Part I

. chap. ii. p. 144), has a chapter, “Of the Times of the Birth and Passion of our Saviour,” in which he accounts for the choice of the 25th of December, the winter solstice, by showing that not only the feast of the Nativity, but most others, were originally fixed at cardinal points of the year; and that the first Christian calendar having been so arranged by mathematicians at pleasure, without any ground in tradition, the Christians afterwards took up with what they found in the calendars: so long as a fixed time of commemoration was solemnly appointed they were content.--See Baronii _Apparatus ad Annales Ecclesiasticos_, fol. Lucæ, 1740, p. 475 et seq.; Bingham’s _Antiquities of the Christian Church_, lib. xx. cap. 4; a curious tract entitled, _The Feast of Feasts_, or ‘The Celebration of the Sacred Nativity of our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, grounded upon the Scriptures and confirmed by the Practice of the Christian Church in all Ages;’ see also Knight’s _English Cyclopædia_, 1859, vol. ii. p. 882.

The name given, says a correspondent of _Book of Days_, (vol. ii. p. 745) by the ancient Goths and Saxons to the festival of the winter solstice was _Jul_ or _Yule_, the latter term forming to the present day the designation in the Scottish dialect of Christmas, and preserved also in the phrase of the “yule log.” Perhaps the etymology of no term has excited greater discussions among antiquaries. Some maintain it to be derived from the Greek ουλος or ιουλος, the name of a hymn in honour of Ceres, others say it comes from the Latin _jubilum_, signifying a time of rejoicing, or from its being a festival in honour of Julius Cæsar; whilst some also explain its meaning as synonymous with _ol_ or _oel_, which in the ancient Gothic language denotes a feast, and also the favourite liquor used on such occasions whence our word _ale_. A much more probable derivation, however, of the term in question is from the Gothic _giul_ or _hiul_, the origin of the modern word _wheel_, and bearing the same significance. According to this very probable explanation, the yule festival received its name from its being the turning-point of the year, or the period at which the fiery orb of day made a revolution in his annual circuit and entered on his northern journey. A confirmation of this view is afforded by the circumstance that, in the old clog almanacs, a wheel is the device employed for marking the season of yule-tide.

The season of the Nativity is now no longer marked by that hospitality which characterized its observance among our forefathers. At present Christmas meetings are chiefly confined to family parties. The wassail-bowl, the yule-clog, and the lord of misrule, with a long train of sports and customs which formerly prevailed at this season are forgotten, even Christmas carols are nearly gone by; and the decking of churches, and occasionally of houses, with holly and other evergreens, forms now almost the only indication that this great festival is at hand.--Knight’s _English Cyclopædia_, 1859, vol. ii. p. 882.

Christmas, says Père Cyprian (quoted by Agnes Strickland, _Lives of the Queens of England_, 1865, vol. iv. pp. 320, 321), was always observed in this country, especially at the King’s palaces, with greater ceremony than in any other realm in Europe. Among other ancient ceremonies, he tells us how a branch of the Glastonbury thorn used to be brought up in procession, and presented in great pomp to the King and Queen of England on Christmas morning.

_Under the Commonwealth._--In the _Diary of John Evelyn_ (1859, vol. i. p. 297), under the date of the 25th of December, occurs the following:--

“Christmas Day. No sermon anywhere, no church being permitted to be open, so observed it at home.”

Again, under the same date in 1654 (p. 341), the statement is renewed:

“Christmas Day. No churches or public assembly. I was fain to pass the devotions of that Blessed Day with my family at home.”

Alluding to the observance of Christmas Day in 1657, the same writer says:--

“I went to London with my wife to celebrate Christmas Day, Mr. Gunning preaching in Exeter Chapel, on Micah, vii. 2. Sermon ended; as he was giving us the Holy Sacrament the chapel was surrounded with soldiers, and all the communicants and assembly surprised and kept prisoners by them, some in the house, others carried away. It fell to my share to be confined to a room in the house, where yet I was permitted to dine with the master of it, the Countess of Dorset, Lady Hatton, and some others of quality who invited me. In the afternoon came Colonel Whalley, Goffe, and others from Whitehall to examine us one by one; some they committed to the Marshal, some to prison. When I came before them they took my name and abode, examined me why, contrary to the ordinance made that none should any longer observe the superstitious time of the Nativity (as esteemed by them), I durst offend, and particularly be at Common Prayers, which they told me was but the mass in English, and

## particularly pray for Charles Stuart, for which we had no Scripture. I

told them we did not pray for Charles Stuart, but for all Christian kings, princes, and governors. They replied, in so doing we prayed for the king of Spain too, who was their enemy and a Papist; with other frivolous and ensnaring questions and much threatening, and, finding no colour to detain me, they dismissed me with much pity of my ignorance. These were men of high flight and above ordinances, and spake spiteful things of our Lord’s Nativity. As we went up to receive the sacrament the miscreants held their muskets against us, as if they would have shot us at the altar, but yet suffering us to finish the office of communion, as perhaps not having instructions what to do in case they found us in that action; so I got home late the next day, blessed be God!”

In a tract entitled _Round about our Coal-Fire_, is the following account of the manner in which Christmas was observed in days gone by:--An English gentleman at the opening of the great day, i.e., on Christmas Day in the morning, had all his tenants and neighbours enter his hall by daybreak. The strong beer was broached, and the black-jacks went plentifully about with toast, sugar, nutmeg, and good Cheshire cheese. The hackin (the great sausage) must be boiled by daybreak, 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. In Christmas holidays, the tables were all spread from the first to the last; the sirloins of beef, the minced pies, the plum-porridge, the capons, turkeys, geese, 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.”--Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 531.

_Boar’s Head._--Aubrey, in a MS. dated 1678, says: “Before the last civil wars, in gentlemen’s houses at Christmas, the first diet that was brought to table was a boar’s head with a lemon in his mouth.”

_Christmas Book._--A book in which people were accustomed to keep an account of the Christmas presents they received.--Nares’ _Glossary_ (Halliwell and Wright), 1857, vol. i. p. 11.

_Bustard._--The bustard, says Timbs (_Something for Everybody_, 1861, p. 148), has almost disappeared; but within memory it might be seen in the Christmas larders of large inns.

_Christmas Candles._--Those were candles of an uncommon size, and the name has descended to the small candles which children light up at this season. Hampson (_Med. Ævi Kalend._ vol. i. p. 109), alluding to the custom, says, in some places candles are made of a particular kind, because the candle that is lighted on Christmas Day must be so large as to burn from the time of its ignition to the close of the day, otherwise it will portend evil to the family for the ensuing year. The poor were wont to present the rich with wax tapers, and yule candles are still in the north of Scotland given by merchants to their customers. At one time children at the village schools in Lancashire were required to bring each a mould candle before the _parting_ or separation for the Christmas holidays.

_Christmas Carols._--The Christmas carol (said to be derived from _cantare_ to sing, and _rola_, an interjection of joy) is of very ancient date. Bishop Taylor observes that the ‘Gloria in Excelsis,’ the well-known hymn sung by the angels to the shepherds at our Lord’s Nativity, was the earliest Christmas carol. In the early ages of the Church bishops were accustomed to sing these sacred canticles among their clergy. The oldest printed collections in England are those of Wynkyn de Worde, 1521, and of Kele soon after. Warton, in his _History of English Poetry_, notices a licence granted in 1562 to John Tysdale for printing “Certayne goodly carowles to be songe to the glory of God;” and again, “Crestenmas carowles auctorisshed by my lord of London.” See _N. & Q. 4th S._ vol. x. p. 485. In the sixteenth century the popularity of carol-singing occasioned the publication of a duodecimo volume, published in 1642, entitled, “Psalmes or Songs of Sion, turned into the language, and set to the tunes of a strange land. By W(illiam) S(layter), intended for Christmas carols, and fitted to divers of the most noted and common but solemne tunes, everywhere in this land familiarly used and knowne.”--See _Athenæum_, December 20th, 1856; Sandy’s _Christmas Carols_, 1833.

_Decorations._--Tradition, says Phillips in his _Sylva Florifera_ (1823, vol. i. p. 281), asserts that the first Christian church in Britain was built of boughs, and that this plan was adopted as more likely to attract the notice of the people because the heathens built their temples in that manner, probably to imitate the temples of Saturn which were always under the oak. The great feast of Saturn was held in December, and as the oaks of this country were then without leaves, the priests obliged the people to bring in boughs and sprigs of evergreens; and Christians, on the 20th of the same month, did likewise, from whence originated the present custom of placing holly and other evergreens in our churches and houses to show the arrival of the feast of Christmas. The name of holly is a corruption of the word _holy_, as Dr. Turner, our earliest writer on plants, calls it _Holy_ and _Holy tree_. It has a great variety of names in Germany, amongst which is _Christdorn_; in Danish it is also called _Christorn_; and in Swedish _Christtorn_, amongst other appellations.

A correspondent of _Book of Days_, speaking of this custom (vol. ii., p. 753), says the decking of churches, houses, and shops with evergreens at Christmas springs from a period far anterior to the revelation of Christianity, and seems proximately to be derived from the custom prevalent during the Saturnalia of the inhabitants of Rome, ornamenting their temples and dwellings with green boughs.

The favourite plants for church decoration at Christmas are holly, bay, rosemary, and laurel. Ivy is rather objectionable, from its associations, having anciently been sacred to Bacchus. Cypress seems inappropriate from its funereal relations. One plant, in special, is excluded--the mistletoe. Ibid. p. 753.

_Game Pies._--These were formerly made at the season of Christmas. In the books of the Salters’ Company, London, is the following--

“Receipt. Fit to make a moost choyce paaste of gamys to be eten at ye Feste of Chrystmasse” (17th Richard II A.D. 1394). A pie so made by the company’s cook in 1836 was found excellent. It consisted of a pheasant, hare, and a capon; two partridges, two pigeons, and two rabbits; all boned and put into paste in the shape of a bird, with the livers and hearts, two mutton kidneys, forced meats, and egg-balls, seasoning, spice, catsup and pickled mushrooms, filled up with gravy made from the various bones.--See Timbs’ _Something for Everybody_, 1861, p. 148.

_Mince Pies._--These were popular under the name of “mutton pies” so early as 1596: _Book of Days_, vol. ii. p. 755. They were also known as Shred and Christmas pies. Thus, in Sheppard’s _Epigrams_ (1651, p. 121), we find the following:--

“No matter for plomb-porridge or _Shrid_ pies;” and Herrick, alluding to the custom of setting a watch upon the pies the night before Christmas, says:

“Come guard this night the Christmas pie, That the thief, though ne’er so sly, With his flesh-hooks don’t come nigh, To catch it.”

Brand (_Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 527), quoting from an old tract, printed about the time of Elizabeth, or James I., says they were also called _Minched_ pies.

Selden, in his _Table Talk_, tells us that mince pies were baked in a coffin-shaped crust, intended to represent the cratch or manger wherein the infant Jesus was laid. This statement may be regarded, however, as improbable, as in old English cookery books the crust of a pie is generally called “the coffin.”

Minced pies, says Timbs (_Something for Everybody_, 1861, p. 149), were derived from the paste images and sweetmeats given to the Fathers of the Vatican at Rome on Christmas Eve. Eating minced pies at Christmas was formerly a test of orthodoxy against recusants.

_Mistletoe._--At what period mistletoe came to be recognised as a Christmas evergreen, is not by any means certain. We have Christmas carols in praise of holly and ivy of even earlier date than the fifteenth century, but allusion to mistletoe can scarcely be found for two centuries later, or before the time of Herrick. Coles, too, in his _Knowledge of Plants_, 1656, says of mistletoe, “it is carried many miles to set up in houses about Christmas-time, when it is adorned with a white glistening berry.” In the tract, _Round about our Coal-Fire_, published early in the last century, we are told the rooms were embowered with holly, ivy, cypress, bays, laurel, and mistletoe. Brand (_Pop. Antiq._, 1849, vol. i. p. 523) thinks that mistletoe was never put in churches among evergreens but by mistake or ignorance; for, says he, it was the heathenish, or profane plant, as having been of such distinction in the pagan rites of druidism, and it had its place therefore assigned it in kitchens, where it was hung in great state.--See Timbs’ _Things Not Generally Known_, 1856, pp. 159-160.

_Lord of Misrule._--His office was to preside over the festivities of Christmas, and his duties consisted in directing the various revels of the season. In some great families, and occasionally at Court, he was also called the _Abbot of Misrule_, corresponding with the French _Abbé de Liesse_, a word which implies merriment. Stow, in his _Survey of London_, alluding to this whimsical custom says:--“In the feast of Christmas there was in the king’s house, wheresoever he lodged, a Lord of Misrule, or master of merry disports, and the like, had ye in the house of every nobleman of honour, or good worship, were he spiritual or temporal. The Mayor of London, and either of the sheriffs, had their several lords of misrule, ever contending, without quarrel or offence, who should make the rarest pastime to delight the beholders, these lords beginning their rule at Allhallowed Eve, continued the same till the morrow after the Feast of the Purification, commonly called Candlemas Day, in which space there were fine and subtle disguisings, masks, and mummeries, with playing at cards for counters, nayles, and points, in every house, more for pastimes than for game.”

Leland (_Collectanea de Rebus Anglicis_, 1770, vol. iii., Append. p. 256), speaking of the year 4 Henry VII., 1489, says:--“This Christmas I saw no disguisings, and but right few playes; but there was an Abbot of Misrule that made much sport, and did right well his office.” It appears that large sums of money were expended by this king upon these masquerades and sports, as the following extracts from his “Privy Purse Expenses” will show:--

“Dec. 24 (1491). To Ringley, Lorde of Mysrewle, upon a preste, 5_l._

“Oct. 24 (1492). To Ringley, Abbot of Mysreule, 5_l._

“Jan. 2 (1494). For playing of the Mourice daunce, 2_l._

“Jan. 15 (1494). To Walter Alwyn, in full payment for the disguising made at Christenmas, 14_l._ 3_s._ 4_d._

“March 3 (1490). To Jacques Haulte, in full payment for the disguising at Christenmas, 32_l._ 18_s._ 6½_d._

“Jan. 2 (1503). To the Abbot of Misrule, in rewarde, 6_1._ 13_s._ 4_d._

“Feb. 12 (1503). To Lewis Adams, that made disguysings, 10_l._”

The Lord or Abbot of Misrule at Court, says Hampson, (_Med. Ævi Kalend._ vol. i. p. 117) was usually a writer of interludes and plays, and the office was not unfrequently held by a poet of some reputation. Such, for example, was George Ferrers, “in whose pastimes Edward the Sixth,” we are told by Warton, “had great delight.” There can be no doubt, however, that scandalous abuses often resulted from the exuberant licence assumed by the lord of misrule and his satellites, and consequently we find their proceedings denounced in no measured terms by Prynne, and other zealous puritans.--See _Book of Days_, vol. ii. p. 742.

Stubbes, a morose puritan in the days of Elizabeth, denominates the lord of misrule “a grand captaine of mischiefe,” and has preserved a minute description of all his wild doings in the country, of which the following is a summary. He says that the lord of misrule on being selected, takes twenty to sixty others, “lyke hymself,” to act as his guard, who are decorated with ribbands and scarfs and bells on their legs. Thus, all things set in order, they have their hobby-horses, their dragons, and other antiques, together with the gaudie pipers and thunderyng drummers, and strike up the devill’s dance withal. So they march to the church, invading it, even though service be performing, with such a confused noyse that no man can hear his own voice. Then they adjourn to the churchyard, where booths are set up, and the rest of the day spent in dancing and drinking. The followers of “My Lord” go about to collect money for this, giving in return “badges and cognizances” to wear in the hat: and do not scruple to insult, or even duck, such as will not contribute. But, adds Stubbes, another sort of fantasticall fooles are well pleased to bring all sorts of food and drink to furnish out the feast.--See Disraeli, _Curiosities of Literature_, 1858, vol. ii. p. 262; and Strutt’s _Sports and Pastimes of the People of England_, p. 254.

_Mummers._--These were amusements derived from the Saturnalia, and so called from the Danish _Mumme_, or Dutch _Momme_, disguise in a mask. Christmas was the grand scene of mumming, and some mummers were disguised like bears, others like unicorns, bringing presents. Those who could not procure masks rubbed their faces with soot, or painted them. In the Christmas mummeries the chief aim was to surprise by the oddity of the masques and singularity and splendour of the dresses. Everything was out of nature and propriety. They were often attended with an exhibition of gorgeous machinery.--Fosbroke’s _Encylopædia of Antiquities_, 1840, p. 669; see Strutt’s _Sports and Pastimes_, 1801, pp. 124, 189, 190; also _N. & Q. 2nd S._ vol. x. pp. 464, 465, vol. xi. p. 271, vol. xii. p. 407; _3rd S._ vol. i. p. 66, vol. iv. p. 486.

