Christmas Luncheon Sandringham, 1953.

Christmas Luncheon Sandringham, 1953.

At this time of year I usually give you a few Christmas menus from actual events - preferably those involving notable people or unusual circumstances.  Sometimes these ‘menus’ are in the form of simple descriptions, such as  the one I gave last week in my post on the food situation in the besieged city of Ladysmith during the Boer war. Today I return to a more formal menu, with the details of the Christmas luncheon of the royal family at their private Norfolk retreat – Sandringham Estate.

The menu is from 1936: I found the menu in the Courier Mail (Brisbane, Queensland) of December 2, 1953 in an article on “Royal Banquets of the Past.” This meal took place a matter of weeks after the abdication of Edward VII.

Christmas luncheon Sandringham, 1936

Mock Turtle Soup

Norfolk Turkey

Sandringham Beef

Yorkshire Pudding

Asparagus                  Parsnips

Baked Potatoes         French Beans

Brussels Sprouts

Mince Pies                 Ice Cream

Cheese            Biscuits          Celery

Fresh Fruit

Coffee

As the royal recipe for the day, I give you a couple of ideas from Mrs. McKee’s Royal Cookery Book.  Alma McKee was “formerly cook to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother,”

Filet de Boeuf.

3 lb. undercut fillet of beef             ¼ lb bacon fat

Garlic salt                                          Pepper and salt

Rub the fillet with pepper and salt, and sprinkle over a little garlic salt. Tie the bacon fat round the beef and place it in a hot oven to roast. When brown on the outside, lower the heat, baste and roast for forty-five minutes. Baste every fifteen minutes in its own juice. When cooked, untie the bacon, remove the juice from the pan, cut the beef in thin slices, and place in the middle of the serving dish.

Turkey with Walnut Stuffing.

1 turkey (about 15 lbs)                     ¼ lb. breadcrumbs

½ lb. ground walnuts                                  Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons cream                                    Nut oil

2 lbs. sausage meat

Mix together the walnuts, butter [not listed in the ingredients!] breadcrumbs and cream, and season. Stuff the neck end of the turkey with the sausage meat, and the rear end with the walnut stuffing.

Rub nut oil all over the skin of the bird. Place in a hot oven and roast for fifteen minutes, then baste. When the turkey has turned a light brown, reduce the heat, turn on its side, and cook for ten to fifteen minutes per pound. Roast and turn the turkey every fifteen minutes.

When cooked, strain the juice and skim off the fat. Garnish with chipolata sausages.

Serve with cranberry and bread sauce.

For the menu of Christmas dinner at Sandringham in 1930, go here.

http://www.theoldfoodie.com/2011/12/christmas-dinner-at-sandringham.html

King John’s Feast.

For eight hundred years a most interesting Christmastide custom was played out in the town and parish of North Curry in Somerset, England. The custom was known as ‘King John’s Feast’, or more commonly as ‘The Reeve’s Feast.’ The details of the origin of the event are sketchy, but King John is known to have visited the parish region on a number of occasions during his reign. Another custom exists that connects King John to the region, in the form of an ancient directive that a tenant, wearing white gloves and carrying a white rod, was to oversee the hay-making in the fields belonging to the King.

The Reeve’s Feast was explained in detail in Notes and Queries: A Medium of Intercommunication for Literary Men, General Readers etc of September 1854.

LONDON, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1854.

NORTH CURRY FEAST.

A curious feast takes place annually in the parish of North Curry, near Taunton, a manor belonging to the Dean and Chapter of Wells. The following account of the customs of the said feast is copied from a marble tablet in the vestry room of the church. Does a similar feast exist in England? What is its origin?

CUSTOMS OF THE NORTH CURRY FEAST.

“The Reeve provides the feast, and in order to enable him to do so, the Lords of the Manor allow him the lord's rent for the Feast Tenement, in respect of which he is appointed to the office. An annual allowance of two pounds by the name of lease-fees. A payment of two pounds under; the name of cane-wood, and four pounds and five shillings under the name of beef and pork.

"The Reeve is allowed by the occupier of the lay rectory, now held by Mr. Chas. Holcombe Dare for lives, under the Dean and Chapter of Wells, thirty-six bushels of good marketable wheat; and forty-eight shillings in money to be rendered on demand one month before Christmas annually, and likewise by the holders of the undermentioned estates the quantities of wheat set opposite to the names of their tenements respectively within the like period."

Here follow the names of twelve persons who have severally and respectively to give two bushels each of good marketable wheat for the feast.

