Old Christmas | Page 9

was glad of any argument to defend his clipped yew-trees and
formal terraces, which had been occasionally attacked by modern
landscape-gardeners.
[Illustration]
As we approached the house, we heard the sound of music, and now
and then a burst of laughter from one end of the building. This,
Bracebridge said, must proceed from the servants' hall, where a great
deal of revelry was permitted, and even encouraged, by the Squire
throughout the twelve days of Christmas, provided everything was
done conformably to ancient usage. Here were kept up the old games of
hoodman blind, shoe the wild mare, hot cockles, steal the white loaf,
bob apple, and snapdragon: the Yule log and Christmas candle were
regularly burnt, and the mistletoe, with its white berries, hung up, to the
imminent peril of all the pretty housemaids.[C]

[Illustration]
So intent were the servants upon their sports, that we had to ring
repeatedly before we could make ourselves heard. On our arrival being
announced, the Squire came out to receive us, accompanied by his two
other sons; one a young officer in the army, home on leave of absence;
the other an Oxonian, just from the university. The Squire was a fine,
healthy-looking old gentleman, with silver hair curling lightly round an
open florid countenance; in which a physiognomist, with the advantage,
like myself, of a previous hint or two, might discover a singular
mixture of whim and benevolence.
[Illustration: "The company, which was assembled in a large
old-fashioned hall."--PAGE 54.]
The family meeting was warm and affectionate; as the evening was far
advanced, the Squire would not permit us to change our travelling
dresses, but ushered us at once to the company, which was assembled
in a large old-fashioned hall. It was composed of different branches of a
numerous family connection, where there were the usual proportion of
old uncles and aunts, comfortably married dames, superannuated
spinsters, blooming country cousins, half-fledged striplings, and
bright-eyed boarding-school hoydens. They were variously occupied;
some at a round game of cards; others conversing around the fireplace;
at one end of the hall was a group of the young folks, some nearly
grown up, others of a more tender and budding age, fully engrossed by
a merry game; and a profusion of wooden horses, penny trumpets, and
tattered dolls, about the floor, showed traces of a troop of little fairy
beings, who having frolicked through a happy day, had been carried off
to slumber through a peaceful night.
[Illustration]
While the mutual greetings were going on between Bracebridge and his
relatives, I had time to scan the apartment. I have called it a hall, for so
it had certainly been in old times, and the Squire had evidently
endeavoured to restore it to something of its primitive state. Over the
heavy projecting fireplace was suspended a picture of a warrior in

armour, standing by a white horse, and on the opposite wall hung
helmet, buckler, and lance. At one end an enormous pair of antlers were
inserted in the wall, the branches serving as hooks on which to suspend
hats, whips, and spurs; and in the corners of the apartment were
fowling-pieces, fishing-rods, and other sporting implements. The
furniture was of the cumbrous workmanship of former days, though
some articles of modern convenience had been added, and the oaken
floor had been carpeted; so that the whole presented an odd mixture of
parlour and hall.
[Illustration]
The grate had been removed from the wide overwhelming fireplace, to
make way for a fire of wood, in the midst of which was an enormous
log glowing and blazing, and sending forth a vast volume of light and
heat; this I understood was the Yule-log, which the Squire was
particular in having brought in and illumined on a Christmas eve,
according to ancient custom.[D]
[Illustration]
It was really delightful to see the old Squire seated in his hereditary
elbow-chair by the hospitable fireside of his ancestors, and looking
around him like the sun of a system, beaming warmth and gladness to
every heart. Even the very dog that lay stretched at his feet, as he lazily
shifted his position and yawned, would look fondly up in his master's
face, wag his tail against the floor, and stretch himself again to sleep,
confident of kindness and protection. There is an emanation from the
heart in genuine hospitality which cannot be described, but is
immediately felt, and puts the stranger at once at his ease. I had not
been seated many minutes by the comfortable hearth of the worthy
cavalier before I found myself as much at home as if I had been one of
the family.
[Illustration]
Supper was announced shortly after our arrival. It was served up in a
spacious oaken chamber, the panels of which shone with wax, and

around which were