THE CHARLCTFETOWN GUARDIAN_

Festivities in

a Windjarrimar

Christmas Spent on the Open Sea

TWO KINDS

By Boyd Cable. (Author of "Action Front," "Storm- along," etc.)

Ask any half dozen 01d windjam- mer-men to tell yoil about their last Christmas at sea in sail, and you'll almost certainly get as varied and contrasting a set of experiences as you'll get from any similar number of men in any one other life.

One, maybe, will Christmas in The Trades, of the ship driving along with every stitch set, ll gleaming pile of snow-unite canvas pyraniiding up to her trucks. of o. wide vista of deep blue sea crisping in little flashes of silver white, of the great inverted bowl oi ﬂawless blue overhead with a few fieecy cotton-wood ‘clouds doing their best to race the ship to the clear horizon.

They will tell you, lingering on the pleasant. memories the tales recall, of a wind so steady that for days and nights on elid there was no need to touch tack or sheet, when the total of the day's work on the sails was a few lrlinutes going. round giv- illg a little pull here and there to pick up any slack of the ropes stretching ever sdslightly under the steady strain; they will telllyou oi the blazing sunshine tempered by the cool lvind, of the smother oi foam pouring out from the cut-wat- er. the tall masts heeling slightly and swaying monotonously up and down over the long smooth swells.

That. they will say, was the sort of Christmas Day worth living, if ever one was at sea. The Day, of course. is a holiday-m Sunday upon which no work is done save what is necessary for the safe handling 0f the ship, and because this is thc rule that has obtained av sea for generations, the Day is illucli the sanle as it was to our fathers and grandfathers.

Merry Start.

Down there in The Trades. the men will be starting the Day with a merry sluicing down of. vfwli Oiliei with buckets of clear _sparkhng salt water. The apprentices will be doing the same with an extra bit of s-kylarking thrown in. and the officer of the watch will be looking fol-aid from the poop break-rail watching the fun. _

From the galley stove-pipe‘ if plulile of smoke will be. streaming, and from the door will be diiftiiig an appetizing odor oi cooking food “of food so course and dirty that those ‘ashore wouldturn faint at sight and scent of it—and yel- l0 salt-edged ﬂPlWl-iles l5 Savoury enough. The galley odours will be the more mouth-watering because they will be tinged with the perfume of solne rashers of rather rancid bacon for the cabin table. and, most delicious of all, a whiff of. something that. smells like real coffee instead of the concoction for the focsl which smells and tastes oi nothini.’ recognizable. but yili l5 800d QIiQiIBli this hungry mornifiﬁ- ‘

After breakfast tllere is nothing to d0‘ (lxcgpt, maybe, that little pull Oil the braces here alid there to take up the suspicion ofa wrinkle n this sail or that which the eagle- cyed mate itches to llaukflat again,

There will be a duff for the Christmas dinner~the usual Sundiiy duff of flour and water. and-if “dcctor" be skilled enough at K trade or generous enough with his store-a few spoonfuls of Efease “m! a bit. of baking powder, with an ex- tra handful of raisins in honor of the day.

\ Little Tit-Bits.

If the Old Mali ls the right sort and the cabin stores will run t0 it. thcrc may be a tit-bit of an fextrnl: frolii aft-two or three Pills i) l“ m‘ tlllS of syrup. or even (although this is almost too good to be tiuel

- ﬂ bag of onions hand-picked out by

the steward as slllililly m9 muddy for ma, captain's table, but rejoiced over fOP-ﬂfd and eaten raw. skins nnd all, rather than have an hi0!" of the rare ﬂavor wasted in cook- ing.

Assuredly there will be a tot 0f rum all round, alid. likely ciiﬂiiEli- ii bit of swapping between the alilliiiii’ tices and the men, of rum for Syfiiii or onion. Then feeling féﬂillfillibly full fed, all hands will take to their pipes, light up. and loll round, and talk of other and less happy Cliiiiil‘ mas Days- _ ‘

0n a Happy Ship there will be foo-foo band in the dog-watches, a concertiiia or mouth-organ perhiilie as the leader. the apprentices pro- minent with fiﬂ-Dei"liid'5‘camb trumpets. and a preponderance ‘of biscuit-tin and iron e900" Cymbals and triangles and drums that would astound a Queen's Hall orchestra.

