Mistletoe Kisses and Yuletide Joy (27 page)

Raef claimed Acklingham's big bedchamber as his own, and his wolf as bride.

"That was very good," Hera said later, sprawled in sweaty contentment amid tangled linen and furs.

Raef turned her face to his
. "Truly? It must have hurt."

Even
through the dazzling pleasure, she'd known he was tense, afraid of another Edith. She thumped his shoulder. "It hurt. It was nothing. If you get kicked in glima does it make it less fun?"

Grinning, he said, "
Glima? You want to wrestle?"

"
No. I want to cuddle." Tangling herself with him, she kissed his muscled chest.

"P
erhaps the world has come to an end."

"
Why?"

"
Because this is how I imagine heaven."

###

When the spring came, Magnus Gormsson, called the Ravenbringer, carried his wife in his great sea-stallion across the waves to Denmark, to show his family the prizes he had won, including the miraculous pendant touched by the hand of the White Christ.

But on the way back
—on their way north to Dane-held lands, for Magnus would not raid Kent again—a storm arose and all were in fear of their lives.

Then Alfrida took off the Star of the Magi, which now hung on a gold chain of great worth.
"It is time," she said to her husband, whose first child swelled large inside her.

For a moment he glowered, but then he nodded. "It's time. It never
serves to be greedy with the gods."

So Alfrida took the chain and whirled it fast around her head in the storm winds, and cast it as far as she coul
d. It flew like a shooting star and then sank, deep into the iron black waters.

And as it sank, the storm lessened, so that soon the sea was in order and the ship sailed on it way, while below, the Star waited until it was needed again.

The End

CHRISTMAS IN THE REGENCY

A short essay.

The nature of Christmas during the English regency (1811-1820) is surprisingly difficult to uncover -- which might be the clearest sign that it was not made as much of as we expect. Jane Austen hardly mentions it in her frequent letters. In one letter written to her beloved sister Cassandra on December 24th and 25th, she does wish her a "merry Christmas" but does not seem to be bothered by being apart at that time, or make mention of particular festivities. She is invited to dine at a nearby house but does not plan to go because the weather is bad. The weather clears, so she goes after all.

In chapter 14 of Austen's
Persuasion
we are given a picture of one family's Christmas, the main feature of which seems to be the return of schoolboys for the holidays.

"Immediately surrounding Mrs. Musgrave were the little Harvilles, whom she was sedulously guarding from the tyranny of the two children from the Cottage, expressly arrived to amuse them. On one side was a table occupied by some chattering girls, cutting up silk and gold paper; and on the other were trestles and trays, bending under the weight of brawn and cold pies, where riotous boys were holding high revel; the whole completed by a roaring Christmas fire, which seemed determined to be heard in spite of the noise of the others."

This is seen as too noisy by the heroine and her friend Lady Russell, who remarks, "I hope I shall remember in future not to call at Uppercross in the Christmas holiday."

Washington Irving, in his
Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent
. also records the return home of the schoolboys as a major feature of Christmas at this time. However, this was published in 1820 and can be seen as part of a widespread movement to revive traditional Christmas celebrations, which is evidence in itself of the tepid nature of Christmas observance during the Regency. His description of Squire Bracebridge's old fashioned Christmas is placed in pointed contrast to the norm.

Frank Bracebridge invites the traveler to spend Christmas at his family home, but says, "My father, you must know, is a bigoted devotee of the old school, and prides himself upon keeping up something of old English hospitality.... He is a strenuous advocate for the revival of the old rural games and holiday observances..."

Later in the book, we get:

"As we approached the house, we heard the sound of music, and now and then a burst of laughter from one end of the building. This, Bracebridge said, must proceed from the servants' hall, where a great deal of revelry was permitted, and even encouraged, by the Squire throughout the twelve days of Christmas, provided everything was done conformably to ancient usage. Here were kept up the old games of hoodman blind, shoe the wild mare, hot cockles, steal the white loaf, bob apple and snapdragon: the Yule log and Christmas candle were regularly burnt, and the mistletoe, with its white berries, hung up to the imminent peril of all the pretty housemaids."

This is a good summary of the old traditions, dating back to the middle ages, but mostly lapsed in the early nineteenth century. You can read the rest of the piece to see what Irving thought delightful, but what was clearly also not the norm on line here. ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext99/oxmas10.txt)

One of the chief proponents of the Christmas revival was Leigh Hunt, the poet, critic, and journalist. (1784-1859)

Leigh Hunt was what we would call today a left wing political activist, (he spent two years in jail) so his support of a nostalgic Christmas might seem strange, but in fact this movement had a lot to do with reaching back for a more stable and generous world. This grew because of the suffering and upheaval of the post-Waterloo era. Leigh Hunt was owner and editor of a publication called
The Examiner
, and it was there he wrote articles, both political and sentimental.

In response to one about Christmas, a lady wrote a letter to the Examiner.

