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The Brandon blood is dark with lies and treachery and as it flows through my heart, my vow is this: they will all pay.’
Christmas is a time for celebrating, relaxing, spending time with loved ones and remembering the Christmas story. Our love of festivities is as mixed as those of previous centuries with the religious and the non-religious combining to make a celebration where everyone is welcome, no matter their background or beliefs.
The winter festival of Alban Arthuran or Yule was celebrated on 21 December for millennia but with the arrival of the Romans in the fourth century and the gradual introduction of Christianity, the celebration moved a few days to 25 December. This was the date that coincided with the nine month span from Lady Day, 25 March, when the Virgin Mary was said to have received her vision from the angel Gabriel.
Ever since, the festivities surrounding the winter celebration have been a strange mix of the pagan and the religious and the Tudor times were no different. In my new book, The House of Echoes, the Tudor story begins at Christmas. My heroine, Anne Brandon, daughter of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, the best friend of Henry VIII, is at the palace for her first Christmas when she was included in the adult celebrations.
It is Christmas Eve in December 1521 and throughout the month, the Tudors had abstained from eating meat or dairy in preparation for Christmas. They had fasted until midday on Christmas Eve, when they attended the service of Sect, one of the seven ‘hours’ of the Catholic faith. After this, the fun and mayhem of the Twelve Days of Christmas could begin in earnest.
These Christmas celebrations were a series of feasts and festivals including Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the feast of St Stephen on 26 December where food was distributed to the poor and the feast of St John on 27 December. He was said to have miraculously survived drinking a glass of poisoned wine, to celebrate, wine was drunk in copious amounts in his memory.
There was also wassailing, the sharing of ale in the wassail cup and gift giving at New Year before a final feast and masques on Twelfth Night (5 January) before Epiphany was celebrated and Christmas was over for another year. All the events were overseen by a nominated Lord of Misrule. During this period, behavioural norms and strict etiquette were waived and hi-jinks abounded. In The Letters and Papers of Henry VIII it notes that one Christmas, Henry VIII hosted more than 1,000 people over the festive period and when he became bored at one of the feasts the king began throwing sugared plums at his guests.
During his first Christmas as king, Henry VIII spent £7,000 on Christmas celebrations. To give this some perspective, his father, Henry VII’s yearly budget for the entire royal household was £12,000.
When researching The House of Echoes, I discovered another of Henry VIII’s favourite Christmas Eve pastimes was becoming involved in the making of evergreen garlands to decorate whichever palace he was celebrating in. The courtiers were encouraged to help, even though the hard work had really been done in the weeks leading up to Christmas by the royal gardeners, botanists and assorted servants. This seemed a good scene to introduce Anne and her cohorts.
Anne is helping her friend, Margaret – Meg – More, the daughter of Sir Thomas More, Henry VIII’s dearest friend and advisor, to make traditional Christmas garlands.
While Anne and her friends weave the garlands, they discuss the meaning and myths behind the plants they used. The Tudors believed the hanging of evergreens was the best way to create good fortune and protect their homes but the timing of when to being them into the house was tricky. A tradition passed down by the Druids and still in belief during the Tudor times was that tree spirits dwelled in greenery and if they were indoors for too long during the dark days of midwinter they would become bored and cause mischief for the household. It was therefore unwise to bring evergreens inside before Christmas Eve.
Other traditional decorations included bay, rosemary, ivy, holly and mistletoe. Again, there were Druidic connections; the Druids had used mistletoe for healing during their midwinter ceremonies but as Anne explains to her friends, there was an another ancient legend. The Druids also believed that when enemies met under mistletoe they should lay down their arms and observe a truce until the next day. A ball of mistletoe would be hung in a prominent place to encourage harmony and friendship. This is where the custom of exchanging kisses under the mistletoe originated.
There were religious traditions around mistletoe too. It is the character of Meg More, daughter of the devout Thomas More, who informs her friends,
‘There are those who believe Christ’s cross was formed from wood of the mythical mistletoe tree,’ said Meg. ‘The legend says that as a punishment after the crucifixion the plant shrivelled and was forever more bound to being a parasitic vine, while the holly represents Christ’s crown of thorns. Although, there are many who claim his cross was made from holly wood. It’s suggested this has imbued it with protective qualities and is why it’s supposed to repel goblins.’
The other plants my characters weave into their garlands are ivy which kept its leave all year around and was thought to be associated with eternal life and bay leaves also known as laurel which symbolised courage and strength. In Roman and Greek mythology they used it to make their crowns. I was surprised by the inclusion of rosemary but there is an ancient legend that suggests rosemary was one of the plants placed in Jesus’s manger.
Like us, the Tudors mixed up their traditions to create a time of celebration, happiness and family. Whatever festivities you enjoy, I hope you have a wonderful, peaceful Christmas.
Alexandra Walsh
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About the Author
Alexandra Walsh is a bestselling author of the dual timeline women’s fiction. Her books range from the 15th and 16th centuries to the Victorian era and are inspired by the hidden voices of women that have been lost over the centuries. The Marquess House Saga offers an alternative view of the Tudor and early Stuart eras, while The Wind Chime and The Music Makers explore different aspects of Victorian society. Formerly, a journalist for over 25 years, writing for many national newspapers and magazines; Alexandra also worked in the TV and film industries as an associate producer, director, script writer and mentor for the MA Screen Writing course at the prestigious London Film School. She is a member of The Society of Authors and The Historical Writers Association. For updates and more information visit her website: www.alexandrawalsh.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter @purplemermaid25 and Bluesky @purplemermaid25.bsky.social
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