Reading the Regency

The Twelve Days of Christmas - part 2

The words for "God Rest you Merry Gentlemen" were printed in the mid-18th century, but the tune varied depending on where you lived. The same was true for "The Twelve Days of Christmas", whose words were first printed in 1780 but the melody best known today may not have been used by everyone.

The beginning of "Hark, hark what news the Angels bring" and "Hark the Herald Angels sing" have very similar opening lines, but they were different carols and neither were sung to the 1840 Mendelssohn melody we know today.

Another familiar title is "Joy to the World", which dates from the early 18th century, although the pre-Victorian version was sung to various old melodies. The current music has been in use since 1848.

The words to "The Holly and the Ivy" were printed in 1814, although the lyrics were slightly different. No tune was provided at that time, and sources suggest it could have been sung to a number of different melodies depending on where you lived. The current music was first written down in 1909 and is of unknown date.

Other carols, written down and published in 1822 and 1823, were taken from those carols that had been traditionally sung in the south-west of England. including "The Lord at first did Adam make", "A Virgin most pure" and "Let all that are to mirth inclined".

Presents

"...in the approaching season of making Christmas Presents and New Year's Gifts to young persons, we know of no literary performance of a similar size and price, we should be more inclined to recommend to the munificent patrons of the 'ingenious and inquisitive' part of the juvenile community than this New Pocket Cyclopaedia."
[Eclectic Review, pub. December 1811]

Christmas presents were given by those who could afford them. Princess Frederica, the German-born daughter in law of the king, introduced the practice of gift-giving among the British haut ton. However, it did not immediately spread amongst the middle or lower classes. Like birthdays, Christmas presents, also sometimes called Christmas Boxes, could have been restricted to children within some families, while poorer families may not have exchanged anything at all.

Present giving was not limited to Christmas day. In many parts of the country, including the northern part of Scotland, it was more common to give gifts on New Year's day than on Christmas day itself. In other parts of the country, presents were given on Twelfth Night.

Gifts could cover a wide variety of items. At a minimum, a present could be as simple as a bit of bread, meat or fish, fruit or a coin, but for those who could afford it, anything was possible. Items commonly advertised as being useful Christmas presents included books, especially children's books, pocket books (notebooks for carrying in a pocket) ink boxes and writing desks, thread cases and purses.

Washington Irving described travelling on Christmas Eve with those carrying presents:

"The coach was crowded, both inside and out, with passengers who, by their talk, seemed principally bound to the mansions of relations or friends to eat the Christmas dinner. It was loaded also with hampers of game and baskets and boxes of delicacies, and hares hung dangling their long ears about the coachman's box, presents from distant friends for the impending feast. I had three fine rosy-cheeked school boys for my fellow-passengers inside, full of the buxom health and manly spirit which I have observed in the children of this country. ... They were full of anticipations of the meeting with the family and household, down to the very cat and dog, and of the joy they were to give their little sisters by the presents with which their pockets were crammed."
[The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent, By Washington Irving, pub. 1820]