How our Christmas traditions started
MEMBERS of the Arts Society Wokingham marked the start of the festive season with a talk by Roger Askew on The Origins of our English Christmas.
Roger took his audience on a journey through time showing how many of our modern Christmas celebrations date back from pagan festivals which marked the death of the old year and the birth of the new.
In mid-December, the Romans held the festival of Saturnalia.
There was much feasting and singing in honour of Saturn, the god of agriculture.
Meanwhile in northern Europe Yuletide was celebrated with much eating, drinking, singing and the burning of Yule logs.
Food continues to play an important part in our modern celebrations and much of what we are planning to eat on Christmas Day can be traced back to times gone by.
Henry VIII introduced the tradition of eating turkey, although his daughter, Elizabeth I, preferred goose. George I introduced the plum pudding which earned him the nickname of ‘The Pudding King’.
These days we prefer to eat our (chocolate) Yule logs rather than burn them.
Our modern trappings of Christmas such as decorated trees, crackers, cards and Santa Claus date back to Victorian times when Christmas traditions became more established across society.
However, we can thank a Coca-Cola advertising campaign for changing the colour of Santa’s cloak from green to red in 1931.
Roger’s talk was peppered with fascinating details such as the fact that the puritans tried (and failed) to ban Christmas games and carol singing in 1647, the robin which features on many Christmas’ cards signifies a postman and, in 1880, the public were urged to ‘Post early for Christmas’ due to the popularity of sending cards which threatened to overwhelm ‘the kindly robin’.
Singing has always played an important part in Christmas celebrations and Roger interspersed his talk with recordings of carols starting with two lesser known medieval ones, Wolcum Yole and the Boar’s Head Carol.
The Holly and the Ivy and While Shepherds Watched date back to the 18th and early 19th centuries.
Roger brought his audience into the 20th century by inviting them to join in with Slade’s Merry Xmas Everybody as a rousing finale to his fascinating talk.
With the continuing support of Newbold Church’s technical team, the Society will be offering hybrid lectures to its members and guests for the rest of the season.
Now is an excellent time to join us. Membership for the rest of the season is reduced to £40. Future illustrated talks cover a wide range of topics such as Peggy Guggenheim and the birth of mid-century Modernism, the revival of
15th century Timurid carpet designs, the Imperial Easter Eggs of Carl Fabergé, and the sculptures of Antony Gormley.
Guests (in person or online) are most welcome. Please contact memsectheartssocietywham@ gmail.com for more details.
For full details of our programme, visit www. TheArtsSocietyWokingham. org.uk