Sir Thomas Overbury, who died in 1613, in his description of a Franklin, says, he kept the “wakefull ketches” on Christmas Eve, with other observances, yet held them no relics of popery; other writers of the same age also refer to them. As the rule of the puritans advanced, and the time of the Commonwealth approached, endeavours were made, as stated in a former page, to suppress all observances of Christmas; and carol singing would naturally share the same fate, and join therefore in the struggle to avoid absolute destruction. In ‘Festorum Metropolis,’ 1652, it is stated, “As for our songs and carrols, brethren, they are collected and composed out of the Scriptures, containe matter of instruction and edification, they implant the history and benefits of Christ’s birth in the minds of poor ignorant people; and oftentimes he is taken by a song that will flye a sermon.” They were still preserved in private, and in remote places, and old Christmas, in his visit to Devonshire, before mentioned, names the carols and pleasant songs as part of the amusements of the evening. Warmstry, also, in his ‘Vindication of Christmas,’ in answer to an objection, whether the feast might not be a remnant of the Saturnalia, and whether the carols might not arise from the hymn to Ceres, during that feast called [Greek: ioulos], says “_Christmasse Kariles_, if they be such as are fit for the time, and of holy and sober composures, and used with Christian sobriety and piety, they are not unlawfull, and may be profitable, if they be sung with grace in the heart.” An observation that may well be remembered in the present times, in answer to any objectors. Warton mentions two celebrated itinerant ballad, and therefore doubtless carol, singers, about the middle of this century, called Outroaringe Dick and Wat Wimbars, who occasionally made 20_s._ a day, by attending fairs and meetings; but they must have been of earlier date, as they are mentioned also in ‘Kind Hart’s Dreame,’ by Henry Chettle, in 1592; their gains, therefore, taking into account the difference of value in money, were large, and such as would tempt many a modern carol-singer, as well as some members of a recently reformed learned profession, anxiously looking for any respectable life-boat to save them from sinking. After the Restoration, the people gladly returned to their amusements without restraint, and from the reaction, in many instances perhaps, went into the opposite extreme and indulged in too much conviviality. Carol singing was renewed with increased zeal. “Carols and not minc’d meat make Christmas pies, ’Tis mirth, not dishes, sets a table off; Brutes and phanaticks eat and never laugh.”