Join Mr Jim by the fireside to welcome in the new year!
DIRECT DOWNLOAD - HYPNOGORIA 231 - New Year at the Fireside
Find all the podcasts in the HYPNOGORIA family here plus more articles on the weird and wonderful here-
Saturday 31 December 2022
COMMENTARY CLUB NEW YEAR SPECIAL 2022 - Terror Train (1980)
For our New Year special, we take a ride on Terror Train, a 1980 slasher set on New Year's Eve! It stars Jamie Lee Curtis, featuring magician David Copperfield, and was the directorial debut of Roger Spottiswood
Find all the podcasts in the HYPNOGORIA family here plus more articles on the weird and wonderful here-
Saturday 24 December 2022
COMMENTARY CLUB CHRISTMAS SPECIAL 2022 - Arthur Christmas
In this just before Christmas special, we revisit a modern festive favourite Arthur Christmas from Aardman Animations, featuring the voices of James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent, Bill Nighty and Imelda Stanton to name but a few!
Find all the podcasts in the HYPNOGORIA family here plus more articles on the weird and wonderful here-
FROM THE GREAT LIBRARY OF DREAMS 070 - All Through the House by Jim Moon
Mr Jim Moon relates a eerie ghost story for Christmas of his own...
Find all the podcasts in the HYPNOGORIA family here plus more articles on the weird and wonderful here-
THE OLDTIME YULETIDE ADVENT CALENDAR - Day 24
Welcome dear friends back to the Hypnogoria Old-time Yuletide Advent Calendar! So then, dear friends, we reach the final door of our Advent Calendar! Behind which hides two final letters!
Now then, next up we have the letter Y. Now I did consider allocating this letter to the Yule or the Yule Log, but we have already talked of both, and so I have opted for the more obscure, but much tastier and intriguing Yorkshire Christmas Pie.
Of course, we are all familiar with the concept of Christmas pies, whether the one Jack Horner in the corner was tucking into, or those tempting festive favourites, the mince pie. However the Yorkshire Christmas Pie was perhaps the pinnacle of festive baking, fusing together several generations of Christmas dining in one delicious pastry case.
Now this dish had its heyday in the 18th and 19th centuries and sometimes was known as a celebration pie, a trunk pie or a stand pie. And the Yorkshire Christmas pie gained these sobriquets because it was a very special pie, baked just to celebrate Christmas and it was indeed the size of a large piece of luggage. In fact, they were baked to be absolutely air-tight so they could be shipped all around the country for Yuletide.
And what was special about these Yorkshire Christmas pies was that they contained basically a super roast dinner inside, in which the centrepiece was several different birds stuffed and roasted one inside the other. Here’s an original recipe published in The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy by Hannah Glasse, in 1747
First make a good standing crust, let the wall and bottom be very thick; bone a turkey, a goose, a fowl, a partridge, and a pigeon, Season them all very well, take half an ounce of mace, half an ounce of nutmegs, a quarter of an ounce of cloves, and half an ounce of black-pepper, all beat fine together, two large spoonfuls of salt, and then mix them together. Open the fowls all down the back, and bone them; first the pigeon, then the partridge; cover them; then the fowls then the goose, and then the turkey, which must be large; season them all well first, and lay them in the crust, so as it, will look only like a whole turkey; then have a hare ready cased, and wiped with a clean cloth. Cut it to pieces, that is, joint it; season it, and lay it as close as you can on one side; on the other side woodcocks, moor game, and what sort of wild-fowl you can get. Season them well, and lay them close; put at least four pounds of butter into the pie, then lay on your lid, which must be a very thick one, and let it be well baked. It must have a very hot oven, and will take at least four hours. This crust will take a bushel of flour. These pies are often sent to London in a box, as presents; therefore, the walls must be well built.
Sadly there is no vegetarian option. And given the amount of wildlife in that pie, I am reconsidering my own dietary choices, to be honest! There’s a small aviary in that pie! However, I think we may all take comfort in the fact that no matter how much we over indulge this Christmas, our excesses will seem poultry, I mean, paltry compared to the gargantuan gluttony of a Yorkshire Christmas Pie!
So then, to our final letter, and perhaps the most challenging of all, Z. So what could Z stand for? Well, there is the German festive decoration the Zwetschgenmännle, little figures made from prunes sold in German Christmas markets. The Zwetschgenmännle come in many different designs, gnomes ,devils, angels, sweeps, lovers, and are said to bring good luck, echoing an old German saying “if you have plums in the house, you will never run out of money”.
