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The grave Lord Keeper led the braules, The mace and seals before him. |
It was a practice for the bar to dance before the Judges at Lincoln's Inn at Christmas, and in James I.'s time the under barristers were, by decimation, put out of Commons, because they did not dance, as was their wont, according to the ancient custom of the Society.[73] This practice is also mentioned in a book published about 1730, called Round About our Coal Fire, etc. "The dancing and singing of the Benchers in the great Inns of Court at Christmas is, in some sort, founded upon interest, for they hold, as I am informed, some priviledge by dancing about the fire in the middle of their Hall, and singing the song of Round About our Coal Fire." In the prologue to the same book we have the following song:—
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O you merry, merry Souls, Christmas is a coming, We shall have flowing bowls, Dancing, piping, drumming. Delicate minced pies, To feast every virgin, Capon and goose likewise, Brawn, and a dish of sturgeon. Then, for your Christmas box, Sweet plumb cakes and money, Delicate Holland smocks, Kisses sweet as honey. Hey for the Christmas Ball, Where we shall be jolly, Coupling short and tall, Kate, Dick, Ralph, and Molly. Then to the hop we'll go, Where we'll jig and caper, Cuckolds all a-row, Will shall pay the scraper. Hodge shall dance with Prue, Keeping time with kisses, We'll have a jovial crew Of sweet smirking Misses. |
We still keep up the custom of dancing at Christ-tide, and no Christmas party is complete without it; but of all the old tunes, such as Sellinger's Rounds, the one mentioned in the above song, with many others, but one remains to us, and that is peculiar to this season—Sir Roger de Coverly.
Notes and Queries, 19th December 1885, gives an account of a very curious dance. "One of the most popular indoor games at Christmas time was, in Derbyshire, that of the 'Cushion Dance,' which was performed at most of the village gatherings and farm-house parties during the Christmas holidays upwards of forty years ago. The following is an account of the dance as it was known amongst the farmer's sons and daughters and the domestics, all of whom were on a pretty fair equality, very different from what prevails in farm-houses of to-day. The dance was performed with boisterous fun, quite unlike the game as played in higher circles, where the conditions and rules of procedure were of a more refined order.
"The company were seated round the room, a fiddler occupying a raised seat in a corner. When all were ready, two of the young men left the room, returning presently, one carrying a large square cushion, the other an ordinary drinking horn, china bowl, or silver tankard, according to the possessions of the family. The one carrying the cushion locked the door, putting the key in his pocket. Both gentlemen then went to the fiddler's corner, and, after the cushion-bearer had put a coin in the vessel carried by the other, the fiddler struck up a lively tune, to which the young men began to dance round the room, singing or reciting to the music:—
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"'Frinkum, frankum is a fine song, An' we will dance it all along; All along and round about Till we find the pretty maid out.' |
"After making the circuit of the room, they halted on reaching the fiddler's corner, and the cushion-bearer, still to the music of the fiddle, sang or recited:—
"'Our song it will no further go!'
"The Fiddler—