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Letters: Volume I [1], 1802-1823 (The complete works of Washington Irving, Volume XXIII [23])
Letters Volume I 18021823 - 1 - The complete works of Washington Irving, Volume XXIII 23 Author:Washington Irving Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: THE CHRISTMAS DINNER. Lo, Dow Ib come our joyful'st feast 1 Let every inan b Jolly, Eache roome with y vie leaves U drest, And every post with hully. N... more »ow all our neighbours' chimneys smoke, And Christmas blocks are burning; Their ovens they with bak't meats choke And all their spits are turning. Without the door let sorrow lie, And if, for cold, It hap to die, Wec'le bury 't In a Christmas pye. And evermore be merry. WlTBIEl' ,1 VVF.vu.] . T HAD finished my toilet, and was loitering with Frank - Bracebridge in the library, when we heard a distant thwacking sound, which he informed me was a signal for the serving up of the dinner. The squire kept up old customs in kitchen as well as hall; and the rolling-pin, struck upon the dresser by the cook, summoned the servants to carry in the meats. Just in this nick the cook knock'd thrice, And all the waiters in a trice His summons did obey ; Each serving man, with dish In hand, Uurdi'il boldly up, like our train band, Presented, and away. Sir John Suckling. The dinner was served up in the great hall, where the squire always held his Christmas banquet. A blazing crackling fire of logs had been heaped on to warm the spacious apartment, and the flame went sparkling and wreathing tip the wide-mouthed chimney. The great picture of the crusader and his white horse had been profusely decorated with greens for the occasion ; and holly and ivy had likewise been wreathed round the helmet and weapons on the opposite wall, which I understood were the arms of the same warrior. I must own, by the by, I had strong doubts about the authenticity of the painting and armor as having belonged to the crusader, they certainly having the stamp of more recent days; but I was told that the painting had been so considered...« less