_Pantomime._--The Christmas pantomime or harlequinade is, in its present shape, essentially a British entertainment, and was first introduced into this country by a dancing master of Shrewsbury named Weaver in 1702. One of his pantomimes, entitled _The Loves of Mars and Venus_, met with great success. The arrival, in the year 1717, in London of a troupe of French pantomimists with performing dogs, gave an impetus to this kind of drama, which was further developed in 1758 by the arrival of the Grimaldi family, the head of which was a posture-master and dentist. Under the auspices of this family the art of producing pantomimes was greatly cultivated, and the entertainment much relished. Joseph Grimaldi, the son of the dentist, was clever at inventing tricks and devising machinery, and _Mother Goose_, and others of his harlequinades, had an extended run. At that time the wit of the clown was the great feature, but, by-and-by, as good clowns became scarce, other adjuncts were supplied, such as panoramas or dioramic views; and now the chief reliance of the manager is on scenic effects, large sums of money being lavished on the _mise en scène_. This is particularly the case as regards the transformation scene--i.e., the scene where the characters are changed into clown, harlequin, &c., as much as 1000_l._ being frequently spent on this one effort. In London alone a sum of 40,000_l._ is annually expended at Christmas time on pantomimes. The _King of the Peacocks_, a pantomime produced at the London Lyceum Theatre during the management of Madame Vestris, cost upwards of £3000. Even provincial theatres, such as those of Manchester or Edinburgh, consider it right to go to considerable expense in the production of their Christmas pantomime.--Chambers’ _Encyclopædia_, 1874, vol. vii. p. 237; see Disraeli’s _Curiosities of Literature_, 1858, pp. 116-130; _N. & Q. 4th S._ vol. v. pp. 193-95.

_Plum-Porridge._--This, says Misson, was a “sort of soup with plumbs, which is not at all inferior to the pye.” Dr. Rimbault says, was not this the same as _plum-pudding_? Pudding was formerly used in the sense of stuffing or force-meat, as we now say black-puddings. Porridge, on the other hand, was used in the sense of our pudding. Thus Shakspeare talks of “porridge after meat,” meaning _pudding_ after meat.--_N. & Q. 2nd S._ vol. xii. p. 489.

_Snapdragon._--A very favourite pastime at this season. Although so prevalent in England, it is almost unknown in Scotland.--See _Book of Days_, vol. ii. p. 738.

A writer in the _Pantalogia_ (1813, vol. x.) thus describes this sport:--It is a kind of play, in which brandy is set on fire, and raisins thrown into it, which those who are unused to the sport are afraid to take out, but which may be safely snatched by a quick motion and put blazing into the mouth, which being closed, the fire is at once extinguished. A correspondent of _N. & Q._ (_2nd S._ vol. vii. p. 277) suggests as a derivation the German _schnapps_, spirit, and _drache_, dragon, and that it is equivalent to spirit-fire. The game has also been called _flap-_ and _slap-dragon_ at different times. Shakspeare, for example, in the second part of _Henry IV._ act ii. sc. 4, makes Falstaff answer:

“And drinks off candles’ ends for _flap-dragons_.”

And in _Love’s Labours Lost_, act v. sc. 1:

“Thou art easier swallowed than a _flap-dragon_.”

See also the _Tatler_, No. 85.

_Christmas Sports._--Among the various games and sports of an olden Christmas, says Dr. Rimbault, were card-playing, chess, and draughts, jack-pudding in the hall; fiddlers and musicians, who were regaled with a black-jack of beer and a Christmas pie; also singing the wassail, scrambling for nuts, cakes, and apples; dancing round standards decorated with evergreens in the streets; the famous old hobby-horse, hunting owls and squirrels, the fool plough, hot cockles, and the game of hoodman-blind.--_N. & Q. 2nd S._ vol. xii. p. 489.

_Christmas Tree._--Various suggestions have been made as to the origin of the Christmas tree. Mr. Timbs, in his _Something for Everybody_ (1861, p. 127), suggests its being traceable to the ancient Egyptians and their palm-tree, which produces a branch every month, and therefore held to be emblematical of the year. The Germans may be said to claim it as peculiar to themselves, as being indicative of their attachment to Christianity; they identify it with the apostolic labours of St. Maternus, one of the earliest, if not the very first, of the preachers of the Gospel among them. They have a legend of his sleeping under a fir-tree, and of a miracle that occurred on that occasion. Mr. MacCabe (_N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. viii. p. 489), however, thinks the Christmas tree is traceable to the Roman Saturnalia, and was not improbably first imported into Germany with the conquering legions of Drusus. The Christmas tree, such as we now see it, with its pendent toys and mannikins, is distinctly portrayed in a single line of Virgil (Georg. ii. 389):

“Oscilla ex alta suspendunt mollia pinu.”

Consult Smith’s _Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities_ (1849, 2nd ed. p. 846, in verb. “oscillum”), where there is given an engraving “from an ancient gem (Maffei, Gem. Ant. iii. 64) representing a tree with four oscilla hung upon its branches.” Any one looking into that valuable work will see at once that it is an exact picture of a Christmas tree.

A correspondent of _Book of Days_ (vol. ii. p. 787) says, within the last twenty years, and apparently since the marriage of Queen Victoria with Prince Albert, previous to which time it was almost unknown in this country, the Christmas tree has been introduced into England with the greatest success.

_The Vessel-Cup._--There is a very pretty custom, now nearly obsolete, of bearing the “vessel,” or, more properly the wassail-cup, at Christmas. This consists of a box containing two dolls, dressed up to represent the Virgin and the Infant Christ, decorated with ribbons and surrounded by flowers and apples; the box has usually a glass lid, is covered over by a white napkin, and carried from door to door on the arms of a woman; on the top, or in the box, a china bason is placed, and the bearer on reaching a house, uncovered the box and sung the carol known as the “Seven Joys of the Virgin.”

The carrying of the “vessel-cup” is a fortuitous speculation, as it is considered so unlucky to send any one away unrequited, that few can be found whose temerity is so great as to deter them from giving some halfpence to the singer.

In Yorkshire, formerly, only one image used to be carried about--that of the Saviour, which was placed in a box surrounded by evergreens, and such flowers as could be procured at the season. The party to whose house the figure was carried were at liberty to take from the decorations of the image a leaf or a flower, which was carefully preserved and regarded as a sovereign remedy for the toothache.--_Jour. of Arch. Assoc._ 1853, vol. viii. p. 38; _Book of Days_, 1864, vol. ii. p. 725; Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ vol. i. p. 454.

_Turkey._--The turkey has graced the Christmas table from the date of its introduction into England, about the year 1524. Tusser mentions the bird as forming part of the Christmas fare in 1587:

“Beefe, mutton, and porke, shred pies of the best; Pig, veale, goose, and capon, and turkie well drest.”

_Waits._--Musicians who play by night for two or three weeks before Christmas, terminating their performances generally on Christmas Eve. It is uncertain, says a correspondent of _Book of Days_ (vol ii. p. 742), whether the term _Waits_ denoted originally musical instruments, a

## particular kind of music, or the persons who played under certain

special circumstances. There is evidence in support of all these views. At one time the name of waits was given to minstrels attached to the king’s court, whose duty it was to guard the streets at night and proclaim the hour, something in the same manner as the watchmen were wont to do in London before the establishment of the metropolitan police. Down to the year 1820, perhaps later, says the same writer (p. 743), the waits had a certain degree of official recognition in the cities of London and Westminster. In London, the post was purchased; in Westminster, it was an appointment under the control of the high constable and the court of burgesses. A police inquiry about Christmas time in that year brought the matter in a singular way under public notice. Mr. Clay had been the official leader of the waits for Westminster, and, on his death, Mr. Monro obtained the post. Having employed a number of persons in different parts of the city and liberties of Westminster to serenade the inhabitants, trusting to their liberality at Christmas as a remuneration, he was surprised to find that other persons were, unauthorized, assuming the right of playing at night, and making applications to the inhabitants for Christmas boxes. Sir R. Baker, the police magistrate, promised to aid Mr. Munro in the assertion of his claims, and the result, in several cases, showed that there really was this “vested right” to charm the ears of the citizens with nocturnal music. At present, however, there is nothing to prevent any number of such itinerant minstrels from plying their midnight calling. See two interesting articles on the subject by Mr. Chappell in _N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. vi. pp. 489, 509.

_Yule-clog or Yule-log._--This was generally lighted on Christmas Eve, and was, says Soane, as large as the hearth would admit of, or the means of the rejoicers could supply; and, in some of the northern counties of England, so long as the log lasted, the servants were entitled to ale at their meals. At one time custom prescribed that it should be lighted with a brand of the last year’s block, which had been carefully put by and preserved for that purpose, as we find it recorded by Herrick:

“Come bring with a noise, My merrie, merrie boys, The Christmas log to the firing; While my good dame, she Bids ye all be free, And drink to your heart’s desiring.

With the last year’s brand Light the new block, and For good success in his spending, On your psalteries play That sweet luck may Come while the log is a tiending.”[91]

[91] To _Teend_ is to kindle, or to _burn_, from the Anglo-Saxon _Tendan_ to set on fire.

It is also requisite that the maidens who blow a fire, should come to the task with clean hands:

“Wash your hands, or else the fire Will not tiend to your desire; Unwash’d hands, ye maidens, know, Dead the fire though ye blow.”

BERKSHIRE.

At Cumnor the parishioners, who paid vicarial tithes, claimed a custom of being entertained at the vicarage, on the afternoon of Christmas Day, with four bushels of malt brewed into ale and beer, two bushels of wheat made into bread, and half a hundred weight of cheese. The remainder was given to the poor the next morning after divine service.--Lysons’ _Magna Britannia_, 1813, vol. i. pt. ii. p. 271.

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE.

By the will of John Popple, dated the 12th of March, 1830, 4_l._ yearly is to be paid unto the vicar, churchwardens, and overseers of the poor of the parish of Burnham, to provide for the poor people who should be residing in the poorhouse, a dinner, with a proper quantity of good ale and likewise with tobacco and snuff.--_Old English Customs and Charities_, 1842, p. 4.

Up to about 1813, a bull and boar, a sack of wheat, and a sack of malt were given away to the poor by the lord of the manor of Prince’s Risborough about six o’clock every Christmas morning. This practice was then discontinued, and for about five or six years after the discontinuance, beef and mutton were distributed to the poor about Christmas in lieu of the above articles.--_Ibid._ p. 66.

The following extract is taken from the _Gent. Mag._ (1753, vol. xxiii. p. 49):--At Quainton, above two thousand people went, with lanterns and candles, to view a blackthorn in that neighbourhood, and which was remembered to be a slip from the famous Glastonbury thorn, and that it always budded on the 24th, was full blown the next day, and went all off at night. The people finding no appearance of a bud, it was agreed by all that December 25th (New Style) could not be the right Christmas Day, and accordingly refused going to church, and treating their friends on that day as usual. At length the affair became so serious, that the ministers of the neighbouring villages, in order to appease them, thought it prudent to give notice that the _Old_ Christmas Day should be kept holy as before.

This famous hawthorn was supposed to be sprung from the staff of Joseph of Arimathea, who having fixed it in the ground with his own hand on Christmas Day, it took root immediately, put forth leaves, and the next day was covered with milk-white blossoms.[92]--See Hearne’s _History and Antiquities of Glastonbury_, 1722.

[92] Collinson, in his _History of Somersetshire_ (1791), alludes to the miraculous walnut-tree, which grew in the Abbey churchyard of Glastonbury, and never budded forth before the feast of St. Barnabas, viz., 11th June, and on that very day shot forth leaves, and flourished.

CAMBRIDGESHIRE.

At Clare Hall, in Cambridge, a collar of brawn is always provided for the Fellows’ table on Christmas Day, which comes up every day during the twelve days and then makes another and last appearance on Candlemas Day. A sprig of ivy with berries is stuck in the centre of the top; the berries are first dipped in flour, probably to represent the hoar frost.--_Time’s Telescope_, 1863, p. 338.

CORNWALL.

Hitchins, in his _History of Cornwall_ (1824, vol. i. p. 718), gives the following account of the Christmas plays, which at one time were performed in this county at Christmas. He says, the lads who engage in these theatrical representations appear fantastically dressed, decorated with ribbons and painted paper, with wooden swords, and all the equipage necessary to support the several characters they assume. To entertain their auditors, they learn to repeat a barbarous jargon, in the form of a drama, which has been handed down from distant generations. War and love are the general topics, and St. George and the Dragon are always the most prominent characters. Interludes, expostulations, debate, battle, and death, are sure to find a place among the mimicry; but a physician who is always at hand immediately restores the dead to life. It is generally understood that these Christmas plays derived their origin from the ancient crusades, and hence the feats of chivalry and the romantic extravagance of knight-errantry that are still preserved in all the varied pretensions and exploits.--See _Every Day Book_, 1827, vol. ii. p. 122.

It was customary at one time in Cornwall on the last Thursday that was one clear week before Christmas Day, which was anciently called _jeu-nhydn_, or White Thursday, for the tinners to claim a holiday, because, according to tradition, on this day black tin or ore was first melted or turned into white tin or metal in these parts.--Hitchins, _History of Cornwall_, 1824, vol. i. p. 725.

CUMBERLAND.

In this county, and in all the great towns in the North of England, about a week before Christmas, what are called _Honey-Fairs_ are held, in which dancing forms the leading amusement.--_Time’s Telescope_, 1824, p. 297.

DERBYSHIRE.

Christmas festivities are well observed in Derbyshire; mummers or guisers go from house to house, and perform a play of St. George. They are dressed up in character and decorated with ribbands, tinsel, and other finery, and on being admitted into the house commence their performance by St. George announcing himself by beginning his oration:

“I am St. George, the noble champion bold, And with my glittering sword I’ve won three crowns of gold; It’s I who fought the fiery dragon, And brought it to the slaughter; And so I won fair Sabra, The king of Egypt’s daughter. --Seven have I won, but married none, And bear my glory all alone, --With _my_ Sword in my hand, Who dare against me stand? I swear I’ll cut him down With my victorious brand.”

A champion is soon found in the person of Slasher, who accepts the challenge. St. George then replies in a neat speech, when they sing, shake hands, and fight with their wooden swords, and Slasher is slain. The King then enters, saying:--“I am the King of England, the greatest man alive,” and after walking round the dead body, calls for, “Sir Guy, one of the chiefest men in the world’s wonder,” who shows his wonderful courage and prowess in calling for a doctor. The doctor, on making his appearance, gives a long and quaint account of his birth, parentage, education, and travels, whilst perambulating around the fallen Slasher, and ends his oration by saying:

“Here take a little out of my bottle, And put it down thy throttle.”

The dead man is thus cured, and having received the advice of, “Rise, Jack, and fight again, the play is ended.”--_Jour. of the Arch. Assoc._ 1852, vol. vii. p. 206.

DORSETSHIRE.

It appears that in some parts of this county the mummers still go round at Christmas-tide, performing a species of play.--See _N. & Q. 5th S._ vol. ii. p. 505.

ESSEX.

On Christmas day at Hornchurch the lessee of the tithes, which belong to New College, Oxford, supplies, says Hone, (_Every Day Book_, 1827, vol. ii. p. 1649), a boar’s head dressed and garnished with bayleaves, &c. In the afternoon it is carried in procession into the mill-field adjoining the churchyard, where it is wrestled for and afterwards feasted upon at one of the public-houses by the rustic conqueror and his friends with all the merriment peculiar to the season.

The following appeared in the _Daily News_ of January 5th, 1852:--By ancient charter or usage in Hornchurch a boar’s head is wrestled for in a field adjoining the church, a boar, the property of the parish, having been slaughtered for the purpose. The boar’s head, elevated on a pole and decorated with ribbons, was brought into the ring where the competitors entered, and the prize was awarded.--See Morant, _History of Essex_, 1768, vol. i. p. 74.

GLOUCESTERSHIRE.

It was formerly the custom of the city of Gloucester to present to the Sovereign at Christmas a lamprey-pie with a raised crust. The custom is of great antiquity, and as Henry I., of lamprey-loving celebrity, frequently held his Court during Christmas at Gloucester, it may have originated in his time. In 1530 the Prior of Lanthony at Gloucester sent “cheese, carp, and baked lampreys” to Henry VIII. at Windsor, for which the bearer received twenty shillings.--Tighe and Davis, _Annals of Windsor_, p. 562.

