Chapter 61

Eve of Twelfth Day--Thirteen Fires--Tossing the Cake--Wassailing Apple-Trees--The Eve in Ireland--Twelfth Day, or Epiphany--Carol for the Day--Royal Offerings.

The 5th of January is the eve of the Epiphany, and the Vigil of Twelfth day, which used to be celebrated by the liberal use of the customary wassail bowl. In the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for 1791, p. 116, we get a good account of the customs in Herefordshire on that night. "On the eve of Twelfth day, at the approach of evening, the farmers, their friends, servants, etc., all assemble; and near six o'clock, all walk together to a field where wheat is growing. The highest part of the ground is always chosen, where twelve small fires and one large one are lighted up. The attendants, headed by the master of the family, pledge the company in old cider, which circulates freely on these occasions. A circle is formed round the large fire, when a general shout and hallooing takes place, which you hear answered from all the villages and fields near, as I have myself counted fifty or sixty fires burning at the same time, which are generally placed on some eminence. This being finished, the company all return to the house, where the good housewife and her maids are preparing a good supper, which on this occasion is very plentiful.

"A large cake is always provided, with a hole in the middle. After supper, the company all attend the bailiff (or head of the oxen) to the Wain house, where the following particulars are observed: the master, at the head of his friends, fills the cup (generally of strong ale), and stands opposite the first or finest of the oxen (twenty-four of which I have often seen tied up in their stalls together); he then pledges him in a curious toast; the company then follow his example with all the other oxen, addressing each by their name. This being over, the large cake is produced, and is with much ceremony put on the horn of the first ox, through the hole in the cake; he is then tickled to make him toss his head: if he throws the cake behind, it is the mistress's perquisite; if before (in what is termed the _boosy_), the bailiff claims the prize. This ended, the company all return to the house, the doors of which are in the meantime locked, and not opened till some joyous songs are sung. On entering, a scene of mirth and jollity commences, and reigns through the house till a late hour the next morning. Cards are introduced, and the merry tale goes round. I have often enjoyed the hospitality, friendship, and harmony I have been witness to on these occasions."

On p. 403 of the same volume another correspondent writes as to the custom on Twelfth day eve in Devonshire. "On the Eve of the Epiphany the farmer, attended by his workmen, with a large pitcher of cyder, goes to the orchard, and there, encircling one of the best-bearing trees, they drink the following toast three several times:--

"Here's to thee, old apple tree, Whence thou may'st bud, and whence thou may'st blow! And whence thou may'st bear apples enow! Hats full!--Caps full! Bushel,--bushel,--sacks full! And my pockets full, too! Huzza!

"This done, they return to the house, the doors of which they are sure to find bolted by the females, who, be the weather what it may, are inexorable to all entreaties to open them, till some one has guessed at what is on the spit, which is generally some nice little thing difficult to be hit on, and is the reward of him who first names it. The doors are then thrown open, and the lucky clodpole receives the tit-bit as his recompence. Some are so superstitious as to believe that, if they neglect this custom, the trees will bear no apples that year."

Referring to these customs, Cuthbert Bede remarks (_Notes and Queries_, 2 ser. viii. 448): "A farmer's wife told me that where she had lived in Herefordshire, twenty years ago, they were wont, on Twelfth Night Eve, to light in a wheat field twelve small fires, and one large one.... She told me that they were designed to represent the blessed Saviour and his twelve Apostles. The fire representing Judas Iscariot, after being allowed to burn for a brief time, was kicked about, and put out.... The same person also told me that the ceremony of placing the twelfth cake on the horn of the ox was observed in all the particulars.... It was twenty years since she had left the farm, and she had forgotten all the words of the toast used on that occasion: she could only remember one verse out of three or four:--

"Fill your cups, my merry men all! For here's the best ox in the stall; Oh! he's the best ox, of that there's no mistake, And so let us crown him with the Twelfth Cake."

_The Derby and Chesterfield Reporter_ of 7th January 1830 gives the following notice of the Herefordshire customs: "On the eve of Old Christmas day there are thirteen fires lighted in the cornfields of many of the farms, twelve of them in a circle, and one round a pole, much longer and higher than the rest, in the centre. These fires are dignified by the names of the Virgin Mary and the Twelve Apostles, the lady being in the middle; and while they are burning, the labourers retire into some shed or out-house, where they can behold the brightness of the Apostolic flame. Into this shed they lead a cow, on whose horn a large plum cake has been stuck, and having assembled round the animal, the oldest labourer takes a pail of cider, and addresses the following lines to the cow with great solemnity; after which the verse is chaunted in chorus by all present:--

"Here's to thy pretty face and thy white horn, God send thy master a good crop of corn, Both wheat, rye, and barley, and all sorts of grain, And, next year, if we live, we'll drink to thee again.

