Old Christmas Returned

For Christmas

See: All You That To Feasting and Mirth Are Inclin'd (Sandys)
Old Christmass Returnd - Broadside from the Pepys Collection

Compare: All You That Are To Mirth Inclined (with Sandys' note)

Authorship Unknown

To the tune of—The Delights of the Bottle.
At the EBBA site, there is an MP3 recording of the entire 15 verses

Source: Joshua Sylvester, A Garland of Christmas Carols, Ancient and Modern (London: John Camden Hotten, 1861), pp. 190-195.

1. All you that to feasting and mirth are inclined,
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, minced pies, and roast beef.

2. A long time together he hath been forgot,
They scarce could afford for to hang on the pot ;
Such miserly sneaking in England hath been,
As by our forefathers ne'er used to be seen ;
     But now he's returned, you shall have in brief,
     Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minced 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 would scarcely part with a cup of March beer ;
     But now you shall have, for the ease of your grief,
     Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minced 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, minced 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 for victuals, and that of the chief,
     Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minced 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, minced 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, minced 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 wait, but have, for relief,
     Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minced pies, and roast beef.

9. Now Mock-beggar Hall it no more shall stand empty,
But all shall be furnished with freedom and plenty ;
The hoarding old misers, who used 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, minced 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, minced 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, full to their relief,
     Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minced pies, and roast beef.

12. Young gallants and ladies shall foot it along,
Each room in the house to the music 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, minced pies, and roast beef.

13. The cooks and the scullion who toil in their frocks,
Their hopes do depend upon their Christmas-box ;
There are 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, minced pies, and roast beef.

14. Then well may we welcome Old Christmas to town,
Who brings us good cheer and liquor so brown,
To pass the cold winter away with delight,
We feast it all day, and we frolic all night ;
     Both hunger and cold we keep out with relief,
     Plum-pudding, goose, capon, minced 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, minced pies, and roast beef.

Note from Sylvester:

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 "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 :

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.

Editor's Note:

Eight verses of this carol were quoted in an article titled "Christmas Hospitality" 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."

Editor's Note:

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.

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 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.

• 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.

• 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")