Twelve Days of Christmas
If the Council of Tours hadn’t met in 567 then we probably wouldn’t have had Twelfth Night. That gathering of learned churchmen decided (among other ecclesiastical matters) that the period… Read more »
Category: Christmas
Deck the Halls
The holly and the ivy,When they are both full grown,Of all the trees that are in the wood,The holly bears the crown. People have been hanging up midwinter decorations since… Read more »
How the Robin became part of Christmas
The robin was voted Britain’s national bird in a 1960 poll, and that popularity hasn’t diminished over the years. Stephen Moss in his 2017 book The Robin – a Biography… Read more »
Crackers at Christmas
An American friend, now a long-term resident in London, remembers one of her first Christmases here when while walking past a brightly lit house on Christmas day she saw through… Read more »
Turkey in a Pram
When in A Christmas Carol Ebenezer Scrooge wakes up after the three spirits have taken him on his nightmare journey through his past and future life, he is a changed… Read more »
Hail to the Sprout
The secular images on Christmas cards haven’t changed an awful lot over the years: Father Christmas (or Santa as he increasingly gets called) still makes plenty of appearances, along with… Read more »