Christmas Quiz 2015

As it's very nearly Christmas, I thought it would be fun for you to test your knowledge of Tudor Christmas traditions.

Good luck!

Q1) Boy Bishops were usually elected on 6th December, but which saint's feast day was this?

St Thomas

St Stephen

St Nicholas

St Augustine

Correct! St Nicholas of Myra, the 4th century Bishop of Myra.

Wrong! It was St Nicholas of Myra, the 4th century Bishop of Myra.

Q2) On 21st December, the feast day of St Thomas the Apostle, it was traditional for people to "go Thomasing", what was this?

Carol singing

Collecting greenery to decorate the home

Process around the orchards blessing the fruit trees

Collecting alms

Correct!

Wrong! They walked the streets collecting alms.

Q3) What would those drinking Wassail find at the bottom of the communal bowl?

A piece of bread

A coin

A bean

Nuts

Correct! This piece of bread tended to be given to the most important person present.

Wrong! It was a piece of bread. This piece of bread tended to be given to the most important person present.

Q4) According to the 16th century poet and farmer, Thomas Tusser, what was traditionally done to live-stock on 26th December, the feast of St Stephen?

They were moved inside

Slaughtering

Blood-letting

They were fed Christmas left-overs

Correct! He wrote: "Ere Christmas be passed let horse be let blood, for many a purpose it doth them much good. The day of St. Stephen old fathers did use: if that do mislike thee some other day choose."

Wrong! It was blood-letting. Tusser wrote: "Ere Christmas be passed let horse be let blood, for many a purpose it doth them much good. The day of St. Stephen old fathers did use: if that do mislike thee some other day choose."

Q5) How many ingredients were there traditionally in a "mynced pye"?

Correct! They represented Christ and his apostles.

Wrong! It was 13. The ingredients represented Christ and his apostles.

Q6) One dish often served as a side dish at Christmas was frumenty, what was it?

A wheat porridge

Pickled cabbage

Gravy

Bread sauce

Correct!

Wrong! It was a wheat porridge.

Q7) Brawn and mustard was a popular dish at Christmas - what meat was brawn?

Veal

Wild boar

Venison

Pheasant

Correct!

Wrong! It was wild boar

Q8) Which Christmas dish had a Tudor Christmas carol named after it?

Marchpane

The mynced pye

The humble pie

The boar's head

Correct! The Boar's Head Carol appeared in Wynkyn de Worde's 1521 collection of carols.

Wrong! It was the boar's head. The Boar's Head Carol appeared in Wynkyn de Worde's 1521 collection of carols.

Q9) Which vegetable was first recorded as being eaten at Christmas in the 1580s?

The potato

The parsnip

The Brussels sprout

The carrot

Correct!

Wrong! It was the Brussels Sprout.

Q10) On which date was Childermas, or Holy Innocents' Day, celebrated?

28th December

30th December

20th December

29th December

Correct! It commemorated the massacre of the baby boys which King Herod ordered in Bethlehem, in an attempt to kill the infant Jesus Christ. The innocent babies were seen by the Catholic Church as the very first martyrs.

Wrong! It was on 28th December. It commemorated the massacre of the baby boys which King Herod ordered in Bethlehem, in an attempt to kill the infant Jesus Christ. The innocent babies were seen by the Catholic Church as the very first martyrs.