24th Dec. : Christmas Eve
Happy birthday Jesus. Photo William Couch (CC BY-NC-ND).
Xmas pudding. Photo Stephen McGrath (CC BY-NC-ND).
Christmas lights in Glasgow. Photo Aaron Bassett (CC BY-NC-ND).
The date has been fixed on the night between 24th and 25th December, years of the Christian era are counted from this date. A recalculation brought up an error of about 6 years, but the calendar was not corrected accordingly.
There are many traditions linked with Christmas in the British isles and in Englishspeaking countries.
Singing of Christmas carols, decorating the home with holly, ivy, and other evergreens. A mistletoe kissing bough will be hung for good luck. A Yule log will be burnt in the hearth.
At 3pm on 24th Dec Christmas eve at King's College Chapel in Cambridge is a traditional carol service called A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols.
On the day before the feast English people ate a special porridge made from corn meal, called frumenty. Over the years the recipe became richer, eggs, dried fruit, spices, lumps of meat and dried plums were added. The mixture was formed by hand into a ball then wrapped in a cloth and boiled for several hours. Plum pudding is prepared long in advance, one will be eaten on Christmas day, another will be kept for eating later.
During Christmastide, children go carolling from house to house at twilight ringing handbells and singing Christmas songs. The Holly and the Ivy and Hark! The Herald Angels Sing are favourites. People thank the carollers with treats, such as little pies filled with nuts and dried fruits.
On the evening before Christmas, children hang empty socks or pillowcases from their beds or from the chimney hoping that Father Christmas, a good old man wearing a green or red long coat, will fill them with presents. They write letters to Father Christmas, and throw them into the chimney fire that will bring the wishes to him.
Father Christmas lives at the North Pole and travels to the rest of the world in a sledge drawn by reindeers, the front deer is called Rudolph, he shows the way in the dark with his shiny red nose. Everybody used to find him ridiculous, but on Christmas night he is the leader.
Then everyone gathers around the decorated evergreen firtree and the favourite story, A Christmas Carol. by Charles Dickens, will be read aloud. There are special television programmes for Christmas with lots of singing and beautiful traditional music.
