The Christmas tree is one of those Christmas traditions that seems to most to be the most important decoration in the house. It is actually only a quite modern tradition in history and has only really been in practice since Victoria and Albert released an image of them and their children around their own Christmas tree. This is an old custom in Germany where Albert was from and also where Victorias family originated from.
As a nation, we are a people who like to “keep up with the Joneses”. A mentality that like to have what the upper class has and as such it only took a few short years for the Christmas tree to be the expected decoration in every home.
This mentality isn’t a modern concept, we have been doing this for 1000’s of years. We copy and embrace what the ruling classes have done. The Romans celebrated Saturnalia, a holiday dedicated to Saturn, the god of Plenty at the winter solstice and also celebrated the birth of the sun god Mithras on December 25th ( the date of the solstice in that part of the world)
Its easy to see throughout history, people adopting traditions from the various invading countries that have settled on our little island. The tradition of bringing evergreens into the house dates back into early history as back then, when everything looks as though it is dead, its a welcome sight to see the green of a plant that still looks as though there is still life on the earth.
As the tradition has taken off, more and more people are wanting a real tree in their homes. Most people will buy a cut Christmas tree and keep it in their home over Christmas then have the not so fun job of wrestling a dry, dead tree from their home leaving a shower of needles in their wake. Not only is this a real nuisance, but is so wasteful and not good for the environment. This was the reason my father in law started growing Christmas trees in a pot that can be brought in, looked after like a house plant and put back outside after Christmas. Not only does this mean that the tree stays living and therefore good for the environment, but it doesn’t shed needles like a dead tree, smells better and isn’t a terrifying fire risk like a crispy dead pine tree can be. He has been doing this for over 20 years and has become pretty popular around here. Also ironically he is called Rudolf and I honestly don’t think he could have a better name, although most people know him as Rudie. Rudies Roots nursery has become a growing family business and the next generation is eager to learn the business too.
Mistletoe is another tradition that is much older in its roots. There are traditions from Norse mythology as well as the medieval custom of the kissing bow. This was a ball made from various berry baring evergreens such as Holly and Mistletoe and for every kiss under the kissing bow, you removed a berry. When all the berries were gone, so were the kisses.
Today, we still bring in evergreens at the winter solstice in the form of Christmas decorations, whether they are real living plants or artificial, the effect is still just as beautiful. The poinsettia was introduced in 1828 by the United states minister to Mexico, Joel Roberts Poinsett and made its way over to Europe by 1834. It has now become one of the most popular Christmas ‘flower’ decorations we have. Although it is actually the leaves and not a bloom that makes the red ‘flower’ it is very sensitive to drafts so not really something that should be a Christmas decoration in this country, we have grabbed onto it and love it all the same.
Another custom we have taken from the USA is our replacement of the goose for Christmas dinner to a Turkey. Goose was the traditional bird eaten at Christmas for a long time, before that a Ham or Boars head was eaten at Christmas. Nowadays we are shocked if there isn’t turkey on our Christmas table.
Don’t worry, Maverick here is my wing man and pet so he won’t be gracing our Christmas table. He is, however self isolating as the government have requested due to bird flu so you won’t be seeing my feathery lawn mower out on the farm for a little while.
I hope you all have the Merriest of Christmases and enjoy your evergreens you have in your houses.
Merry Christmas
Sam x