Palestine daily herald. [volume] (Palestine, Tex.) 1902-1949, 1905-12-16

lation of these. rhetoricians and gen.
tlemen OF the long robe. as well as
| of the short" They were preceded
by trumpeters and the mayors archers
| and at every crossway or public
place repeated the proclamation in
the Kings name. The day fixed for
the performance was the feast of st.
Stephen, Dec. 26.
Under the Stuarts.
Christmas Mosques, mere excuses
for gentlemen and ladies Of the court
to attire themselves in fantastic, gor-
geous or bizarre costumes, were long
popular in Italy and in France, and
Henry Will, having paid visit to the
neighboring realm, imported them
into England.
During the reign OF Elizabeth
Mosques, the work of poets, and in
the form we now know them, came
into prominence, and the greatest
writer of these pleasant but trivial en-
entertainments was Ben JOnson. who
wrote about three dozen during the
reigns of James I. and Charles /.
These were sumptuous spectacular
entertainments. in which the cele-
brateG architect, lingo Jones, was
employed to devise "the machinery"
or scenery, which was certainly more
elaborate in those days than had yet
been attempted upon the professional
stage. While the first Christmas kept
by Henry VIII. cost e5S4 los. I'd. for
"disguisings." the Mosques of James
l. for the year 1909, nearly century
later. cost e4.215.
These Mosques. or disguisings.
were participated in by the ladies and
gentlemen of the court; in fact. we
find James queen, Anne of Denmark,
appearing with her ivory skin black
ened TO represent a negress from the
Niger. The young Prince Charles.
afterward the Inflated King Charles l..
also took part in these Christmas res
tivities. as did also the Princess Eliza
beth and Prince Henry.
The Twelfth Night ReveIs.
Twelfth Night was the usual time
for these Christmas revels at White
hall. and, in fact. had been for CEN
turtles at the English court Although |
Henry VIII. is credited with having |
adopted the old Italian custom, as |
early as Edward Ills time we heard |
of ludi. CT plays. exhibited at court in
the Christmas holidays. In 1913, when
Edward kept his Christmas at his cas-
tie at Guildford, the dresses for the !
maskers consisted of buckram tun-
SOS. of Yorious colors, masks of differ
ent similitudes, namely, faces of wom-
en- and men. heads of angels, made
Of silver" and mantles embroidered
with heads of dragons. peacocks and
swans. 1t is not known that the en-
.ertainment consisted of anything be-
sond the most primitive kind Of pam
.omime and posturing, and it is very
doubtful If they even suggested the
irama as we know It.
No court entertainments in Eng
and that had gone before equaled in
the Mosques written by
Johnson and designed by lingo JOKES,
which made the holidays an annual
pleasure to James /. and his queen.
King James. notwithstanding the fact
lis name is inseparably linked with
he choicest English version of the
Bible, was given to luxurious pleas
Tres, and his young queen. Anne. mad
he reputation of being n most grace
ul dancer at a time when dancing
,as regarded as one of the fine arts.
Christmas Mosques at Whitehall. ,
King James loved pleasure and
queen Anne nearly made 4 bankrupt I
I him to pay her jewellers. She loved ,
progresses, as they were called. and .
n one of her royal visits to Bristol I
pent $4,000 on a costly presenta- {
ion of n masque. From this it may {
g imagined that the Christmas a
Mosques held at Whitehall. where t
he king then lived. must have cost an
normous outlay. in fact. it is known
hat one cost $4,000. Ben Jonson a
'rote twenty-nine Mosques for his Y