“ The Custom of preparing for and holding the feast is, for the Reeve to provide three fat heifers, and put them in the manor pound, adjoining North Curry Churchyard, the Sunday before Christmas Day. If Christmas Day happens on any other day than a Monday or a Tuesday, then the Sunday week before Christmas Day; for the inspection of the persons entitled to the feast, who may insist on having them changed if good ones are not provided. Then these are killed by a butcher, paid and appointed by the Reeve; and the day before Christmas Day delivered, with a good half pig, to two tenants of the Manor of North Curry, called Dealers, who continue for many years, but are annually summoned to their duty by the Reeve, and have their vacancies tilled up by him.

“The Dealers are to attend the day before Christmas Day: except that day be a Sunday, and then the day preceding, at the Reeve's, with a clerk, to cut, or deal, or dole out the beef and pork to the persons entitled to receive it, and they have provided for them by the Reeve Beefsteaks and onions for breakfast ; top-butt of beef and three marrow-bones boiled, with the marrow taken out, and spread on toasted bread, for dinner; and, a feast each of two loaves of bread, eight pennyworth of beef, and twopence in money, and one pound of good beef east, to be sent home to their houses for their trouble.

"The Dealers serve out two ribs of beef, two ribs of pork, two loaves of bread, and twopence in money, and one pound of beef suet to each of the holders of the following freehold manors: "

Here follow the names of seven manors and the present occupiers, who are entitled to the above.

“They, the Dealers, also serve out to each of the occupiers of the two following tenements, viz. William Hembrey's tenement, in the Manor of East Curry, now belonging to Robt. Hooper Scott, and Murless tenement, in the Manor of North Curry, now belonging to William Payne, a feast and a half, viz. three loaves of bread, one shilling’s worth of beef, and threepence in money.

“The Dealers also serve out to the occupiers of the following tenements, two loaves of bread, eight pennyworth of beef, and twopence in money."

Here follow the names of one hundred and thirty eight persons, entitled to receive the above.

“The Dealers also serve out a loaf and one-third of bread, two-thirds of eight pennyworth of beef, and twopence in money, to the occupiers of late Samuel Powell’s tenements, in the Manor of East Curry, called a Two-thirdingale tenement, now belonging to Mary Dare. Also one half of the last-mentioned allowance to the occupier of late Thomas Powell’s, in the Manor of East Curry, called a thirdlingale, now also belonging to Mary Dare.

“The Dealers likewise serve out one loaf of bread, four pennyworth of beef, and one penny in money, to the occupiers of the following tenements called Half-feast tenements.”

Here follow the names of fourteen persons entitled to the half-feasts.

“Each of which loaves of bread is to be made of good white flour, to be well baked, and to weigh, after baking, five pounds; and the beef is to be valued at the price for which beef of the like quality is then currently selling.

“To the Reeve of the West Hatch, within the said manor, the Dealers serve half a bullock, and the hind quarter of the half pig, for the use of the tenants in that manor, on his paying five shillings for it to the Reeve of North Curry; but, before he is allowed to enter the Reeve’s house, he is to sing the following song:

‘ King John, he was a noble knight,

  I am come to demand my right.

 Open the door, and let me in,

 Else, I'll carry away my money again.’

“The Dealers serve out these feasts to the persons entitled to them, who are to send for them between sunrise and sunset, the day before Christmas Day; unless it happens to be on Sunday, and then the day preceding. And the Dealers also serve out for the Reeve, a chine, round, and rump of beef for mince-meat, and the belly part of the fore quarter of the half pig: for a feast to be provided the day after Christmas Day, except it be a Sunday, and then the day following, by the Reeve for the Lords of the Manors of Knapp and Slough, who are called the ‘Jacks of Knapp and Slough;’ and have this feast for themselves and their attendants aftermentioned, besides the chief feasts of beef &c., in common with the holders of the other five freehold manors. They, or their deputies, arrive at the Reeve‘s house on the feast day about one o'clock: the ‘Jack of Knapp,’ or his deputy, attended by three men and a boy, and the ‘Jack of Slough,’ or his deputy, by two men and a boy.

“When the ‘Jack of Knapp,’ or his deputy, arrives, the key of the Reeve's cellar, in which there is to be provided a half hogshead, at least, of good ale for the feast, is given to one of his attendants.

“ The ‘Jack,’ or his deputy, proceeds to divide the offal or inferior parts of the bullocks, and half pig, not distributed by the Dealers to the holders of tenements, into portions to be given away in the afternoon to the second poor.

“The ‘Jack of Slough,’ or his deputy, divides six dozen of bread, weighing five pounds each loaf when well baked, provided by the Reeve for the like purpose.

