THE FESTIVE SEASON.

Timaru Herald, Volume CI, Issue 15539, 26 December 1914, Page 4

THE FESTIVE SEASON.

WHAT THE POETS SAY ABOUT. IT AND ITS CUSTOMS. •; .:^ Those "(tho wish to know" how Christmas was observed, in.the good;days 'of Old hate-only to refer to what,' the-: poets .have said and sung. • • Many ;of them have woven the customs; of.'the festive season into graceful verso ana liave thus-bequeathed. us the most varied allusions to the mode of its ob~ servanco in -days gone By> ; - n; ' '-; CHRISTMAS THREE HUNDRED . ' ' '"YEARS AGO. We may not get any where more, vivid pictures of now an English yew-man-farmer and Ids family spentChristmas iu the reigns of the Tudor Queens, Mary and than is presented in the , quaint and ; homely yet witty rhymes of Thomas .Tusser Gent, of Braham Hall, in Essex, Who lived there .in the time of Edward VI., and wrote his "Oho Hundred Points of Good Husbandry," all done in easy verse and first printed in 1857Thomas Tusser was tho "Poor Richard" of his age. His maxims of good husbandry and thrifty housewifery are couched in pithy rhymes, such as might be committed to memory by the young mei> and maids for useful application in future days. 'Tusser. .was a hearty, stickler for keeping up good old customs and for the worthy celebration of feasting times- Let us hear him tell how his generation of Engiish country folk held festivity at Christmas. Of .Christ cometh Christmas, the name with the feast, A time full of joie to the greatest and least; At Christmas was Christ our Saviour borne, The world through sinne, altogether forlorne. At Christmas the daies doo begin to take length. Of Christ doth religions chiefly take strength; As Christmas is only a figure or trope, So .onely in Christ is the ■ strength of our hope. At Christmas we banket (banquet), the rich with the poore, Mis then (but the miser) but openeth his doore? At Christmas of Christ many carols we sing And give many gifts in the joy of that King. At Christmas of Christ wo rejoice and be glad, As one of whom our comfort is had; At Christmas we joy altogether with inirth, For His sake that joyed us all with -His birth. At Christmas the hardness of winter doth rage, A griper of all things and specially age! Then lightly poore people the young with the old, Be sorest oppressed with hunger and cold. , , , At Christmas by labour is-little to get, That wanting the poorest in danger- ■ -.- aire set; . ....... : What season then better oi.-. all the whole yeare. Thy necdie poor neighbour" to eonir tort and cheer-e? .-'/.' Surely the spirit of these lines,, both in .-piety and in charity,..is such ,as.well accords with the,event which is siga ChristianV.Christmas.! CHRISTMAS FARE THREE HUN-" DEED YEARS AGO. • But let us hear in another piece what was the sort of fare English fanners feasted their families and guests upon, during Christmastide, When; Thomas Tusser wrote over three •hundred-years ago. It was wo shall see substantially what Christmas fare is now. The fashion in eating and drinking does not change with the centuries so much as that of dress does, though there are variations in cookery _ and new articles imported from abroad' have, within the last century \ been added to •our dietary. Good lwsoand and huswife niow. cheefly be glad. Tilings handsom" to have as they ought to be had; - Thus both doe provide against Christmas doe come, ' To welcome good neighbour, good cheere to have some.

