Oliver Cromwell--The Grinch That Stole Christmas

Keeping track of legislative history—even within one’sown jurisdiction—is not always easy. Some sources—evenprimary sources—are obscure. One such instance is thelegislation of the English Interregnum. The English Common Lawconveniently smoothes over this disruption to legal continuityby means of a legal fiction. The restored monarchy takes effectas if the discontinuity had never taken place. Although notking de facto until 29 May 1660, Charles II is king de jurefrom the execution of Charles I on 30 January 1649. The regnalyears flow unabated for parliaments without a king, no lessthan they did for the 11 years that Charles I ruled personallywithout a parliament. Historians focus on the facts, while lawyers prescribe a greaterforcefulness to law. The Interregnum is a fact that for itsown time took precedence over law. Nevertheless, what is oneto do with the 10 years of intervening and often anomalouslyenacted legislation? The proponents of the Cromwellian Protectoratesay recognise it, while the Restoration Monarchists say ignoreit. There has already been a long drawn-out Civil War, so thecompromise is to leave the records hard to find and let thelegislation languish, thus providing one of the earliest examplesof political correctness. Under various rules of recognition, the intervening legislationof the Long and Little Parliaments, together with the Ordinancesof the Protectorate, have legislative status. As seen to satisfythe legislative protocols of their own time, such Acts and Ordinancesare arguably either statute law, or else, through subsequentparliamentary confirmation, are given the force of statute law. The fact remains that much of this extraordinary legislationremains hard to find. Rumours abound—especially in suchareas of highly disputatious, politically controversial, radicallyreformative, and otherwise outrightly pathological legislation.Until authenticated, one of the most obvious examples of apparentlyapocryphal, but obviously pathological legislation is that whichoutlawed the celebration of Christmas in England. This articletracks this legislation down to an Appendix to the Directoryfor Public Worship. According to its title, this was ‘anOrdinance for taking away the Book of Common Prayer and forestablishing and putting in execution of the Directory for thePublique Worship of God’. Although without royal assent,this was passed by the Lords and Commons assembled in the Parliamenton 4 January 1644/1645. This article is as much concerned withthe process of legislative research and legal authenticationas it is with the substantive and jurisprudential issues.