Happy Christmas
The British have some wonderful Christmas customs that have survived the incursion of Christianity, especially the Puritan party poopers. Stealing customs from the Celts, Germans, and Scandinavians, they have created a wonderful holiday that I fondly remember from time spent there.
The bird is a European robin that is featured on British Christmas cards, as it is a Winter bird in England, unlike the fair-weather laggard of the same name in America. It is bracketed by holly and mistletoe. All go back to the druids and solstice celebrations.
If you read the Harry Potter books you will get a taste, but not the full effect of a British Christmas. A full-on Christmas dinner is wretched excess to the nth degree – Thanksgiving on steroids. Check Elayne’s pictures for an idea of what’s involved.
Update: The BBC has the background on Father Christmas.
2 comments
The Beeb will certainly give folks a better idea of a British Christmas than my photos. 🙂
Robin insists his name didn’t come from the season, as I’d always assumed his Mum named him Robin because he appeared in December. But yes, we get robins on just about every Christmas card from his family.
Besides sweets, we’re not really going all-out this year. I’ve just peeled the clementines and cara cara oranges in anticipation of him waking up, as the smell of oranges is a very dear Christmas memory to him (wish we could have found some mandarin satsumas though). We’re not having as elaborate a dinner as we did for Thanksgiving, because there’s only the two of us. Just clam chowder, duck breast and some veg. Most of his memories are associated with things we can’t do like see his family (all in England) or be with his Mum (gone 6 years now) or be together for Boxing Day as well (I have to work tomorrow). But we will have Christmas crackers!
The crackers and citrus are ties that most Americans don’t understand, but at least you can get them in NYC. My brother is upstate and he has to order them well in advanced.
The London lights were amazing, as was the choral music in Oxford. It was a good time.