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Christmasse Day.

No matter for plomb-porridge, or shrid-pie
Or a whole oxe offered in sacrifice
To Comus, not to Christ, &c.

Sheppard's Epigrams, 1651.

Mr. Brand, from a tract in his library printed about the time of queen Elizabeth or James I. observes, that they were likewise called "minched pies."

According to Selden's "Table Talk," the coffin shape of our Christmas pies, is in imitation of the cratch, or manger wherein the infant Jesus was laid. The ingredients and shape of the Christmas pie is mentioned in a satire of 1656, against the puritans ::

Christ-mass? give me my beads: the word implies

A plot, by its ingredients, beef and pyes.
The cloyster'd steaks with salt and pepper lye
Like Nunnes with patches in a monastrie.
Prophaneness in a conclave? Nay, much

more,

Idolatrie in crust!

and bak'd by hanches, then Serv'd up in coffins to unholy men; Defil'd, with superstition, like the Gentiles Of old, that worship'd onions, roots, and

lentiles !

R. Fletcher.

There is a further account in Misson's "Travels in England." He says, "Every family against Christmass makes a famous pye, which they call Christmas pye. It is a great nostrum ; the composition of this pasty is a most learned mixture of neat'stongues, chicken, eggs, sugar, raisins, lemon and orange peel, various kinds of spicery," &c. The most notably familiar poet of our seasonable customs interests himself for its safety:

Come guard this night the Christmas-pie
That the thiefe, though ne'r so slie,
With his flesh hooks don't come nie

To catch it;

From him, who all alone sits there, Having his eyes still in his eare, And a deale of nightly feare

To watch it. Herrick.

Mr. Brand observes, of his own knowledge, that "in the north of England, a goose is always the chief ingredient in the composition of a Christmas pye;" and to illustrate the usage, "further north," he quotes, that the Scottish poet Allan Ramsay, in his "Elegy on lucky Wood," tells us, that among other baits by which the good ale-wife drew customers to her

house, she never failed to tempt them at Yule (Christmas,) with

"A bra' Goose Pye."

The

Further, from "Round about our Coalgentleman at the opening of the great fire," we likewise find that "An English day, i. e. on Christmass day in the morning, had all his tenants and neighbours strong beer was broached, and the black enter his hall by day-break. jacks went plentifully about with toast, sugar, nutmegg, and good Cheshire cheese. The hackin (the great sausage) must be boiled by day-break, or else two young men must take the maiden (i. e.) the cook, by the arms and run her round the market-place till she is ashamed of her laziness.

were all spread from the first to the last; "In Christmas holidays, the tables plumb porridge, the capons, turkeys, geese, the sirloins of beef, the minced pies, the and plum-puddings, were all brought upon the board: every one eat heartily, and was welcome, which gave rise to the proverb, merry in the hall when beards wag all.'"

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Misson adds of our predecessors in his time, that besides the "famous pye" at Christmas, "they also make a sort of soup with plums which is not at all inferior to the pye, which is in their language called plum-porridge."

Lastly, Mr. Brand makes this important note from personal regard. "Memorandum. I dined at the chaplain's table at St. James's on Christmas-day, 1801, and partook of the first thing served and eaten on that festival at that table, i. e. a tureen full of rich luscious plum-porridge. I do not know that the custom is any where else retained."

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cock-crowing, the midnight spirits forsake these lower regions, and go to their proper places; and that the cocks crow throughout the live-long nights of Christmasa circumstance observable at no other time of the year. Horatio, the friend of Hamlet, discourses at midnight with Francisco, a sentry on the platform before the Danish palace, and Bernardo and Marcellus, two officers of the guard, respecting the ghost of the deceased monarch of Denmark, which had appeared to the military on watch.

Mar. Horatio says, 'tis but our fantasy,

And will not let belief take hold of him, Touching this dreaded sight, twice seen of us;

Therefore I have entreated him, along
With us, to watch the minutes of this night;
That, if again this apparition come,
He may approve our eyes, and speak to it.

Hor. Tush! tush! 'twill not appear.

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We do it wrong, being so majestical,
To offer it the show of violence;
For it is, as the air, invulnerable,
And our vain blows malicious mockery.
Ber. It was about to speak, when the
cock crew.

Hor. And then it started, like a guilty thing

Upon a fearful summons. I have heard, The cock, that is the trumpet of the morn, Doth with his lofty and shrill-sounding

throat

Awake the god of day; and, at this warning,
The extravagant and erring spirit hies
Whether in sea or fire, in earth or air,
To his confine and of the truth herein
This present object makes probation

Marcellus answers, "It faded on the crowing of the cock," and concludes on the vigilance of this bird, previous to the solemn festival, in a strain of superlative beauty:

Some say, that ever 'gainst that season comes
Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated,
This bird of dawning singeth all night long :
And then, they say, no spirit stirs abroad;

The nights are wholesome; then no planet strikes ;
No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,
So hallow'd and so gracious is the time.

