The Krampus Kalendar: Z is for Zzzz...

And relax... Christmas is over for another year and it's Boxing Day! But why is the day after Christmas Day called Boxing Day?

It has nothing to do with the sport of boxing, if that’s what you’re wondering. Boxing Day has been known by that name since the Middle Ages because of its connection to alms boxes.

It was on this day that alms boxes – the boxes placed in churches to collect money for the needy – would be opened by the priests and the money, given by the better-off parishioners, distributed to the poor of the parish. This was once known as the ‘dole of the Christmas box’. It led, in time, to the practice of giving those who had provided a service over the previous year – such as delivering your milk or mail – a seasonal thank-you in the form of a ‘Christmas box’, hence, Boxing Day.

This type of collecting box was first brought to Britain by the Romans, but rather than distribute the money to the poor, the Romans used it to pay for the games which took place during the winter celebrations.

After the sixteenth century it was common practice for apprentices and household servants to ask their masters (and even their masters’ customers) for money at Christmas time. Any gifts of money they received were placed inside an earthenware ‘box’ – which looked more like a piggy bank, complete with a slit in the top – which was then broken open on 26 December.

Didn't get 'TWAS - The Krampus Night Before Christmas for Christmas? Don't worry, you can buy it for yourself here!

And if you missed 'TWAS - The Roleplaying Game Before Christmas on Kickstarter, you can place a late pledge here!

   

To find out more about the festive season and its many traditions, order your copy of the Chrismologist's Christmas Explained: Robins, Kings and Brussel Sprouts today!

The book is also available in the United States as Christmas Miscellany: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Christmas.

      

The Krampus Kalendar: T is for Christmas TREE

It would be hard to imagine Christmas without the familiar conical form of the festive tree. From December onwards (if not before) they can be found everywhere, from homes and schools to department stores and pretty much anywhere people will spend any amount of time during the Christmas period, whether it be a hospital or an office block. But where does the tradition of putting up a tree indoors come from, and has it always been such an important part of the Christmas celebrations as we know them?

Well, in some ways it is one of the more recently-established Christmas traditions, with the decorated tree as we know it rising to popularity during Queen Victoria’s reign. And then, in other ways, the tradition is older than Christmas itself.

At its root, it is really just another example of an evergreen brought into the home during the cold dark days of winter by our pagan forebears, along with the Yule log, boughs of holly and mistletoe. But it was actually the Romans who got there first, as they did with so much that has become modern-day Christmas tradition. During the festival of Saturnalia, held in honour of Saturn, the god of agriculture, Ancient Romans decorated trees with small pieces of metal.

The first Christmas trees were decorated with apples, as a symbol of Man’s fall in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of tree of knowledge. As a result, they were called Paradise trees. In time other decorations were added, in the form of nuts and even red ribbons, or strips of paper. Ultimately the apples were replaced by Christmas baubles.

In the Middle Ages, the Paradise tree went up on the feast day dedicated to Adam and Eve, 24 December, and to this day, purists believe that you should wait until Christmas Eve to erect your own tree, and then take it down again on Twelfth Night.

Possibly the earliest depiction of a Christmas tree dates from 1521 and comes from Germany. The painting shows a procession of musicians accompanying a horse-riding holy man – who may be a bishop or even Saint Nicholas – parading through a town. One of the men in the procession is holding high a tree decorated with what look like apples.

A candle-lit fir was also erected in a London street in the fifteenth century, but such trees remained as outside decorations and there are no records from the time stating that they were ever taken into the home. Evergreens in other forms were used to decorate houses though, so it is quite possible that some homes also included a tree, rather than simply being adorned with bits of one.

However, according to some historians the first recorded mention of an actual Christmas tree appears in a diary from Strasbourg, dated 1605. This particular tree was decorated with paper roses, apples, sweets and gold foil – the first tinsel.

There's a rather different kind of Christmas tree in 'TWAS - The Krampus Night Before Christmas, and also appear in 'TWAS - The Roleplaying Game Before Christmas, which is into its final few days of funding on Kickstarter.