There will be song and choruses. charities and fore-hitters, the oldest of sea. songs and the newest of land tunes picked up in the laal-‘Poili mm‘ the pub gramophone or dance-hall guitars. And if the old chantles

specially be well sunfl- ﬂiid Hame-

tell you of a .

Dearie, Home," or "Rolling Home“ be amongst the most tenderly ren- dered, it will be a stoney-hearted Old Man who doesn't call the stew- ard and pass the word to “splice the mainbrace" in another tot of runl.

Then the watch below will turn in, and the watch on deck will sit about and talk softly aiid look up at the dark-blue, star-dusted Heavens, and listen to the thrum of the steady wind in the sails and gear, and hum the air of “Home, Dearle, Home" very softly to themselves again . . . and that Christmas Day will be over.

Another Way.

ThaUs the one way of it. But there is another side.

Listen to the wind howling in your own chimney on ‘Christmas night. Try to imagine that roar and whistle magniﬁed a million fold. try to pic- ture a ship laboring wildly under its weights across a wilderness of tearing seas surging out of the dark- ness, bursting in a welter of ﬂying foam against the ship, leaping in over her bows or sides, ﬁlling the deck with a sweeping cataract of icy water that lifts a man from his feet and rolls him ill the scuppers, lielp- less as a kitten in a mill-race.

It is easy to say “try to imagine" but it is impossible for any to imag- ine unless they have looked on and felt what it howling gale in mid- winter on the North Atlantic is like. There, it, will be a lucky Christmas Day if the ship has anything but the bitterest weather and the worst of heart-breaking toil to give her unhappy (Il'€\V-——i1l1d if the Day isiiot one of a long series of the same sort.

No man will have a dry stitch in his kit or on his back: no man will have a bone in his body that does not ache with fatigue. The day may be spent ﬁghting to shorten sail, trying to cling to a madly jerking yard and spare a hand from its hold long cough to grab at a fold in the board-stiff sail, stooping a sou-west- ered head to the lashing raili and sleet that blinds any eyes looking into it for an instant, crawling about ll spider's web rigging with thc wind trying like a clawing wild beast to tear a mail from his grip. Bad enough aloft. you might call it even worse on deck, where the water sweeps to and fro anything from six inches to six feet deep, where men hang to a rope wllcli a turn has been taken round the pill, ﬁght to keep their feet until the water drops enough to let them snatch another haul or two, take a turn and hang on once more against the next ray- r-ning brute of a sea that roars in over the rail upon them.

(‘heel-less Dinner.

Tilt‘, galley fire. quite likely has been trashed out, and the Christmas dinner is of ﬂint-hard ship's bread. cold tinned food and cold water. No duff that day. nor for many, maybe. before or after it. There is the tot of grog. and few staunch enough lce-totallers to refuse its fiery coni- fortilig glow. ‘

No foo-foo band in the dog-Which

' hereflio idle chat. or lazy smoke.

The WiltCll below. when (and if) re- leased will stagger to their berths, pull longsca-boots from their nulilb- cd feet, cast off thc soul-alid-body lashings round their oilskilis. and roll wearily into their wet bunks, linking as deep asleep as dead men, with the one wish only that the gale will hold steady enough to make no need of shortening or loosing sail.

Listen to the wind in the chimney of your snug home ashore. draw the curtains close against that chilly little draught. stir the ﬁre to _u cheery blaze. gather around it in the ﬂickering rosy glow. So you make the picture that is the heart of nlost windjammcr men at sea this Christmas night, the scene he dreams, whether he sleeps lillled by the gentle swing of the Trade Winds‘ swells, or screwed and jambed into his bulik against the wild lift and plunge that nearly hurls him out of his wet-chilled blanket.

It's a rare enough windjalnlncr- niali who doesn't think of you ashore, cheery over your roast tur- key dinner. cosy around your fire- as it is the rarer landsnleii who spares a thought for the windjam- nlcr-men afloat this Christmas.

