Quaintness Mingled with Revelry

00:00 Introduction
00:45 Dinner is served!
02:18 The Christmas meal
03:43 The people at the meal
04:44 Loaded with good cheer, conversation, and music
14:58 Supernatural monument
19:03 Author’s hopes in writing
19:50 Influence of Old Christmas
20:58 Criticism of emphasis on the past
22:35 Class conflict versus harmony and peace at Christmas
24:26 Future episodes
20:02 Sources

What was the meaning of the thacking sound?
Who said grace at the Christmas dinner?
What strange things was the deceased knight said to do at nightWhat does Irving say was his reason for writing Old Christmas?
Why Old Christmas important from a historical standpoint?
How did Irving change Christmas from SOLELY a religious holiday?
How is the world of the Squire’s England like today?

Sources for this episode include “The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon” by Washington Irving, Complete Fictional Works of Washington Irving by Washington Irving, Washington Irving: The Definitive Biography of America’s First Bestselling Author by Brian Jay Jones, The Literary Adventures of Washington Irving by Cheryl Harness, Original Knickerbocker: The Life of Washington Irving by Andrew Burstein, Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography by Arthur Hobson Quinn, The Poe Log: A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Dwight Thomas and David K. Jackson, and The Reason for the Darkness of the Night by John Tresch.

Transcript

00:00 Intro

Welcome to Celebrate Poe. My name is George Bartley, and this is episode Ninety FIve - Quaintness Mingled with Revelry

At last it’s here - the FINAL portion of Old Christmas by Washington Irving - a work first published as The Christmas Dinner.

00:45 Dinner is served!

I had finished my toilet, and was loitering with Frank Bracebridge in the library, when we heard a distant thwacking sound, which he informed me was a signal for the serving up of the dinner. The Squire kept up old customs in kitchen as well as hall; and the rolling-pin, struck upon the dresser by the cook, summoned the servants to carry in the meats. The dinner was served up in the great hall, where the Squire always held his Christmas banquet. A blazing, crackling fire of logs had been heaped on to warm the spacious apartment, and the flame went sparkling and wreathing up the wide-mouthed chimney. The great picture of the crusader and his white horse had been profusely decorated with greens for the occasion; and holly and ivy had likewise been wreathed around the helmet and weapons on the opposite wall.  We were ushered into this banqueting scene with the sound of harps, the old harper being seated on a stool beside the fireplace, and twanging his instrument with a vast deal more power than melody. Never did Christmas display a more goodly and gracious assemblage of countenances; those who were not handsome were, at least, happy; and happiness is a rare improver of your hard-favoured visage.

02:18 The Christmas meal

The parson said grace, which was not a short, familiar one, but a long, courtly, well-worded one of the ancient school. There was now a pause, as if something was expected; when suddenly the butler entered the hall with some degree of bustle; he was attended by a servant on each side with a large wax-light, and bore a silver dish, on which was an enormous pig's head, decorated with rosemary, with a lemon in its mouth, which was placed with great formality at the head of the table. The moment this pageant made its appearance, the harper struck up a flourish.  I must confess, the parade with which so odd a dish was introduced somewhat perplexed me, until I gathered from the conversation of the Squire and the parson that it was meant to represent the bringing in of the boar's head: a dish formerly served up with much ceremony, at great tables on Christmas Day. "I like the old custom," said the Squire, "not merely because it is stately and pleasing in itself, but because it was observed at the College of Oxford, at which I was educated. When I hear the old song chanted, it brings to mind the time when I was young and gamesome—and the noble old college-hall—and my fellow students loitering about in their black gowns; many of whom, poor lads, are now in their graves!" He went on, with the dry perseverance of a commentator, to give the college reading, addressing himself at first to the company at large; but finding their attention gradually diverted to other talk, and other objects, he lowered his tone as his number of auditors diminished, until he concluded his remarks, in an under voice, to a fat-headed old gentleman next him, who was silently engaged in the discussion of a huge plateful of turkey.*

