New Zealand Gazette AND WELLINGTON SPECTATOR. Wednesday, December 28, 1842.
" Christmas comes but once a year." .; Admitting as A we do the. full .force of the maxim that it is good to keep up " good {old customs," we- take the first- opportunity which presents itself to offer " the compliments of the season " to all pur readers, and in the language of " olden times,"; wish you' all a merry Christmas, and a happy new year when it comes. It is very* true, that owing to our translation (to use a literary phrase) to the antipodes/ the indications with which nature is wont to fore- ; warn us of the approach of that season, when' with one accord we throw aside the trammels of business, and seek to. refresh our mental and physical energies with its attendant gaities; vary with the different climates;- of the habitual globe, as, for instance, in once merry England. > . i , When the blossoms fall, and the leaves tare sear, > Merry merry Christmas will soon appear; i Whereas in these southerly regions, When naturcis deck'd in- her gaudiest array, Tis then we look for old Cbristnias Day. And here may be said to end the differenced Englishmen by habit, we might say by instinct, are attached to early associations ; thus Christmas brings with it one and the same feeling, whatever the nature of the climate, or in whatever quarter of the globe they may find themselves located at that particular i season of the year ; and, as far as circumstances will permit, re-act and keeps alive by practice those good old customs, the recurrence of which , tend to keep alive our Best social ■feelings, and consign to oblivion those petty jealousies and animosities which the jarring interests of individual enterprize inevitably engender. . Altho' severed as we are by a vast expanse of ocean from dear relatives and valued friends, and consequently debarred the opportunity of meeting together at this season of the year, and joining in the family circle, or at the festive board, we can still, wilh all the force of domestic love, and the sinceiity of true friendship, toss off a bumper to the health of " those far away," consoling ourselves, at the same time, with the soothing conviction, that we are but echoing the sounds, and pour- v traying the feelings of " those far far .aw.ay," ' -We must not, however, suffer ourselves to fall into a train of sombre reflections,' however* allowing the bright regions of philosophy may be, at a time too,, when " all nature looks gay and the season demands our liveliest array," so we'll ee'n quiet sober prose, and- try.-, our hand at a Christmas Carol. That too much may not he expected at our hands, we would ee'n borrow the modest introductory preface of the wandering minstrel, who in merrie England's olden time was wont to attend the "mummers" at Christmas tide, Here come's I that har'nt been hit, With my great head and little wit, My -Heads so large my wif'tho' small, Yet I'll endeavour to please you>all. It may be perhaps necessary for the information of those who have not seen so many winters as ourselves, to give a short history, of these said " Mummers." They were a' species" of Strolling Players, much upon a par with the dramatic persons of May day, both as to their rank in life, the mode of decoration and place of exhibition, save and except, that owing to the inclemency of the weather at that season of the year, they were at the If great houses," and large farm houses admitted into the outward halls, and however their performances were mostly confined to the night season, where as we all know all dramatic exhibitions are enacted to- greater advantage and effect. The Cotp Dramatic in its full compliment generally consisted of a King and Queen, and christened after the reigning family of the day, one Lord and Lady in waiting, an Admiral, a General, a Doctor, two or three Plebeans, upon 'whom for some- supposed treasonable offence the General exhibited his devotion to Royalty, by chastising. until by the interference of. the Royal perpgative' the Doctor was called in to restore the almost'lifeless offenders)'* which he invarably did by. administering some huge bolusses, yclept ( " universal pills that cured all ills," (so that it would-seem that -"-Morrison" after all is but," a plagiarist,) when harmony being .restored,, this remainiugjmembef of the Corp advanced and after delivering his introductory", preface as quoted above, struck up^a stirring sound upon an" unique piece.' of music, represented in most instances, by a pound tin tea cannister, with a square incision in one of its sides, surmounted, by three pieces of bell-wire fastened., at the top. and; bottom, opejraWd upon by rea/horse^hair.tiedl ■ to "a- bow of Yew, to which' the whole Courj as well as all, juvenile portion of the. admiring audience including all the domestics of the establishment commenced a trip on the light; fantastic toe. Now for my Christmas, ditty.:—
Ye gentlefolks of England, who live at home"at : <ease, ,' '" - When you think of us New Zealanders, re^ ■" member if you please; ~ Alth'o' wVve not the missletoe or the bright holly berry, Under which to kiss the fair sex, and thus be gay and merry, We still have the rata' with its. bright and beauteous flower, Mingling with its myrtle leaves to form our - Christmas bowers ; Wherein to sit and chat, and with true chivalrie spirit, #■-. , • ' * T' exchange the chaste salute, and our gallantry exhibit: And altho' we mayn't enjoy the bright and • blazing fire, - - •' Which ( casls its cheering influence round offsprings and their sire, We still can boast of circles as 'joyous and as a gay » As any you can tell of, or chauut in merry lay ; And not in chorus only, but in substance too can toast, The roast beef of Old England, John Bull's chief pride and boast: So in drinking of the healths of your transatlantic brethren, You may picture 1 to yourselves our social' Christmas revelling ; ** And join us heart and voice while we drink to far and near, , , A merry merry Christmas, and a happy new yeai*. ,• . By the arrival of the brig Eleanor from Sydney, we are put in possession of Sydney papers up to the 14th Instant. Besides a general