-~~- - i-i-v‘ '"" "

The Unspeakable Gift

“'l‘haliks l1: llllltl (loll for l-lis llil- spellkilble gift!" (lifts lire precious. because they lire ll lll('(ll? of ex- pression mole eloquent llilll li‘»‘i"

sullsirl-l than mere wnrllz-l. (loll has already sllill: "l have low-d llltip \\'llll llll (Wkrlllfllllll! lovei"

hilt thc llilll calls of humanity gllvli lltllo lli‘L‘(l. llv llll(l said it liver illl(l fl'\'(‘l‘ again ill ills liaily provi- llellu», hill we lot-k little notice. llr- lltlll said it. willi tloivcrs llilll FllllHllllly (lays and starry heavens. _\<=l our eyes were. rlosiill, llut Whﬁj] lll- Htllll ii lll ilil’ sill of iii“ (l\\'|l llclovcd Son, lll last our iil-lllts wore pierced alill we know llilll (iml really lrvvll lll‘ world. 'l‘lillliil~l lN‘ lt- (loll for this unspeak- “lllp expression lll‘ llis love.

(End's gill. is so ililll-llcrillalily “lump. “jlﬂ pi-ilcious, ii is just (villi; \\'I‘ lll our inmost at ills willil- lll: lll- lights up the mysteries of lll-liven illlfl eillrlli. through llll- Sllliouri-i prvcitus blood, tile crinlsuu stains oi‘ our sill have liv-

Wnnn ml white lls SIHVW. lie is our Counsellm, klvlliii ii-‘i lll" ‘-¥l""'l advice of ilifilliu- wislinlil lill‘ Hit‘

(lillly plnhlclnu. llc is our Vﬂiii‘ plillioli, slot-plug in the lfiWl fil Oiii‘ intelligence to converse on any mhypl of ‘rllllllll or grilat liiolnellt. lie is our lloplv and cul-ollrllgl-llielll it; l-(tlllli glilig cll, filitllful until lll-lull. Ht‘ is our Reilurrilvlilili llilll our llh- eternal. ill‘ l» "i" All lll all, Thanks ho unto (loll m; ||l_~l "llnsqlvil-kalile (liil."'—lle\'. ll. ltaylllozill ’l‘ai:gilri.

\ .

A.

n!

KING SANTAS LOVAL SUBJECTS GIVE HIM A RIGHT ROYAL WELCOME.

Christmas With Charles Dickens

If ever a man loved Christmas it was Charles Dickens. If ever all author loved to write about Christ- mas. it was this self same man. l-lc had scarcely begun to contribute to the periodicals of his day as a youth than he began to write about Christ- mas.

“Who can be inscnsible to the outpourings of good feeling and the honest interchange of affectionate attachment which abound at this season of the year?" he writes iii "Sketches by Boz."

And so it continued right through the whole‘ of his life. When he is at the height of his power he pauses to write “A Christmas Carol" and other haunting Christmas stories; and his closing years are marked by the inimitable recitals of the “Carol,“ as our fathers have told us, on be- half of benevolent institutions.

That Dickens should have this wonderful veneration for the Chris. mas season seems at first sight strange when we recall thc [llfilllill story of his boyhood, the story of a lad oi’ a proud, sensitive, yet gciitic nature repressed alld harassed by that lnost dreaded fiend to imagina- tive natures-poverty. Think how poverty haunted the home where he spent his early years. His father, it Bohemian, travels hither and thither, Mlcawber-like, "looking for some- thing to tlirn up." Now he is illi- prisoncd for debt. Now he is so poor that he is compelled to send his sensitive son l0 work ill the naurc- aling environment of a blocking fac- tory, ail experience that long years afterwards Dickens trembled cvcn lo recall. A boyhood spend iii such circumstances you might expect to develop into a sour and cynical inan- hood, hilt instead we have the exil- bcrant Dickens, open-hearted, genial, generous to a fault.

Wh ?