December 26.

St. Stephen, the first Martyr. St. Dionysius, Pope, A. D. 269. St. Jarlath, 1st Bp. of Tuam, 6th Cent.

St. Stephen.

The church of England observes this festival, and the name of the apostle is in the almanacs accordingly. The circumstances that led to his death, and the

particulars of it by stoning, are related in the seventh chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. He is deemed the first martyr for the christian faith.

The notice of this festival by Naogeorgus is thus translated by Barnaby Googe:

Then followeth Saint Stephens day,
whereon doth every man
His horses jaunt and course abrode,
as swiftly as he can,
Until they doe extreemely sweate,

and than they let them blood, For this being done upon this day,

they say doth do them good, And keepes them from all maladies

and sicknesse through the yeare, As if that Steven any time

took charge of horses heare,

Horses.

Whether Stephen was the patron of horses does not appear; but our ancestors used his festival for calling in the horse-leech. Tusser, in his " Five Hundred Points of Husbandry," says,

Yer Christmas be passed,

let Horsse be lett blood, For many a purpose

it doth him much good : The day of St. Steven,

old fathers did use,

If that do mislike thee,

some other day chuse.

An annotator on Tusser subjoins, "About Christmas is a very proper time to bleed horses in, for then they are commonly at house, then spring comes on,

the sun being now coming back from the
winter solstice, and there are three or
four days of rest, and if it be upon St. Ste-
phen's day it is not the worse, seeing there
are with it three days of rest, or at least
two." In the "Receipts and Disburse-
ments of the Canons of St. Mary in Hunt-
ingdon," is the following entry: "Item,
for letting our horses blede in Chryst-
masse weke iiijd."* According to one of
Mr.Douce's manuscript notes, he thinks the
practice of bleeding horses on this day is
extremely ancient, and that it was brought
into this country by the Danes. It is
noticed in "Wits Fits and Fancies," an
old and rare book, that on " S. Stevens-
day it is the custome for all horses to be
let bloud and drench'd. A gentleman
being (that morning) demaunded whether
it pleased him to have his horse let
bloud and drencht, according to the
fashion? He answered, no, sirra, my horse
is not diseas'd of the fashions."
Ellis in a note on Mr. Brand quotes, that
Aubrey says, " On St. Stephen's-day the
farrier came constantly and blouded all
our cart-horses."+

Mr.

The Finns upon St. Stephen's-day, throw a piece of money, or a bit of silver, into the trough out of which the horses drink, under the notion that it prospers those who do it.

Heit! Heck! Whoohe! and Geho!

The well-known interjection used by country people to their horses, when yoked to a cart, &c. Heit ! or Heck! is noticed by Mr. Brand to have been used in the days of Chaucer :

"They saw a cart, that charged was with hay,
The which a carter drove forth on his way:
Depe was the way, for which the carte stode;
The carter smote and cryde as he were wode,
Heit Scot! Heit Brok! what spare ye for the stones?
The Fend quoth he, you fetch, body and bones."§
Brok is still in frequent use amongst
farmer's draught oxen.*

Whoohe! a well-known exclamation to stop a team of horses, is derived by a writer in the "Gentleman's Magazine," 1799, from the Latin. "The exclamation used by our waggoners when they wish for any purpose to stop their team (an exclamation which it is less difficult to speak than to write, although neither is a task of great facility,) is probably a legacy bequeathed us by our Roman ancestors: precisely a translation of the ancient

Brand.

Ohe! an interjection strictly confined to bespeaking a pause-rendered by our lexicographers, Enough! Oh, Enough!

"Ole, jani satis est--Ohe, Libelle."

A learned friend of Mr. Brand's says, "The exclamation Geko, Geho,' which carmen use to their horses is probably of great antiquity. It is not peculiar to this country, as I have heard it used in France In the story of the milkmaid who kicked

Mr. Nichols's Illustration of Ane. Times.

+ In Lansdowne MS. 226. British Museura.
Tooke's Russia.

Frere's T. ed. Tyrwh. Chaucer.

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On the day after Christmas, tradespeople are visited by persons in the employment of their customers for a "Christmas-box," and every man and boy who thinks he is qualified to ask, solicits from those on whom he calculates as likely to bestow. A writer, in 1731, describes Boring-day at that time from his own experience. "By that time I was up, my servants could do nothing but run to the door. Inquiring the meaning, I was answered, the people were come for their Christmas-box: this was logic to me; but I found at last, that, because I had laid out a great deal of ready-money with my brewer, baker, and other tradesmen, they kindly thought it my duty to present their servants with some money for the favour of having their goods. This provoked me a little; but being told it was 'the custom,' I complied. These were followed by the watch, beadles, dustmen, and an innumerable tribe; but what vexed me the most was the clerk, who has an extraordinary place, and makes as good an appearance as most tradesmen in the parish; to see him come a boxing, alias begging, I thought was intolerable: however, I found it was 'the custom' too, so I gave him half-a-crown; as I was likewise obliged to do to the bellman, for breaking my rest for many nights together.

