The Bracebridge dinner is loosely based on Christmas at Bracebridge, a story written in the early 1800s and set at a fictional English Manor.  The story was written by Washington Irving, an American writer who became the first American author to be widely recognized in Europe for his telling of American folklore (he recorded The Legend of Sleepy Hollow among others). The tradition of the Bracebridge dinner dates back to 1927 when the hotel was first opened.  Ansel Adams, who did much of his pioneering work in photography at Yosemite, was a major contributor to the theatre surrounding the dinner and was one of the players until he retired in 1973.  The dinner consisted of seven gourmet courses delivered with song and dance and chicanery by players dressed in Renaissance costumes.   The court jester (given the title of the Lord of Misrule) kept the evening lively with gags and audience interaction that even the Gaumer girls (ages 12 and 16++) seemed to enjoy.