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| Tis Thou that crown’st my glittering hearth With guiltless mirth, And givest me Wassaile bowles to drink Spiced to the brink; Lord, ’tis Thy plenty-dropping hand That soiles my land: And giv’st me for my bushell sowne, Twice ten for one – Herrick. | During the Twelve Days of Christmas, also called the Daft Days which is Christmas Day and the next twelve days immediately after, the king would confer mock knighthood and dine with the Heads of State. His court consisted of: Father Christmas, Dame Minced Pie, Roast Beef, Plum Pudding, Carol, Gambol, Post and Pair, New Year’s Gift, Mumming, Wassail, Offering, Cupid, Babycock and others. Maid Marion presides. The king dances a minuet [Pavon: peacock, from which the minuet is derived] with Dame Mince Pie. A dance of all the characters follows. Actors called mummers dress as the opposite sex perform plays for the king and for countrymen. A popular one is Saint George and the Dragon. (2) |