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n If Phillip Stubbes, that po-faced Elizabethan Puritannpreacher, was offended with festive dice- and card-playing, what really workednhis cassock into a wad was another traditional English Christmas custom – thenLords of Misrule. He borders on apoplexy in his condemnation of the practice innhis The Anatomie of Abuses (1583), in which he delineates how thesenmiscreants with
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n“… their hobby-horfes, dragons and other antiques, tigethernwith their baudie pipers and thundering drummers ftrike up the devils daunce withall.nThen, marche thefe heathen company towards the church and church-yard, theirnpipers pipeing, their drummers thundring, their ftumps dauncing, their belsnjyngling, their handkerchefs fwinging about their heds like madmen, theirnhobbie horfes and other monfters skirmifhing amongst the route: and in churchn(I fay) and into the church.”n
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| A Godless Heathen |
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nThey interrupt the service, collect moneynfrom the congregation (which they will later spend on drink), distributenspecial badges
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n“… thefe they give to every one that wil give money for themnto maintaine them in their hethenrie, divelrie, whordome, drunkennes, pride,nand what not.”n
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| Phillip Stubbes – The Anatomie of Abuses – 1583 |
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nOnce again, it was the Romans who were blamed for this, withntheir Saturnalia celebrations, when a lowly citizen or even a slave would benelevated to the position of the Lord of Misrule and presided over thencelebrations, his word carrying as much authority as a real Lord. The practicenwas carried on in the courts of the English kings, an especially sumptuousnChristmas being held in 1348, by King Edward III. A Lord of Misrule wasnappointed and given the title ‘Master of Merry Disports’, who organised andnruled over all the games, masques, disguisings and dances.
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| The Lord of Misrule |
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nThe duties of thenLords of Misrule varied, as did the length of their term of office, but inngeneral they ruled over the twelve days of Christmas and commanded that allnshould participate and be merry, with no one sitting apart and refusing to joinnthe revels. The nobles followed suit in their own households, the Mayor ofnLondon gave over control to a Lord of Misrule, as did the Inns of Court, andnthe office was even mentioned in the original draft of statute founding TrinitynCollege, Cambridge in 1546.
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| The Lord of Misrule |
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nIn the early years of his reign, the young KingnHenry VIII, before he became swayed by flattery and sycophancy, loved thenChristmas festivities and delighted in pageants, masques and merry-making. Hisnfirst Christmas at Richmond was governed by a Lord of Misrule, who was paid £8n6s 8d, and this sum was increased in later years to £15 6s 8d.
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| The Lord of Misrule’s Procession |
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nThenconceit of the Lord of Misrule extended to the provision of costly robes ofnoffice, as rich as the King’s own, and the establishment of a mock court,nreplete with a chancellor, treasurer, gentleman-ushers, pages of honour,nsergeants-at-arms, footmen, messengers, trumpeters, heralds, jugglers, tumblersnand fools. But the election of the Lord was not reserved to the high andnmighty, as each lowly community would appoint its own Lord to rule over thenfestivities and keep things cracking along, with entertainment for all.
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| The Lord and his Jester |
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nTherenis a strange wisdom in this, similar to that of the court jester who may, withnimpunity, point a finger at pomp and self-importance and utter a wholesomentruth when others held their fearful tongues. Turning things on its head was anvaluable moral lesson, and the Lord of Misrule gave even the lowliest thencommand and the permission to be merry for even a short while; indeed, one ofnhis first commands was to absolve all present of their wisdom and they were tonbe just wise enough to make fools of themselves.
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| The Lord of Misrule |
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nIn Scotland, the position wasntaken by the Abbot of Unreason, who performed a similar purpose, if not quitenas enthusiastically as his English counterparts, until an ordinance by thenScottish legislature in 1555 suppressed all the annual burlesques of this sort.
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| Misrule in action |
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nIn England, the festivities went the way of the monarchy under the Commonwealthnand although Charles II attempted to revive them at his court after thenRestoration, they never assumed the splendour and importance of earliernChristmases and eventually the reign of the Lord of Misrule passed away.
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| A Cheeky Monkey |
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n… and a Happy New Year to you all.