However they are perhaps a little obscure! So then, instead I shall say Z stands for “zzz” that classic comic-book noise for sleeping. For tonight is Christmas Eve, when we should all be tucked in bed early so Father Christmas can come and drop off the presents. Of course, the ironic fact is few of us will be either in bed or asleep early tonight!
As children, it is almost impossible to sleep knowing that Santa is on the way, and many a child will be up very late, ears straining for the sound of sleigh bells or hooves on the roof. However for us grown-ups, we are often up way too late too, for despite our best intentions there always seems to be one more little job to do for the Christmas Day preparations. All too often somehow there always one present still to wrap up, or some prep work for Christmas dinner that needs to be done just before bed.
However this year, I hope that all goes well and all will be done in time to sit and unwind and enjoy the magic of Christmas Eve. And indeed I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and I hope this little advent calendar has brought a little more magic to your Yuletide festivities. And so on that note, I wish a merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!
Find all the podcasts in the HYPNOGORIA family here plus more articles on the weird and wonderful here -
Friday 23 December 2022
THE OLDTIME YULETIDE ADVENT CALENDAR - Day 23
Welcome dear friends back to the Hypnogoria Old-time Yuletide Advent Calendar! Well we are nearer the end, and it’s time to open Door 23.
So then, I’m sure you are all wondering, what could X possibly stand for? Well, there is a famous, if somewhat controversial Christmas X - X as in Xmas!
Now I know this abbreviation gets up many people’s noses. As a child, we went to a carol concert and I remember an old gentleman there remonstrating with one of the organisers over the choice to use the word “Xmas” instead of “Christmas” in the carol sheet. “X is an unknown quantity!” said the old boy “It’s disrespectful! Use the proper spelling!”
Now then, as it turns out, Xmas is in fact more than just another recent vulgarism like “Crimbo”. And although many folks think it was cooked up by wily shop owners to save lettering space on posters and it conveniently has four letters like their other beloved word “sale”, Xmas has in fact a far older origin.
Xmas is simply an abbreviation for Christmas using the Greek letter chi (pronounced ‘kye’), which looks like an Χ and is the first letter of the Greek word for Christ, Khristos. And in fact it was created by the early church, who used the first two letters of Khristos in the Greek alphabet ‘chi‘ and ‘rho‘ to create a symbol representing the name of Christ, or Jesus, a symbol I am sure you have seen which looks like a letter P overlaid on a X.
However, that said, technically it’s not actually right to say ‘Ex-mas’ – supposedly it still should be pronounced ‘Christmas’. Which, in the spirit of peace and good will to all, strikes me as a decent compromise to end the Xmas wars!
But, while writing this Advent calendar entry, I did start to consider the festive possibilities of X as an unknown quantity. For there is much to discover in the history, legends and lore of Christmas, not to mention many misconceptions that need correcting. A particular bugbear of mine is the completely inaccurate factoid that does the rounds every year that states Coca Cola invented Santa. They most certainly did not, and while we are at it, neither were they responsible for his red and white garb!
However, back on point, as I was saying, there are many mysteries surrounding Christmas. Some I hope this Advent calendar has illuminated, but there are still some unanswered questions, such as who really started kissing under the mistletoe, the origins of the British Old Father Christmas, or even where the name Boxing Day comes from - questions that are are still perplexing Christmasologists to this very day.
For my own part, a good few years ago, I made it a little tradition to try and learn something new about the history and lore of Christmas every year. And that has been a gift that has kept on giving year after year. Our knowledge and understanding of the festive season is growing and expanding all the time, and it seems there's no danger of ever knowing it all. But more importantly, the more I delve into the mysteries of Christmas, the more I appreciate it, and the more magical it becomes. X does indeed mark the spot and there is festive treasure buried there.
DIRECT DOWNLOAD - THE OLDTIME YULETIDE ADVENT CALENDAR - Day 23
Find all the podcasts in the HYPNOGORIA family here plus more articles on the weird and wonderful here-
Thursday 22 December 2022
THE OLDTIME YULETIDE ADVENT CALENDAR - Day 22
Welcome dear friends back to the Hypnogoria Old-time Yuletide Advent Calendar! We have reached Door 22 and W for Wassailing!
Now we already looked at the origins of the word itself yesterday, so what of the tradition itself. Well there appears to be two distinct branches, if you will pardon the pun, the tree wassail and the house wassail. Now the tree wassail still survives in some parts of the country, in particular in Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Herefordshire, and often takes place on Twelfth Night. Here merry folks gather in an orchard and wassail the trees in order to wake them from their winter sleep and to drive away evil spirits. As well singing a traditional wassail song, a tree is given a drink from the wassail bowl and often bells are rung and guns fired in order to raise a suitable noise, to wake the tree and scare away bad spirits.
