English Christmas is a Gracious Blend of the Devout and Merry

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 15161, 19 December 1949, Page 7

English Christmas is a Gracious Blend of the Devout and Merry

: EYOND the , fountains . M and balustrades of Trafalgar Square, une I Her ■ theportico of St; Martin's -:.r.-tb.e; ~ ■ j??.e Ids, . .shines,--' with’:, • a'■ ‘-.soft glow, an illuminated Christmas tree! “A Happy Christmas!” say its coloured lights—happy, that . is, spiritually,—for Vit , symbolises the solemn, devout; side of ■ the English festival. That'y tree, I think, must always be the first focal point for any visitor to London (writes Trevor Allen ;in Coming Events). Its message is echoed in- every church in the kingdom. The Roman Catholic, with its Christmas Eve midnight : Mass, sometimes preceded by carol singing, its three Masses Christmas morning and Vespers in monastery churches. The High Anglican,, .with much the same ritual. The Church of England, with. early .morning Communion, Matins in the forenoon. The Nonconformist chapels, with their lusty, singing at U a.m. service. The “Pylgen” services still held a 5 or 6 a.m. in many Welsh churches and chapels, to which eyery worshipper once took a candle. Singing Amid Ruins At the core of all that traditional devotion, with illuminated cribs here and there' reflecting the magic of the St. Martin’s tree, the visitor may picture perhaps the most touching ceremony of all,, initiated after Coventry’s noble, cathedral was blitzed by German bombers: choristers sweetly singing amid its ruins the fifteenth-century Coventry carol Lully, lulla, thou little tiny child. What a gracious blehd of the devout and merry is our English Christmas! In the afternoon, if it be not Sunday, the city crowds flocking to League football matches, replete—for once—with a really

hearty dinner at which there was not only, extra meat, or poultry but probably pudding and mince pie on the same plate: a sight to gladden any stomach and leave one with that smiling well-fed feeling which rationing has made-rather rare. In the evening; parties,- music, dancing games, the gathering of relatives and friends: and usually the closing down of buses and most other transport at 4 p.m. so that all may take part. Thus, the day that began with carols, hymns and prayer for the Nativity of the Infant Jesus ends with jollity, and good .fellowship—and merry groups homing in the small hours through , streets which still have lit, festive windows echoing late party • laughter. Of our traditional Christmas customs many still survive. Some lapsed during the war years and are slowly limping back, others have to await? the end of food restrictions, the return of ampler living. Boar’s Head Feast Last year the Court of the Worshipful Company of Cutlers revived its Boar’s Head Feast, held just prior to Christmas. In this picturesque ceremony ■ the - head, borne aloft on a huge dish, is brought in by two chefs attended by a beadle with silver-headed staff, a choirboy with silver saltdish, two trumpeters in scarlet jackets, a carver brandishing three-feet-long knife and fork, and a choir. The Master Tenor sings the Boar’s Head Carol: The Boar’s Head, as I understand, Is the bravest dish in all the land ! . . The .Lord Mayor usually attends the Feast, which dates back many centuries. When the Irish Free State had its Governor-General a present of “four and twenty” woodcock “baked in a pie” was sent to the King every Christmas, perpetuating a custom originated in 1813, when Lord Talbot presented George 111 with a pie—a “dainty dish to set before a king”, according to the old nursery rhyme. Woodcock were then the most highly prized of Irish game birds, and ev*ery successive viceroy kept up the custom, though in recent years the birds were sent to London, the pie being made there by a firm of pastrycooks instead of in the viceregal kitchens in Dublin. In some country districts Decem-

-Aidemi fradiflMs Observed in Many Remote Villages

ber 21st may still be observed as “Gooding Day,” on which the poorer folk, go “a-gooding”—calling on their - more prosperous neighbours in the hope of obtaining gifts to enable them to enjoy Christmas “goodies”. This day, which is also St. Thomas’s, has always marked the emergence of the West Country Mummers on visits to farmhouse kitchens and those of big houses, where they act in strange garb historical episodes like St. George and the Dragon. Grotesque Mummers At Eynsham, Broadway and Chipping Campden, in the Cotswold country, it is usual for the mummers to perform in the streets and inns a masque depicting two men fighting and the vanquished being raised from the dead by a doctor—a traditional version of death and resurrection. In the Longparish and Overton districts of Hampshire the rnummers, arrayed like grotesque birds with , monstrous headdresses, tour the villages sihging carols. Mari Llwyd or Holy Mary may yet .be observed in some midGlamorgan villages. In the traditional version the mummers’ leader had to garb himself in a white sheet and a horse’s head adorned with coloured ribbons. From dopr to door the party went begging for permission to sing, bemoaning the cold winter days, asking for cakes and ale. Those behind the barred doors lamented in turn that they were poor and had little to spare, each party capping the other in a lively singing, rhyming contest until the

former failed to find an apt retort, I when the door was opened and the mummers were regaled. ’ , , Compared with' these mum.mdrs, the Waits who tour' .street? and villages singing 'ana playing carols seem very .correct and demure, though they make tuneful music. Often today they are welMrained choirs from local churches, collecting for charities apart from “busker” street musicians and furtive squads of children who hope to win a few pence howling at doorways, usually out of tune, and stopping half-way if nothing is forthcoming. “Wassailing” the apple trees on Christmas or New Year’s Eve is an old West Country custom. The chosen tree was hailed with , some such incantation as Here’s to thee, old apple tree! Hats full, packs full! Hurrah! And fire off the gun! . It was then sprinkled with-cider, or a bowl or jug dashed against the trunk, to ensure a good year. In parts of the North wassailers went from door to door singing old rlqymes and carrying “mazers” or wooden bowls decked with ribands and evergreens for offerings some dating from Charles l’s time, handed down from father to son for generations. Distinctive Local Customs There are many distinctively Ideal customs, like the slice of cake and glass of gin which the poorer Falmouth people expected from regular shopkeepers at Christmas, .the saffron cakes made in other parts of Cornwall from ingredients presented by the grocer, though they brought bad luck if cut before Christmas Day. Benefactions under ancient wills are distributed at Christmas, as at Hull where twelve poor widows are, presented with currant loaves over the grave of William Robinson, sherriff of the city in 17^8. •Behind “all these observances, where they still survive in some form, is the seasonal spirit of goodwill and merrymaking. Recently there has been a revival of customs popular in America: hanging wreaths of holly on door-knockers, handing out family presents from the foot of the tree after dinner instead of in the morning. Our U.S. comrades 'of wartime may regard this ■as a happy souvenir of the Christmases they shared in British homes.