Is it too much to assume, as we study the writings of Dickens, espe- cially his references to Christmas and his love of Christmas, that the salvation of his boyish soul was due to Christmas‘? His father might lack eniplqvlntiit. but his faintly could gather around thc humble table like thc Cratchits on Christmas Day. His father liiight languish in a debtor's prison, but prison bars could ‘not find expression at Christlnastidc. To the lad sticking labels on blocking bottles life niight seem drab, drcar and hopeless. All. but Christmas was coming, and—

A Christmas gambol 0ft could

cheer

The poor man's heart through

half year. _ ‘

And so when he comes to write when all these experiences are fresh on his youthful lnind. is it any wonder that he pelis his praise of Christmas and of all who love and reverence the Christmas season?

Equally, too, if there is olic thing" he is at pains to emphasize it is that the celebration of Christmas is by no means the prerogative of anyone class. Nay, one feels almost that he thinks that the poor get most enjoy- melit out of Christmas. -

"is there a peculiar flavor in what you sprinkle froln your torch?" asked Scrooge of the Ghost of Christmas Present.

"There is. My own."

Would it apply to any kind of dinner on this day?" asked Scrooge.

"To ally kiildly given. To a poor one most.“

"Why to a poor one most?" asked Scrooge.

“Because it needs it most."

Dickens dismisses in a sentence “the Lord Mayor liiid his Christmas dinner iii the mighty stronghold of the Mansion House prepared by his fifty cooks and butlcrs," but he lets himself go as he tells how poor Bob Cratchit. alid his family make merry over their small roast goose ("Such a goosei") and their equally small plum pudding (Oh, a wonderful pudding") as if it were the ﬁnest banquet that had ever been pur- veyed.

Herc iii this simple feast describ- ed late in life we may sec happy memories of the Christmas celebra- tions of his boyhood days when his

parents were blessed with little cash ,

to spend oii Christmas festivities.

But it has been objected that Dickens‘ descriptions of Christmas are gross. that they glorify eating and drinking. "

Surely they who find only the iaudatioli of the pleasures of the table in Dickens but skim the surface cf his pages. It. is true that he dc- lighis in describing the Christmas table whether in the spacious rooms Dingley Deli. or in Joe Gargerys humble kitchen in “Great Expecta- tions.“ bllt lifter all to Dickens cat- ing aiid drinking are a minoi? matter. What he is eager tn indicate is that Christians is a time of good cheer in the finest sense of ilie term. and that the real blessing of the season is to be found in that essage which came with its sacred origin "peace and good-will to men."

Ii’ Christmas were only a season

Carols and Carolling

(lﬂlr/iri/tr/ of i/lv (l/ll llnrlilfijr will! .lIv\'.\‘[(‘I“\‘ /’/ll_\' ti] llilll/Is .l_i/l'.v,

BY A. EAGLEFll-ILI) HULL. Founder of British Music Society.

N the first stagesgol‘ man's evolu- tion, most authorities agree lll giving rythni the precedence of tune; in other words. the druln ap- peared before the blown reed; the dance before the song. Both the words carol alid ballad in their earliest uses inlplied dancing anti not singing. In Chzlucerian English carollilu; sometimes means singing" and sometimes dancing. An old pro- verb of the fourteenth century all.‘- ards thc palm for llll‘l‘l'll'l€.‘;S to the English nation!

"The French pipe, thc Germans ilowl, the Spaniards wail. thc Itali- ans caper, the English carol." When the folk “so falre and fresh that. they were like o angels feathered bright" around Sir Milth went "down by a litel path, of niiniltcs; flill and felllicli green." A lady also “kﬂl'0lﬁ(l" to them; Daliic Gladness. blissful and light, that singeth so well with glad courage." l-ler voice "full clere was and filil swcte." She "was not rude ne unmete. but coll- tlie enough foi' such doing. as long- elh unto karolling." Iii a later epi- sode, "hightiest thou karolles scene and folks daunce and merry beetle." Courtesie comes up to the narrator. saying, “Come, and if it like yoil to dailncen. ciaunceth with us nou."

"And I. without tarryiilg. went into ‘

the karollilig." (Enrol Open-Air Song".

