A ’appy new year,--
A’ pockit full of munny,
An’ a celler full a’ beer.
God bless the maester of this ’ouse--
The mistriss all-so,
An’ all the little childrun
That round the table go.
A apple, a pare, a plom, an’ a cherry;
A sup a’ good ale mak’ a man murry,” &c.
The same house will not admit a second boy. One is sufficient to protect
it from any ill-luck that might otherwise happen. A penny is the usual
gratuity for this service.--_N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. v. p. 395.
WALES.
A custom prevails in Wales of carrying about at Christmas time a horse’s
skull dressed up with ribbons, and supported on a pole by a man who is
concealed under a large white cloth. There is a contrivance for opening
and shutting the jaws, and the figure pursues and bites everybody it can
lay hold of, and does not release them except on payment of a fine. It
is generally accompanied by some men dressed up in a grotesque manner,
who, on reaching a house, sing some extempore verses requesting
admittance, and are in turn answered by those within, until one party or
the other is at a loss for a reply. The Welsh are undoubtedly a
practical people, and these verses often display a good deal of
cleverness. This horse’s head is called _Mari Lwyd_, which I have heard
translated “Grey mare.” _Lwyd_ certainly is grey, but _Mari_ is not a
mare in Welsh.[95]--_N. & Q. 1st S._ vol. i. p. 173.
[95] This custom was also practised in one or two places in Lancashire
about the year 1840. The horse was played in a similar way, but the
performer was called “Old Ball.” It is no doubt a vestige of the old
“hobby-horse.”--_Ibid._ p. 245.
Upon Christmas Day, about three o’clock in the morning, the Welsh in
many parts used to assemble in church, and after prayers and a sermon,
continue there singing psalms and hymns with great devotion, till it was
daylight; and if, through age or infirmity, any were disabled from
attending, they never failed having prayers at home, and carols on our
Saviour’s nativity. This act of devotion was called _Pulgen_, or the
_crowning of the cock_. It was a general belief among the superstitious
that instantly--
“At his warning,
Whether in sea, or fire, in earth, or air,
Th’ extravagant, and erring spirit, hies
To his confine--”
During Christmas time, the cock was supposed to exert his power
throughout the night, from which no doubt originated the Welsh word
“Pulgen” as applied to this custom.--Bingley’s _Tour Round North Wales_,
1800, vol. ii. p. 226.
At Tenby it was customary at 4 o’clock on Christmas morning for the
young men of the town to escort the rector with lighted torches from his
residence to church.--Mason’s _Tales and Traditions of Tenby_, 1858, p.
4.
Sometimes also before or after Christmas Day the fishermen of Tenby
dressed up one of their number whom they called the “Lord Mayor of
Pennyless Cone,” with a covering of evergreens and a mask over his face;
they would then carry him about, seated on a chair, with flags flying,
and a couple of violins playing before him. Before every house the “Lord
Mayor” would address the occupants, wishing them a merry Christmas and a
happy new year. If his good wishes were responded to with money his
followers gave three cheers, the masquer would himself return thanks,
and the crowd again cheered.--_Ibid._ p. 5.
SCOTLAND.
In some parts of Scotland, he who first opens the door on Yule Day
expects to prosper more than any other member of the family during the
future year because, as the vulgar express it, “He lets in yule.” On
opening the door, it is customary with some to place in the doorway a
table or chair covered with a clean cloth; and, according to their own
language, to “set on it bread and cheese to yule.” Early in the morning,
as soon as any one of the family gets out of bed, a new besom is set
behind the outer door, the design being to “let in yule.” These
superstitions, in which yule is not only personified, but treated as a
deity, are evidently of heathen origin. It is common also to have a
table covered in the house, from morning until evening, with bread and
drink upon it, that every one who calls may take a portion, and it is
considered particularly inauspicious if any one comes into a house and
leaves it without doing so. Whatever number of persons call on this day,
all must partake of the good cheer.--_Med. Ævi Kalend._ vol. i. p. 48;
see Jamieson, _Etymol. Dict._, Art. _Yule_.
Any servant who is supposed to have a due regard to the interests of the
family, and is not at the same time emancipated from the yoke of
superstition, is careful to go early to the well on Christmas morning to
draw water, pull the corn out of the sack, and also to bring kale from
the kitchen garden. This is intended to insure prosperity to the family
(_Ibid._ p. 99). It is in fact the same as the _Usque Cashrichd_, which
was noticed among the superstitious customs of the first of
January.--See p. 17.
