SEDERUNT XIX. [Major, Laird and Doctor.] 1 The glow of the summer's day, and the bright colors of nature fill us with a momentary burst of (The Laird looking out of the window ob- cheerfulness; the song of the birds, the apparent serves-) แ enjoyment of all creation, from man to the bntterfly, communicate a sympathetic pleasure, arising from the feeling that everything around us is happy and contented. But, there is something in the dry chill of the wintry atmosphere, in the hollow melancholy sound of the December storm, which rouses in our minds the sweet senex-sations of pity and of charity, suggested by the recollection that there are some, who, less fortunate than ourselves, are exposed to wander without a home, during the inclemencies of the LAIRD.-Weel Major, Winter has been lang in coming, but the auld carle is here at last, and blythe am I to see that he has thrown a white mantle round auld mither Earth's shouthers, for ye trow the auld saying, a green yule aye maks a fat kirk yard." Hech, sirs, but it is cauld! MAJOR.-It is cold, but still I would not change the season, were it even in my power. Winter, Laird, is a type of both of us, and, the heyday of life's summer past, "Dans chaque feuille qui tombe LAIRD.-Hoo aften hae I telt ye Major aye to speak to me in my ain mither tongue. MAJOR.-Excuse me, I forgot your dislike to aught save your own vernacular. What I meant was that you and I Laird should recognise in each leaf, that noiselessly falls, our own end; that our fall is typefied by the slow silent descent of the flakes of snow; and the silence and equality of the tomb presented to us in that white shroud which lends an appearance of uniformity, alike to the oak and the tuft of grass, the castle and the cot. DOCTOR.-I should have imagined that those emotions would be melancholy rather than pleasing. MAJOR.-By no means. I can still say with the season. DOCTOR.-It appears to me Major, that there is a spice of natural selfishness in your idea.You like to have people colder than you are in order to have the pleasure of warming them. MAJOR.-Shame on your remark Doctor, but I know you are only quizzing. DOCTOR.-You are right my old friend. I was but in jest. You know full well that I am not the man to question the power and benificence of the Deity, because it has not seemed meet to him that all paths do not, alike, lie through pleasant places. I do not forget that the practice of charity is enjoined, not alone as aprecept, but that it is also intended to afford the practicer of it, while yet on earth, the most pleasurable emotions that can fill our bosoms. I remember all these things, nor do I forget, that nature, so seemingly in repose, is now actively at work, and in her secret laboratory is preparing her essences, moulding her fruits, and fabricating her forms for the summer's gales, that from winter's leafless parts of England, and particularly in the northern death-like season springs "All the magic created by May." I am infinitely more attracted by the confidence reposed in us by the wanderers of the feathered tribe, whom the frost has deprived of their food, and who, trusting to our hospitality, plaintively demand relief at ur window, than by their more lively songs during the happier season of summer. I would at any time exchange the glowing tint, and soft air of a summer evening, the leafy honors of the forests "Whose confessed magnificence deride, Our vile attire and impotence of pride." with all the varied and delightful emotions of love and pleasure which they excite, for the lonely silence of the winter night. It is when the myriads of animated things that "Peopled every woodland glade," have departed, or are no more, that the unbroken solemnity of nature fills us most with ideas of religion and eternity. It is when the clear winter's sky exhibits the immensity of Creation, that our mind "expanded becomes colossal," and appreciates the system which is there presented to our view in splendor and magnificence. MAJOR.-Right Doctor. The truth of the lines "The Heavens declare the glory of God, and the Firmament sheweth his handy works," is never more felt than when your gaze pierces, as it were, the deep blue abyss that is presented to the view on a clear frosty night. I know nothing that equals such a sight in magnificence. LAIRD.