Lully, lullay, Thou little tiny Child,
Bye, bye, lully, lullay.
Lullay, thou little tiny Child,
Bye, bye, lully, lullay.
O sisters too, how may we do,
For to preserve this day
This poor youngling for whom we do sing
Bye, bye, lully, lullay.
Words from ‘The Coventry Carol’. Part of the women’s chorus from
the 14th Century Coventry Mystery Play.
I'm sure you don't need me to
tell you how hard the life of a mediaeval peasant was. The festivals of the
church must have been a welcome relief from grinding toil, even if it meant
spending a lot of time on your knees in prayer. The Twelve Days of Christmas
were the longest period in the year when work was reduced in favour of worship
and it’s no coincidence that they coincide with a low time in the agricultural
calendar. The clergy however were still working hard. The vicars, deacons,
choir boys, servers and vergers worked through the Holy Offices, every day of
the Christmas season and eventually they too were entitled to a little time to
let their hair down.
On the days immediately following
Christmas Day the clergy held their own private feasts. These culminated on
Holy Innocents’ Day or ‘Childermas’, which is when the boys and men of the
church choir traditionally ate their festive meal. The date of Childermas
depends on which Christian Tradition you follow, but it can be the 27th 28th or
29th December and in the cathedrals of the western tradition it was sometimes marked
by the appointment of a Boy Bishop. The Feast of the Circumcision on 1 January was
a similarly celebrated with a Feast of Fools. It’s all part of the topsy turvey
nature of the time of year. As we
have seen before the Church adopted pre-Christian practices and gave them a
religious aspect in order to sanitise them.
(The Massacre of the Innocents by Peter Breughel the Younger)
The election of the Boy Bishop
varied from cathedral to cathedral. In some, the boys themselves elected their
bishop but in others, especially as time went on, the bishop was elected by the
clergy. A boy from the choir would be dressed in cope and mitre and carrying a
bishop's crook he would be ‘ordained’ in a mock ceremony.
The ceremonies attracted the
peasantry to church so they might glimpse the boys but also to see the clergy who
were displaced and required to sit in the back pews. After the service the choir
boys would have their Christmas feast.
At York the Boy Bishop and his
fellow choirboys toured the diocese, visiting monasteries and houses of the
nobility where they were given money and presents. In most cathedrals the Boy
Bishop preached a sermon and three of these sermons survive, including one
preached at Gloucester. The theme of this sermon was how wicked boys were, even
the boys in the choir school. The ‘Bishop’s’ conclusion was that parents and schoolmasters
were to blame!
The tradition of the Boy Bishop lasted in Britain until the late 1500s and rather longer on the continent. It is still revived from time to time.
I’ve made a ginger syllabub. It felt
right. The recipe comes from an old copy of ‘Homes and Garden’s but other than
that I can’t attribute it.
Ginger Syllabub
284 carton double cream
100ml ginger wine
60g golden caster sugar
2 pieces stem (crystallized)
ginger finely chopped + 2 tbs syrup from the jar
100g gingernut biscuits
Whip the cream with the sugar and
wine until stiff then stir in the ginger syrup.
Put the biscuits in a plastic bag
and crush until they are coarse crumbs. (A food processor risks making them too
fine for my taste)
Layer the cream and crumbs in
four glasses and decorate with the chopped ginger. Chill for a couple of hours
before serving.
Herod, the king, in his raging,
Charged he hath this day
His men of might, in his owne sight,
All young children to slay.
That woe is me, poor Child for Thee!
And ever mourn and sigh,
For thy parting neither say nor sing,
Bye, bye, lully, lullay.
Ibid
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