During the Commonwealth it appears from the following entry in the corporation minutes that the pie was sent to the members for the city:--

“_Item._--Paid to Thomas Suffield, cook, for lamprey-pies sent to our Parliament men, £08 00_s._ 00_d._”

In 1752 it appears to have been the custom to present a lamprey-pie to the Prince of Wales, as appears by Mr. Jesse’s book, _George Selwyn and his Contemporaries_ (vol. i. p. 153), where is printed the following letter from Mr. Alderman Harris to George Selwyn, then M.P. for Gloucester:--

“_Gloucester, 15th January, 1752._

“SIR,--At the request of Mr. Mayor, whose extraordinary hurry of business will not afford him leisure to direct himself, I am desired to acquaint you that by the Gloucester waggon this week is sent the usual present of a lamprey-pie from this Corporation to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. It is directed to you; and I am further to request the favour of you to have the same presented with the compliments of this body, as your late worthy father used to do.

“Sir, your most obedient humble servant,

“GAB. HARRIS.

“P.S.--The waggoner’s inn is the King’s Head, in the Old Change.”[93]--_N. & Q. 2nd S._ vol. ix. p. 184.

[93] Another correspondent of _N. & Q._ (_2nd S._ vol. ix. p. 185) says that it was formerly the custom to send to the King the first lamprey caught in the river at the commencement of the season; it was stewed, that being the best way of cooking this fish.

HEREFORDSHIRE.

In this county, and also in Worcestershire, it is considered very unlucky for new shoes or tanned leather to be received into the house during the Christmas week or on New Year’s Day.--See _N. & Q. 5th S._ vol. iii. p. 7.

KENT.

At one time the festivities of Christmas were commenced at Ramsgate by a curious musical procession. The following account is taken from Busby’s _Concert Room and Orchestra Anecdotes_ (1825, vol. i. p. 73):--

A party of young people procure the head of a dead horse, which is affixed to a pole about four feet in length, a string is tied to the lower jaw, a horsecloth is then attached to the whole, under which one of the party gets, and by frequently pulling the string keeps up a loud snapping noise, and is accompanied by the rest of the party grotesquely habited and ringing hand-bells. They thus proceed from house to house, sounding their bells and singing carols and songs. They are commonly gratified with beer and cake, or perhaps with money. This is provincially called a _hodening_; and the figure above described a “hoden,” or wooden horse.

This curious ceremony is also observed in the Isle of Thanet on Christmas Eve, and is supposed to be an ancient relic of a festival ordained to commemorate our Saxon ancestors’ landing in that island.

LANCASHIRE.

The following description of primitive manners in the houses of the gentry at Christmas is extracted by Baines (_Hist. of Lancashire_, vol. iii. p. 294) from a family manuscript of the Cunliffes, of Wycoller, in Lancashire, and refers to an age antecedent to the wars of the Parliament:--“At Wycoller-Hall the family usually kept open house the twelve days at Christmas. Their entertainment was a large hall of curious ashler wood, a long table, plenty of _furmerty_, like new milk, in a morning, made of husked wheat boiled, roasted beef with fat goose and a pudding, with plenty of good beer for dinner. A roundabout fire-place, surrounded with stone benches, where the young folks sat and cracked nuts, and diverted themselves; and in this manner the sons and daughters got matching without going much from home.”--See _Med. Ævi Kalend._ vol. i. p. 91.

ISLE OF MAN.

Train, in his _History of the Isle of Man_ (1845, vol. ii. p. 127), says:--The Christmas festival is introduced by young persons perambulating the various towns and villages in the evenings, fantastically dressed, and armed with swords, calling as they proceed, “Who wants to see the White Boys act?” When their services are engaged they, like the Scotch _guisards_ or _Quhite boys of Yule_, perform a rude drama, in which St. George, Prince Valentine, King of Egypt, Sambo, and the Doctor are the _dramatis personæ_.

It was customary in the Isle of Man for every family that could afford it to have a brewing called _Jough-ny-nollick_, i.e., Christmas drink, prepared for the festivities of the season. On such occasions one brewing-kettle generally served a whole neighbourhood, which gave rise to the monk’s proverb, “To go about like a brewing-pan.”--_Ibid._ p. 127.

MIDDLESEX.

Malcolm, in his _Anecdotes of the Manners and Customs of London_ (1811, p. 259), speaking of Christmas Day, says:--“It was a day of grand difference in the judgment of some, and in the City of London some opened their shops, but to stop mutinying they were shut up again; yet do very few understand what the difference is that is now embraced in the judgments of those who desire the reformation from Popish innovation, but to give such further satisfaction herein, it is the opinion of these that it is a day wherein it is very fit for the people of God to congregate in the church to hear the Word of God preached, but not a holiday or such a day as is of absolute necessity to be kept holy; it is a day wherein it is no sin for a man to follow his calling, and he must not by a Popish innovation adore the day.”

_Inns of Court._--There were anciently great doings in the halls of the Inns of Court at Christmas. At the Inner Temple early in the morning the gentlemen of the Inn went to church, and after the service they repaired into the hall to breakfast with brawn, mustard, and malmsey. At the first course at dinner was “served in, a fair and large _Bore’s head_ upon a silver platter, with minstralsye.”--Dugdale’s _Orig. Jurid._

A correspondent of _N. & Q._ (_5th S._ vol. ii. p. 507), alluding to the time-honoured custom of the Boar’s Head Feast at St. John’s Gate, Clerkenwell, says the boar’s head is still served up at Queen’s College, Oxford (see p. 477), but I do not think it can be more enjoyable than the Christmas custom used to be at Clerkenwell, with the hall strewn with rushes, the gigantic yule-log drawn in by the sons of the host (the late proprietor), with the accompanying announcement, by bugles, and the bringing in of the boar’s head, the “cook dressed all in white,” singing the good old carol (printed by Wynkyn, de Worde, 1521), copies of which being in the hands of the guests, who joined in the chorus, rendering the whole scene so pleasant as never to be forgotten. The loving cup was never omitted, and of course wassail was duly brought in, “y^{e} Lorde of Mysrewle doing his duty ‘passing well.’” The following is an exact copy of the carol:

“CAROLL AT YE BRYNGYNE IN YE BORE’S HEED.

_Caput apri differo Reddens laudem Domino._

The bore’s heed in hande bringe I, With garlens gay and rosemarie, I pray you all synge merrilie, _Qui estis in convivio_.

The bore’s heed I understande, Is the chefe servyce in this lande, Loke wherever it be fonde, _Servite cum cantico_.

Be gladde lordes, both more and lesse, For this hath ordeyned our stewarde To chere you all this Christmasse, The bore’s heed with mustarde.”

Subjoined is a copy of the invitation the late host and his predecessor used to issue, which is a curious production:

“We’ll passe aboute y^{e} lovynge cuppe, And sende ye wassaile rounde; With myrthe and songes of chyvalrie, These goodlye Halles shall sounde.

[Here is an illustration of the north side of the Gate.]

“Samuel Wickens, ye Grande Mayester of ye Priorye of Sainte John, Greetinge welle hys ryght trustye and welle beloved friends, dothe herebye summon them to hys councill to be holden in y^{e} Greate Halle of y^{e} Priorye, aforesaide, on y^{e} ninthe daye of Ianuarie, anno Domini, one thousande eighte hundrede and seventie-three, to adjudycate on y^{e} qualitie of hys viandes: that is to saye, roaste beefe and plumbe puddynge, and with a cordialle greetinge in y^{e} wassaile boule and y^{e} lovynge cuppe, perpetuate to alle tyme and to tyme oute of mynde a ryghte goodlye and lastynge fellowshipe. Ye Boare’s heade will be broughte into ye halle, and y^{e} chante will be sange, at sixe of the clocke, at which tyme y^{e} Feast will begine.”

NORFOLK.

At Yarmouth before the Reformation it was a custom for the prior and monks, and afterwards for the dean and chapter, or the farmer of their parsonage, to provide a breakfast for the inhabitants of the town every year on Christmas Day, which custom continued till the 21st of Elizabeth, when, on account of a grievous plague which carried off two thousand of the inhabitants in one year, and on consideration of the ruinous condition of the parsonage-house, it was agreed that Thomas Osborne, who was then farmer of the parsonage, should pay 5_l._ a year to the churchwardens for the use of the town in lieu of the said breakfast. After the plague had ceased, the breakfast was resumed and continued as usual, till the reign of James I., when William Gostlynge, then farmer, absolutely refused to provide it or to pay an equivalent composition, upon which the town preferred a complaint to the dean and chapter, who promised not to countenance him in such a non-conformity to the terms of the lease by which he held of them. Finally, Mr. Gostlynge was obliged to sign an agreement, whereby he engaged to pay yearly to the town in lieu of the breakfast, 10_l._, which was distributed to poor fishermen, &c., and 5_l._ for his default, in before refusing to provide the breakfast. This continued till the making of a new agreement, between the corporation and Mr. Gostlynge, of a grant of nomination and appointment of preachers and ministers in the town, since which it seems that both breakfast and composition shared the fate of all human institutions and sank into oblivion.--Parkin, _History of Great Yarmouth_, 1776, p. 330.

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE.

Cole, in his _History of Weston Favell_ (1827, p. 60), says Christmas Day is ushered in by the ringing of the bells of the church, precisely at twelve o’clock, called the midnight peal, till which time many of the inhabitants sit round the jovial fire, whence at twelve o’clock they emerge into the midnight air to listen to the peals of the bells of the neighbouring churches.

NORTHUMBERLAND.

In Alnwick a custom existed of giving sweetmeats to children at Christmas time, called Yule Babies, in commemoration of our Saviour’s nativity.--_History of Alnwick_, 1822, p. 262.

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE.

The inhabitants of North Clifton were formerly ferry free. In consequence, the ferryman and his dog were indulged with a dinner each at the vicar’s at Christmas. The ferryman also on that day received of the inhabitants a prime loaf of bread.--_N. & Q. 5th S._ vol. ii. p. 509.

Near Raleigh there is a valley said to have been caused by an earthquake several hundred years ago, which swallowed up a whole village, together with the church. Formerly, it was the custom of the people to assemble in this valley every Christmas Day morning to listen to the ringing of the bells of the church beneath them. This, it was positively stated, might be heard by placing the ear to the ground and hearkening attentively. As late as 1827 it was usual on this morning for old men and women to tell their children and young friends to go to the valley, stoop down, and hear the bells ring merrily. The villagers heard the ringing of the bells of a neighbouring church, the sound of which was communicated by the surface of the ground. A similar belief exists, or did a short time ago, at Preston, in Lancashire.--_Ibid._ p. 509.

OXFORDSHIRE.

In the buttery of St. John’s College, Oxford, an ancient candle socket of stone still remains, ornamented with the figure of the Holy Lamb. It was formerly used to burn the Christmas candle in, on the high table at supper during the twelve nights of this festival.--Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 467.

It was formerly a custom for the butcher of Merton College, about Christmas time, to invite the scholars to a treat at his house, when he used to provide a _bull_ for the steward to knock down with his own hands, whence this treat was called _The Kill-Bull_.--Pointer, _Oxoniensis Academia_, 1749, p. 23.

The following account of the ancient custom of bringing in a boar’s head at Queen’s College, Oxford, is taken from a MS., in the Bodleian Library, quoted in the _Antiquary_ (1873, vol. iii. p. 47):--

There is a custom at Queen’s College to serve up every year a boar’s head, provided by the manciple against Christmas Day. This boar’s head being boyl’d or roasted, is laid in a great charger, covered with a garland of bays or laurell as broad at bottom as the brims of the chargers. When the first course is served up in the refectory on Christmas Day, in the said college, the manciple brings the said boar’s head from the kitchen up to the high table, accompanied with one of the tabarders (i.e., the scholars), who lays his hand on the charger. The tabarder sings a song, and when he comes to the chorus all the scholars that are in the refectory joyn together and sing it:

I.

“The boar’s head in hand bear I, Bedeck’d with bays and rosemary, And I pray you master merry be, _Quotquot estis in convivio_.

CHORUS. _Caput apri defero_ _Reddens laudes Domino_.

II.

The boar’s head, as I understand, Is the bravest dish in the land, Being thus bedeck’d with a gay garland, Let us _servire convivio_.

CHORUS. _Caput apri, &c._

III.

Our steward has provided this In honour of the King of bliss, Which on this day to be served is, In _Reginensi atrio_.

CHORUS. _Caput apri,” &c._

According to Mr. Wade (_Walks in Oxford_, 1817, vol. i. p. 128) the usage is in commemoration of an act of valour performed by a student of the college, who, while walking in the neighbouring forest of Shotover, and reading Aristotle, was suddenly attacked by a wild boar. The furious beast came open-mouthed upon the youth, who, however, very courageously, and with a happy presence of mind, rammed in the volume, and crying _Græcum est_, fairly choked the savage.

In an audit-book of Trinity College for the year 1559, Warton found a disbursement “_pro prandio Principis natalicii_.” A Christmas prince, or Lord of Misrule, he adds, corresponding to the Imperator at Cambridge, was a common temporary magistrate in the colleges of Oxford.--See Brand’s _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 498; _The Antiquary_, 1873, vol. iii. p. 53; Wood, in his _Athenæ Oxonienses_, alludes to the Christmas prince at St. John’s and Merton Colleges.

Mummings at Christmas are common in Oxfordshire. At Islip some of the mummers wear masks, others, who cannot get masks, black their faces and dress themselves up with haybands tied round their arms and bodies. The smaller boys black their faces, and go about singing--

“A merry Christmas and a happy new year, Your pockets full of money, and your cellars full of beer.”

Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 466.

Dr. Lee, in _N. & Q._ (_5th S._ vol. ii. pp. 503-505), has given a curious old miracle play, the text of which he says was taken down by himself from the lips of one of the performers in 1853.

Aubrey informs us that in several parts of Oxfordshire it was the custom for the maidservant to ask the man for ivy to decorate the house, and if he refused or neglected to fetch in a supply the maids stole a pair of his breeches, and nailed them up to the gate in the yard or highway. A similar usage prevailed in other places, when the refusal to comply with such a request incurred the penalty of being debarred from the well-known privilege of the mistletoe.--See _Book of Days_, vol. ii. p. 753.

SCILLY ISLES.

Troutbeck, in his _State of the Scilly Isles_ (1796, p. 172), gives the following account of how Christmas was celebrated in his time. The young people, he says, exercise a sort of gallantry among themselves, which they call goose-dancing, when the maidens are dressed up for young men and the young men for maidens. In the day time they dance about the streets in masquerade, vieing with each other who can appear the most uncouth. In the evenings they visit their neighbours in companies, where they dance and make their jokes upon what has happened in the islands. By this sort of sport according to yearly custom and toleration, there is a spirit of wit and drollery kept up among the people. The maidens, who are sometimes dressed up for sea captains and other officers, display their alluring graces to the ladies, who are young men equipped for that purpose; and the ladies exert their talents to them in courtly addresses, their hangers are sometimes drawn, &c., after which, and other pieces of drollery, the scene shifts to music and dancing, which being over they are treated with liquor and then go to the next house of entertainment.

They have a custom also of singing carols at church on Christmas Day, to which the congregation make contributions by dropping money into a hat carried about the church when the performance is over.--Heath’s _Account of the Scilly Isles_, p. 125.

SOMERSETSHIRE.

At West Hatch the reeve or bailiff to the manor provided at the lord’s expense a feast on Christmas Day, and distributed to each householder a loaf of bread, a pound and a half of beef, and the like quantity of pork, undressed, and the same evening treated them with a supper.--Collinson, _History of County of Somerset_, 1791, vol. ii. p. 186.

The following lines are sung at the Christmas mummings in this county:

“Here comes I, liddle man Jan, With my zword in my han! If you don’t all do, As you be told by I, I’ll zend you all to York, Vor to make apple-pie.”

Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 466.

STAFFORDSHIRE.

In Shaw’s _History of Staffordshire_ (1798-1801) is mentioned a custom formerly prevalent in the parish of Great Barr, for the rector on every Christmas Day to give to each person, great and small, of his parish that came to his house, so much bread, beef, mustard, and vinegar as they could eat. Latterly, however, money was given instead.

Plot, in his _Natural History of Staffordshire_ (1686, p. 434), gives the following account of a jocular custom celebrated in olden times at Bromley Abbots. He says:--Within memory, at Abbots or Pagets Bromley, they had a sort of sport which they celebrated at Christmas (on New Year and Twelfth Day) called the _Hobby-horse Dance_ from a person who carried the image of a horse between his legs, made of thin boards, and in his hands a bow and arrow which, passing through a hole in the bow and stopping upon a shoulder it had in it, he made a snapping noise as he drew it to and fro, keeping time with the musick; with this man danced six others, carrying on their shoulders as many reindeer heads, three of them painted white, with three red, with the arms of the chief families (viz., of Paget, Bagot, and Wells), to whom the revenues of the town chiefly belonged, depicted on the _palms_ of them, with which they danced the hays and other country dances. To this hobby-horse dance there also belonged a pot, which was kept by turns by four or five of the chief of the town, whom they called reeves, who provided cake and ale to put into this pot; all people who had any kindness for the good intent of the institution of the sport, giving pence a piece for themselves and their families, and so foreigners too that came to see it, with which money (the charge of the cakes and ale being defrayed) they not only repaired their church, but kept the poor too, which charges are not now perhaps so cheerfully borne.

