The Creation of Twelfth Night

Singing Round the Star on Twelfth Night
by Conrelius Troost; courtesy of Mauritshuis, The Hague

By Jessie Serfilippi

While originally a Christian religious holiday celebrating the arrival of the Three Kings in Bethlehem, by the 18th century Twelfth Night had transformed into a mixed religious and secular holiday by European colonists in the Americas. In the 18th century, Twelfth Night was celebrated with feasting, drinking, songs, and revelry. It was not celebrated uniformly throughout the colonies, but festivities were common in New York, and the Schuyler household would have been no exception.

As a Dutch family living in an Anglicized colony, they likely drew on both Dutch and English traditions in their celebrations. One of the most iconic Dutch traditions was captured in a painting by Dutch artist Cornelius Troost. This tradition included revelers dressed as the Three Kings carrying an illuminated lantern in the shape of a star going from home to home, singing traditional carols.

Feasting and Drinking

In preparation for the event, tables were carefully decorated with pyramids of apples and oranges, and laden with tiered displays of sugary confections, sweetmeats, cookies, cakes, and nuts. Spices, such as cloves, coriander, pepper, ginger, and cinnamon, were commonly used in Twelfth Night recipes, such as in spice cookies, which were a Dutch tradition. The centerpiece of the table would have been the Twelfth Night Cake, also known as the King or Queen’s Cake. These cakes were typically white and filled with fruit, then covered in hard white icing topped with sugar and gum figures.

Twelfth Night cake at Schuyler Mansion

The Twelfth Night cake also reflected status. The exotic fruits, the spices, the sugar in the frosting and on top of the cake, and the gum figures were costly, and often imported from plantations in the Caribbean and elsewhere. People enslaved by the Schuylers would have prepared the bulk of Twelfth Night foods, alongside making food for the Schuylers and their own families as they typically would on a daily basis. The Twelfth Night cake itself is one item Catharine van Rensselaer Schuyler may have made herself. It was not uncommon for the lady of even a wealthy household, such as the Schuylers’, to take the lead in preparing this elaborate centerpiece of the festivities herself, displaying her own household abilities and attracting the compliments of the guests.

Ornate, costly, and delicious, Twelfth Night cakes were also meant to be a game. A bean was baked inside the cake, and the person who was given the slice containing the bean was crowned the queen or king of the party and placed in charge of the following year’s festivities or, in some households, paying for the feast! 

Punch bowl at Schuyler Mansion

Drinking was another central element of Twelfth Night. One common drink was wassail, a hot spiced wine typically served in a punch bowl. The exact recipe varied depending on the wealth of the family. The drink itself was thought to promote good health and humor. 

Along with wassail came the custom of toasting. This tradition is believed to have originated from the name “wassail,” which had linguistic roots from the expression “to be in good health” in both Old Norse and Old English, and started with a simple “was hail” from the toaster, to which the rest of the party replied “drink hail.” The tradition changed until it reached the 18th century version, much like the current one, of toasting specific people and hopes or wishes.

Decorations

Elaborate decorations such as Christmas trees and stockings did not exist in most North American homes until the 19th century. Instead, interiors were decorated with greenery, such as decorative ropes of pine and small sprigs hung in the windows to brighten an otherwise darker time of the year. Small green wreathes may have adorned doors and mistletoe may have been hung in the house. Vases of holly may have been on tables or mantel pieces. 

Greenery at Schuyler Mansion

Many of these decorations can be connected to Christian beliefs, which in turn descended from Pagan beliefs of greenery representing new life to come in the new year. The green represented new life and hope, and in a more Christian interpretation, harkened to “the hope of victory over death, a green and pleasant eternity.” By the 18th century, these signs of light and life in a dark time of year had become an important part of English tradition, which the Schuylers subscribed to as much as, and later even more so it seems, they did their Dutch roots.

Games

In Dutch tradition, children would await a visit from Sinterklaas, leaving a shoe filled with straw and carrots inside for his horse. If the children were good, they received small gifts like coins, fruit, or candy. If they were bad, they received coal!  

Children were also invited to celebrate Twelfth Night with the adults. All ages enjoyed the toys and games present at most Twelfth Night parties. One game they may have played was Bullet Pudding. To play, a dish mounded with flour had a bullet (or cranberry, or button, etc…) placed atop it. Players took turns “slicing” the “cake.” If the bullet fell on someone’s turn, they had to retrieve it with their mouth, which—with the flour and laughter that was likely to ensue—could have made quite a mess. 

Another game was Hide the Slipper. The players made a circle of chairs, while the person designated “it” stood outside the circle as a shoe was passed around under the sitters’ legs. “It” had to find and tap the shoulder of the person holding the shoe. It wasn’t as easy as it sounds because players would often fake passing the shoe to each other! 

All these aspects of Twelfth Night came together to make for a fun and lively holiday. Are you curious about what it was like to experience Twelfth Night in the 17th and 18th centuries? This year, Crailo and Schuyler Mansion State Historic Sites are virtually hosting their “Salutations of the Season!” event on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. All are welcome to attend! The festivities will be held on January 6th, 2021. More information is forthcoming. Watch our Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube accounts for more details over the following days!

Unless otherwise noted, all information in this post is taken from our Twelfth Night exhibit, typically on display during the event.