However there was also the house wassail, and this was the ancestor of modern day carol singing. Much like their present day counterparts, a merry band of folks would go from house to house, and regale the inhabitants with a song or two, and in return get gifts of food, drink and sometimes money. However there was a key difference, and that was in more ancient times, they carried with them the special wassail bowl, filled with a special festive drink. And at each house, the contents would be shared with the householders, who would then be expected to top up the bowl before the wassailers went on their way.
And what was the hearty brew inside the wassail bowl? Well, a verse in Robert Herrick’s poem Twelfth Night from 1648 has the answer -
Next crown the bowl full
With gentle lamb's wool
Add sugar, nutmeg and ginger,
With store of ale too;
And thus ye must do
To make a wassail a swinger
So how does one make lamb’s wool? Well, much Smoking Bishop which we learned about a few doors down, this wasn’t a drink that one could whip up quickly. But when out on a cold and frosty night, making a batch of this spicy, hot steaming tipple was undoubtedly worth it!
While there are several variations, the basic recipe is as follows.
Core six apples and roast them in the oven for about an hour until the flesh is soft and pulpy. Meanwhile in a large pan, pour in 150 grams of brown or golden sugar and on a gentle heat, gradually stir a litre and a half of either ale or cider. Add in one grated nutmeg and a teaspoon for ground ginger.
When the apples are done, allow to cool, and then strip off the skins, scraping the soft roast apple into the pan. Whisk the apple into the mixture while simmering until it’s hot and frothy. Then the mixture may be poured into a wassail bowl which traditionally includes a couple of slices of toasted bread. According to old tradition, the bread slices are reserved to be given to the most important person one meets when wassailing house to house. And indeed, it is thought that this custom is the origin of the phrase to drink a toast to someone. Ves heill indeed!
However there was a slightly darker side to wassailing. Indeed there is a reason it was resurrected in a more refined form as carol singing, for the earlier wassailers did have a reputation for drunkenness and indeed there was an element of demanding money with menaces. Much like mumming, hooded animal plays and soul-caking, these traditions were a socially acceptable form of begging in some ways, allowing poor folks, often disguised in some form of costume, to get some festive fare from their betters. However, like modern trick or treating, which is another descendant of this tradition, there was an element of threat - if folks were not generous, then a certain amount of mischief and mayhem might come their way. And funnily enough, there’s still a trace of this in one of our most beloved festive favourites - We Wish You a Merry Christmas. This carol which is thought to be relatively recent, dating from the 18th century, has some very telling lyrics. The second verse has the carollers asking for some figgy pudding -
Oh, bring us some figgy pudding
And bring it right here
Now this a reference to an old West Country tradition of giving carollers little Christmas puds. However, the next verse adds -
We won't go until we get some
So bring it right here!
And there we have it, a clear reference to the somewhat rowdy nature of the original wassailers! So then if you do get some carollers round, do be generous! Ves Heill!
DIRECT DOWNLOAD - THE OLDTIME YULETIDE ADVENT CALENDAR - Day 22
Find all the podcasts in the HYPNOGORIA family here plus more articles on the weird and wonderful here-
Wednesday 21 December 2022
MICROGORIA 115 - A Chat by the Fireside
A little pre-Christmas update on various things and a little strange tale too!
Find all the podcasts in the HYPNOGORIA family here plus more articles on the weird and wonderful here-
THE OLDTIME YULETIDE ADVENT CALENDAR - Day 21
Welcome dear friends back to the Hypnogoria Old-time Yuletide Advent Calendar! Well, we have reached Door 21, and also the trickier end of the alphabet! And hence, behind this door we discover two letters lurking!
Firstly we have U which stands for Unreason, as in the peculiar festive character known as the Abbot of Unreason! And just who was this bizarre sounding fellow?
Well, as we mentioned right at the start of this Advent journey, in Tudor times, the Christmas season started at Hallowe’en, in particular with institutions and households would appoint a Lord of Misrule, who would oversee all the festivities of the coming season. The tradition had begun in mediaeval times, and possibly had links back to the Roman saturnalia, but it would reach its heyday in the Tudor era. John Stow in his book, Survey of London, published in 1603, gives a description of the Lord of Misrule:
In the feaste of Christmas, there was in the kinges house, wheresoeuer hee was lodged, a Lord of Misrule, or Maister of merry disports, and the like had yee in the house of euery noble man, of honor, or good worshippe, were he spirituall or temporall. Amongst the which the Mayor of London, and eyther of the shiriffes had their seuerall Lordes of Misrule, euer contending without quarrell or offence, who should make the rarest pastimes to delight the Beholders. These Lordes beginning their rule on Alhollon Eue , continued the same till the morrow after the Feast of the Purification, commonlie called Candlemas day: In all which space there were fine and subtle disguisinges, Maskes and Mummeries, with playing at Cardes for Counters, Nayles and pointes in euery house, more for pastimes then for gaine.