-Talking o' magnificence, I mind weel when I was a bairn, and the holidays were on, that I was never weary o' looking into the vast depths o' the windows whaur a' the Christmas cakes were exhibited. Do ye ken, Major, that it is wi' a sair heart that I see a' the gude auld observances ganging oot o' repute. Naebody cares a prin noo about being my first foot, and even the callants forget the pleasurable anticipations o' Hansel Monday. MAJOR.-It is too true, Laird; all the old customs we found such interest and delight in have passed away, and have become now mere traditions. Doctor, hand me that big book and the Laird and I will go over some of the old fashions for the sake of auld lang syne. [Major reads.] counties, with much ceremony and formality. The etymology of the word Yule has been variously accounted for. It appears to have been derived from a Saxon word, designating, among the northern nations, not only the month of December, called the Jul-month, but the great feast of this period. Although, as we have before remarked, the Yule Block is still not uncommon in many parts of England, the ceremony which attended its introduction upon Christmas Eve appears to have been discontinued. In former days, the Yule Clog, or Christmas block (a massy piece of firewood, frequently the enormous root of a tree, and which was supplied by the carpenter of the family), was brought into the house with much parade, and with vocal and instrumental harmony. After it had been placed in the centre of the hall, or passage of the house, each of the family in turn sat down upon it, sang a Yule song, and drank to a merry Christmas and a happy New Year. It was then removed to a large open hearth, and lighted with the last year's brand, carefully preserved for this express purpose; and the family and their friends seated round it, were regaled with Yule cakes (on which were impressed the figure of an infant Jesus), and with bowls of frumenty made from wheat cakes or creed wheat, boiled in milk with sugar and nutmeg. To these succeeded tankards of spiced ale, which were commonly disposed of while the preparations for the succeeding day were going on in the kitchen. The following curious song, by Herrick, which quaintly describes some of these performances, was most likely written for the purpose of being sung during the kindling of the Yule clog: Come, bring with a noise, And drink to your heart's desiring. With the last year's brand Come with the log that is a teending. Drink now the strong beer, And the plums standing by PLUM-PUDDINGS AND MINCE-PIES. in the streets were likewise garnished."-The windows of most of the churches, chapels, and This agreeable pabulum is also of very old public buildings in England, whether in town or country, still continue to exhibit at Christmas standing. Tusser, among the articles of Christmas Husbandlie Fare, does not neglect to mensimilar emblems of the season. This custom has tion it; for instance-"Good drinke, a blazing been differently accounted for. Laurel," says Polydore Virgil, fire, beef, mutton, pork, shred, or minced pies of was an emblem of peace among the Romans, and is therefore still employed with the best, pudding, pig, veal, goose, capon, turkey, the same signification." The celebrated Dr. cheese, apples, nuts, with jolie carols," a pretty Pegge, in an essay in the Gentleman's Magazine ample provision for the table of either a Lord or for December, 1765, suggests that the ancient Commoner. Plum pudding and mince pies are custom of dressing churches and houses at Christ- said to have originated in the offerings of the wise mas with laurel, box, holly, or ivy, originated in men of the east, of which their various ingredithe figurative allusions in the prophecies to Christ ents were considered to be typical; and the latter the Branch of Righteousness. "It is not at all made long, with pieces of paste over them in the form of the cratch or hay-rack, in commemoration unlikely," says the same learned antiquary, "that of the manger is which our saviour was laid. The this custom was further intended as an allusion to those passages of the prophet Isaiah which fore- present mince-pie is a relic of the Yule cake ditell the felicities attending the advent of Christ-Vested of the figure which used formerly to be impressed upon it. "The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir-tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify my sanctuary." Isaiah ix. 13.