11^th December 2024

After a seasonal treat of mince pies and wine the final Bristol HA lecture of 2024 began with almost a hundred in the audience.  Professor Hutton was on splendid form as he laid forth his History of Christmas in three elegant parts.  Firstly, he established the typical views and customs of Christmas that most British historians had believed existed in the 1970s.  The Christmas Carol, the yule log, the Christmas Card for example and how historians including himself now believed these midwinter customs had actually developed. He explained the need for a mid-winter festival of presents, lights and feasting as essential for surviving the bleak mid-winter across Europe and beyond.  The Christmas Carol had actually begun as a 13^th century dance and while the dance had died out the music continued.  He traced the origins of mistletoe and holly for decoration.  Servants had initiated the custom of kissing under the mistletoe only to be copied by their employers.  The merging of Santa Claus with the longer established Father Christmas and the giving of presents to children were also explored. He got his audience involved as he recited Clement Clark Moore’s The Night before Christmas. The undoubted influence of German customs and especially Prince Albert and Queen Victoria’s erection of a Christmas Tree were also brought into the picture.

One of the key themes was the element of misrule with servants and peasants entertaining the more powerful with customs such as the Boy Bishop, wassailing, men dressing up as women and the association of antlers and reindeer with Christmas.  The final third of the lecture was the most dramatic, exploring the ancient part of Christmas customs going back to pre-Christian and pagan traditions.  He also demonstrated that within thirty years of the establishment of the 25^th December as the date of Christmas St Gregory was already complaining in 381 AD that the true meaning of Christmas was being lost by excessive feasting and partying.  He ended by tracking backwards from the shopping malls of our own times, through the period of Victorian Christmas customs to the mysterious Christmas traditions of the previous two millennia. The Bristol HA audience responded with lively questions including the links to pantomime and the role of Coca Cola in establishing Santa’s appearance in red.