WINTER FESTIVALS & TRADITIONS
Children decorate their home ready for Christmas. How did your ancestors celebrate?
Whether celebrating during the austerity of wartime, or making merry at a festive market on the streets of Victorian London, one thing is for sure, many of our British ancestors would have enjoyed a Christmas which would be recognisable to us nowadays. Part of the fun of the festive season is knowing that the carols we sing, the family traditions we follow and the food we prepare and share are part of a long link going back in time.
Of course, our Yuletide celebrations have changed over the years, as events such as politics, warfare and poverty have made their mark on the celebrations. Over the following pages, we’ll take a look at festive traditions – some familiar and others less so – and explore how Christmas is celebrated in England, Scotland and Wales.
Origins of the festive season
The feast of Christmas, with the nativity story and the birth of Christ, dates back 2,000 years, however the concept of a midwinter festival is much older. Pagan communities in Britain marked the coming of longer days and the start of a new year with feasting for the Roman sun god on 25 December, the bringing in of the yule log for good fortune, and the slaughtering of cattle for festive feasting.
The Christian Christmas retained many of the elements of Pagan celebrations, and over the centuries, the festival took on many of the traditions and stories which are familiar to us nowadays, including gift-giving, setting up a crib in church or at home, decorating the house with greenery and candles, and sharing a family meal with special food and drink.
The attack on Christmas
Few British rulers or governments have attempted to meddle with how Christmas was kept, and the one serious attempt to do so, in the 17th century, met with widespread condemnation which spilled into riots.