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M. FORD CREECH ANTIQUES & FINE ARTS
www.mfordcreech.com
NOW BRING US A FIGGY PUDDING...
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"We
wish you a Merry Christmas,
We
wish you a Merry Christmas,
We
wish you a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year !
Now
bring us a figgy pudding,
Now
bring us a figgy pudding,
Now
bring us a figgy pudding, and a cup of good cheer
*.
We won't go until
we get some,
We won't go until we
get some,
We won't go until we
get some, so bring it right here.
Good tidings we
bring to you and your kin.
We wish you a
Merry
Christmas
and a
Happy New Year!"
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FOR THE FEASTING....
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* The old
English custom was that every family have a steaming bowl of WASSAIL
ready to serve throughout the holiday season.
The sharing of wassail at Christmas may relate
back to the Northern tradition of drinking from the Yule cup for luck
and fellowship. Carolers "wassailing" during the Christmas period
exchanged blessings and luck for a bit of warm wassail and an
assortment of rich foods from the table : a good piece
of
bread and aged cheese,
a
Christmas loaf**,
sweetmeats**,
perhaps a
beef pie or tart,
a
plum pudding**....
and a
figgy pudding**.
Included in their revelry was also a light-hearted request for a penny
or two -
(a request that no decent man could dare refuse).
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* ENGLISH CHRISTMAS PUDDINGS were (and are) very elaborate dishes of bread pudding.
They are traditional with the wassail bowl.
Christmas puddings date back to 16th century Medieval England, when the Church declared that a special pudding should be made on the 25th Sunday after Trinity, and hold 13 flavors - to represent Christ and the 12 apostles, while the "stirrers" turned from East to West in honor of the Magi. So fine was this pudding that in 1714, the new King George I requested Plum Pudding be served as part of his first Royal Christmas Feast in England.
The ingredients for these puddings included various dried fruits and nuts, and sometimes suet or mutton fat. However -- there are conflicting stories on the "plums"! "Plum" - or "plumb" - is another word for "raisins and other dried fruits". Plum puddings actually did not contain plums. The name is a carry-over from medieval times when dried prunes and plums were used in pies, but replaced by raisins in the 16th and 17th centuries. However, the pudding retained the name "plum pudding".
And raisins, only when in puddings, are called "plums". So that is the twisted straight of it!
Now the question : What is a "figgy pudding"?
**A "PLUM PUDDING" contains raisins. **A"FIGGY PUDDING" contains figs.
The heavy mixture of bread and fruits, spices eggs, milk, sugar and alcohol required much stirring, each family member taking a turn as a "stirrer". The batter was then steamed or boiled in a cloth - or in a basin, popular in the Victorian era. After steaming, the pudding was kept in a dark cool place and fed regularly with additional brandy or ale for 5 more weeks - until Christmas Day, then steamed for a few more hours before serving.
The Christmas pudding texture was (and still is) thick and dark - almost black - from the dark sugars and saturation with brandy or other alcohols -- for which reason (probably) the pudding was banned by English Puritans! Puddings also could hold "charms" with symbolism for the person receiving that particular piece of dessert : a ring for marriage, a coin for wealth, and a silver thimble for a happy yet single life. Today's pudding is more likely to contain a single sixpence - all the more exciting to find!
The rich holly-sprigged pudding was brought out during Christmas dinner - often to applause - and set on fire with brandy.
In addition to brandy, it could also be served with clotted cream, hard sauce, rum butter or powdered sugar.
Present on ceramic platters or dessert dishes - and, of course, with your very "best" utensils for the occasion: |
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"Georgian Silver Servers"
George II
Silver Hash Spoon, John Gorham,
London, 1749, 12-7/8" Long
George III Silver "Onslow" Basting Spoon, Thomas & William Chawner,
London, 1768, 11-7/8" Long
George III Silver Basting
Spoon, Paul Storr, Coburg Pattern,
London, 1816, 12-1/4" Long
monogrammed and
bearing arms for Lockhart (county of Lanark, Scotland)
George III Pierced Silver Server, Aldridge & Green, London, 1773, 12-1/2" Long
George III Silver Sugar Sifter, Eley & Fearn, London, 1805, 5"
Long
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SAUCES & CREAMS :
Clotted Cream, Devon Cream,
Rum Butter, Hard Sauce, Wine Sauce, Rich Gravies, all the good stuff
with lots of calories...