   

To find out more about the festive season and its many traditions, order your copy of the Chrismologist's Christmas Explained: Robins, Kings and Brussel Sprouts today!

The book is also available in the United States as Christmas Miscellany: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Christmas.

      

A Gathering of Krampuses

What is the collective noun for Krampuses? And while we're at it, what is the accurate plural form of 'Krampus'?

Anyway, that aside... For the last two years Family Green have spent New Year skiing in Alpendorf, in the Austrian Tyrol. This photograph was taken this week as the town prepared for Krampusnacht on Monday.

Running into that lot on Monday night would have been a hair-raising experience!

You can find out more about Krampus and his habits in Christmas Explained: Robins, Kings and Brussel Sprouts.

Christmas Eve

Yes, it's almost here - there's only one day to go until Christmas Day! So, what does Christmas Eve itself have in store?

Well, traditionalists will be putting up their Christmas trees and other decorations today, whilst last minute shoppers will be panic buying, spending (on average) £33 on last minute purchases (if they can get to the shops, that is).

There are many traditions associated with this day, but some have long been forgotten. First there is the tradition of the Dumb Cake (a type of loaf!) which a young spinster would make in silence to help her determine the identity of her future intended.

Christmas Eve was considered a day of abstinence and, as such, was a day when traditionally fish was eaten rather than meat. It is also a day when younger parishioners attend a Crib Service at church.

Of course it is tonight when hopeful children (and some adults) hang up stockings (or sacks!) in the expectation that Father Christmas might fill them to bursting with presents.

And some people attend Midnight Mass with churches welcoming in Christmas Day with a peal of bells (announcing the birth of Christ and the death of the Devil).

You can read more about these traditions (and a number of others) in What is Myrrh Anyway? and Christmas Miscellany, which is still available from good bookshops until they close for Christmas later today.

What is Myrrh Anyway? and Christmas Miscellany make the perfect Christmas stocking fillers!

O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum

These days we take the traditional Christmas tree for granted. After all, it's - well - traditional! But if you stick to tradition, then you shouldn't actually put your tree up until Christmas Eve (tomorrow), and not in August like some people!

But to find out precisely how the Christmas tree became a staple of the festive season, you need to pick up a copy of What is Myrrh Anyway? Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Christmas, or the US version, Christmas Miscellany.

But while you're waiting for your copy to arrive, did you know that six species account for about 90 per cent of the Christmas tree trade in the United States? Scots pine (also known as Scotch pine) ranks first, with about 40 percent of the market, followed by Douglas fir, which accounts for about 35 percent. The other big sellers are noble fir, white pine, balsam fir and white spruce.

The first national American Christmas Tree was lit in 1923 on the White House lawn by President Calvin Coolidge, while Franklin Pierce was the first president to introduce the Christmas tree to the White House in 1856.

Have a cool Yule

To our pagan ancestors living in the frozen north of Europe and Scandinavia, the dark days of winter were a frightening time. The darkness was the domain of demons and malicious spirits. On top of that, Odin, chief among the Norse gods, flew through the sky on his eight-legged horse Sleipnir, looking down at the world with his furious one-eyed gaze, deciding who should prosper and who perish in the year ahead.

The sensible choice was to stay inside at this time of year, safe from the darkness and the horrors it held. To help keep the darkness at bay, on or around the 21 December, the time of the winter solstice, fathers and sons would go out into the forests and bring back to hearth and home the largest log they could find. This massive piece of timber was then put on the fire and left to burn for the entirety of the season of Yule – twelve days altogether.

Yule was the name given to the Viking festive feast, a time when light and new birth were celebrated in the face of darkness and death as witnessed in the natural world. It was at this time that evergreens were brought into the house; a sign that life persisted, even during these darkest days of the year.