-William of Malmesbury, however, describes the practice as commemorative of the Oratory of the Wrythen Band or Boughs, which was the first Christian church erected in Britain. We are rather disposed to incline to the former of these hypotheses. CHRISTMAS CAROLS. THE WASSAIL BOWL. of which they were wont to imbibe copious libaThis was with our ancestors a large vessel, out tions on special occasions. When Hengist and Horsa first visited this kingdom at the solicitation of Vortigern, Prince of the Silures, the British chief became deeply enamoured of Rowena, the beautiful niece of Hengist, who, instructed by her uncle, at a banquet prepared in honor of Vortigern, presented to the aged prince a cup of spiced wine with the words "Be of health, Lord King," to which he answered through his interpreter, "I drink your health." A passage in Robert of Gloucester, referring to this circumstance, has been thus rendered in the Antiquarian " Health my Lord King," the sweet Rowena said, Health," cried the chieftain to the Saxon maid, Then gaily rose, and 'mid the concourse wide, Kissed her hale lips, and placed her by his side; At the soft scene such gentle thoughts abound, That healths and kisses 'mongst the guests went round; From this the social custom took its rise, We still retain, and still must keep the prize. From that period Waes-Hael became the name of the drinking cups of the Anglo-Saxons in all their future entertainments. Wessell, wassail, &c., are only altered modes of spelling the ancient waes-hael, or wish-health bowls. "As soon as the morning of the nativity appears (says Bourne) it is usual for the common people to sing a Christinas carol, which is a song upon the birth of our Saviour, and generally sung from the nativity to the Twelfth-day; this seems to be an imitation of the Gloria in Excelsis' or 'Glory to God on high,' which was sung by the angels as they hovered over the fields of Beth-Repertory :lehem on the morning of the nativity; for even that song, as Bishop Taylor observes, was a Christmas carol.' They are still in many parts of England bawled from door to door every night during the season, as a pretence for subsequently levying contributions on the inhabitants. Compositions of this kind were, during the sixteenth century, sung through almost every town and village in the kingdom. This ceremonial, performed with the view of obtaining that species of largess known under the name of Christmas boxes, is said to have been derived from the usage of the Catholic priests, who ordered masses at this time to be made to the saints in order to atone for the excesses of the people; but as these masses were always purchased, the poor were allowed to gather money with the view of liberating themselves from the consequences of the debaucheries of which they were enabled to partake through the hospitality of the rich. The convivial caroli, or chansons à boire, sung either by the company or by itinerant minstrels during the holidays, were of course of quite a different order. They were also frequently called wassail songs, and may be traced back to the AngloNorman period. Numerous collections of these festive compositions were published during the sixteenth century; one of the earliest of which was printed by Wynken de Worde, in 1521, and entitled Christmasse Carolles.' • Vido Jeremiah, chapter xxxiii., verses 5-25. Isaiah, chapter iv., 2-13; liii.. 2; xi., 1, 10. Zechariah, iii., 8; vi., 12. Ezekiel, xvii., 22, 23; xxxvii., 25. Micah, iv., 7. CHRISTMAS GAMBOLS. Our ancestors considered Christmas in the double light of a holy commemoration and a cheerful festival, and accordingly distinguished it by vacation from business, merriment, and hospi tality. They seemed eagerly bent to make themselves and everybody about them happy. The great hall resounded with the tumultuous joys of servants and tenants, and the gambols they played served as amusements to the master of the mansion and his family. Ben Johnson has given us a curious epitome of these revels in his Masque of Christmas, where he has personified the season and its attributes. The characters introduced in this piece are Misrule, Carol, Mince-pie, Gambol, Post and Pair, New Year's Gift, Mumming, Was sail Offering, and Babie Coche. Of the convivial ity which reigned at this time of the year, a cor rect estimate may be formed from a few lines by the author of the "Hesperides," who, in address ing a friend at Christmas, makes