The Folklore Society’s Advent Calendar 2024, Part 2

— Posted on 9th December 2024

19th-century German Advent Calendar with 24 small images of children's toys & other Xmas themes, and the Kristkind (Christ Child) in the centre

For The Folklore Society’s Advent Calendar 2024, Part 3, December 15th to 21st, go to: https://folklore-society.com/blog-post/the-folklore-societys-advent-calendar-2024-part-3/

14th December

Gingerbread:

‘Spice cakes for Xmas + Parkin in November are the chief Yorkshire cakes I Know, + used to have with Wakefield gingerbread + batch-cakes when as a girl I used to visit at Hospitable Wakefield.’

(Folklore Society Archives, Letter from Lucy Toulmin-Smith to Alice Gomme, 18 Aug 1891. Transcript thanks to the Beyond Notability project; Toulmin-Smith and Gomme feature in their database: https://beyondnotability.org/)

You can find a recipe for Wakefield Gingerbread here: https://traditional-yorkshire-recipes.info/wakefield-gingerbread/

2 gingerbread figures beside a gingerbread house with roof covered in sweets, and a gingerbread dog and gingerbread Christmas tree; photo Wikimedia Commons — Gingerbread folk and gingerbread house (Wikimedia Commons)

13th December

Lights for St Lucy’s Day: Bake a St Lucia bread crown, topped with candles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ7Fh4f6VTQ
(pertinent btl comment: ‘Can i have this kake i bake on my Heed?’).

And while you’re baking, sing or hum along to this Swedish song ‘Sankta Lucia ljusklara hägring’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrXU1g8K-gI

More about St Lucy traditions in Scandinavia: https://www.scandinavianarchaeology.com/the-tradition-of-lucia-and-the-bringer-of-light/

Early 16th-century Painting of St Lucy wearing a green robe with a red cloak, and halo. In her right hand, she holds a lamp with a pair of eyeballs resting on it--both the lamp and the eyes are attributes of St Lucy as patron saint of blind people, with reference to medieval legends about her martyrdom; painting in the Musee des Beaux Arts, Nancy (Meurthe-et-Moselle), attributed to Pseudo-Giovenone (around 1510); via Wikimedia Commons — St Lucy with her lamp and eyes (Wikimedia Commons)

12th December

Decorations: ‘… Our Mistletow bush was quite “a golden bough” decorated with oranges + coloured ribbons + it hung till shrove Tuesday when the pancakes were supposed to be cooked over it.’ (Folklore Society Archives; Dorothea Townshend, letter to The Folklore Society, of 1 February 1897; Townshend is listed in the ‘Beyond Notability’ database: https://beyond-notability.wikibase.cloud/wiki/Item:Q1066).

According to its label at The Pitt Rivers Museum, the object in the centre of the photo is a ‘Silvered and stoppered bottle said to contain a witch, obtained about 1915 from an old lady living in a village near Hove, Sussex. She remarked “and they do say there be a witch in it and if you let un out there it be a peck o’ trouble.” Donated by Miss M.A. Murray. 1926.6.1’

But while we were taking this photo of it a few years ago, a curator muttered, ‘it’s probably a Victorian Christm

11th December

Christmas tree: ♪ while Grinches flinch, and Scrooges sneer, we’ll put our Christmas tree up here ♪

On Christmas trees and the Upminster Christmas tree festival 2024, see https://www.plant-lore.com/news/upminster-christmas-tree-festival-2/

2 photos: left one shows the exterior of Upminster Methodist Church with signboards saying 'Christmas tree festival'; right photo shows the interior of the church with a display of 4 or 5 small decorated Christmas trees on tables — Upminster Christmas tree festival, December 2024; photos Roy Vickery

10th December

Cake!

Here’s ‘How to Make A Christmas Cake – The Victorian Way’, a video made by English Heritage during lockdown in 2020: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLFvA_ozB54. The comments under the video are worth a read too.

10 December was the Eve of St Obert (St Aubert in France), some time patron saint of Bakers/Baxters in Scotland who had altars in his name in churches in Edinburgh, St Andrews and Dundee (Banks, British Calendar Customs: Scotland, vol. III, p.194.).

And, in Perth, at some point before 1845, there was a St Obert’s Eve celebration with a folk play of some sort.

‘St Obert was the patron saint of the corporation or calling of the Bakers, whether a real or an imaginary being, is uncertain. But believing him to have been a real being, they were accustomed to honour him by holding an annual festival, at which a play was performed, known by the name of Saint Obert’s Play. On the 10th December, a number of people assembled at even, called “Saint Obert’s Eve.” They attired themselves in disguise dresses, and passed through the city piping and dancing, and striking drums, and carrying in their hands burning torches. One of the actors was clad in a particular kind of coat, which they designated the Devils Coat, and another rode upon a horse, having on its feet men’s shoes. There is no account extant of its minute particulars [but, from the manner in which the kirk session and the corporation officials dealt with the performers, it appears to have been idolatrous, profane, and immoral in its tendency].’ New Statistical Account of Scotland Perth, Perthshire (b) X.80’

(Folklore Society Archives, Ordish Collection; scan & transcript at https://archives.vwml.org/records/TFO/2/5/50; Ordish omitted the square-bracketed words from his notes from his source: see https://libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk/statacc/tag/customs/)

Photo of a Christmas cake with royal icing, decorated with: 5 silver Christmas trees, a small model of a snow-covered cottage, a snowman bigger than the house, 4 plastic reindeer, reindeer hoofprints in the icing and 4 lumps of brown cake representing reindeer droppings

9th December

Mummers’ costumes: Palhaço da Folia de Reis (‘Clown of 3 Kings’ Day’) figure from Brazil, given to The Folklore Society by Affonso Silva, 2014.

22cm painted plastic figure of a Brazilian 'Clown of 3 Kings' Day') wearing brightly coloured tatters, a horned and long-bearded mask, a conical hat and holding a stick — Palhaço da Folia de Reis (‘Clown of 3 Kings’ Day’); photo Claire Collins

Brazilian Three Kings’ Day mummers perform during the period from 24 December to Epiphany: watch them in action here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO7kLkyrzoo

Doc Rowe sent us this photo of the Marshfield Paper Boys in their traditional Boxing Day costumes:

rear view of about 7 people walking up the middle of a road wearing tattered costumes made of coloured shreds of paper — Marshfield Paper Boys; photo Doc Rowe

And here’s Doc filming Goldsmiths Students wearing brown paper tatters in their 2019 mumming play for modern times (in which the poor old ‘oss died from overwork at Amazon)

man with a moustache & glasses & a large camera filming young people mummer's costumes of tattered brown paper — Doc Rowe filming Goldsmiths students’ mumming play, 2019

For more on mumming costumes, visit: https://www.efdss.org/learning/resources/beginners-guides/34-english-folk-costume/2472-efdss-section-11-mumming

For part 1 of The Folklore Society Advent Calendar 2024, December 1st to 8th, go to: https://folklore-society.com/blog-post/the-folklore-societys-advent-calendar-2024/