THE DAY OF DAYS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 4, Issue 189, 5 December 1941, Page 6

THE DAY OF DAYS

In a few days Christmas will be upon us with its joyous greetings and memories of the years which have fled. In this warm land we do not get the scarlet-berried plant _ which so delighted our pioneer forefathers, but in its place comes the crimson pohutukawa in the north, ad the silver}' toi-toi in the south. But around tliem has not gathered the legends that come to mind in older lands, where it is thought to be unlucky to bring holly into the house before Christmas Eve. That revered journal, The Spectator, of January 23, 1712, has the following: "Our clerk, who was once a gardener, has this Christmas so overdeckt the church with greens, that he has quite spoilt my prospect . . . The middle aisle is a very pretty shady walk, and the pews look like so many arbours on each side of it. The pulpit itself has such dusters of Ivy, Holly and Rosemary about it that a light fellow in our pew took occasion to say that the congregation heard the Word out of a bush, like Moses." The Carols' Carols of great beauty are to bo found in most European countries. Originally they were N dance-songs, but gradually they changed. In Germany the best-loved carol is that written by Luther for his boy Hans in 15-10: —"From . heaven above I come to you to bring you tidings good and true." It is said that in Luther's household the lirst live verses were sung as a solo, the singer impersonating the Angel, and the rest in chorus. The earliest known carol is a fragment published bv Ritson and written in the early fifteenth century:— I saw a sweet* a seemly sight, A blissful bird, a blossom bright, That mourning made and mirth among; A maiden mother, meek and mild, In cradle keep a knave child, That softly slept; she sat and sung, Lullay, lull a balow, My bairn, sleep softly now. "Wassail!" which is equivalent to i "Your health!" was the old AngloSaxon drinking pledge,, to which the response was "Drinkhaile." To the

old English Christmas feast the wassail bowl was indispensable. It was used also on New Year's EVc and Twelfth Night. The Christmas Feast Other times, other manners! In the old days the favourite dish was peacock, swan, beef and, of course, the boar's head. When King Henry 111 was keeping his Christmas at Winchester in 1248 he ordered his treasurer to fill Westminster Hall with poor people and feast them for a week. An old writer tells of a feast that began at .1 p.an. and ended at midnight. Here is a bill of fare about the middle qf the sixteenth century: A shield of brawn with mustard; a boiled capon; a boiled piece of beef; a chine of beef, roasted; a neat's tongue, roasted; a pig, roasted; chewcts (mince pie), baked; a goose, roasted: a swan, roasted; a turkey, roasted; a haunch of venison, roast* cd; a pasty of venison; a kid with pudding in the belly; an olive pyc; a couple of sapons; a custard of dowset. There were also the usual accessories. They were great trencher men in the bygone days: evidently indigestion was then unknown, or if suffered from, must have been ascribed to some wicked spirit, for spirits were held to be very restless and hard-working in th'e Dark Ages. One of their dishes was very gay, for when the peacock came in he arrived with all his plumes attached. He was carried in shoulder high by serving men, and must have presented a gay sight. The method of preparing was to have the plumed crest of the bird appear at one end of the dish and the plumed tail spread aloft at the other. English Plum Pudding Ingredients: 1% pounds seedless raisins, 2 ounces citron, cut fine, 3 sour apples, chopped fine, 1 cup fruit juice, rind of 1 lemon, 1 cup chopped Brazil nuts, 3 eggs, 1% cups dried bread crumbs, 1 cup suet, chopped fine, 1 cup flour,. 1 teaspoon cinnamon, % teaspoon allspice, % teaspoon ground cloves, 1 teaspoon salt. % cup sugar, 1 cup molasses. Soak fruits in fruit juice overnight. Steam at least five hours. Serve with hard sauce.