Christmas and New Year Traditions & Trivia

The celebration of New Year's day varies according to the district. In the south of England, the festival of Christmas, lasting 12 days from December 25th, runs on well into the New Year. The decorations of coloured streamers and holly, put up round the walls, and of course the fir- tree, with its candles or lights, are not packed away until January 5th.

On the evening of December 31st, people gather in one another's homes, in clubs, in pubs, in restaurants, and hotels, in dance halls and institutes, to "see the New Year in". There is usually a supper of some kind, and a cabaret, or light entertainment. The bells chime at midnight. The people join crossed hands, and sing "Auld lang syne", a song of remembrance.

From old English Cristes maesse (Christ’s Mass), older still, Yule, from the Germanic root geol. The traditional Christmas is not a single day but a prolonged period, normally from 24th December to 6th January. This included the New Year, thus increasing the festival value of Christmas.

When Christmas was first established it was to be a prayerful observance. Old English; Cristes maesse or Mass of Christ. A fourth century theologian wrote: "We hold this day holy, not like the pagans because of the birth of the sun, but because of him who made it." In Spanish it’s La Natividad, in French it’s Noel.

Bells An early pagan winter celebration of ringing of bells to drive out evil spirits. Later the tradition began of ringing bells on Christmas Eve to welcome in the spirit of Christmas with joyful noise. In Norway bells are still rang through out the country on Christmas Eve at 5pm.

In Yorkshire, England on Christmas Eve, a bell is rung once for each year that has passed since the birth of Christ. In Medieval times, people believed that ringing church bells would get rid of lightning during thunderstorms. It was an unfortunate superstition for bell ringers. In 33 years lightning stuck 386 church steeples and 103 bell ringers died.

Cards Began with school children drawing pictures of biblical scenes and a message like Happy Holidays and I promise to be good, etc., and giving these to their parents before Christmas.