And yes, you heard that right, the Christmas season not only started at Hallowe’en but finished at Candlemas, which falls upon February 2nd. Yes, the Tudors certainly went large as we would say with Christmas. As well as appointing a Lord of Misrule, in 1496, King Henry VII, the first of the Tudor monarchs, appointed an Abbot of Unreason too. And over in Scotland, Abbots of Unreason was more commonly used for these masters of merry-making than the title Lords of Misrule.
And over the years, at the Tudor court in particular, the Lords grew more numerous, with the King appointing many Lords of Misrule to oversee the festive merry-making. Another contemporary account, from Puritan Phillip Stubbs, writing in 1585, described them thus -
This king, anointed, chooseth forth, twenty, forty, three-score or a hundred lusty guts like himself to wait upon his lordly majesty and guard his royal person. They bedeck themselves in scarves, ribbons, and laces, hanged all over with gold rings, precious stones, and other jewels; this done, they tie about either leg twenty or forty bells, with rich handkerchiefs in their hand, borrowed for the most part of their pretty moppsies from bussing them in the dark. They then have their hobby horses, dragons and other antiques, together with bawdy pipers and thunderous drummers!
As you might have gathered Stubbs and other Puritans did not approve of such things. And as they grew in political power, the practice was outlawed. Indeed, the Puritan regime ruled over by Oliver Cromwell eventually would outlaw any kind of celebration of Christmas. Thankfully however that was not to last…
So then onto the letter V! And v is for Ves Heill!
No, not “wassail” but its ancient ancestor! Now I am sure most of you are aware that wassailing was the precursor to the modern day custom of going carol singing. However it is perhaps one of our oldest Christmas traditions. We know from ancient documents it dates back at least as far as the 13th century. However looking at the word itself, it is very possible that the custom is much older, even possibly a relic of pre-Christian Yule celebrations.
For the word itself is thought to be derived from old Norse - ves heill - which meant “be in good health”. And it was absorbed in old Saxon too as “was hael” and eventually became “wassail” in Old English. Indeed the word itself was a drinking toast. And what few folk know is that the cry of “wassail” demanded a response too - “drinc hael” which means, as you might have guessed, “drink well!”
A poem from the court of William the Conqueror, originally in Norman French in the 13th century has this to say!
Lordlings, listen to our lay,
We have come from far away,
To seek Christmas…
…Here then, I bid you all Wassail,
Cursed be he who will not say Drinkhail!
However there was more to wassailing than just a festive toast at Christmastime, as we shall learn tomorrow!
Find all the podcasts in the HYPNOGORIA family here plus more articles on the weird and wonderful here -
Tuesday 20 December 2022
THE OLDTIME YULETIDE ADVENT CALENDAR - Day 20
Welcome dear friends back to the Hypnogoria Old-time Yuletide Advent Calendar! It’s time to open Door 20, where T stands for Twelfth Night!
Now many complain that Christmas is far too overblown these days and seems to take up more and more time every year, but if one looks back at Christmas customs of years gone by, you find that up until relatively recently our forebears would have been still celebrating, long after we have finished!
Of course everyone has heard of the Twelve Days of Christmas, but rather than being a kind of stripped down version of advent as we often assume, this festive dozen of days didn't come before what we consider to be Christmas, but turned up afterwards.
For the Twelve Days of Christmas actually begin upon Christmas Day and run all the way through until January 6th, the Feast of the Epiphany in the traditional church calendar. And while now we only really remember this older version of the Christmas season in the tradition that we must take our decorations down by Twelfth Night, in the not-too-distant past this day was marked by celebrations of fun and feasting that rivalled Christmas Day itself. And why was such a fuss made of this last day? Well simply because in the old agricultural calendar, it was back to work on the 7th of January, or rather often the nearest Monday after - yes in pre-industrial society you got nearly fortnight off work as standard - and hence Twelfth Night was the culmination of the holiday season, the end of your time off work. However of course in the 19th century as society became more industrial and urbanised, the tradition began to fade, and with the corporatized working cultures of the 20th century not countenancing giving wage slaves twelve days plus off at Christmas time, the Twelfth Night festivities all but died out.