Good bread and good drinke, a. goodfier in the hall, Brawne, pudding and souse- and good mustard withall. Beefe, mutton and porks, shred pies of the best, Pig, veale, goose and capon and tur- • key well drest; Cheese, apples and nuts, jolly carols to heare, - v As then in the countrie is counted good cheere. What cost to good husband is any . i of this? : Good household provision onely it is; Of other the like I dco leave out a menio That costeth tho husbandman never a penie. Did our yoeman ancestors fare amiss at Christmas with the dishes quick following enumerated by good Thomas Tusser? We wot not. THE YULE LOG. . In mediaeval times the bringing in of the log was one of tho chief social events of the year, and the villagers were, wont to assemble to watch it blazing on the baronial hearth. No doubt, the:old.castlesi and the vanished mansions of our' land ''have witnessed* -many such gatherings in "which soM hospitality was. not forgotten. For in early days:— :'" The damsel donned her.kirtle sheen. The hall was dressed hi holly green; Then open wide the baron's"hall. N To vassalj tenant,; : -.and all. . The fire with well-dried logs supplied, Went "loaiing up tho clumney'wtdo, The huge hall tab e s oaken face, bcrubbed till it shone the day cl grace, Boie, then, upon its massivo board, ISo maik to part the squuo and. lord; Then was brought m the lusty brawn By old blue-coated seiving men. Then the giim boar's head fiouned on high, Crested with bavs and rosemaay; Then came the meiry-makers in, And caiols loaied with blitliesome din. If unmelodious was tho song,It Vl»s a hearty note and sx-romg; I As time sped on the form was-'somc-wbat changed, although the spirt or the custom lemainod- Thus m the ■seven.teenfch centuiy when baronial ha Is were no moie, -ne find it thus modified ' ( Come,, bnag ~*wi£b> ft noise, *<f Mv men j, merrj' boys JjJ Tho Chustmas lefe and t hearing 5 While my good, dame, she $£ Bids y© aZI free, And drntk to your heart'.s, deSinng With the last gear's brand Light the new block, and For good success in his spending On psalteries play Tint sneer luck may 1 Come while tho clock is attending-

- Herrick's muse was. seldom so well employed as when hoVwrote his Christmas Carol, siuig to the King in his presence Whitehall;-. music can we bring • Than a carol for to sing The birth of, this our Heavenly King; Awake .the voice, awake the string, Heart, ear, and eye, and everything . Awake! In the carol he has chronic'.ed many of our old usages, and has bequeathed the- pleasing account of the Yule Log .which we have given above. 'THE WASSAIL, BOWL. An" important feature of the olden Christmas ■ was the Wassail Bowl—a compound, of ale, nutmeg, sugar, toast, and roasted crabs or apples. The name is said to have originated', from tho words of Rowena, the _ .'daughter of He.ngis, who, presenting a bowl of wine to Votigern. the King of the Britains, said -. "Waes hael" or "Health to You." The wassail bowl, filled with liquor, seems first to have been carried about' by girls, who, presenting it to their j superiors, received a, present of money for this act of homage or. courtesy. As such a proceeding was soon seen to be a profitable one their office was quickly usurped by the men. In all parts o*f the country the presentation of the wassail clip was usjd as a means for collecting gifts, and it is stated that . the custom still holds in Gloucestershire, but with this great difference—the bowl is empty and ready for receiving donations. The following verse commences the Gloucestershire wassail song, and it is well known:— Wassail! wassail! all over the town, Our toast it is white and our ale it is brown; Our howl it is" of the good maplin. (maple) tree, So here's good fellow I'll drink to thee. In Devonshire and elsewhere it was custom ary to wassail the orchards in allusion to which the husbandman is directed to.: Wassail the trees that ther -may bear .You many a : plum and manv a*near: For more or less fruits they' mav ' bring, As you do give them wassaillihg. THE .WAITS. Many are the poetic allusions to the waits. Originally they vrere a Dotty of men who were the town minstrels and who did watch service. With the same hankering, after Christmas boxes that characterised the wassaTers they serenaded the town at the Christina's and New Year seasons, and by that season all wandering Christmas minstrels came to be called waits.' As we know them, however, in the form of independent bodies of peripatetic minstrels, they probably did not exist in olden times, but the official body roused folks from their comfortable'repose to inform them in the dead of night that Christmas Day had again arrived.. On a. winter's night, ;-• By. moon or lanthoni light. Through-hail, rain, frost, or snow, Their rounds tho music go.. Clad: each in friezo or blanket, (.•''or either Heaven be thanked), Lin'd with wine a quart ■•:■ Or ale a double tankard. -■■ But their fingers frost-nipt, So many notes are o'er-slipt, That .you'd take sometimes The" waits for minster chimes. .-The foregoing lines wej-e written of rh'e:YorkLwaits of the seventeenth century, . but they apply equally . well to those of other cities a.nd towns. ';. Wordsworth, in. the introduction to his "Duddon" .-sonnet says:— The ininstrcls. played their Christ- - mas tune • . ••• To-night beneath my cottage eaves. •And in describing the village waits, clothes ;them 'with a spirit of romance, for "lie adds :'— How touching' when at midnight- , sweep " Snow-muffled winds ttnd all is dark, To hear—and sink again to sleep; Or at an earlier call to mark, Bv blazing fire tha still suspense Of ■ self-complacent innocence!

