PART 2: Excerpts from "Keeping Christmas at Bracebridge Hall" by Washington Irving
Written in 1820 as a “series of sketches of rural England...with descriptions of rustic customs, and above all of the hearty keeping of Christmas in an old country house...in which the author introduces his readers in so charming a way to the old Yorkshire Hall and his imaginary Christmas visit there.”
When I woke the next morning...I heard the sound of little feet pattering outside of the door, and a whispering consultation. Presently a choir of small voices chanted forth an old Christmas carol, the burden of which was:
Rejoice, our Saviour he was born
On Christmas day in the morning.
I rose softly, slipped on my clothes, opened the door suddenly, and beheld one of the most beautiful little fairy groups that a painter could imagine. It consisted of a boy and two girls, the eldest not more than six, and lovely as seraphs. They were going the rounds of the house, and singing at every chamber door...
The house was surrounded with evergreens, according to the English custom, which would have given almost an appearance of summer; but the morning was extremely frosty; the light vapour of the preceding evening had been precipitated by the cold, and covered all the trees and every blade of grass with its fine crystallisations.
I had scarcely dressed myself, when a servant appeared to invite me to family prayers. He showed me the way to a small chapel in the old wing of the House. The service was followed by a Christmas carol, which Mr Bracebridge himself had constructed from a poem of his favourite author, Herrick ; and it had been adapted to an old church melody by Master Simon.
Our breakfast consisted of what the squire denominated true old English fare...some tea and toast...though he admitted them to his table to suit the palates of his guests, yet there was a brave display of cold meats, wine, and ale on the sideboard.
...We heard the distant toll of the village bell, and I was told that the squire was a little particular in having his household at church on a Christmas morning; considering it a day of pouring out of thanks and rejoicing ; for, as old Tusser observed,
"At Christmas be merry, and thankful withal
And feast thy poor neighbours, the great with the small."
The parson gave us a most erudite sermon on the rites and ceremonies of Christmas, and the propriety of observing it not merely as a day of thanksgiving, but of rejoicing;...having, in the course of his researches on the subject of Christmas, got completely embroiled in the sectarian controversies of the Revolution, when the Puritans made such a fierce assault upon the ceremonies of the church, and poor old Christmas was driven out of the land by proclamation of Parliament.
He forgot that nearly two centuries had elapsed since the fiery persecution of poor mince-pie throughout the land; when plum porridge was denounced as "mere poppery," and roast-beef as anti-Christian; and that Christmas had been brought in again triumphantly with the merry court of King Charles at the Restoration... and concluded by urging his hearers, in the most solemn and affecting manner, to stand to the traditional customs of their fathers, and feast and make merry on this joyful anniversary of the church.
(Footnote: From the Flying Eagle, a small Gazette, published December 24th, 1652 "The House spent much time this day about the business of the Navy, for settling the affairs at sea, and before they rose, were presented with a terrible remonstrance against Christmas day, grounded upon divine Scriptures, 2 Cor. v. 16 ; i Cor. xv. 14, 17 ; and in honour of the Lord s day, grounded upon these Scriptures : John xx. i ; Rev. i. 10 ; Psalms cxviii. 24; Lev. xxiii. 7, 1 1 ; Mark xv. 8; Psalms Ixxxiv. 10 ; in which Christmas is called Anti-Christ s masse, and those Masse-mongers and Papists who observe it, &c. In consequence of which Parliament spent some time in consultation about the abolition of Christmas day, passed orders to that effect, and resolved to sit on the following day, which was commonly called Christmas day.")
I have seldom known a sermon attended apparently with more immediate effects; for on leaving the church the congregation seemed one and all possessed with the gaiety of spirit so earnestly enjoined by their pastor.
The villagers doffed their hats to the squire as he passed, giving him the good wishes of the season with every appearance of heartfelt sincerity, and were invited by him to the hall, to take something to keep out the cold of the weather; and I heard blessings uttered by several of the poor, which convinced me that, in the midst of his enjoyments, the worthy old cavalier had not forgotten the true Christmas virtue of charity.
On our way homeward his heart seemed overflowed with generous and happy feelings. As we passed over a rising ground which commanded something of a prospect, the sounds of rustic merriment now and then reached our ears...There was something truly cheering in this triumph of warmth and verdure over the frosty thraldom of winter; it was, as the squire observed, an emblem of Christmas hospitality, breaking through the chills of ceremony and selfishness, and thawing every heart into a flow.
He pointed with pleasure to the indications of good cheer reeking from the the chimneys of the comfortable farm-houses, and low thatched cottages. I love, said he, "to see this day well kept by rich and poor; it is a great thing to have one day in the year, at least, when you are sure of being welcome wherever you go, and of having, as it were, the world all thrown open to you...
The squire went on to lament the deplorable decay of the games and amusements which were once prevalent at this season among the lower orders, and countenanced by the higher; when the old halls of castles and manor-houses were thrown open at daylight; when the tables were covered with brawn, and beef, and humming ale; when the harp and the curious carol resounded all day long, and when rich and poor were alike welcome to enter and make merry. 1"Our old games and local customs," said he, " had a great effect in making the peasant fond of his home, and the promotion of them by the gentry made him fond of his lord. They made the times merrier, and kinder, and better...
"An English gentleman, at the opening of the great day (i.e. on Christmas day in the morning), had all his tenants and neighbours enter his hall by daybreak. The strong beer was broached, and the black jacks went plentifully about with toast, sugar, and nutmeg, and good Cheshire cheese. The Hackin (the great sausage) must be boiled by daybreak, or else two young men must take the maiden (i.e. the cook) by the arms, and run her round the market-place till the it shamed of her laziness."
We had not been long home when the sound of music was heard from a distance. A band of country lads, without coats, their shirt sleeves fancifully tied with ribands, their hats decorated with greens, and clubs in their hands, were seen advancing up the avenue, followed by a large number of villagers and peasantry. They stopped before the hall door, where the music struck up a peculiar air, and the lads per formed a curious and intricate dance, advancing, retreating, and striking their clubs together, keeping exact time to the music...
After the dance was concluded, the whole party was entertained with brawn and beef, and stout home brewed...The bashfulness of the guests soon gave way before good cheer and affability... The whole house, indeed, seemed abandoned to merriment...
Lo! now is come our joyful feast!
Let every man be jolly;
Eache roome with yvie leaves is drest,
And every post with holly,
Now all our neighbours chimneys smoke,
And Christmas blocks are burning
Their ovens they with bakt meats choke,
And all their spits are turning.
Without the door let sorrow lie,
And if, for cold, it hap to die,
We’ll bury it in a Christmas pye,
And evermore be merry.
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