However, despite the deeply-felt need to keep the darkness outside, in Scandinavia people believed that the burning Yule log also warmed the frozen shades of the family’s dearly-departed, who returned to the ancestral home every Christmas Eve. Some families even went to the trouble of laying a place for them at the dinner table.

Did you know...?The Yule log was once associated with the Norse god Thor, who had a mysterious connection to oak trees.

* * * *

You will find many other such tasty morsels of information in my book What is Myrrh Anyway?- and its American counterpart Christmas Miscellany: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Christmas.

Happy Saturnalia!

Christmas (a.k.a. the Feast of the Nativity) is pre-dated by two major pagan festivals, the Roman Saturnalia and the Viking Yule. Saturnalia is well-known for its turning of the established order on its head, with servants becoming the masters and vice versa. December 17 is the actual date when the Ancient Roman festival - held in honour of the god Saturn, the god of agriculture - began, running until December 23.

Its legacy lived on in the Medieval Christmas when a Lord of Misrule was appointed to oversee the often noisily and disorderly festive celebrations. And its legacy lives on today in modern pantomimes which still involve a reversal of fortunes; Cinderella marries her prince while poor Jack makes a million. This swapping of roles didn’t just apply to master-servant relationships either, but also to traditional gender roles.

The Romans sang ritual songs during the feast of Saturnalia while the mead halls of the Norse would have rung to the sound of sagas being sung around the burning Yule log. During the festival of Saturnalia, people decorated trees with small pieces of metal. Our Roman ancestors also considered evergreens lucky and during the feast of Saturnalia decorated their homes with boughs of holly and the like, believing that both brought good luck, while mistletoe was a symbol of peace. Those participating in the annual Saturnalia celebrations even wore hats, which is part of the reason why we find paper crowns hidden in the crackers we pull at Christmas dinner.

It is thought that these midwinter festivals were transformed into Christmas celebrations after the arrival of Saint Augustine in England, at the end of the 6th century, and the subsequent widespread adoption of Christianity by the British. Certainly Christmas Day AD 598 was marked by a spectacular event, when more than 10,000 Englishmen were baptised as Christians.

So... Happy Saturnalia!

The Nutcracker

At Christmas time it is not uncommon for many families to attend the only ballet the will see all year. The name of that ballet? The Nutcracker. But how did a ballet about a mechanical device for cracking nuts become such a popular festive tradition?

The story itself is quite old, older than the one we see portrayed on stage, which is actually an adaptation by the French author Alexandre Dumas, possibly better known for such titles as The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo.

The Nutcracker was actually Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky's final and least satisfying ballet, after he took on the project with a marked lack of enthusiasm. It is ironic then that it would be The Nutcracker that was to become one of the most beloved Christmas traditions.

The Nutcracker premiered in Tchaikovsky's native Russia in 1892. It wasn't until 1944 that an American ballet company decided to perform the entire ballet. That year, the San Francisco Ballet took on the task, from then on performing the ballet as an annual tradition.

But it was really George Balanchine who really set The Nutcracker on the path to popular fame. In 1954 he choreographed the ballet for a New York company, and not a year has passed since when the ballet hasn't been performed in New York City.

* * * *

You will find many other such tasty morsels of information in my book What is Myrrh Anyway?- and its American counterpart Christmas Miscellany: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Christmas.

Mistletoe demystified

A popular practice among the more lascivious of middle-aged middle managers at the office Christmas party is that of coping a kiss off any unsuspecting young temp who happens to stray too close under the tawdry sprig of mistletoe sellotaped to any convenient light-fitting, smoke alarm or door lintel. But how did such a pervy practice ever come about, especially during a season linked to chaste Christian thoughts and virgin births?

Like so many others, it is one of those traditions that is a hangover of our pre-Christian past. Both the Ancient Greeks and the druidic priests of the Celtic peoples revered the mistletoe, believing it to have supernatural healing properties. To the Romans the mistletoe was a symbol of peace and used as part of the Saturnalia celebrations.

