How We Kept Christmas In An Old Manor House

How we kept Christmas in an Old Manor House

fnif PROPOSE in the following little story , to relate fcho I || iucidouts of Christmas in an old manor house , alas , ftS p far away , and in a good year of " auld lang syne " II long sinco departed to the grave of time ! Idonot JMP- suppose , indeed I am sure , thafc I have nothing new ' 1 to tell , nothing exciting to relate . Nothing weird or sensational belongs to this humdrum relation of a distant Christmas in an old manor house some years back . But still , as a story is wanted for Brother

Kenning ' s Christmas Freemason , I have , jotted dowu , from a dusty memorandum book , the account which I now present to my many indulgent readers ! And if afc tho end some kind critic or some astute commentator may propound the theory that " there is , after all , very little in it ; " lot all such bear in mind that , like Canning's " Needy Knifegrinder , " I preface all I hare

now to tell with that well -used line , '' Story ? God bless you ; I have news to tell , sir . " Those of us who in other days for their own pleasure and improvement road and thought over " Braccbridgc Hall , " the kindly creation of the pleasantesfc of writers , Washington Irving ; or thoso who can still amusedly recall to mind how , as told in the confessions of tlio immortal Pickwick , Mr .

Wardle kept np Christmas at Dingley Dell , thoy , I repeat , will need no words of mine to enhance the gratifying thoughts and exhilarating emotions thoso skilful " scribes " succeeded in extracting and ponrtraying in respect to Christmas . To them as to many more Christmastidc was a genial and goodly season , and they have certainly developed with unmatched fervour all that

sentiment can concede and all that affection can endow , and all that religion can hallow in respect of our longkept clearly-cherished Christmas Season ! I cannot presume , or venture even to hope , to follow ou theso goodly and well-drawn " lines . " I can only come after at a humble , very humble distance , indeed , and if for common mortals like myself 1 can oven succeed in arresting

attention for a moment , or endowing Christinas , so well known to us , with something of attraction , sentiment , and remembrance , however light or evanescent , I shall have indeed succeeded beyond what , my most ardent imagination would cither couceivo or compass . So , without further preface , as "there goes tho prompter's call , " let us draw up the curtain and begin .

I am ono of thoso who believe in Christmas , deeply , lovingly , reverentially , fully . Some do not ; I always have so done , and always shall so do . To how many is Christmas the happy cud for a short breathing space of toilsome duties and cankering cares ! How many a trouble is lightened , how many a trial is

softened , how many a cross is moro patiently borno in the long , longing hope of rc-mceting those wo lovo so dearly , and yet from whom wo aro severed for long and weary mouths by the pursuits of business , tho claims of office , tho needs , the callings , tho responsibilities of life !

In some sweltering city office , behind some tedious desk high and hard , amid tho throes of calculations and the excitement of speculation , through tho long , dreary routine of absorbing and often painful occupation , surrounded by affluence and comfort , or working ou , lonely and unappreciated anil even maligned—in all those various ways—to how very many is Christmas the

" Ultima Thule " of the year ' s difficult struggles , dangerous deceits , engrossing success , or overmastering weakness , and littleness , and baseness . Then for a few short days , even hours , care is hushed , oven probably forgotten , and wealth antl poverty , rank and nothingness , for a little time stand upon tho same and ono level , and in tho " amends " offered for life ' s

inequalities , grievances , hard work , and limited means in tho full title of revived Christmas affection , interest , and sympathy , memory becomes for tho nonco oblivious , and the heart becomes elato again . Alas ! short-lived happiness ' or ns poor mortals . Still thcro it is , aud such as it is let us hug it to onr bosoms , and feuce it round from thc rude blasts of earthly " Simoons . " As

poor King Stanislas said at a Christmas gathering in Poland , over 100 years ago , " Cost si doux do se tromper quolque fois "— "It's so pleasant to deceive yourself sometimes !" As it will thou bo seen from what I have just written , I am a lover of tho old form and quaint habit , and tho now unfashionable ways of keeping Christmas .

I cherish , for one , all those local customs which innocent hilarity and hearty hospitality have created and preserved in various parts of England , and I , like many a brother archaeologist , always welcome those scattered reminiscences of the past which still survive railways and the march of improvement , and lectures and lecturers and penny newspapers and gasand tho

, , electric light and the telephone , and which are so dear to the antiquary , yes , and tho man of sense aud education . Apsley Manor House , in tho timo I write of , was a good and comfortable relic of other days . Ifc had never been much larger than it was then , and possessed certain features which would now make it invaluable to

collectors , and inevitably entail several addresses from a local archreological society . It was approached from tho high road between two great stone pillars , each with a " peacock" and tho shield , the arms of tho Apsley ' s—a " cross fleurie , " and the somewhat narrow road from tho gates , by a dexterous turn , brought you " if » small g £ to which led over a moat , on a broad walk , through the centre of a garden to the old porch .