“The ‘Jacks,’ and their attendants, then sit down to a dinner provided by the Reeve: consisting of the chine of beef roasted, and the rump and round boiled, the belly part of the fore quarter of the half pig rolled up, and made up into a collar of brawn, scalded. and served up with a sprig of rosemary, and powdered with flour; a hen with the head and tail on, but the rest of the feathers, except the tail, plucked off, a little boiled, and served up on sops of bread, and proper vegetables; a large minced-pie, with an effigy of King John in full in paste, properly painted to represent a king, stuck up in the middle of it; bread and ale, and bread and cheese after. When they sit down to dinner, two candles weighing a pound each, are lighted; and, until they are burnt out the ‘Jacks’ and their attendants have a right to sit drinking ale.

“After dinner, the regular toasts are; ‘To the immortal memory of King John;’ ‘The real Jack of Knapp;' ‘The real Jack of Slough.’ Afterwards, other toasts are given.

“The ‘Jacks’ give away the bread, and the offal beef and pork, to the second poor. When they have drunk as much as they like, they depart: the ‘Jack of Slough,’ or his deputy, holding the stirrup of the ‘Jack of Knapp,’ or his deputy for him, to mount; and receiving a shilling as his fee.

“ The undersigned declare the above to be the immemorial customs of the feast held annually in the Manor of North Curry; and as contributors thereto, or partakers thereof, they make this recognition for better preserving and keeping up the same."

The feast was apparently discontinued in the 1860’s or thereabouts, and the funds diverted to other charitable efforts for the poor.

As you know, I usually try to choose a recipe for the day which is related in some way to the topic or theme of the day. I must make a very loose connection today as there are no manuscript cookery books from King John’s era. I have chosen a recipe for Apple Bread (bread, not cake) for you, because Somerset is famous for its apples, and the first Assize of Bread was enacted during Kin John’s reign.

Apple Bread.

A bread said to be very superior to potatoe bread has been made from the use of common apples with meal. Boil one-third of peeled apples; while quite warm, bruise them into two-thirds of flour, including the proper quantity of leaven, or yeast; knead without water, the juice of the fruit being quite sufficient. When this mixture has acquired the consistency of paste, put it into a vessel to rise for about twelve hours. By this process may be obtained a very sweet bread, full of eyes and extremely light.

The Guide to Trade: The Baker; Including Bread and Fancy Baking: with Numerous Receipts (London, 1841)

Rhyming Recipes for Christmas.

It is time for a little fun. On a few occasions in the past I have given you rhyming recipes for various dishes (see links below), and I have a few more for you today. I found them in The Huddersfield Chronicle and West Yorkshire Advertiser (West Yorkshire, England), of Saturday, December 21, 1867.

MINCE-MEAT.

To half a pound of suet – beef – cut fine,

Of apples pared and shredded add the same;

A pound of currants picked and washed quite clean,

And one of raisins – never mind the name:

Although Malaga is the kind preferred

For such a purpose, stoned and chopped up small.

A pound of sugar, rather coarse, and then

Of beef well roasted, half a pound in all.

Some citron, say two ounces sliced, and four

Of candied lemon-peel and orange too;

Half of a nutmeg ground, a pinch of salt,

A quarter of an ounce of ginger. You

Of coriander seed may add a third

Or quarter of an ounce; of cloves a like

Proportion; and of allspice just as much,

Which in a mortar you should pound or strike

This being done you at once should squeeze

The juice of seven lemons firmly pressed.

The rind of six to powder grated; these

Together mixed will make the very best,

In other words the finest mincemeat out,

A thing in great demand at Christmas time,

When friends require something very nice,

And love to taste the dishes reckoned prime.

CHRISTMAS PUDDING.

To bread-crumbs and flour, three ounces of each,

Add three eggs and six ounces of sueet

Chopped fine, and one-sixth of a nutmeg or more,

So long as you don’t overdo it.

A good pinch of mace, and of cinnamon ground,

Or in other words carefully grated;

Half a pint of new milk, a spoonful of salt

A teaspoon I ought to have stated.

To this add some raisins (Malaga) well stoned

And some currants washed clean and washed nicely,

aOf each half a pound, or as some people say,

Of either eight ounces precisely.

Then of citron and lemon an ounce and a half,

Half the former and one of the latter;

Four ounces of sugar – the moist kind will do –

Which will form an exceedingly rich bater

Or mixture. The eggs to a cream should be beat

With the spices, and then by degrees

The milk may be added according to taste,

And the other ingredients to please.

Now taking for granted the pudding is made,

And the water is boiling like fun;

Tie it up in a cloth, pop it into the pot,

And boil – seven hours – till done.