Like other plants that remained green all year long, is was taken as a symbol of prosperity and fertility. Thoughts of fertility returning to the land were foremost in the minds of the early peoples who relied on the land for their immediate survival, especially in the bleak midwinter. In Norse mythology, the plant was sacred to Frigga (also known as Freya) who was the goddess of love.

In medieval times, mistletoe was fed to cattle to make sure they calved in the spring, and any woman hoping to fall pregnant would carry a sprig of it about her person. It was also considered an effective treatment for toothache, nervous disorders, epilepsy, heart disease and snakebites. It was even believed to bring quarrels to an end, and was a sure means of protection against witches and lightning strikes! (One strongly-held belief had it that mistletoe was formed when lightning struck a tree.)

The more modern practice of kissing under the mistletoe can be traced back to 18th century England. Young women who stood underneath the mistletoe could not refuse a kiss and if any unfortunate girl remained unkissed under the berries it was said that she would not marry at all during the coming year.

In one version of the custom, every time a young man stole a kiss from a girl he plucked a berry from the mistletoe bough. When all the berries had been plucked, the privilege ceased, as is recalled by this ditty:

Pick a berry off the mistletoe
For ev’ry kiss that’s given.
When the berries have all gone,
There’s an end to the kissing.









Did you know...?The name 'mistletoe' comes from two Anglo-Saxon words, mistel, meaning ‘dung’ and tan, meaning ‘a small branch’. Birds, (usually the mistle thrush) feast on the mistletoe’s berries, then, having had their fill, they do what everyone does after a big meal – they void their bowels. The seeds excreted in this way germinate in the bark of the tree and a new mistletoe plant grows.

* * * *

You will find many other such facts about evergreens in my book What is Myrrh Anyway?- and its American counterpart Christmas Miscellany: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Christmas.

O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum

The Chrismologist's Advent Calendar - Day 4

These days we take the traditional Christmas tree for granted. After all, it's - well - traditional!

But to find out precisely how the Christmas tree became a staple of the festive season, you need to pick up a copy of What is Myrrh Anyway? Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Christmas, or the US version, Christmas Miscellany.

But while you're waiting for your copy to arrive, did you know that six species account for about 90 per cent of the Christmas tree trade in the United States? Scots pine (also known as Scotch pine) ranks first, with about 40 percent of the market, followed by Douglas fir, which accounts for about 35 percent. The other big sellers are noble fir, white pine, balsam fir and white spruce.

The first national American Christmas Tree was lit in 1923 on the White House lawn by President Calvin Coolidge, while Franklin Pierce was the first president to introduce the Christmas tree to the White House in 1856.

Twelfth Night

Twelfth Night is traditionally the time to take down your Christmas tree and any other festive decorations. To leave evergreens up in the house after this point is to bring bad luck on the household!

Here are some other Twelfth Night traditions that you might - or might not - be familiar with.

1) Twelfth Night is also known as Epiphany, the date on which the Christian Church celebrates the visit of the Magi to the Christ child.

2) The feast of the Epiphany originated in the East during the third century, in honour of Christ’s baptism.

3) During a special service held at St James’s Palace, London, on 6 January, members of the Royal Household present the Chapel Royal with the three gifts brought to the Christ child by the Magi.

4) At one time, the highlight of the Twelfth Night celebrations was the cutting of the twelfth-cake, which was supposed to have a dried pea or bean hidden somewhere inside it. Whoever found the bean was proclaimed king or queen for the rest of the evening’s fun and frivolity.

5) Another tradition involving a cake, upheld by the cast of the play currently being performed at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, is the eating of the Baddeley Cake. This is as a result of a stipulation made in the last will and testament of one Robert Baddeley, an actor from the eighteenth century, after whom the cake is named.

6) In the West of England Twelfth Night is the time when wassailing ceremonies are carried out.

7) At one time in England, Twelfth Night was known as being a good occasion on which to carry out various good luck rituals, as well as for its religious processions which almost went hand-in-hand with the spirited, and good humoured, revels.

