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Washington Irving's English Christmas

Washington Irving (1783-1859) was born in Manhattan, NYC, and traveled in Europe as a young man and later for business. He was one of the first genuine American literary geniuses, famous for many stories and essays, especially The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle.

During his travels in England he wrote about Christmas celebrations in the countryside. Below are a few excepts…for the entire text click here. This is a long account, so I have eliminated large parts, which may be of interest to you, but in the spirit of the season, here is a taste…

Christmas in England

“…Of all the old festivals that of Christmas awakens the strongest and most heartfelt associations. There is a tone of solemn and sacred feeling that blends with our conviviality, and lifts the spirit to a state of hallowed and elevated enjoyment. The services of the church about this season are extremely tender and inspiring. They dwell on the beautiful story of the origin of our faith, and the pastoral scenes that accompanied its announcement. They gradually increase in fervour and pathos during the season of Advent, until they break forth in full jubilee on the morning that brought peace and good-will to men. I do not know a grander effect of music on the moral feelings than to hear the full choir and the pealing organ performing a Christmas anthem in a cathedral, and filling every part of the vast pile with triumphant harmony.

It is a beautiful arrangement, also derived from days of yore, that this festival, which commemorates the announcement of the religion of peace and love, has been made the season for gathering together of family connections, and drawing closer again those bands of kindred hearts which the cares and pleasures and sorrows of the world are continually operating to cast loose; of calling back the children of a family who have launched forth in life, and wandered widely asunder, once more to assemble about the paternal hearth, that rallying-place of the affections, there to grow young and loving again among the endearing mementoes of childhood. …

The English, from the great prevalence of rural habits throughout every class of society, have always been fond of those festivals and holidays which agreeably interrupt the stillness of country life; and they were, in former days, particularly observant of the religious and social rites of Christmas. It is inspiring to read even the dry details which some antiquarians have given of the quaint humours, the burlesque pageants, the complete abandonment to mirth and good-fellowship with which this festival was celebrated. It seemed to throw open every door, and unlock every heart. It brought the peasant and the peer together, and blended all ranks in one warm generous flow of joy and kindness. The old halls of castles and manor-houses resounded with the harp and the Christmas carol, and their ample boards groaned under the weight of hospitality. Even the poorest cottage welcomed the festive season with green decorations of bay and holly–the cheerful fire glanced its rays through the lattice, inviting the passenger to raise the latch, and join the gossip knot huddled around the hearth, beguiling the long evening with legendary jokes and oft-told Christmas tales.

… The traditionary customs of golden-hearted antiquity, its feudal hospitalities, and lordly wassailings, have passed away with the baronial castles and stately manor-houses in which they were celebrated. They comported with the shadowy hall, the great oaken gallery, and the tapestried parlour, but are unfitted to the light showy saloons and gay drawing-rooms of the modern villa.

Shorn, however, as it is, of its ancient and festive honours, Christmas is still a period of delightful excitement in England. It is gratifying to see that home feeling completely aroused which seems to hold so powerful a place in every English bosom. The preparations making on every side for the social board that is again to unite friends and kindred; the presents of good cheer passing and repassing, those tokens of regard, and quickeners of kind feelings; the evergreens distributed about houses and churches, emblems of peace and gladness; all these have the most pleasing effect in producing fond associations, and kindling benevolent sympathies. Even the sound of the waits, rude as may be their minstrelsy, breaks upon the mid-watches of a winter night with the effect of perfect harmony. As I have been awakened by them in that still and solemn hour, “when deep sleep falleth upon man,” I have listened with a hushed delight, and, connecting them with the sacred and joyous occasion, have almost fancied them into another celestial choir, announcing peace and good-will to mankind.

How delightfully the imagination, when wrought upon by these moral influences, turns everything to melody and beauty: The very crowing of the cock, who is sometimes heard in the profound repose of the country, “telling the night-wa
tches to his feathery dames,” was thought by the common people to announce the approach of this sacred festival:

“Some say that ever ‘gainst that season comes
Wherein our Saviour’s birth is celebrated,
This bird of dawning singeth all night long:
And then, they say, no spirit dares stir abroad;

The nights are wholesome–then no planets strike, no fairy takes, no witch hath power to charm, So hallow’d and so gracious is the time.”

Amidst the general call to happiness, the bustle of the spirits, and stir of the affections, which prevail at this period, what bosom can remain insensible? It is, indeed, the season of regenerated feeling–the season for kindling, not merely the fire of hospitality in the hall, but the genial flame of charity in the heart….”

Have a happy, old-fashioned holiday!!

