All You That To Feasting and Mirth Are Inclin'd
Old Christmas Returned,
Or, Hospitality Revived
Compare:
Old Christmass
Returnd - Broadside from the Pepys Collection
Old Christmas Returned
- Version of this carol from the collection by "Joshua Sylvester"
Contrast:
Christmas Lamentation,
The 17th Century Broadside from the Roxburghe Collection
Christmas Is My
Name, William Husk, Songs of the Nativity, 1868
Being a Looking-glass for rich Misers, wherein they may see (if they be not blind) how much they are to blame for their penurious house-keeping, and likewise an encouragement to those noble-minded gentry, who lay out a great part of their estates in hospitality, relieving such persons as have need thereof:
"Who
feasts the poor, a true reward shall find,
Or helps the old, the feeble, lame, and blind."
To
the tune of — "The Delights of the Bottle."
See The Wine-Cooper's Delight
The tune is also described as 'Ah how pleasant 'tis to love'"
To the tune of—The Delights of the Bottle.
At the EBBA site, there is an
MP3 recording of the entire 15 verses ("Right Click" and select "Save")
Source of Text: William Sandys, Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern (London: Richard Beckley, 1833)
Source of Music:
William Chappell, The Ballad Literature and Popular Music Of The Olden Time.
London: Chappell & Co., 1859
MIDI /
Noteworthy Composer /
PDF
Meter: 11 11 11 11
Refrain: 11 11
1. All you that to feasting and mirth are inclin'd,
Come here is good news for to pleasure your mind,
Old Christmas is come for to keep open house,
He scorns to be guilty of starving a mouse:
Then come, boys, and welcome for diet the chief,
Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minc'd pies, and roast-beef.
2. A long time together he hath been forgot,
They scarce could afford for to hand on the pot:
Such miserly sneaking in England hath been,
As by our forefathers ne'er us'd to be seen;
But now he's returned you shall have in brief,
Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minc'd pies, and roast-beef.
3. The times were ne'er good since Old Christmas was fled,
And all hospitality hath been so dead,
No mirth at our festivals late did appear,
They scarcely would part with a cup of March beer;
But now you shall have for the ease of your grief,
Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minc'd pies, and roast-beef.
4. The butler and baker, they now may be glad,
The times they are mended, though they have been bad;
The brewer, he likewise may be of good cheer,
He shall have good trading for ale and strong beer;
All trades shall be jolly, and have for relief,
Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minc'd pies, and roast-beef.
5. The holly and ivy about the walls wind,
And show that we ought to our neighbours be kind,
Inviting each other for pastime and sport,
And where we best fare, there we most do resort;
We fail not of victuals, and that of the chief,
Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minc'd pies, and roast-beef.
6. The cooks shall be busied by day and by night,
In roasting and boiling, for taste and delight;
Their senses in liquor that's nappy they'll steep,
Though they be afforded to have little sleep;
They still are employed for to dress us in brief,
Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minc'd pies, and roast-beef.
7. Although the cold weather doth hunger provoke,
'Tis a comfort to see how the chimneys do smoke;
Provision is making for beer, ale, and wine,
For all that are willing or ready to dine:
Then haste to the kitchen, for diet the chief,
Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minc'd pies, and roast-beef.
8. All travellers, as they do pass on their way,
At gentlemen's halls are invited to stay,
Themselves to refresh, and their horses to rest,
Since that he must be Old Christmas's guest
Nay, the poor shall not want, but have for relief,
Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minc'd pies, and roast-beef.
9. Now Mock-beggar-hall it no more shall stand empty,
But all shall be furnisht with freedom and plenty;
The hoarding old misers, who us'd to preserve
The gold in their coffers, and see the poor starve,
Must now spread their tables, and give them in brief,
Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minc'd pies, and roast-beef.
10. The court, and the city, and country are glad,
Old Christmas is come to cheer up the sad;
Broad pieces and guineas about now shall fly,
And hundreds be losers by cogging a die,
Whilst others are feasting with diet the chief,
Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minc'd pies, and roast-beef.
11. Those that have no coin at the cards for to play,
May sit by the fire, and pass time away,
And drink of their moisture contented and free
"My honest good fellow, come, here is to thee!"
And when they are hungry, fall to their relief,
Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minc'd pies, and roast-beef.
12. Young gallants and ladies shall foot it along,
Each room in the house to the musick shall throng,
Whilst jolly carouses about they shall pass,
And each country swain trip about with his lass;
Meantime goes the caterer to fetch in the chief,
Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minc'd pies, and roast-beef.
13. The cooks and the scullion, who toil in their frocks,
Their hopes do depend upon their Christmas box:
There is very few that do live on the earth,
But enjoy at this time either profit or mirth;
Yea those that are charged to find all relief,
Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minc'd pies, and roast-beef.
14. Then well may we welcome Old Christmas to town,
Who brings us good cheer, and good liquor so brown;
To pass the cold winter away with delight,
We feast it all day, and we frolick all night:
Both hunger and cold we keep out with relief,
Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minc'd pies, and roast-beef.