There is an ancient payment made by the chamberlain of the corporation of Stafford, of an annual sum of money, generally six shillings, at Christmas, for the purchasing of plums, to be distributed among the inhabitants of certain old houses in the liberty of Forebridge.

The origin of this payment is ascribed by general reputation to the bounty of some individual who heard from some poor children a complaint on Christmas Day that they had no plums for a pudding; and it is reported that he counted the houses then in the place, and made provision for the supply of a pound of plums for each house. The money received is laid out in plums, which are divided into equal quantities, and made up into parcels, one for each of the houses, fifteen or sixteen in number, entitled by the established usage to receive a portion, without reference to the circumstances of the inhabitants.--_Old English Customs and Charities_, p. 5.

SUFFOLK.

Brand (_Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 489) alludes to a custom practised in the neighbourhood of Bury St. Edmunds among the young men, of hunting owls and squirrels on Christmas Day.

In 1358, at Hawstead, the customary tenants paid their lord at Christmas a small rent, called _offering silver_. Eleven of them paid in all xviij^{d.} In 1386 the Christmas offerings made by the master for his domestics amounted to xiiij^{d.} for seven servants.--Cullum, _History of Hawstead_, 1813, pp. 13-14.

WESTMORELAND.

At Kendal, if a man be found at work in Christmas week his fellow-tradesmen lay violent hands on him, and carry him on a pole to the ale-house, where he is to treat them.--Southey’s _Common Place Book_, 1851, 4th series, p. 354.

WORCESTERSHIRE.

At Bewdley it was the custom for the bellman to go round on Christmas morning, ringing his bell in several parts of the town, and singing the following doggerel, first saying, “Good morning, masters and mistresses all, I wish you all a merry Christmas”:

“Arise mistress, arise, And make your tarts and pies, And let your maids lie still; For if they should rise and spoil your pies You’d take it very ill. Whilst you are sleeping in your bed, I the cold wintry nights must tread, Past twelve o’clock. Ehe!”

_Kidderminster Shuttle_, Dec. 2nd, 1871.

At Yardley such of the poor as are excluded from partaking of certain doles on account of receiving regular weekly relief, are allowed one shilling each out of a general charity fund at Christmas, under the name of plum-pudding money, to the extent of about 4_l._--Edwards, _Old English Customs and Charities_, p. 23.

YORKSHIRE.

Blount tells us that, in Yorkshire and other northern parts, after sermon or service on Christmas Day, the people will, even in the churches, cry “_Ule! Ule!_” as a token of rejoicing; and the common sort run about the streets singing:

“_Ule! Ule! Ule! Ule!_ Three puddings in a pule, Crack nuts and cry _Ule_!”

See Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. pp. 476-477.

One never-failing remnant of the olden time observed in this county, says Soane (_Curiosities of Literature_), was the _cheese_, which had been especially made and preserved for the season. It was produced with much ceremony by every rustic dame, who, before she allowed it to be tasted, took a sharp knife and scored upon it rude resemblances to the cross. To this were added the mighty wassail bowl brimming with _lamb’s-wool_, and furmity made of barley-meal, which last was also an essential of the breakfast-table.

Between Christmas Day and the New Year it is customary in the North Riding of Yorkshire to give every visitor a slice of “pepper cake” (a spiced gingerbread cake) and cheese and a glass of gin.

In the North Riding of Yorkshire it is also the custom for the parishioners, after receiving the Sacrament on Christmas Day, to go from church directly to the ale-house, and there drink together as a testimony of charity and friendship.--Aubrey, MS. quoted in _Time’s Telescope_, 1826, p. 293.

At Filey, on Christmas morning before break of day, there existed formerly the greatest uproar, by numbers of boys going round from house to house, rapping at every door, and roaring out, “I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year,” which words were vociferated again and again till the family awoke and admitted the clamorous visitor; who, if he were the _first_,[94] was treated with money or cheese and gingerbread, which were also distributed, but less liberally, to subsequent visitors. No persons (boys excepted) ever presumed to go out of doors till the threshold had been consecrated by the entrance of a male. Females had no part in this matter, and if a damsel, lovely as an angel, entered _first_, her fair form was viewed with horror as an image of death.--Cole, _Antiquities of Filey_, 1828, p. 137.

[94] The custom of _first footing_ seems to have been confined in other places to New Year’s Morning.

At Huddersfield the children carry about a “wessel-bob,” or large bunch of evergreens hung with oranges and apples, and coloured ribbons, singing the following carol:

“Here we come a wassailing Among the leaves so green, Here we come a wandering So fair to be seen.

_Chorus._ For it is in Christmas time Strangers travel far and near, So God bless you and send you a happy New year.

We are not daily beggars, That beg from door to door, But we are neighbours’ children, Whom you have seen before.

Call up the butler of this house, Put on his golden ring, Let him bring us a glass of beer, And the better we shall sing.

We have got a little purse Made of stretching leather skin, We want a little of your money To line it well within.

Bring us out a table And spread it with a cloth; Bring out a mouldy cheese, Also your Christmas loaf.

God bless the master of this house, Likewise the mistress too, And all the little children That round the table go.

Good master and mistress, While you’re sitting by the fire, Pray think of us poor children Who are wandering in the mire.”

_N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. xi. p. 144.

Some years ago it was the custom in Leeds, and the neighbourhood, for children to go from house to house singing and carrying what they called a “wesley-bob.” This they kept veiled in a cloth till they came to a house door, when they uncovered it.

The wesley-bob was made of holly and evergreens, like a bower, inside were placed a couple of dolls, adorned with ribbons, and the whole affair was borne upon a stick. Whilst the wesley-bob was being displayed, a song or ditty was sung.

At Aberford, near Leeds, two dolls are carried about in boxes in a similar way, and such an affair here is called a wesley-box.--_N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. vi. p. 494.

At Ripon, on Christmas Day, says a correspondent of the _Gent. Mag._ (1790, vol. lx. p. 719), the singing boys come into the church with large baskets full of red apples, with a sprig of rosemary stuck in each, which they present to all the congregation, and generally have a return made them of 2_d._, 4_d._, or 6_d._, according to the quality of the lady or gentleman.

The sword or morisco dance used to be practised at Richmond, during the Christmas holidays, by young men dressed in shirts ornamented with ribbons folded into roses, having swords, or wood cut in the form of that weapon. They exhibited various feats of activity, attended by an old fiddler, by Bessy in the grotesque habit of an old woman, and by the fool almost covered with skins, a hairy cap on his head, and the tail of a fox hanging from his head. These led the festive throng, and diverted the crowd with their droll antic buffoonery. The office of one of these characters was to go about rattling a box, and soliciting money from door to door to defray the expenses of a feast and a dance in the evening.--_History of Richmond_, 1814, p. 296.

In Sheffield, a male must be the first to enter a house on the morning of both Christmas Day and New Year’s Day; but there is no distinction as to complexion or colour of hair. In the houses of the more opulent manufacturers, these first admissions are often accorded to choirs of work-people, who, as “waits,” proceed at an early hour and sing before the houses of their employers and friends Christmas carols and hymns, always commencing with that beautiful composition:

“Christians, awake, salute the happy morn, Whereon the Saviour of mankind was born.”

On expressing their good wishes to the inmates, they are generally rewarded with something warm and occasionally with a pecuniary present.

Among the class called “respectable,” but not manufacturers, a previous arrangement is often made; that a boy, the son of a friend, shall come and be first admitted, receiving for his good wishes a Christmas-box of sixpence or a shilling. The houses of the artisans and poor are successively besieged by a host of _gamins_, who, soon after midnight, spread themselves over the town, shouting at the doors, and through keyholes, as follows:

“Au wish ya a murry Chrismas,-- 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.

In 1517, however, 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 that he and his marshal, butler, and constable marshal, should have their lawful and honest commandments by delivery of the officers of Christmas, and that the said King of Cockneys, he, none of his officers, medyl neither in the buttery nor in the stuard of Christmass, his officer, upon pain of 40_s._ for every such meddling; and lastly, that Jack Straw and all his adherents should be thenceforth utterly banisht, and no more to be used in this house, upon pain to forfeit, for every time, five pounds, to be levied on every fellow happening to offend against this rule.”--_Every Day Book_, 1862, vol. i. p. 1648; Dugdale’s _Orig. Jurid._

It was at one time customary on this day to whip the juvenile members of a family. Gregory remarks that “it hath been a custom, and yet is elsewhere, to whip up the children upon Innocents’ Day morning, that the memorie of this murther might stick the closer; and, in a moderate proportion, to act over the crueltie again in kind.” Gregory also states another custom, on the authority of an old ritual belonging to the Abbey of Oseney, communicated to him by his friend, Dr. Gerard Langbain, the Provost of Queen’s College, Oxford, from which it appears that, at the church of Oseney, “they were wont to bring out, upon this day, the foot of a child prepared after their fashion, and put upon with red and black colours, as to signify the dismal part of the day. They put this up in a chest in the vestry, ready to be produced at the time, and to be solemnly carried about the church to be adored by the people.”--Gregorie’s Works, _Episcopus Puerorum in Die Innocentium_, 1684, p. 113.

GLOUCESTERSHIRE.

At Woodchester a muffled peal is rung on this day.--_Kalendar of the English Church_, 1866, p. 194.

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE.

In Northamptonshire this festival was called “Dyzemas Day.” Miss Baker, in her _Glossary of Northamptonshire Words_ (1854, vol. i. p. 207), says she was told by a sexagenarian on the southern side of the county that, within his remembrance, this day was kept as sacred as the Sabbath, and it was considered particularly unlucky to commence any undertaking, or even to wash, on the same day of the week throughout the year on which the anniversary of this day last fell, and it was commonly said, “What is begun on Dyzemas Day will never be finished.”

The source of the ill-omened _Dyzemas_ has not been settled: its origin has been suggested from Greek _dus_, and _mass_, as being expressive of misfortune, evil, peril, in allusion to the massacre of the Innocents. A correspondent of _N. & Q._ (_2nd S._ vol. iii. pp. 289 and 495) asks if it has not reference to the name _Desmas_, given to one of the thieves crucified with our Lord; universal tradition seeming to attach Desmas to the penitent, and Gestas (or Yesmas) to the impenitent thief? And if the local tradition has any reference to these names, it would seem as if Desmas was the name of ill-omen. It has also been suggested that Dyzemas Day is tithe day: in Portuguese, _dizimas_, _dizimos_, tenths, tithes; in law Latin, _decimae_, the same. Timbs thinks it referable to the old north-country word _disen_, i.e., to dress out in holiday finery, especially at this festive season.--_Something for Everybody_, (1861, p 154).

SOMERSETSHIRE.

From time immemorial a muffled peal has been rung on this festival at Leigh-upon-Mendip. At Wells, also, on this day, the bells of the cathedral ring out a muffled peal in commemoration of the martyrdom of the Innocents.--_Kalendar of the Church of England_, 1866, p. 194.

WORCESTERSHIRE.

At Norton, near Evesham, it is customary, says a correspondent of _N. & Q._ (_1st S._ vol. viii. p. 617), to ring first a muffled peal for the slaughter of the Holy Innocents, and then an unmuffled peal of joy for the deliverance of the Infant Christ.

IRELAND.

Holy Innocents’ Day is with the Irish “the cross day of the year,” which they call in their own tongue “La crosta na bliana,” or sometimes “Diar daoin darg,” the latter phrase signifying “blood Thursday.” On this day the Irish housewife will not warp thread, or permit it to be warped; and the Irish say that anything begun on this day must have an unlucky ending. The following legend regarding the day is current in the county of Clare:--

Between the parishes of Quin and Tulla in this county is a lake called Turlough. In the lake is a little island, and among a heap of loose stones in the middle of the island rises a white thorn-bush, which is called “Scagh an Earla” (the earl’s bush). A suit of clothes made for a child on the “Cross day,” or “Diar daoin darg,” was put on the child--the child died. The clothes were put on a second and on a third child--they also died. The parent of the children at length put out the clothes on the “Scagh an Earla,” and when the waters fell which for a time covered the bush, the clothes were found to be full of dead eels. Such is the story; and other stories like it are freely told of the consequences of commencing work on “the cross day of the year” in Ireland.--_N. & Q. 4th S._ vol. xii. p. 185.

DEC. 31.] NEW YEAR’S EVE.

The last night of the old year has been called _Singing-E’en_, from the custom of singing carols on the evening of this day.

This eve is called by the Wesleyan Methodists _Watch Night_, because at their principal chapels the ministers and congregations hold a service to watch out the old year, i.e., they pray until about five minutes to twelve o’clock, and then observe a profound silence until the clock strikes, when they exultingly burst forth with a hymn of praise and joy. Latterly, this service has been very generally observed by evangelical churchmen.--See Timbs’ _Something for Everybody_, 1861, p. 156.

_Wassail-bowl._--Formerly, at this season, the head of the house assembled his family around a bowl of spiced ale, from which he drank their healths, then passed it to the rest, that they might drink too. The word that passed amongst them was the ancient Saxon phrase, _wass hael_; that is, _to your health_. Hence this came to be recognised as the Wassail or Wassel-bowl. The poorer class of people carried a bowl adorned with ribbons round the neighbourhood, begging for something wherewith to obtain the means of filling it.--_Book of Days_, vol. i. p. 27; See Nare’s _Glossary_ (Halliwell and Wright), 1859, vol. ii. p. 943; _Antiquarian Repertory_, vol. i. p. 218; Ritson’s _Ancient Songs_, 1790, p. 304.

CORNWALL.

New Year’s Day and Eve are holidays with the miners. It has been said they refuse to work on these days from superstitious reasons.--Hunt’s _Romances of the West of England_, 1871, p. 350.

CUMBERLAND.

At Muncaster, on the eve of the new year, the children used to go from house to house singing a ditty which craves the bounty “they were wont to have in old King Edward’s days.” No tradition exists as to the origin of this custom. The donation was twopence or a pie at every house.--Hutchinson, _History of Cumberland_, 1794, vol. i. p. 570, _note_.

DERBYSHIRE.

On New Year’s Eve a cold possett, as it is called, made of milk, ale, eggs, currants, and spice, is prepared, and in it is placed the wedding-ring of the hostess; each of the party takes out a ladle full, and in doing so takes every precaution to fish up the ring, as it is believed that whoever is fortunate enough to “catch” the ring will be married before the year is out. On the same night it is customary in some districts to throw open all the doors of the house just before midnight, and to wait for the coming year, as for an honoured guest, by meeting him as he approaches, and crying, “Welcome!”--_Jour. of the Arch. Assoc._ 1852, vol. vii. p. 201.

GLOUCESTERSHIRE.

On New Year’s Eve the wassailers go about carrying with them a large bowl, dressed up with garlands and ribbons, and repeat the following song:

“Wassail! wassail! all over the town, Our toast it is white, our ale it is brown, Our bowl it is made of a maplin tree; We be good fellows all, I drink to thee.

Here’s to our horse, and to his right ear, God send our maister a happy New Year; A happy New Year as e’er he did see-- With my wassailing bowl I drink to thee.

Here’s to our mare and to her right eye, God send our mistress a good Christmas pye: A good Christmas pye as e’er I did see-- With my wassailing bowl I drink to thee.

Here’s to Fil’pail [cow] and to her long tail, God send our measter us never may fail Of a cup of good beer, I pray you draw near, And our jolly wassail it’s then you shall hear.

Be here any maids? I suppose there be some, Sure they will not let young men stand on the cold stone; Sing hey, O maids, come trole back the pin, And the fairest maid in the house let us all in.

Come, butler, come bring us a bowl of the best: I hope your soul in heaven will rest; But if you do bring us a bowl of the small, Then down fall butler, bowl and all.”

See _Dixon’s Ancient Poems_, 1846, p. 199.

ISLE OF MAN.

In many of the upland cottages it is customary for the housewife, after raking the fire for the night, and just before stepping into bed, to spread the ashes smooth over the floor with the tongs in the hope of finding in it, next morning, the tract of a foot; should the toes of this ominous print point towards the door, then it is believed a member of the family will die in the course of that year; but should the heel of the fairy foot point in that direction, then it is firmly believed that the family will be augmented within the same period.--Train, _History of Isle of Man_, 1845, vol. ii. p. 115.

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE.