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FOR CHEESE & CAKES :
"Bring us out a table
And spread it with a
cloth;
Bring us out a
MOULDY CHEESE
And
some of your CHRISTMAS LOAF!"
** A CHRISTMAS
LOAF
is a sweet spiced bread.
In Yorkshire, the Yule spice cake contains
sultanas, currants, candied peels, and spices,
with varying ingredients and methods of
preparation.
The superstition is that the cook will have as many happy months...or
more likely, days...
in the coming years as she has requests for her holiday cake!
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Silver salvers were
originally used for serving and clearing food and drink. Today they find
use for foods such as hors d'oeuvres, breads,
mouldy cheeses,
and small desserts - just as a
Christmas loaf.
The
pierced porcelain basket
below was made for small cakes and fruits. However, it is somewhat rare,
and you might just wish to display it on the shelf!
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First Period Worcester Oval
Pierced Basket, "The Pavilion Pattern"
England, c1770, somewhat rare,
in the Japanese Imari manner
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Victorian Silver Stilton Cheese Scoop
Mappin & Webb, Sheffield, England, 1878
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SWEETMEATS : |
** SWEETMEATS
are candied fruits, or confections and candies.
The practice of "preserving" fruits. and nuts in
sugar or honey may date to the early Egyptian culture.
Their consumption for pleasure dates to the 17th
century, including the
English "sugarplum"
-
a combination of dates, almonds, spices and honey
or sugar, fashioned into the shape of a plum.
In 17th century England, a small fork (otherwise
thought of as diabolic, as the Latin word "furca" related to a "pitchfork")
was allowed to be used to eat the soft delicate
and sticky sweetmeats. The fork possessed 3 tines to represent the
God-given thumb and 2 fingers thought appropriate for eating God's
foods.
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FOR DINNERS :
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Set of 6 Chinese Export Mandarin Dinner Plates
Qianlong, c1760, for
fine dining, or for service plates
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FOR DESSERTS
:
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Set of 6 Queen Anne / George I Britannia
Dognosed (Wavy-End) Tablespoons
Thomas
Allen (4), 1710; John Millington (2), 1721
Crest
for Mainwaring
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Set of 6 George III Silver Private
Dye-Stamped
Dessert Spoons
John Lampfert, London, 1770
Crest for Elliston
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FOR EVERYTHING ! :
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Large George III Old Sheffield Plate
Tray, England,
c1810-20, crested
with a cockerel on a trumpet - Acheson (Scotland &
Ireland)
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** Wassail
can be made from ale, or hard apple cider.
There are many recipes available - most traditional ones including
apples, oranges, berries, sugar, lemons, cloves, cinnamon sticks,
ginger and nutmeg or allspice - heated and served with cooked
apple slices and sometimes toast on top -
the toast possibly the source of the term
"toasting". Some recipes include brandy and eggs.
It can easily be made in a crock pot.
English Figgy and Plum Puddings are both found online in America, as
are Christmas Loafs. Try Amazon.com
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"The Wassail Bowl", Hollis, Engraving c1880
Top : George III
Silver-Mounted Lignum Vitae Wassail Bowl, England, c1800, Personal
Collection
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Please
CLICK
the
ABOVE IMAGES or TITLES for
further images and information.
Click here for
Christmas Catalog :
"...But Now We Come a-Wassailing"
"All Out of Darkness We Have Light..."
"Wassail! Wassail! All Over the Town"...& for the Fruit Trees |
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As usual, please email or call if you have any questions.
And we wish you a
Merry Christmas and
Happy New Year!
"Wæs Hal!"
Millicent Ford Creech
901-761-1163
(gallery) /
901-827-4668
(cell)
581 S.
PERKINS ROAD
/ LAURELWOOD
COLLECTION /
MEMPHIS, TN
38117
Hours :
Wed.-Sat.
11-6, or by
appointment
Complimentary
Gift
Wrapping
mfcreech@bellsouth.net
or
mfordcreech@gmail.com
www.mfordcreech.com
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our periodic
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They appear here for your enjoyment only.
Please do not reproduce without specific written permission.
Now bring us some figgy pudding
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