A Righte Merrie Christmasse Part 26

One more extract, to show about what time it became popular, and I have done. It is from _Mary Howitt, an Autobiography_ (vol. i. 298).

"Our practical knowledge of the Christmas tree was gained in this first winter at Heidelberg. Universal as the custom now is, I believe the earliest knowledge which the English public had of it was through Coleridge in his _Biographia Literaria_. It had, at the time I am writing of--1840--been introduced into Manchester by some of the German merchants established there. Our Queen and Prince Albert likewise celebrated the festival with its beautiful old German customs. Thus the fas.h.i.+on spread, until now even our asylums, schools, and workhouses have, through friends and benefactors, each its Christmas tree."

Another pretty Christ-tide custom has also come to us from Germany, that of putting presents into stockings left out for the purpose whilst the children sleep on Christmas eve. St. Nicholas (or Santa Claus, as he is now called), the patron of children, ought to get the credit of it. In America the presents are supposed to be brought by a fabulous personage called _Krishkinkle_, who is believed to come down the chimney laden with good things for those children whose conduct had been exemplary during the past year; for peccant babies the stocking held a birch rod. _Krishkinkle_ is a corruption of _Christ-kindlein_ or Child Christ.

There are some very curious tenures of lands and manors connected with Christmas which must not be pa.s.sed over. I have taken them from Blount's book on the subject, as being the best authority.

BONDBY, Lincolns.h.i.+re.--Sir Edward Botiler, knight, and Ann, his wife, sister and heir of Hugh le Despencer, hold the manor of Bondby, in the county of Lincoln, by the service of bearing a white rod before our Lord the King on the Feast of Christmas, if the King should be in that county at the said feast.

BRIDSHALL, Staffords.h.i.+re.--Sir Philip de Somerville, knight, holdeth of his lord, the Earl of Lancaster, the manor of Briddeshalle by these services, that at such time as his lord holdeth his Christmas at Tutbury, the said Sir Philip shall come to Tutbury upon Christmas Even, and shall be lodged in the town of Tutbury, by the marshal of the Earl's house, and upon Christmas Day he himself, or some other knight, his deputy, shall go to the dresser, and shall sew[82] his lord's mess, and then shall he carve the same meat to his said lord, and this service shall he do as well at supper as at dinner, and, when his lord hath eaten, the said Sir Philip shall sit down in the same place where his lord sat, and shall be served at his table by the steward of the Earl's house. And upon St. Stephen's day, when he hath dined, he shall take his leave of his lord and shall kiss him; and all these services to-fore rehea.r.s.ed, the said Philip hath done by the s.p.a.ce of xlviii years, and his ancestors before him, to his lords, Earls of Lancaster.

[Footnote 82: Place the dishes before him, and remove them.]

BRIMINGTON, Derbys.h.i.+re.--Geoffery, son of William de Brimington, gave, granted, and confirmed to Peter, son of Hugh de Brimington, one toft with the buildings, and three acres of land in the fields there, with twenty pence yearly rent, which he used to receive of Thomas, son of Gilbert de Bosco, with the homages, etc., rendering yearly to him and his heirs a pair of white gloves, of the price of a halfpenny, at Christmas yearly, for all services.

BROOK HOUSE, Yorks.h.i.+re.--A farm at Langsett, in the parish of p.e.n.i.ston and county of York, pays yearly to G.o.dfrey Bosville, Esqre., a s...o...b..ll at Midsummer, and a red rose at Christmas.

BURGE, Derbys.h.i.+re.--Hugh, son and heir of Philip de Stredley, made fine with the King by two marks for his relief for the Mill of Burge, in the county of Derby, which the said Philip held of the King _in capite_, by the service of finding one man bearing a heron falcon, every year in season, before the King, when he should be summoned, and to take for performing the said service, at the cost of the King, two robes at Whitsuntide and Christmas.

GREENS-NORTON, Northamptons.h.i.+re.--This, so named of the Greens (persons famed in the sixteenth century for their wealth), called before Norton-Dauncy, was held of the King _in capite_ by the service of lifting up their right hands towards the King yearly, on Christmas day, wheresoever the King should then be in England.