Of the New Year’s customs observed in this county the wassail was until recently observed to a considerable extent. This friendly custom was observed by the young women of the village, who accustomed themselves to go about from door to door on New Year’s Eve, neatly dressed for the occasion, and bearing a bowl richly decorated with evergreens and ribbands, and filled with a compound of ale, roasted apples, and toast, and seasoned with nutmeg and sugar. The bowl was offered to the inmates with the singing of the following amongst other verses:

“Good master, at your door, Our wassail we begin; We all are maidens poor, So we pray you let us in, And drink our wassail. All hail, wassail! Wassail, wassail! And drink our wassail!”

_Jour. of the Arch. Assoc._ 1853, vol. viii. p. 230.

On this night also, in many parts of this county, as well as in Derbyshire, a muffled peal is rung on the church bells till twelve o’clock, when the bandages are removed from the bells whilst the clock is striking, and a merry peal is instantly struck up; this is called “ringing the old year out and the new year in.”--_Jour. of the Arch. Assoc._, 1853, vol. viii. p. 230.

OXFORDSHIRE.

It is a custom at Merton College, says Pointer, in his _Oxoniensis Academia_ (1749, p. 24), on the last night in the year (called Scrutiny Night), for the college servants, all in a body, to make their appearance in the hall before the warden and fellows (after supper), and there to deliver up the keys, so that if they have committed any great crime in the year their keys are taken away, and consequently their places, otherwise they are of course delivered to them again.

At the opening of the scrutiny the senior Bursar makes this short speech:

In hoc scrutinio hæc tria sunt proponenda, Mores servientium--numerus Portionistarum, Electio Hortulanorum.

ISLE OF WIGHT.

At Yarmouth the following doggerel is sung at the season of the new year:

“Wassal, wassal to our town! The cup is white and the ale is brown; The cup is made of the ashen tree, And so is the ale of the good barley; Little maid, little maid, turn the pin, Open the door and let us come in; God be here, God be there, I wish you all a Happy New Year.”

Halliwell’s _Popular Rhymes_, 1849, p. 236.

YORKSHIRE.

At Bradford it is the practice of men and women, dressed in strange costumes, with blackened faces, and besoms in hand, to enter houses on New Year’s Eve so as to “sweep out the old year.”--_N. & Q. 5th S._ vol. i. p. 383.

SCOTLAND.

Hogmanay is the universal popular name in Scotland for the last day of the year. It is a day of high festival among young and old--but

## particularly the young, who do not regard any of the rest of the Daft

Days with half so much interest. It is still customary, in retired and primitive towns, for the children of the poorer class of people to get themselves on that morning swaddled in a great sheet, doubled up in front, so as to form a vast pocket, and then to go along the streets in little bands, calling at the doors of the wealthier classes for an expected dole of oaten bread. Each child gets one quadrant section of oat-cake (sometimes, in the case of particular cases, improved by an addition of cheese), and this is called their _hogmanay_. In expectation of the large demands thus made upon them, the housewives busy themselves for several days beforehand in preparing a suitable quantity of cakes. The children, on coming to the door, cry “Hogmanay!” which is in itself a sufficient announcement of their demands; but there are other exclamations, which either are or might be used for the same purpose. One of these is:

“Hogmanay, Trollolay, Give us of your white bread, and none of your grey!”

What is precisely meant by the word _hogmanay_, or by the still more inexplicable _trollolay_, has been a subject fertile in dispute to Scottish antiquaries, as the reader will find by an inspection of the _Archæologia Scotica_. A suggestion of the late Professor Robison of Edinburgh seems the best, that the word hogmanay was derived from _Au qui menez_, (“To the misletoe go”), which mummers formerly cried in France at Christmas. Another suggested explanation is, _Au queux menez_--that is, bring to the beggars. At the same time, it was customary for these persons to rush unceremoniously into houses, playing antic tricks, and bullying the inmates, for the money and choice victuals, crying: _Tire-lire_ (referring to a small money-box they carried), _maint du blanc, et point du bas_.” These various cries, it must be owned, are as like as possible to “Hogmanay, trollolay, give us of your white bread, and none of your grey.”--Chambers’ _Pop. Rhymes of Scotland_, 1870, pp. 164-165; see Hales’s _Analysis of Chronoloqy_, 1830, vol. i. pp. 50, 51, also _N. & Q. 5th S._ vol. ii. pp. 329, 517.

In Scotland also, upon the last of the old year, the children go about from door to door, asking for bread and cheese, which they call “Nog-money,” in these words:

“Get up, gude wife, and binno sweir (i.e., be not lazy), And deal your cakes and cheese while you are here; For the time will come when ye’ll be dead, And neither need your cheese nor bread.”

Brand’s _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 14.

LANARKSHIRE.

At the town of Biggar (in the upper ward of Lanarkshire) it has been customary from time immemorial among the inhabitants to celebrate what is called “burning out the old year.” For this purpose, during the day of the 31st of December, a large quantity of fuel is collected, consisting of branches of trees, brushwood, and coals, and placed in a heap at the “cross;” and about nine o’clock at night the lighting of the fire is commenced, surrounded by a crowd of lookers-on, who each think it a duty to cast into the flaming mass some additional portion of material, the whole being sufficient to maintain the fire till next or New Year’s Day morning is far advanced. Fires are also kindled on the adjacent hills to add to the importance of the occasion.

It is considered unlucky to give out a light to any one on the morning of the new year, and therefore if the house-fire has been allowed to become extinguished, recourse must be had to the embers of the pile. This then accounts for the maintenance of the fire up to a certain time on New Year’s Day.

Some consider these fires to be the relics of Pagan or of Druidical rites of the dark ages; perhaps of a period as remote as that of the _Beltaine fires_, the change of circumstances having now altered these fires, both as to the particular season of year of their celebration, and of their various religious forms.--_N. & Q. 2nd S._ vol. ix. p. 322.

MORAYSHIRE.

In the village of Burghead, situated on the southern shore of the Moray Frith, about nine miles from Elgin, the county town of Morayshire, the following curious custom is observed:

On the evening of the last day of December (Old Style), the youths of the village assemble about dusk, and make the necessary preparations for the celebration of the “Clavie.” Proceeding to some shop they demand a strong empty barrel, which is usually given at once, but if refused taken by force. Another for breaking up, and a quantity of tar are likewise procured at the same time. Thus furnished they repair to a

## particular spot close to the sea-shore, and commence operations. A hole

about four inches in diameter is first made in the bottom of the stronger barrel, into which the end of a stone pole, five feet in length, is firmly fixed: to strengthen their hold a number of supports are nailed round the outside of the former, and also closely round the latter. The tar is then put into the barrel, and set on fire, and the remaining one being broken up, stave after stave is thrown in until it is quite full. The “Clavie,” already burning fiercely, is now shouldered by some strong man, and borne away at a rapid pace. As soon as the bearer gives signs of exhaustion, another willingly takes his place; and should any of those who are honoured to carry the blazing load meet with an accident, as sometimes happens, the misfortune incites no pity even among his near relatives. In making the circuit of the village they are said to confine themselves to its old boundaries. Formerly, the procession visited all the fishing-boats, but this has been discontinued for some time. Having gone over the appointed ground, the “Clavie” is finally carried to a small artificial eminence near the point of the promontory, and interesting as being a portion of the ancient fortifications, spared probably on account of its being used for this purpose, where a circular heap of stones used to be hastily piled up, in the hollow centre of which the “Clavie” was placed still burning. On this eminence, which is termed the “durie,” the present proprietor has lately erected a small round column, with a cavity in the centre for admitting the fire end of the pole, and into this it is now placed. After being allowed to burn on the “durie” for a few minutes, the “Clavie” is most unceremoniously hurled from its place, and the smoking embers scattered among the assembled crowd, by whom, in less enlightened times, they were eagerly caught at and fragments of them carried home and carefully preserved as charms against witchcraft. At one time superstition invested the whole proceedings with all the solemnity of a religious rite, the whole population joining in it as an act necessary to the welfare and prosperity of the little community during the year about to commence.

The “Clavie” has now, however, degenerated into a mere frolic, kept up by the youngsters more for their own amusement than for any benefit which the due performance of the ceremony is believed to secure.--_N. & Q. 2nd S._ vol. ix. p. 38; see also _N. & Q. 2nd S._ vol. ix. pp. 106, 169, 269; and _Book of Days_, vol. ii. pp. 789-791.

ORKNEY.

It was formerly the custom in Orkney for large bands of the common class of people to assemble on New Year’s Eve, and pay a round of visits, singing a song which commenced as follows:

“This night it is guid New’r E’en’s night, We’re a’ here Queen Mary’s men; And we’re come here to crave our right, And that’s before our Lady.”

Brand’s _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 9; see Chambers’ _Pop. Rhymes of Scotland_, 1870, pp. 167, 168, 324.

IRELAND.

On the last night of the year a cake is thrown against the outside door of each house by the head of the family, which ceremony is said to keep out hunger during the ensuing one.--Croker, _Researches in the South of Ireland_, 1824, p. 233.

A correspondent of _N. & Q._ (_5th S._ vol. iii. p. 7) says, on New Year’s Day about the suburbs at the County Down side of Belfast, the boys run about carrying little twisted wisps of straw, which they offer to persons whom they meet, or throw into their houses, as New Year’s offerings, and expect to get in return any small present, such as a little money or a piece of bread.

About Glenarm, on the coast of County Antrim, the “wisp” is not used, but on this day the boys go about from house to house, and are regaled with bannocks of oaten bread, buttered; these bannocks are baked specially for the occasion, and are commonly small, thick, and round, and with a hole through the centre. Any person who enters a house on New Year’s Day must either eat or drink before leaving it.

INDEX.

Abbé de Liesse, 459

Abbot of Misrule, 459

Acres Fair, 388

Advent Bells, 431

Agatha (St.), 374

Agnes’ (St.) Day, 47

Agnes’ (St.) Eve, 46

Agnes’ (St.) Fast, 46

Alaf-mass, 347

Ale, the Whitsun, 278

Allan Day, 395

Alleluia, Funeral of the, 45

All Fools’ Day, 184

All Hallows’ Day, 397

All Hallow Mass, 55

All Saints’ Day, 404

All Souls’ Day, 409

All Souls’ Eve, 405

Andermess, 430

Andisop, 431

Andrew’s (St.), Day, 429

Andrew’s (St.), Under Shaft, 247

Androis Mess, 430

Andrys Day, 430

Anne’s (St.) Day, 346, 357

Annunciation, Festival of, 180

Apparition of St. Michael, 275

Apples, given away on New Year’s Day, 5

Apples, ducking for, on Halloween, 394

Apple-trees, wassailing of, 450

April Gouks, 187

Apprentices’ Feast, 355

Array, Court of, 287

Ascension Day, 210

Ash Wednesday, 84

Ashton faggot, 446

Ass-ridlin, 199

Assumption of the Virgin Mary, 357

Aughrim, battle of, 340

August, Gule of, 347

Auld Handsel Monday, 19

Avage or Avisage, 416

Bacchus, Verses written in honour of, 58

Bacon, gammon of, eaten at Easter, 162

Bairn bishop, 291

Baker’s Clem, 423

Balmoral Castle, Halloween at, 401

Bannich Bruader, 90

Bannich Junit, 89

Barchan’s (St.) Day, 437

Barnabas’ (St.) Day, 310

Barring out, 72

Bartholomew’s (St.) Day, 361

Barton Fair, 379

Bay, used as a decoration at Christmas, 458

Beans, kings created by, 20

Bear-baiting, 385

Beating the Bounds, 210

Beating the Cross, 213

Becket, Thomas-à-, 338

Becket’s Fair, 339

Bedfordshire, 151, 205, 290, 374, 439, 493

Bees, Superstition regarding, 451

Bells, 5, 62, 82, 87, 476, 496, 499, 500, 504

Beltein, 223, 269

Berkshire, 119, 152, 191, 194, 233, 346, 377, 439, 466

Bezant, festival at Shaftesbury, 207

Bible, opening of, on New Year’s Day, 5

Biddenham Cakes, 165

Binding Tuesday, 188

Birch, used as a decoration at Whitsuntide, 281

Black Cherry Fair, 357

Blaize’s (St.) Day, 60

Blasius (St.), 60

Blayse (St.) Night, 62

Blessing of the Brine, 210

Blood Thursday, 500

Bloody Thursday, 148

Bluecoats, worn on St. George’s Day, 193

Boar’s Head, at Christmas, 455, 470, 473, 477

Boat Sunday, 443

Boggons, 32

Bonfires, 22, 61, 313, 395

Bounds, beating of the, 210

Bounds Thursday, 210

Boxing Day, 493

Boy’s Bailiff, 287

Boy Bishop, 291, 432

Boyne, battle of, 337

Braggot, 117

Braggot Sunday, 117

Bread, baked on Good Friday, 149

Bread Mass, 347

Brices’ (St.) Day, 421

Bride-Ale, 278

Bridget’s (St.) Eve, 344

Brine, blessing of the, 210

Buckinghamshire, 6, 58, 69, 135, 169, 210, 234, 290, 291, 314, 323, 331, 354, 373, 390, 419, 426, 467, 493

Bull-baiting, 369, 439

Bull-running, 421

Buns, made on Good Friday, 150, 157

Burning out the Old Year, 506

‘Buryin’ Peter,’ 333

Burying the Mace, 380

Bustard, eaten at Christmas, 456

Cake Night, 398

Cambridgeshire, 39, 105, 123, 234, 323, 334, 343, 419, 423, 426, 468, 494

Candles offered to St. Blayse, 62

Candle Bearing, 54

Candle Day, 428

Candlemas Ba’, 57

Candlemas bleeze or blaze, 56

Candlemas Candle, 55

Candlemas Day, 54

Candlemas Eve, 52

Card-playing at Christmas, 463

Careing Fair, 118

Careing Sunday, 119

Care Sunday, 121

Carl Sunday, 122

Carlings, 122

Carling Groat, 123

Carling Sunday, 122

Carol Singing, 456

‘Catching,’ 109

Catherine’s (St.) Day, 426

Cathern bowl, 429

Cattern Day, 426

Chalk-back-Day, 370

Chare Thursday, 139

Charles I., King of England, execution of, 50

Charles II., King of England, celebration of Twelfth Night by, 29; his Restoration, 301

Charlton Fair, 387

Cheese, given away at Christmas, 482

Cheshire, 69, 169, 195, 210, 234, 283, 314, 324, 405, 409, 441, 446

Childermas Day, 498

Children’s Day, 177

Chimney Sweepers’ Dance, 231

Chopping at the Tree, 167

Christ’s Bed, making of, 158

Christ’s Hospital, London, 179, 311, 374, 422

Christ’s Presentation, 54

Christmas under the Commonwealth, 454

Christmas Book, 456

Christmas Box, 19, 493

Christmas Candles, 456

Christmas Carols, 457

Christmas Clog, 52, 452

Christmas Day, 452

Christmas Decorations, 457

Christmas Drink, 473

Christmas Eve, 446

Christmas Presents, 19

Christmas Sports, 403

Christmas Tree, 463

Clome, the, used in wassailing, 21

Cloth Fair, 363

Church-porch, watching in the, 200

Churches decorated, 157, 162, 280, 281, 457

Claudius Mamertus, Bishop of Vienne, 204

‘Clavie,’ the burning of, 507

Clement’s (St.) Day, 423

Clipping the Church, 176

Cob loaf stealing, 451

Cobbs, given away on St. Thomas’ Day, 442

Cocks and Dumps, 67

Cock Crower, 92

Cock Fighting, 65, 177

‘Cock in the pot,’ 39

‘Cock on the dunghill,’ 39

Cock Penny, 79

Cock running, 78

Cock throwing, 78

Cocque’els, 81

Coelcoeth, 398

Coffin Crusts, 458

Cold Possett, 502

Collar of Brawn, 468

Collop Monday, 57

Columbkill, 310

Columb’s (St.) Well, 310

Commencement Day, 334

Compostella, Shrine of St. James at, 345

Coquerells, 81

Coquilles, 81

Corn Showing, 172

‘Corning, going a-,’ 443

Cornwall, 47, 58, 73, 120, 121, 128, 162, 216, 235, 275, 279, 302, 315, 324, 338, 339, 378, 395, 431, 446, 468, 501

Corpus Christi Day, 297

Corpus Christi Eve, 297

Coteswold Games, 292

Court of Array, 287

Coventry Show Fair, 300

Crab-Apples, gathered on Michaelmas Day, 376

Crabbing the Parson, 341

Crack-nut Sunday, 375

Cracklin Friday, 153

Cramp Rings, 49

Cresset-light, 317

Creeping to the Cross, 148

Crispin’s (St.) Day, 388

Cross, Invention of the, 275

Cross Day of the Year, 500

Crowdie, 88

Crowning of the Cock, 487

Croyland Abbey, knives given away at, on St. Bartholomew’s Day, 367

Cuckoo, 187, 192

Cuckoo Ale, 192

Cumberland, 29, 72, 159, 163, 279, 291, 310, 315, 356, 419, 469, 501

Curfew Bell, 78

Cushion Dance, 253

Cuthbert’s (St.) Day, 371

‘Cutting off the fiddler’s head,’ 34

Cymhortha, 110

Cypress, used as decoration at Christmas, 458

Daft Days, 505

‘Dart, throwing the,’ 370

David’s (St.) Day, 110

‘Dead and Living Ford,’ 17

Decoration of Churches, 157, 162, 280, 281, 457

Deptford Fair, 296

Derbyshire, 30, 39, 74, 99, 105, 128, 165, 170, 211, 237, 283, 302, 404, 409, 412, 446, 469, 502

