In the house of king and nobleman he held full sway for twelve days.
His badge was a fool's bauble and he was always attended by a page,
both of them being masked. So many pranks were played, and so much
mischief perpetrated which was far from being amusing, that an edict
was eventually issued against this form of liberty, not to say
license.
The Lord of Misrule was especially reviled by the Puritans, one of
whom set him down as "a grande captain of mischiefe." One may easily
imagine that this stern old gentleman had been ducked by a party of
revellers following in the wake of the lawless "Captaine" because he
had refused to contribute to their entertainment.
We need not lament the passing of Christmas pageantry, if the spirit
of the festival remains. Through the centuries that have passed since
the first Christmas, the spirit of it has wandered in and out like a
golden thread in a dull tapestry, sometimes hidden, but never wholly
lost. It behooves us to keep well and reverently such Christmas as we
have, else we shall share old Ben Jonson's lament in _The Mask of
Father Christmas_, which was presented before the English Court nearly
two hundred years ago:
"Any man or woman ... that can give any knowledge, or tell
any tidings of an old, very old, grey haired gentleman
called Christmas, who was wont to be a very familiar ghest,
and visit all sorts of people both pore and rich, and used
to appear in glittering gold, silk and silver in the court,
and in all shapes in the theatre in Whitehall, and had
singing, feasts and jolitie in all places, both citie and
countrie for his coming--whosoever can tel what is become of
him, or where he may be found, let them bring him back again
into England."