Middletown transcript., 1884-12-19
CHRISTMAS FEAsTING.

ries this whole season was given up t,
revels and jOllity, in which eating ant
drinking had a prominent part. II
London in the fifteenth century tn,
first duty of the Lord Mayor and cor
poratiOn was to dine, and then go, a
| soberly as might be, to the Church o
st. Thomas Aeon, and sit through th'
whole service. On other festival day
and Sundays they had habit of skip
bping out after prayers were under way
hut on Christmas they were bound to sci
an example of perseverance. Service
over, their worships rode on horseback
by torchlight, through the market Of
Chepe and back to the church, where,
being in liberal frame of mind on ac-
count of the day and the good dinner,
they made a money offering to the
church. Each man contributed the mag
ni6centsum of one penny to its treasury.
This duty done they returned to their
own houses, and made more or less a
night of it, after the immemorial man.
ner of good city fathers. in private, the
custom not having yet arisen of mani
Testing happiness by painting the
town red." We read a great deal
about the excess of the Christmas din
ners. Sir John Reresby in his memoirs
makes a penitential note of dinner at
Thyrberg in 1881 $ The Earl of Hunt
ingdon, my Lord Ellend, and some
others dined with me, when we ended
the year in more than an ordinary de-
baueh which, God forgive me it be-
ing neither my custom nor inclination
much to do se.'' The next year there
was at table a ''Mr. Bolton, an inge-
niOus clergyman, but too much good
fellow.'' The good fellows liked Thry-
berg during the holidays as many
as forescore gentlemen and yOemen,
with their wives, dined daily at the
hall.
Christmas was always democratic
festival: all classes mingled in the
games and merriment, and hospitality
was universal. An English gentleman
in the country, on Christmas-day in
the morning, had all his tenants and
neighbors enter the hall by daybreak.
The strong beer was broached, and the
blackjacks went plentifully round,
with toast, sugar, nutmeg, and good
Cheshire cheese. The great sausage
(the Hackin) must be boiled at day
break, and if it failed to be ready, two
young men must take the maiden Il. E.,
the cook by the arm and run her
around the market-place till she was
ashamed of her laziness. The maids
had, however, some privileges of retort.
In some places in OKfordshire it was
the custom for the Iit-sI SIX
the man fof.ivy to dress the house, and
if the man refused or neglected to fetch
the ivy, the maid stole pair of his
breeches and nailed them up to the
gate in the garden or highway. Dur
ing the festival days the tables were
perpetually spread +; the sirloin of beef,
the minced-pie, the plum-porridge, tur-
keys, geese, and plum-pudding, were
all brought upon the board at once,
and every one ate heartily and was
welcome, so that the proverb originated
of g Tis merry in hall when boards wag
ALL" The gentlemen went to early
service in the church, and returned to
breakfast on Drawn and mustard and
malmsey. Brawn was dish of great
antiquity. 1t was made from the flesh
of large boars which lived in half
wild state, and when put to fatten
were strapped and belted tight round
the carcass, in order to make the flesh
become dense and brawny. 1t came to
market two feet long by ten inches in
diameter, packed in wicker baskets AT
dinner.the first course served was the
boar's head, on silver platter, adorned
with bays and rosemary, carried into
the hall with much state, preceded by
the Master of Revels, and followed by
choristers and minstrels singing and
playing compositions in its honor. A
stanza of common carol sung was this !:
"Then sett downe the swineyard.
The foe to the vineyard.
Lett RacchuS crown his fall
Lett this bOare'S head and mustard
Stand for pig, goose, and custArd,
And so you are welcome ali."
Another dish common in Shakes
peare's day, which added at least to the
show of the feast, was the stately |
pye," that is, a peacock or pheasant pie.
In the days of chiyalry the. knights
took their VOWS at a solemn feast, on
of a roasted peacock in
golden dish. This custom was kept up
-. Al.