15. Then let all curmudgeons, who dote on their wealth,
And value their treasure much more than their health,
Go hang themselves up, if they will be so kind;
Old Christmas with them but small welcome shall find;
They will not afford to themselves without grief,
Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minc'd pies, and roast-beef.
Sheet Music, The Delights of the Bottle, from William Chappell, Popular Music in Olden Times, Vol. 2, pp. 500-501.
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Editor's Note:
Excepting minor punctuation differences, the text is the same as in Thomas Evans, Old Ballads. Volume 1. Four Volumes. (London: W. Bulmer and Co., 1810), pp. 146-150. This edition was edited by his son, R. H. Evans. See: Old Christmas Returned - Evans. Evans' source was a Broadside in the Pepys Collection: Old Christmass Returnd - Pepys (circa 1672-1696).
Concerning the reference to "Mock-beggar-hall" in verse 9, see The Map of Mock Beggar Hall Roxb 1.252-253 and Mock Beggers Hall Rox 3 218-219.
Also found in Henry Vizetelly, Christmas With The Poets (London: David Bogue, 1851):
We have been unable to trace the original source from whence the following old ballad has been derived; but in all probability it was written just after the Restoration, when the limits, within which the festivities of the season had been confined by the over-zealous Puritans, were overstepped, and something like a revival of the old hospitality began to show itself. A paragraph, which appears to form a regular accompaniment of the old ballad, describes it to be "a looking-glass for rich misers, wherein they may see (if not blind) how much they are to blame for their penurious housekeeping; and likewise an encouragement to those noble-minded gentry, who lay out a great part of their estate in hospitality, reliving such persons as have need thereof.
Also found in Joshua Sylvester, A Garland of Christmas Carols, Ancient and Modern (London: John Camden Hotten, 1861), pp. 190-195.
Old Christmas Returned; or, hospitality revived ; being a looking-glass for rich misers, wherein they may see (if not blind) how much they are to blame for their penurious house-keeping ; and likewise an encouragement to those noble-minded gentry, who lay out a great part of their estate in hospitality, relieving such persons as have need thereof :Nothing is known concerning the origin of the following old Carol. Evans includes it in his "Old Ballads," and from this source it is now immediately derived. It was written in all probability just after the Restoration, when the limits within which the festivities of the season had been confined by the over-zealous Puritans were overstepped, and something like a revival of the old hospitality began to show itself. The original is entitled "
Who feasts the poor, a true reward shall find,
Or helps the old, the feeble, lame, and blind."
Note that Hugh Keyte, an editor of The New Oxford Book of Carols (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992) believes that "Joshua Sylvester" is a pseudonym for a collaboration between William Sandys (1792-1874) and William Henry Husk (1814-1887). See Appendix 4.
Also found in William Henry Husk, Songs of the Nativity (London: John Camden Hotten, 1868):
This lively carol, which is a kind of reply to the preceding [Christmas Is My Name], exists on a broadsheet preserved amongst the famous collection of ballads, &c. formed by Samuel Pepys [23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703], secretary to the Admiralty (whose diary has afforded us so much valuable information and so many an hour's amusement), and by him bequeathed to Magdalene College, Cambridge. [See: Old Christmass Returnd - Pepys. Ed.] The run title runs as follows: ―
"Old Christmas returned, or Hospitality revived; being a Looking-glass for Rich Misers, wherein they may see (if they be not blind) how much they are to blame for their penurious housekeeping, and likewise as encouragement to those noble-minded gentry, who lay out a great part of their estates in hospitality, relieving such persons as have need thereof:
"Who feasts the poor, a true reward shall find,
Or helps the old, the feeble, lame, and blind."Tune of the Delights of the Bottle."
There is scarcely any evil which is wholly unmixed with good, and there is much good which has its concomitant evil. Amongst the few good things which were intermingled with the many evils ensuing on the restoration to political power of the treacherous and depraved Stuarts, the return to the time-honoured custom of celebrating Christmas, both religiously and festively, was one of the most prominent; and it might be supposed, were we to trust to the internal evidence only, that this carol was written to welcome that event, either at the Christmas of 1660, or at the latest of that of 1661. But its being directed to be sung to the tune of a song in Matthew Locke's opera of "Psyche," which was not performed until 1675, shows it to have been written after that date, unless, indeed, we resort to the hypothesis of its having been originally sung to another tune, which became abandoned on account of the popularity of Locke's song.
The line at the commencement of the ninth verse is an allusion to a ballad very popular during the first half of the seventeenth century, entitled "Mock-beggar's Hall stands empty," which was levelled at the prevalent indulgence in external pomp and luxury, to provide the means for which the domestic comforts were much reduced and the old hospitality nearly abandoned. "Mock-beggar's Hall" was a name applied to a house having a well-looking exterior but a mean interior.
Also found in A. H. Bullen, A Christmas Garland (London: John C. Nimmo, 1885), pp. 162-7; citing Evans' Old Ballads, ed. 1810, I. 146-150. Bullen adds this note concerning the reference to "March beer" in the third verse:
"Flarrison, in his “Description of England,” ii. 6, says : — “The beer that is used at noblemen’s tables in their fixed and standing houses is commonly of a year old, or peradventure of two years’ tunning or more, but this is not general. It is also brewed in March, and therefore called March beer; but for the household it is usually not under a month’s age, each one coveting to have the same stale as he may, so that it be not sour, and his bread as new as possible, so that it be not hot.”
