to keep open house,
He'd scorn to be guilty of starving a mouse."

During the reign of Elizabeth the boar's head was the favorite holiday
dish, and was served with mustard (then a rare and costly condiment),
and decorated with bay-leaves and with rosemary, which was said to
strengthen the memory, to clear the brain and to stimulate affection.
Boars were originally sacrificed to the Scandinavian gods of peace and
plenty, and many odes were composed in their honor.

That remarkable compound known as "wassail" was composed of warm ale
or wine, sweetened with sugar and flavored with spices, and bearing
upon its surface floating bits of toast and roasted crabs and apples.
The huge bowl, gaily decorated with ribbons, was passed from hand to
hand around the table, each guest taking a portion of its contents, as
a sign of joviality and good-fellowship.

But the triumph of the pastry cook's art was "the rare minced pie,"
the use of which is of great antiquity. The shape was formerly a
narrow oblong, representing the celebrated manger at Bethlehem, and
the fruits and spices of which it was composed were symbolic of those
that the wise men of the Orient brought as offerings to their new-born
King, while to partake of such a pie was considered a proof that the
eater was a Christian and not a Jew.

All sorts of games were immensely popular with the English, whether
king or serf, aristocrat or pauper, merchant or apprentice.

"A Christmas gambol oft could cheer
The poor man's heart thro' half the year."

Every one has heard of the matchless "Lord of Misrule" (also known as
the "Abbot of Unreason" and the "Master of Merry Disports"), who,
attended by his mock court, king's jester and grotesquely masked
revelers, visited the castles of lords and princes to entertain them
with strange antics and uproarious merriment. His reign lasted until
Twelfth Night, during which period he was treated as became a genuine
monarch, being feted and feasted, with all his train, and having
absolute authority over individuals and state affairs.

The great event of the evening, after the holiday feast, was the
bringing in of the famous yule log, which was often the entire root of
a tree. Much ceremony and rejoicing attended this performance, as it
was considered lucky to help pull the rope. It was lighted by a person
with freshly washed hands, with a brand saved from the last year's
fire, and was never allowed to be extinguished, as the