LL-L: "Holidays" LOWLANDS-L, 07.JAN.2000 (01) [E]
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Fri Jan 7 16:02:18 UTC 2000
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L O W L A N D S - L * 07.JAN.2000 (01) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: gvanmoor at aoc.nrao.edu
Subject: LL-L: "Holidays" LOWLANDS-L, 06.JAN.2000 (03) [E]
Reinhard wrote:
> Someone just asked me if I knew if and how extensively Twelfth Night is
> celebrated much in the British Isles. I was not sure but am assuming that
it
> survives in certain districts even where the population is predominantly
> Protestant. Perhaps some of you can shed some light on this.
>
> I suppose this holiday -- today! -- is also known as "Twelfth Day of
> Christmas," "The Day of the Magi," "Kings' Day," "Little Christmas" and
> "Epiphany," and is more commonly celebrated in Roman Catholic areas of
> Europe
In Bavaria, Dreiko"nige is an official holiday. Many schools etc.
close between Christmas and January 6.
Also, I believe that Twelfth Night is celebrated in Protestant
Sweden (but real Swedes may correct me on this.) In the Nether-
lands, at least in Protestant circles, it is mostly unknown.
Gustaaf
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From: Floor van Lamoen [f.v.lamoen at wxs.nl]
Subject: LL-L: "Holidays" LOWLANDS-L, 06.JAN.2000 (03) [E]
Dear Reinhard and LL-L-ers,
Happy new year, decade, age, millennium to all!
> From: R. F. Hahn [sassisch at yahoo.com]
> Subject: Holidays
>
> Dear Lowlanders,
>
> Someone just asked me if I knew if and how extensively Twelfth Night is
> celebrated much in the British Isles. I was not sure but am assuming that
it
> survives in certain districts even where the population is predominantly
> Protestant. Perhaps some of you can shed some light on this.
>
> I suppose this holiday -- today! -- is also known as "Twelfth Day of
> Christmas," "The Day of the Magi," "Kings' Day," "Little Christmas" and
> "Epiphany," and is more commonly celebrated in Roman Catholic areas of
> Europe. Someone just sent me an email message with Día de Reyes ("Kings'
> Day") wishes from Catalonia where people give and receive gifts today.
>
> Happy Holiday!
>
> Reinhard/Ron
In Dutch this day is known as "Driekoningen", but is not celebrated very
much, not even in Roman Catholic areas. However, traditionally, this is
the day the Christmas tree should be taken out.
Kind regards,
Floor.
----------
From: Pat Reynolds [pat at caerlas.demon.co.uk]
Subject: LL-L: "Holidays" LOWLANDS-L, 06.JAN.2000 (03) [E]
Twelfth Night is, in England, mostly observed only as 'the day on which
you have to take down Christmas decorations' - there is one exception:
at the Green Room of Drury Lane Theatre, after the evening performance,
a twelfth-night cake is eaten - a bequest of an actor who died in 1794
(Hutton, _Stations of the Sun_, 110-1).
The cake has, for the rest of us, been transferred to Christmas Day,
albeit sans kings or beans.
Best wishes,
Pat
>R. F. Hahn [sassisch at yahoo.com]
>Subject: Holidays
>
>Dear Lowlanders,
>
>Someone just asked me if I knew if and how extensively Twelfth Night is
>celebrated much in the British Isles. I was not sure but am assuming that it
>survives in certain districts even where the population is predominantly
>Protestant. Perhaps some of you can shed some light on this.
>
--
Pat Reynolds
pat at caerlas.demon.co.uk
"It might look a bit messy now, but just you come back in 500 years time"
(T. Pratchett)
----------
From: Family Lindley [john at lindley-york.freeserve.co.uk]
Subject: LL-L: "Holidays" LOWLANDS-L, 06.JAN.2000 (03) [E]
Hi
In England it gets the occasional mention - no very special mention is
made of it on our own church in York (Church of England) unless it
happens to be a Sunday.
I think that the conflation of the Christmas and New Year holidays, with many
taking the time between as leave, has led to a surfeit of free time and
anything
else gets squeezed out.
John LIndley
Wigginton
York.
----------
From: Ian J. L. Adkins [chairman at ipusa.org]
Subject: LL-L: "Holidays" LOWLANDS-L, 06.JAN.2000 (03) [E]
Hallo, Reinhard:
<< Someone just asked me if I knew if and how extensively Twelfth Night is
celebrated much in the British Isles. I was not sure but am assuming that it
survives in certain districts even where the population is predominantly
Protestant. Perhaps some of you can shed some light on this. >>
I don't know if this is much help or of any interest, and certainly a
different branch of
languages, however Russians celebrate Christmas on 6 January rather than 25
December. The reason it attributes (and I don't vouch for the accuracy of
this personally) had to do with Russia not adopting the Gregorian calendar
(versus the old Julian calendar) until after the Bolshevik
revolution. I just returned from calling on a Russian friend who is
celebrating both Christmas and
his birthday this eve.
----------
From: R. F. Hahn [sassisch at yahoo.com]
Subject: Holidays
Thanks for the information, folks.
It was interesting to hear that Twelfth Night is when Christmas decorations
tend to be taken down and away. Among Protestant North Germans that tends to
be done on New Year's Eve already. I remember older folks saying that there
must be no more trace of Christmas finery by New Year's Day, or else some type
of unspeakable evil would invade the home ... So, for us kids New Year's Eve
in the daytime used to be less than cheery: Christmas was leaving us, plus we
had to do chores taking ornaments down, getting rid of the tree, packing and
storing the decorations and cleaning the house. The bright spot would be that
we would get to eat the leftover edible tree ornaments (which, however, tended
to be a bit on the stale side by that time). And then it was time for New
Year's Eve with otherwise rare permission to stay up late and even get to
drink some red wine grog (i.e., something similar to _Glühwein_ but without
the spices, thus just hot water with some red wine and sugar in it -- the
younger the child the less wine). Some kids would also get permission to do
_Rummelpottlopen_, an activity similar to American trick-or-treating on
Halloween: going from door to door in fancy dress, singing a ditty or saying a
poem at each house and demanding to get treats. (Refusal would often result
in pranks, including nasty ones, such as sticking live firework into people's
mailboxes ...)
Best regards,
Reinhard/Ron
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