Now as for the best known remaining Twelfth Night tradition that this is the day to take down the Christmas decorations, rather than being some ancient piece of folklore, it would appear to be a more recent invention. Indeed, its part in the Christmas calendar is already in jeopardy, with many folks taking down the decs on New Year's Day, and yet others boxing up the baubles on Boxing Day. However historically speaking in centuries past it was actually traditional to leave the decorations up until 2nd February, and at some points in history our forebears left their halls decked with boughs of holly until Easter! So rather than Christmas expanding every year, all the signs are that it is in fact shrinking, with our holiday period actually becoming shorter in real terms!
However while these old bumper-sized holidays may seem astounding to us now, and the old Twelve Days of Christmas are now only remembered as a song, there are plenty of remnants of the old tradition remaining in folklore and local customs, with many places having their own individual ways of marking Twelfth Night. As many of these festivities were marked with food and feasting, there is a widespread tradition of making a Twelfth Night cake, often with added surprises. We are all familiar with the traditional sixpence (or modern coin equivalent) being slipped into the Christmas pudding, and the Twelfth Night cake has similar attached customs. As Robert Chambers noted in his Book of Days (1869) -
In England, in later times, a large cake was formed, with a bean inserted, and this was called Twelfth-Cake. The family and friends assembled, the cake was divided by lot, and whoever got the piece containing the bean was accepted as king for the day, and called King of the Bean.
However there were variants to this custom too, with other items being added into the mix. For example, in one version if you found a twig in your portion of cake, that meant you were a fool. Over time, these special additions were replaced with trinkets and charms, silver ones if you were well-off, and in the 18th and 19th centuries Twelfth Night cakes became huge elaborate affairs with towers of icing and mounds of toppings. Many scholars hold that as the Twelfth Night traditions began to die out the tradition of adding lucky items to the cake, was enfolded into the lore of the Christmas pud.
Another common piece of Twelfth Night folklore revolves around the Yule log. Traditionally the Yule log was not some chocolate confection, but a huge piece of wood that was placed in the fireplace on Christmas Day. The log would be kept burning throughout the Twelve Days of Christmas, with it often being considered unlucky to let it go out during this time. The log of course was eventually formally extinguished at Twelfth Night, with many regions' lore holding that a portion of it, or sometimes its ashes, was to be kept to light next year's Yule log.
However, folklore is often very local, and hence up and down the British Isles many places have their own individual traditions associated with Twelfth Night. In many areas it is one of the dates in the calendar marked out for some wassailing. Again while this is a tradition we now associate more closely with Christmas, but in older times it was a common feature of Twelfth Night celebrations, most famously perhaps in the counties of England where cider is king. However Wassailing is a tale for another day and another door!
Find all the podcasts in the HYPNOGORIA family here plus more articles on the weird and wonderful here-
Monday 19 December 2022
THE OLDTIME YULETIDE ADVENT CALENDAR - Day 19
Welcome dear friends back to the Hypnogoria Old-time Yuletide Advent Calendar! Door 19 beckons and inside here we will discover why S is for Smoking Bishop!
Now many readers of A Christmas Carol may been somewhat puzzled by an exchange between the newly reformed Scrooge and dear old Bob Cratchit at the book’s finale -
“A merrier Christmas, Bob, my good fellow, than I have given you, for many a year! I’ll raise your salary, and endeavour to assist your struggling family, and we will discuss your affairs this very afternoon, over a Christmas bowl of smoking bishop, Bob!”
Now given the proximity of the words “smoking” and “bowl”, modern readers may well be forgiven for thinking that this was a reference to the happy gents enjoying a pleasant smoke on their pipes somewhere. However I can reveal that Smoking Bishop was a very popular Christmas drink in Victorian times.
The book Modern Cookery by Eliza Acton published in 1845, outlines the recipe thus -
Make several incisions in the rind of a lemon, stick cloves in these, and roast the lemon by a slow fire. Put small but equal quantities of cinnamon, cloves, mace, and allspice, with a race of ginger, into a saucepan with half a pint of water: let it boil until it is reduced one-half. Boil one bottle of port wine, burn a portion of the spirit out of it by applying a lighted paper to the saucepan; put the roasted lemon and spice into the wine; stir it up well, and let it stand near the fire ten minutes. Rub a few knobs of sugar on the rind of a lemon, put the sugar into a bowl or jug, with the juice of half a lemon (not roasted), pour the wine into it, grate in some nutmeg, sweeten it to the taste, and serve it up with the lemon and spice floating in it.
