ely Christmas meetings
of the Saxon, Danish, and Norman kings of England; Christmas during
the wars of the Roses, Royal Christmases under the Tudors, the Stuarts
and the Kings and Queens of Modern England; Christmas at the Colleges
and the Inns of Court; Entertainments of the nobility and gentry, and
popular festivities; accounts of Christmas celebrations in different
parts of Europe, in America and Canada, in the sultry lands of Africa
and the ice-bound Arctic coasts, in India and China, at the Antipodes,
in Australia and New Zealand, and in the Islands of the Pacific; in
short, throughout the civilised world.

In looking at the celebrations of Christmas, at different periods and
in different places, I have observed that, whatever views men hold
respecting Christ, they all agree that His Advent is to be hailed with
joy, and the nearer the forms of festivity have approximated to the
teaching of Him who is celebrated the more real has been the joy of
those who have taken part in the celebrations.

The descriptions of the festivities and customs of different periods
are given, as far as possible, on the authority of contemporary
authors, or writers who have special knowledge of those periods, and
the most reliable authorities have been consulted for facts and dates,
great care being taken to make the work as accurate and trustworthy as
possible. I sincerely wish that all who read it may find as much
pleasure in its perusal as I have had in its compilation.

WILLIAM FRANCIS DAWSON.

[Illustration]

[Illustration: Contents]

CHAPTER I. PAGE
THE ORIGIN AND ASSOCIATIONS OF CHRISTMAS 5

CHAPTER II.
The Earlier Celebrations of the Festival 10

CHAPTER III.
Early Christmas Celebrations in Britain 23

CHAPTER IV.
Christmas, From the Norman Conquest To Magna Charta 40
(A.D. 1066-1215.)

CHAPTER V.
Christmas, From Magna Charta To the End of the Wars of
the Roses (A.D. 1215-1485.) 62

CHAPTER VI.
Christmas Under Henry VII. and Henry VIII. 94
(A.D. 1485-1547.)

CHAPTER VII.
Christmas Under Edward VI., Mary, and Elizabeth 115
(A.D. 1547-1603.)

CHAPTER VIII.
Christmas Under James I. 151
(A.D. 1603-1625.)

CHAPTER IX.
Christmas Under Charl