HAWARDEN AND BOSELE, Ches.h.i.+re.--The manors of Hawarden and Bosele, with the appurtenances in the county of Ches.h.i.+re, are held of the King _in capite_ by Robert de Monhault, Earl of Arundel, by being steward of the county of Ches.h.i.+re, _viz._ by the service of setting down the first dish before the Earl of Chester at Chester on Christmas day.

HEDSOR, Bucks.--An estate in this parish, called Lambert Farm, was formerly held under the manor by the service of bringing in the first dish at the lord's table on St. Stephen's day, and presenting him with two hens, a c.o.c.k, a gallon of ale, and two manchets of white bread; after dinner the lord delivered to the tenant a sparrow hawk and a couple of spaniels, to be kept at his costs and charges for the lord's use.

HEMINGSTON, Suffolk.--Rowland le Sarcere held one hundred and ten acres of land in Hemingston by serjeanty; for which, on Christmas day every year, before our sovereign lord the King of England, he should perform altogether, and at once, a leap, puff up his cheeks, therewith making a sound, and let a crack.

LEVINGTON, Yorks.h.i.+re.--Adam de Bras, lord of Skelton, gave in marriage with his daughter Isabel, to Henry de Percy, eldest son and heir of Joceline de Lovain (ancestor to the present Duke of Northumberland), the manor of Levington, for which he and his heirs were to repair to Skelton Castle every Christmas day, and lead the lady of that castle from her chamber to the chapel to ma.s.s, and thence to her chamber again, and after dining with her, to depart.

REDWORTH, Co. Durham.--In the fourth year of Bishop Skirlawe, 1391, John de Redworth died, seised in his demesne, &c. of two messuages and twenty-six acres of land and meadow, with the appurtenances, in Redworth, held of the said Lord Bishop _in capite_ by homage and fealty, and the service of four s.h.i.+llings and ten pence a year, to be paid at the Exchequer at Durham, and the rent of one hen and two parts of a hen to be paid at the same Exchequer yearly at Christmas.

STAMFORD, Lincolns.h.i.+re.--William, Earl Warren, lord of this town in the time of King John, standing upon the castle walls, saw two bulls fighting for a cow in the Castle Meadow, till all the butchers' dogs pursued one of the bulls (maddened with noise and mult.i.tude) clean through the town. This sight so pleased the Earl that he gave the Castle Meadow, where the bulls' duel had begun, for a common to the butchers of the town, after the first gra.s.s was mown, on condition that they should find a mad bull the day six weeks before Christmas day, for the continuance of the sport for ever.

THURGARTON AND HORSEPOLL, Notts.--The tenants of these manors held their lands by these customs and services. Every native and villein (which were such as we call husbandmen) paid each a c.o.c.k and a hen, besides a small rent in money, for a toft and one bovate of land, held of the Priory of Thurgarton. These c.o.c.ks and hens were paid the second day in Christmas, and that day every one, both cottagers and natives, dined in the hall; and those who did not had a white loaf and a flagon of ale, with one mess from the kitchen. And all the reapers in harvest, which were called hallewimen, were to eat in the hall one day in Christmas, or afterwards, at the discretion of the cellarer.

There is a curious custom still carried out at Queen's College, Oxford. On the feast of the Circ.u.mcision the bursar gives to every member a needle and thread, adding the injunction, "Take this and be thrifty." It is said, I know not with what truth, that it is to commemorate the name of the founder, Robert Egglesfield--by the visible pun, _aiguille_ (needle) and _fil_ (thread).

CHAPTER XXV

Christ-tide Literature--Christmas Cards--Their Origin--Lamplighter's Verses--Watchman's Verses--Christmas Pieces.

The literature specially designed nowadays for Christmas reading is certainly not of a high order, whether we take books--which are issued at this time by the hundred--or the special numbers of magazines and newspapers, all of which have rubbis.h.i.+ng stories with some tag in them relating to Christ-tide. Tales of ghosts, etc., were at one time very fas.h.i.+onable, and even d.i.c.kens pandered to this miserable style of writing, not enhancing his reputation thereby.

