Did You Know…?
The celebration of the passing of mid-winter and the lengthening of the days is ancient, Norsemen lit bonfires, told stories and drank ale at the winter solstice; the Roman festival of Saturnalia ran for seven days from 17th December and was a time when ordinary rules were turned upside down (such as men dressing as women, masters as servants), houses were decorated with evergreens, candles were lit and presents given. It was the arrival in Britain of the Romans that brought many of the rituals of Saturnalia to the mid-winter celebrations of the British peoples.
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Evergreens
have long been valued for showing life in the dead of winter.
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Mistletoe
was sacred to the Druids and was thought to bring good luck, fertility and
protection from witchcraft.
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Since
the Middle Ages the Yule log has been gathered and carried into the house on
Christmas Eve. It is lit with the end saved from the previous year’s log and
kept burning until Twelfth Night.
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The
Georgian period saw the introduction of the Christmas tree to England, however
the idea wasn’t popularised until Victorian times when a drawing of the royal
family gathered around a decorated tree was published in an 1848 newspaper.
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The
first Christmas card was commissioned in 1843 and by the 1880s the sending of
cards had become very popular. Gift giving had traditionally taken place at New
Year but with the increased focus on family at Christmas by the Victorians this
tradition was moved.
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The
Christmas meal in its now familiar form began to take shape in the Victorian
era, meat was replaced by fruits in mince pies, turkey started to be served
instead of goose - at first just for the wealthy and later for all.
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Father
Christmas’ origins are in old English mid-winter festivals; he dressed in green
and represented the returning spring. He was known as Old Father Christmas or
Old Winter and roamed from home to home, feasting with families.
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The
ghost of Christmas Past in A Christmas Carol is based on Father Christmas. Images
of him dressed in red started to appear on Victorian Christmas cards and our
images today owe a lot to early American cards.
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Santa
Claus is based on St Nicholas of Mrya, (Sinterklaas in Dutch). St Nicholas was
a 4th century Christian
who had a reputation as a secret gift giver to the poor. It was Dutch settlers
in America that gave us Santa Claus. St Nicholas is patron saint of children
and also unmarried women, prisoners, thieves and pawnbrokers.
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The
Dutch custom of leaving shoes filled with food for St Nicholas’ donkeys is
where we get our custom of Christmas stockings
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Norwegian
scientists have speculated that Rudolph’s red nose is the result of a parasitic
infection of the respiratory system.
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In
Poland spiders and spiders webs are common Christmas tree decorations because
according to legend a spider wove a blanket for the baby Jesus.
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In
Germany Christmas Eve is said to be a magical time when the pure of heart can
hear the animals talking.
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St
Nicholas's evil accomplice in Austrian tradition, Krampus is a demon-like creature
that punishes bad children. Men dressed as Krampus roam the streets during the
festive period, frightening the children.
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In some rural areas of Wales, a villager is selected
each Christmas to perform the ritual of Mari Lwyd. They must then parade
around the streets with a mare's skull fastened to the end of a wooden pole,
while villagers sing traditional songs. White sheets are used to conceal the
pole, and the person carrying it. Sometimes the horse's jaw is spring-loaded,
so that it can be used to snap at passers-by.
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In
Spain the Catalonians have the traditional caga tio or defecating log. A
character is made from a log by drawing a face and putting a hat on it. A
fortnight is then spent ‘feeding’ the log with fruit, sweets and nuts until on
Christmas Eve the whole family beats the log with sticks until all the treats
are ‘excreted’.
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For
many in Japan the traditional Christmas dinner today is Kentucky Fried Chicken,
reservations have to be made to eat at KFC on Christmas day.
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Next
time you moan about eating sprouts think of the folk in Greenland, for their
Christmas meal they have Mattak – raw whale skin and blubber, and kiviak – auk
(a small seabird) wrapped in seal skin, buried for months and eaten once decomposing.
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The
robin is strongly associated with Christmas, appearing on many Christmas cards.
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Different
legends associate the robin with Christ and Christianity however the
association with Christmas is probably due to the fact that postmen in Victorian
England wore red jackets and were nicknamed ‘robins’, the robin representing the
postman delivering the card.
