ke the Saxon tongue
among the villagers, called it 'taffy.' Once had Thomas Thomas been
corrected in his pronunciation, but the hardy Saxon who ventured on
the bold proceeding was silenced when he heard that he was not to
think he was going to persuade a reasonable man into mutilating the
English tongue. 'Taffy it iss, and taffy I says,' and there was an end
of the matter. Without taffy the inhabitants of Llanfairpwllycrochon,
it was firmly believed by the vicar, would not have known the
difference between Christmas and another time, and it is not therefore
matter for surprise that they should so tenaciously cling to its
annual making. At midnight, when the syrupy stuff was sufficiently
boiled, it would be poured into a pan and put into the open air to
cool. Here was an opportunity for the beaux of the village which could
not be missed. They would steal, if possible, the whole, pan and all,
and entail a second making on the unfortunate victims of their
practical joke.

"Sometimes the Christmas Eve proceedings would be varied by holding a
large evening party, continued all night, the principal amusement of
which would be the boiling of toffee, one arm taking, when another was
tired, the large wooden spoon, and turning the boiling mass of sugar
and treacle, this process being continued for many hours, until
nothing would be left to partake of but a black, burnt sort of crisp,
sugary cinder. Sometimes the long boiling would only result in a soft
mass, disagreeable to the taste and awkward to the hand, the combined
efforts of each member of the party failing to secure consistency or
strength in the mixed ingredients.

"And then there were the carols at midnight, and many more were the
Christmas customs at Llanfairpwllycrochon."

EFFECTS OF THE SEASON.

"These Christmas decorations are _so_ jolly!"
She cried, zeal shining in her orbs of blue.
"_Don't_ you like laurel gleaming under holly?"
He answered, "_I_ love mistletoe over _yew_!"--_Punch._

[Illustration: "ST. GEORGE" IN COMBAT WITH "ST. PETER."]

YORKSHIRE SWORD-ACTORS.

Under this title, Mr. T. M. Fallow, M.A., F.S.A., writing in the
_Antiquary_, May, 1895, gives an account of rustic performances which
were witnessed at Christmastide in the neighbourhood of Leeds about
fifteen years earlier, and he illustrates the subject with a series of
pictures from photographs taken at the time, which are here
reproduced. The play depicted is that of th