“And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the gory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” – St Luke C2 v 7-11``
Every year, on the 25th December, in the Christian world, the birth of Jesus is celebrated. It commemorates the arrival of God, in the form of a man, who will atone for the sins of mankind. Christmas is an important festival of the liturgical year and is preceded by Advent, or the Nativity Fast, which begins on the first of four Sundays before Christmas Day.
The date of the 25th December in the Gregorian calendar was fixed by the Church in the early fourth century – although the Eastern Orthodox Church retained the Julian calendar, which places Christmas on the 7th January in the Gregorian calendar.
Christmastide used to last for twelve days (25th December to 5th January) and during this time very little work was done and much feasting and merrymaking was enjoyed. In rural areas, in particular, midwinter was a time when little needed to be done in the fields: the pigs had been fattened and slaughtered, the harvest had been gathered in, and ploughing for the next crops would not take place until January. In the northern hemisphere there were few hours of daylight and, particularly in far northern countries, the biting cold meant both humans and livestock were kept inside. Fresh meat, particularly pork and game, was plentiful, as were the recently gathered fruit and harvested grain. What better time to shut the doors and spend time with family and friends eating, drinking and playing in honour of the nativity of the Christ child?
Since the industrial revolution it became rare to celebrate Christmas for all twelve days, and feasting only took place on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Twelfth Night, on the 5th or 6th of January, is still celebrated by some and in many Christian countries it is celebrated as Epiphany, when the Magi (three wise men) arrived to pay homage to the newly-born Jesus. For many European countries Epiphany is the time for gift-giving, due to its associations with the gift-giving of the Magi – but in Britain, presents have traditionally exchanged on Christmas Day or Boxing Day.
Of course, midwinter festivals were not new and had been celebrated long before the Christian Church decided to appoint the period to the birth of Jesus. During these pagan festivals which took place at the winter solstice or at some point afterwards various gods were honoured depending on where the festival took place. They tended to be gods who symbolised the sun. The rituals practised all centred on reminding the sun to return in the spring when life could return to nature. Bonfires were lit and evergreen branches were brought into the home as a reminder of the greenery that would return in a few months’ time.
Customs at Christmas derive from both Christian and pagan traditions. The bringing into the house of evergreens such as holly, ivy and mistletoe are rooted in pagan solstice practices. The Christmas tree, however, is a more recent addition in Britain – it was introduced during Queen Victoria’s reign by Prince Albert, in continuance of his native German tradition which originated in Central and Eastern European countries after the Reformation.
The singing of carols originates from medieval European dances (“carole” is Old French for a circle dance). They developed into songs sung during festivals, both religious and secular. Carols specifically sung at Christmas are a more recent tradition.
Feasting is still an important part of the Christmas season – although, rather than lasting twelve days, feasts are concentrated on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. In most European countries fish is eaten on Christmas Eve, while Christmas Day fare varies from country to country.
In Britain roast goose was, up until the nineteenth century, the bird served at the Christmas Day lunch – but since then the turkey, introduced to Britain in the sixteenth century, has taken its place.
Britain is unique in the making of pies and puddings filled with dried fruit, suet and alcohol. Mince pies, Christmas pudding and Christmas cake are medieval in origin: originally, dried fruit and spices were imported from the Middle East and mixed with meats such as lamb.
In Britain, from the fifteenth century onwards, a personification of Christmastide appeared in Mummer’s plays, and he later developed into Father Christmas, although he had no particular connection to children or to gift-giving. The Father Christmas we now know developed towards the end of the nineteenth century when the figure of Santa Claus, who squeezed down chimneys to leave presents in children’s stockings, was adopted from America. Santa Claus had, in turn, evolved from the Dutch Saint Nicholas (Sinterklaas).
The Christian liturgy set Christmas Day as commencing at sunset on the 24th December. In the gospel according to St Luke Jesus was born during the night – so the Church instituted a Mass to take place at midnight on Christmas Eve.