And here is another that I could not resist because I found it in a newspaper from the area I grew up in: from The North-Eastern Daily Gazette (Middlesbrough, England), of Thursday, December 14, 1893:

RECIPE FOR A CHRISTMAS PUDDING

“First get yourself a wooden spoon and good-sized bowl

So you may thoroughly incorporate the whole.”

Put in the bowl then first, a pound of flour, and to it

Add two pounds (chopped very fine) of prime beef suet,

A pound of bread crumbs next stir in, but please you, halt!

With the flour and suet add a pinch or two of salt;

Then Sultanas, Raisins, Currants, of each two pound

(Choose fine and large new season’d fruit, and clean and sound).

The Currants and Sultanas well pick over, wash, and dry.

Well stone the Raisins, but taste naught on the sly!

Next add a teaspoonful (not more) f good mix’d spice,

And RIZINE, half a pound, will make it light and nice;

Mixed candied-peel too, half a pound, sliced very thin,

Then a pound of good cane sugar well mixed in;

A score of Jordan almonds, bleached, and cut up small,

Will to the compound a nice addition be withal;

Add to the whole then (you’ll sing its praises louder)

A penny packet o RIZINE BAKING POWDER,

Pour o’er the ingredients then (if any handy)

A wineglass full of good old foreign brandy;

Add lastly – Eight fresh eggs, well beaten to a froth,

Then vigorously mix in, and boil it in your cloth.

Should, in the meantime, friends drop in, ask each to stir,

That they a Merry Christmas too may have, and Happy year.

-         Send for “Rizine, and its uses,” post free from Rizine Works, 87, Borough High-street, London, S.E. – ADVT.

Poetical Christmas Recipes, Part 1.

http://www.theoldfoodie.com/2010/12/poetical-christmas-recipes-part-1.html

Poetical Christmas Recipes, Part 2.

http://www.theoldfoodie.com/2010/12/poetical-christmas-recipes-part-2.html

The Poetry of Pork Cake.

http://www.theoldfoodie.com/2014/08/the-poetry-of-pork-cake.html

The Original Chowder.

http://www.theoldfoodie.com/2010/09/original-chowder.html

A Metrical Recipe for Christmas Pudding.

http://tinyurl.com/n6mu25e

Christmas Gifts from Your Kitchen, Part II.

Last week I gave you some recipes for Christmas gifts from your kitchen which were featured in one of the regular programs of the United States Department of Agriculture Radio Service in 1938. I thought I would follow up with some more ideas from Australian newspapers, also from the ‘30’s.

First, some sweet treats from The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA) 14 November 1939.

Christmas Gifts From Your Kitchen.

Few gifts are more acceptable at Christmas time than a decorative tin of home-made biscuits or cakes, or jars of preserves, whether for the bachelor girl or the busy housewife. Here are some recipes for shortbread, biscuits, and minced meat.

By NELLIE D. HOLMES, Chief Demonstrator, Adelaide Electric Supply Co.

Shortbread

Half lb. butter, ¾ lb. flour, pinch salt, 4 oz. castor sugar. 2 oz. rice flour.

Sift flour, rice flour, sugar and salt. Cream butter and add dry ingredients.

Turn on to a floured board and knead slightly. Divide into four and roll each

piece into a round about half an inch thick. Pinch edges and prick with a fork.

Put on to an oven slide lined with greased paper. Cook in a very moderate oven for 40 minutes.

Orange Cream Biscuits

Four oz. butler, 4 oz. sugar, 8 oz. flour, 2 egg yolks, 2 teaspoonsful baking powder, grated rind of one orange.

Cream butter and sugar, add beaten egg yolks, then add grated rind, sifted flour, and rising. Roll out and cut into shapes. Put on to a greased tray and bake in a moderate oven for 12 minutes. When cold, join together with orange cream filling.

Orange Cream Filling

Take 8 tablespoonsful icing sugar, 2 tablespoonsful butter, 1 tablespoonful orange juice. Cream the butter and add the icing sugar and orange juice gradually.

From The Australian Women's Weekly of 16 December 1933.

To Crystallise Fruits

Two cups castor sugar, 1 cup boiling water, ⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar, fruits as cherries, apricots, plums, oranges, mandarins; nuts.

Put the water, sugar, and cream of tartar into an enamel-lined saucepan. Stir, and bring slowly to boiling point, removing sugar from sides of saucepan with a brush. When the syrup comes to boiling point stop stirring, and continue to boil until it begins to discolor. Remove from fire for two seconds to stop boiling, then stand the saucepan of syrup in hot water while dipping fruits, which have been prepared as follows:—

Wash and dry fruits. Cut plums and apricots in halves, remove the stone; stone cherries. Stand in a dry spot overnight. When well dried dip each piece separately in the syrup and stand on a rack covered with waxed paper in a sunny spot. Do not allow the pieces of fruit to touch each other. Next day dip again, and when dry—if at all sticky—dust lightly with powdered sugar.