Desmas, one of the thieves crucified with our Lord, 499

Devils’ Knell, 452

Devonshire, 20, 59, 76, 100, 152, 212, 217, 237, 302, 308, 324, 348, 446

‘Dipping,’ 5

Dipping Day, 235

Dirge Loaf, 410

Dish Fair, 387

Dismal Day, the, 275

Distaff’s (St.) Day, 36

Doggett, Thomas, 349

Dogs, Whipping of, 386, 387

Dole Bread, 401

Doleing Day, 443

Dorsetshire, 30, 55, 152, 159, 205, 385, 441, 470

Dough-nut Day, 78

Dover, Robert, 292

Drinking Sowins, 489

Druids, 1, 223

Duck-under-water, 253

Dulce Domum, sung at Winchester School, 284

Dumb-cake, 199, 312, 384

Durham, 303, 371

Dutton, family of, privileged to license the Cheshire minstrels, 324

Dyzemas Day, 499

Easter Day, 161

Easter Eve, 159

Easter Monday, 169

Easter Tuesday, 179

Eccles Cakes, 369

Eccles Wake, 369

Edward IV. of England, his Coronation, 498

Eel Fair, 293

Egg-hopping, 329

Egg Saturday, 52

Elecampane, 171

Election of kings by beans, 24

Elizabeth, Queen of England, her accession observed, 422

Epiphany, 24

Epping Hunt, 171

Erconwald’s (St.) Day, 422

Essex, 6, 94, 153, 171, 212, 237, 280, 378, 416, 470

Eton Montem, 290

Eve of the Epiphany, 20

Eve of Paul’s Tide, 47

Evelyn, John, 183, 454

Evil May-day, 248

Execution of Charles I., King of England, 50

Fadé-dance, 276

Fag-pies, 119

Fairchild Lecture, 291

Faith’s (St.) Day, 384

Farthing Loaf Day, 319

Fastren’s E’en, 88

Fastyngonge Tuesday, 81

Fern, superstitions connected with, 312

Ferrers, George, 460

Festival of Kings, 20

Fiddler’s Head, cutting off of the, 34

Fig-one, 15

Fig-pies, 119

Fig-pie Wake, 119

Fig-sue, 15, 153

Fig-Sunday, 128, 133

Fires, lighting of, on Eve of the Epiphany, 22; on St Blaize’s Day, 61; on St. John’s Eve, 313; on Hallow Eve, 395

‘First Foot,’ 5, 17, 483

Flag Day, 332

Flap-dragon, 463

Flap-jack, 63

Flitting Day, 301

Floralia, 223, 245

Flower of the Well, 17

Flower Sermon, 291

Flowering Sunday, 134

Font-hallowing, 159

Fool-plough, 37

Foot ball, 75, 83, 87, 401

Freemen’s Well, the, 201

Friars’ Girdles, worn by ladies, 94

Friday in Lide, 120

Fritter Bell, 78

Fritter Thursday, 96

Fruttors Thursday, 96

Funeral of the Alleluia, 45

Furmity, 117, 472, 483

Furry Festival, 275

Gammon of Bacon, eaten at Easter, 162

Gang Monday Land, 210

Gangweek, 204

Ganging Day, 380

Garland Day, 243

Garland Sunday, 376

Garlic Sunday, 376

Gaunt, John of, 358

George’s (St.) Day, 192

Gerard’s Hall, 247

Gestas, one of the thieves crucified with our Lord, 499

Giants, display of, at Chester, 314

Gregory’s (St.) Day, 125

Glastonbury thorn, 34, 454, 467

Gloucestershire, 22, 238, 280, 292, 379, 388, 447, 470, 499, 502

Gloves, at Fairs, 297, 348

Glove Money, 4

Glove Silver, 348

God Cakes, 12

Goddes Day, 148

God’s Day, 148

God’s Friday, 148

‘God speed the Plough,’ 41

Goluan, 315

Good Friday, 148

Good Friday Bread, 149

‘Gooding, going-a,’ 438

Goodish Tuesday, 86

‘Good Morrow, Valentine,’ 109

Good Pas Day, 118

Goose, eaten at Michaelmas, 376

Goose Fair, Nottingham, 383

Goose-pies, 196

Gosling, May, 233, 265

Gospel Trees, 208

Gowk, hunting the, 188

Grace Cup, 450

Grass Week, 204

Green Bower Feast, 289

Greenock Fair, 337

Grimaldi, Joseph, 461

‘Grotto, pray remember the,’ 345

Guisards, 488

Guisings, 181

Gule of August, 347

Gunpowder Plot, 410

Guy Fawkes, his day, 410

Gyst Ale, 181

Hackin, the, at Christmas, 456

Hailing the Lamb, 212

Halgaver Court, 389

Hall’ Monday, 58

Hallow Eve, 394

Hampshire, 77, 119, 187, 238, 281, 284, 296, 304, 305, 372, 448

Handsel Monday, 19, 488

Harlequinade, 461

Harrow School, shooting at, 357

Hay, strewn in churches, 327, 338

Hays, the, 34

Heaving, 173, 177

Heaving Days, 175

Heavy Cake, 216, 236

Helen’s (St.) Day, 274, 360

Hempseed, divination by, 99, 313, 400

Hen-threshing, 68

Hentzner, Paul, visits Bartholomew Fair, 361

Herb-pudding, 151

Herefordshire, 7, 22, 106, 128, 281, 409, 441, 448, 471

Heriot’s Hospital, 309

Hertfordshire, 78, 128, 181, 238, 380, 442

Het Pint, 15

Hilary’s (St.) Day, 44

Hirings, for servants, 279

Hobby-horse, 236, 461, 463, 486

Hobby-horse Dance, 480

Hobby-horsing, 262

Hock Day, 180

Hock Money, 191

Hock-tide, 188

Hocktide play at Chester, 189

Hock Tuesday, 188

Hodening, 472

Hogmanay, 488, 505

Hoke Day, 189

Holiday of St. Simeon, 54

Hollantide Eve, 396

Holly, used as a decoration at Christmas, 458

Holly, its derivation, 457

Holly Boy, 107

Holly Bussing, 180

Holly Night, 35

Holy Cross Day, 372

Holy Innocents’ Day, 497

Holy Rood Day, 372

Holy Thursday, 215

Holy Saturday, 160

Honey Fairs, 469

Hood, throwing the, 32

Hoofing-place, 12

Horns, blown on May Day, 260

Horses, bled on St. Stephen’s Day, 492

Horses, decorated on May Day, 243

Hot Cockles, 463

Hot Cross Buns, 150, 157

Hot Pint, 15, 17

Hunting the Gowk, 188

Hunting the Ram, 354

Hunting the Squirrel, 404, 429, 430, 463, 481

Hunting the Wren, 494

Huntingdonshire, 40, 78, 217, 241, 334

Inns of Court, 396, 473

Ireland, 23, 75, 91, 96, 125, 136, 139, 158, 160, 168, 178, 183, 198, 222, 270, 282, 300, 310, 321, 329, 337, 340, 344, 370, 375, 383, 403, 408, 420, 452, 491, 497, 500, 508

Irving, Washington, his remarks on seeing a Maypole, 234

Isle of Axholme, 30

Isle of Man, 8, 33, 80, 154, 221, 246, 316, 325, 348, 395, 431, 442, 449, 472, 494, 503

Isle of Thanet, 183, 428

Isle of Wight, 87, 504

Ivy, used as a decoration at Christmas, 458, 478

Ivy Girl, 107

Jack and Joan Fair, 385

Jack of Hilton, 10

Jack O’Lent, 93

Jack of May, 264

Jack-pudding, 463

James’ (St.) Day, 344

James (St.) the Less, his day, 234

James’ (St.) Palace, 153

Jeu-nhydn, 468

John’s (St.) Day, 323

John’s (St.) Eve, 311

John O Gaunt’s Day, 191

Jolly Lads, 134

Joseph of Arimathea, legend regarding his staff, 467

Judas Iscariot, flogging of, 155

Jough-ny-nollick, 473

Juniper, burnt before cattle, 18

Kenelm’s (St.) Day, 341

Kenilworth Castle, Queen Elizabeth’s visit to, 189

Kent, 78, 107, 165, 207, 242, 296, 332, 339, 345, 385, 423, 427, 429, 448, 471

Ket Bank, 220

Kill Bull, the, 477

Kings created by Beans, 20

King’s Cock Crower, 92

King of the Bean, 26

King of Cockneys, 498

King of the Millers, 285

Kit-dressing, 231

Knappan, 184

Knives, given away on St. Bartholomew’s Day, 367

Knotting-sowins, 489

Laa’l Brushey, 51

Lad’s Valentine, 99

Lady Day, 180

Lady Godiva, 280, 300

Lady of the Lamb, 297

Lamb Ale, 278

Lambert Simmel, 115

Lambs’ Wool, 23, 449, 483

Lammas Day, 347

Lammas Towers, 351

Lamprey-pies, 470

Lancashire, 7, 79, 119, 134, 153, 181, 213, 217, 243, 284, 316, 334, 345, 355, 368, 369, 384, 385, 395, 406, 472

La Sheachanna na bleanagh, 275

Lating or Leeting the Witches, 395

Laurel, used as a Christmas decoration, 458

Lawless Court, at King’s Hill, 378

Lawless Hour, at Kidderminster, 379

Leaping the Well, 201

Leeks, worn on St. David’s Day, 110, 113

Leek Pasties, 83

Leet Ale, 278

Leicestershire, 40, 79, 197, 284, 338

Leith Races, 335

Lent Crocking, 76

Leonard’s (St.) Day, 416

Lide, Friday in, 120

Lifting, 173

Lincolnshire, 30, 40, 128, 154, 220, 245, 294, 367, 372, 412, 421

Loaf Mass, 347

Looe Fair Day, 236

Long Rope Day, 157

“Looking through the keyhole,” 105

Lord Mayor’s Day, 417, 459

Lord Mayor of Pennyless Cone, 487

Lord of Misrule, 339, 459, 474, 478

Louis XI. of France, his superstition regarding Holy Innocents’ Day, 498

Lotts, the, 350

Low Easter Day, 184

Low Sunday, 183

Luke’s (St.) Day, 386

Mace Board, 246

Mace, burying the, 380

Mace Monday, 346

Mainstyr Fiddler, 34

Mallard Night, 44

Mandate Thursday, 140

Margaret’s (St.) Day, 343

Mari Lwyd, 486

Mark’s (St.) Day, 200, 203

Mark’s (St.) Eve, 199, 200

Marlings, 181

Marlocking, 181

Mart, its meaning, 418

Martinmas, 347

Martin’s (St.) Day, 418

Mary’s (St.) Day, in Lent, 180

Matthew’s (St.) Day, 373

Maternus (St.), 463

Maundy Loaves, 140

Maundy Money, 140

Maundy Thursday, 139

May Bough, 243

May Day, 223

May Dew, 225, 242

May Dolls, 216

May Eve, 215

May Fair, 249

May Feast, 263

May Gads, 245

May Games, 225

May Gosling, 233, 265

May Lady, 234

May Music, 216

Maypoles, 228

May Queen, 238, 246, 251, 255

May Songs, 232, 233, 238, 240, 242, 251, 255, 257, 259, 261, 262, 263, 273

May Syllabub, 257

‘Maying, going a,’ 224

Michael (St.), Apparition of, 275

Michaelmas Cake, 383

Michaelmas Day, 376

Michaelmas Eve, 375

Michaelmas Goose, 376

Michael’s (St.) Bannock, 383

Middlesex, 32, 48, 80, 113, 147, 154, 160, 166, 174, 179, 187, 213, 247, 291, 297, 305, 316, 326, 344, 345, 316, 349, 355, 357, 361, 374, 396, 406, 413, 429, 473

Midlent Sunday, 113, 116

Midsummer Day, 323

Midsummer Eve, 311

Midsummer Men, 312

Midsummer Watch, 316, 318

Milk Maids’ Dance, 231

Millers, King of the, 285

Mince-pies, 458

Minched pies, 458

Minstrels’ Festival, 358

Miracle Plays, 283, 298, 343, 478

Mischief Night, 217

Misrule, Lord of, 339, 459, 474, 478

Mistletoe, 458, 459

Mock, the, 446

Modwen’s (St.) Day, 390

Molly Grime, figure in Glentham Church, 154

Monmouthshire, 407

Morris-dancers, 30, 227, 258

Moseley’s Dole, 10

‘Mothering, going a,’ 116

Mothering Sunday, 116

Mummers, 430, 461, 469, 478, 480

Mumping Day, 441

‘Mumping, going a,’ 441

Mutton-pies, 458

Myche, a kind of bread, 96

Nativity of the Virgin Mary, 372

Newark Raffling Day, 51

New Year’s Day, 1

New Year’s Eve, 501

New Year’s Gifts, 1

New Year’s Ode, 4

New Year’s Offerings, 509

New Year’s Song, 19

Newton, Sir Isaac, on the time of Christ’s birth, 453

Nicholas (St.), tradition relating to, 436

Nicholas’ (St.) Day, 432

Nicholas’ (St.) Eve, 432

Nickanan Night, 58

Nicking, of Swans, 346

Nod Beuno, 295

Nog Money, 506

Norfolk, 42, 81, 95, 100, 107, 166, 183, 293, 298, 344, 370, 449, 475, 496

Northamptonshire, 42, 82, 108, 132, 199, 213, 251, 281, 286, 305, 306, 327, 332, 340, 413, 427, 430, 449, 476, 499, 503

Northumberland, 9, 83, 175, 180, 201, 214, 257, 282, 294, 298, 306, 318, 327, 332, 335, 389, 476

Nottinghamshire, 9, 51, 54, 83, 109, 124, 175, 214, 257, 306, 318, 380, 383, 397, 413, 442, 449, 476

Nut Crack Night, 394

‘Nutting, going a,’ 373

Oak Apple Day, 301

Offering Days, 5

Offering Silver, 481

Oiel Verry, 449

Olave’s (St.) Day, 346

‘Old Ball,’ 486

Old Christmas Day, 30, 34, 467

‘Old Clem,’ 432

Old Michaelmas Day, 380

Old Midsummer Day, 328

Old Year, burning out the, 506

Onion Fair, 373

Oswald’s (St.) Day, 355

Oxen, superstition regarding, 447

Oxfordshire, 9, 43, 52, 84, 97, 110, 113, 123, 124, 133, 134, 156, 167, 208, 214, 222, 258, 282, 287, 297, 319, 327, 414, 442, 450, 476, 496, 504

