A Righte Merrie Christmasse: The Story of Christ-TideAshton, John
History
A Righte Merrie Christmasse: The Story of Christ-Tide
Ashton, John
Christmas -- History
However the queen was better next year, and "In this yeare the king
kept his Christmasse at Greenewich, where was such abundance of viands
served to all comers of anie honest behaviour, as hath beene few times
seene. And against New Yeeres night was made in the hall a castell,
gates, towers, and dungeon, garnished with artillerie and weapon,
after the most warlike fashion: and on the front of the castell was
written _Le forteresse dangereux_, and, within the castell were six
ladies cloathed in russet sattin, laid all over with leaves of gold,
and everie one knit with laces of blew silke and gold. On their heads,
coifs and caps all of gold. After this castell had beene caried about
the hall, and the queene had beheld it, in came the king with five
other, apparelled in coats, the one half of russet sattin, the other
halfe of rich cloth of gold; on their heads caps of russet sattin
embrodered with works of fine gold bullion.
"These six assaulted the castell. The ladies seeing them so lustie and
couragious, were content to solace with them, and upon further
communication to yeeld the castell, and so they came downe and dansed
a long space. And after, the ladies led the knights into the castell,
and then the castell suddenlie vanished out of their sights. On the
daie of the Epiphanie at night, the king, with eleven other, were
disguised, after the manner of Italie; called a maske, a thing not
seene before, in England; they were apparelled in garments long and
broad, wrought all with gold, with visors and caps of gold. And, after
the banket done, these maskers came in, with six gentlemen disguised
in silke, bearing staffe torches, and desired the ladies to danse:
some were content, and some refused. And, after they had dansed, and
communed togither, as the fashion of the maske is, they tooke their
leave and departed, and so did the queene and all the ladies."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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