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for the purpose of getting a good dinner, a rare occurrence perhaps to some of them.
The Rev. Henry Teonge, chaplain of one of our ships of
war, gives the following description of a Christmas Day of
quite another sort, in 1675, " Crismas Day wee keepe thus:
At four in the morning our trumpeters all doe flatt their
trumpetts, and begin at our captain's cabin, and thence to all
the officers' and gentlemen's cabins; playing a levite at each
cabine door, and bidding good morrow, wishing a merry
Crismas. After they goe to their station, viz. on the poope,
and sound three levitts in honour of the morning. At ten
we goe to prayers and sermon; text, Zacc. ix, 9. Our
captaine had all his officers and gentlemen to dinner with
him, where wee had excellent good fayre: a ribb of beefe,
plumb-puddings, minct pyes, &c, and plenty of good wines
of severall sorts; dranke healths to the king, to our wives
and friends, and ended the day with much civill myrth."
Teonge and his companions seem to have been a merry,
pleasant set, and he thus describes their ensuing Twelfth
Day. " Very ruff weather all the last night, and all this day.
Wee are now past Zante; had wee beene there this day, wee
had seene a greate solemnity; for this day being 12 day,
the Greeke Bishop of Zante doth (as they call it) baptise the
sea, with a great deale of ceremonie, sprinkling their gallys
and fishing-tackle with holy water. But wee had much
myrth on board, for wee had a greate kake made, in which
was put a beane for the king, a pease for the queen, a cloave
for the knave, a forked stick for the cuckold, a ragg for the
slutt. The kake was cut into severall pieces in the great
cabin, and all put into a napkin, out of which every one took
his piece, as out of a lottery; then each piece is broaken to see |
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