These candied fruits do not keep for any length of time.

Walnut Biscuits

Five ounces flour, 2oz. butter, 1 egg, salt, ½ teaspoon baking powder, 2 tablespoons finely-chopped nuts, 1 tablespoon milk.

Cream butter and sugar; add well-beaten egg and 1 tablespoon milk. Sift in flour, baking powder, salt; add walnuts. Cook in small spoonsful on a greased tray in a hot oven.

Spice Cookies

Half pound flour, ¼lb. butter, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, a little grated lemon rind, ¼ teaspoon mixed spice, "speck" of ground ginger, pinch salt, 1 egg.

Sift flour, spices, and salt together in a basin. Rub the butter in with the fingertips. Make into a dough with the egg. Turn on to a lightly-floured board. Roll out t0 ¼-inch thickness and cut into rounds. Bake in a slow oven, and join together with creamed butter, flavored with spices and essence or a little strong coffee.

Ice with coffee-icing and sprinkle tops withground cinnamon or chopped nuts.

From The Australian Women's Weekly of 11 December 1937.

GIFTS—from Your Kitchen.

A happy way of coping with a lengthy list at Christmas.

Says Ruth Furst,

Cookery Expert to The Australian Women's Weekly.

HERE ARE GIFTS for everybody! Delicious sweets, shortbread, devilled almonds, Christmas pudding and brightly covered boxes containing biscuits and sweets.

Tinned Christmas Pudding

Half pound plain flour, good ½ cup breadcrumbs, ½ lb. sugar, ½lb. butter, ½lb. raisins, ½lb. currants, ½lb. sultanas, 2oz. peel, 2oz. almonds, 2oz. cherries, 2 tablespoons brandy, 4 tablespoons rum or sherry (or half and half), 1 teaspoon carb. soda.

Sift flour and spice, rub in the butter, add sugar and fruits, with almonds, peel and cherries chopped finely. Mix with the beaten eggs, brandy and/or rum. Dissolve soda in little water, and mix in well. Three-quarters fill well-greased milk or treacle tins. Press lids on tightly. Stand on rack in saucepan. Have water to cover half way up tins. Steam for 5 hours, keeping up the same quantity of water. Store in cool place. On day of using, stand in boiling water and boil for one hour. Open round edge of tin.

Peanut Brittle

One pound sugar, peanuts.

Shell the peanuts, remove the outer skin, place on an enamel plate.

Sprinkle with salt and stand on a warm part of the stove. Place the sugar in an enamel saucepan and stand over low gas, stir till melted, increase the gas, cook till a pale brown,  add the hot peanuts. Pour immediately into buttered tin, leave till cold, then wrap in greaseproof paper. Place in tin or box and decorate to give festive touch.

Devilled Almonds or Peanuts

Half pound nuts, ¾lb. butter, 2 teaspoons salt, 1 level teaspoon cayenne.

Blanch the nuts and dry thoroughly in the oven. Melt the butter, and when hot add the almonds; fry till a golden brown, stirring all the time.

Drain on paper, then shake in the well-mixed salt and cayenne until thoroughly coated. When cold, place in jars, cover, and wrap in colored paper and decorate with holly and tag.

Salted Almonds or Peanuts

Half pound Jordan almonds or peanuts, ½oz. gum arabic, 1 gill water, salt.

Blanch the nuts, dip in the gum arabic which has been dissolved in the water. Drain on an enamel plate.

Place in a warm oven till a pale brown. Sprinkle with salt. Finish in same way as devilled almonds.

Christmas under Siege, 1899. Part 2

I continue the newspaper correspondent’s description of the events of Christmas 1899, during the Boer siege of Ladysmith:-

