Twelfth Night
2-5 PM, January 10, 2010
Campbell-Christie House
1201 Main Street, River Edge, NJ 07661
Close out the winter holiday season with the Bergen County Historical Society! We invite members and guests to bring a favorite food or drink to share in an afternoon of celebration and New Year cheer at Campbell-Christie Tavernhouse at Historic New Bridge Landing.
In olden days, the festivities of Twelfth Night were the most lavish of the year, marking the climax of the Christmas season. Twelfth Day was anciently associated with the Magi, or three Wise Men, namely, Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar, and celebrated as the Day of the Three Kings (Dreikonigstag) or, in France, as the Fête des Rois. In many places, the Lord of Misrule or Bean King was chosen for a Festival of Fools, when the world turned upside down and masters waited upon their servants, offering them food and drink. On the eve of the festival, a great cake was baked with a bean hidden in it. The person getting the slice with the bean was solemnly proclaimed King of the Bean. Often times, a second bean was placed in the cake for the election of a Queen. In some places, folks substituted a coin or even a miniature porcelain figure for the bean.
The general merriment included the ancient custom of drinking toasts of cider or ale, called Wassailing, to bless crops, orchards and livestock. Lighting bonfires to ensure the fertility of the crops is identified with an ancient Sun-worshipping festival, focussed upon the Winter Solstice. Recalling the Yule Log customs of the Druids, the ancient Irish supposedly burnt thirteen candles in oat sheaves to honor the conclusion of the Twelve Days of Christmas.