04:44 Loaded with good cheer

The table was literally loaded with good cheer, and presented an epitome of country abundance. I especially noticed a pie, magnificently decorated with peacocks' feathers, in imitation of the tail of that bird, which overshadowed a considerable tract of the table. This, the Squire confessed, with some little hesitation, was a pheasant-pie, though a peacock-pie was certainly the most authentical; but there had been such a mortality among the peacocks this season, that he could not prevail upon himself to have one killed.* I was pleased, however, to see the respect shown to his whims by his children and relatives; who, indeed, entered readily into the full spirit of them, and seemed all well versed in their parts; having doubtless been present at many a rehearsal. I was amused, too, at the air of profound gravity with which the butler and other servants executed the duties assigned them, however eccentric. They had an old-fashioned look; having, for the most part, been brought up in the household, and grown into keeping with the antiquated mansion, and the humours of its lord; and most probably looked upon all his whimsical regulations as the established laws of honourable housekeeping. The butler brought in a huge silver vessel of rare and curious workmanship, which he placed before the Squire. Its appearance was hailed with acclamation; being the Wassail Bowl, so renowned in Christmas festivity. The contents had been prepared by the Squire himself; for it was a beverage in the skilful mixture of which he particularly prided himself, alleging that it was too complex for the comprehension of an ordinary servant. It was a beverage, composed of the richest and raciest wines, highly spiced and sweetened, with roasted apples bobbing about the surface.* The old gentleman's whole countenance beamed with a serene look of indwelling delight, as he stirred this mighty bowl. Having raised it to his lips, with a hearty wish of a merry Christmas to all present, he sent it brimming, around the board, for every one to follow his example, according to the primitive style; pronouncing it "the ancient fountain of good feeling, where all hearts met together."* Much of the conversation during dinner turned upon family topics, to which I was a stranger. There was, however, a great deal of rallying of Master Simon about some gay widow, with whom he was accused of having a flirtation. This attack was commenced by the ladies; but it was continued throughout the dinner by the fat-headed old gentleman seated next to the parson.  At every pause in the general conversation, he renewed his bantering in pretty much the same terms; winking hard at me with both eyes whenever he gave Master Simon what he considered a home thrust. The latter, indeed, seemed fond of being teased on the subject, as old bachelors are apt to be; and he took occasion to inform me, in an undertone, that the lady in question was a prodigiously fine woman. The dinner-time passed away in this flow of innocent hilarity; and, though the old hall may have resounded in its time, yet I doubt whether it ever witnessed more honest and genuine enjoyment. How easy it is for one benevolent being to diffuse pleasure around him; and how truly is a kind heart a fountain of gladness, making everything in its vicinity to freshen into smiles! The joyous disposition of the worthy Squire was perfectly contagious; he was happy himself, and disposed to make all the world happy. When the ladies had retired, the conversation, as usual, became still more animated; many good things were broached which had been thought of during dinner, but which would not exactly do for a lady's ear; and though I cannot positively affirm that there was much wit uttered, yet I have certainly heard many contests of rare wit produce much less laughter. Wit, after all, is a mighty tart, pungent ingredient, and much too acid for some stomachs; but honest good humour is the oil and wine of a merry meeting, and there is no jovial companionship equal to that where the jokes are rather small, and the laughter abundant. The Squire told several long stories of early college pranks and adventures, in some of which the parson had been a sharer; though in looking at the latter, it required some effort of imagination. . Indeed, the two college chums presented pictures of what men may be made by their different lots in life. The Squire had left the university to live lustily on his paternal domains, in the vigorous enjoyment of prosperity and sunshine, and had flourished on to a hearty and florid old age; whilst the poor parson, on the contrary, had dried and withered away, among dusty tomes, in the silence and shadows of his study. Still there seemed to be a spark of almost extinguished fire, feebly glimmering in the bottom of his soul; and as the Squire hinted at a sly story of the parson and a pretty milkmaid, whom they once met on the banks of a river, the old gentleman made an "alphabet of faces,"— indeed, I have rarely met with an old gentleman who took absolutely offence at the imputed gallantries of his youth. I found the tide of wine and wassail fast gaining on the dry land of sober judgment. The company grew merrier and louder as their jokes grew duller. Master Simon was in as chirping a humour as a grasshopper filled with dew; his old songs grew of a warmer complexion, and he began to talk maudlin about the widow. He even gave a long song about the wooing of a widow, which he informed me he had gathered from an excellent black-letter work, entitled "Cupid's Solicitor for Love," containing store of good advice for bachelors, and which he promised to lend me. The first verse was to this effect: This song inspired the fat-headed old gentleman, who made several attempts to tell a rather broad story out of Joe Miller, that was pat to the purpose; but he always stuck in the middle, everybody recollecting the latter part excepting himself. The parson, too, began to show the effects of good cheer, having gradually settled down into a doze, and his wig sitting most suspiciously on one side. Just at this juncture we were summoned to the drawing-room, and, I suspect, at the private instigation of mine host, whose joviality seemed always tempered with a proper love of decorum. After the dinner-table was removed, the hall was given up to the younger members of the family, who, prompted to all kind of noisy mirth, made its old walls ring with their merriment, as they played at romping games. I found the children at the game of blind-man's buff. Master Simon, who was the leader of their revels, was blinded in the midst of the hall. The little beings were as busy about him as the mock fairies about Falstaff; pinching him, plucking at the skirts of his coat, and tickling him with straws. One fine blue-eyed girl of about thirteen, with her flaxen hair all in beautiful confusion, her frolic face in a glow, her frock half torn off her shoulders, a complete picture of a romp, was the chief tormentor; and from the slyness with which Master Simon avoided the smaller game, and hemmed this wild little nymph in corners, and obliged her to jump shrieking over chairs, I suspected the rogue of being not a whit more blinded than was convenient. When I returned to the drawing-room, I found the company seated around the fire, listening to the parson, who was deeply ensconced in a high-backed oaken chair, the work of some cunning artificer of yore, which had been brought from the library for his particular accommodation.