You may be sure that sick and wounded at Intombi hospital were not forgotten in the midst of our wild festivities. For them the morning train was laden with fruit, flowers, and such delicacies as the resources of this beleaguered town can still furnish. There are many unselfish people here who do not want to make money by selling things at market prices, or to keep for their own use the dainties that might be nectar to the lips of suffering soldiers. And there are officers also who have given of their abundance so freely that they will have to be dependent on similar generosity if the chances of war should number them among the sick or wounded. I must guard myself against being misunderstood. The hospital patients at Intombi Camp are not reduced to meagre fare yet, nor likely to be, but medical comforts are not all that a sick man craves for, and the simplest gifts sent from Ladysmith's store that day must have been like a ray of sunshine brightening the lot of some poor fellow with the assurance that, though far from home, he was still among friends who cared for him. Nor were the weakly and the children who still remain in this town forgotten. Colonel Dartnell, a soldier of wide experience, who commands the Field Force of Natal Police, and is beloved by every man serving under him; Major Karri Davis, of the Imperial Light Horse; Colonel Frank Rhodes, Lord Ava, and a few others got together the materials for a great Christmas tree, to which all the little ones between babyhood and their teens were invited. The Light Horse Major's long imprisonment with his brother officer Sampson in Pretoria, far from embittering him against humanity in general, has only made him more sympathetic with the trials and sufferings of others; just as heavy fines and a death sentence seemed to bring out the most lovable characteristics of Colonel Rhodes. It was Karri Davis who bought up all the unbroken toys that were to be found in Ladysmith shops; and the ready hands of ladies, who are always interested in such work, decorated the Christmas trees or adorned the hall in which this gathering was to be held with gay devices and hopeful mottoes. There were four trees. Round their bases respectively ran the words, "Great Britain," "Australia," "Canada," and "South Africa," and above them all the folds of the Union Jack were festooned. Contributors sent bon-bons and crackers in such profusion that each tree bore a bewildering variety of fruit. To avoid confusion in distributing prizes, these were numbered to correspond with the tickets issued; and Santa Claus, who patronised the ceremony, in a costume of snowy swansdown, that shed flakes wherever he walked, was content to play his part in dumb show, while the children walked round after him to receive the toys that were plucked for them, with many jests, by Colonel Dartnell and his genial colleagues. Over two hundred children were there, and many of

them so young that it seemed as if the one precluded from attendance on the score of extreme youthfulness must have been the siege baby, who was then only a few days old. Generals Sir George White and Sir Archibald Hunter, with their aides-de-camp and many staff officers, came to take part in the interesting scene.

Looking at the little ones as they trooped through the hall, in their white finery, Sir George said he had no idea that so many children remained in Ladysmith, and perhaps at that moment his heart was heavy with a deeper sense of the responsibility thrust upon him. But fortunately we have been spared the worst horrors of a bombardment. Though Boer gunners have never hesitated, but rather preferred, to turn their fire on the open town, with a probability of hitting some house in which were women and children, none of the latter, and only two of the former, have been hit through the whole siege. Mrs. Kennedy, to whose narrow escape I have already referred, suffered so little bodily injury or nerve shock that she was present with her children at the Christmas tree entertainment, and took the congratulations of her friends quite coolly. After the children had gone home trees and trappings were dismantled, and the hall cleared for dancing, which the young people of Ladysmith and a few subalterns off duty kept up with much spirit until near midnight. In days to come we may look back to our Christmas under siege in Ladysmith, and think that after all we had not a very bad time.

At this moment, however, there is probably nobody outside who envies our lot, or grudges us any enjoyment we may manage to get out of it. Soldiers, at any rate, deserve every chance of relaxation that can be found for them. There are several regiments of this force that have been practically on outpost duty since the investment began, often exposed torain-storms during the day, because they could not pitch even shelter tents without drawing the enemy's fire on them. When the honours for this campaign come to be distributed I hope the services of these regiments will not be ignored.

And on 31^st December:

And so Christmas-tide was past, and the New Year broke upon the beleaguered garrison. So great is the influence of times and seasons that we may well believe that even in Ladysmith the first day of 1900 brought a brighter ray of hope. But hope must yet for long be deferred, and the daily round of tasks grow wearisome by repetition--the daily dole of eked-out rations, the daily tale of bursting shells, were for many weeks, with one day's startling break, to be the sole preoccupation of the defenders. The enemy, even his first day of January, were not willing to leave the garrison in doubt as to their presence, although, despite the possible touch of sarcasm, there was a grim sort of friendliness in      their reminder. It again took the form of blind shells--this time fired from the Free State batteries inscribed "Compliments of the Season." The sarcasm (writes Mr. Pearse) seems the more pointed because we hear that the Boers believe us to be starving and unable to hold out much longer. We should, at any rate, appreciate the good wishes more if they were sent in another form. Shells, even without fuses or powder-charges, are not quite harmless; and though these have done no damage so far, there is always a chance that they may hit somebody when fired into the heart of a town where people still carry on their customary occupations in spite of bombardment.

I wanted to give you a South African recipe for gingerbread – as you know, I like to add a few gingerbreads to the archive at Christmas. The first that I came across has a name that is now offensive and derogatory, but food history has its dark side too, so I give it to you as it is. Kaffir (kafir) corn is not maize, but is a type of sorghum:

Kafir Corn Gingerbread.