Nowadays, however. the words car- ol alid ballads are confined to forms of singing, although (iccasionally the terms is used in a romantic sexisc for il few instrumental forms —Cyril Scott's “Ballad lor Piano“ and the ilulnerous Noels of the French organ composers. Guillnant, Bonnet, Quei’ and (Jigont. Lri a dit- llrcnce. however, be noted here, for whereas the Noel has the illll can- onical blessing, being designed for use ill thc interior of church or ca- thedral the carol is distinctly‘ a form for perfcrlnzinccs outside the sacred edifice.

_ This is probably because it owes its existence to the church service only in a secondary way; lor thi- crrrol unis thc offspring of the inor- illily ﬂiiél mystery play of the lliid- dlc ages. ~

_ A fourteenth-century lnanurzcript is the (lilFllCSl. record 0f ilzirmony lll Britain or elsewhere. This MS.. which is ill thc possession of Lord Howard do‘ Walden. establishes still more deﬁnitely the connection with tile church. The words are in Cliauccriali English. and run as fol- lows:-

Pliyﬁ Z01. iilys zoi. ye bcste red that ye kiln. Ys for to be a inyry mail, And leuc karc and plitte out siryf. Th‘s tllynk y to ledc my lyf.

Tliys zoi. thys ml,

Alid warlil y may fyiidc zingri Y wol leudc hys company Thys zol, tliys zoi.

’I‘h_\'.'; zol allkyt tlit echc man

Slial make tllc liiyrthe that he kill] And so wol y wt ryt god clietr

To by gynnyllgc oi the news zere.

Thys zol y zeuc my lady bryt

My herte d: loue 8a al my lnyzt

d; pay zow to be zowre lnali, '

8a serlly zow ryth as y kaii. thys zoi. The meaning of the above will be

clearer when we remember that rod

is early English for advise, wani for

home. and thc z is y lthergrum, ml

—yulc, pay is short for prlly, and

of eating and drinking, not all the golden pens ofaDickens could keep it alive, but because Dickens held up to public praise and appreciation the good fellowship that prevailed us ill the English-speaking world but looks forward to spending a good old-fashioned Christmas with oilr families round the old home hearth.

And because Dickens told of the love of the Crlitchits for each other. and most of all for Tiny Tim, be- cause, as Bob, his father. said. "he was a little. little child" there is not a single community of English- spcaking‘ people at Christmas-time but makes the less fortunate children in its midst the recipients of its clit- poured love and affection.

That is why Christmas as de- scribed by Charles Dickens lives. and will continue to live.

Thut is why we all say "Amcii" to thc prayer of the novelist as a youth. "Would that Christmas lasted the whole year through!"

Thai is wily we all re-echo frolii our hearts the toast of little Bob Cratchit:

“A Merry Christmas to us all. my dcars. God bless us!"

“God bless us everyone!"

Jlclirls. “0 Nlillllﬂl‘.

MY MASTER

A CHRISTMAS THOUGHT

By Edward Leigh Peli _

'i“li<i lléilFl-lllilllfllf- of the world today is not for a reasonalllﬂ Will-i’ ‘loll. 1U»; some would have us l)(‘,ll('\'t‘ lllll, for Ll satisfying (lod. And as our fathers used to say, only a God who has soliictliillg iii (rommoii willi us can slitilliy us. A (iﬂtl illl'l Jl-sus niuy appeal to our mlilflfalliii only ll (loll in JOSUH can satisfy our hearts. We have tried both, iillfl we know. We may as well givli iili this ll\()llt‘l‘ll notion that though Je- sus he slrLppedWif l-lis (leify thc \\'()l‘l(l will go oii following llilll all lillforlr. The ivorlll will not do il. lt lillly lllllliire llilll as before, lllll, lilere is ilot. enough power on (‘ilflll to ]l"l‘.‘illil(l(3 a llczlrt-sick humanity m cry out lo a luerI-ly human Jea- lls- as lily lll-art t'l'l(‘H ilillly to my llivillil lnirll, "0 Life, () Love, U Joy, O llilllv. I rest lily souflilioll TllUlH"

l.~.-l lls ilolll on in our lllVllN‘. Ma lvr. Wi- llllti (on llarll at limo lug to tilul ll (loll who ivoulli s: fy ts to give llilll up now. For ug~ 1's llilll ligi-ll we scarcliiell’ for lllln. We sought Hill! ill tile stars, illlll lll tile flowers, ill tile winds. and lll the seuil- and iii tile far-off moun-

q.