So then, not a drink you can expect a bar steward to whip up in a jiffy! The drink is thought to have mediaeval origins, however it gained in popularity in the 17th century when fortified wines such as port became much cheaper thanks to trade treaties with Southern European countries such as Portugal. With political strife raising the tax and duty on French wine, port proved to be a popular and more affordable alternative. And hence while mulled wine had long been a favourite festive tipple, with these new boozonomics, folks embraced these old recipes for spicy hot tipples made with stronger drinks such as port.
As for its colourful name, the “smoking” part comes from roasting the citrus fruits, while the clerical bit came from the drink’s mediaeval origins when it was served in bowls that resembled a bishop’s mitre, as a little joke at the church’s expense.
And Smoking Bishop was but one of a family of similar mulled spicy tipples known as "ecclesiastics" as they all had a clerical name. There was Smoking Pope made with burgundy, Smoking Cardinal made with champagne or Rhine wine, Smoking Archbishop with claret; and Smoking Beadle which was merely laced with raisins and ginger wine.
Sadly Smoking Bishop’s popularity declined in the 20th century, to the extent that most only know of it as a puzzling reference in Dickens, however port very much remains a popular festive favourite. And with mulled wine recipes enjoying something of a resurgence in recent years, maybe Smoking Bishop may yet return.
Find all the podcasts in the HYPNOGORIA family here plus more articles on the weird and wonderful here-
Sunday 18 December 2022
THE OLDTIME YULETIDE ADVENT CALENDAR - Day 18
Welcome dear friends back to the Hypnogoria Old-time Yuletide Advent Calendar! It’s time to open Door 18 and let fly in R for Robin!
Despite being a frequent visitor to our gardens all the year round, this little bird is inextricably entwined with the Christmas season. But why? Well, there is much folklore surrounding the robin. For example, it has long been considered to be very bad luck indeed to injure or kill a robin. However there are also many legends as to why the robin has a red breast, and one of these does tie into the robin’s connection to Christmas.
According to this tale, after Jesus was born, the night grew bitterly cold, and the small fire in the draughty Bethlehem stable began to dwindle. Joseph ventured out to find more wood but while he was away gathering winter fuel, the fire started to go out. However, just as the flames started to die, a group of little brown birds flew into the stable and began circling the fire and fanned the flames once more, and the fire roared back to life. These compassionate little fellows were of course robins and to commemorate their kindness from that day onward they have sported bright red breasts.
However, scholars who have studied the development of Christmas customs believe the robin's link with the festive season comes from far more recent events. David Lack, author of The Life of the Robin (1972) traces our present day association of robins with Christmas from a modern Yuletide custom - the sending of Christmas cards.
Now the early Christmas cards weren't exactly like the ones we know today - for example, early designs had spring flowers rather than winter scenes. And furthermore, cards were just part of a range of Christmas themed stationery that flourished in what would become the golden age of the postal service. Hence while folks on modest incomes would send the usual cards we have, the more well off folks had envelopes, calling cards and paper for letter writing with illustrated headers. And a common feature of the matching designs on these festive stationery items was a robin, often with a letter in its beak.
And the reason for this was that postmen in the UK at the time wore a bright red tunic, earning them the nicknames Robins or Redbreasts. Naturally, with the whimsy typical of greetings card art, soon robins were regularly being depicted as postmen on various cards. And indeed robins were popular not just on Christmas cards but also the early Valentine's Day cards and New Year’s cards too. However as each special day developed its own distinct iconography, the robin redbreast was left to rule the Christmas cards, and there they have remained and thrived ever since.
Interestingly, much like other famous icons of Christmas such holly and ivy, old Norse traditions hold that robins give protection against storms and lightning. Furthermore, the folklore around the robin continues to evolve in the modern day. For in the twentieth century, a new folk saying emerged, and one that has gained huge popularity - “When robins appear, loved ones are near” which reflects a belief that when a robin is nearby the spirits of our dear departed and with them too. Now, I cannot speak to the truth of this, but at Christmas when our thoughts often turn to those who we can no longer share the Yuletide with, it is nice to think that they are near when we are visited by one of these bright and colourful, friendly little birds.
Find all the podcasts in the HYPNOGORIA family here plus more articles on the weird and wonderful here -
Saturday 17 December 2022
THE OLDTIME YULETIDE ADVENT CALENDAR - Day 17
Welcome dear friends back to the Hypnogoria Old-time Yuletide Advent Calendar! Today we throw open Door 18 and have a root about in the cupboard marked Q. And I bet you are expecting the cupboard to be bare!
