The Wren is a bird with a rather unfortunate connection to Christmas.
There is an old Irish legend that claims that when St Stephen was imprisoned,
he would have made good his escape had it not been for the chirping of the
Wrens.
As a result, from that day forward in Ireland every St Stephen’s day,
December 26th, in a ceremony called “the Wren massacre” Wrens were
stoned to death.
The practice of using small candles to decorate Christmas tree’s is said to date back to the middle of the 17th century in Germany.
However,
it was to be 150 years before the custom became firmly established.
In
the beginning the candles were made of tallow, derived from animal fat, which
gave off equal amounts of smoke and odor.
There
was also the risk of the tree catching fire although tree’s were normally cut
fresh of Christmas eve and therefore more difficult to ignite however a bucket
of water always stood by the tree just in case.
The
first candles were glued to the branches with wax but eventually candleholders
appeared and then an American called Frederick Artz invented a candle holder
made of tin with a tray to catch the drips of wax and a spring clip to attach
it to the branch.
A
Christmas tree was lit by electricity for the first time in New York in 1882 when
Edward Johnson, a colleague of Thomas Edison, lit a Christmas tree with a
string of 80 small electric light bulbs which he had made himself.
As
the bulbs were all handmade, they were two expensive to be commercially viable
however by 1900 some large stores put up large illuminated trees to attract
customers.
It
was in 1903 when The Every Ready Company of New York began to make strings of
28 lights which cost the equivalent of a week’s wages.
It
wasn’t until 1927 when the General Electric Company of America produced strings
of miniature bulbs like we get today.
The Robin although synonymous with Christmas in most people’s minds has in fact no connection to the Christmas story whatsoever.
So,
what is the reason that the Robin has managed to ingrain itself into our
Christmas consciousness.
I
think it’s probably because the Robin’s select their mates in December, so
their birdsong is at its best and the male’s plumage is at its brightest while
all the other
Birds
are dull and quiet.
If you like schmaltzy then this is for you.
An
unfulfilled newspaper reporter Rebecca Chandler (Jennie Garth) is looking
forward to a Hawaiian Christmas getaway with her fiancé Ryan but she gets
dumped instead.
Then
to add insult on to injury her editor dumps the annual romantic non-news feel good
story on her which she reluctantly accepts.
She
is sent to the small-town of Hamden in pursuit of the elusive Secret Santa who
every year bestows whatever is desired by a needy recipient.
She
is dogged by bad luck along the way when her car breaks down and the only
lodgings she can get are at a home for the elderly where she meets Miss Ruthie
(Barbara Billingsley) who tries to revive her Christmas spirit.
From
there Rebecca pursues Mr. John Martin Carter (Steven Eckholdt) the rich local
philanthropist whom she supposes to be the Secret Santa.
A
definite feel-good movie.
My mate is planning a trip to Lapland
As
his kids really want to go
He
would prefer elves landing on his lap
At
Santa’s Village bar à gogo
Her Majesty the Queen
Decorates
her own Christmas Tree
And
at Balmoral Castle this year
She
awarded it an OBE
The feast of St Nicholas is widely celebrated though what they believe and the way it is celebrated varies from place to place for example in the Czech Republic they believe on the eve of St. Nicholas Day the Angels lower St. Nicholas, or Svaty Mikuláš, down to earth on a rope of gold and he carries a basket of apples, nuts, and candies for the children.
He
is accompanied by a devil rattling his chains who comes to carry off the bad
children and a sweet angel who pleads for them.
While
in Slovenia the night before the Feast of St. Nicholas, children put a shoe
outside the door in the hope it will be filled with various treats of fruit, sweets,
or money.
Here
the saint is accompanied by the devilish Parkel who might leave coal for the
naughty children, more often than not, a mixture of the two are left as most
children are good and bad.
On
the night of December 5th in Romania, boots are carefully polished
to be put by the door or by the window to wait for the visit of Sfantul Nicolae.
In
Bulgaria Nikulden is a great winter festival when Bulgarians celebrate St
Nikolay, the protector of sailors and fishermen.
St.
Nicholas or Svaty Mikul arrives
in many Slovakian towns and villages, in a horse drawn coach, along with an
angel and the devil who rattles a chain and on St. Nicholas Eve all the
children polish their boots to leave on the windowsill or at the
doorstep and in the morning, they hope to find nice surprises and not the
dreaded coal.
Hungarian
children must polish their best boot and put it on the windowsill to be filled
by St. Nicholas, Szent Mikulás.
The
good saint comes with a big sack full of presents and a large record book
containing the children's good and bad deeds. He has his two helpers, the good
angel who helps give out presents and the mischief making devil.
And
In the morning the good children hope to find candies, tangerines, walnuts,
apples, dates and chocolate Mikulás figures.
St.
Nicholas, called in Poland Sw. Mikolaj,
is a saintly, dignified figure in Poland; he descends from Heaven with an angel
helper, and travels in a sleigh pulled by a white horse as he visits homes in
the countryside.
In
parts of the Caribbean like Aruba and Antilles where the Dutch settled the
celebrations still involves SinterKlaas sailing into harbor from Spain with his
white horse and a collection of helpers, one of these helpers is Zwarte Piet or
black Peter who is ready to put the naughty children in his sack and carry them
back to Spain.
But
in Curaçao however and reflecting changing times, the "horse" is more
symbolic and Sinterklaas rides in a white Ford Mustang!
So,
from being lowered from heaven on a golden rope to riding in a Ford Mustang it can’t
get much more diverse than that.