Oysters, eaten on St. James’ Day, 344

Pace Eggs, 163

Pack Monday Fair, 385

Paganalia, 493

Paignton Fair, 308

Palm Saturday, 126

Palm Sunday, 126

‘Palming, going a,’ 127

Pan-burn-Bell, 82

Pancakes, 63, 375

Pancake Bell, 62, 87

Pancake Month, 65

Pantomime, 461

Parish Clerks’ Meeting, 177

Parkin, 416

Paschal Day, 148

Paschal Taper, 159

Passion-dock, 151

Passion Sunday, 121

Paste-Egg Day, 118

Patrick’s Crosses, 136

Patrick’s (St.) Day, 135

Patrick’s Pot, 137

Paul’s (St.) Cathedral, 49

Paul’s (St.) Day, 49

Paul’s (St.) Eve, 47

Paul Pitcher Night, 48

Penderell, Richard, his monument decorated on Oak Apple Day, 305

Penny Hedge, the, 209

Penny Loaf Day, 125

Pepper Cake, 483

Pershore Fair Day, 192

Peter’s (St.) Day, 331

Peter-Pence, 347

Philip’s (St.) Day, 234

Picrous Day, 431

Piepowder, Court of, 364

Pin-money, 4

Pippins, divination by, 397

Piran’s (St.) Day, 121

Plough Bullocks, 39

Plough-lights, 37

Plough Monday, 37

Plough Witchers, 40

Plough Witching, 40

Plowlick Monday, 42

Plum porridge, 462

Plumb-pudding, 462

Plumb-pudding Money, 482

Poisson d’Avril, 184

Pope Joan, 181

Pope-Ladies, 181

Pork Acre, 413

Pot-fair, 323

Preston Guild, 368

‘Progging, going a,’ 414

Procession Week, 204

Processioning, 208, 213

Psalm Caking, 406

‘Pudding-pieing, going a,’ 172

Pulgen, 487

Purification of the Virgin Mary, 54

Push-penny, 303

Quaaltagh, 8

Raffling-Day, at Newark, 51

Ram, hunting the, 354

Ram Feast, 257

Ravenglass Fair, 356

Rayer, or Rahere, founder of Bartholomew Fair, 361

Ream of the Well, 17

Red Spear Knights, 291

Reed Day, 332

Relic Sunday, 340

Restoration Day, 301

Rhyne Toll, the, 390

Richard’s (St.) Day, 188

‘Riding of the George,’ 197

‘Riding the Marches,’ 292, 307

‘Rising Peter,’ 333

Robin Hood, 220, 257

Roche’s (St.) Day, 350

Rock Day, 36

Rogation Sunday, 204

Rope-pulling, at Ludlow, 85

Rosemary, used as decoration at Christmas, 458

Rowan-tree, use of, 154, 394

Rowan-tree Day, 274

Rowan-tree Gads, 274

Royal Oak Day, 301

Rumbald Night, 448

Running Lands, 242

Rushes, strewn in churches, 280, 294

Rush-bearing, 334, 367

Salmon, superstition regarding, 270

Salt-Silver, 418

Saturnalia, 458, 463

Sauin, 395

Scalding Thursday, 375

Scambling Days, 95

Scarlet Days, at Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, 278

Scholastica’s (St.) Day, 97

Scilly Isles, 84, 479

Scotland, 14, 19, 43, 46, 56, 88, 120, 126, 177, 188, 267, 275, 292, 301, 307, 309, 320, 334, 335, 351, 382, 394, 399, 408, 410, 430, 437, 438, 487, 505

Scrutiny Night, 504

Septuagesima, 45

‘Setting the Colne,’ 213

‘Seven joys of the Virgin,’ 464

Shaftesbury Bezant, 205

Shamrock, 136, 139

Sharp Tuesday, 86

Sheelah’s Day, 139

Sher, Shere, Sheere, Thursday, 146

Shier Thursday, 146

Shig-Shag, 305

Shrewsbury Show, 300

Shrid-pies, 458

Shropshire, 82, 262, 287, 301, 407, 410

Shrove Tuesday, 39

Shying at Leaden Cocks, 67

‘Shy for Shy,’ 67

Simeon (St.), holiday of, 54

Simnel Bread, 115

Simnel, Lambert, 115

Simnels, 114

Simnel Sunday, 113

Singed Sheeps’ Heads, carried on St. Andrew’s Day, 430

Singing E’en, 501

Slap-dragon, 463

Sloe Fair, 351

Smock Race, 214

Smuchdan, 18

Smugging, 68

Snap-dragon, 462

Sollaghyn, 80

Somersetshire, 34, 86, 95, 262, 282, 328, 479, 500

Song of the Mallard, 44

Song of the Wren, 35

Sonsy-haggis, 491

Soul Cakes, 405

Souling, going a, 405, 407

Soul Mass Cakes, 409

Sow Day, 438

Sowans-bowie, 490

Spirit Fire, 463

Squirrels, hunting of, 404, 429, 430, 481

Staffordshire, 10, 23, 34, 86, 203, 208, 215, 263, 287, 340, 358, 390, 407, 425, 443, 480

Stagg, offering of, on St. Cuthbert’s Day, 371

Staylaces, given to the Clergy on Ascension Day, 213

Stephening, 493

Stephen’s (St.) Day, 492

Stephen’s (St.) Pudding, 494

Stir-up-Sunday, 431

Subterranean Christmas Bells, 476

Suffolk, 86, 215, 263, 481

Sugar-Cupping, 165

Surrey, 86, 133, 156, 263, 293, 341, 357, 373, 375

Sussex, 11, 157, 264, 381, 389, 414, 430, 443, 450

Swan-upping, 346

Swarf Penny, 420

‘Sweeping the Girls,’ 106

Swig, 113

Swithin’s (St.) Day, 341

Swithin’s (St.) Farthings, 341

Sword-dance, 485

Tander, Tandrew, name given to St. Andrew’s Day, 430

Tansy Cake, 167

Tenbury Fair Day, 192

Terminalia, 204

Tharve Cake, 30

Thomas’ (St.) Day, 438

Thomas’ (St.) Onion, 439

‘Thomasin, going a,’ 441

Threshing the Hen, 68

Throwing at Cocks, 66

‘Throwing the Dart,’ 370

‘Throwing the Hood,’ 32

Tibba’s (St.) Day, 438

Timber Waits, 203

Timbrel Waits, 203

Tindles, 409

Tinley, 405

Toothache, remedy for, 464

Tooting-horn, 352

Trap and ball, 86

Trinity Monday, 296

Trinity Sunday, 294

Trolollay, derivation of, 505

Trundling of Eggs, 178

Turkey, 148, 465

Tuth Day, 192

Twelfth Cake, 24

Twelfth Day, 24

Twelfth Night, 24

Twelfth Night Cards, 25

Tynwald Day, 325

Usque-Cashrichd, 488

Valentine’s (St.) Day, 375

Valentine’s (St.) Eve, 98

Valentines, 101

Valentine dealing, 105

Valentining, 105

Vessel Cup, 464

Vitus’ (St.) Day, 311

Virgin Mary, Annunciation of, 180; Assumption of, 357; Nativity of, 372; Purification of, 54

Wad-Shooting, 489

Waits, 465, 485

Wakes Monday, 404

Wales, 35, 88, 113, 134, 158, 168, 177, 184, 222, 265, 289, 295, 297, 320, 390, 398, 410, 425, 445, 486, 496

Walk Money, 183

‘Walking the Fair,’ 203

Walnut-tree, legend of a miraculous, 467

Ward Penny, 420

Warwickshire, 12, 175, 300, 419, 443, 450

Wrath Money, 420

Wassail Bowl, 501

Wassail Eve, 23

Wassaile, 28

Wastel, the, 115

Watch Night, 501

Weaver, introduces the Pantomime, 461

Well-dressing, 211

Wesley Bob, 483

Westminster School, tossing the pancake at, 80

Westmoreland, 6, 35, 264, 415, 481

‘Wetting the Block,’ 119

Wheel, its origin, 454

Whip-dog Day, 387

Whipping Toms, 79

Whirlin Cakes, 123

Whirlin Sunday, 123

White Sunday, 183

White Thursday, 468

Whitsun Ale, 278

Whitsunday, 278

Whitsun Monday, 283

Whitsun Mysteries, 283

Whitsuntide, 278, 281

Whitsun Tuesday, 290

Whitsun Tryste Fair, 282

‘Wigs,’ a sort of Cake, 426

Wilfrid’s (St.) Feast, 351

Wiltshire, 76, 133, 295, 309, 329, 415

Wives’ Feast, 54

Worcestershire, 12, 157, 176, 188, 192, 215, 265, 306, 319, 341, 416, 428, 443, 482, 500

Wren, hunting of, 494

Wren-boys, 497

Wroth Money, 420

Wycoller Hall, Christmas at, 472

Yarrow, divination connected with, 273

Yew, Churches decorated with, on Good Friday, 156

Yorkshire, 12, 23, 43, 56, 87, 96, 110, 123, 133, 148, 157, 160, 167, 200, 209, 274, 299, 320, 329, 331, 333, 341, 351, 367, 386, 398, 416, 420, 444, 451, 482, 496, 504

Yorkshire Hagmena Song, 14

Youling, 207

Yule, derivation of the term, 453

Yule of August, 347

Yule Babies, 476

Yule Candle, 451

Yule Clog, 452, 465

Yule Day, 487

Yule Log, 453, 465

Yule Straw, 489

Yule-tide, 453

LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, DUKE STREET, STAMFORD STREET, S.E., AND GREAT WINDMILL STREET, W.

AN ALPHABETICAL LIST OF BOOKS CONTAINED IN BOHN’S LIBRARIES.

_Detailed Catalogue, arranged according to the various Libraries, will be sent on application._

=ADDISON’S Works.= With the Notes of Bishop Hurd, Portrait, and 8 Plates of Medals and Coins. Edited by H. G. Bohn. 6 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.

=ÆSCHYLUS, The Dramas of.= Translated into English Verse by Anna Swanwick. 4th Edition, revised. 5_s._

---- =The Tragedies of.= Newly translated from a revised text by Walter Headlam, Litt.D., and C. E. S. Headlam, M.A. 3_s._ 6_d._

---- =The Tragedies of.= Translated into Prose by T. A. Buckley, B.A. 3_s._ 6_d._

=ALLEN’S (Joseph, R. N.) Battles of the British Navy.= Revised Edition, with 57 Steel Engravings. 2 vols. 5_s._ each.

=AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS.= History of Rome during the Reigns of Constantius, Julian, Jovianus, Valentinian, and Valens. Translated by Prof C. D. Yonge, M.A. 7_s._ 6_d._

=ANDERSEN’S Danish Legends and Fairy Tales.= Translated by Caroline Peachey. With 120 Wood Engravings. 5_s._

=ANTONINUS (M. Aurelius), The Thoughts of.= Trans, literally, with Notes and Introduction by George Long, M.A. 3_s._ 6_d._

=APOLLONIUS RHODIUS. ‘The Argonautica.’= Translated by E. P. Coleridge, B.A. 5_s._

=APPIAN’S Roman History.= Translated by Horace White, M.A., LL.D. With Maps and Illustrations 2 vols. 6_s._ each.

=APULEIUS, The Works= of Comprising the Golden Ass, God of Socrates, Florida, and Discourse of Magic. 5_s._

=ARGYLL (Duke of). The Life of Queen Victoria.= Illustrated. 3_s._ 6_d._

=ARIOSTO’S Orlando Furioso.= Translated into English Verse by W. S. Rose. With Portrait, and 24 Steel Engravings. 2 vols. 5_s._ each.

=ARISTOPHANES’ Comedies.= Translated by W. J. Hickie. 2 vols, 5_s._ each.

=ARISTOTLE’S Nicomachean Ethics.= Translated, with Introduction and Notes, by the Venerable Archdeacon Browne. 5_s._

---- =Politics and Economics.= Translated by E. Walford, M.A., with Introduction by Dr. Gillies. 5_s._

---- =Metaphysics.= Translated by the Rev. John H. M’Mahon, M.A. 5_s._

---- =History of Animals.= Trans. by Richard Cresswell, M.A. 5_s._

---- =Organon=; or, Logical Treatises, and the Introduction of Porphyry. Translated by the Rev. O. F. Owen, M.A. 2 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.

---- =Rhetoric and Poetics.= Trans. by T. Buckley, B.A. 5_s._

=ARRIAN’S Anabasis of Alexander=, together with the =Indica=. Translated by E. J. Chinnock, M.A., LL.D. With Maps and Plans. 5_s._

=ATHENÆUS. The Deipnosophists=; or, the Banquet of the Learned. Trans. by Prof. C. D. Yonge, M.A. 3 vols. 5_s._ each.

=BACON’S Moral and Historical Works=, including the Essays, Apophthegms, Wisdom of the Ancients, New Atlantis, Henry VII., Henry VIII., Elizabeth, Henry Prince of Wales, History of Great Britain, Julius Cæsar, and Augustus Cæsar. Edited by J. Devey, M.A. 3_s._ 6_d._

---- =Novum Organum and Advancement of Learning.= Edited by J. Devey, M.A. 5_s._

=BASS’S Lexicon to the Greek Testament.= 2_s._

=BAX’S Handbook of the History of Philosophy=, for the use of Students. By E. Belfort Bax. 5_s._

=BEAUMONT and FLETCHER=, their finest Scenes, Lyrics, and other Beauties, selected from the whole of their works, and edited by Leigh Hunt. 3_s._ 6_d._

=BECHSTEIN’S Cage and Chamber Birds=, their Natural History, Habits, Food, Diseases, and Modes of Capture. Translated, with considerable additions on Structure, Migration, and Economy, by H. G. Adams. Together with SWEET BRITISH WARBLERS. With 43 coloured Plates and Woodcut Illustrations. 5_s._

=BEDE’S (Venerable) Ecclesiastical History of England.= Together with the ANGLO-SAXON CHRONICLE. Edited by J. A. Giles, D.C.L. With Map. 5_s._

=BELL (Sir Charles). The Anatomy and Philosophy of Expression, as connected with the Fine Arts.= By Sir Charles Bell, K.H. 7th edition, revised. 5_s._

=BERKELEY (George), Bishop of Cloyne, The Works of.= Edited by George Sampson. With Biographical Introduction by the Right Hon. A. J. Balfour, M.P. 3 vols. 5_s._ each.

=BION.= _See_ THEOCRITUS.

=BJÖRNSON’S Arne and the Fisher Lassie.= Translated by W. H. Low, M.A. 3_s._ 6_d._

=BLAIR’S Chronological Tables= Revised and Enlarged. Comprehending the Chronology and History of the World, from the Earliest Times to the Russian Treaty of Peace, April 1856. By J. Willoughby Rosse. Double vol. 10_s._

=BLEEK’S Introduction to the Old Testament.= By Friedrich Bleek. Edited by Johann Bleek and Adolf Kamphausen. Translated by G. H. Venables, under the supervision of the Rev. Canon Venables. 2 vols. 5_s._ each.

=BOETHIUS’S Consolation of Philosophy.= King Alfred’s Anglo-Saxon Version of. With a literal English Translation on opposite pages, Notes, Introduction, and Glossary, by Rev. S. Fox, M.A. 5_s._

=BOHN’S Dictionary of Poetical Quotations.= 4th edition. 6_s._

=BOHN’S Handbooks of Games.= New edition. In 2 vols., with numerous Illustrations. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.

Vol. I.--TABLE GAMES:--Billiards, Bagatelle, Chess, Draughts, Backgammon, Dominoes, Solitaire, Reversi, Go-Bang, Rouge et Noir, Roulette, E.O., Hazard, Faro.

Vol. II.--CARD GAMES:--Whist, Solo Whist, Poker, Piquet, Ecarté, Euchre, Bézique, Cribbage, Loo, Vingt-et-un, Napoleon, Newmarket, Pope Joan, Speculation, &c., &c.

=BOND’S A Handy Book of Rules and Tables= for verifying Dates with the Christian Era, &c. Giving an account of the Chief Eras and Systems used by various Nations; with the easy Methods for determining the Corresponding Dates. By J. J. Bond. 5_s._

=BONOMI’S Nineveh and its Palaces.= 7 Plates and 294 Woodcut Illustrations. 5_s._

=BOSWELL’S Life of Johnson=, with the TOUR IN THE HEBRIDES and JOHNSONIANA. Edited by the Rev. A. Napier, M.A. With Frontispiece to each vol. 6 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.

=BRAND’S Popular Antiquities of England, Scotland, and Ireland.= Arranged, revised, and greatly enlarged, by Sir Henry Ellis, K.H., F.R.S., &c., &c. 3 vols. 5_s._ each.

=BREMER’S (Frederika) Works.= Translated by Mary Howitt. 4 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.

=BRIDGWATER TREATISES.= =Bell (Sir Charles) on the Hand.= With numerous Woodcuts. 5_s._

=Kirby on the History, Habits, and Instincts of Animals.= Edited by T. Rymer Jones. With upwards of 100 Woodcuts. Vol. I., 5_s._ Vol. II. out of print.

=Kidd on the Adaptation of External Nature to the Physical Condition of Man.= 3_s._ 6_d._

=Chalmers on the Adaptation of External Nature to the Moral and Intellectual Constitution of Man.= 5_s._

=BRINK (B. ten) Early English Literature.= By Bernhard ten Brink. Vol. I. To Wyclif. Translated by Horace M. Kennedy. 3_s._ 6_d._

Vol. II. Wyclif, Chaucer, Earliest Drama Renaissance. Translated by W. Clarke Robinson, Ph.D. 3_s._ 6_d._

Vol. III. From the Fourteenth Century to the Death of Surrey. Edited by Dr. Alois Brandl. Trans. by L. Dora Schmitz. 3_s._ 6_d._

---- =Five Lectures on Shakespeare.= Trans. by Julia Franklin. 3_s._ 6_d._

=BROWNE’S (Sir Thomas) Works.= Edited by Simon Wilkin. 3 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.

=BURKE’S Works.= 8 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.

I.--Vindication of Natural Society--Essay on the Sublime and Beautiful, and various Political Miscellanies.

II.--Reflections on the French Revolution--Letters relating to the Bristol Election--Speech on Fox’s East India Bill, &c.

III.--Appeal from the New to the Old Whigs--On the Nabob of Arcot’s Debts--The Catholic Claims, &c.

