KEEP DECS UP TILL FEBRUARY
I’ve been feeding our Christmas tree with lemonade since the beginning of December to keep the house looking jolly for as long as possible.
This trick means that at least when I drag the tree outside for the garden waste pick-up, it won’t be just a pile of skeletal twigs followed by a trail of dropped needles.
Still, I’ll be sad to see it go off to the great wood chipper in the sky.
The twinkly lights and ancient collection of mismatched balls, glittery stars and Jesse’s old homemade Santa decorations have been a comfort in these times.
Or will it get a last minute reprieve? English Heritage is appealing for us all to keep our halls decked with boughs of holly – or at least leave the Crimbo decs up in the lounge until February 2 like they did in medieval times.
At a time when the average life expectancy was 40, they needed all the good cheer they could get over the harsh winters.
English Heritage historian Dr Michael Carter says: “In the Middle Ages, houses would be decorated with greenery for the season on Christmas Eve day. The feast of Christmas started at around 4pm on Christmas Eve afternoon and continued until the Epiphany on January 6.
“But contrary to popular belief, the Christmas season continues right through to Candlemas on February 2, so there’s no real reason why you should take your decorations
MEDIEVAL WAYS Audley End and Osborne House, left
down earlier.” I always thought it was bad luck to leave them up after the 5th – and let’s face it, we don’t want to risk any more doom and gloom. “The notion that it is bad luck to keep decorations up after the Epiphany is a modern invention,” says Dr Michael Carter. “But it may derive from the medieval notion that decorations left up after Candlemas eve would become possessed by goblins.” Falling exactly 40 days after Christmas, Candlemas was a big feast day in medieval England.
It was called Candlemas because candles to be used in churches in the coming year would be blessed on that day.
English Heritage will also be following its own advice and keeping the decorations up through January at Audley End House in Essex, Framlingham Castle in Suffolk, and Osborne House on the Isle of Wight.
My house is already possessed by a big goblin currently home-schooling in the kitchen, so I’m definitely going to keep all the strings of Christmas lights on around the house this month.