io January. 
and Tacitus both mention it. Claudius prohibited de¬ 
manding presents, except on this day. Brand, in his 
Popular Antiquities, observes, on the authority of 
Bishop Stillingfleet, that the Saxons kept the festival 
of New Year with more than usual feasting and jollity, 
and with the presenting of New Year’s gifts to each 
other. Fosbroke notices the continuation of the prac¬ 
tice during the Middle Ages ; and Ellis, in his addi¬ 
tions to Brand, quotes Matthew Paris, to shew that 
Henry III. extorted New Year’s gifts from his subjects. 
Those gifts presented by individuals to each other were 
suited to sex, rank, situation, and circumstances. 
The custom of presenting New Year’s gifts to the 
Sovereigns of England may be traced back to an early 
period. A manuscript roll of the public revenue of the 
fifth year of Edward VI. has an entry of rewards on 
New Year’s Day to the king’s officers and servants, 
amounting to ,£155 5s., and also of sums given to the 
servants of those who presented New Year’s gifts to 
the king. A similar roll has been preserved of the 
reign of Philip and Mary. During the reign of Oueen 
Elizabeth the custom of presenting New Year’s gifts 
to the sovereign was carried to an extravagant height. 
The queen delighted in gorgeous dresses, in jewellery, 
in all kinds of ornaments for her person and palaces, 
and in purses filled with gold coin. The gifts regu¬ 
larly presented to her were of great value — those of 
