![]() The holly and the ivy are also of course synonymous with Christmas, appearing in songs across the years and as decorations in homes across the country. As Britannia and Eve relates, ‘During Saturnalia, it was the tradition and convention for friends to exchange gifts.’ The Everlasting Appeal of Evergreens Chronicler Raphael Holinshed describes how, at Christmastime, ‘there is is alwayes one appointed to make sporte at courte called commonly lorde of misrule.’ Sometimes a person belonging to the lower classes, the Lord of Misrule’s job was to oversee and facilitate wild revelries and drunkenness.Īnd whilst the idea of social reversal has long since died out from our celebrations of Christmas, another preserve of Saturnalia remains – presents. ‘Every thing was out of nature and propriety’ | The Atlas | 3 January 1830Īnd this clear disruption of social norms perhaps influenced the establishment of the position of the Lord of Misrule in Medieval and Tudor times. Mummers celebrating Christmas in the north of England, according to an 1830 piece in The Atlas, would change ‘clothes between the men and the women.’ Once they were ‘dressed in each other’s habits’ they would ‘go from one neighbour’s house to another, and partake of their Christmas cheer, and make merry with them in disguise, by dancing and singing, and such like merriments.’ This notion of social reversal is something that carried into early English Christmas celebrations. Saturnalia | Britannia and Eve | 1 December 1932 Held ‘ towards the end of December…Saturnalia fell at the completion of the agricultural labour of the year and consequently every business was interrupted.’ Saturnalia was famed for the ‘complete social reversal’ that it permitted, with the rigid distinctions between masters and slaves expunged for the duration of the festival. ![]() ![]() Want to learn more? Register now and explore The Archive From Saturnalia to The Lord of MisruleĬhief amongst the precursors for Christmas was Saturnalia, a festival observed in Roman times. In this special blog, using articles taken from the rich pages of the British Newspaper Archive, we take a look at how our Christmas traditions have evolved through time, with Druid, Roman and Norse influences. Our familiar Christmas customs – decorating our houses with holly and ivy, enjoying chocolate yule logs and giving presents – have, for the most part, their origins in ancient pagan practices.
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