lllills. \‘V~- scoured the (ieserts looking for llis foot prints. “'1' liollcyl-onibctl lite earth seeking

trail-es of liis ilandiwnrk. Allll u‘. last, one llliy ill tho midst (if our search, llc suddenly .I‘(!\'BZlli.‘(l Him- self to us. For Jesus or Nazareth- lllcssell Spirit, help us bomb-was nod milking Himself known to lllcll. lli/‘lleve this Wtltll all my ritilll- When We lollkcll lll the. stars \\'lE thought we saw tho ‘Klfﬂlﬂjn lll‘ (hit. Wllvii \\'<-. looked at the lllOllll- talus, we tlloul-llli we saw (i11- .~=lr- ligtli of (loll. When we ionkeil

lll llln tluwvrs. and the deep blue‘

rvky. llilll the soidcll sunshine. llllil lll some lll-lllltiflll llltllllltl‘ helllliil;

over her newborn babe, we thought v

\\‘1- lulu‘ the lnvc of (loll. llui. when ‘W’ l°°licd iiilon Jesus. we saw Ytiiilvlliiils‘. ill His flice that. said. "l llill lll lllt‘ Fkllllfil‘. allll the Flltllw lll luv."

.-\li(l our llvzlris were satisfied,

".\llll llii‘])(*r)]i1(l knv“. "is mo“. ""i't-' liy lll" llvﬂfts llilll. cease-ll lll sigh,

\\'ill»ll till" glory of the Lorri was Hill-wing by." ‘

.xo\fll""'l*“' li-“i-‘i ever satisfied us. . o mic else evilr will. This slur] lllly let us say m Elm m m“. thou art every."- ililiik in m"; thrill shalt have all tlicrc is of mo“ .

u equal v “(filly is serve).

Tile lliusical scale used is that m" church use rather than of secular. 11nd the bass has a distinct feeling of ecclesiastical chant. This pl-llcm... if bulldilifi ill? a tuiic from the bass [in vclly _l(‘;lllill‘l(ﬂb1t'3.~ being derived pr llll lairnd monastic singing mm. . tian fioln folk-song methods,

"Kl": llerod and the Cock.“

Amongst the chief characteristics “l [he "imillily Plays are the clnp!i- HSlS‘ placed on the non-Biblical do- ialls of the story and the develop_ "lem ‘Pl “i9 Bfiliarent delight of ov- eileliding the sacred story with in- velltioli and decoration. Take thc “lltxlnKcnelliﬂgtfnd tllE Cock."

r. ec arp's “English Folk-Carols" (Novella), which he took down from the singing of Mrs. Plum. at Armscote, Worcestershire:

There ivas a star in David's land. In Davids land appeared:

And in King Herod's. chﬂnlbgr So bright it did shine there.

The Wise Man they soon spi-ed it, And told the King a-nigh That a Princely Babe was born that night No king shal e'er destroy.

If this be the said.

That thou hast told to me.

The roasted cock that lies dish.

Shall crow full senses three.

truth. King Herod

in the

0. the cock soon feathered well. By the work of God's own hand. And he did crow full senses three In the dish where he did stand.

thrustmied and

This. however, is only a fragment of a very much l0l'll£0l' carol of thir- tv stanzas called. "The Carnel (The Crow) and The Crane." in Wlll('l’l the inventors strive to emphasize the miracles of the cock and the mi- raculous harvest.

._..._4.+>___.__

The owner of n banking ling is .'ll\\'ﬂ)"l lllf‘ first ‘in cnlllplaln of thc noise nialle h_v thc nelghbork chil- (ll‘(‘I\.

PAGE TIRED? .1 . 14,4 .;.. g, .;_,g 4., 1,. a..- >- J

Legacies of a Merry Christmas

Bequests {that Make the Poor Happy

MODIFIED WITH CHANGING TIME

(By Michael Compton.)