"Having talked this matter over with a friend, he promised to carry me where

I might see the good effects of this giving box-money. In the evening, away we went to a neighbouring alehouse, where abundance of these gentry were assembled round a stately piece of roast beef, and as large a plum-pudding. When the drink and brandy began to work, they fell to reckoning of their several gains that day: one was called a stingy dog for giving but sixpence; another called an extravagant fool for giving half-a-crown, which perhaps he might want before the year was out; so I found these good people were never to be pleased. Some of them were got to cards by themselves, which soon produced a quarrel and broken heads, In the interim came in some of their wives, who roundly abused the people for having given them money; adding, that instead of doing good, it ruined their families, and set them in a road of drinking and gaming, which never ceased till not only their gifts, but their wages, were gone. One good woman said, if people had a mind to give charity, they should send it home to their families: I was very much of her opinion; but, being tired with the noise, we left them to agree as they could.

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My friend next carried me to the upper end of Piccadilly, where, one pair of stairs over a stable, we found near a hundred people of both sexes, some masked, others not, a great part of which were dancing to the music of two sorry fiddles. It is impossible to describe this medley of mortals fully; however, I will do it as well as I can. There were footmen, servant-maids, butchers, apprentices, oyster and orange-women, and sharpers, which appeared to be the best of the company. This horrid place seemed to be a complete nursery for the gallows. My friend informed me, it was called a threepenny hop; and while we were talking, to my great satisfaction, by order of the Westminster justices, to their immortal honour, entered the constables and their assistants, who carried off all the company that was left; and, had not my friend been known to them, we might have paid dear for our curiosity."*

FLORAL DIRECTORY.

Purple Heath. Erica purpurea. Dedicated to St. Stephen.

Cited in Malcolm's London, 18h Cent,

December 27.

St. John the Apostle and Evangelist. St. Theodorus Grapt, ▲. D. 822.

St. John.

This festival of St. John is observed by the church of England, and consequently his name is in the church calendar and the almanacs. The church of Rome, from whence the celebration is derived, also keeps another festival to St. John on the 6th of May, concerning which, and the evangelist, there are particulars at p. 617. Mr. Audley says of him, "Tradition reports, that when he was a very old man,

he used to be carried into the church at

Ephesus, and say, 'little children, love

one another.' He returned from his banishment, and lived till the third or fourth year of Trajan; so that he must have been nearly a hundred years of age when he died. The appellation of divine given to St. John is not canonical; but was first applied to him by Eusebius, on account of those mysterious and sublime points of divinity, with the knowledge of which he seems to have been favoured above his fellow apostles. Perhaps this may explain the etymology of the word divine, as applied to christian ministers."

Barnaby Googe, from the Latin of Naogeorgus, thus introduces the day :

Nexte John the sonne of Zebedee

hath his appoynted day, Who once by cruell tyraunts will,

constrayned was they say Strong poyson up to drinke, therefore the papistes doe beleeve That whoso puts their trust in him, no poyson them can greeve. The wine beside that halowed is

in worship of his name, The priestes doe give the people

that bring money for the same. And after with the selfe same wine are little manchets made, Agaynst the boystrous winter stornies, and sundrie such like trade. The men upon this solemne day,

do take this holy wine

To make them strong, so do the maydes to make them faire and fine.

FLORAL DIRECTORY.

Flame Heath. Erica flammea. Dedicated to St. John.

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It was formerly a custom to whip up the children on Innocent's day morning, in order" that the memorial of Herod's murder of the Innocents might stick the closer, and so, in a moderate proportion, to act over the crueltie again in kinde." The day itself was deemed of especial ill omen, and hence the superstitious never married on Childermas-day. Neither upon this day was it "lucky" to put on new clothes, or pare the rails, or begin any thing of moment. In the play of " Sir John Oldcastle" the prevalence of this belief is instanced by an objection urged to an expedition proposed on a Friday," Friday, quoth'a, a dismal day; Candlemas-day this year was Friday." This vulgar superstition reached the throne; the coronation of king Edward IV. was put off till the Monday, because the preceding Sunday was Chil dermas-day. Lastly, a mother in the Spectator" is made to say, at that time, "No, child, if it please God, you shail not go into join-hand on Childermasday."

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Yet this was a day of disport among the sages of the law. In 1517, king Henry VIII, by an order, enjoined, "that the king of cockneys, on Childermas-day, should sit and have due service; and that he and all his officers should use honest manner and good order, without any waste or destruction making in wine, brawn, chely, or other vitails: and also

Gregory on the Boy Bishop. + Fenn's Letters, i.

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