Akin in merit to this literature are the mottoes we find in the _bon bon_ crackers, and the verses on Christmas cards, which are on a par with those which adorned the defunct valentine. When first Christmas cards came into vogue they were expensive and comparatively good; now they are simply rubbish, and generally have no allusion either in the design, or doggrel to Christ-tide, to which they owe their existence.

Their origin was thoroughly threshed out in _Notes and Queries_, and I give the correspondence thereon (6th series, v. 155).

"Christmas cards were first published and issued from Summerly's _Home Treasury_ Office, 12 Old Bond Street, in the year 1846. The design was drawn by J.C. Horsley, R.A., at the suggestion of Sir Henry Cole, K.C.B., and carried out by De la Rue and Co."

(_Ib._ 376) "Mr. Platt is somewhat in error in stating that the first Christmas card was carried out by De la Rue and Co. This firm republished it last year (1881) in chromo-lithography, but in 1846 it was produced in outline by lithography, and coloured by hand by a colourer of that time named Mason, when it could not have been sold for less than a s.h.i.+lling. Last year chromo-lithography enabled it to be produced for two pence. The original publisher was Mr. Joseph Cundall. It may be well to place the design on record. A trellis of rustic work in the Germanesque style divided the card into a centre and two side panels. The sides were filled by representations of the feeding of the hungry and the clothing of the naked; in the central compartment a family party was shown at table--an old man and woman, a maiden and her young man, and several children,--and they were pictured drinking healths in wine. On this ground certain total abstainers have called in question the morality of Mr. Horsley's design."

_The Publishers' Circular_, 31st December 1883 (p. 1432), says: "Several years ago, in the Christmas number of _The Publishers'

Circular_, we described the original Christmas card, designed by Mr.

J.C. Horsley, R.A., at the suggestion of Sir Henry Cole, and no contradiction was then offered to our theory that this must have been the real and original card. On Thursday, however, Mr. John Leighton, writing under his _nom de plume_, 'Luke Limner,' comes forward to contest the claim of priority of design, and says: 'Occasional cards of a purely private character have been done years ago, but the Christmas card pure and simple is the growth of our town and our time.

It began in 1862, the first attempts being the size of the ordinary gentleman's address card, on which were simply put "A Merry Christmas"

and "A Happy New Year"; after that there came to be added robins and holly branches, embossed figures and landscapes. Having made the original designs for these, I have the originals before me now; they were produced by Goodall and Son. Seeing a growing want, and the great sale obtained abroad, this house produced (1868) a "Little Red Riding Hood," a "Hermit and his Cell," and many other subjects in which snow and the robin played a part.' We fail to see how a card issued in 1862 can ante-date the production of 1846, a copy of which is in our possession; and although there is no copyright in an idea, the t.i.tle to the honour of originating the pretty trifle now so familiar to us seems to rest with Sir Henry Cole."

_The Times_ of 2nd January 1884 has the following letter:--

"SIR--The writer of the article on Christmas Cards in _The Times_ of December 25th is quite right in his a.s.sertion. The first Christmas card ever published was issued by me in the usual way, in the year 1846, at the office of _Felix Summerly's Home Treasury_, at 12 Old Bond Street. Mr. Henry Cole (afterwards Sir Henry) originated the idea. The drawing was made by J.C. Horsley, R.A.; it was printed in lithography by Mr. Jobbins of Warwick Court, Holborn, and coloured by hand. Many copies were sold, but possibly not more than 1000. It was of the usual size of a lady's card. Those my friend Luke Limner speaks of were not brought out, as he says, till many years after.--JOSEPH CUNDALL."

As works of art--compared with the majority of Christmas cards, which are mostly "made in Germany"--the card almanacs presented by tradesmen to their customers are generally of a very superior character.

