“A Regency Christmas”, Zoom talk by Julie Hickey

      The Spirit of Christmas flew in to the Society yesterday with Julie Hickey’s talk on “A Regency Christmas” in which she referred to the writing and life of Jane Austen. Christmas was celebrated from 6th December to the 6th January, with many parties, balls, and visits from friends and relatives. We were tantalised by the copious amounts of food, including confectionery which had become more available due to the import of large amounts of sugar from the slave plantations.

     On the 21st December (St Thomas) food and money were given to the poor who came to the door. The ‘Christmas bough’ was brought into the house on Christmas Eve with other greenery such as laurel and rosemary, and the Yule log was lit. George lll and Queen Charlotte introduced the idea of a decorated tree for their children, and this became popular spreading the custom to the middle classes. Midnight mass was attended on Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day could involve a lengthy Church sermon at the service.

     Christmas Day food could include turkey or goose for the rich, or a decorated pig’s head, but for less wealthy people there would be the ‘Christmas Pie’, either what we would refer to as a ‘stand pie’, or a mince pie made with meat, suet and sweetened with currants. There were blancmanges and jellies for dessert; and rice pudding was a particular treat since it included milk and cream. The Hunt would gather early on Boxing Day. Servants got their Christmas ‘boxes’ then and were able to celebrate with their families; alms were distributed to the poor.

     Twelfth Night (6th January) was celebrated with parties and games. ‘Lords of Misrule’ could be chosen to oversee the celebrations, and there might be fancy dress parties, with each person being given a character to dress as. There were parlour games like Snapdragon, (plucking raisins from a bowl of flaming brandy) and card games. A decorated rich cake was enjoyed – the origin of our Christmas cake.

     Julie pointed out that the usual rules of Society were relaxed during Christmas with people enjoying the fun of parlour games, and customs such as kissing under the mistletoe. As we are preparing for a very different Christmas this year, it was a pleasure to learn from Julie how people celebrated during the Regency period, and how many customs from then we still enjoy.