Well, there are a couple of notable Christmas Qs and so we will do both. Firstly in the UK, there was the Queen’s Speech. More properly known as the Royal Christmas Message, this broadcast from Her Majesty was more commonly known as the Queen on Christmas Day, and like it or not, was traditionally part of the festivities for many families. For in favourable, everyone had at least one relative round who was an ardent Royalist and hence at three o’clock in the afternoon there was a little lull, while the Queen presented her message to the nation.
And while for many of us when growing up this was The Time I Got Told Off On Christmas Day For Playing With the Noisy Toys I had Literally Just Got Thank You Very Much, over the years, now we are grown up, we look back fondly on the Queen’s Christmas message, those rare moments when the whole family sat quietly for a bit. And with Her Majesty’s passing earlier this year, many of us can’t help feeling that Christmas Day just won’t be the same without her.
However there is also another Q associated with Christmas, and one that brings us back to the subject of forgotten festive fare. For Q can also stand for quince! The quince is golden yellow fruit and resembles a cross between an apple and a pear. They are highly aromatic and have a mellow citrus taste. However they have somewhat fallen out of favour in the modern age as quinces cannot be eaten raw. The flesh must first be softened by simmering or roasting, reduced to what used to be called a quidany. And the prepared flesh can then be used in a variety of dishes or made into marmalades or jams.
And as the quince comes into season between October and December, in times past it was favourite for Christmas fare, with quince pies and tarts being particular favourites. Also a quince jam known as membrillo was a popular accompaniment for cheeses. If you fancy reviving the quince as part of your own festive fare, here is a recipe for quince marmalade from The Compleat Housewife published 1736.
‘Pare and core a pound of quince, and strain out the juice; to every pound of quince take ten spoonful's of that juice, and three-quarters of a pound of loaf-sugar; put all into your preserving-pan, cover it close, and let it stew over a gentle fire two hours; when ’tis of an orange-red, uncover and boil it up as fast as you can: when of a good colour, break it as you like it, give it a boil, and pot it up.’
And so then you will have an aromatic, citrus-y marmalade that smells and tastes of Christmas to accompany other dishes or to scoop into pastries to make quince tarts.
Find all the podcasts in the HYPNOGORIA family here plus more articles on the weird and wonderful here -
Friday 16 December 2022
THE OLDTIME YULETIDE ADVENT CALENDAR - Day 16
Welcome dear friends back to the Hypnogoria Old-time Yuletide Advent Calendar! It’s time to open Door 17 where P stands for Pantomime!
Oh no, it doesn’t! Oh yes it does!
Allow me to explain! Now the word “pantomime” originates with ancient Rome, being the name of a particular type of dramatic entertainment where a masked dancer mimed out a tale while a singer told the story in song. However the origins of this very British Christmas theatrical tradition really begins somewhere in mediaeval times, with the mummers plays we mentioned yesterday.
Now mummers plays are usually performed over the Christmas season, although some take place on other notable folkloric dates such as Halloween, Bonfire night and New Year. They are short, knockabout affairs, performed in the open air, or pubs, and sometimes going from house to house. They feature simple archetypal characters and often a lot of slapstick humour. The hero is a figure such as St George, Robin Hood or sometimes Father Christmas, who will fight a villain, a Dragon, the Black Prince or a Turkish Knight. Supporting characters include a Quack Doctor, who will raise our hero back to life, The Devil, Doubt, and Father Christmas, who fulfil other roles such as narrator, comic relief, or going among the audience to collect money.
Now these plays, which are still performed today, were often a bit of a rambunctious affair. And hence in the 17th century there were laws forbidding their performance, but in their place was a more refined version called the masque. Now these little productions featured music and drama, and like the mumming plays often featured similar mythological tales and archetypal characters. Again they were often performed at Christmas, and the figure of Old Father Christmas appears in several. But rather than being rustic street theatre performed by local amateurs for the amusement of their fellows, masques were proper theatrical productions often with lavish costumes and professional actors and performers.
These masques were to fuse with a British take on the Italian commedia dell’arte later in the 18th century. The commedia dell’arte was a mimed performance featuring set archetypal characters and set pieces. And in these isles had been refined to what was known as the Harlequinade, a mime show incorporating dance, slapstick and a chase scene. The story line was as follows - our hero Harlequin is in love with the fair Columbine, however her old father Pantaloon disapproves, and attempts to keep the lovers apart with the aid of his bumbling servants, the chaotic Clown and the lovelorn Pierrot who adores Columbine too.
However the Harlequinade is a fairly short piece of the theatre and hence it was performed as the centrepiece of another story often taking place between the first and second act. Like the mummers plays and masques before them, these early productions drew on fable and mythology and were the first pantomimes proper.