IV.--Report on the Affairs of India, and Articles of Charge against Warren Hastings.

V.--Conclusion of the Articles of Charge against Warren Hastings--Political Letters on the American War, on a Regicide Peace, to the Empress of Russia.

VI.--Miscellaneous Speeches--Letters and Fragments--Abridgments of English History, &c. With a General Index.

VII. & VIII.--Speeches on the Impeachment of Warren Hastings; and Letters. With Index.

---- =Life.= By Sir J. Prior. 3_s._ 6_d._

=BURNEY. The Early Diary of Fanny Burney (Madame D’Arblay), 1768-1778.= With a selection from her Correspondence and from the Journals of her sisters, Susan and Charlotte Burney. Edited by Annie Raine Ellis. 2 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.

---- =Evelina.= By Frances Burney (Mme. D’Arblay). With an Introduction and Notes by A. R. Ellis. 3_s._ 6_d._

---- =Cecilia.= With an Introduction and Notes by A. R. Ellis. 2 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.

=BURN (R.) Ancient Rome and its Neighbourhood.= An Illustrated Handbook to the Ruins in the City and the Campagna, for the use of Travellers. By Robert Burn, M.A. With numerous Illustrations, Maps, and Plans. 7_s._ 6_d._

=BURNS (Robert), Life of.= By J. G. Lockhart, D.C.L. A new and enlarged Edition. Revised by William Scott Douglas. 3_s._ 6_d._

=BURTON’S (Robert) Anatomy of Melancholy.= Edited by the Rev. A. R. Shilleto, M.A. With Introduction by A. H. Bullen, and full Index. 3 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.

=BURTON (Sir R. F.) Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah.= By Captain Sir Richard F. Burton, K.C.M.G. With an Introduction by Stanley Lane-Poole, and all the original Illustrations. 2 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.

⁂ This is the copyright edition, containing the author’s latest notes.

=BUTLER’S (Bishop) Analogy of Religion=, Natural and Revealed, to the Constitution and Course of Nature; together with two Dissertations on Personal Identity and on the Nature of Virtue, and Fifteen Sermons. 3_s._ 6_d._

=BUTLER’S (Samuel) Hudibras.= With Variorum Notes, a Biography, Portrait, and 28 Illustrations. 5_s._

---- or, further Illustrated with 60 Outline Portraits. 2 vols. 5_s._ each.

=CÆSAR. Commentaries on the Gallic and Civil Wars.=, Translated by W. A. McDevitte, B.A. 5_s._

=CAMOENS’ Lusiad=; or, the Discovery of India. An Epic Poem. Translated by W. J. Mickle. 5th Edition, revised by E. R. Hodges, M.C.P. 3_s._ 6_d._

=CARLYLE’S French Revolution.= Edited by J. Holland Rose, Litt.D. Illus. 3 vols. 5_s._ each.

---- =Sartor Resartus.= With 75 Illustrations by Edmund J. Sullivan. 5_s._

=CARPENTER’S (Dr. W. B.) Zoology.= Revised Edition, by W. S. Dallas, F. L. S. With very numerous Woodcuts. Vol. I. 6_s._

[_Vol. II. out of print._

=CARPENTER’S Mechanical Philosophy, Astronomy, and Horology.= 181 Woodcuts. 5_s._

---- =Vegetable Physiology and Systematic Botany.= Revised Edition, by E. Lankester, M.D., &c. With very numerous Woodcuts. 6_s._

---- =Animal Physiology.= Revised Edition. With upwards of 300 Woodcuts. 6_s._

=CASTLE (E.) Schools and Masters of Fence=, from the Middle Ages to the End of the Eighteenth Century. By Egerton Castle, M.A., F.S.A. With a Complete Bibliography. Illustrated with 140 Reproductions of Old Engravings and 6 Plates of Swords, showing 114 Examples. 6_s._

=CATTERMOLE’S Evenings at Haddon Hall.= With 24 Engravings on Steel from designs by Cattermole, the Letterpress by the Baroness de Carabella. 5_s._

=CATULLUS, Tibullus, and the Vigil of Venus.= A Literal Prose Translation. 5_s._

=CELLINI (Benvenuto). Memoirs of=, written by Himself. Translated by Thomas Roscoe. 3_s._ 6_d._

=CERVANTES’ Don Quixote de la Mancha.= Motteaux’s Translation revised. 2 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.

---- =Galatea.= A Pastoral Romance. Translated by G. W. J. Gyll. 3_s._ 6_d._

---- =Exemplary Novels.= Translated by Walter K. Kelly. 3_s._ 6_d._

=CHAUCER’S Poetical Works.= Edited by Robert Bell. Revised Edition, with a Preliminary Essay by Prof. W. W. Skeat, M.A. 4 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.

=CHEVREUL on Colour.= Translated from the French by Charles Martel. Third Edition, with Plates, 5_s._; or with an additional series of 16 Plates in Colours, 7_s._ 6_d._

=CHINA, Pictorial, Descriptive, and Historical.= With Map and nearly 100 Illustrations. 5_s._

=CHRONICLES OF THE CRUSADES.= Contemporary Narratives of the Crusade of Richard Cœur de Lion, by Richard of Devizes and Geoffrey de Vinsauf; and of the Crusade at St. Louis, by Lord John de Joinville. 5_s._

=CHRONICLES OF THE TOMBS.= A Collection of Epitaphs by T. J. Pettigrew, F.R.S. 5_s._

=CICERO’S Orations.= Translated by Prof. C. D. Yonge, M.A. 4 vols. 5_s._ each.

---- =Letters.= Translated by Evelyn S. Shuckburgh. 4 vols. 5_s._ each.

---- =On Oratory and Orators.= With Letters to Quintus and Brutus. Translated by the Rev. J. S. Watson, M.A, 5_s._

---- =On the Nature of the Gods=, Divination, Fate, Laws, a Republic, Consulship. Translated by Prof. C. D. Yonge, M.A., and Francis Barham. 5_s._

---- =Academics=, De Finibus, and Tusculan Questions. By Prof. C. D. Yonge, M.A. 5_s._

---- =Offices=; or, Moral Duties. Cato Major, an Essay on Old Age; Lælius, an Essay on Friendship; Scipio’s Dream; Paradoxes; Letter to Quintus on Magistrates. Translated by C. R. Edmonds. 3_s._ 6_d._

=CLARK’S (Hugh) Introduction to Heraldry.= 18th Edition, Revised and Enlarged by J. R. Planché, Rouge Croix. With nearly 1000 Illustrations. 5_s._ Or with the Illustrations Coloured, 15_s._

=CLASSIC TALES=, containing Rasselas, Vicar of Wakefield, Gulliver’s Travels, and The Sentimental Journey. 3_s._ 6_d._

=COLERIDGE’S (S. T.) Friend.= A Series of Essays on Morals, Politics, and Religion. 3_s._ 6_d._

---- =Aids to Reflection=, and the CONFESSIONS OF AN INQUIRING SPIRIT, to which are added the ESSAYS ON FAITH and the BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. 3_s._ 6_d._

---- =Lectures and Notes on Shakespeare and other English Poets.= Edited by T. Ashe. 3_s._ 6_d._

---- =Biographia Literaria=; together with Two Lay Sermons. 3_s._ 6_d._

---- =Biographia Epistolaris.= Edited by Arthur Turnbull. 3_s._ 6_d._

---- =Table-Talk and Omniana.= Edited by T. Ashe, B.A. 3_s._ 6_d._

---- =Miscellanies, Æsthetic and Literary=; to which is added, THE THEORY OF LIFE. Collected and arranged by T. Ashe, B.A. 3_s._ 6_d._

=COMTE’S Positive Philosophy.= Translated and condensed by Harriet Martineau. With Introduction by Frederic Harrison. 3 vols. 5_s._ each.

---- =Philosophy of the Sciences=, being an Exposition of the Principles of the _Cours de Philosophie Positive_. By G. H. Lewes. 5_s._

=CONDÉ’S History of the Dominion of the Arabs in Spain.= Translated by Mrs. Foster. 3 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.

=COOPER’S Biographical Dictionary.= Containing Concise Notices (upwards of 15,000) of Eminent Persons of all Ages and Countries. By Thompson Cooper, F.S.A. With a Supplement, bringing the work down to 1883. 2 vols. 5_s._ each.

=CORNELIUS NEPOS.=--_See_ JUSTIN.

=COXE’S Memoirs of the Duke of Marlborough.= With his original Correspondence. By W. Coxe, M.A., F.R.S. Revised edition by John Wade. 3 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.

---- =History of the House of Austria (1218-1792).= With a Continuation from the Accession of Francis I. to the Revolution of 1848. 4 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.

=CRAIK’S (G. L.) Pursuit of Knowledge under Difficulties.= Illustrated by Anecdotes and Memoirs. Revised edition, with numerous Woodcut Portraits and Plates. 5_s._

=CUNNINGHAM’S Lives of the Most Eminent British Painters.= A New Edition, with Notes and Sixteen fresh Lives. By Mrs. Heaton. 3 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.

=DANTE. Divine Comedy.= Translated by the Rev. H. F. Cary, M.A. New Edition, by M. L. Egerton-Castle. 3_s._ 6_d._

---- =Translated into English Verse= by I. C. Wright, M.A. 3rd Edition, revised. With Portrait, and 34 Illustrations on Steel, after Flaxman.

=DANTE. The Inferno.= A Literal Prose Translation, with the Text of the Original printed on the same page. By John A. Carlyle, M.D. 5_s._

=DE COMMINES (Philip), Memoirs of.= Containing the Histories of Louis XI. and Charles VIII., Kings of France, and Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. Together with the Scandalous Chronicle, or Secret History of Louis XI., by Jean de Troyes. Translated by Andrew R. Scoble. With Portraits. 2 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.

=DEFOE’S Novels and Miscellaneous Works.= With Prefaces and Notes, including those attributed to Sir W. Scott. 7 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.

I.--Captain Singleton, and Colonel Jack.

II.--Memoirs of a Cavalier, Captain Carleton, Dickory Cronke, &c.

III.--Moll Flanders, and the History of the Devil.

IV.--Roxana, and Life of Mrs. Christian Davies.

V.--History of the Great Plague of London, 1665; The Storm (1703); and the True-born Englishman.

VI.--Duncan Campbell, New Voyage round the World, and Political Tracts.

VII.--Robinson Crusoe, 3_s._ 6_d._ Also with 86 Illustrations. 5_s._

=DEMMIN’S History of Arms and Armour=, from the Earliest Period. By Auguste Demmin. Translated by C. C. Black, M.A. With nearly 2000 Illustrations. 7_s._ 6_d._

=DEMOSTHENES’ Orations.= Translated by C. Rann Kennedy. 5 vols. Vol. I., 3_s._ 6_d._; Vols. II.-V., 5_s._ each.

=DE STAËL’S Corinne or Italy.= By Madame de Staël. Translated by Emily Baldwin and Paulina Driver. 3_s._ 6_d._

=DICTIONARY of Latin and Greek Quotations=; including Proverbs, Maxims, Mottoes, Law Terms and Phrases. With all the Quantities marked, and English Translations. With Index Verborum (622 pages). 5_s._

=DICTIONARY of Obsolete and Provincial English.= Compiled by Thomas Wright, M.A., F.S.A., &c. 2 vols. 5_s._ each.

=DIDRON’S Christian Iconography=: a History of Christian Art in the Middle Ages. Translated by E. J. Millington and completed by Margaret Stokes. With 240 Illustrations. 2 vols. 5_s._ each.

=DIOGENES LAERTIUS. Lives and Opinions of the Ancient Philosophers.= Translated by Prof. C. D. Yonge, M.A. 5_s._

=DOBREE’S Adversaria.= Edited by the late Prof. Wagner. 2 vols. 5_s._ each.

=DODD’S Epigrammatists. A Selection= from the Epigrammatic Literature of Ancient, Mediæval, and Modern Times. By the Rev. Henry Philip Dodd, M.A. Oxford. 2nd Edition, revised and enlarged. 6_s._

=DONALDSON’S The Theatre of the Greeks.= A Treatise on the History and Exhibition of the Greek Drama. With numerous Illustrations and 3 Plans. By John William Donaldson, D.D. 5_s._

=DRAPER’S History of the Intellectual Development of Europe.= By John William Draper, M.D., LL.D. 2 vols. 5_s._ each.

=DUNLOP’S History of Fiction.= A new Edition. Revised by Henry Wilson. 2 vols. 5_s._ each.

=DYER’S History of Modern Europe=, from the Fall of Constantinople. 3rd edition, revised and continued to the end of the Nineteenth Century. By Arthur Hassall, M.A. 6 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.

=DYER’S (Dr. T. H.) Pompeii=: its Buildings and Antiquities. By T. H. Dyer, LL.D. With nearly 300 Wood Engravings, a large Map, and a Plan of the Forum. 7_s._ 6_d._

=DYER (T. F. T.) British Popular Customs, Present and Past.= An Account of the various Games and Customs associated with Different Days of the Year in the British Isles, arranged according to the Calendar. By the Rev. T. F. Thiselton Dyer, M.A. 5_s._

=EBERS’ Egyptian Princess.= An Historical Novel. By George Ebers. Translated by E. S. Buchheim. 3_s._ 6_d._

=EDGEWORTH’S Stories for Children.= With 8 Illustrations by L. Speed. 3_s._ 6_d._

=ELZE’S William Shakespeare.=--_See_ SHAKESPEARE.

=EMERSON’S Works.= 5 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.

I.--Essays and Representative Men.

II.--English Traits, Nature, and Conduct of Life.

III.--Society and Solitude--Letters and Social Aims--Addresses.

IV.--Miscellaneous Pieces.

V.--Poems.

=EPICTETUS, The Discourses of.= With the ENCHEIRIDION and Fragments. Translated by George Long, M.A. 5_s._

=EURIPIDES.= A New Literal Translation in Prose. By E. P. Coleridge, M.A. 2 vols. 5_s._ each.

=EUTROPIUS.=--_See_ JUSTIN.

=EUSEBIUS PAMPHILUS, Ecclesiastical History of.= Translated by Rev. C. F. Cruse, M.A. 5_s._

=EVELYN’S Diary and Correspondence.= Edited from the Original MSS. by W. Bray, F.A.S. With 45 engravings. 4 vols. 5_s._ each.

=FAIRHOLT’S Costume in England.= A History of Dress to the end of the Eighteenth Century. 3rd Edition, revised, by Viscount Dillon, V.P.S.A. Illustrated with above 700 Engravings. 2 vols. 5_s._ each.

=FIELDING’S Adventures of Joseph Andrews and his Friend Mr. Abraham Adams.= With Cruikshank’s Illustrations. 3_s._ 6_d._

---- =History of Tom Jones, a Foundling.= With Cruikshank’s Illustrations. 2 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.

---- =Amelia.= With Cruikshank’s Illustrations. 5_s._

=FLAXMAN’S Lectures on Sculpture.= By John Flaxman, R.A. With Portrait and 53 Plates. 6_s._

=FOSTER’S (John) Essays=: on Decision of Character; on a Man’s writing Memoirs of Himself; on the epithet Romantic; on the aversion of Men of Taste to Evangelical Religion. 3_s._ 6_d._

---- =Essays= on the Evils of Popular Ignorance; to which is added, a Discourse on the Propagation of Christianity in India. 3_s._ 6_d._

---- =Essays= on the Improvement of Time. With NOTES OF SERMONS and other Pieces. 3_s._ 6_d._

=GASPARY’S History of Italian Literature to the Death of Dante.= Translated by Herman Oelsner, M.A., Ph.D. 3_s._ 6_d._

=GEOFFREY OF MONMOUTH, Chronicle of.=--_See Old English Chronicles._

=GESTA ROMANORUM=, or Entertaining Moral Stories invented by the Monks. Translated by the Rev. Charles Swan. Revised Edition, by Wynnard Hooper, B.A. 5_s._

=GILDAS, Chronicles of.=--_See Old English Chronicles._

=GIBBON’S Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.= Complete and Unabridged, with Variorum Notes. Edited by an English Churchman. With 2 Maps and Portrait. 7 vols. 3_s._ 6_d._ each.

=GILBART’S History, Principles, and Practice of Banking.= By the late J. W. Gilbart, F.R.S. New Edition (1907), revised by Ernest Sykes. 2 vols. 5_s._ each.

=GIL BLAS, The Adventures of.= Translated from the French of Lesage by Smollett. With 24 Engravings on Steel, after Smirke, and 10 Etchings by George Cruikshank. 6_s._

=GIRALDUS CAMBRENSIS’ Historical Works.= Translated by Th. Forester, M.A., and Sir R. Colt Hoare. Revised Edition, Edited by Thomas Wright, M.A., F.S.A. 5_s._

=GOETHE’S Faust.=