14:58 Supernatural monument?

From this venerable piece of furniture, with which his shadowy figure and dark weazen face so admirably accorded, he was dealing forth strange accounts of popular superstitions and legends of the surrounding country, with which he had become acquainted in the course of his antiquarian researches. I am half inclined to think that the old gentleman was himself somewhat tinctured with superstition, as men are very apt to be who live a recluse and studious life.

He gave us several anecdotes of the fancies of the neighbouring peasantry, concerning the effigy of the crusader which lay on the tomb by the church altar. As it was the only monument of the kind in that part of the country, it had always been regarded with feelings of superstition by the goodwives of the village. It was said to get up from the tomb and walk the rounds of the churchyard in stormy nights, particularly when it thundered; and one old woman, whose cottage bordered on the churchyard, had seen it, through the windows of the church, when the moon shone, slowly pacing up and down the aisles. It was the belief that some wrong had been left unredressed by the deceased, or some treasure hidden, which kept the spirit in a state of trouble and restlessness. Some talked of gold and jewels buried in the tomb, over which the spectre kept watch; and there was a story current of a sexton in old times who endeavoured to break his way to the coffin at night; but just as he reached it, received a violent blow from the marble hand of the effigy, which stretched him senseless on the pavement. These tales were often laughed at by some of the sturdier among the rustics, yet when night came on, there were many of the stoutest unbelievers that were shy of venturing alone in the footpath that led across the churchyard. From these and other anecdotes that followed, the crusader appeared to be the favourite hero of ghost stories throughout the vicinity. His picture, which hung up in the hall, was thought by the servants to have something supernatural about it; for they remarked that, in whatever part of the hall you went, the eyes of the warrior were still fixed on you. The old porter's wife, too, at the lodge, who had been born and brought up in the family, and was a great gossip among the maid servants, affirmed that in her young days she had often heard say that on Midsummer eve, when it is well known all kinds of ghosts, goblins, and fairies become visible and walk abroad, the crusader used to mount his horse, come down from his picture, ride about the house, down the avenue, and so to the church to visit the tomb; on which occasion the church door most civilly swung open of itself: not that he needed it; for he rode through closed gates and even stone walls, and had been seen by one of the dairymaids to pass between two bars of the great park gate, making himself as thin as a sheet of paper. All these superstitions, I found, had been very much countenanced by the Squire, who, though not superstitious himself, was very fond of seeing others so. He listened to every goblin tale of the neighbouring gossips with infinite gravity, and held the porter's wife in high favour on account of her talent for the marvellous. He was himself a great reader of old legends and romances, and often lamented that he could not believe in them; for a superstitious person, he thought, must live in a kind of fairyland.

19:03 Author’s hopes in writing

And Washington Irving ends the section with:

But in writing to amuse, if I fail, the only evil is my own disappointment. If, however, I can by any lucky chance, in these days of evil, rub out one wrinkle from the brow of care, or beguile the heavy heart of one moment of sorrow; if I can now and then penetrate through the gathering film of misanthropy, prompt a benevolent view of human nature, and make my reader more in good humour with his fellow beings and himself, surely, surely, I shall not then have written entirely in vain.

