuart, for which we had no Scripture. I told
them we did not pray for Charles Stuart, but for all Christian
kings, princes, and governors. They replied, in so doing we
prayed for the King of Spain too, who was their enemy and a
Papist; with other frivolous and ensnaring questions and much
threatening, and, finding no colour to detain me, they dismissed
me with much pity of my ignorance. These were men of high
flight and above ordinances, and spake spiteful things of our
Lord's Nativity. As we went up to receive the sacrament the
miscreants held their muskets against us, as if they would have
shot us at the altar, but yet suffering us to finish the office of
communion, as perhaps not having instructions what to do in
case they found us in that action; so I got home late the next
day, blessed be God!"
Notwithstanding the adverse acts of the Puritans, however,
and the suppression of Christmas observances in high places,
the old customs and festivities were still observed in different
parts of the country, though with less ostentation than formerly;
and various publications appeared which plainly showed that
the popular sentiments were in favour of the festivities. The
motto of No. 37 of Mercurius Democritus, from December 22,
1652, begins:
"Old Christmas now is come to town
Though few do him regard,
He laughs to see them going down
That have put down his Lord."
In "The Vindication of Father Christmas," 1653, a mock
complaint in the character of Father Christmas, he laments the
treatment he had received for the last twelve years, and that he
was even then but coolly received. "But welcome, or not
welcome, I am come," he says, and then states that his "best
and freest welcome was with some kinde of country farmers
in Devonshire," thus describing his entertainment among
them:—"After dinner we arose from the boord, and sate by
the fire, where the harth was imbrodered all over with roasted
apples, piping hot, expecting a bole of ale for a cooler, which
immediately was transformed into warm lamb wool. After
which we discoursed merily, without either prophaneness or
obscenity; some went to cards; others sung carols and pleasant
songs (suitable to the times), and then the poor laboring Hinds,
and maid-servants, with the plow-boys, went nimbly to dancing;
the poor toyling wretches being glad of my company, because
they had little or no sport at all till I came amongst them; and
therefore they skipped and leaped for joy, singing a carol to the
tune of hey,
"Let's dance and sing, and make good chear,
For Christmas comes but once a year:
Draw hogsheads dry, let flagons fly,
For now the bells shall ring;
Whilst we endeavour to make good
The title 'gainst a King.
"Thus at active games, and gambols of hot cockles, shooing
the wild mare, and the like harmless sports, some part of the
tedious night was spent."
The National Troubles
were not brought to an end by the execution of Charles I. on
the 30th of January, 1649. In addition to the rioting caused
by the attempt to abolish the festival of Christmas by law, the
Lord Protector (Oliver Cromwell) had to struggle against discontented
republicans and also against fresh outbreaks of
the Royalists; and, although able to carry on the Protectorate
to the end of his own life, Cromwell was unable to secure a
strong successor. He died on September 3, 1658, having
on his deathbed nominated his son Richard to succeed him.
Richard Cromwell was accepted in England and by the
European Powers, and carried himself discreetly in his new
position. A Parliament was assembled on January 17, 1659,
which recognised the new Protector, but the republican
minority, headed by Vane and Haselrig, united with the
officers of the army, headed by Lambert, Fleetwood, and
Desborough, to force him to dissolve Parliament (April 22,
1659). The Protector's supporters urged him to meet force
by force, but he replied, "I will not have a drop of blood
spilt for the preservation of my greatness, which is a burden
to me." He signed a formal abdication (May, 1659), in return
for which the restored Rump undertook the discharge of his
debts. After the Restoration Richard Cromwell fled to the
Continent, where he remained for many years, returning to
England in 1680. A portion of his property was afterwards
restored to him. He died at Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, in 1712.
On Richard Cromwell declining to uphold the Protectorate
by force of arms, the only hope of establishing a settled form
of government and of saving the country from a military
despotism seemed to be in the restoration of the monarchy;
therefore, chiefly through the instrumentality of General Monk,
Charles, the son of Charles I. and Henrietta Maria, was invited
to return to England. He at once responded, and entered
London in triumph as Charles II., on May 29, 1660, having
previously signed the declaration of Breda. By this declaration
the King granted a free and general pardon to all "who
within forty days after the publishing hereof shall lay hold upon
this our grace and favour, and shall by any public act declare
their doing so," except such as the Parliament of both houses
should except.
