Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1870-01-08
Mr.. Anderso,I's Cot,tmn.
Twelfth Night.

scINeu IN Englanu. Bourne says OF lWelith
Day, III Is one Of the greatest Of the twelve,
and of more joylal observation, for the visiting
of friends, and Christmas gambols" Dugdalc
(in Origenes Judiciaies) has detailed history
of the sports AT the Temple during each Of the
twelve Christmas holidays in 1862. lie says
that the sports and ceremonies were ordered to
be alike on st. Stephens, st. Johns Twelfth.
days. These were all hospitablc, and consist
ed of a breakfast Of brawn, mustard and malm
say dinner Of two courses, In terspersed with
fox aud cat-baiting, and the ceremonies of the
lord of misrule and a supper, also of two
courses, during which these revelres, with
dancing, were continued.
A king and queen for the night were chosen,
by the lottery of bean hid in cake but
this custom is from the Romans, and more an
ciently from the Grecians--the casting dice for
(rer c0noioaJ what Horace speaks of as "ar6i-
ter 6jenM ga custom from its name quite
shocking to our temperance times, though, if
clothed with power, and enforcing it for re-
straint, desirable in many cases, and especially
on New Years Day.
We read that in 1902 "the council general of
the commons at Paris passed an arret, in con
sCuucuCc vi WulCu w JCt6 ut5 TOtS. NlStll uhy,
was thenceforth to be called hfete dcs sanscu-
lOttes. 1t was called an anti-civic feast, VIII ich
made every priest that kept it be deemed u
royalist."
These holidays were witnesses to many
scenes of doubtful morality. They were given
up to much of revclry. "The first intimaton
of Christmas in Yorkshire, is by what are there
called the vessel (wassal*) cup singers, general
! ly poor old women who about three weeks be-
fore Christmas.day, go from house to house
with waxen or wooden DOLL decorated with
ribbons, and sometimes adorned with an orange
or a fine rosy-tinged apple. With this in their
hands, they chant an old carol, and are sure to
experience the bounty Of the good master and
mistress of the house" May be, like some
modern street musicians they kept at a poor
house-keeper till he was glad to purchase their
silence with food.
Another custom was "mumping,"-or visits
of the poor to farmers who gave to each II full
pint of wheat. Brand says that this was also
practiced in Warwickshire on ST. Thomas day,
and was called "going corning" There are
many who in this later day have more unior-
tunate custom, to which they give the same
name.
Du'ihs '',cSe hisn'S "eie o"'neu 'nc !uie
0"n'''' anu ios
T. h,,,, so,, ~, s'os,O Um 'o S,".,.,,a h.,on
N'' "N'e ''''''0 ioi ."." VI
the family, and the great Christmas-pe was
| baked. Nilsson says in his book on England
Dams tOues les families on tait noel un Jd'neus
pate quon apoelIe le pate de noel C'est an grand
science que Ia composition de ce pate !; cest an
d0cte hdcaiS de Laague de 6Buf de 6tdRc de UOLaie
Gse4fs, dc sucre, des raisiIts de Cor,the Gccorce
de citroa e, doran7e de .diceyyes sortes demceri-
es," dc.
Herrck says:-
"Come guard this night the Christmas pic,
That the tliefe' though ne er so ellie,
tn ootoh;,
I'm. n ri'n n'a mno a,,,, on 80 ~ H.
And deal of nightly teare
To watch it."
We read that "in Yorkshire the Christmas
pie is still a regular dish, and is universally
served to every visitor, while the humblest cot
tager never enters house during the twelve
days of Christmas, without being rendered vule
cake and cheese or at least bread and cheese,
| to which tarts mnce-pies and sometimes a
plass of wine are added
,uo, po,,,o,, .o,I, -, ,,,o. .ho r,,,,;,,,,,s ,,i,
" ~ 0 T'N
was Soose-pie' lle says =
ethan ay at yue whenee er we came,
bra gosse.pyo,
And was ma that good belly baum?
Name dare deny
Sir John Sinclair says that in Scotland, "at
Christmas and New Years the opulent burghers
begin TO feast with their lriends and go a round
OF visits, which takes up the space OF many
weeks, Upon such occasions the gravest is ex-
ected to be merry, ana to join i'll cheert ul
pong"
Though the dish for the Christmas day sup
per, "irom the lordly mansion to the humblest
shed, is invariably, .furmenty," which was wheat
boiled with sweetened milk, enough in all
conscience, after Christmas dinnerO we find
all historians speaking with Poor Robin, in his
"Almanack" for 1915, where he says, "And
lastly. who would but praise II [the last quarter
| Ia,