Christmas and New Year

Posted by dodo

The shortest day (21 December in the northern hemisphere) was the time when the Vikings revelled in their Juul or Yule festivities for the worship of their god Odin, burning log fires to help the fading sun. English Druids on the other hand, held the festival of Nolagh. Ancient Romans used a seven-day period around the mid-winter date for their festival of Saturnalia when gifts were exchanged. Wealthy men gave money and clothing to poorer neighbours and in return received garlands, tapers and grains of incense. But their new year celebration of the Kalends (first day of the month) of January was when gifts were exchanged between families, relatives and children. The roles are reversed in France, where presents to the family are exchanged on the December date of Christmas Day, but gifts to friends and others are given at New Year.

In the fourth century Constantine, the Roman emperor, was converted to Christianity and sensibly decided not to ban pagan festivals completely but to make them Christian celebrations instead. In Britain the Christmas festival on 25 December slowly took hold, superseding Druid rites and only suffering a brief interruption in the seventeenth century, when the Puritan parliament of 1644 declared ‘heathen’ celebration unlawful, saying that on such a holy day there should be general fasting. Troops were deployed to make sure that no lunches were cooked. With the restoration of the monarchy, the law was repealed and Christmas again became a time of feasting.

A boar’s head was once the traditional centre-piece for the Christmas lunch but the turkey has now become the most important part of the main course. However, in the Provençal region of the south of France, the traditional feast consists of 13 desserts which are laid on the family table after Christmas mass. Dishes include nougat, water-melon and quince, jams, fougasse or pompe a huile (a cake-like brioche made with olive oil), plums and calissons d’aix (almond paste with hazelnuts and pistachios). A plate of dates must always be included in the feast, because of the biblical story in which the leaves of a palm tree hid and protected Mary one night on her flight into Egypt. Any one of these 13 sweets could be individually packaged and thereby transformed into a tempting festive gift.

Royal Christmas gifts can be traced back to Queen Elizabeth I who, in 1579, received a satin nightgown and a sea-water green satin petticoat from Sir Francis Walsingham — lingerie is still a popular gift. The Queen also received ‘aids to toilet’ such as tooth picks and earpicks, made from precious metals and encrusted with jewels, perhaps equivalent to contemporary cut-crystal scent bottles and silver-backed hair brushes. Other popular Elizabethan Christmas gifts included a ‘hogshead of claret, a basket of apples, oysters and puddings’ and of course the Christmas hamper is also frequently given today.

The day after Christmas, Boxing Day, is also Saint Stephen’s Day. It was traditionally the time when the wealthy would give alms to the poor, putting their donations into alms boxes. In parts of Britain, it was also once the day on which a variety of small creatures were hunted, most commonly the wren. Donations were then collected on its behalf — a custom which has fortunately ceased.

In parts of the world, New Year is still celebrated more widely than Christmas—in Scotland, Hogmanay is the more important of the two festivals. Part of the New Year ritual in the north of England as well as Scotland, includes First Footing. A tall, dark stranger (the first footer) should knock on the front door of a home at midnight and be the first person to cross the threshold in the new year. He is admitted carrying a gift of coal to be placed on the fire. This is supposed to ensure that the hearth of the home will never go cold during the coming year, and to bring health and good fortune to the family. The French Noel and Italian Natale originally celebrated the birth of the new year, but have been adopted to commemorate Christ’s birth.

Twelfth Night on 5 January, is now most commonly observed as the night that heralds the end of Christmas, when decorations are taken down. In pagan times it was the time for wassailing, when to Wes heill meant to be whole, healthy and free of evil spirits, but it has now been absorbed into the Christian celebration of Epiphany on 6 January. Gangs of youths would bang drums and clash cymbals in orchards and fields, to frighten evil spirits away. To quench the revellers’ thirst after all this activity they drank a traditional Wassailing Cup, made from warm brown ale, sherry, spices, roasted apples and lemons, or a similar concoction called Lamb’s Wool.

A custom once popular in England but now only observed in France is the Twelfth Night Cake or Galette des Rois which is baked with a bean hidden in it. Whoever gets the slice of cake with the bean becomes the king and, with a chosen partner, rules over the festivities for the rest of the day. In Italy, 5 January is known as La Befana, when children put out their stockings, expecting an old witch-like woman (who represents the dying year) to pass by, leaving gifts.

Ephiphany is acknowledged as the time when the Three Wise Men brought their offerings of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the infant Christ in the stable. It is probably from this event that the Christmas tradition of gift-giving derives. The original gifts had prophetic meanings: gold for the King, frankincense to anoint and embalm His wounds, and bitter myrrh to represent the pain He would later experience.

Traditional Gifts aims to revive interest in homemade gifts. The unique collection of specially selected gifts, some with ancient origins and others from more recent sources, offers a wide variety of choice, suitable for most occasions and capabilities. They have been created by contemporary craftspeople who value quality and authenticity, some being amongst the last still working in their particular field.

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