The following selections with images describe how to do the activity -
"…the long table upon which stood an immense, shallow earthen dish—such
as Mrs. Thorndrake used to make batter puddings in - strewn pretty thickly with
raisins detached from the stalk... [added] a pint or so
of brandy, and then... sprinkled the brandy and raisins plentifully with
salt, after which, suddenly lighting a lucifer match he set fire to the spirits
and in a moment the flame spread over the dish.
Uncle George plunged both hands, fearlessly, into the flames, and drew
them forth full of burning raisins, and puffing out the blue fire he commenced
eating the raisins, calling out as he did so...
Never fear burning your fingers... blow out the flames
as soon as you draw out your hands.”
...“Snap-Dragon” was capital fun, but that burnt raisins were very
nice eating also, in spite of the salt and brandy in which they had been
soaked."
"This is a Christmas pastime of no great antiquity. Dr. Johnson gravely defines it as “a kind of play, in which brandy is set on fire, and raisins thrown into it, which those who are unused to the sport are afraid to take out, but which may be safely snatched by a quick motion, and put blazing into the mouth, which being closed, the fire is at once extinguished.”
Strutt's account
of the affair is somewhat more candid than the lexicographer's : he tells
us—“This - - - - bited but in winter, and chiefly at Christmas time : it is
simply heating of brandy, or some other ardent spirit, in a dish with raisins;
when, the brandy being set on fire, the young folks of both sexes, standing
round it, pluck out the raisins, and eat them as hastily as they can, but
rarely without burning their hands, or scalding their mouths.”
However, it may soon be decided which definition is the most perfect.
The sport affords much fun in a darkened room ; not the least of which is the
spectral appearance of the young players from the spirit flame."
"One favourite Christmas sport, very generally played on Christmas Eve,
has been handed down to us from time immemorial under the name of 'Snapdragon.'
To our English readers this amusement is perfectly familiar, but it is almost
unknown in Scotland, and it seems therefore desirable here to give a
description of the pastime. A quantity of raisins are deposited in a large dish
or bowl (the broader and shallower this is, the better), and brandy or some
other spirit is poured over the fruit and ignited. The bystanders now
endeavour, by turns, to grasp a raisin, by plunging their hands through the
flames; and as this is somewhat of an arduous feat, requiring both courage and
rapidity of action, a considerable amount of laughter and merriment is evoked
at the expense of the unsuccessful competitors. As an appropriate accompaniment
we introduce here"
The Song of Snapdragon
‘Here he comes with flaming bowl,
Don't he mean to take his toll,
Snip! Snap I Dragon!
Take care you don't take too much,
Be not greedy in your clutch,
Snip! Snap! Dragon!
With his blue and lapping tongue
Many of you will be stung,
Snip I Snap! Dragon!
For he snaps at all that comes
Snatching at his feast of plums,
Snip! Snap! Dragon!
But Old Christmas makes him come,
Though he looks so fee! fa! fum!
Snip! Snap! Dragon I
Don't ‘ee fear him, be but bold—
Out he goes, his flames are cold,
Snip 1 Snap! Dragon!'
"Whilst the sport of Snapdragon is going on, it is usual to extinguish
all the lights in the room, so that the lurid glare from the flaming spirits
may exercise to the full its weird-like effect. There seems little doubt that
in this amusement we retain a trace of the fiery ordeal of the middle ages, and
also of the Druidical fire-worship of a still remoter epoch."
Chambers, David. The Book of
Days. London: 1832
Ewing, Juliana. Snap-Dragons, A Tale of Christmas Eve… London: 1888
The Household Monthly Dec 1859..Massachusetts
Illustrated London News, Dec. 1847, 1858, 1880
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