8) One such ritual had farmers lighting bonfires to drive evil spirits away from their farms and fields, the tipsy agriculturalists cheering as they circled the fires to hasten the hobgoblins on their way.

9) There was also the time-honoured guessing game, whereby the (now probably inebriated) farmer had to guess what was being roasted in the kitchen before being permitted to re-enter his own home. This was not as easy as it might sound because his good wife might have something as ridiculously inedible as a shoe turning on the spit.

11) On 6 January you would also find Morris men dancing in the streets, along with fools and hobby-horses.

12) Practical jokes were the name of the game on Twelfth Night and the playing of games – particularly games of chance – with everyone determined to make the most of the last day of the holiday season.

So if you're planning to see Christmas out with a bang...

Love and joy come to you,
And to you your wassail too,
And God bless you, and send you
A happy New Year,
And God send you
A happy New Year.

And it's goodbye from me until next Christmas. Remember, if you have any questions about the festive season whatsoever, you can contact me via this blog or here.

Y is for Yule

To our pagan ancestors living in the frozen north of Europe and Scandinavia, the dark days of winter were a frightening time. The darkness was the domain of demons and malicious spirits. On top of that, Odin, chief among the Norse gods, flew through the sky on his eight-legged horse Sleipnir, looking down at the world with his furious one-eyed gaze, deciding who should prosper and who perish in the year ahead.

The sensible choice was to stay inside at this time of year, safe from the darkness and the horrors it held. To help keep the darkness at bay, on or around the 21 December, the time of the winter solstice, fathers and sons would go out into the forests and bring back to hearth and home the largest log they could find. This massive piece of timber was then put on the fire and left to burn for the entirety of the season of Yule – twelve days altogether.

Yule was the name given to the Viking festive feast, a time when light and new birth were celebrated in the face of darkness and death as witnessed in the natural world. It was at this time that evergreens were brought into the house; a sign that life persisted, even during these darkest days of the year.
However, despite the deeply-felt need to keep the darkness outside, in Scandinavia people believed that the burning Yule log also warmed the frozen shades of the family’s dearly-departed, who returned to the ancestral home every Christmas Eve. Some families even went to the trouble of laying a place for them at the dinner table.

Did you know...?
The Yule log was once associated with the Norse god Thor, who had a mysterious connection to oak trees.

* * * *

You will find many other such tasty morsels of information in my book What is Myrrh Anyway?- and its American counterpart Christmas Miscellany: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Christmas.

W is for Winterval (and Wassail)

Winterval - you might have heard of it. It caused a bit of a furore a few years back.

In fact, it all started in 1997 when Mike Chubb was working for Birmingham city council during the rejuvenation of the city centre. As the council's head of events he and his team were charged with creating a marketing strategy to cover:

"41 days and nights of activity that ranged from BBC Children in Need, to the Christmas Lights Switch On, to a Frankfurt Christmas Market, outdoor ice rink, Aston Hall by Candlelight, Diwali, shopping at Christmas, world class theatre and arts plus, of course, New Year's Eve with its massive 100,000 audience."

Chubb realised that with so many events competing for visitors, marketing them as individual occasions would be expensive, time-consuming and ineffective in acquiring sponsorship or funding. What the events needed, he decided, was a "generic banner under which they could all sit". His team settled on 'Winterval' – a portmanteau of 'winter' and 'festival'.

Little did he or anyone else on the events team realise that this name was to found one of the most persistent urban myths of modern times, and that 11 years later he would be writing an article explaining – again – what the event was and how it was never about renaming or banning Christmas.

To read more about this story, click here.

Of course, W is also for Wassail. The word 'wassail' comes from the Old English 'waes hael' meaning 'be healthy', but came to denote the practice of travelling from house to house, demanding food and drink in return for a few verses of whatever carol the singers could remember at the time.

Did you know...?

The expression 'to drink a toast' originates with the custom of wassailing?

Today you can enjoy English Heritage's own Wassail Ale and hear a traditional wassailing song as sung by the popular Britpop band Blur!

