12th-nite-msg - 1/29/01
Medieval 12th Night celebrations.
NOTE: See also the files: holidays-msg, Yule-msg, wassail-msg, Holiday-Celeb-lnks, holiday-gifts-lnks, Spring-Celeb-lnks, Candlemas-msg, Christmas-art, Xmas-art.
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Stefan at florilegium.org
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From: dorothy at cogsci.berkeley.edu (Dorothy Heydt)
Date: 8 Dec 89 17:25:38 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
("Eleanor J. Evans at 462-5330") writes:
>twelfth night customs ......
Well, it is apparently the last day on which you can serve the roasted
boar's head. The last verse of the carol reads:
The boar's head, I dare well say,
Anon upon the twelveth day,
He takyth his leave and goeth away,
Exivit tunc de patria. [He has left the country.]
You can be visited by people representing the Three Kings who pass out
goodies (or lumps of coal).
You can pass around a fruit (or other) cake in which is baked a single
bean (or coin, or ...). Whoever gets the token is Lord of Misrule and
gets to sit on the King's throne and act silly. One year my Lord Husband
got the bean and spent part of the evening having all the Heralds act
out all the heraldic positions: a herald rampant, a herald passant guardant,
a herald salient, etc., etc...
Dorothea of Caer-Myrddin
Mists/Mists/West
Date: Tue, 4 Nov 1997 10:15:00 -0600
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - Redaction class on-line
Recipes and commentary will be provided after I run my test batches, as
I did with the Galette Persane. The recipes I'm working with are
modern, but they are simple festive breads such as might have been done
in period.
The Galette de Dame Carcas celebrates the lifting of Charlemange's siege
of Carcassonne and is a Twelfth Night bread. The pepper cakes appear
medieval in their spicing.
Bear
Date: Thu, 6 Nov 1997 06:44:44 -0600
From: L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt <liontamr at ptd.net>
Subject: SC - Wassail traditions
A copy of an excellent reply from a very nice lady too shy to post to the
Rialto:
>Here's the section on wassail from a paper I'm writing for the local
>baronial newsletter's A&S edition:
>
>Another variation on the king-for-a-day is an English Twelfth Night
>custom that was documented in the mid-nineteenth century in
>Devonshire. On Twelfth Night, the farmers would get their weapons,
>gather around the oldest tree in the apple orchard, and sing a short
>song:
>
>Here's to thee, old apple tree
>Whence thou mayst bud and whence thou mayst blow
>And whence thou mayst bear apples enow:
>Hats full, caps full,
>Bushels, bushels, sacks full,
>And my pockets full too!
>
>The men would then fire their weapons at the tree. They returned
>to the home and would be denied entrance no matter what the weather
>by the women indoors. When one of the men guessed what sort of
>roast that was being prepared for them, all were let in. The one
>who guessed the roast was named "King for the Evening" and
>presided over the party until the wee hours.
>
>This custom of "wassailing" the apple tree is still done in the west
>country in England, and has been done for centuries. The word
>"wassail" comes from the Anglo-Saxon "wæs hæl," meaning "be whole" or
>"good health." This custom dates from a medieval story, of a Saxon
>lady named Rowena who presented Prince Vortigen with a bowl of wine,
>toasting him with the words "wæs hæl." Over the centuries a great
>deal of ceremony had developed around the custom of drinking wassail.
> The bowl is carried into a room with great fanfare, a traditional
>carol about the drink is sung, and finally, the steaming hot beverage
>is served.
>
>Karen Larsdatter
> Barony of Ponte Alto, Atlantia
Aoife
From: tadhg at bigfoot.com (Dr Tiomoid M. of Angle)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Info needed
Organization: EDS
Date: Sun, 20 Sep 1998 02:56:32 GMT
Scripsit Andrea Hicks <maridonna at worldnet.att.net> :
> What is 12th Night and what is the history behind it?
Twelfth Night is the Feast of the Epiphany, a fine Greek term referring to
the point where a god traveling among men makes himself (or herself)
manifest, the manifestation in this case being of the infant Christ to the
Three Wise Men. The Twelve Days of Christmas refers to the period between
Christmas and Epiphany; prior to modern times it was customary for gifts to
be given on Epiphany rather than Christmas itself, in commemoration of the
gifts presented by the aforesaid Three.
(Pedantic note: The given name "Tiffany" comes through a very roundabout
route from "Epiphany" and appears to have been originally given to girls
born on or about that date; it is a Certified Medieval Name, much to the
distress of myself and all of the other Period Flavorists, dating in
England to the mid-14th century.)
I'm sure there's a Society publication somewhere that explains all of this
in a much less interesting fashion.
================================================================================
Fra Tadhg Liath OFT tadhg at bigfoot.com
The Grumpiest Pelican
Date: Sun, 20 Sep 1998 2:03:31 -0500
From: "I. Marc Carlson" <LIB_IMC at centum.utulsa.edu>
Subject: re: Info needed
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
<Andrea Hicks <maridonna at worldnet.att.net>>
>What is 12th Night and what is the history behind it?
As has been mentioned elsewhere, "Twelfthnight" is the evening of
"Twelfthday", the twelfth day of Christmas, Epifania domini nostri
Ihesu Christi, Epiphany, the Recognition of Jesus by the Three Kings.
In the Middle Ages it was celebrated by a major religious service
sometimes marked by suspending a large "Star of Bethlehem" from the
Rood Loft or "in the Body of the Church". This service was followed
by much celebration, masques, revelry and gift giving. It was the
last of the merry-making before the beginning of the preparation for
the plowing. Some of the revelry included a "Bean King", "Christmas
King" or "Lord of Misrule", determined by a bean or coin in a cake.
There is some thought that this all was a holdover from the ancient
Roman celebration of "Saturnalia", but that's somewhat debateable.
Marc/Diarmaid
Date: Sun, 8 Nov 1998 20:18:26 EST
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Tablecloths and Christmas feasts
oftraquair at hotmail.com writes:
<< Twelfth Night has become an SCA-holiday because....<snip>...... >>
This is one area of the SCA where I am happy that things are being done
more perio-like. :-)
One custom of 12th Night that we, in the current MA have relegated to
Christmas but which was originally an Epiphany custom is the habit of gift
giving. Traditionally small gifts of sweets were given to children at that
time of year.
Ras
Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 01:16:57 EST
From: CBlackwill at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - saffron
troy at asan.com writes:
> The galatte du roi or Twelfth Night Cake is traditionally assumed to be,
> but is not documented, as period, AFAIK. It often includes a gold coin,
> more or less for similar reasons.
>
> Adamantius
Twelfth Night Cake was often stuffed with a number of things, ranging from a
gold coin, a bean or a little figurine of a baby. It was supposed to
represent the baby Jesus, and the lucky diner who got the slice with the
"secret toy surprize" was declared King of the Feast.
Balthazar of Blackmoor
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