How We Kept Christmas In An Old Manor House

A later squire had added a little porter ' s lodge to the old-fashioned gates , bufc by a skilful disposition of goodly trees , the manor house was quite screened on on both sides of its front , and in its entirety from the road . Over the gabled porch fche arms were repeated , and when , after striking the old knocker , you were admitted into the hall , through two magnificent oak

doors , you admired at onco the effect and the appropriateness of the old-fashioned arrangements , for you were standing iu a sort of ante-chamber , ou which stained glass threw a pleasant , if fanciful , colouring , aud you saw a long screen which shut yon out from a goodly hall . There very wisely tho family " lived" as we say , and as some former squire had built on a large

wing at the west ( the honse laced south ) , you could at onco reach a waiting room , a library , and a billiard mom , aud the bachelor gallery by easy access . When you wero admitted into the hall you were struck wifch its pleasant proportions , its quaint fireplace , its oriels , and stained glass fragments , and its noble oak staircase to the principal bedrooms . The drawing-room ,

the original soler of old houses , led into the diningroom , a most lovable room , hung round with Spanish leather ( a young lady once actually called ifc a " duck of a room " ) , and thus the house was as comfortable and convenient a house as can well be described or represented wifch the cunning pencil of even tho most skilful artist .

The hall was the scene of our revels , and our games , high jinks , aud enviable romps . To-day time and change have reduced that happy family party to smaller proportions ; many are the missing facos aud empty chairs . But I am speaking of a day ere thc inevitable mischances , aud visitations , and bard blows of earth had dimmed the bright hopes and warm hearts of fairest youth , or rendered old age sedate and sad in

recollections which aro full of grief , and in losses which can never be replaced ! What a good idea we had then of keeping Christmas , as it had been kept up , for long years , through a kindly and gentle succession of true-hearted aud pleasantlooking Apsloys , male and female . Tho old adage was familiar to all the inhabitants of Cropshire : You may search thc county round

But an ill-looking Apsley can't bc found . Such was tho firm belief of every well-kept cottage and farmhouse on the manor of Apsloy and in tho peaceful villages of Apsley Guise and Apsley Parva , of Nethorton and Hawloigh , and Haver and Toft ! And there was much truth in the" saying . If tho old housekeeper indeed began her mincemeat

on tho Monday after " Stirup Sunday , " and sundry preparations were looked to constantly and carefully on tho well-stocked manor farm by Mr . Jennings , the substantial and honest bailiff , it was the week before Christinas that ushered in tho scenes of excitement and noise , aud gay voices and silvery cries iu that old hall . Then tho Captain came ( if in England ) from his

regiment , or tho First-Lieutenaut from his ship . Then a learned and lucid young Barrister hurried down from the Temple ; and the eldest son appeared , a well-known M . P ., from his London Club . Then Mrs . Marleigh antl Mrs . Carruthers , married women with good-looking husbands and children ! and Mary Apsley and Lucy Apsloy , still unmarried , appeared prettier and more

demure than ever . And there wore one or two very attractive female cousins , to whom tho young men paid groat attention ; and a maiden aunt , and a kind old grandmother , to whom all ofl ' ored thoir obeisances ; and when to this you add the noise of sundry small fry , children , grand-children , mule cousins , and friends—you have a house full of as happy mortals as can bo found

in this good old laud ! And then tho Squire , erect in his manliness and pleasant presence , aud his stately and gracious " Ladye , " kiud , attentive , and considerate to all , mado up a scene that you may go far and wide and you will not see tho like , I make bold to aver , for many a long mile , or many a long day ! Oh , how those old rafters then rung with song , and quip , and joke , and

merriment , the gay laughter of tho " maiden fair , " the screams of delighted children , and the moro mellow echoes of matured amusement and a happy and radiant old ago ! As I write to-day I feol somewhat sad , using an author ' s privilege , as I add , that of that gay crowd , many , far too many , can smile , or sing , or laugh no

more . They have left earthly happiness , homo affection , behind . Somo are in peaceful resting-places at home , one has found a soldier ' s grave in Afghanistan Tho good old squire and his kind and excellent helpmate aro lying in the old mausoleum , and tho grandmother and tho maiden aunt have also passed away . A uow " regime " boars sway , and the M . P . and his

graceful wife aro keeping up now the hospitality and prestige of the Apsleys . Bufc then , little was thought of tho morrow , or recked what tho future might bring forth . On Christmas day the whole party went to churchduly decorated by fair hands—and after church the long procession of all ranks returned to the old hall .

