Christmas: Its Origin and Associations Part 32

[Ill.u.s.tration: A DRUID PRIESTESS BEARING MISTLETOE.]

Tumbling and feats of agility were also fashionable during the Christmas festival at this period, for in one of the _Tatlers_ (No.

115, dated January 3, 1709) the following pa.s.sage occurs: "I went on Friday last to the Opera, and was surprised to find a thin house at so n.o.ble an entertainment, 'till I heard that the tumbler was not to make his appearance that night." The sword-dance--dancing "among the points of swords and spears with most wonderful agility, and even with the most elegant and graceful motions"--rope-dancing, feats of balancing, leaping and vaulting, tricks by horses and other animals, and bull-baiting and bear-baiting were also among the public amus.e.m.e.nts. And _Hot c.o.c.kles_ was one of the favourite indoor amus.e.m.e.nts of Christmastide. Strutt, in his "Sports and Pastimes,"

says, _Hot c.o.c.kles_ is from the French _hautes-coquilles_, "a play in which one kneels, and covering his eyes, lays his head in another's lap and guesses who struck him." John Gay, a poet of the time, thus pleasantly writes of the game:--

"As at Hot c.o.c.kles once I laid me down, And felt the weighty hand of many a clown, Buxoma gave a gentle tap, and I Quick rose, and read soft mischief in her eye."

[Ill.u.s.tration]

On the death of Queen Anne (August 11, 1714) Prince George Louis of Hanover was proclaimed King of England as

GEORGE THE FIRST.

There was little change in the Christmas festivities in this reign, for, as Mr. Thackeray says in his lively sketch of George I.: "He was a moderate ruler of England. His aim was to leave it to itself as much as possible, and to live out of it as much as he could. His heart was in Hanover." The most important addition to the plays of the period was

THE CHRISTMAS PANTOMIME.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A NEST OF FOOLS]

In his "English Plays," Professor Henry Morley thus records the introduction of the modern English pantomime, which has since been the great show of Christmastide:--

"The theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields, which Christopher Rich had been restoring, his son, John Rich, was allowed to open on the 18th of December, 1714. John Rich was a clever mimic, and after a year or two he found it to his advantage to compete with the actors in a fashion of his own. He was the inventor of the modern English form of pantomime, with a serious part that he took from Ovid's Metamorphosis or any fabulous history, and a comic addition of the courtship of harlequin and columbine, with surprising tricks and transformations.

He introduced the old Italian characters of pantomime under changed conditions, and beginning with 'Harlequin Sorcerer' in 1717, continued to produce these entertainments until a year before his death in 1761.

They have since been retained as Christmas shows upon the English stage."

In a note to "The Dunciad," Pope complains of "the extravagancies introduced on the stage, and frequented by persons of the first quality in England to the twentieth and thirtieth time," and states that "_all_ the extravagances" in the following lines of the poem actually appeared on the stage:--

"See now, what Dulness and her sons admire!

See what the charms, that smite the simple heart Not touch'd by nature, and not reach'd by art.

His never-blushing head he turn'd aside, (Not half so pleased when Goodman prophesied) And look'd, and saw a sable Sorcerer rise, Swift to whose hand a winged volume flies: All sudden, gorgons hiss, and dragons glare, And ten-horn'd fiends and giants rush to war.

h.e.l.l rises, Heaven descends, and dance on earth: G.o.ds, imps, and monsters, music, rage, and mirth, A fire, a jig, a battle, and a ball, Till one wide conflagration swallows all.

Thence a new world, to nature's laws unknown, Breaks out refulgent, with a heaven its own: Another Cynthia her new journey runs, And other planets circle other suns.

The forests dance, the rivers upward rise, Whales sport in woods, and dolphins in the skies; And last, to give the whole creation grace, Lo! one vast egg produces human race."

David Garrick, the eminent actor, wrote in a similar strain, finding it hard to hold his own against the patrons of the pantomime:--

"They in the drama find no joys, But doat on mimicry and toys.

Thus, when a dance is in my bill, n.o.bility my boxes fill; Or send three days before the time, To crowd a new-made pantomime."