"I feel unwilling to intrude upon your valuable time, yet I cannot refrain from thanking you for your cheering attempts to enforce a due observance of this delightful season." She goes on to thank them on her own behalf; on behalf of boys released from school for Christmas holidays; and on behalf of the poor who need charity. "I have, under this feeling, been for some days past busily employed in preparing for passing Christmas worthily. My beef and mincemeat are ready, (of which, with some warm garments, my poor neighbors will partake,) and my holly and mistletoe gathered; for I heartily approve of your article, and am of the opinion that to the false refinement of modern times may be traced the loss of that primitive and pure simplicity which characterized "other times." A wife, a mother, and an Englishwoman. December 21st 1818

This movement gathered steam and reached full speed in the 1830s with Dickens, first with Pickwick, and then with
A Christmas Carol
.

So, what was Christmas like through most of our Regency period? My reading suggests that it was still celebrated in many local, rustic ways, but that among the gentry it was a mostly religious festival marked by a good meal with friends and charity to the poor.

In Jane Austen’s
Emma,
we are told, "At Christmas everybody invites their friends about them, and people think little of even the worst weather." Many of the traditions we now associate with it had been practiced in the past, but were now considered rustic. The "false refinement" referred to above.

William Holland, a rural parson, kept a diary from 1799 to 1818. His records of Christmas show a pattern. Apart from his presiding over two or more services in his different local parishes, he and his family were woken early in the morning by musicians (wassailers – see below), then held a kind of open house in their kitchen for various local people who were perhaps charity cases, as well as hosting a meal for friendly neighbors.

Charity was an important feature of the day for Holland, and it seems to have been traditional for him to give a gift to each person attending service. Later in his period this was wheat, perhaps because of the high price of wheat then. Christmas Eve was also a time for widespread charity to the poor.

It is hard, however, to decide quite how most people celebrated Christmas, for perhaps some did hold to older ways like Squire Bracebridge and, particularly after 1815, some would have been in the forefront of the Christmas revival. From Jane Austen above, we have "silk and gold paper", which suggests decorations, and the "Christmas fire" which might have been a Yule log.

So, here are some of the Christmas traditions that might have been present in some places at Christmas in the Regency.

One feature that crops up often in many sources is the traditional use of greenery, and this seems to have been retained by many. The traditional greenery of Christmas, going back to the middle ages, comprised rosemary, bay, holly, laurel, and mistletoe. Along with the aspects of fire and light in the darkest days, evergreens were either fertility symbols, symbols of eternal life, or both.

A poem from 1825 goes as follows.

"
Bring me a garland of holly,

Rosemary, ivy, and bays;

Gravity's nothing but folly,

Till after the Christmas Day."

1825 is after the regency, but Louis Simond, a traveler in
England in 1810 noted the greenery in all the cottages at Christmas, so it was a custom among the simpler people. It was, however, apparently considered unlucky to bring greenery into the house before Christmas Eve, so this would have been a Christmas Eve or Christmas Day ceremony for those who observed it.

Mistletoe, of course, was the other traditional plant with roots back into the Dark Ages and Druid magic.

This poem is from December 1826

The Mistletoe.

Sweet emblem of returning peace

The heart's full gush and love's release

Spirits in human fondness flow

And greet the pearly mistletoe.

Many a maiden's cheek is red

By lips and laughter thither led;

And fluttering bosoms come and go

Under the Druid mistletoe

Dear is the memory of a theft

When love and youth and joy are left;--

The passion's blush, the rose's glow,

Accept the Cupid mistletoe

Oh! Happy tricksome time of mirth

Giv'n to the stars of sky and earth!

May all the best of feeling know,

The custom of the mistletoe.

Spread out the laurel and the bay,

For chimney piece and window gay:

Scour the brass gear -- a shining row,

And holly place with mistletoe.

Married and single, proud and free,

Yield to the season, trim with glee:

Time will not stay -- he cheats us so --

A kiss? -- 'tis gone -- the mistletoe.

The last line refers to the custom of plucking a berry every time a kiss was stolen beneath the kissing bough. Once the berries were gone, the practice was over.

The earlier mistletoe bough was simply a collection of branches tied together with ribbons and hung from the ceiling. By Victorian times, however, it had become a complex construction. Five circles of wire were joined together to form a globe, and evergreens were bound around the wires. Apples were hung in the center and there could also be candles fixed. A large bunch of mistletoe was hung beneath.

It could also be decorated with paper flowers. As there would be few flowers available in December in England, paper flowers might have been popular Christmas decorations.

I've not found any mention of an actual Yule log in a regency source, though as I said, it's possible that Jane Austen's "Christmas fire" referred to it. Most Regency fireplaces would not be big enough for a real Yule log, which was brought in on Christmas Eve and lit, and was expected to last through the twelve days of Christmas. It was lit from a piece of last year's log and is a clear remnant from the pre-Christian festival of Yule, the midwinter ceremony of fire and light. As we can see from Austen, however, the connection of Christmas with a roaring fire was alive and well.