Grampian Club > Scotland, social and domestic

Church Discipline. 339
ordained that Christmas mask-balls should be stopped,
and that those who engaged in them should be subjected
to discipline. Early in the seventeenth century, the
Kirk-session of Ayr prohibited a Christmas game,
named " Lady Templeton." The nature of this game
has not been ascertained.
An ancient custom of extinguishing fires on Mid-
summer eve was obnoxious to the Church. On the
24th June, 1647, the Presbytery of St. Andrews con-
sulted the Provincial Synod, in order to more forcible
methods being enacted for its suppression.
Prior to the Reformation, Sunday was kept sacred
only during the hours of worship. It was held to
commence on Saturday evening at six, and to terminate
on the following evening at the same hour. This
method of reckoning the beginning and close of Sunday
continued long after the establishment of the Reformed
Church. The Kirk-session of Glasgow approved the
method by a deliverance in 1590, but, in 1640, they
determined that Sunday should commence and close
according to the present system.
So long as Sunday was held to close at 6 p.m., the
remainder of the evening was appropriated to merry-
making. The links at St. Andrews were covered with
golfers ; theatres were thrown open ; buffoons collected
crowds to listen to their coarse wit ; morrice-dancers per-
formed; sports of all kinds were prosecuted.
Marketing was conducted on Sunday in cathedral
closes and within the precincts of the monasteries. The
practice doubtless arose from a desire to provide refresh-
ment for those who came from a distance to attend the
Sunday services of the religious houses.
The reformers experienced difficulty in checking these