When the bells ring out on Christ- mas cve in a Derbyshire hamlet, ihl-lrc are at least four old ladies who long for the morrow, and all because a man named Greene had a quaint sense of humor and a sympathetic licart. In his will he made a play upon his name by providing that four green Waistcoats lined with green galloon lace should be pre- sented to follr poor women annually and to be ﬁrst worli by thcni on Christmas Day.

The country is simply dotted with towns and hamlets where various good people keep a merry. merry time of Yule, and often an unusual one, on the proceeds of strange gifts left by benefactors of other days.

Sometimes, these gifts have been embarrassing and have been modi- fied with the passage of time. Thus a man in Sliniold, Sussex left asum of money to be spent at Christmas "upon a drinking," but the churcli- wardens long since agreed that it was better to let the poor have thc cash equivalent.

That. too, was a strange idea of a Rotherman man who ordered that forty dozen loaves should be distri- buted on Christmas Day forever. bllt the bread was to be thrown down from the church leads!

The worldly ivisdom which had helped a Yorkshire manufacturer to accumulate a fortulie did not. desert him in his old age when he came to making his will. He 'left funds to purchase joints of meat for the poor bllt they were to be bought in Sep- tember when prices might be low, and placed iii pickle until Christmas when "food is dear by tiie inexoiw- able law of supply and demand. for it is the time when we all dcsirc to liavc it ill abundance."

Feasts For Ever.

There is a Christmas feast pro- vided for all the poor, as well as the

occupants of almshouses and other

charities in a Shropshire town, which must always take place in rooms with windows fronting the main street.

Did the donor wish the richer re- sidents ior once to be envious of thc good cheer and good spirits by hav- ing to behold the revel through the plate glass windows? That we shall never know. -

We do know, however. that Wil- liam Taylor, left the funds to provide “for ever and ever“ a good and WllOlESOIYlB dinner for all poor per- sons in his own parish of St. Leon- ards with the instruction to his ex- ecutors that the lneal must always be laid in rooms of his two houses in thc High Street which were in the front.

Vcry sensible aiid substantial ‘fare is assured to all poor families in one Hampshire towli by a legacy which nlust annually be spent in the pur- chase of thc very best ox-beei and the ﬁnest cheese, together with po- tatoes and peas. the viands to be dis- trlblited in suitable proportions to enable the families to prepare a good meal therefrom.

The podirin a Norwich parish may make sure of a good Christmas dili- ner only if during the week before the festival they trill come to church and pray for His Majesty the King. This was the condition imposed by John Balliston. a native of the city who left three valuable properties to yield the annual reveliue required to pay for thc feast for all time.

The Vicars Reward.

Hc stipulated that all who had complied with his condition should place themselves folir and four to- gether. being over eleven years of age, and that they should receive a loaf of bread, a gallon of good beer. alid four pounds of the best beef.

Alas. he did not appeal‘ to think it. necessary to secure a happy Christmas for tile hard-working clergyman who should take care that his condition had been complied with and must superintelid the an- liual distribution. The vicar and his silccessors entrusted with the task were to take fourpence from the es- tate for their services.

There is one happy deduction we can make froln thc story of the leg- acies intended to insure a happy Christmas. The poor of the twenti- eth century are not quite as poor as the lowly toilcrs in the so-called golden days. Generous gifts which are distributed to the poor who live at. Dingley Dell. there is not one of in the neighborhood of the great flsli markets of London are, for instance. augmented by a. legacy which tins liad to be diverted simply because there are now none so pool‘ as those in the days when the kindly testator made his will.

A merchant named Harding left an annuity to thc ancient Company of Fishmongers which they were to use for the beneﬁt of the poor who were compelled by necessity to come

A Christmas Thought

“I have always thought of Christ- mas time, when it has conie round -—ﬂplll‘t from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin. if any- Fnng belonging to it can be apart from that-as a good time: b kind. forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only llilll.- I know of. in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to opeli their shut-lip hearts freely. and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grvac. and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys."