THE END

19:50 Influence of Old Christmas

Before this episode starts with the announcement of future episodes, I would like to make a few comments about Washington Irving’s Old Christmas to try and put this whole thing into perspective. The stories were first published in Irvings The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.  That publication was extremely popular, and introduced such characters as Rip Van Winkle and Icobald Crane.  The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, as well as Rip Van Winkle, are certainly more well known - but Old Christmas has had far more influence from a historical standpoint.  You see, before the accounts of the celebrations in Old Christmas, Christmas was largely a religious holiday.  You didn’t have all the festive merriment of medieval times. But Irving almost single-handedly put it in the public conciousness to consider Christmas a festive holiday with definite traditions.

This is certainly important from the standpoint of the evolution of Christmas customs - whether those actions are good or bad is another thing - but Irving does deserve a great deal of credit - or blame.  You see, the holiday in Old Christmas is centered around tradition and the wealth of a few - not the general public.  Not surprisingly, Old Christmas looks at the past and the concerns of the privileged few as the traditions to which we should aspire.  Charles Dickens. some thirty years later, took a much deeper look at Christmas and how the holiday season can cause a person to substantially change for the better. In the future, this podcast will take a deep dive into the subject of the friendship between Charles Dickens and Edgar Poe, as well as Dickens’ view of society in general.  As most of you know, in A Christmas Carol there is a major change in the views of Ebeneezer Scrooge, the leading character. Despite the importance of Old Christmas historically,  - in my opinion, the leading character of Old Christmas comes across as a rather silly privileged character who is stuck in the past.

 22:35 Class conflict versus harmony and peace at Christmas

Let me conclude by pointing out that is is important to remember that the early 19th century was a time of class conflict and even turmoil - much like today.  Unemployment was high and society experienced a great deal of rioting by disaffeted groups during the Christmas season. In fact, In 1828, the New York city council established the city’s first police force in response to a Christmas riot. 

Some - but not all - members of the upper classes began to change the way that Christmas was celebrated in America.  Perhaps the ideal expression of their sentements was expressed by Washington Irving in Old Christmas.  Irving vividly wrote about a squire who invited the peasants into his home for the holidays.  So you do have a great deal of class conflict in early American society, but at least in Irving’s mind, Christmas is a time when various groups mingle peacefully. According to most scholars, Irving’s view of Chrstmas had very little to do with reality - Irving actually “invented” traditions by implying that his view of Christmas described the true customs of the holidays. But we should be thankful that Washington Irving’s popularized beliefs  hat Christmas should be a peaceful and warm-hearted holiday that ideally brings groups together - regardless or wealth of social status.

This Sunday night at midnight - and I told you this would be a busy month for Celebrate Poe - the episode will deal with a short story by H.P. Lovecraft called The Festival.  It is not exactly spiritually enlightening, but not surprisingly is very dark - and gets wierder ever time I read or hear it.   That’s this Sunday night at midnight.

I will start on Monday December 27 with a minute recap series covering roughly 20 episodes of Celebrate Poe everyday. I will talk about format of this podcast, a bit about its background, some of the elements of Poe’s early life, and the introduction, and why I feel qualified to do this podcast.

There will also be episodes every week day during that week after Christmas on Tuesday - Friday - each dealing with roughly 20 podcasts each day.  At that rate, it should take 5 episodes in the series until Celebrate Poe reaches 100 episodes - which should happen before the end of 2001. This should all becomes a lot clearer as time goes by.   So that will be 5 roughly 30 minute episodes - each summarizing 20 separate previous episodes.  

20:02 Sources

Sources for this episode include “The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon” by Washington Irving, Complete Fictional Works of Washington Irving by Washington Irving, Washington Irving: The Definitive Biography of America’s First Bestselling Author by Brian Jay Jones, The Literary Adventures of Washington Irving by Cheryl Harness, Original Knickerbocker: The Life of Washington Irving by Andrew Burstein, Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography by Arthur Hobson Quinn, The Poe Log: A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Dwight Thomas and David K. Jackson, and The Reason for the Darkness of the Night. by John Tresch, 

Again, thank you for listening to Celebrate Poe.