"He then dashes the cider in the cow's face, when, by a violent toss of her head, she throws the plum cake on the ground; and if it falls forward, it is an omen that the next harvest will be good; if backward, that it will be unfavourable. This is the ceremony at the commencement of the rural feast, which is generally prolonged to the following morning."

In Ireland,[88] "on Twelve Eve in Christmas, they use to set up, as high as they can, a sieve of oats, and in it a dozen of candles set round, and in the centre one larger, all lighted. This is in memory of our Saviour and His Apostles--lights of the world."

[Footnote 88: Vallancey's _Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis_, vol. i. No. 1. p. 124.]

The 6th of January, or twelfth day after Christmas, is a festival of the Church, called _the Epiphany_ (from a Greek word signifying "appearance"), or Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles; and it arises from the adoration of the Wise Men, or _Magi_, commonly known as "the Three Kings," _Gaspar_, _Melchior_, and _Balthazar_, who were led by the miraculous star to Bethlehem, and there offered to the infant Christ gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The following carol is in the Harl. MSS. British Museum, and is of the time of Henry VII.:--

Now is Christmas i-come, Father and Son together in One, Holy Ghost as ye be One, In fere-a; God send us a good new year-a.

I would now sing, for and I might, Of a Child is fair to sight; His mother bare him this enders[89] night, So still-a; And as it was his will-a.

There came three kings from Galilee To Bethlehem, that fair citie, To see Him that should ever be By right-a, Lord, and King, and Knight-a.

As they came forth with their offering, They met with Herod, that moody king, He asked them of their coming This tide-a; And thus to them he said-a:

"Of whence be ye, you kings three?" "Of the East, as you may see, To seek Him that should ever be By right-a, Lord, and King, and Knight-a."

"When you to this Child have been, Come you home this way again, Tell me the sights that ye have seen, I pray-a; Go not another way-a."

They took their leave, both old and young, Of Herod, that moody king; They went forth with their offering, By light-a Of the Star that shone so bright-a.

Till they came into the place Where Jesus and his mother was, There they offered with great solace, In fere-a, Gold, incense, and myrrh-a.

When they had their offering made, As the Holy Ghost them bade, Then were they both merry and glad, And light-a; It was a good fair sight-a.

Anon, as on their way they went, The Father of Heaven an Angel sent, To those three kings that made present, That day-a, Who thus to them did say-a:

"My Lord hath warned you every one, By Herod King ye go not home, For, an' you do, he will you slone[90] And strye-a,[91] And hurt you wonderly-a."

So forth they went another way, Through the might of God, His lay,[92] As the Angel to them did say, Full right-a, It was a fair good sight-a.

When they were come to their countree, Merry and glad they were all three, Of the sight that they had see By night-a; By the Star's shining light-a.

Kneel we now all here adown To that Lord of great renown, And pray we in good devotion For grace-a, In Heaven to have a place-a.

[Footnote 89: Last.]

[Footnote 90: Slay.]

[Footnote 91: Stay, hinder.]

[Footnote 92: Law.]

This festival was held in high honour in England; and up to the reign of George III. our Kings and Queens, attended by the Knights of the three great Orders--the Garter, the Thistle, and the Bath--were wont to go in state to the Chapel Royal, St. James's, and there offer gold, frankincense, and myrrh, in commemoration of the _Magi_; but when George III. was incapacitated, mentally, from performing the functions of royalty, it was done by proxy, and successive sovereigns have found it convenient to perform this act of piety vicariously.

It must have been a magnificent function in the time of Henry VII., as we learn by Le Neve's _Royalle Book_. "As for Twelfth Day, the King must go crowned, in his royal robes, kirtle, surtout, his furred hood about his neck, his mantle with a long train, and his cutlas before him; his armills upon his arms, of gold set full of rich stones; and no temporal man to touch it but the King himself; and the squire for the body must bring it to the King in a fair kerchief, and the King must put them on himself; and he must have his sceptre in his right hand, and the ball with the cross in his left hand, and the crown upon his head. And he must offer that day gold, myrrh, and sense; then must the Dean of the Chapel send unto the Archbishop of Canterbury, by clerk, or priest, the King's offering that day; and then must the Archbishop give the next benefice that falleth in his gift to the same messenger. And then the King must change his mantle when he goeth to meat, and take off his hood, and lay it about his neck; and clasp it before with a great rich ouche; and this must be of the same colour that he offered in. And the Queen in the same form as when she is crowned."

Now the ceremonial is as simple as it can be made. In the Chapel Royal, St. James's, after the reading of the sentence at the offertory, "Let your light so shine before men," etc., while the organ plays, two members of Her Majesty's household, wearing the royal livery, descend from the royal pew, and, preceded by the usher, advance to the altar rails, where they present to one of the two officiating clergymen a red bag, edged with gold lace or braid, which is received in an alms dish, and then reverently placed upon the altar. This bag, or purse, is understood to contain the Queen's offering of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.