* * * *

You will find many other such tasty morsels of information in my book What is Myrrh Anyway?- and its American counterpart Christmas Miscellany: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Christmas.

N is for the Nutcracker

At Christmas time it is not uncommon for many families to attend the only ballet the will see all year. The name of that ballet? The Nutcracker. But how did a ballet about a mechanical device for cracking nuts become such a popular festive tradition?

The story itself is quite old, older than the one we see portrayed on stage, which is actually an adaptation by the French author Alexandre Dumas, possibly better known for such titles as The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo.

The Nutcracker was actually Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky's final and least satisfying ballet, after he took on the project with a marked lack of enthusiasm. It is ironic then that it would be The Nutcracker that was to become one of the most beloved Christmas traditions.

The Nutcracker premiered in Tchaikovsky's native Russia in 1892. It wasn't until 1944 that an American ballet company decided to perform the entire ballet. That year, the San Francisco Ballet took on the task, from then on performing the ballet as an annual tradition.

But it was really George Balanchine who really set The Nutcracker on the path to popular fame. In 1954 he choreographed the ballet for a New York company, and not a year has passed since when the ballet hasn't been performed in New York City.

The Nutcracker is on at the O2 from 27-30 December this year. If you'd like to go and see it, follow this link.

* * * *

You will find many other such tasty morsels of information in my book What is Myrrh Anyway?- and its American counterpart Christmas Miscellany: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Christmas.

M is for Mistletoe

A popular practice among the more lascivious of middle-aged middle managers at the office Christmas party is that of coping a kiss off any unsuspecting young temp who happens to stray too close under the tawdry sprig of mistletoe sellotaped to any convenient light-fitting, smoke alarm or door lintel. But how did such a pervy practice ever come about, especially during a season linked to chaste Christian thoughts and virgin births?

Like so many others, it is one of those traditions that is a hangover of our pre-Christian past. Both the Ancient Greeks and the druidic priests of the Celtic peoples revered the mistletoe, believing it to have supernatural healing properties. To the Romans the mistletoe was a symbol of peace and used as part of the Saturnalia celebrations.

Like other plants that remained green all year long, is was taken as a symbol of prosperity and fertility. Thoughts of fertility returning to the land were foremost in the minds of the early peoples who relied on the land for their immediate survival, especially in the bleak midwinter. In Norse mythology, the plant was sacred to Frigga (also known as Freya) who was the goddess of love.

In medieval times, mistletoe was fed to cattle to make sure they calved in the spring, and any woman hoping to fall pregnant would carry a sprig of it about her person. It was also considered an effective treatment for toothache, nervous disorders, epilepsy, heart disease and snakebites. It was even believed to bring quarrels to an end, and was a sure means of protection against witches and lightning strikes! (One strongly-held belief had it that mistletoe was formed when lightning struck a tree.)

The more modern practice of kissing under the mistletoe can be traced back to 18th century England. Young women who stood underneath the mistletoe could not refuse a kiss and if any unfortunate girl remained unkissed under the berries it was said that she would not marry at all during the coming year.

In one version of the custom, every time a young man stole a kiss from a girl he plucked a berry from the mistletoe bough. When all the berries had been plucked, the privilege ceased, as is recalled by this ditty:

Pick a berry off the mistletoe
For ev’ry kiss that’s given.
When the berries have all gone,
There’s an end to the kissing.










Did you know...?
The name 'mistletoe' comes from two Anglo-Saxon words, mistel, meaning ‘dung’ and tan, meaning ‘a small branch’. Birds, (usually the mistle thrush) feast on the mistletoe’s berries, then, having had their fill, they do what everyone does after a big meal – they void their bowels. The seeds excreted in this way germinate in the bark of the tree and a new mistletoe plant grows.

* * * *

You will find many other such facts about evergreens in my book What is Myrrh Anyway?- and its American counterpart Christmas Miscellany: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Christmas.

