When Christmas was banned, and mince pie along with it…

Oliver Cromwell, destroyer of mince pies

_I can't say I've ever had mince pie, but I never would have guessed it has such a secretive, mysterious history.  Is the mince pie capable of being so subversive that it must be banned?

Well, seventeenth-century Puritans thought so.  For Cromwell--(the original Grinch? You tell me!)—Christmas represented a time of excessive drinking, gambling, and all around unwholesome merrymaking—all activities that made the Puritans a bit queasy, and decidedly ungodly.

So, in 1644, Parliament banned Christmas in England.   They renamed the day Christ-Tide (you know, to remove the “papist” overtones of Mass). The hanging of holly and ivy was strictly prohibited.   Merchants were advised to keep their stores and stalls open (to avoid sloth and idleness).  And if soldiers walking by smelled a goose for supper—well, your goose was cooked.

And the poor mince pie? Banned in any public place.  Ever since the Crusades, the mince pie had symbolized and honored the birth of Christ.  When the Crusaders returned from the Holy Lands, three spices were added to a lamb pie-- cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg--each spice representing the three gifts bestowed upon the Christ child by the Magi.  Pies were very small, shaped in the form of a cradle, and eaten throughout the twelve days of Christmas. So to the Puritans, these small pies represented everything that was wrong with Catholicism.

Christmas in the American colonies fared no better.  The Massachusetts Bay Company General Court ordered that “whosoever shall be found observing any such day as Christmas or the like, either by forbearing of labor, feasting, or any other way, upon any such account as aforesaid, every such person so offending shall pay for every such offence five shilling as a fine to the county."

Yikes!  Five shillings for every offense—that’s got to add up.  However, despite these prohibitions, people continued to make mince pies, calling them “shred” or “secret” pies. (Although calling it a secret pie might have defeated the purpose, but so be it).  

And for Christmas lovers everywhere, don’t worry. The story ends well.

When  Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660, the spectacle and merriment of Christmas returned, although it took a little longer in the colonies.  And holding a place of honor at the Christmas meal, was the humble mince pie.

So, I'm curious--do people still eat mince pie this side of the pond? Or the other side, for that matter? And more interestingly, what other secrets and lost histories lurk within our everyday traditions and customs?

---