---"A Christmas Carol."

into Billingsgate to buy the cuttings and refuse of ﬁsh for food. Happily. there are now none so destitute as to be reduced to this extremity and so the luckier poor of our own bet- ter times receive a money gift to help them to enjoy the festive sea- SOD.

An Unfortunate Oversight.

The morning milk of “two able milk beasts" must be divided among the poor in a little Middlesex town. They are each to receive also 3s. 4d. in cash‘. but old Edmund Porter, who made this bequest overlooked the fact that while investments may in- crease in value the milk yield of two cows remains almost station- ary. Therefore. while many more receive the forty pence on Christ- mas Day than he had contemplated the two able milk beasts could not give enough to go round.

Little orphan girls in Canterbury city were provided for in just the way the hearts of all little girls could desire, for John Cogan left an estate to be annually distributed among fatherless daughters and do- mestic servants who had kept their places for at least six years.

Therefore, each Christmas Dal‘ the orphans must each have a petti- coat and waistcoat of colored Jer- sey. one pair of shoes. and one pair of stockings. We may feel S1111 that the happy recipients have never been reluctant to comply with the wish of their benefactor that they should attend church in their smart new things.

Ensuring a Thrill. '

Possibly the most thrilling Yule- tide which the poor were to enjoy for ever was that which formed an annual revel at Wokinghaln. Ac- cording (o the bequest "of a man named Staverton the trustees were to purchase a bull each Christmas and the animal was to be baited in the market place. Afterwards; the lildc and offal were to be sold, and. added to the revenue frolii some property, the liicliey was to be spent on shoes and stockings.

The annual thrill was regularly provided for nearly two centuries until some years ago when the Cor- poration stepped in and ii W35 agreed to let the poor and the chil- dren have the beneﬁts of the legacy without the bull baiting.

Fifty live Irish geese are given t0 the poor of a Devon borough each September in order that. they might fatten them in their own backyards. The ideli of the ‘donor in orderinfl that these birds should be handed over in advance was that the reci- pients would "enjoy three months of happiness in the pleasures of con- templation of their certain feast at Christmas." _

Finally. the evidence“ that the beneﬁciaries had spend a_ happy 01d year“ was the condition imposed by another rich merchant who gave a thought to Christmas in his will. Each poor person who could show that he or she had lived at peace with the neighbors for the year and had been levy-abiding. and ' no Xllllb- ance to the community. was}? It‘; ccive a fat. turkey and one shilling.

i}

For Santa _ Claus’ Knapsack

There were various other samples of his handicraft besides dolls. iii Caleb Plummers room. There were Noah's Arks, in which the birds and beasts were an uncommonly tight fit. I assure you. though they CQiild be crammed in, anyhow. at the roof. and rattled and shaken into the smallest compass. By a bold poetical license, most of these Noah's Arks had knockers on the doors; incon- sistent appendages. perhaps. as sus- gcstive of morning callers and u Postman. yet a ploﬂ-‘iﬂiili Yliiiﬁh w the outside of the building. There were scores of melancholy little carts which. when the wheels went roulid. performed most doleiiil iii“- sic. Many small ﬁddles. drums 8nd other instruments of torture; no end of cannon. shields. swords, spears and guns. There were little tumbl- ers in red breeches. incessantly swarming up high obstacles of red- tape. and coining down. head first. on the other side; and there were innumerable old gentlemen of res- pectable, not to say venerable. ap- pearance, insanely flying over horiz-

ontal pegs, inserted. for the purpose. »

in their own street doors. There were beasts oi all sorts, horses. in particular. of every breed. from the spotted barrel on four pegs, with a small tippet for a mane. to the thor- oughbred rocker on his highest met- tle. As it would have been hard to count the dozens upon dozens of grotesque figures that were ever ready io commit all sorts of absurd- ities on the turning of a handle, so it would have been no easy task to mention any human folly. vice or weakness. that had not its type. im- mediate or remote. in Caleb Plum- mer's rooni._ And not in an exag- gerated form. for very little handles will move men and women to as strange performances as any of was ever made to undertake. —"'I‘he Cricket on the Hearth."

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