Much has been made in literature, film and every other imaginable form of communication, of the Victorian era Christmas celebration. I know for myself, when I think of a traditional Christmas, I’m picturing all the pageantry of a celebration from Charles Dickens’ era. But what of Christmas in the Regency period? Jane Austen barely mentions Christmas in her surviving letters and speaks of it just as rarely in her novels. So where is a Janeite to look for information on how Austen’s contemporaries and characters recognized the season? To an American of course!
In 1918, American author, Washington Irving published the “Sketchbook of Geoffrey Canon Gentleman”. Six chapters of this book were dedicated to how an English country Christmas could be celebrated, based on his own experiences while staying at Aston Hall in Birmingham. These chapters became “The Keeping of Christmas at Bracebridge Hall”, and here are some excerpts:
– “The grate had been removed from the wide overwhelming fireplace, to make way for a fire of wood, in the midst of which was an enormous log glowing and blazing, and sending forth a vast volume of light and heat; this I understood was the Yule clog, which the squire was particular in having brought in and illumined on a Christmas eve, according to ancient custom.”
– “While I lay musing on my pillow, I heard the sound of little feet pattering outside of the door, and a whispering consultation. Presently a choir of small voices chanted forth an old Christmas carol, the burden of which was—
Rejoice, our Saviour he was born On Christmas day in the morning.
I rose softly, slipt on my clothes, opened the door suddenly, and beheld one of the most beautiful little fairy groups that a painter could imagine. It consisted of a boy and two girls, the eldest not more than six, and lovely as seraphs. They were going the rounds of the house, and singing at every chamber door; but my sudden appearance frightened them into mute bashfulness. They remained for a moment playing on their lips with their fingers, and now and then stealing a shy glance from under their eyebrows, until, as if by impulse, they scampered away, and as they turned an angle of the gallery, I heard them laughing in triumph at their escape.”
– “When the cloth was removed, the butler brought in a huge silver vessel of rare and curious workmanship, which he placed before the squire. Its appearance was hailed with acclamation; being the Wassail Bowl, so renowned in Christmas festivity. The contents had been prepared by the squire himself; for it is a beverage in the skillful mixture of which he particularly prided himself.”
These are only three short extracts from a truly delightful story of an English country Christmas. I highly recommend that you read it in its entirety this holiday season.