The Lord of Misrule and the lost spirit of Christmas past

The Lord of Misrule is surely the jolliest spirit of Christmas past. He is certainly the best named. He used to gambol through cities and courts, churchyards and dining rooms, telling jokes, performing tricks and spreading good cheer. Society shook itself upside down at his coming, so knaves played at being kings, children became miniature tyrants and noblemen misplaced their manners (an exercise in which some, admittedly, needed little assistance).

His origins can be traced back to ancient Rome, where each December masters and slaves swapped places for the festival of Saturnalia and engaged in various acts of tomfoolery while gorging on food and wine. These traditions survived the advent of Christianity and found their own expression in the Church. The medieval ‘Feast of Fools’ witnessed the lowest ranking members of the clergy usurp the positions of the highest. And ‘Boy Bishops’ donned the cloth, delivered sermons to the adults and took in the collection.