In the old days, when there were oil lamps in the streets, the lamplighter, like the bellman and the watchman, used annually at Christmas to leave some verses at every house to remind its occupier that Boxing day drew nigh. One example will suffice, and its date is 1758:--

THE LAMPLIGHTER'S POEM:

Humbly Presented to all His worthy Masters and Mistresses.

_Compos'd by a Lamplighter._

Revolving Time another Gla.s.s has run, Since I, last year, this Annual Task begun, And Christmas now beginning to appear (Which never comes, you know, but once a year), I have presum'd to bring my Mite once more, Which, tho' it be but small, is all my Store; And I don't doubt you'll take it in good Part, As 'tis the Tribute of a grateful Heart.

Brave Prussia's king, that true Protestant Prince, For Valour Fam'd, endow'd with Martial Sense; Against three mighty Potentates did stand, Who would have plundered him of all his Land: But G.o.d, who knew his Cause was Just and Right, Gave him such Courage and Success in Fight: Born to oppose the Pope's malignant clan, He'll do whatever Prince or Hero can; Retrieve that martial Fame by Britons lost, And prove that Faith which graceless Christians boast.

O! make his Cause, ye Powers above! your Care; Let Guilt shrink back, and Innocence appear.

But, now, with State Affairs I must have done, And to the Business of my Lamps must run; When Sun and Moon from you do hide their Head, Your busy Streets with artful Lights are spread, And gives you Light with great indulgent Care, Makes the dark Night like the bright Day appear; Then we poor useful Mortals nimbly run To light your Lamps before the Day is gone: With strictest Care, we to each Lamp give Fire, The longest Night to burn: you do require Of us to make each Lamp to burn that time, But, oft, we do fall short of that Design: Sometimes a Lamp goes out at Master's Door, This happens once which ne'er did so before: The Lamp-man's blamed, and ask'd the reason why That should go out, and others burning by?

Kind, worthy Sirs, if I may be so bold, A truer Tale to you was never told; We trim, we give each Lamp their Oil alike, Yet some goes out, while others keep alight: Why they do so, to you we can't explain, It ne'er did sink into our shallow Brain: Nor have we heard that any one could tell, That secret Place where Life of Fire does dwell, Such various Motions in it we do find, And a hard Task with it to please Mankind.

Now, our kind Master, who Contractor is, If a Complaint he hears of Lamps amiss, With strictest Care the Streets looks round about, And views the Lamps, takes Notice which are out; Then, in great Fury, he to us replies, Such Lamps were out, why have I all this Noise?

Go fetch those Burners all down here to me, That where the Fault is I may plainly see: Then straight he views them, with Remains of Oil, Crys, ah! I thought you did these Lamps beguile; But now the thing I do more plainly see, The Burning Oil is a great Mystery: Then come, my Boys, to work, make no delay, Keep from Complaints, if possible you may; Clean well each Gla.s.s, I'll spare for no Expence Where I contract, to please th' Inhabitants.

Since Time still flies, and Life is but a Vapour, 'Tis now high time that I conclude my Paper, And, if my Verses have the Luck to Please, My Mind will be exceedingly at ease; But, if this shouldn't Please, I know what will, And that's with Diligence to serve you still.

FINIS.

Hone, in his _Every-Day Book_ (vol. i. p. 1627), gives, date 1823:--

A COPY OF CHRISTMAS VERSES,

presented to the

INHABITANTS OF BUNGAY

By their Humble Servants, the late Watchmen,

JOHN PYE and JOHN TYE.

Your pardon, Gentles, while we thus implore, In strains not less _awakening_ than of yore, Those smiles we deem our best reward to catch, And, for the which, we've long been on the _Watch_; Well pleas'd if we that recompence obtain, Which we have ta'en so many _steps_ to gain.

Think of the perils in our _calling past_, The chilling coldness of the midnight blast, The beating rain, the swiftly-driving snow, The various ills that we must undergo, Who roam, the glow-worms of the human race, The living Jack-a-Lanthorns of the place.

'Tis said by some, perchance to mock our toil, That we are p.r.o.ne to "_waste the midnight oil_!"