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From: ForeverAmber  (Original Message)Sent: 2/1/2009 3:55 AM
 
 

 CHRISTMAS AT COURT

  

THE FEAST

The first record of a turkey being brought to Europe was in 1519. It was to be many years before this bird had reason to fear the festive season. For the rich, the traditional meat on Christmas Day remained swan or goose. In fact, in 1588, Elizabeth I ordered that everybody should have goose for their Christmas dinner, as it was the first meal she had after the victory of the Spanish Armada and she believed that this gesture would be a fitting tribute to the English sailors who fought off the Spanish. However, it is not known how many of the poor of the land could carry out this order as goose was an expensive luxury.

Peacocks were also on the menu for the rich. However, it became a Christmas tradition to skin the bird first, then cook it and then place the roast bird back into its skin as a main table presentation. Therefore, on the table would be what would appear to be a stuffed and feathered peacock, when, in fact, it had been thoroughly cooked ! This practice had also taken place in medieval households.

The homes of the wealthy also used to cook a wild boar on Christmas Day, and its head was used as a dinner table decoration. However, cooking made the head's fur go pale and so it was covered in soot and pig's grease to make the cooked head looked more natural.

Christmas puddings were made of meat, oatmeal and spices. However, cooking this combination meant that if would fall to bits once it was ready to serve. The Tudors got over this by wrapping the mixture in the gut of a pig and cooking it in a sausage shape. It was then served by slices being carved from it and being served.......with the boar's head !

It was also the fashion in Tudor times for mince pies to be shaped like a crib. The rule of Oliver Cromwell in the mid-17th century ended this practice as it was seen as bordering on blasphemy.

With all this eating taking place, it would be difficult to imagine anyone in Tudor times wanting to do anything energetic at all. In this sense, Henry VIII helped them, as in 1541, he had a law introduced (the Unlawful Games Act) which banned all sports on Christmas Day except archery. All dangerous sports were banned but archery was seen as essential to maintaining the country's military strength. This was later joined by "leaping and vaulting" which kept young men fit and strong.

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