William Chappell, The Ballad Literature and Popular Music of the Olden Time. London: Chappell & Co., 1859, pp. 498-501.
The Delights Of The Bottle
In its original form, this was a song, sung by Bacchus, in the last act of Shadwell’s opera, Psyche, and the music by Matthew Lock. Shadwell wrote but two stanzas, and as that would have been too short for a ballad, some ballad-monger lengthened it into twelve. A copy will be found in the Roxburghe Collection (ii. 106), containing five stanzas in the first part, and seven in the second. The tune is there described an “a most admirable new tune, everywhere much in request.”
Playford printed the song in his Choice Ayres (omitting the chorus); and it was arranged as a duet for his Pleasant Musical Companion (book ii., 2nd edit., 1687). The words are also contained in the Antidote to Melancholy, 1682.
In the Roxburghe Collection, iii. 188, is “The Prodigal Son converted; Or the young man returned from big ramble,” &c.; “To a pleasant new playhouse tune, called The Delights of the Bottle.” “London, printed for R. Burton, at the Horse-shoe in West Smithfield.” It commences—
“The delights and the pleasures
Of a man without care.”In the same Collection, iii. 244, is a ballad on the Customs duty imposed upon French wines, dated 1681, and entitled “The Wine Cooper’s Delight;” to the tune of The Delights of the Bottle. “Printed for the Protestant Ballad Singers.” This is also in the Collection of 180 Loyal Songs, 1685 and 1694, p. 183. It consists of sixteen stanzas, commencing, “The delights of the bottle are turn’d out of doors.”
There are several other ballads extant, which were to be sung to the tune, and among them, the following, which is in the Pepys Collection (i. 474). It was printed for P. Brooksby, and licensed by Roger L’Estrange; therefore the copy cannot be of later date than the reign of James II., and is more probably of that of Charles II.
“OLD CHRISTMAS RETURNED, or Hospitality revived; Being a Looking-glass for rich misers, wherein they may see (if they be not blind) how much they are to blame for their penurious house-keeping; and likewise an encouragement to those noble-minded gentry who lay out a great part of their estate in hospitality, relieving such persons as have need thereto:
Who feasts the poor, a true reward shall find,
Or helps the old, the feeble, lame, and blind.”To the tune of The Delights of the Bottle.
[Chappell then gives the text of the carol, the same as Sandys, above. See: Old Christmass Returnd - Pepys]
The following is the original song from Psyche, 4to., 1675. “In musick,” says Roger North, “Matthew Lock had a robust vein,” of which the following is rather characteristic.
Editor's Note:
Eight verses of this carol were quoted in an article by Edward F. Rimbaugh in the December 20, 1862 edition of Notes and Queries, as a demonstration of the revival of the Christmas traditions following the Restoration. He wrote:
At the restoration of Charles II., things took a different turn: many of the good old Christmas customs were revived, including the "jolly wassail bowl." The gentry retired from London to their respective country seats, and kept open house, entertaining their tenants and tradesfolks after the manner of the olden times. In the Pepysian Collection (vol. i. p. 474), is an old ballad, printed for P. Brooksby, which may be considered as an answer to the foregoing complaint. It consists of fifteen stanzas. After giving the full title, I shall quote a few of the best: --
"Old Christmas returned, or Hospitality revived: being a Looking-glass for Rich Misers, wherein they may see (if they be not blind) how much they are to blame for their penurious house-keeping, and likewise an encouragement to those noble-minded gentry who lay out a great part of their estates in hospitality, relieving such persons as have need thereof: --
"Who feasts the poor, a true reward shall find,
Or helps the old, the feeble, lame, and blind."
Old Christmass Returnd is the title of the Broadside from the Pepys Collection, also located at English Broadside Ballad Archive.
The full text from the Broadside is located on the page at this site, Old Christmass Returnd.
Editor's Note: There are a number of carols on this website with similar titles or lyrical themes, and some of which are derived from a single source.
Old Christmas Returned, which occurs under three different titles:
-
Old Christmass Returnd, or Hospitality R E V I V E D. ,ca 1672-1696 ?, the Broadside from the Samuel Pepys collection
-
Old Christmas Returned - Thomas Evans, 1810.
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All You That To Feasting and Mirth Are Inclin'd - Sandys, 1833.
-
Old Christmas Returned - "Joshua Sylvester," 1861.
A similar title, but a very different carol is All You That Are To Mirth Inclined (often under the title of "The Sinner's Redemption"), and with slight changes, especially to just the first line of the first verse (and hence sold as "a new Christmas carol"). See: All You That Are To Mirth Inclined - Notes.
See also:
-
All You That Are Good Fellows - Husk, 1868.
-
All You That In This House Be Here - Husk, 1868.
-
Wexford Carol (First Line: "Good people all, this Christmas-time")
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