Christmas traditions in the UK: pantomimes, carols and the Queen’s message.

Dear friends,

Christmas is coming! Only two weeks are left. It‘s undoubtedly my favourite holiday and time of the year.

The Christmas and New Year holiday seasons bring with them many traditions all over the world. Even people who consider themselves to be anti-religious quite happily wish each other a “Happy Christmas” or a “Merry Christmas”.

Hence, I will devote my future blogs of December to Christmas and the New Year traditions in the UK, France and Italy. And today I will start with England and with a popular theatrical tradition called pantomime (often shortened to “panto”), staged in hundreds of theatres in the UK at Christmas and specifically designed to appeal to children. It usually involves the acting out of a well-known folk tale (for example: Cinderella, Aladdin, Snow White, etc.) with plenty of opportunity for audience participation. It is a peculiarly British tradition of winter musical comedy theatre.

---

Source: gla.ac.uk

British pantomime has very deep roots, drawing on the 15th and 16th century traditions of Italian Commedia del Arte for an assortment of stock characters and other conventions. For example, the cast includes a “principal boy” (the young hero), who is always played by a woman, and a “dame” (an older female character), who is always played by a man. 

Over the centuries it has developed into a festive entertainment that is still beloved by modern audiences. The continuing popularity of pantomime is assisted by the fact that these leading roles are today frequently taken by well-known personalities from the worlds of television or sport. 

Together with pantomimes, a very common tradition in England is carol singing. Every year at Christmas time, carols are sung outside in the street, at home, in the supermarket, you can hear them everywhere. Just for curiosity, the word carol comes from the Greek word choros meaning a "band of singers and dancers". 

For many centuries carols had little or no religious content and were simply ancient songs that were sung in midwinter. Early carols were celebratory and fun. So, before the invention of the printing press, carols were a way to communicate the Christmas story and pass it from one generation to another.

---

Source: en.wikipedia.org

One of the most popular traditional carols in England is called Twelve Days of Christmas. During the holiday season, it is heard everywhere from shopping malls to television commercials to church functions.

If you don’t know the song, it tells the story of a series of increasingly impressive gifts given, I  think, by a man to the woman he loves, one on each day, for 12 days! You can listen to it here:

---

---

Everywhere you go, you can hear about Two Turtle Doves, Seven Swans-a-Swimming and Eleven Pipers Piping. But what does any of this mean? What does a song about doves, hens and geese have to do with Christmas?

Well, many people have asked that question, and there are many answers.

The lyrics of the song were first published in England in 1780 and its music was first included in a book of nursery rhyme tunes called Mirth about Mischief in 1842 but it is thought that the carol was sung for a long time before that.

The 12 gifts have been associated with the 12 months of the year, each gift relating to the English climate of that month. There is also an idea that the song was a way for young Catholics to remember religious doctrine at a time when Catholicism in England was discouraged.  As a matter of fact, from the 16th to the 19th century, being a Catholic was a crime in Protestant England, children would sing this song to profess their forbidden faith. The partridge and the pear tree was Jesus Christ, the four calling birds were the four gospels, the pipers piping were the eleven faithful apostles, and so on. But there is no proof of that.

Finally, one Christmas ritual not drawn from an ancient tradition is the British monarch's broadcast on Christmas day. The tradition began in 1932 when King George V read a special speech written by Rudyard Kipling. The broadcast was an enormous success. It began, "I speak now from my home and from my heart, to you all...".

Queen Elizabeth II continues the tradition to this day. Every year she broadcasts her message on Christmas Day, and it is heard by millions of people all over the world. In England most people watch or listen to it whilst digesting their Christmas Dinner!

However, if for many people Christmas is a period of fun and happiness, for many others, it is a time of sorrow. They don't have the extra money to buy presents for their children, family, and friends. “Turkey dinners” may be only a wish and not a reality.

My thoughts go to these people and I really hope the power and happiness of Christmas will reach any house of the world.

Merry Christmas to everybody.

Teacher Barbara