The doings of the guisards (that is, masquers), says Chambers (_Pop.
Rhymes_, 1870, p. 169), form a conspicuous feature in the New Year
proceedings throughout Scotland. The evenings on which these personages
are understood to be privileged to appear, are those of Christmas,
Hogmanay, New Year’s Day, and Handsel Monday. Dressed up in quaint and
fantastic attire, they sing a selection of songs which have been
practised by them some weeks before. There were important doings,
however, one of a theatrical character. There is one rude and grotesque
drama (called Galatian) which they are accustomed to perform on each of
the four above-mentioned nights, and which in various fragments or
versions exists in every part of Lowland Scotland. The performers, who
are never less than three, but sometimes as many as six, having dressed
themselves, proceed in a band from house to house, generally contenting
themselves with the kitchen for an arena, whither in mansions, presided
over by the spirit of good humour, the whole family will resort to
witness the scene of mirth.--See Chambers’ _Pop. Rhymes_, p. 170.
ANGUS-SHIRE.
At Christmas and the New Year, the opulent burghers begin to feast with
their friends, and go a round of visits, which takes up the space of
many weeks. Upon such occasions the gravest is expected to be merry, and
to join in a cheerful song.--Sinclair, _Stat. Acc. of Scotland_, 1793,
vol. v. p. 48.
FORFARSHIRE.
From the same authority we learn that, in the parish of Kirkden, on
Christmas Day, the servant is free from his master, and goes about
visiting his friends and acquaintances. The poorest man must have beef
or mutton on the table, and what they call a dinner with their friends.
They amuse themselves with various diversions, particularly with
shooting for prizes, called here _wad-shooting_, and many do but little
business all the Christmas week.--_Ibid._ vol. ii. p. 509.
ABERDEENSHIRE.
Christmas morn is welcomed at St. Fergus by liberal libations of
_drinking-sowins_, or, as they are called by the old people,
_knotting-sowins_; and by the gathering of friends and neighbours around
the social hearth. That the humblest householder in the parish may have
his Christmas cakes, a distribution of meal, the gift of a benevolent
individual, is annually made by the kirk-session on Christmas Day, to
the poor on the roll.--_Stat. Acc. of Scotland_, 1845, vol. xii. p. 198.
In certain parts also of the county of Aberdeen, the custom of not
working during the three days of Christmas (Old Style) is still kept up.
Straw, termed “yule straw,” is gathered beforehand, and everything
needed for food and fuel prepared in a similar way, so that the festival
may be kept in peace.--_N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. ii. p. 483.
BANFFSHIRE.
In the account of Keith, given in the _Stat. Acc. of Scotland_ (1793,
vol. v. p. 428), the inhabitants are said to have no pastimes or
holidays except dancing on Christmas and New Year’s Day.
BERWICK-UPON-TWEED.
Fuller, in his _History of Berwick upon Tweed_ (1799, p. 446), alluding
to the customs of that place, says, there are four men called town
waits, who belong to the borough. Their business is to walk before the
mayor, recorder, and justices, playing on violins, all the way to and
from church on Christmas Day, the day of the election of a mayor, and
November the 5th. They also are obliged to attend these gentlemen at
their four public dinners.
THE HIGHLANDS.
As soon as the brightening glow of the eastern sky warns the anxious
housemaid of the approach of Christmas Day, she rises, full of anxiety,
at the prospect of her morning labours. The meal, which was steeped in
the _sowans-bowie_ a fortnight ago to make the _Prechdacdan sour_ or
_sour scones_, is the first object of her attention. The gridiron is put
on the fire, and the sour scones are soon followed by hard cakes, soft
cakes, buttered cakes, bannocks, and pannich perm. The baking being once
over, the sowans pot succeeds the gridiron, full of new sowans, which
are to be given to the family, agreeably to custom, this day in their
beds. The sowans are boiled into the consistence of molasses, when the
_lagan-le-vrich_ or yeast-bread, to distinguish it from boiled sowans,
is ready. It is then poured into as many bickers as there are
individuals to partake of it, and presently served to the whole, both
old and young. As soon as each despatches his bicker, he jumps out of
bed--the elder branches to examine the ominous signs of the day, and the
younger to enter on its amusements. Flocking to the swing, a favourite
amusement on this occasion, the youngest of the family gets the first
“shouder,” and the next oldest to him in regular succession. In order to
add more to the spirit of the exercise, it is a common practice with the
person in the _swing_ and the person appointed to swing him to enter
into a very warm and humorous altercation. As the swinged person
approaches the swinger, he exclaims, “_Ei mi tu chal_,” “I’ll eat your
kail.” To this the swinger replies, with a violent shove, “_Cha ni u mu
chal_,” “You shan’t eat my kail.” These threats and repulses are
sometimes carried to such a height as to break down or capsize the
threatener, which generally puts an end to the quarrel.
