were surrounded by ranks, six or more in depth, consisting of tall, brawny, fierce-visaged men, covered with crimson or purple velvet bonnets, and nodding plumes of the eagle and the hawk, or branches of pine, yew, oak, fern, box-wood, or flowering heath. Their jerkins were always of a hue that might attract the eye of ladies in the bower, or serving-damsels at the washing-green. They had breeches of immense capacity, so padded or stuffed as to make each man occupy the space of five, in their natural proportions; and in this seeming soft raiment they concealed weapons of defence or offence, with which to arm themselves and the bodyguard, if occasion called for resistance. To appearance, they had no object but careless sport and glee, some playing on the Scottish harp, others blowing the bagpipes, or beating targets for drums, or jingling bells. Whenever the procession halted, they danced, flourishing about the banners of their leader. The exterior bands, perhaps, represented in dumb show, or pantomime, the actions of warriors, or the wildest buffoonery; and these were followed by crowds, who, with all the grimaces and phrases of waggery, solicited money or garniture from the nobles and gentry that came to gaze upon them. Wherever they appeared multitudes joined them; some for the sake of jollity, and not a few to have their fate predicted by spae-wives, warlocks, and interpreters of dreams, who invariably were found in the train of the Abbot of Unreason." In England, not only were these merry monarchs appointed over the revelries of the great and the opulent, but--as of most of the forms of amusement over which he presided,—so of the president himself, we find a rude imitation, in the Christmas celebrations of the commonalty. Nor was the practice confined to towns; or left exclusively in the hands of corporate or public bodies. The quotation which we have already made from Stubs's "Anatomie of Abuses," refers to a rustic Lord of Misrule: and, while the antics which took place, under his governance, do not seem to have risen much above the performances of the morrisdancers, the gaudiness of the tinsel attire paraded by him and his band, forms an excellent burlesque of the more costly finery of their superiors. Nay the amusements, themselves, exhibit nearly as much wisdom as those of the court, with less of pretension; and, we dare say, created a great deal more fun at a far less cost. As to the Scottish practices, our readers will not fail to observe, from our last quotation, that the lordly Abbot and his train were little better than a set of morris-dancers themselves; and that so much of their practices as was innocent differed nothing from those which Stubs and his brother puritans deemed so ridiculous in a set of parish revellers. In fact, the Lord of Misrule seems to have set himself up all over the land; and many a village had its Master Simon, who took care that the sports should not languish for want of that unity of purpose and concentration of mirth, to which some directing authority is so essential. We have already stated,—and have made it quite apparent, in our descriptions,—that the Christmas celebrations of the more exalted classes are not put forward for the consideration of our readers, on the ground of any great wisdom in the matter, or humor in the manner, of those celebrations, themselves. But we claim for them serious veneration, in right of the excellence of the spirit in which they originated, and the excellence of the result which they produced. The very extravagance of the court pageantries, their profuse expenditure, and grotesque displays,--were so many evidences of the hearty reception which was given to the season, in the highest places-and so many conspicuous sanctions, under which the spirit of unrestrained rejoicing made its appeals, in the lowest. This ancient festival of all ranks, consecrated by all religious feelings and all moral influences—this privileged season of the lowly-this sabbath of the poor man's year was recognized, by his superiors, with high observance, and honored by his governors with ceremonious state. The mirth of the humble and uneducated man received no check, from the assumption of an unseasonable gravity, or ungenerous reserve, on the part of those with whom fortune had dealt more kindly, and to whom knowledge had opened her stores. The moral effect of all this was of the most valuable kind. Nothing so much promotes a reciprocal kindliness of feeling as a community of enjoyment:—and the bond of good will was thus drawn tighter between those remote classes, whose differences of privilege, of education, and of pursuit, are perpetuaily operating to loosen it, and threatening to dissolve it altogether. There was a great deal of wis dom in all this; and the result was well worth producing, even at the cost of much more folly than our ancestors expended on it. We deny that spectacles and a wig are the inseparable symbols of sapience and we hold that portion of the world to be greatly mistaken which supposes that wisdom may not occasionally put on the cap and bells,--and, under that disguise, be wisdom still! The ancient custom which made what was called a fool, a part of the establishment of princes, and gave him a right, in virtue of his bauble, to teach many a wise lesson and utter many a wholesome truth, besides its practical utility, contained as excellent a moral, and was conceived in as deep a spirit, as the still more ancient one of the skeleton at a feast. "Cucullus non facit monachum," says one of those privileged gentry,-in the pages of one who, we are sure, could have enacted a Christmas foolery, with the most foolish; and yet had "sounded all the depths and shallows" of the human mind, and was himself the wisest of modern men.