2 cupfuls Kafir corn meal                           1 teaspoonful powdered cinnamon

2 ½ cupful sour milk or buttermilk          ½ teaspoonful powdered cloves

1 teaspoonful salt                                         1¼ teaspoonfuls soda

2 tablespoonfuls butter                               ¾ cupful sugar

1 cupful wheat flour                                     1 egg

2 teaspoonfuls powdered ginger

Mix thoroughly the meal, buttermilk, and salt in a double boiler, and cook over hot water one-half hour or longer. Stir the butter into the mush while it is still warm. Sift together the flour, spices, and soda. When the mush is cool combine all the ingredients. Beat thoroughly and bake in a moderate oven in shallow iron pans.

Farmers’ Bulletin, US Government Printing Office (1919)

A Christmas under Siege (Ladysmith, 1899.)

For 118 days during the Second Boer War, the city of Ladysmith (Natal, South Africa) was under siege conditions. From 2^nd November 1899 to 28^th February 1900, Boer forces kept the British stronghold surrounded, forcing the 20,000 residents to ever-increasing creative efforts to feed themselves. By the time the siege was broken, thousands had died from disease and starvation, as well as from artillery fire.

Christmas fell in the middle of the siege period: the supply situation was grim, but not yet extreme. A Daily News correspondent recorded some of the events in a series of letters which were not published until after the event. The following extract describes the efforts made to maintain an atmosphere of festivity.

THE STORY OF LADYSMITH

BEING UNPUBLISHED LETTERS

FROM

H.H.S. PEARSE

THE 'DAILY NEWS' SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

London, 1900

It needed perhaps all the music that could be mustered in the town to remind the beleaguered garrison and inhabitants that the festive season was upon them. It was inevitable that at such a time the thoughts of all should turn a little regretfully to other scenes.  But it takes a great deal to depress the British soldier to the point at which he is willing to forego his Christmas; and on all hands, in spite of adverse fortune, reparations were made to keep the day in as fitting a manner as the restricted means allowed - with what success is described by Mr. Pearse in the following letter:--

“Thanks to the perfect organisation which Colonel Ward, C.B., brings into all branches of the department over which he is chief here, and the attention paid to innumerable details by his second in command, Colonel Stoneman, there has never been any danger of necessary supplies being exhausted, even if this place were invested for a much longer time than seems likely now, but these two officers seem to have more than absolute necessaries in reserve. When Colonel Ward was appointed Military Governor of Ladysmith his measures for preserving health in the camps surrounding it took a very comprehensive form. He not only made provision for ample water-supply, in place of that which the Boers had cut off, but his ideas of sanitary precaution embraced inquiry into sources of food-supply and kindred subjects. To the end that he might know whether wholesome meat and drink were being sold, it was obviously necessary that he should have reports as to the articles in which various proprietors of stores traded. Information on these points was collected with so much care that, when the pinch came, he knew exactly where to put his hand on provisions for the healthy and medical comforts for the sick and wounded. He had only to requisition a certain number of shops and hotels that were scheduled as having ample supplies of the things wanted, and the trick was done. Some tradesmen were glad enough to have their old stock taken over wholesale by the military authorities at a profitable price, but others, who foresaw chances of a richer harvest, were inclined to grumble at the arbitrary exercise of power of officials whose acts they regarded as little better than confiscation, and, unfortunately, some of these managed to evade the first call, so that they were allowed to go on selling privately, and running up the prices to a fabulous extent.

This was a mistake. All should have been treated alike, so that none might complain that kissing goes by favour, even in the most immaculate and best regulated armies. As it was, the military commissariat secured much that would add to the comfort of soldiers, but for what was left civilians had to pay dearly. Some idea of the way in which this worked may be given by a quotation from the prices bid at our Christmas market on Saturday. We have no Covent Garden or Leadenhall here, but it was felt that some sort of show ought to be made at this festive season, and accordingly everything in the form of Christmas fare that could be got together was brought out for sale by auction. It did not amount to much.

The whole barely sufficed to fill one long table, which was placed in a nook between the main street and a side alley, where fifty people or so might crowd together without attracting the notice of Bulwaan's gunners, who would delight in nothing so much as the chance of throwing a surprise shell into the midst of such a gathering.