the following tion o' Independence" tells a thundering bouncer! request: When your faces shine With bucksome meate and capering wine, carouse Till Liber Pater* twirls the house About your ears. Then to the bag-pipe all address, Till sleep takes place of wearinesse; And thus throughout the Christmas playes Frolic the full twelve holidayes. Consequently, (I speak under correction, as we say in the Presbytery,) it seems to be a little short o' high treason against the Sovereign mob, to stick the likeness o' a Wall street usurer's fat rib into a gilded quarto, and omit conferring a similar distinction upon the help-mate o' a gutter o' oysters, or concocter o' sherry cobblers! DOCTOR.-Pshaw! all stuff and nonsense! MAJOR.-Craving your pardon, Sangrado, there is no small glimmering of truth and common DOCTOR.-Stop, Major. I verily believe the sense in what our agricultural amicus has advanced. Laird is fast asleep. LAIRD.-Not a bit. I just closed my een to keep them warm; but I'm no' ill pleased ye're done wi' your stories aboot Christmas. I say, my dear Crabtree, can you recommend to me some nice illustrated volume which would be suitable as a New Year's gift for Girzy? She has contrived, puir woman, to fit up her drawing room at Bonnie Braes in a very tastfu' manner, and as I got sax and three-pence for my bit handfu' o' wheat this fall, I am desirous to gie her something worth while, to set aff her round table. MAJOR.-Here is the very article which you desiderate. Mr. Hugh Rogers was so good as to send it out to the Shanty for my inspection. DOCTOR.-I dinna' like to raise a disturbance, when the auld year is just at the point o' death, but once for a' I have to insist that ye abandon that heathenish custom, o' distinguishing me by Greek and Hebrew names. Amicus may mean an honest man, or it may mean a cheat-thewuddy, and I hae nae notion o' being libelled even in the vernacular o' Homer or Josephus. MAJOR.-I cry your pardon carissime, but― LAIRD.-Mahoun tak' the man! he's at it again, and the word o' rebuke hardly oot o' my mouth. DOCTOR.-But in the middle of the meantime we are clear forgetting the volume which is to captivate the unsophisticated affections of the virtuous Griselda. MAJOR. Take it good Laird, and, " see and judge for yourself "—as the huxters of dry goods and groceries say in their appeals to the hoi polloi! LAIRD.-Eh man, but it has got a braw coat to its back, and if the fruit be only equal to the blossom, it will be a windfa' indeed. But mind ye, before I open the covers, that if the affair be onything like " The Book of Home Beauty," that LAIRD.-Let me brighten up my specs. What! I saw on a stationer's counter this morning, I The Works of Sir David Wilkie! This is a would na' let my sister touch it wi' a pair o' treasure indeed, and nae mistake. Wilkie is the tangs! Just think o' an entire volume being Hogarth o' puir auld Scotland, and has done wi' devoted to sic a theme as the leddies of Dollar- the pencil for her farmers, and gaberlunzies, and dom! Leddies, indeed! lang nosed, sallow-blin' fiddlers, what Walter o' Abbotsford has complexioned, thorny-minded randies, hugely accomplished wi the pen. tinctured wi' pawtriotism and dyspepsy! DOCTOR.-Why, you old, surly Cincinnatus, there is no reason why you should lose your small modicum of temper after such a preposterous fashion. Surely the dames and spinsters of the neighbouring republic have as good a claim to pictorial and literary immortality, as their Anglican sisters! DOCTOR.-Are the prints well executed in this edition? MAJOR.-Remarkably so. The engraver has come to his undertaking, as to a work and labour of love, and in the vast majority of instances has succeeded in preserving the spirit and essence of the originals. ་་ LAIRD.-Here is a confirmation o' what you are saying. In my humble opinion nothing could LAIRD.