Christmas: Its Origin and Associations: Together with Its Historical Events and Festive Celebrations During Nineteen CenturiesDawson, W. F. (William Francis)
History
Christmas: Its Origin and Associations: Together with Its Historical Events and Festive Celebrations During Nineteen Centuries
Dawson, W. F. (William Francis)
Christmas -- History
The earliest particular account of the regulations for conducting one
of these grand Christmases is in the 9th of Henry VIII.,[48] when,
besides the King for Christmas Day, the Marshal and the Master of the
Revels, it is ordered that the King of Cockneys, on Childermas Day,
should sit and have due service, and "that Jack Straw, and all his
adherents, should be thenceforth utterly banished, and no more to be
used in this house, upon pain to forfeit for every time five pounds,
to be levied on every fellow hapning to offend against this rule."
"Jack Straw" was a kind of masque, which was very much disliked by the
aristocratic and elder part of the community, hence the amount of the
fine imposed. The Society of Gray's Inn, however, in 1527, got into a
worse scrape than permitting Jack Straw and his adherents, for they
acted a play (the first on record at the Inns of Court) during this
Christmas, the effect whereof was, that Lord Governance was ruled by
Dissipation and Negligence, by whose evil order Lady Public Weal was
put from Governance. Cardinal Wolsey, conscience-smitten, thought this
to be a reflection on himself, and deprived the author, Sergeant Roe,
of his coif, and committed him to the Fleet, together with Thomas
Moyle, one of the actors, until it was satisfactorily explained to
him.
It was found necessary from time to time to make regulations to limit
the extent of these revels and plays, and to provide for the expenses,
which were considerable, and they were therefore not performed every
year. In 1531 the Lincoln's Inn Society agreed that if the two Temples
kept Christmas, they would also do so, not liking to be outdone. And
later an order was made in Gray's Inn that no Comedies, commonly
called Interludes, should be acted in the refectory in the intervals
of vacation, except at the celebration of Christmas; and that then the
whole body of students should jointly contribute towards the dresses,
scenes, and decorations.
As an example of the Christmas hospitality of the period, we refer to
the establishment of John Carminow, whose family was of high repute in
the county of Cornwall in the time of Henry the Eighth. Hals says that
"he kept open house for all comers and goers, drinkers, minstrells,
dancers, and what not, during the Christmas time, and that his usual
allowance of provision for those twelve days, was twelve fat bullocks,
twenty Cornish bushels of wheat (_i.e._, fifty Winchesters),
thirty-six sheep, with hogs, lambs, and fowls of all sort, and drink
made of wheat and oat-malt proportionable; for at that time
barley-malt was little known or used in those parts."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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