ROYAL CHRISTMAS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LVI, Issue 6502, 29 December 1881, Page 6

ROYAL CHRISTMAS.

(ffajtitii t»prr.)

Forty years ago the revels which erewhils hod signalised Christmas in Merry England wore last subsiding. From the earliest days the season had been duly honoured by our ancestor*. King Arthur, in agee long past, kept it at" Oarieile " with Queen Quenever, in wild barbaric splendour, '• unbridled mirth and princely cheer." Kieg John distributed from the Royal stores pigs' beads and gammons of bacon for a Christmas largesse to the poor, so the household book records Hoary U. welcomed it by epectaeles and pageants j Richard 111. kept op the festivities at Westminster Hall till the Epiphany, an abundance of viands being served te "all persona of honest behaviour t" while Henry VII., on the ninth Christmas of hi* reign, outrivalled all his predecessors. The hall was hung with tapestry, and the King and Queen sot down to one hundred and twenty dishes placed before them by knights and esquirss,beneath a ennopy wreathed with Christmas) and the chroniclers dwell much on the devices of ihe table, the "subtleties " of paste and jelly lost to us now. Henry VIII. kept bis Christmases at Sltham, Greenwich, and Windsor, the king shooting, oanolng, wrestling, hawking, hunting, and fishing. There were gay masks and disguise*, a yule log drawn in with due honour, and performing dog*} the king's dwarf as a spectator sitting enshrined in evergreen, for the burly king did nothing by halve*. Queen Elisabeth delighted in revel* and sound of trumpet, and from Christmas Eve to Twelfth Night gave herself up to enjoyment. *'Ferret ami Porrex," Ihe first regular English tragedy, was produced in her reign at Christmastime, and on the Twelfth Night 1597 " Love's Labour Lott" was given. In diaries I. and 11. time the court pageant* at this season was exceptionally brilliant. Many of the masque* were specially composed by "rare Ben Jon bod," and in 1532 the Queen got up a pastoral at Somerset Mouse, and took part therein, which cost £2OOO 5 the masque represented on Twelfth Might at Whitehall costing £I4OO. But during the reign* of our Queen's immediate predecessors the observances of Christmas degenerated; but for some of the interest it now assumes we have to thank the Prince Consort, who held it as a most sacred time. Peculiarly happy in his domestic life, such anniversaries were to him the means of drawing still closer the tie* of family affaction j ha saw his happy boyhood reflected in the merry faces of his children. Writing to his grandmother, the Dowager Duchess of Coburg, with whom he spent most of his early Christmases, he says: "These pleasant festivities always bring me doubly In contact in spirit with your loved ones in tl e homeland, where you were ever so dear to me." He it was who instituted that general interchange of gift*, continued now in any of ihe royal homes in which Her Majeety ordains to spend Christmas. It is still her custom to give present® to all her attendants, both ladies and gentlemen, and alto to the dressers and maid servants. There is, perhaps, throughout Great Britain no other home where more kindly surprise® ate planned and more gentle thought for others svinoed, than in the highest household in the Sand.

The first Christmas of their married life, just alter the birth of the Prioeee* Bovsl, was spent by the Queen Mid her husband at Windsor Castle j and we read in “ The Life of the Prince Consort’-' how Christmas trees were set up in the Queen mid Prince’s rooms, a custom which was continued in future years, when they were also set up in another room for the young Princes ana Princesses, and in the Oak Boom for the household. The ladies end gentlemen in waiting were summoned to the corridor on Christmas Eve, and the Queen and Prince, accompanied by the royal family, pointed out the presents intended for each, inviting them afterwards te go through the different rooms te see what they themselves had mutually given and received. Present giving has always been a special delight to our royal family. The interchange of gifte on birthdays, Now Year's, and other anniversaries extends te a very large number ofrelotives. Writing on Christmas Eve, 1811, the prince shows how thorough the custom w«#!—"To-day I have two children to make Sift* to, who, they know not why, aro full of appy wonder at the German Christmas tree and its radiant candles." His natural ohesrfolness, a marked characteristic of his noble life, was specialty manifest at this season, which brought him so many tokens of affection, and the gratefulness of hi* heart for the happiness which surrounded him ho made apparent to all. Besides the Christmas tree which he introduced from Germany, he brought other custom*. The year 1843 was danced in at Windsor Castle in good English and German fashion to 1 and, according to the usage of the latter country, as the clock struck twelve, a flourish of trumpets wan blow*. Each succeeding year there is a record of happy Christmases spent by the Prime®} bis last, in 1830, was the coldest winter seen in England for fifty years. By this time one daughter hod already crossed the threshold of home, and another, the Princess Alice, had her betrothed by her side joining in the skating and the general gladness.

