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History

Stories of the Stuarts: A Stuart Christmas feast

Christmas is just that time of the year where it is perfectly acceptable to eat and drink as much as you see fit. That theory even stood during the reign of the House of Stuart, probably in a bigger sense than it does today.

King Charles I and his family spent several months celebrating Christmas

King Charles I and his family spent several months celebrating Christmas

Much of the food that the Stuarts ate at Christmas time, we still eat today. Although their most impressive meat dish was the boar’s head with an apple or lemon in its mouth and not the traditional turkey we enjoy today. The boar’s head was crowned with holly, ivy and rosemary before being carried to the dinner table.

The boar’s head was even serenaded with a Christmas carol at Queen’s College in Oxford:

“The boar’s head in hand bear I,

Bedecked with bays and rosemary,

And I pray you, my masters, be merry Quot est is in convivio.”

Another favourite of the Stuart’s was the Christmas pie, which represented the manger of Jesus Christ. To the Stuart’s, the Christmas pie was so special that they were guarded against thieves and contained meat, game, spices, fruit and suet. As we know it today, the minced pie was also on the menu at the Stuart’s Christmas dinner. Though they were smaller in size, their contents were just as exotic as the Christmas pie.

Christmas in Stuart times was celebrated by the rich and poor alike. All good folk were encouraged to share their fortune with the poor, including their food. For the wealthy, spices in food were very important but also very expensive, because they came from distant lands. The spices that you probably have in your cupboard at home were found scarcely in the Stuart kitchen. From cinnamon to cloves and nutmeg to pepper even fruits such as oranges and lemons were expensive though during Christmas they were a must.

While many Stuarts spent twelve days celebrating Christmas, it is said that King Charles I spent several months celebrating Christmastide, one can imagine that would have been a right royal feast!

Photo Credit: Anthony van Dyck [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

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