The time for holding this auction had been fixed with a view to the enemy's ordinary practice of closing hostilities about sunset each evening, but he does not allow this to become a hard and fast rule, nor does he recognise "close time" that may not be broken in upon at will, if sufficient temptation to shoot presents itself. So the sale was held, not only in a secluded corner, but in the brief half-light between sunset and night. Some civilians came as a matter of curiosity to look on, but the majority were soldiers, regular or irregular, on business intent, and they soon ran up with a rapidity that gave the good traders of Ladysmith a lesson in commercial possibilities when it was too late for them to profit by it to the full. Eggs sold readily at nine shillings a dozen, their freshness being taken on trust and no questions asked. Ducks that had certainly not been crammed with good food were considered cheap at half a guinea each, and nobody grumbled at having to give nine shillings and sixpence for a fowl of large bone but scanty flesh. Imported butter in tins fetched eight and sixpence a pound, jam three and sixpence a tin, peaches boiled that morning in syrup, and classified therefore as preserves, went freely for seven and sixpence a bottle, and condensed milk at five shillings a tin. But these prices were low compared with the five shillings given for three tiny cucumbers no longer than one's hand. The crowning bid of all, however, was thirty shillings for twenty-eight new potatoes, that weighed probably three or four pounds. The buyers were mostly mess-presidents of regiments, whose officers began to crave for some change from the daily rations of tough commissariat beef and compressed vegetables; or troopers of the Imperial Light Horse, who will rough it with the best when necessity compels, but not so long as there are simple luxuries to be had for the money that is plentiful among them.

Cynics dining sumptuously in their clubs may jeer at the idea of campaigners attaching so much importance to creature comforts. Let them try a course of army rations for two months, and then say what price they would set against a fresh egg or a new potato. Two privates of the Gordon Highlanders stopped beside the auctioneer's stall as if meditating a bid for some fruit. They listened in wonderment as the prices went up by leaps and bounds. Then said one to the other, "Come awa, mon! We dinna want nae sour grapes." For them, however, and for others whose means did not run to Christmas market prices, there was consolation in store. Colonel Ward had taken care that there should be a reserve of raisins and other things necessary for the compounding of plum-puddings; and officers of the Army Service Corps were able to report for Sir George White's satisfaction that sufficient could be issued for every soldier in this force to have a full ration. The only thing wanting was suet, which trek oxen do not yield in abundance after eking out a precarious existence on the shortest of short commons; and half-fed commissariat sheep have not much superfluous fat about them. What substitutes were found it boots not to inquire too curiously, seeing that Tommy did not trouble to ask so long as he got his Christmas pudding in some form. There was no rum for flavouring, as all liquors have to be carefully hoarded for possible emergencies. So for once the British soldier had to celebrate Christmas according to the rules of strict temperance. Yet he managed to have a fairly festive time for all that.

Boer guns sent us greeting in the shape of shells that did not explode. When dug up they were found to contain rough imitations of plum-pudding that had been partly cooked by the heat of explosion in gun barrels. On the case of each shell was engraved in bold capitals, "With the Compliments of the Season." This was the Boer gunner's idea of subtle irony, he being under the impression that everybody in Ladysmith must be then at starvation point. In all probability it did not occur to him that he was throwing into the town a number of curious trophies which collectors were eager to buy on the spot for five pounds each, with the certainty of being able to sell them again if they cared to at an enormous profit some day. After wasting some ammunition for the sake of this practical joke, our enemies began a bombardment in earnest. Most of this was directed at the defenceless town. One shell burst in a private house, wounding slightly the owner, Mrs. Kennedy, whose escape from fatal injuries seemed miraculous, for the room in which she stood at that moment was completely wrecked, the windows blown out, and furniture reduced to a heap of shapeless ruin.

Shells notwithstanding, the troops had their Christmas sports following a substantial dinner of roast beef and plum-pudding. There were high jinks in the volunteer camps, where Imperial Light Horse, Natal Carbineers, and Border Mounted Rifles, representing the thews and sinews of Colonial manhood, vied with Regular regiments in strenuous tugs of war and other athletic exercises, preparatory to the tournament, which is fixed for New Year's Day--"weather and the enemy's guns permitting."

As the recipe for the day I give you a non-alcoholic drink entirely suitable for childrens’ parties, from a Johannesburg newspaper:

Boston Cream

[for childrens’parties.]

To 1 cup of sugar measure 2 ½ cups boiling water, 1 oz. tartaric acid, 1 egg white and 1 tablespoon lemon essence.  Pour the boiling water over the sugar and stir until the granules have dissolved. Whisk the white of egg until it is stiff. Allow the sugar and water mixture to cool then add the tartaric acid, the lemon essence and whisked egg white. Pour the mixture into a bottle and shake it well.

When giving the drink to the small guests, allow 2 tablespoons of the bottled mixture to a tumblerful of water. Add just as each child takes a glass a good pinch of bicarbonate of soda and it will make a delicious “bubbly” drink.

Sunday Times (Johannesburg) December 30, 1945