L is for La Befana (and Lego)

Father Christmas is known by many names around the world. In France he is Père Noël, in the Netherlands he is Sinter Klaus and in China he is known as Sing Dan Lo Yan (which is literally ‘Christmas Old Man’). Although the idea of a beneficent bringer of gifts at Christmas time is almost universal in Christian countries the world over, it isn’t always Santa Claus who does the honours.

In Spain and South America it is the Three Kings who brings presents, just as they gave gifts to the Christ child. And in Italy it is a kindly old witch called La Befana who gives children sweets if they’ve been good and a piece of coal if they haven’t.

According to the legend of La Befana, the three wise men stopped at her home on their way to pay homage to the Christ child, and invited her to go with them. But La Befana had lost her own child to plague and found the prospect of seeing another baby too upsetting.

But after the wise men had left she changed her mind. She set of in pursuit on her broomstick (as you do when you’re a witch) but never found the Magi again. Instead, every time she came across a good child’s stocking she filled it with toys and sweets in an effort to make up for her foolishness.

And here's La Befana realised in Lego.

You can check out some gigantic La Befana effigies here!

* * * *

You will find many other such interesting tidbits of information in my book What is Myrrh Anyway?- and its American counterpart Christmas Miscellany: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Christmas.

K is for Krampus

In the twenty-first century, we've got so used to the idea that Santa brings gifts to good little boys and girls, it is easy to forget that not so long ago bad little boys and girls were likewise punished.

In the wild heartlands of Europe, such legends are not so easily forgotten, and so it is that in countries such as Austria and Hungary, on December 5 communities remember Krampus*, a demonic anti-Santa who accompanies St. Nicholas during the Christmas season, warning and punishing bad children.

In the Alpine regions, traditionally young men dress up as the Krampus in the first two weeks of December, particularly on the evening of 5 December, and roam the streets frightening children and women with rusty chains and bells. In some rural areas the tradition goes so far as to include the birching of young girls!

Images of Krampus usually show him with a basket on his back used to carry away bad children and dump them into the pits of Hell.

So when the fat man with the bulging sack asks if you've been good or bad, you'd better have been good, for goodness sake...

* * * *

You will find many other such tasty morsels of information in my book What is Myrrh Anyway?- and its American counterpart Christmas Miscellany: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Christmas.

* The word Krampus originates from the Old High German word for claw (Krampen).

Christmas Radio Times

In our household, the Christmas double-issue of the Radio Times is as much a part of the festive traditions as carols by candlelight or stockings on Christmas Eve.

The Christmas 2011 double-issue goes on sale nationwide next Wednesday (7 December) and, as usual, you're going to have a choice of covers to choose from. And here they are...

The Secret History of the Candy Cane

A candy cane is a hard cane-shaped candy stick, traditionally white with red stripes and flavoured with peppermint or cinnamon (also known respectively as a peppermint stick or cinnamon stick). The candy cane is available all year round, but traditionally surrounds the Christmas holiday, particularly in North America.

In its early form, the candy cane began as a simple white stick of sugar for children to eat - there was no "cane" shape or stripes to speak of. While it is uncertain where the first canes originated, it is clear that by the mid-17th century, if not earlier, its use had already become widespread across Europe. These sticks were made by confectioners who had to pull, cut, twist, and (in later years) bend the sugar sticks by hand, making it a time-intensive process. Candy cane production had to be done locally, since they were easily damaged and vulnerable to moisture, and the labour required, and difficulty of storage, combined to make these candies relatively hard to get, although popular.

The distinctive "hook" shape associated with candy canes is traditionally credited to a choirmaster at Cologne Cathedral in Germany, who, legend has it, in 1670 bent straight candy sticks into canes to represent a shepherd's crook, and gave them to children at church services. The shepherd's staff is often used in Christianity as a metaphor for The Good Shepherd Jesus Christ. It is also possible that, as people decorated their Yule trees with food, the bent candy cane was invented as a functional solution.