As the day advances those minor amusements are terminated at the report
of the gun or the rattle of the ball clubs--the gun inviting the
marksman to the “_kiavamuchd_,” or prize shooting, and the latter to
“_Luchd-vouil_,” or the ball combatants--both the principal sports of
the day. Tired at length of the active amusements of the field, they
exchange them for the substantial entertainment of the table. Groaning
under the “_Sonsy-haggis_” and many other savoury dainties unseen for
twelve months before, the relish communicated to the company by the
appearance of the festive board is more easily conceived than described.
The dinner once despatched, the flowing bowl succeeds and the sparkling
glass flies to and fro like a weaver’s shuttle. The rest of the day is
spent in dancing and games.--Grant, _Popular Superstitions of the
Highlands_.
ORKNEY.
A writer in the _Stat. Acc. of Scotland_ (1845, vol. xv. p. 127),
speaking of Westray, says:--One custom in this parish and common to
Orkney at large, is that of allowing the servants four or five days’
liberty at Christmas to enjoy themselves, only the most necessary part
of domestic work, with due attention to the bestial on the farm, is done
on these days. The master of the house has also to keep up a
well-furnished table for all his servants at this season.
IRELAND.
At Culdaff, previous to Christmas, it is customary with the labouring
classes to raffle for mutton, when a sufficient number can subscribe to
defray the cost of a sheep. During the Christmas holidays they amuse
themselves with a game of kamman, which consists in impelling a wooden
ball with a crooked stick to a given point, while an adversary
endeavours to drive it in a contrary direction.--Mason, _Stat. Acc. of
Ireland_, 1814, vol. ii. p. 160.
DEC. 26.] ST. STEPHEN’S DAY.
For some unexplained reason St. Stephen’s Day was a great period with
our ancestors for bleeding their horses, which was practised by people
of all ranks, and recommended by the old agricultural poet Tusser, in
his _Five Hundred Points of Husbandry_ (chap. xxii. st. 16), who says:
“Yer, Christmas be passed, _let horsse be let blood_,
For manie a purpose it dooth him much good;
The day of S. Steeven old fathers did use;
If that do mislike thee, some other day chuse.”
Mr. Douce says that the practice was introduced into this country by the
Danes.
Naogeorgus, according to his translator, Barnaby Googe, refers to it,
and assigns a reason:
“Then followeth Saint Stephen’s Day, whereon doth every man,
His horses jaunt and course abrode, as swiftly as he can,
Until they doe extreemely sweate, and then 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.”
In explanation, it may be stated that the Saint was the patron of
horses, and that on this day, which the Germans call _Der grosse
Pferdstag_, the Pope’s stud was physicked and bled for the sake of the
blood which was supposed to be a remedy in many disorders.
Aubrey, in his _Remains of Gentilisme_ (MS. Lansd. 226), says: “On St.
Stephen’s day, the farrier came constantly and blouded all our
cart-horses.” In the “Receipts and Disbursements of the canons of St.
Mary in Huntingdon,” is the following entry: “Item, for letting our
horses blede in Chrystmasse weke, iiij^{d}.”--_Med. Ævi Kalend._ 1841,
vol. i. p. 118.
_Christmas Boxes_ is a term now applied to gifts of money at Christmas
given away on St. Stephen’s Day, commonly called Boxing Day, whereas,
anciently, it signified the boxes in which gifts were deposited. These
boxes closely resembled the Roman _Paganalia_, for the reception of
contributions at rural festivals; from which custom, with certain
changes, is said to have been derived our Christmas Boxes. At Pompeii
have been found earthen boxes, in which money was slipped through a
hole. Aubrey found one filled with Roman denarii.--Timbs’ _Something for
Everybody_, 1861, p. 152; see _N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. xi. pp. 65, 107,
164, 245; see also Fosbroke’s _Enclyclopædia of Antiquities_, 1840, p.