In Germany Christmas Eve is referred to as Helige Nacht (Holy Night) and in Spanish it is Nochebuena (the Good Night). Christmas Eve is also the time for children to put out their stockings in anticipation of a visit from Father Christmas or Santa Claus and his reindeer. In many countries gifts are exchanged on Christmas Eve, and a meal centred on fish is served. Christmas Eve is also a popular day for processing from door to door singing carols and collecting for charity.
The bringing into the house of evergreen branches has pagan origins but the Christmas Tree is a Christian tradition. The first Christmas Tree was, apparently, introduced by Saint Boniface (634-709 AD). Instead of felling a young oak (associated with the god Thor), he noticed that a nearby fir tree was much more suitable as, not only was it evergreen but its tapered top pointed towards heaven while its triangular shape symbolised the Trinity. The custom was adopted by German Lutherans after the reformation, and they decorated the trees with lighted candles. In Britain the Christmas Tree became a popular addition to the branches of holly and ivy when Prince Albert introduced one to the royal household. The tree was not only lit with candles, but ornaments were hung from the branches and an angel placed on the top.
Until recent years Christmas trees were decorated on Christmas Eve, but nowadays decorated Christmas trees can start to be seen in front windows from the first Sunday of Advent.
Forming a group of musicians and singers and processing through the streets singing carols at people’s doors originates from the Middle Ages. Many of the carols we now sing, such as the Coventry Carol and In dulci jubilo come from this time. It was also a custom in the Middle Ages to take a bowl of wassail from door to door and share the bowl of mulled cider or spiced ale. A shout of ‘Wassail’ would be said as the drink was offered, and the recipients would then shout, ‘Drink Ale’. If you decide to add the wassail tradition to your caroling and you want to take mulled cider (see recipe) then it might be an idea to take it in a large thermos flask to keep it warm, and some small cups or mugs so people aren’t all drinking out of the same bowl.
Traditionally stockings were hung up from the mantlepiece although they are now often delivered during the night to the end of children’s beds. If Father Christmas is feeling generous, often a stocking isn’t big enough, so a pillowcase is used. Whatever presents he brings he always leaves an orange, tangerine or clementine and some nuts at the bottom of the stocking (although the orange is now often replaced by a Terry’s Chocolate Orange).
This is often seen as an important job for children before they go to bed on Christmas Eve. A plate of mince pies and a glass of alcohol are left by the hearth or wherever the children believe Father Christmas will enter the house.
A Mass has been celebrated in western Christianity since the 5th century. As Jesus was born during the night it was seen as particularly appropriate to acknowledge his birth at midnight, when Christmas Eve becomes Christmas Day. Since the Reformation, this is the only service in the Church of England that is referred to as a Mass. If you do go to a Midnight Mass service, it’s a good idea to have a saucepan of mulled wine or Smoking Bishop ready to heat up on your return to warm you up.
Christmas Day is fundamentally centred on feasting, and in modern times, on gift giving. Families or groups of friends often have their own timetable. Some have a Christmas lunch while others eat their turkey or goose in the evening. Some open their presents straight after breakfast, others open them just before or after the Christmas meal. But the main focus is the Christmas meal shared with family and/or friends.
In 1932 George V made a special broadcast to the nation via radio on Christmas Day. It has remained the only instituted speech to the nation ever since. The speech was usually written for the monarch – in 1932 it was written by Rudyard Kipling – but Queen Elizabeth II, who was the first monarch to televise the speech, made her own decisions about the theme of the speech and tended to write most of it herself. From 1932 until the 1960s, and particularly at times of crisis such as World War II, the King’s or Queen’s speech was an important part of Christmas Day, and the Christmas meal was timed to fit in with it.
In the early Christian church, a box was placed near the altar on Saint Stephen’s Day (or The Feast of Stephen), which took place on the day after Christmas Day. Offerings would be placed in the box; at the end of the day the contents would be distributed to the poor. The custom continued into the Middle Ages.
However, in England, by the seventeenth century a ‘Christmas Box’ referred to fees paid to public servants or tradesmen for services rendered during the year. Rather than the day after Christmas Day these ‘boxes’ were given out on the first Monday after Christmas Day.