Tho dinner was early on Christmas day , for fcho children dinod with the elders ( a very good custom ) , and in the evening the family festivities began , though tho Christmas danco was kept , if possible , fcho next day . For a long timo tho library , a goodly room , had beon

a sacrod spot , but when tho band of pianoforte and cornet , and violin aud violoncello struck up a triumphal march , the carefully-ordered procession wended its way within those mystic procints , where the Christmas Tree stood in its brightness , and kindliness , and grace . All the servants and farm labourers , and their wives

How We Kept Christmas In An Old Manor House

and children , were there . No one waa afc home except the old and infirm , aud , as the Captain used to say , the " squalling brats "; and this ono tie of family union tended to keop servants and retainers in the Apsley family through long years , when some neighbours were always complaining , and changing theirs week by week . And there w-as a present for all . Nono wore forgotten ,

from the highest to the lowest—from the oldest to the youngest . Ah , well , those were happy days , and the world seems to me to have grown more severed , somehow , than then , bufc I know , whatever ifc maybe to day , no happier party ever met , uo more smiling facos over were seon , than those who , in innocent gaiety and frolic and laughter , amid

tho outspoken aud glowing emotions of undimmed days spent that Christmastide at A psloy Manor . I almost think I cau seo them now ; fche old squire standing with his back to the fire , laughing and approving , his kindly and goodly dame bonding to her old mother , as she went on knitting , and nodding , and smiling ; the maiden aunt becoming sentimental again

with the old clergyman ( an old attachment ); and over ifc all came tho silvery laugh of girlhood , or the uproar of vociferous children , as tho soldier , and the sailor , and tho Templar , and the staid miss , and the married men and faithful wives , and audacious cousins forgot thoir dignity and became almost children again , up to any practical joke , the leaders of those joyous and

harmless revels

It was a goodly sight the old hall presented , and which even uow seems before me iu its picturesque details . Tho old family pictures seemed to smile with approval ; tho mon in armour at the corners appeared to

share benignly the din and indecorum , while the staid elders and their dames , and the more elastic cavaliers and their low-drcsscd beauties , tho stiller formalities of William and Mary , of Anno , aud the George ' s , actually looked as if they would step out of their canvas and danco a " minuet de la cour . "

At midnight the revels ceased . As tho last chimes died away , tho old squiro , lifting a loving cup to his lips , pronounced those tender words , " Goodnight . God bless you , all ! " In a few- moments the hall was deserted and still , save for tho ticking of tho great clock , and

tho cracklings of tho expiring embers iu the grate . Many years havo passed away since I spent my Christmas amid friends so kind , and associations so agreeable , bufc I thought it might do good to some of us if I ventured to recall from the past those reminiscences of a vanished Christmas .

As tho world grows older wo seem to grow colder ; and so many are the severances of life that , wo come often to believe that , as wo load such distinct lives here , no law of amity and lovo runs through tho busy associations of humanity . But , as Princo Albert ono said so well , so wisely , and so truly— " Tho happiness of tho most contrasted classes

is over identical " hero , after all , and I have taken up my pou at this Christmas season of 1880 , and in good feeling to my friend , Bro . Kenning , to express my hope that Christmas will make us remember , as Freemasonry teaches us all , that wo aro of ono family , after all , and so , perhaps , wo may like to try and help the poor

and needy , and keep our Christmas well , in feelings of sympathy and interest for servants and dependants , those wo employ , those wo aro bound to look after , as well as by remembering that , amid all our happiness , somo aro not so blessed , or comfortable as we are . T . T .

Sprigs Of Holly.

Sprigs of Holly .

lHHPRIGS of Holly , Sprigs of Holly , gH | fi Gather in , and all be jolly , — « j S ~* f Christmas comes onco more : f if |[ Ivy with your Holly weave , TTT Christinas is no time to grieve , I ' ' When good things aro in store . Old Father Christinas drawoth nigh , Then do not greet him wifch a sigh , Ho comes to make us glad : Good tidings to us he doth bring , Then make him welcome as the Spring ,

And cheer each heart that s sad . With Sprigs of Holly deck each home , Christmas is no timo to roam ,

When snownakes thickly fall : Bring offerings to tho poor man ' s cot , Lot poverty not bo forgot , When plenty fills the hall .

Your Holly Sprigs , with berries red , Will brighter seem above your head When happiness you give : Then for His sake , who came to bless And give us all true happiness , Do like Him while you live .

Sprigs of Holly , Sprigs of Holly , Gather in , and all bo jolly , Christmas comes once more : Ivy with your Holly weave , Christmas is no time to grieve , When good things are in store . E . T