662.
BEDFORDSHIRE.
In Bedfordshire there formerly existed a custom of the poor begging the
broken victuals the day after Christmas Day.--_Time’s Telescope_, 1822,
p. 298.
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE.
It is stated in the Parliamentary Returns in 1786, that some land, then
let at 12_l._ per annum, was given by Sir Hugh Kite for the poor of the
parish of Clifton Reynes. It appears from a book, in the custody of the
minister, dated 1821, compiled by an antiquary for a history of the
county, that the rector holds a close of pasture-ground called Kites,
which had been formerly given to support a lamp burning in the church of
Clifton Reynes, but which was subject to a charge of finding one small
loaf, a piece of cheese, and a pint of ale to every married person, and
half-a-pint for every unmarried person, resident in Clifton on the feast
of St. Stephen, when they walked in the parish boundaries in Rogation
week. The close was annexed to the rectory in the 12th of
Elizabeth.--_Old English Customs and Charities_, 1842, p. 120.
There was formerly a custom in the parish of Drayton Beauchamp called
_Stephening_. All the inhabitants used to go on St. Stephen’s Day to the
rectory, and eat as much bread and cheese and drink as much ale as they
chose at the expense of the rector.
The usage gave rise to so much rioting that it was discontinued, and an
annual sum was distributed instead in proportion to the number of the
claimants. In time, the number of inhabitants, however, increased so
considerably, that about the year 1827 the custom was dropped.--_Ibid._
p. 121.
CAMBRIDGESHIRE.
St. Stephen’s Day was formerly observed at Cambridge. Slicer, a
character in the old play of the _Ordinary_ says,
“Let the Corporal
Come sweating under a breast of mutton, stuffed
With pudding.”
This, says the annotator, was called St. Stephen’s pudding; it used
formerly to be provided at St. John’s College, Cambridge, uniformly on
St. Stephen’s Day.--Dodsley’s _Old Plays_, 1721, vol. x. p. 229; _Med.
Ævi Kalend._ vol. i. p. 119.
ISLE OF MAN.
Hunting the wren has been a pastime in the Isle of Man from time
immemorial. In Waldron’s time it was observed on the 24th of December,
though afterwards it was observed on St. Stephen’s Day. This singular
ceremony is founded on a tradition that, in former times, a fairy of
uncommon beauty exerted such undue influence over the male population,
that she, at various times, induced, by her sweet voice, numbers to
follow her footsteps, till by degrees she led them into the sea where
they perished. This barbarous exercise of power had continued for a
great length of time, till it was apprehended that the island would be
exhausted of its defenders, when a knight-errant sprang up, who
discovered some means of countervailing the charms used by this siren,
and even laid a plot for her destruction, which she only escaped at the
moment of extreme hazard by taking the form of a _wren_. But though she
evaded instant annihilation, a spell was cast upon her by which she was
condemned, on every succeeding New Year’s Day, to reanimate the same
form with the definite sentence that she must ultimately perish by
human hand. In consequence of this legend, on the specified anniversary,
every man and boy in the island (except those who have thrown off the
trammels of superstition) devote the hours between sunrise and sunset to
the hope of extirpating the fairy, and woe be to the individual birds of
that species who show themselves on this fatal day to the active enemies
of the race; they are pursued, pelted, fired at, and destroyed, without
mercy, and their feathers preserved with religious care, it being an
article of belief that every one of the relics gathered in this laudable
pursuit is an effective preservative from shipwreck for one year; and
that fisherman would be considered extremely foolhardy who should enter
upon his occupation without such a safeguard; when the chase ceases, one
of the little victims is affixed to the top of a long pole with its
wings extended, and carried in front of the hunters, who march in
procession to every house, chanting the following rhyme:
“We hunted the wren for Robin the Bobbin,
We hunted the wren for Jack of the Can,
We hunted the wren for Robin the Bobbin,
We hunted the wren for every one.”
After making the usual circuit and collecting all the money they could
obtain, they laid the wren on a bier and carried it in procession to the
parish churchyard, where, with a whimsical kind of solemnity, they made
a grave, buried it and sang dirges over it in the Manks language, which
they call her knell. After the obsequies were performed, the company,
outside the churchyard wall, formed a circle and danced to music which
they had provided for the occasion.