"OLD MERRY PLENTIFUL CHRISTMAS,"

at this period, is sketched by a writer in _Poor Robin's Almanack_, for 1723, thus:--"Now comes on old merry plentiful Christmas. The Husbandman lays his great Log behind the fire, and with a few of his neighbours, over a good fire, taps his Christmas beer, cuts his Christmas cheese, and sets forward for a merry Christmas. The Landlord (for we hope there are yet some generous ones left) invites his Tenants and Labourers, and with a good Sirloin of Roast Beef, and a few pitchers of nappy ale or beer, he wisheth them all a merry Christmas. The beggar begs his bread, sells some of it for money to buy drink, and without fear of being arrested, or call'd upon for parish duties, has as merry a Christmas as any of them all."

[Ill.u.s.tration: "THE MASK DANCE."]

So the people made merry at Christmas throughout the reign of George I., who died on June 10, 1727, and was succeeded by his son,

GEORGE THE SECOND.

In this reign the customs of Christmas were kept up with unabated heartiness, and liberality to the poor was not forgotten. The customary distributions of creature comforts on Christmas Eve were continued, and, in some instances, provision for the maintenance of them was made in the wills of worthy parishioners. An instance of this kind is recorded in Devonshire. "It appears, from a statement of charities in an old book, that John Martyn, by will, 28th of November, 1729, gave to the churchwardens and overseers of the poor of the parish of St. Mary Major, Exeter, twenty pounds, to be put out at interest, and the profits thereof to be laid out every Christmas Eve in twenty pieces of beef, to be distributed to twenty poor people of the parish, such as had no relief on that day, for ever."[78]

That

CHRISTMAS HOUSEKEEPING IN LONDON,

at this period, was excellent, both as to quant.i.ty and quality, is evident, from a contribution made to _Read's Weekly Journal_, of Sat.u.r.day, January 9, 1731, by Mr. Thomas North, who thus describes the Christmas entertainment and good cheer he met with in London at the house of a friend: "It was the house of an eminent and worthy merchant, and tho', sir, I have been accustomed in my own country to what may very well be called good housekeeping, yet I a.s.sure you I should have taken this dinner to have been provided for a whole parish, rather than for about a dozen gentlemen: 'Tis impossible for me to give you half our bill of fare, so you must be content to know that we had turkies, geese, capons, puddings of a dozen sorts more than I had ever seen in my life, besides brawn, roast beef, and many things of which I know not the names, minc'd pyes in abundance, and a thing they call plumb pottage, which may be good for ought I know, though it seems to me to have 50 different tastes. Our wines were of the best, as were all the rest of our liquors; in short, the G.o.d of plenty seemed to reign here, and to make everything perfect, our company was polite and every way agreeable; nothing but mirth and loyal healths went round. If a stranger were to have made an estimate of London from this place, he would imagine it not only the most rich but the most happy city in the world."

Another interesting item of this period is the following--

CURIOUS CHRISTMAS ADVERTIs.e.m.e.nT,

which has been cut from some publication and (by the late Mr. Joseph Haslewood) inserted between pages 358 and 359 of the British Museum large paper copy of Brand's "Antiquities," and dated December, 1739:--

"This day is published, Price 6d.

"THE TRIAL OF OLD FATHER CHRISTMAS for encouraging his Majesty's subjects in Idleness, Drunkenness, Gaming, Rioting, and all manner of Extravagance and Debauchery, at the a.s.sizes held in the city of Profusion before the Lord Chief Justice Churchman, Mr. Justice Feast, Mr. Justice Gambol, and several other his Majesty's Justices of Oyer and Terminer, and Gaol-Delivery.

"To which is added a Diary found in the Pocket of Old Father Christmas, with Directions to all Lovers of him how to welcome their neighbours; likewise the Judge's sentence and Opinion how Christmas ought to be kept; and further Witty Tales and Merry Stories designed for Christmas Evenings Diversion, when round about our Coal Fire.

By Josiah King,

Printer for T. Cooper, at the Globe in Pater-noster Row; and sold by the Pamphlet-shops of London and Westminster."

Now we come to a quaintly interesting account of

CHRISTMAS ENTERTAINMENT IN THE OLDEN TIME.

The manner of observing the Christmas festival in the time of George the Second is described in an amusing little book ent.i.tled "Round about our Coal Fire, or Christmas Entertainments," published in 1740, and "ill.u.s.trated with many diverting cuts." We quote the following extracts:--

PROLOGUE.

I.

"O you merry, merry souls, Christmas is a coming, We shall have flowing Bowls, Dancing, piping, drumming.

II.

"Delicate minced Pies, To feast every Virgin, Capon and Goose likewise, Brawn and a dish of Sturgeon.

III.