Chapter XIX: Preface (19)

At Yarmouth before the Reformation it was a custom for the prior and monks, and afterwards for the dean and chapter, or the farmer of their parsonage, to provide a breakfast for the inhabitants of the town every year on Christmas Day, which custom continued till the 21st of Elizabeth, when, on account of a grievous plague which carried off two thousand of the inhabitants in one year, and on consideration of the ruinous condition of the parsonage-house, it was agreed that Thomas Osborne, who was then farmer of the parsonage, should pay 5_l._ a year to the churchwardens for the use of the town in lieu of the said breakfast. After the plague had ceased, the breakfast was resumed and continued as usual, till the reign of James I., when William Gostlynge, then farmer, absolutely refused to provide it or to pay an equivalent composition, upon which the town preferred a complaint to the dean and chapter, who promised not to countenance him in such a non-conformity to the terms of the lease by which he held of them. Finally, Mr. Gostlynge was obliged to sign an agreement, whereby he engaged to pay yearly to the town in lieu of the breakfast, 10_l._, which was distributed to poor fishermen, &c., and 5_l._ for his default, in before refusing to provide the breakfast. This continued till the making of a new agreement, between the corporation and Mr. Gostlynge, of a grant of nomination and appointment of preachers and ministers in the town, since which it seems that both breakfast and composition shared the fate of all human institutions and sank into oblivion.--Parkin, _History of Great Yarmouth_, 1776, p. 330.

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE.

Cole, in his _History of Weston Favell_ (1827, p. 60), says Christmas Day is ushered in by the ringing of the bells of the church, precisely at twelve o’clock, called the midnight peal, till which time many of the inhabitants sit round the jovial fire, whence at twelve o’clock they emerge into the midnight air to listen to the peals of the bells of the neighbouring churches.

NORTHUMBERLAND.

In Alnwick a custom existed of giving sweetmeats to children at Christmas time, called Yule Babies, in commemoration of our Saviour’s nativity.--_History of Alnwick_, 1822, p. 262.

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE.

The inhabitants of North Clifton were formerly ferry free. In consequence, the ferryman and his dog were indulged with a dinner each at the vicar’s at Christmas. The ferryman also on that day received of the inhabitants a prime loaf of bread.--_N. & Q. 5th S._ vol. ii. p. 509.

Near Raleigh there is a valley said to have been caused by an earthquake several hundred years ago, which swallowed up a whole village, together with the church. Formerly, it was the custom of the people to assemble in this valley every Christmas Day morning to listen to the ringing of the bells of the church beneath them. This, it was positively stated, might be heard by placing the ear to the ground and hearkening attentively. As late as 1827 it was usual on this morning for old men and women to tell their children and young friends to go to the valley, stoop down, and hear the bells ring merrily. The villagers heard the ringing of the bells of a neighbouring church, the sound of which was communicated by the surface of the ground. A similar belief exists, or did a short time ago, at Preston, in Lancashire.--_Ibid._ p. 509.

OXFORDSHIRE.

In the buttery of St. John’s College, Oxford, an ancient candle socket of stone still remains, ornamented with the figure of the Holy Lamb. It was formerly used to burn the Christmas candle in, on the high table at supper during the twelve nights of this festival.--Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 467.

It was formerly a custom for the butcher of Merton College, about Christmas time, to invite the scholars to a treat at his house, when he used to provide a _bull_ for the steward to knock down with his own hands, whence this treat was called _The Kill-Bull_.--Pointer, _Oxoniensis Academia_, 1749, p. 23.

The following account of the ancient custom of bringing in a boar’s head at Queen’s College, Oxford, is taken from a MS., in the Bodleian Library, quoted in the _Antiquary_ (1873, vol. iii. p. 47):--

There is a custom at Queen’s College to serve up every year a boar’s head, provided by the manciple against Christmas Day. This boar’s head being boyl’d or roasted, is laid in a great charger, covered with a garland of bays or laurell as broad at bottom as the brims of the chargers. When the first course is served up in the refectory on Christmas Day, in the said college, the manciple brings the said boar’s head from the kitchen up to the high table, accompanied with one of the tabarders (i.e., the scholars), who lays his hand on the charger. The tabarder sings a song, and when he comes to the chorus all the scholars that are in the refectory joyn together and sing it: