Reading the Regency

The Twelve Days of Christmas - part 1

"With what punctual zeal did they wish one another a merry Christmas! and what an omission would it have been thought to have concluded a letter without the compliments of the season!"
[The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Volume 4, pub. 1824]

Originally, the early Britons celebrated Yuletide, which occurred over December and January. As Christianity became established, the yule was condensed and adopted into the church calendar as Christmastide. The official Christmas holiday began on Christmas eve and lasted for twelve days. These are the "Twelve Days of Christmas" that inspired the now-familiar Christmas carol.

In the early 19th century, no business would be conducted on Christmas Day. For many workers who were not house servants, Christmas day was their only guaranteed day off all year. Because of this, it was not unknown for the working classes to get married on Christmas day.

The depths of winter was also a convenient time for agricultural workers to celebrate a holiday. The ground was often frozen hard and snow would have made working in the fields difficult. Those employees in towns and cities, with no similar excuse for avoiding work, would only have Christmas Day and Twelfth Night to enjoy themselves.

When the British Parliament went into recess over Christmas, the Lords and Members of Parliament would retire to their homes in the country to celebrate the holiday. Christmas seems to have been considered more of a countryside holiday than one enjoyed by townsfolk.

Christmas in Decline

While researching this subject, I came across many sad observations of how some elements of Christmas, common during the 18th century, had died out in parts of the country, As early as 1803, one book refers to the inhabitants eating plum cake and mince pies as the only evidence of Christmas:

"This is the only way in which these festivals are celebrated; and if the children had not an interest in keeping it up, even this would soon be disused. All persons say how differently this season was observed in their father's days and speak of old ceremonies and old festivities as things which are obsolete."
[January 2nd 1803, Letters from England, by Robert Southey, writing as Don Manuel Alvarez Esparilla, vol 3, pub. 1808]

In 1813, articles were published that described the old customs of Christmas, suggesting that while many of those customs lingered in parts of the countryside, they were no longer universally practised. Towards the end of the Regency period, beginning around 1817, efforts were made to reclaim some of the old fashioned Christmas spirit that older people remembered from their childhood.

One person who helped to bring Christmas back was the American writer Washington Irving. He had been living in England since 1815 and included some of the countryside traditions he'd (allegedly) experienced during his travels in "The sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent", published in 1819 and 1820. Although some readers at the time questioned whether all the events he'd described were really still practised, his rosy descriptions of the family Christmas at Bracebridge Hall contributed to the revival of many old traditions.

The Twelve Days of Christmas

Those who celebrated Christmas between 1790 and 1820 in the United Kingdom would have been familiar with these particular dates on the calendar:

24th December - Christmas Eve - the first day when people readied themselves for Christmas, by decorating their houses and preparing food. Decorating the house before this day was considered bad luck. Guests travelling from other parts of the country might arrive on the 24th. Church bells were often rung on this night.