-I deny your proposition root and branch; be mair correct than this copy o'“ Duncan Gray.” in the aristocratic auld country it comes naturalWeel do I mind standing for hours at the window like to see sculptures and effigies o' the aristocracy, o' a picture shop in Princes street in auld Reekie, just as natural as it is to see a coronet painted on the door o' a Duke's shandridan. But the case is when the print was first published, and sae I can widely different in the United States o' America, testify to the fidelity o' the copy. Oh it is a sappy There everybody claims to be as guid as every-piece that "Duncan Gray." Just look at the body—a' are free and equal, unless the "Declara- depth o' meaning in the tormented wooer's countenance! It is plain as a pike-staff that he is in the transition state between the frames o' mind • Bacchus. described in the following incomparable verses. Stop, I'll just sing them to you: "Duncan fleeched and Duncan pray'd, Ha, ha, the wooing o't; Ha, ha, the wooing o't. Duncan sighed baith out and in, Ha, ha, the wooing o't. Time and chance are but a tide, Ha, ha, the wooing o't, Slichted luve is sair to bide, Ha, ha, the wooing o't. Shall I like a fool, quoth he, For a hauchty hizzey dee? Ha, ha, the wooing o't" MAJOR.-Let me glance at the engraving. Yes! the story is told even as you say. LAIRD.-Just look at Meg! There's a specimen o' womankin for ye-weel worth all the Diana's o' Ephesus, and Medicine Venus's ten times over. Ye can notice wi' half an ee that she has lang reigned supreme as the belle o' her clachan, and has nae idea o' striking her colours to Duncan at the first, or even at the second time o' asking. Still it is plain the hizzey begins to fear that she has carried the joke a trifle too far! The old flag o'insubordination and independence is manifesting itself in the begrutten, but at the same time manly check o' her lover. It needs nae spae-wife to prophecy that before lang she will be in the following dismal predicament: "How it comes let doctors tell, Something in her bosom wrings, And O! her een, they spak' sic things! Ha, ha, the wooing o't." DOCTOR.-What a glorious commentator would Wilkie have made on the anthology of North Britain! Did he ever illustrate any other Scottish song! LAIRD.-Yes, that most exquisite ballad "Auld Robin Gray," which, I will be bound to say, has called forth as many tears since it was written, as would hae floated Noah's ark. DOCTOR.-What point of the story does Sir David fix upon? LAIRD.-This unsurpassed stanza My father argued sair-my mother didna' speak. ever conceived and executed any thing finer than this picture, which I notice is admirably rendered in the collection before us. There is a profundity of quiet, but most tragic sorrow, which stirs the heart like the flourish of a funeral trumpet! DOCTOR.-It is refreshing to reflect that a work of such sterling merit has been brought out at a rate, which places it within the reach of almost every one. Mr. Rogers, I trust, will be enabled to procure subscribers for a goodly number of copies. As yet, the fine arts are but at a low ebb in Canada West, and nothing could tend so materially to elevate and instruct public taste, as correct versions of the works of our pictorial classics. Pray, Laird, let me look once more at the book. LAIRD.-See that I get it back again, however! It gangs oot wi' me to Bonnie Braes, should it be the only copy in North America! Mony an unctuous reading will Grizy and me hae o' these noble pictures during "the lang nights o' winter!" DOCTOR. A Scottish bull! Read a picture! Ha! ha!! ha!!! LAIRD.-Hech, sirs, but a wee thing can mak some folk laugh! If I am wrang in my expression, I sin in high company. The great Horace Walpole, when speaking o' Hogarth, said—“I do not look at his paintings merely, I read them!" Nicher at that noo! But the same idea which would be lauded when coming fra an Earl, doubtless fa's to be basted like a bull when enunciated by a bit ploughman body! MAJOR.-Pray Doctor, have you looked over the volume which I lately commended to your attention? I mean "Spiritual Vampirism." DOCTOR.-I have, and with feelings of con. siderable disappointment. The author's idea, I grant, is a good one. Etherial, the heroine makes the discovery, "that the immediate result of the contract of marriage had been a rapid increase of her own spiritual and mental illumination, accompanied as well by a corresponding decline on the part of the husband in both these respects." MAJOR.-In the hands of William Godwin, or of his daughter, Mrs. Shelley, such a theme would have been pregnant with stirring interest. DOCTOR.-True, but unfortunately the mantles of these great fictionists have not lighted upon the shoulders of Mr. Webber, the engenderer of the romance under notice. He starts the game, but can no more run it down, than a cow can climb a pine tree, and despoil a crows nest! The volume is an unappetizing olla podrida of melo |