=Old English Christmases.=

The court celebrations of Christmas were observed with great splendor during the reign of King Charles the First.  The royal family, with the lords and ladies, often took part themselves in the performances, and the cost to prepare costumes and sceneries for one occasion often amounted to ten thousand dollars.  During Charles’s reign, and preceding his, Ben Jonson wrote the plays, or masques, for Christmas.  The court doings were, of course, copied outside by the people, and up to the twelfth night after Christmas, sports and feastings held high carnival.

So important were these Christmas court celebrations held by our ancestors, and of such moment were the preparations, that a special officer was appointed to take them in charge.  To him were accorded large privileges, very considerable appointments, and a retinue equal to a prince’s, counting in a chancellor, treasurer, comptroller, vice-chamberlain, divine, philosopher, astronomer, poet, physician, master of requests, clown, civilian, ushers, pages, footmen, messengers, jugglers, herald, orator, hunters, tumblers, friar, and fools.  Over this mock court the mock monarch presided during the holidays with a reign as absolute as the actual monarch.

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=Holly and Ivy.=

    (Noel is the French word for Christmas.)

  Holly standeth in ye house
    When that Noel draweth near;
  Evermore at ye door
  Standeth Ivy, shivering sore,
    In ye night wind bleak and drear.

  “Sister Holly,” Ivy quoth,
    “What is that within you see? 
  To and fro doth ye glow
  Of ye yule-log flickering go;
    Would its warmth did cherish me! 
  Where thou bidest is it warm;
  I am shaken of ye storm.”

  “Sister Ivy,” Holly quoth,
    “Brightly burns the yule-log here,
  And love brings beauteous things,
  While a guardian angel sings
    To the babes that slumber near;
  But, O Ivy! tell me now,
  What without there seest thou?”

  “Sister Holly,” Ivy quoth,
    “With fair music comes ye Morn,
  And afar burns ye Star
  Where ye wondering shepherds are,
    And the Shepherd King is born: 
  ‘Peace on earth, good will to men,’
  Angels cry, and cry again.”

  Holly standeth in ye house
    When that Noel draweth near;
  Clambering o’er yonder door,
  Ivy standeth evermore;
    And to them that rightly hear,
  Each one speaketh of ye love
  That outpoureth from Above.

—­Eugene Field.

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=Holiday Chimes.=

(When it is impossible to prepare a regular Christmas program for the friends of the pupils to enjoy with the school, the entrance to holiday week may be signalled by the impromptu reading and recitation of Christmas sentiments.)

CHRISTMAS DAY.