Cracker superstitions
THE beliefs and traditions of Christmas are many and varied. Some hail from pre-Christian times. Many have long gone from our lives. Take brawn for instance. Brawn is a dish of great antiquity, but it was considered up until the 18th century to be a suitable dish for breakfast on Christmas Day. Queen Elizabeth I particularly relished it with mustard, washed down with several glasses of malmsey. It was widely believed that all who were born between midnight on Christmas Eve and midnight Christmas Day, possessed the power to see spirits and foretell the future. In lucky households with a flock of fowl, it was thought the cock would crow all night long on Christmas Eve. In times gone by, it was not unknown for householders to keep their cockerels awake and crowing all night to ensure good fortune for the family. Christmas candles of tremendous size were routinely burned throughout Christmas by our ancestors. The main one was truly huge, rather like the great altar candles to be found in churches today. It was lit at midnight on Christmas Eve and burned right through till Twelfth Night. If a candle of sufficient size for this marathon performance was not available, several smaller ones were permitted. The important thing however was that the original flame should
not be extinguished too early or great misfortune would befall the household.
So what do you put up in the way of greenery for Christmas? Holly and ivy are sung about in the old song. Holly is supposed to represent the crown of thorns, and ivy, the continuity of belief. As both these were also used by the Druids in their winter solstice ceremonies, they can hardly be thought to be truly ‘religious’, unless you are a Druid, that is. The Romans in fact brought the custom of garlanding the home with greenery into Britain, and they used holly and ivy merely because that’s all there was around that was green, at that time of year. Again their winter celebrations were a lusty business and far removed from the beliefs of a modern Christian. Boxing Day is not a universal Christmas holiday. Many countries observe no special activities on this, St. Stephen’s Day. In many parts of Britain we do observe it, though the habit of giving alms is slowly falling into disuse. The name Boxing Day probably derives from the habit of opening alms boxes in church on this day, and of the breaking open by servants and apprentices of the small earthenware boxes their masters had filled with coins over the previous year. There is also a tradition of holding hunt meetings and horse races on Boxing Day. This is because of a tenuous connection St. Stephen has as patron saint of horses. In fact that particular St. Stephen is not the same one that was martyred by stoning shortly after the crucifixion. However, the connection fits the mood for jollity following on the gastronomic excesses of Christmas.
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The Ross Gazette
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