"In that long space of time, besides the uncertainty of what may happen to ourselves, there is but too much reason to fear that, unless a change for the better should take place, some one or more of the neglected children may be dead. We could not but have apprehensions that the group might never return to us entire. Death has already made much havoc amongst them, since the days of Ben Jonson. Alas for Baby-cocke! and woe is me for Post-and-paire! And although Carol, and Minced-pie, and New-year's Gift, and Wassail, and Twelfth-cake, and some others of the children, appear still to be in the enjoyment of a tolerably vigorous health, yet we are not a little anxious about Snap-dragon, and our mind is far from being easy on the subject of Hot-cockles. It is but too obvious that, one by one, this once numerous and pleasant family are falling away; and as the old man will assuredly not survive his children, we may yet, in our day, have to join in the heavy lamentation of the lady at the sad result of the above "Hue and Cry." "But is old, old, good old Christmas gone?—nothing but the hair of his good, grave old head and beard left!" For these reasons, he and his train shall be welcome to us as often as they come. It shall be a heavy dispensation under which we will suffer them to pass by our door unhailed; and if we can prevail upon our neighbors to adopt our example, the veteran and his offspring may yet be restored. They are dying for lack of nourishment. They have been used to live on most bountiful fare,—to feed on chines and turkeys and drink of the wassail-bowl. The rich juices of their constitution are not to be maintained, far less re-established, at a less generous rate; and though we will, for our parts, do what lies in our power, yet it is not within the reach of any private gentleman's exertions or finances to set them on their legs again. It should be made a national matter of; and as the old gentleman, with his family, will be coming our way soon after the publication of the present volume, we trust we may be the means of inducing some to receive them with the ancient welcome and feast them after the ancient fashion."
Wassailing in the Puritanic Sands? Good luck with that. Two years ago, six days before Christmas no less, I got harassed by the police for Walking-While-Female-and-Sober on public streets and nature trails (maintained by the town, for both locals and visitors to enjoy nature year-round) because somebody didn't like the way I looked.
While I am NOT in favor of alcohol abuse, with that incident in mind, I think the tradition of Wassail should be firmly re-established, indeed encouraged, throughout the Commonwealth by an Act of the Massachusetts Legislature. The Normalization of Some Excesses just might serve as an effective antidote for Paranoid Reactions to Normal Activities.
But I digress. The quoted paragraph from Hervey mentions a game called Snap-dragon, and Seymour made a drawing of this for the same page of The Book of Christmas. Here it is:
In Seymour's illustration, the players are all children (though the game was not played exclusively by children, and not exclusively at Christmastime). A wide, shallow bowl is filled with brandy and set alight. Then raisins are tossed in, and the kids gather round to pluck them out while trying to avoid getting burned.
As I said before, I am NOT in favor of alcohol abuse, and I would NOT suggest that children should be playing games involving alcohol and getting burned. But I find this game interesting because it reveals such a different attitude towards child-rearing during the early nineteenth century and earlier. I recall, from studying German many years ago, an idea presented by my professor about Grimms' Fairy Tales. The original German stories are, in short, full of violence. As I remember it, my professor referred to a psychologist (I think)(and whose name I can't remember) who had postulated that the violence in those children's stories was socially necessary: at the time, Germany was politically fragmented and the economy was heavily agrarian, so violence was a fact of life. Wars happened, and civilians got caught in the middle of them. Even in peacetime, children growing up on farms had to learn to slaughter animals that they had raised themselves and had formed emotional attachments to. Violent children's stories may have been used to acclimate children to a difficult, dangerous life.
I think games like Snap-dragon may have served a similar purpose — and the disappearance of it in the nineteenth century may reflect a new need for fire safety in dense urban areas.
Over the course of 2018, I've made a number of drawing studies from Jan Steen's Twelfth Night Feast at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. I started awkwardly, because it's a dauntingly brilliant painting. I did a decent pencil study of Steen's self-portrait in the middle of the canvas (see my blog post here: https://scroogestudies.blogspot.com/2018/09/jan-steen-twelfth-night-feast.html) and drew details from many of the other characters in the party.
In the lower left corner, there are a boy and girl playing what I'll call "Three-Kings'-Candles" — they're apparently competing to see who can jump the farthest over the three candles, which represent the Magi. I'm guessing that they would set the candles farther and farther apart. Kind of dangerous. And reminiscent of Snap-dragon.
Here is my study of Steen's kids playing Three-Kings'-Candles. I'm posting it here as a high-resolution jpeg, and allowing anyone to use it free of charge for any lawful, non-commercial use (such as using it to make your own Christmas cards, etc.):
Anyone who wants to use it commercially will have to contact me to negotiate appropriate licensing (obviously, Blogger and its affiliates in the Alphabet group of companies may use the image in accordance with Blogger's Terms of Service). This is as a general thank-you to anyone who has purchased my eBook of Scrooge Studies, and to promote additional sales of it.
Here is the link to the eBook: https://www.amazon.com/Scrooge-Studies-Illustrated-Exploration-Christmas-ebook/dp/B07GZ9QJKX/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1542584731&sr=1-1&keywords=scrooge+studies
If you really like the image — thank you! Likewise, if you have purchased the eBook of Scrooge Studies — thank you!
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