- -"Better a witty fool than a foolish wit." There is a long stride from the wisdom of that sneering philosopher who laughed at his fellows, to his who, on proper occasions, can laugh with them—and, in spite of all that modern philosophy may say to the contrary, there was, in the very extravagance of Coke and Hatton, and other lawyers and statesmen of past times,-if they aimed at such a result as that which we have mentioned, and in so far as they contributed thereto,—more real wisdom than all which they enunciated in their more solemn moods, or have put upon record in their books of the law. In the same excellent spirit, too, everything was done that could assist in promoting the same valuable effect:and, while the pageantries which were prepared by the court, and by other governing bodies, furnished a portion of the entertainments by which the populace tasted the season in towns, and sanctioned the rest :-care was taken, in many ways, that the festival should be spread over the country, and provision made for its maintenance in places more secluded and remote. A set of arrangements sprang up, which left no man without their influence; and, figuratively and literally, the crumbs from the table of the rich man's festival were abundantly enjoyed by the veriest beggar at his gate. The kindly spirit of Boaz was abroad in all the land; and every Ruth had leave to "eat of the bread, and dip her morsel in the vinegar." At that great harvest of rejoicing, all men were suffered to glean ; and they with whom, at most other seasons, the world had "dealt very bitterly," whose names were Mara, and who eat sparingly of the bread of toil-gleaned, "even among its sheaves," and no man reproached them. The old English gentleman, like the generous Bethlehemite, in the beautiful story, even scattered that the poor might gather; and "commanded his young men, saying, * * * let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for them, and leave them, that they may glean them, and rebuke them not :”—and the prayer of many a Naomi went up, in answer,-" blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee;"—" blessed be he of the Lord!" In a word, the blaze of royal and noble celebration was as a great beacon to the land, seen afar off by those who could not share in its warmth, or sit under the influence of its immediate inspirations. But it was answered from every hill-top, and repeated in every valley, of England; and each man flung the Yule log, on his own fire, at the cheering signal. The hearth, according to Aubrey, at the first introduction of coals, was usually in the middle of the room; and he derives from thence the origin of the saying, "Round about our coal fire." But whether the huge faggot cracked and flustered within those merry circles, or flared and roared up the ample chimneys,-all social feelings, and all beautiful superstitions and old traditions, and local observances, awoke at the blaze; and, from their thousand hiding places, crept out the customs and ceremonials which crowd this festal period of the year, and of which it is high time that we should proceed to give an account, in these pages. The charmed log that (duly lighted with the last year's brand, which, as we learn from Herrick, was essential to its virtue), scared away all evil spiritsattracted all beneficent ones. The 'squire sat, in the midst of his tenants, as a patriarch might amid his family; and appears to have had no less reverence, though he compounded the wassail-bowl with his own hands, and shared it with the meanest of his dependents. The little book from which we have more than once quoted, by the title of "Round about our Coal-fire," furnishes us with an example of this reverence, too ludicrous to be omitted. Its writer tells us that if the 'squire had occasion to ask one of his neighbors what o'clock it was, he received for answer, a profound bow, and an assurance that it was what o'clock his worship pleased; an answer, no doubt, indicative of profound respect, but not calculated to convey much useful information to the inquirer. In fine, however, while the glad spirit of the season covered the land, hospitality and harmony were everywhere a portion of that spirit. The light of a common festival shone, for once, upon the palace and the cottage; and the chain of an universal sympathy descended unbroken, through all ranks, from the prince to the peasant and the beggar. "The damsel donned her kirtle sheen; And ceremony doffed his pride. Those nights might village partner chuse; The vulgar game of 'post-and-pair.' * The fire with well-dried logs supplied, Went roaring up the chimney wide; Scrubbed till it shone, the time to grace, Bore then upon its massive board By old blue-coated serving-man; Then the grim boar's head frowned on high, Well can the green-garbed ranger tell, And all the batings of the boar. |