that more copious collections are not made, by the lovers of old customs, ere it be too late. Brand speaks of an hereditary collection of ballads, almost as numerous as the Pepysian collection, at Cambridge, which he saw, at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in the printing-office of the late Mr. Saint,-amongst which were several carols for the Christmas season. Hone, in his "Ancient Mysteries," gives a list of eighty-nine carols in his possession, all in present use (though likely soon to become obsolete), and exclusive of the modern compositions printed by religious societies, under the denomination of carols. He furnishes a curious proof of the attachment which the carol-buyers extend, from the old carols themselves, to the old rude cuts by which they are illustrated. "Some of these," he says, "on a sheet of Christmas carols, in 1820, were so rude in execution, that I requested the publisher, Mr. T. Batchelar, of 115 Long Alley, Moorfields, to sell me the original blocks. I was a little surprised by his telling me that he was afraid it would be impossible to get any of the same kind cut again. When I proffered to get much better engraved, and give them to him in exchange for his old ones, he said, "Yes, but the better are not so good. I can get better myself: now these are old favorites, and better cuts will not please my customers so well." We have before us several of the sheets for the present season, issued from the printing-office and toy warehouse of Mr. Pitts, in the Seven Dials; and we grieve to say that, for the most part, they show a lamentable improvement in the embellishments, —and an equally lamentable falling-off in the literary contents. One of these sheets, however, which bears the heading title of "Divine Mirth," contains some of the old carols,—and is adorned with impressions from cuts, rude enough, we should think, to please even the customers of Mr. Batchelar.

Amongst the musical signs of the season, we must not omit to place that once important gentleman, the bellman; who was anciently accustomed, as our excellent friend, Mr. Hone, says, at this time, "to make frequent nocturnal rambles, and proclaim all tidings which it seemed fitting to him that people should be awakened out of their sleep to hearken to." From that ancient collection "The Bellman's Treasury,"-which was once this now-decayed officer's Vade Mecum,-we shall have occasion to extract, here

and there, in their proper places, the announcements by which, of old, he broke in upon the stillness of the several nights of this period. In the meantime, our readers may take the following example of Bell-man verses,-written by Herrick, and which we extract from his "Hesperides."

"From noise of scare-fires rest ye free,

From murders Benedicite;

From all mischances that may fright
Your pleasing slumbers in the night;
Mercie secure ye all, and keep

The goblin from you while ye sleep.
Past one aclock, and almost two,

My masters all, 'Good day to you." "

The bell of this ancient officer may still be heard, at the midnight hour of Christmas Eve (and perhaps on other nights), in the different parishes of London, performing the overture to a species of recitative, in which he sets forth (amongst other things) the virtues of his patrons (dwelling on their liberality), and offers them all the good wishes of the season. The printed papers containing the matter of these recitations he has been busy circulating amongst the parishioners, for some time; and, on the strength thereof, presents himself as a candidate for some expression of their good-will in return,-which, however, he expects should be given in a more profitable form. These papers, like the carolsheets, have their margins adorned with wood-cuts, after scriptural subjects. One of them now lies before us; and we grieve to say, that the quaint ancient rhymes are therein substituted by meagre modern inventions,-and the wood-cuts exhibit a most ambitious pretension to be considered as specimens of improved art. There is a copy of Carlo Dolce's "Last Supper" at the foot.

The beadle of to-day is, in most respects, changed for the worse, from the bellman of old. Still, we are glad to hear his bell-which sounds much as it must have done of yore-lifting up its ancient voice amongst its fellows, at this high and general season of bells and bob-majors.

THE CHRISTMAS DAYS.

HAVING given our readers an historical and general account of this ancient festival,-and a particular explanation of some of the principal tokens which, in modern' times, as of old, bespeak the coming of its more high and ceremonious days,—we must now proceed to furnish them with a more peculiar description of those individual days themselves; confining ourselves as nearly as completeness of view will admit, within the limits which bound what is, in its most especial and emphatic sense, the Christmas season. In order, however, to attain this completeness of view, it has been necessary to allow ourselves certain points, lying, on both sides, without those strict boundaries ;-and the selection which we have made includes the two conditions of giving us latitude enough for our purpose, and keeping reasonably close to the heart of the subject, at the same time. The reasons for this particular selection will more fully appear, in the accounts which we have to give of the individual days on which that selection has fallen, and in the further remarks which we have to make, generally, on that portion of the year which we place under the presidency of

OUR LORD OF MISRULE.

ST. THOMAS'S DAY.

21ST DECEMBER.

THIS day-which is dedicated to the apostle St. Thomas-we have chosen as the opening of the Christmas festivities; because it is that on which we first seem to get positive evidence of the presence of the old gentleman, and see the spirit of hospitality and benevolence, which his coming creates, brought into active operation. Of the manner in which this spirit exhibits itself in the metropolis, we are about, presently, to speak :-but must previously notice that, in many of the rural districts of England, there are still lingering traces of ancient customs, which meet at this particular point of time, and under the sanction of that same spirit. These practices, however various in their kinds, are, for the most part, relics, in different shapes, of the old mummeries which we shall have to discuss at length, in the course of the present chapter;-and are but so many distinct forms in which the poor man's appeal is made to the rich man's charity, for a share in the good things of this merry festival.

Amongst these ancient customs, may be mentioned the practice of "going a gooding," which exists in some parts of Kent; and is performed by women, who present sprigs of evergreen and Christmas flowers, and beg for money in return. We believe the term "going a gooding," scarcely requires illustration. It means, simply, going about to wish "good even,"-as, according to Nares, "fully appears from this passage in Romeo and Juliet:

'Nurse.

Mercutio.

God ye good morrow, gentlemen,
God ye good den, fair gentlewoman." "

In this same county, St. Thomas's Day is likewise known by the name of " Doleing Day," on account of the distribution of the bounty of different charitable individuals. This word "dole" is explained, by Nares, to mean, "a share or lot in anything distributed," and to come from the verb to deal. He quotes Shakspeare for this also :—

"It was your presurmise

That in the dole of blows your son might drop."

The musical procession, known in the Isle of Thanet, and other parts of the same county, by the name of "hodening" (supposed by some to be an ancient relic of a festival ordained to commemorate the landing of our Saxon ancestors, in that island,—and which, in its form, is neither more nor less than a modification of the old practice of the "hobby horse"), is, to this day, another of the customs of this particular period.

A custom analogous to these is still to be traced in Warwickshire; throughout which county it seems to have been the practice of the poor to go from door to door of every house, " with a bag, to beg corn of the farmers, which they call going a corning.” And in Herefordshire, a similar custom exists,-where this day is called "Mumping Day,"-that is, begging day.

To the same spirit we owe the Hagmena, or Hogmanay practice, still in use in Scotland-as well as that of the Wren Boys, in Ireland (both of which will be described hereafter), although their observance belongs to later days of the season, and probably many others which will variously suggest themselves to our various readers, as existing in their several neighborhoods.

In the great metropolis of England,-where poverty and wretchedness exist in masses upon which private benevolence cannot efficiently act, and where imposture assumes their forms in a degree that baffles the charity of individuals,-the bequests of our ancestors have been, to a great extent, placed, for distribution, in the hands of the various parish authorities. St. Thomas's day, in London, therefore, is connected with these charities, by its being that on which some of the most important parochial proceedings take place; and amongst these, are the wardmotes held on this day, for the election, by the freemen inhabitant householders, of