cargo she brings sheep cattle. Mr. M'Laren, the Inspector of the Branches of the Union Bank of Australia, has arrived by her, and nine steerage passengers. By the same source we- learn, that the New York Packet, Regia, and Ammell, had arrived at Syduey. The Lady Leigh, hence the 16th % September, arrived at Tahiti, the day before the New York Packet left. The Anita returned to this port on Saturday evening, from a trip to Manilla, with a general cargo, some of which, we have no doubt, will meet a ready sale, such as rice, and cigars. As regards teas and sugars, they may answer the purpose of lowering prices; but we hardly tKi'ufethey will pay to force them on the market at this moment. On her passage she spoke the Prince of Wales in Bass's Straits, bound for this port ; so that we may look for her arrival 'hourly, though it may not be impossible, that during the severe gale on Saturday night last, she may have been carried clean through the Straits. Holiday Sports. — Under this head we notice with pleasure that the Members of the Wellington Cricket Club played a match between themselves, and one at which all may be said to have been winners, as, after the sports of the day, they adjourned to the Ship Hotel, were they partook of a true Christmas dinner of roast beef and plumb pudding, and so equally' I ' were all the parties matched, that it was difficult to say who first bowled out his neighbour. The result of the morning's amusement was — First Innings. Red's got 64 notches. ■ Blue's got .... 67 do. Second -Innings. Red 60 do. . Blue 59 do. In another part of the Flat we' nbticen a party engaged in the manly game.' of quoits, and for the amusement of the juvenile folks, we have Bartl'my Fair in minature, with its swings and other games, which astonished the Natives not a little. We hope every exertion will be made, to keep alive the spirit of seeking relief from the labours of the day, by following up these manly out doors amusements, in which all may partake, either as spectators, or performers.
Horticultural Society. — This Society, held its meeting yesterday at the Exchange' Rooms, which were decorated with great taste. We were gratified to witness the result of the perseverance of not only the members themselves, but of, the settlers in general. We -are unable to give' the -names of the various candidates, or the awards- of the judges, but hope to do ' so in our next number;. -we cannot do more on the present occasion than ■ briefly this beautiful exhibition, which, owing'tb the fineness of the weather and the holiday, season, presented a display of still and animated life, which might enter the lists with similar exhibitions in other countries far more advanced than our infant settlement.
Police Report. — We are happy to say that with the exception of one case of stealing a tumbler from the tap of the New Zealander on Te Aro Flat, notwithstanding the peculiarity of the season and the allowances which all. are disposed to make on sijch occasions, there was not a single case before the court this morning of drunkenness or disorderly conduct. • •, The schooner Governor Hob^on, purchased
by Messrs.. Hort; Mocatta,.and Co. of this place at a late sale, was*hauled on the slip at 'Kai Warra last week to be caulked and otherwise repaired. The schooner Ganet, belonging to Mr. Horhbrook, has also been placed on the slip to undergorfresh caulking. ■We believe it is , intended to lengthen the Ganet after her next trip. .','„-■ Mr. Mathieson, two or three weeks' since laid the keel of a small craft of about 30 tons alongside of his slip, so that KaiW arra begins indeed to have the appearance of a ship-yard, and from the roads branching off from that place for different parts, it must soon become a thriving and populous village. On , Tuesday last, the body of a JVlaori femate and her child, a boy of about 18 months' old, were found at Kokopo (Cloudy Bay) ; she had -been living, with a white man of the name of Whining. . It appears that the woman had been missed *all day, and some neighbours .went to the -house where she resided, to seek for her, but did not find her there. /They" saw -an infant about ten weeks' old lying on the bed almost starved with cold and hunger, which the party took to their own house. The appearance of the infant created some alarm about the mother, and further search was made, when she was discovered not far from the house most horribly mutilated, and the child a little distance off, also dreadfully mangled. The affair is wrapped in mystery at present, and has caused great excitement amongst both Europeans and Natives. Every possible enquiry was made relative to the shocking occurrence, but. without any clue being obtained, further than that an old straw hat aud a tomahawk were found near the place where the bodies were discovered. — Colonist. ♦ * •
New Zealand Gazette AND WELLINGTON SPECTATOR. Wednesday, December 28, 1842. New Zealand Gazette and Wellington Spectator, Volume III, Issue 206, 28 December 1842
Using This Item
See our copyright guide for information on how you may use this title.
-
New formats
Papers Past now contains more than just newspapers. Use these links to navigate to other kinds of materials.
-
Hierarchy
These links will always show you how deep you are in the collection. Click them to get a broader view of the items you're currently viewing.
-
Search
Enter names, places, or other keywords that you're curious about here. We'll look for them in the fulltext of millions of articles.
-
Search
Browsed to an interesting page? Click here to search within the item you're currently viewing, or start a new search.
-
Search facets
Use these buttons to limit your searches to particular dates, titles, and more.
-
View selection
Switch between images of the original document and text transcriptions and outlines you can cut and paste.
-
Tools
Print, save, zoom in and more.
-
Explore
If you'd rather just browse through documents, click here to find titles and issues from particular dates and geographic regions.
-
Need more help?
The "Help" link will show you different tips for each page on the site, so click here often as you explore the site.