Holiday Traditions in the British Isles

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Article describing Christmas holiday traditions in the British Isles.

Before Christmas & Christmas Day

• The ‘greening’ of Christmas – holly and ivy, mistletoe, and the Christmas tree.

• Father Christmas/St. Nicholas – the popular patron saint of little children. St. Nicholas’ Day is December 6^th.

• St. Thomas’ Day, December 21^st – poor widows went door to door begging for food and money.

• Caroling – the Welsh are particularly fond of and noted for their singing.

• Wassailling – to drink from the wassail bowl – a traditional drink made with apples and spices.

• Mummers – An 800 year old tradition – troops of ‘mummers’ would put on a traditional play.

• Pantomime – more traditional plays.

• Christmas cards began in 1843.

• A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens was published in December 1843 and more than 15,000 copies were sold within a year.

• Candles were placed in the windows to light the way for the Christ Child, and to invite anyone in need into the home.

• Christmas Day, celebrated on Dec. 25, coinciding with ancient celebrations of the return of light to the Northern Hemisphere.

§ Christmas dinner and pudding

• Christmas crackers
• The Queen’s speech

December 26^th, St. Stephen's Day

• He was a disciple of Christ, one of seven to whom the twelve Apostles gave the task of caring for the widows and the poor.

• St. Stephen is the patron saint of alms giving.

• On St. Stephen’s Day the alms boxes were opened and alms were given to the poor.

December 26^th, Boxing Day

• A day for giving to the poor and to those who serve you throughout the year.

• The origin comes from the tradition of opening the church alms boxes on this day and distributing alms to the poor.

• Or, it comes from the tradition of the wealthy boxing up the left-over of their Christmas feast and giving it to their servants and poor.

• Tips are given to those who serve you such as the postman or dustman.

• In Ireland, young men in extravagant dress, sometimes wearing masks, parade noisily through the streets in the Wren Boys' Procession. They carry a long pole on top of which is attached a holly bush. The bush supposedly contains a captured wren, and for whose sake the young men beg for money.

The Twelve Days of Christmas

• Begin on December 25th and end on January 5th, called Twelfth Night.

Religious Symbolism

• The partridge in a pear tree is Jesus Christ whose birthday we celebrate on December 25, the first day of Christmas.

• Two turtle doves represent the two books of the Bible: the Old and New Testaments.

• Three French hens represent the Three Christian Virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity.

• Four calling birds represent the four Gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

• Five gold rings represent the first five books of the Old Testament.

• Six geese a-laying represent the six days or periods of the Creation.

• Seven swans a-swimming represent seven gifts of the Spirit (see Romans12:6-8).

• Eight maids a-milking represent the eight Beatitudes.

• Nine ladies dancing represent the nine Fruits of the Spirit (see Galatians 5:22).

• Ten lords a-leaping represent the Ten Commandments.

• Eleven pipers piping represent the eleven faithful Apostles of Jesus Christ.

• Twelve drummers drumming represent the twelve points of the Apostles’ Creed.

New Year's Eve

' * The new year used to begin in the Spring on March 25^th and was not changed to January 1^st in England until 1752 (Scotland changed in 1600).

• New Year’s Eve is a time for partying with family and friends and visiting each other’s homes.

• On the stroke of midnight church bells peel throughout the land.

• “First Footing” is the tradition of having a dark stranger be first to step over your threshold at midnight. He brings coal, food, and a coin for good luck and your feed him.

• “Hogmanay” is what the New Year’s Eve party is called in Scotland and gifts may be exchanged at midnight.

Twelfth Night

• Twelfth Night is the eve of January 5^th and is the official end of the twelve days of Christmas.

• Again parties are held, plays are put on, and bonfires are lit.

• Christmas decorations are taken down.

Epiphany

• Epiphany is the commemoration of the visit of the Three Wise Men to the Baby Jesus.

• It is the climax of the Christmas season.

• Gifts may be exchanged on this day instead of Christmas.

Sources of Information

• Baker, Margaret, Folklore and Customs of Rural England, FHL book 942 H7bm.

• Hole, Christina, English Custom & Usage, FHL book 942 H6hc.

• Various Internet web sites, especially http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/Xmas/