In the 18th century, the pantomime began to evolve. While the earlier pantomimes had drawn inspiration from Classical myths such as Perseus and Andromeda or featured original storylines, in this new era, adaptations of fairy stories became popular, and over time the various elements of the Harlequinade such as the slapstick and the comedic chase scene where woven in to the two act story rather than been a set piece interlude in the middle.
Pantomimes proved so popular with children that staging them at Christmastime, when the kids were off school, became a tradition in itself. Around this time, the famous audience participation in the production began, with many traditional moments where the audience could join in were established, such as booing the villain, warning the hero when the villain sneaks up on them - he’s behind you - and answering back the characters on stage. It was also in this era that the grand old tradition of the lead roles being gender swapped began, with men playing the dame character (usually the hero’s mother) and the ugly sisters in stories like Cinderella, while often the male lead, such as Prince Charming or Peter Pan was played by a young woman.
And indeed, pantomime has flourished ever since. And over the years, the format has changed little, with only minor changes evolving over the 20th century, such as the performance of send-ups of pop hits of the day, not to mention assorted celebrities, from outside the world of acting, taking roles in productions. Indeed in the UK, a visit to the pantomime is a Christmas ritual that generations of children have grown up with. And long may it continue!
Find all the podcasts in the HYPNOGORIA family here plus more articles on the weird and wonderful here -
Thursday 15 December 2022
THE OLDTIME YULETIDE ADVENT CALENDAR - Day 15
Welcome dear friends back to the Hypnogoria Old-time Yuletide Advent Calendar! It’s time to open Door 16 and discover a very strange festive menagerie! For O stands for Old Oss! Although it might also stand for “‘Oodening”.
Now “‘Oodening”, actually spellted “hoodening” but pronounced with a dropped H, is an old Christmas tradition popular across Kent. And it is part of a broader tradition of what folklorists call hooden animals and hobby horses.
Often related to mummers plays, of which we will learn more of soon, these bizarre creatures are created with a large cloth, a pole, and head fashioned from a skull, usually a horse’s, although sometimes a wooden version is used. Often bedecked with ribbons, bells or garlands, the hooden animal is part puppet and part costume, with the operator concealed beneath the voluminous cloth and making the jaws snap in a fashion that is both amusing and alarming.
In recent years, a version found in several villages in Wales, the Mari Lwyd - which is thought to mean Grey Mare - has enjoyed a good deal of coverage in round-ups of our stranger Christmas customs. However this horse skulled mischief-maker had many cousins all over the country, and they all behave in much the same way. Some continue to this very day, but others now reside only in history.
Like wassailing and mumming, the hooden animal is a type of festive performance by a troupe of locals in costumes. Staged over the Christmas period, they would go from house to house and perform comedy antics and songs, before appealing for gifts of food, drink or money before departing for the next location. And of course, if their audience wasn’t generous the naughty hooded beastie may well run amuck!
In parts of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and around Sheffield there existed, into the early 20th century, a Christmas and New Year custom of going from house to house performing a short play or dramatized song called The Old Horse, T'Owd 'Oss or Poor Old Horse, complete with a hooden animal as the central figure. While also now extinct, there was in the Cotswolds the Christmas tradition of The Broad, where a hooden animal, in this case made with a bull’s skull, would pay festive visits with its wranglers, and indulge in a little wassailing too.
In Cornwall, at Christmas the Penglas or Penglaz still roams about! This creature, whose name translates as "grey head", was either carved from wood or made from a horse's skull, and accompanied the Christmas Guisers. Sometimes it was led or ridden by Old Penglaze, a character with a blackened face who carried a staff.
Meanwhile in Derby, there was the Derby Tup, a ram version of a hobby horse. It took part in a dramatized version of the Derby Ram folk song, which was performed in northern Derbyshire and around Sheffield during the Christmas season by teams of boys. In a manner similar to the plot of many mummers plays, it is "killed" by a butcher and its "blood" is collected in a large bowl. In some versions brought back to life by a quack doctor.
In course of this Advent calendar, we have heard of many connection between Hallowe’en and Christmas, and it is interesting to note that some hooden animal traditions take place around Hallowe’en, such as the Soulcakers of Antrobus in Cheshire who perform a typical mummers play but also includes a hooden animal Dick the Wild Horse.
And hence while they might seem very different traditions, our modern customs of going carolling and trick or treating, do seem to share a common origin in these very old folk customs that featured local folks in costume going from house to house to perform, whether bringing the mischief of a hooden animal, or to do some wassailing, or to perform a mummers play. However we explore these connections further behind other doors…
Find all the podcasts in the HYPNOGORIA family here plus more articles on the weird and wonderful here-
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)