I can certainly remember my mother preparing ‘Christmas boxes’ for the milkman and bin men in the 1960s and 70s, although it consisted of an envelope of cash rather than a box of gifts.
Boxing Day was also when servants would be allowed to go and visit their families and they would be given a box by their employer containing gifts, bonuses and leftover food to take with them.
In wealthy households, having allowed their servants the day off, families had to cater for themselves on Boxing Day. Rather than having to cook, they took slices from any leftover turkey or goose and perhaps a ham and pork pie the cook had already prepared for them. And these cold cuts would be accompanied by pickles and chutneys, salads and cheeses. Dessert would be fruit unless the cook had prepared a nice trifle for them. This tradition has continued and most families, not wanting to cook after the toils of Christmas Day, and having plenty of leftovers, still sit down to a Boxing Day lunch of cold cuts and cheese with accompaniments.
By the time Boxing Day lunch has been eaten it is likely that one has been in the house since Christmas Eve afternoon eating and drinking copious amounts. Boxing Day afternoon provides an opportunity to get out of the house and get some exercise. A long walk in the countryside or park in the cold is a good way of blowing the cobwebs away and burning off some of the many calories consumed.
If the weather is not conducive to a walk, perhaps a few energetic parlour games can help to get your body and brain working again. Most families have their own favourite games, but here are a few suggestions.
Originating in France in the early-nineteenth century, Acted Charades involves splitting the assembled family and friends into two teams. The first team decide on a word and break it down into syllables. They decide on scenes to enact which suggests the syllable without saying the word. The other team has to guess what the final word is after seeing each scene. For example, if the name or word was Encyclopaedia then the second two syllables would involve a mini-play about bicycling or the cycle of the seasons without mentioning the word cycle; the third syllable could have the players perform a scene about the use of toilets and the fourth a scene about a loving couple’s relationship without mentioning the word ‘dear’.
In recent years Acted Charades has been replaced with ‘dumb’ Charades where one player mimes the syllables having mimed the category relating to the word (film, play, book, tv programme etc) and communicated the number of syllables in the word and the order they will be mimed.
Are you there Moriarty? involves two players at a time participating in a duel. Each player is blindfolded and given a rolled-up newspaper to use as a weapon. The players then lie on their fronts head-to-head with about three feet (one metre) of space between them. The starting player says “Are you there Moriarty?”. The other player, when ready, says “Yes”. At this point the starting player attempts to hit the other player with his newspaper by swinging it over his head. The other player can roll out of the way to avoid being hit. If the starting player misses, then the other player can now say “Are you there Moriarty?” and try to hit the starting player once he or she has said “Yes”. If a player is hit, they are out and someone else must take their place and repeat the game. The object is to remain in the game as long as possible.
Wink murder is a game in which a secretly selected player is able to “kill” others by winking at them, while the surviving players try to identify the killer. The practical minimum number of players is four, but the spirit of the game is best captured by groups of at least six players or more.
To secretly appoint the murderer the same number of playing cards as players can be used. One card can be chosen as the ‘murderer’ card. The cards are shuffled, and players asked to pick a card and keep it secret. The person who selects the “murderer” card must be very careful not to reveal, by any change of expression, that they have it.
The players then walk around the room and the murderer tries to find a way of making eye contact with another player and winking at them. The “victim” then has to wait up to 10 seconds before falling to the ground dead. If a player suspects he or she knows the identity of the murderer, they should raise their hand and announce, “I accuse”. If there is a consensus of all the remaining players, that person must turn over their card. If he is the killer, everyone else wins. If he is not the killer, the game continues, but the person who announced “I accuse” is eliminated. If only one player and the killer remain, the game is over and the killer wins.
The objective of the murderer is to murder as many people as possible without being caught.
Hunt the Thimble entails one person hiding a thimble (or other small object) somewhere in the room while all other players wait outside. When everyone comes back in, they race to locate the hidden object. The first to find it is the winner and hides it for the next game.
