Of the manners of the time we have abundant sources of information. An interesting description is given by Grose of the little country squire of about 300_l._ a year in Queen Anne’s days:-- He never played at cards but at Christmas, when a family pack was produced from the mantel-piece. His chief drink, the year round, was generally ale, except at this season, the fifth of November, or some other gala days, when he would make a bowl of strong brandy-punch, garnished with a toast and nutmeg.... In the corner of his hall, by the fireside, stood a large wooden two-armed chair with a cushion, and within the chimney corner were a couple of seats. Here at Christmas he entertained his tenants, assembled round a glowing fire.... In the meantime the jorum of ale was in continual circulation.[187] But Christmas was not what it had been. It struggled, almost in vain, to overcome the check it had sustained during the Commonwealth. Private hospitality and festivities were recovering, but the pageants and masks in the royal household and at the Inns of Court had received a death-blow. At the close of the century, a revel, which would once have been regarded as routine, was thought worthy to be recorded in a diary. Evelyn notes a riotous Christmas at the Inner Temple as late as 1697. Such a falling off formed a common lament of the poets:-- Gone are those golden days of yore, When Christmas was a high day; Whose sports we now shall see no more, ‘Tis turn’d into Good Friday.[188] To the same effect:-- Black jacks to every man Were filled with wine and beer; No pewter pot nor can In those days did appear. Good cheer in a nobleman’s house Was counted a seemly show; We wanted no brawn nor souse, When this old cap was new.[189] Perhaps the most sensible festivities of this period were certain annual feasts in London for natives of the several counties. The _London Gazette_, for May 30 to June 3, 1700, advertises ‘the annual feast for gentlemen of the county of Huntingdon.’ Another number announces ‘the anniversary feast for the gentlemen, natives of the county of Kent.’ On such occasions, bygone times would be recounted, mutual friends discussed, and the absent not forgotten in a _toast_.