Since her bereavement, Her Majesty has generally spent Christmas at Osborne. These seasons exceptionally passed at Windsor hare been signalled by sorrow and anxiety, as when the Prince of Wales was dangerously ill in 1871, and the Princess Alice died in 1978. But the royal borough is not forgotten in her absence. On New Tear's day some £2OO is distributed in gifts to 12u0 poor of the parishes of Windsor and Clearer, in the form of coals, meat, and bread, the amount varying uncording to the rise of the family of the recipients, who are recommended by the Dean end Vicar of Windsor and the Rector of Holy Trinity The distribution by the Lord High Almoner, the Dm n of Windsor, in their presence and that of the Clerk of the Kitchen, tales place at nine o’clock in the morning, in the Riding School of Windsor Castle, the Queen’s Purveyor haring been busily employed preparing the gifts some hour* before. It is a pretty sight, which a few privileged visitors are permitted to see, On the tan flooring, all along the centre of the school, are a row of white covered tables, with joint# of beef varying front 71b to 31b, enlivened by sprigs of holly. The recipients, young and old women and men, and some young children, enter by ticket, carrying neatly folded cloths and bags, and pass out by the east entrance, underneath the room whence the Prince records he and the rest of the royal family were wont to witness the ceremony. In the Queen's absence, site is represented by court official*, last year HU joints were given away weighing 3221 b, Besides this 1203 ewt of coals, m portions of 3 ewt and I ewt, are delivered at the homes of the poor j and Her Majesty makes liberal contributions to the Royal Clothing Club. Bhe also sends presents of game to the Windsor Infirmary, University College, and other Hospitals, and a great deal of old linen from the palaces, which, however, ooes not always arrive at Christmas time. At Osborne, on Christmas Kre, Her Majesty distributes gilts to all the ebbdren on the Osborn* estates, for whom a Christina* tree is prepared in the servant#’ hall, with present* of books, toys, ft >. Accompanied by

the various membera of her family, and the tadlee and gentlemen of the household, she hands these to each child, and, after the distribution, they have all plum pudding. On the evening of 'Mew Year’s Day shs presents gifts te the upper servants of the hottvehrtd, in the steward's room, where it a Christmas tim The Queen and the Prise## and Princesses with her attend Divine terries at ' Whinplnghsro Church on Christine# morning, neither plum pudding nor plum porridge Is omitted from the royal menu, and the baron of beef is cut from a shorthorn ox, bred on Ihe Prince Consort's farm at Jfrotmor*. The •smote indoors ail dine tegrthtr, and the outdoor servants bars an allowance of a few shillingf each, according to their status. Christman is marked In London hr a dis* Iribulloß of loyal Bounty, from the Almonry, Whitehidi, on four days tefore Christmas. Last vsnr the total number relieved amounted te 1168. One of the recipients wss aged 101, another 06, many were over 80, and more than half were either blind, lame, paralysed, or other wive eadly afflicted. A thousand received 5* from the Common Bounty, allowed to a small percentage of the general poor belonging te the metropolis. A hundred and sixty-right had 5s each, vix., the Gate Alms, bestowed upon the neeeeeitous of a apodal or superior class resident in London and some rural districts. Formally, as the name implies,* the Gate Alma were distributed from the palace gates weekly in sums of 6d> hot, in the beginning of the lost century, (he distribution was transferred from the palace te the Boyal Almonry, which is within ihe verge of the Bing and Queen's court, and also within the jurisdiction of the Lord Steward of the Household » and, instead of weekly, they are given at Barter and Christmas. Last Christmas the candidate® were selected by the Lord High Almoner, the Sub-Almoner, the Secretary and Yeomen of the Almonry, aided by the rooters and vicars of the parishes of London and He environs, and alto a few ministers in country parishes, Christmas is kept at Sandringham by the Prince and Princess of Wales in thoroughly national style. On Christmas Xve beef u distributed to the labourers and workmen on the Boyal estate—prime joints In proportion te the six® of the family, reckoning 21b to each adult, lib for each child. It is given is the Royal m«we, in the pretence of the Prince and Princess, their children, and their household. On Christmas morning the choristers assemble on the terrace to ring carol* and anthems. The school children receive new clothing and each a Christmas card. There are generally large shooting parties, and plenty of fun prevails when la furry poll yded, HU brows enwreathed With hotly never sere, Old Chrirttwui comes to close the tore waned year.