'Tile mutual nod, the grave disguise, • Of hearts with gladness brimming "•• /. o'er, AAud some unbidden tears that rise _ For names' once lieard • imd • heard no more. - Tears brightened by the serenade For infant iu the" cradle laid. Olare asiniii, in Ids "Shepherd's Calendar," speaks of the-time-hon-oured custom thus: — The singing wait?, a merry throng, • At early morn with simple skill Yet imitate the angel's song, And chant the Christinas ditty still. ■ ■ " Washington Irving says:—''Even the sound of the waits, rude as may be their minstrelsy, breaks upon the mid-watches of the night with the effect of perfect harmony. As I have been' awakened by them in the still and solemn hour when deep sleep faileth upon man, I have listened with a hushed delight, and connecting them with the sacred and joyous occasions, have almost fancied them into another oo'estial choir announcing peace and goodwill to mankind."

HOUSE AND CHURCH DECORATION. ".-'■■ ■•"--:■ ;': :....\ -'■ ■-"•'■ It has lieon ihe icustom from the earliest times to deck the home -anti the church with evergreens, and to tbis custom many of the poets refer. Wither, describing "an old-fashioned Christmas, says: — So now is come our-: joyful feast, Let erery man be jolly; Each room with ivy leaves is drest, And every post with holly. Gay. noticing the use of! evergreens used* in Christmas decorations, remarks how: — "When rosemary and bays, the poet's '.. :. '.crown, ■ . # Are brawl'd in frequent cries through-all the town. Then judge the. festival_of Christmas near — -•••■• ■■.■-.-.-.. Christmas, the joyous period of the year. ' . .. Now, with, bright holly all the temples shoWi ;..'■-■ - ' With laiu-el green and' sacred mistletoe. Wordsworth also ha 3 some ' 'appropriate lines on church decking at this season, and bids the reader: — Go seek, when Christmas snows discomforts bring, The counter-spirit found in some gay church. Green with fresh holly every pew and porch, • In which the linnet or the thrash might sing Merry and loud and safe from prying" saarch, Strains offered only to the genial spring. - . CHRISTMAS BELLS. Poets-without number have, caught and echoed the music of the * Christmas Bells. Tennyson finds a-place in his "In Memoriam" not only for the bells of the New Year bidden to ring out the false and ring in the true, but also for the '•Christmas bells "from hill to hill" that "answer each other in the mist." Commentators on the poems profess to be able to tell the names- of the Lincolnshire Tillages—"four voices of four hamlets round"-v tlie bells of which the poet heard on that sweetly sad Christmas Eve, when he was mourning his great loss. Each voice four changes on the wind, That now dilate and now decrease; Peace and goodwill, goodwill and peace, Peace and goodwill to all mankind. ■ c Sadly fell the shadows on the family gathered round the Christmas hearth, but the Christmas bells charmed away the sadness because, of the Christmas truth of which they told, and many a sad household" this year sorrowing under the same sad sense that he or she was with us this time last year, and is with us no longer,- may draw the same comfort from the same music : Rise, happy morn, rise, holy morn, Draw forth the cheerful day from night; 0. Father, touch the east with light The light that shone when hope was 1 born.