A Righte Merrie Christmasse: The Story of Christ-Tide

In Short

This volume serves as a comprehensive chronicle of the Christmas season, meticulously documenting how the festival evolved through the ages. It blends historical analysis, theological debate, and the rowdy, often superstitious traditions of rural England. By cataloging everything from the royal feasts of the Middle Ages to the strict prohibition of the holiday by Puritans, the work preserves a vanishing world of folk culture. It has endured as an essential reference for those interested in the social history of the season, capturing the persistent human desire to celebrate despite shifting politics and religious mandates.

The Story

The narrative begins with a scholarly inquiry into the timing of the Nativity, acknowledging the historical ambiguity surrounding the date while situating Christmas alongside older, pre-Christian traditions like the Roman Saturnalia and Scandinavian Yule. This sets the stage for a chronological survey of English Christmases, beginning with the early medieval period and moving through the reigns of monarchs who transformed the season into an engine of state pageantry. The focus is particularly sharp on the sheer excess of these celebrations, such as the feasts of Richard II, where thousands of guests were served massive quantities of game and wine, elevating the act of feasting into a formal, almost scientific, endeavor.

The arc of the book shifts dramatically as it reaches the seventeenth century, when the holiday faced its greatest crisis. The reader is thrust into the era of the Puritan ascendancy, a period defined by the attempt to excise the festival from the calendar. The conflict is framed as a clash between, on one side, the official dictates of Parliament—backed by sermons branding the day as a sink of superstition and profaneness—and, on the other, the irrepressible spirit of the common people. The book recounts how families persisted in their traditions, treating the holiday as an "old way" that was inherently "the good way," regardless of the law.

The resolution of this tension arrives with the Restoration, which the narrative views as a natural, inevitable rebound of the public sentiment. The later chapters transition from political struggle to the preservation of local color. The reader is treated to a vivid, sometimes eccentric, inventory of regional customs, from the "clivie" fire processions in fishing villages to the ritualistic toasting of apple trees on Twelfth Night. These accounts are punctuated by the text of ancient carols and the inclusion of primary documents like the "Arraignment of Old Father Christmas," a mock-trial that serves as a spirited defense of the holiday’s social utility.

The story concludes with the fading of the season, noting the traditions surrounding the final removal of greens on the Feast of the Purification. By framing the holiday as a cycle that begins with the anticipation of the Nativity and ends with the quiet return to ordinary time, the text offers a holistic view of Christmastide. It argues that while the fashion of how we observe these days may change, the underlying impulse—to share food, sing, and mark the winter solstice with light—remains a fundamental part of the English character.

How It Unfolds

The origins are established. The book opens by questioning the exact date of Christ's birth, linking the ecclesiastical calendar to ancient, non-Christian winter festivals to show the holiday's deep roots.

Royal opulence takes center stage. A survey of medieval history details the legendary expenditures of kings like Richard II, who turned the holiday into a massive display of wealth, labor, and culinary art.

The Puritan prohibition looms. The narrative pivots to the seventeenth century, describing how the Parliament of the time attempted to legislate the holiday out of existence through bans and formal sermons against "superstitious" joy.

The spirit of the people fights back. The text highlights the resistance of the populace, who defied authority to maintain their customs, viewing the suppression of Christmas as an assault on their cultural identity.

The Restoration brings a revival. A period of renewed celebration follows the death of Cromwell, as the book details how the return of the monarchy signaled a triumphant, albeit altered, return of traditional festivities.

Regional folklore is preserved. The concluding sections step away from the center of power to document distinct, local traditions like the "plough bullocks" and the ritualistic treatment of farm animals, which reflect a more intimate, agrarian relationship with the season.

The People

The book is populated by a wide array of figures, ranging from powerful monarchs to nameless peasants. Richard II appears as the ultimate architect of the royal Christmas, a man whose "enlarged ideas" turned the holiday into a display of state power, requiring armies of cooks to manage his extravagant, multi-day feasts. In direct opposition stands the figure of the Puritan preacher, represented by men like Calamy and Sedgewick, who view the holiday as a dangerous distraction and demand that the people find "grace to be humbled" rather than indulging in profane revelry.

Between these poles stand the common people, who serve as the true guardians of the tradition. Whether they are the "poor simple creatures" mocked by politicians for their love of holidays, or the rural families who kept the Glastonbury Thorn legends alive, these individuals view themselves as the defenders of an "old way" that is inherently good. Finally, there is the personified "Old Father Christmas" himself, who takes the stand in a theatrical trial to defend his existence, speaking with the authority of sixteen hundred years of history and arguing that his primary function is simply to remind people of their duty to show hospitality and love for one another.

In Its Own Voice

Regarding the intensity of the season's official suppression, the author recounts:

"This year, God, by a providence hath buried this Feast in a Fast, and I hope it will never rise again."

(This is a quote from the sermon of the Puritan preacher Calamy, delivered to the House of Commons.)

Regarding the persistent, stubborn nature of Christmas traditions in the face of local authority, the author notes:

"And so assotted are some, that they not only give them monie, to maintain their abhomination withall, but also weare their badges and cognizances in their hats and caps openly."

(This is a remark on the public's defiance of church injunctions against the "Lord of Misrule.")

What It's Really About

At its core, this book examines the collision between institutional authority and folk culture. It asks why certain rituals survive when they are systematically discouraged by both church and state, suggesting that the "merrie" spirit of Christmas acts as a form of social cohesion that cannot be easily dismantled by legal decree. The text is also an inquiry into the evolution of "tradition" itself; it recognizes that what we call ancient custom is often a blend of convenience, fashion, and long-standing superstition. Ultimately, the work posits that the holidays are less about the date itself and more about the human requirement for a scheduled moment of generosity and community, a need that persists regardless of whether the prevailing culture is pious or secular.

Why Read It Today

Readers who enjoy the slow, tactile process of historical research will find this volume deeply satisfying. It does not offer a polished, modern narrative; instead, it invites you to sift through a vast, cluttered attic of primary sources, ranging from royal accounts to the bitter sermons of seventeenth-century polemicists. The prose is rich with the flavor of the Victorian era, characterized by an earnest, antiquarian warmth that values every scrap of lore, no matter how small.

You should be prepared for the book's period attitudes and its occasional use of archaic, dialect-heavy verse, which can be challenging to parse without patience. It does not shy away from the harshness of the past, including the brutal, often superstitious nature of some regional customs or the severe, exclusionary language used by the Puritans. However, for the reader who wants to understand the layered, messy, and remarkably resilient history of Christmas, this book is an invaluable companion. It leaves you with the distinct impression that Christmas is not a static event, but a living, breathing tradition that has survived by being both profoundly sacred and stubbornly, gloriously human.