At present there is not a particular day for pursuing the wren: it is
captured by boys alone, who follow the old custom principally for
amusement. On St. Stephen’s Day a group of boys go from door to door
with a wren suspended by the legs, in the centre of two hoops crossing
each other at right angles, decorated with evergreens and ribbons,
singing lines called _Hunt the Wren_. If at the close of this rhyme they
are fortunate enough to obtain a small coin, they give in return a
feather of the wren; and before the close of the day the little bird may
sometimes be seen hanging about featherless. The ceremony of the
interment of this bird in the churchyard, at the close of St. Stephen’s
Day, has long since been abandoned; and the sea-shore or some waste
ground was substituted in its place.
NORFOLK.
It is an old custom in the town of East Dereham, to ring a muffled peal
from the church tower on the morning of St. Stephen’s Day.--_N. & Q. 3rd
S._ vol. iii. p. 69.
OXFORDSHIRE.
The three vicars of Bampton, give beef and beer on the morning of St.
Stephen’s Day to those who choose to partake of it. This is called St.
Stephen’s breakfast.--Southey’s _Common Place Book_, _4th S._ 1851, p.
395.
YORKSHIRE.
A correspondent of the _Gent. Mag._ (1811, vol. lxxxi. pt. i. p. 423)
says, that in the North Riding of Yorkshire on the feast of St. Stephen
large goose pies are made, all of which they distribute among their
needy neighbours, except one, which is carefully laid up, and not tasted
till the Purification of the Virgin, called Candlemas.
On this day, also, six youths, clad in white and bedecked with ribbands,
with swords in their hands, travel from one village to another,
performing the “sword dance.” They are attended by a fiddler, a youth
whimsically dressed, named “Bessy,” and by one who personates a
physician. One of the six youths acts the part of a king in a sort of
farce, which consists chiefly of music and dancing, when the “Bessy”
interferes while they are making a hexagon with their swords, and is
killed.--_Time’s Telescope_, 1814, p. 315.
WALES.
On St. Stephen’s Day, everybody is privileged to whip another person’s
legs with holly, and this is often reciprocally done till the blood
streams down.--Southey’s _Common Place Book_ (1851, _4th S._ p. 365). In
Mason’s _Tales and Traditions of Tenby_ (1858, p. 5) this custom is
alluded to as being celebrated at that place.
IRELAND.
On the anniversary of St. Stephen it is customary for groups of young
villagers to bear about a holly-bush adorned with ribbons, and having
many wrens depending from it. This is carried from house to house with
some ceremony, the “wren-boys” chanting several verses, the burthen of
which may be collected from the following lines of their song:
“The wren, the wren, the king of all birds,
St. Stephen’s Day was caught in the furze,
Although he is little, his family’s great,
I pray you, good landlady, give us a treat.
My box would speak if it had but a tongue,
And two or three shillings would do it no wrong;
Sing holly, sing ivy--sing ivy, sing holly,
A drop just to drink, it would drown melancholy.
And if you draw it of the best,
I hope in Heaven your soul may rest;
But if you draw it of the small,
It won’t agree with the wren-boys at all;” &c., &c.
A small piece of money is usually bestowed on them, and the evening
concludes in merry-making with the money thus collected.--Croker,
_Researches in the South of Ireland_, 1824, p. 233.
DEC. 28.] HOLY INNOCENTS’ DAY.
In consequence probably of the feelings of horror attached to such an
act of atrocity as Herod’s murder of the children, Innocents’ Day used
to be reckoned about the most unlucky throughout the year; and in former
times no one who could possibly avoid it began any work or entered on
any undertaking on this anniversary.[96] To many Childermas Day was
especially inauspicious. It is said of the equally superstitious and
unprincipled monarch, Louis XI., that he would never perform any
business, or enter into any discussion about his affairs, on this day,
and to make to him then any proposal of the kind was certain to
exasperate him to the utmost. We are informed too that, in England, on
the occasion of the coronation of King Edward IV., that solemnity which
had been originally intended to take place on Sunday, was postponed till
the Monday, owing to the former day being in that year the festival of
Childermas. This idea of the inauspicious nature of the day was long
prevalent, and is even yet not wholly extinct. To the present hour the
housewives in Cornwall, and probably also in other parts of the country,
refrain scrupulously from scouring or scrubbing on Innocents’
Day.--_Book of Days_, vol. ii. p. 776.
[96] 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.”
It was, moreover, not considered lucky upon this day to put on new
clothes or pare the nails.