The Sun.
London, England, 1842-01-06 00:00:00

PRICE 5d

T WELFTH-DAY.
Epiphany is called Twelfth-day because it falls on
the twelfth day after Christmas Day. Epiphany signi-
fies manifestation, and is applied to this day because it
is the day whereon Christ was manifested to the Gen-

tiles. Bourne, in his " Vulgar Antiquities," remarks
that this is the greatest of the twelve holydays, and is,
therefore, more jovidly kept by the visiting of friends
and Christmas gambols than any other.
KING AND CIUSEN.—Tbe practice of choosing king
and queen on Twelfth-night owes its origin to a custom
among the Romans, which they took from the Grecians,
of casting dice for who should be the rex convivii;
as Horace calls him, the arbiter bibendi. Whoever
threw the lucky cast, which the termed Venus or Besi-
licue, gave laws for the night.
A similar custom was observed at the festival of Si-
turnalia, among the Romans and Grecians, when per-
sons of the same rank drew lots for kingdoms, and, like
Kings, exercised their temporary authority. In the
cities and academies of Germany, the students and citi-
zens chose ono of their own number for king, providing
a most magnificent banquet for the occasion.
In France, the, twelfth-cake is plain, with a bean ;
the drawer of the slice containing the bean is King or
Queen ; all drink to her or his Majesty, who reigns and
receives homage from all during the evening. There
is no other drawing, and consequently the Sovereign is
the only distinguished character. In Normandy they
place a child under a table, which is so covered with
a cloth that he cannot see ; and when the cake is
divided, one of the company, taking up the first piece,
cries out, " Fabe Domini !your quoi The child
answers, "Pour le ben Dieu," and in this manner the
pieces are allotted to the company. If the bean be
found in the piece for the " bon Dieu," the King is
chosen by long or short straws. Whoever gets the
bean chooses the Kng or Queen, according as it hap.
pens to be a man or woman. According to Brand,
under the old order of things the Epiphany was kept
at the French Court by one of the courtiers being
chosen king, and the other nobl-s attended an enter-
tainment prepared for the occasion ; • but, in 1792,
during the revolution, La Fete de Rois was abolished;
Twelfth-day was ordered to be called " La Fete de
Sans Culottes ;" the old feast was declared anti-civic ;
and any priest keeping it was deemed a Royalist. The
" Literary Pocket-Book" affirms that at La Fete de
Rois the French Monarch and his nobles waited on

the Twelfth-night King, and that the custom was not
revived on the return of the Bourbons, but that instead
of it the royal family washed the feet of some people
and gave them alms.

A REMARKABLE FACT.--it is a remarkable fact
that so late as 1731 the King and Prince, on Twelfth-
day, at the Chapel Royal, St. James's, made the offer-
ings at the altar of gold, frankincence, and myrrh, ac-
cording to custom, and that at ought their Majesties,
&c., played at hazard for the benefit of the groom-
porter. These offerings, which are clearly taken from
the Roman ChUrch, and are not analogous to any etre-
mony of the Church of England, continue to be annu-
ally made, with this difference, however, that the King
is represented by proxy in the person of some distin-
guished officer of the household. In other respects the
proceedings are conducted with the usual.state.
In Gloucestershire ind Herefordshire there is a
custom on Twelfth-dar of having twelve small fires made,
and one large one in honour of this day ; and in Devon-
shire they carry cider to the orchard, and there encir-
cling one of the best bearing trees, they drink the fol-
lowing toast three several times :
" Here's to the old apple tree,
Whence thou mayst bud and whence thou mayest blow,
And whence thou mayest bear apples enow !
Hats full—caps full—
Bushel—Bushel—chucks' full,
And my pockets full, too.—Huzza !" S. R.