Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1898-12-10
CHRISTMAS MIRTH.
The Season During Which the Lord of
Misrule Reigned in the Good Old
Days.

The Season During Which the Lord OF
Misrule Reigned in the Good Old
Days.
The history of Christmas, though not
very long. is an interesting one. 1t ap-
pears that up to the fifth century it
| was celebrated simultaneously with
Epiphany on January 6. st. Augustine
is the first writer to make direct allu-
sion toits falling on December %. From
his day up to the present time, with
the exception of a short period during
which the observance of the holiday
was suspended by act of the famous
Puritan parliament, Christmas day
has always been regarded as ushering
In the most pleasurable season of relig-
ious festivities on the Christian cal
endar.
The more fleshly aspect of the day
was brought to it's earliest and perhaps
completest perfection in Anglo Saxon
England. In the speech known as Old
English the name applied to it was
Yule. This name has been crystallized
in SO many songs and traditions that
l doubt if it does not tend to bring I'D
even prettier associations than it's more
modern analogue With it troop into
the mind those pictures of hearty Eng
lish enjoyment which writer's and
painters have SO plentifully drawn US
the hospitable board. with it's steaming
boar's head,and it's smoking plum pud-
ding still blue with the flame of Eng
lish brandy; the holly, the ivy, the
mistletoe, the great block of Druid oak
or Yule log, and last and merriest Of
all. the lord of misrule. For saith the
venerable Stow:
AT Christmasse there was in the
Hinges house 'w1eresoever he was
lodged, lorde of misrule, or mayster
of merle disports and the like had We
In the house of every. nobleman Of
honour. or goode worshippe, were he
spiritual or TEMPORAL"
This master of pranks was chosen on
All-Hallow eve, and his reign extended
to the morning Of lCandlemas day. He
superintendent all sorts of sports and
diversions. INDUCED in alike by little
and big.
AS matter of. fact, these quaint
Christmas observances have not en-
tirely passed into disuse in modern
England. There is many a country
gentleman who still respects ancestral
usages, and brews his Christmas ale
after the old recipe:
Next crowne the bowie full
With gentle lambs wool,
Add sugar, nutmeg, and ginger,
With store of ale too;
And this ye must doe
10 make the wassalIe a Swinger
AS the servant enters with the huge
bowl containing this savory admixture
he must, according to old custom, call
'wassaiP three times before he ad-
vances beyond the. threshold. u Where
upon the chaplain at the board starts
song, of which all may join in the
chorus. After this the servant prof
fers the bowl to the guests in turn.
who are under obligation, lest they
offend their host, Of putting it to their
lips and quaffing long and deep. AS 1t
is passed around the table the old Yule
songs are given with becoming zest:
The deep came,
The merry deep came
AS thou dost freely uuaff a
Sling,
Fling,
BE as merry as king,
And sound a lusty laugh-a.
The wassail bowl, however, is but the
topping off of the feast. Before it come
the boar's head, the peacock pie, the
roast beef, the turkey-everything, IN
iced thar plenty and English soil are
capable of producing.
Quite august ceremonies are connec-
| ted with the bringing in of the "caput
| april" These ceremonies date back to
| the earliest days of English folk
lore, and your trueborn Englishmal.
would rather lose crop Of corn than
disregard them. The peacock pie was
| in former days the principal dish Oh
the table, and its preparation caused
| the expenditure of an incredible
| amount Of pains and material. Mas
singer tells us that it was no uncom
mon thing "to bruise the carcasses of
three fat ,wethers for gravy to make
sauce for single peacock" and no
less an authority than Kid recounts
the fact that 1.-THE making of this pye.
if it be properly attended, requireth the
services of four cooks during the space
of a day and night. "-Pittsburg Dis
/ r ~