Tudor Christmas traditions
On the 12th Day of Christmas, my Tudor love sent to me…
A Spinning Wheel Covered in Flowers
The Tudor twelve days of Christmas was a period in which tools were downed and work was forbidden between Christmas Eve and Epiphany (6 January). To keep women from their chores it was customary to decorate the home’s spinning wheel with flowers, while the house was decked in evergreens: holly, ivy and mistletoe.
Five Boars’ Heads
The centrepiece of the Christmas banquet from at least the Medieval period, the presentation of the boar’s head is rooted in pre-christian tradition but came to signify Christ’s triumph over sin – the boar being frightening to rural folk and worthy quarry for hunters. Though supplanted by more fashionable fare at court, it was the subject of the Boar’s Head Carol published in 1521: “The boar’s head in hand bring I, Bedeck’d with bays and rosemary. And I pray you, my masters, be merry, Quot estis in convivio.”
Two Boy Bishops
The ecclesiastical answer to the
Lord of Misrule, a choirboy would be elected to the role of bishop from 6 December until Holy Innocents’ Day on 28 December. The boy would be dressed in full bishop’s regalia (the boy bishop of Westminster Abbey had fine silk robes decorated with silver and gilt flowers) and would conduct all ceremonies except mass with his fellow choirboys. Reflecting turbulent Tudor attitudes towards the church, the practice was abolished by Henry VIII in 1542, revived by Mary I in 1552 and finally ended by Elizabeth I.
Six Marching Turkeys
Henry VIII is credited with adopting the turkey as a Christmas bird following its introduction to Britain from America in the 1520s. It quickly became fashionable among the Tudor elite and was often served in the coffin-shaped Christmas pie, where it was stuffed with numerous other game birds.
The demand was so great that flocks of turkeys were driven to London on foot from Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with the trek starting as early as August.
Three Yule Logs
A pre-christian tradition thought to have been introduced by the Norse, a large log from the base of a tree would be decorated with ribbons and dragged home. Laid upon the great hearth of the manor on Christmas Eve, it would be kept smouldering over the full twelve days of Christmas. It was considered lucky to keep some of the charred remains for next year’s fire.
Seven “Minced Pyes”
Rather than a sweet snack, the “minced pye” was served at the beginning of the meal. Baked with prunes, raisins, dates, powdered beef, butter, egg yolk, flour, suet or marrow and minced mutton, and seasoned with salt, pepper and saffron. A total of thirteen ingredients represented Christ and his Apostles, while the loaf-like shape echoed the crib of the infant Christ and was sometimes adorned with an image of the babe in pastry.
Four Carol Singers
Made popular in Italy in the 13th century, and first recorded in England in 1426, Christmas carols involved dancing as well as singing. Secular themes such as feasting, hunting and merry-making became more popular under the Tudors, although carols remained predominantly religious. Many carols – such as the Coventry
Carole, recorded in 1534 – were composed for Mystery Plays, a form of open-air religious theatre that was banned under Henry VIII and restored under Mary I, before eventually declining in popularity around 1600.
Eight Cockenthrices
The Tudor lust for meat reached peculiar heights at Henry VIII’S dining table, with chefs stitching together cadavers to create a whole new beast – the cockenthrice, which was the frontend of a piglet with the hind-quarters of a turkey. Another oddity was the Helmeted Cock, in which a chicken was mounted on the pig wearing a little helmet and carrying a shield. For fans of meat feast without the theatre, the Rôti Sans Pareil was seventeen birds stuffed one inside the other.
Nine Wassail Bowls
A much older tradition inherited from the Anglo-saxons (Wassail comes from the Old English “Wass Hal” meaning “Your good health”), a large wooden bowl containing hot ale, spiced with apple, sugar and spices, was taken from door to door. Strangers were offered a drink in exchange for a donation, while royal Wassails were more formal and the steaming bowl was brought into court by stewards, before being passed around with the King saved for last. Commoner or courtier, singing and call-and-response were a big part of the Wassail Bowl ritual.
Eleven Servants Bearing Gifts
Gift giving in the Tudor court took place on New Year’s Day. After the King had finished dressing, the fanfare would sound and servants would march in with gifts, with the Queen’s coming first. To give generously was to carefully curry favour with the King or Queen, while refusing them was a brutally effective way of communicating disdain.
Ten Kissing Boughs
A wreath or double-hoop with roots in earlier folklore, the Kissing Bough was woven from mistletoe, ash, hazel or willow, covered in evergreens and supporting an effigy of the baby Jesus in the centre.
The Medieval and Early Modern English were infamously “kissy” and visitors would be embraced under the bough as a sign of goodwill, leading to the custom of kissing under the mistletoe.
Twelve Vindictive Ploughmen
On Plough Monday the twelve days were officially over and peasants returned to their toil. It was customary for the communal plough to be blessed and then dragged door to door to collect funds for the parish. Those who refused to make a donation had the ground outside their door ploughed up. This was banned under Edward VI.