LEICESTERSHIRE-PLUS-L Archives

From: Lynne Tann-watson <>
Subject: Leicestershire Bits and Pieces
Date: Mon, 15 Feb 1999 17:01:47 +0000

Hi Everyone,

sorry for the long break. This article was supposed to be done just
before Christmas. I hope it's not too inappropriate now. It's not
strictly Leicestershire, but more general.

CHRISTMAS IN ENGLAND

Christmas as we know it doesn't go back very far in history. A lot of
our Christmas traditions were invented by the Victorians, and many of
them didn't filter down to the working class people until well into this
century.

A hundred years ago our working class ancestors would have had no
Christmas cards, no Christmas tree and no turkey. Christmas cards were
invented in 1846 and were a middle-class tradition for a long time.
Christmas trees were a German tradition introduced into Britain by the
wife of one of the King Georges (sorry, I can't find which one) and were
made popular by Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert when he had one
at Windsor Castle. Before that, people had "kissing balls", a globe
woven out of greenery, probably including holly and ivy, and definitely
mistletoe where it was obtainable. Mistletoe has been a mystic and
sacred herb since the time of the druids. It is still forbidden from
many Christian churches.

Turkeys were introduced into Britain from the New World in the 1600s,
but didn't become generally used as a Christmas meat until relatively
recent times. The English traditional Christmas bird was the goose, but
many people (those who had meat at all) would have had pork, since a
pig, unlike the grazing animals, could be kept alive up to Christmas on
household scraps.

Christmas stockings were unknown in England before the 19th century.

One of the older Christmas customs was that of the Yule log, which was
brought into the house on Christmas Eve (Never before). It was burnt on
the hearth through Christmas, and a piece was kept to light the next
year's log to keep evil at bay. Ashes from the log were sometimes
scattered on the fields to ensure fertility or thrown down the well to
purify it. It was unlucky for there to be thirteen people in a room
where a Yule-log was burning, or indeed at any Christmas festivities.

Boxing Day was so named because it was the day on which the clergy
opened the alms-boxes and distributed the contents to the poor of the
parish.
Servants and tennants were given their annual gift on this day. In
Leicestershire, Christmas presents are still often called "Christmas
boxes".

Our ancestors would possibly have had a Christmas or plum pudding after
their meat, if they could afford it, and mince-pies are a very old
thing, though originally the mincemeat really did contain minced meat as
well as the dried fruit and spices.

In medieval times, the Christmas meat would probably have been eaten
with a pottage of peas or beans flavoured with leek, garlic or onion and
whatever wild herbs were available, such as sorrel, chickweed, plantain,
shepherd's purse and dock. Leaf vegetables would have been added
including cabbage, cauliflower, kale, turnip tops and beetroot tops. In
more recent times, potatoes would have been added to this.

In many villages over the Christmas period, local men and boys would
dress up and go from house to house performing Mumming plays. These were
usually basically the same play with a death and resurrection theme,
though many different areas had their own version, several hundred of
which have been collected, though many more than that have died out and
been lost forever. The modern Christmas pantomime has developed, in
part, from the Mumming plays.

Another custom of the Christmas period, often performed at New Year or
twelfth night, was Wassailing. A wassail bowl was made, consisting of
heated ale or cider, spices and apples. This was solemnly poured over
the roots of the trees in the orchard to ensure a fruitful year, while
pans were banged loudly to scare away the evil spirits and to awaken the
spirits of the trees. When that was done, the rest of the wassail bowl
was drunk, songs were sung, and generally merriment ensued.

MUM'S LEICESTERSHIRE MEMORIES

My memories of my childhood in Leicestershire between the wars are not
as clear as one would hope because we moved about so much. Christmas was
not so commercial as it is now and very few people had decorated trees.
We put up paper-chains, mostly home-made. Our Christmas dinner at
mid-day consisted of a goose with all the trimmings that we have with
turkey, then Christmas pud. There were always boxes of dried dates and
figs and crystallised fruit but when the war came a lot of things
changed.
The first Christmas I remember clearly was when we lived at Saxby. I had
a doll's pram that someone had passed on to me and my only doll was made
from a stuffed sock. A while before Christmas, the pram disappeared (I
can't remember the explanation) bu, when Christmas morning came there it
was, newly painted and fitted out with pillows sheets and cover, and
containing two small dolls, one black and one whitem, beautifully
dressed. That was such a thrill I can still feel the excitement!

On Christmas Eve, the local church choir would come carol singing and
when I was old enough I went too. It was very difficult during the war
because of the blackout and we did a lot of falling into hedges!

Before we went to bed on Christmas Eve we would hang up a pillow case
each and I usually had the tasj of making the labels and decorating them
with my terrible paintings. Several times during the night we would
tip-toe out to the landing in the dark and feel the pillow cases.
Sometimes they would stay frustratingly flat for a long time but when
they were found to be bulging it was so exiting. The presents were not
things like bicycles, computers etc. There were always oranges (until
the war), nuts and crackers. Each year we had something like a slot
machine, and when a penny was put in a small block of chocolate would
pop out. There was always a "Smoker's set" which had chocolate pipes,
cigars and sugar or paper wrapped cigarettes. We always got a torch each
and that was the best of all because we would dash outside and run
around the garden (at 4 or 5 am on an English December morning!). There
would be games like ludo, jigsaw puzzles and comics. Oh, I almost forgot
the sugar mice and there were usually other things made of sugar, babies
bottles, dummies and so on.

Sorry if this was too long.

be happy,
Love Lynne
in bright, not too cold NW Leicestershire

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• Leicestershire Bits and Pieces by Lynne Tann-watson <>