Racing Demon is a fast-paced multiplayer card game involving multiple decks of playing cards. It is often described as a competitive form of Patience or Solitaire. In the game, players or teams race to get rid of the cards in their “deck” by playing them in sequences from aces upwards, either into their personal area or in a communal central area. Each player or team uses their own deck of playing cards throughout the game. The number of players or teams that can play in a game is limited only by the number of decks and the amount of space available.
Racing Demon is typically played as a series of hands. Between hands, scores are tallied, and the cards are sorted and given back to the players or teams that played them. After the cards are returned, the decks are shuffled and set up for the next hand and the process is repeated until a player wins.
During a hand, players do not take turns: instead, they play simultaneously, and may play cards onto one another’s cards. There are four areas that a player or team uses: the Lake, the River, the Stream, and the Nerts pile.
The Lake is the central area, used to score points, which any player or team may use by building suited piles in ascending order without doubles. The River is a 4-columned personal area that a player or team uses by cascading and/or playing cards from columns of alternating color and descending order (like the tableau piles in Solitaire). The Stream is a pile that is continually flipped (usually in groups of three cards at a time) in search of cards to play into the Lake or River. The Nerts pile is a 13-card pile that players try to get rid of cards from one at a time, from the top of the pile, into available Lake or River destinations.
The first player or team to successfully get rid of their Nerts pile calls or shouts “Nerts”. Once “Nerts” is called all play for that hand stops.
In a hand, players or teams earn points determined by a formula using the number of cards played into the Lake subtracted by twice the number of cards remaining in the Nerts pile. Awarding 10-point bonuses to players or teams that call Nerts is a fairly common practice. Generally, a game is played to a set score like 100 points, in which case players will play as many hands as needed until a winner emerges. Sometimes the endgame condition is when the difference between the highest score and the lowest score exceeds some value, such as 100. On occasion, players keep tallies of games won instead of adding hand scores and then use the tallies to determine a winner. It is also common for players or teams to receive negative hand and game scores.
The pantomime, performed in December and January each year, is a uniquely British tradition. There are two sources from which the modern British pantomime originates. The first is the Mummers Play, a popular folk play based on the myth of Saint George and the Dragon and performed during the Middle Ages particularly at Christmas. The plays contained many of the elements that can still be found in pantomimes: coarse humour, gender role reversal, good defeating evil. The second is the Commedia dell’arte which developed in the sixteenth century in Italy. Groups of performers would tour throughout Europe performing entertainments involving traditional storylines of stock characters. The plot would almost always involve the elopement of the lovers, Harlequin and Columbine, who were pursued by Pantaloon, Columbine’s father and his servants, Clown and Pierrot.
By the seventeenth century the plays had been adopted and adapted by the English Theatre and developed into the Harlequinade. At first these entertainments consisted of mime and dance, but by the early nineteenth century the silent Harlequinade was slowly replaced by plots based on European fairy tales and English nursery rhymes – although the character of Harlequin remained an important feature until the end of the nineteenth century. Certain conventions started to emerge that would last to the present day: the principal boy played by an actress in breeches; the use of puns and humorous word play; slapstick and the encouragement of audience response.
By the twentieth century the Harlequin character had disappeared and the “dame”, a man dressed up as the mother of the central character, had been introduced along with some form of animal (usually a cow) played by two actors, one playing the front and the other the “rear end”. Pantomimes regularly performed included Cinderella, Aladdin, Puss in Boots, Jack and the Beanstalk, Mother Goose and Sleeping Beauty. Jokes became both topical and full of sexual innuendo, the latter being aimed at the adults in the audience. A slapstick scene with two or more characters decorating a room or baking in the kitchen was also necessarily included. Audience participation such as hissing, cheering and booing was now actively encouraged as was singing. Although much of the music in a panto is original there is usually a popular song which the audience is asked to sing along to. Towards the end of the twentieth century the inclusion of a well-known television actor or personality became an essential element of a successful pantomime.