In Europe, candy canes were used to decorate Yule trees along with other items of food. In North America, the first documented example of the use of candy canes to celebrate Christmas occurred in 1847, when a German-Swedish immigrant by the name of August Imgard hung the candy canes from the branches of a Christmas tree. Christmas cards from the following decades show Christmas trees decorated with candy canes, first white canes, then striped ones in the 20th century. This then spread to the rest of the continent, where it continues to remain a popular Christmas tradition.

The stripes are made similar in fashion to a barber's pole, with the red stripes twisting around the white stick of sugar. These signature stripes did not become part of the candy cane until the 20th century. It is uncertain who first started using the stripes, but evidence of their use only appears after the turn of the century. At around this time, candy makers began using peppermint as a flavour. One of the first documented candy canes in this form is the polkagris, invented in 1859.

Bobs Candies was the first company to successfully mass-produce and distribute candy canes while preserving their freshness. Lt. Bob McCormack began making candy canes as special Christmas treats in the 1920s. That decade also saw the company's use of cellophane as a wrapping to keep moisture from damaging the candies, and by the 1950s, they were using a candy cane machine invented by his brother-in-law Gregory Keller to mass-produce them. These two inventions made it feasible to mass produce, ship, and distribute candy canes. The following years saw further refinements in packaging and design to protect the candies from being broken, making it more practical to store them and ship them for longer periods of time.

Did you know...?
There is a modern allegorical tradition that reinterprets the candy cane's shape as a "J", standing for Jesus Christ or the right side up standing for the shepherds that came to visit baby Jesus. The stripes are said to represent his sacrifice, with the red being blood, and the white being purity. However, no historical information to support any claim that the cane was originally made with this allegory in mind has been produced, so it is regarded as an urban legend.

Twelfth Night traditions

Twelfth Night is traditionally the time to take down your Christmas tree and any other festive decorations. To leave evergreens up in the house after this point is to bring bad luck on the household!

Here are some other Twelfth Night traditions that you might - or might not - be familiar with.

1) Twelfth Night is also known as Epiphany, the date on which the Christian Church celebrates the visit of the Magi to the Christ child.

2) The feast of the Epiphany originated in the East during the third century, in honour of Christ’s baptism.

3) During a special service held at St James’s Palace, London, on 6 January, members of the Royal Household present the Chapel Royal with the three gifts brought to the Christ child by the Magi.

4) At one time, the highlight of the Twelfth Night celebrations was the cutting of the twelfth-cake, which was supposed to have a dried pea or bean hidden somewhere inside it. Whoever found the bean was proclaimed king or queen for the rest of the evening’s fun and frivolity.

5) Another tradition involving a cake, upheld by the cast of the play currently being performed at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, is the eating of the Baddeley Cake. This is as a result of a stipulation made in the last will and testament of one Robert Baddeley, an actor from the eighteenth century, after whom the cake is named.

6) In the West of England Twelfth Night is the time when wassailing ceremonies are carried out.

7) At one time in England, Twelfth Night was known as being a good occasion on which to carry out various good luck rituals, as well as for its religious processions which almost went hand-in-hand with the spirited, and good humoured, revels.

8) One such ritual had farmers lighting bonfires to drive evil spirits away from their farms and fields, the tipsy agriculturalists cheering as they circled the fires to hasten the hobgoblins on their way.

9) There was also the time-honoured guessing game, whereby the (now probably inebriated) farmer had to guess what was being roasted in the kitchen before being permitted to re-enter his own home. This was not as easy as it might sound because his good wife might have something as ridiculously inedible as a shoe turning on the spit.

11) On 6 January you would also find Morris men dancing in the streets, along with fools and hobby-horses.

12) Practical jokes were the name of the game on Twelfth Night and the playing of games – particularly games of chance – with everyone determined to make the most of the last day of the holiday season.

So if you're planning to see Christmas out with a bang...

Love and joy come to you,
And to you your wassail too,
And God bless you, and send you
A happy New Year,
And God send you
A happy New Year.