Walter Potter's Museum of Curiosities

The Kitten’s Wedding

Until his death in 1918, Walter Potter created numerous scenes from everyday domestic life – a cricket match, a tea and croquet party, a wedding, a schoolroom – using taxidermied guinea pigs, rabbits, kittens, squirrels, and other small birds and animals, all of which were on view at Potter’s Museum in Bramber, West Sussex. While now-a-days Potter’s use of animals would draw a hue and cry from activists, one cannot deny that the collection is a wonder and that it offers a view on Victorian ingenuity.

The Bride

The eccentric world of taxidermist Walter Potter, where stuffed animals mimic human life, occupied various homes after Potter’s death, one of them being Jamaica Inn in Cornwall. However, the 10,000 item collection was broken up and sold for more than £500,000 in 2003. Many people were outraged that Potter’s historic dioramas were not kept together, but the quirky display is being reassembled in an exhibition at the Museum of Everything in Primrose Hill, London co-curated by artist Sir Peter Blake.

The Death and Burtial of Cock Robin

Walter Potter was born in a small English village called Bramber, near Steyning in West Sussex on the 2nd of July, 1835, his family ran a local public house in the village called The White Lion (now believed to be known as ‘The Castle’). At the age of 15, Walter made his very first attempt at taxidermy when he preserved his own beloved pet canary. Walter told the story of how this led to bigger things for him to a correspondent from The Idler Magazine in 1895 –

“Well, after I’d done my canary, people encouraged me to persevere. If they saw any bird or animal they thought I would like, they’d bring or send it to me. At last I get the idea of putting a case of birds together to illustrate ‘ The History of Cock Robin.’ It took me all my spare time for over six or seven years, and I used over a hundred specimens of British birds, including, though not actually necessary to the story, the cuckoo, nightingale, goldfinch, hawfinch, bramblefinch, and buntings. I also threw in a few butterflies. The bull himself was the most difficult of all. At last I bought a model, as it was impossible to get a real bull, however small, into the case. When I had bought my model it hadn’t any hair or skin, so I got a calf-skin, cut the hair off, and stuck it on the model with glue. When I had finished my ‘ Cock Robin ‘ cage I was living at the Castle Hotel here, and exhibited it in the garden bower. All the young ladies from the school here came to see it, and one of them took her hat off and collected a few shillings from her companions. From that time I gradually began to keep a collection. I never thought, when I started, to make a Museum, but the thing gradually grew of itself. Soon I began to want more room. My father had a new tea-shed put up in the garden, and so I used that as a show-room.

Walter Potter and a Friend

Soon Walter needed to move his experiments of preservation, to the stables loft as his interest and hobby grew. As legend has it, he was inspired by his sister, Jane Potter, who showed him the illustrations in her nursery rhyme book, he took particular interest in the well known rhyme, ‘The death and burial of cock Robin.’ Potter was thus prompted to produce his most famed diorama, which included 98 species of British birds housed in a large glass case.

The tableaux went on display in a summer house in 1861 behind his parents inn and was a huge success with received commissions to create taxidermy animals for wealthy Victorians. Before long, Walter discovered he could make a living via taxidermy and at the same time fund his passion for his more creative dioramas/tableaux, for which he was to become famous.

After several moves of premises, likely to have all been in Bramber, in 1880 Walter secured a specially constructed building, which soon had to be extended to include other unusual exhibits from the animal kingdom, such as the four legged chicken and the two headed lamb.
Walter married a local girl called Ann Stringer Muzzell and went on to have three children, Walter, Annie and Minnie all thrived as the museum grew in both size and popularity, coming to be known as ‘Mr. Potters Museum Of Curiosities’ and hailed as a ‘World Famous example Of Victorian Whimsy.’ At the peak of its popularity, special coach trips were laid on from Brighton and the Museum drew such large crowds to the village that an extension had to be built on to the platform at Bramber railway station.

Walter suffered a stroke in 1914 and never to fully recovered, dying in 1918 at the age of 83. He was buried in Bramber churchyard, in the little villiage in west Sussex that he had scarcely left. By this time the museum contained about 10,000 specimens.

Potter’s Museum, Bramber, Sussex

The museum closed in the 1970s, and, after having been moved to Brighton and then to Arundel, was sold in 1984 to the owners of Jamaica Inn, Cornwall, where it attracted more than 30,000 visitors each year. The death of their taxidermist and economic considerations led to the collection being auctioned by Bonhams in 2003, when a total of £500,000 was raised. P
resent at the auction were Peter Blake, Harry Hill and David Bailey. A bid of GBP£1m offered by Damien Hirst for the entire collection had apparently been rejected by the auctioneers, and the owners sued Bonhams, arguing that this offer should have been accepted.

Potter’s taxidermy collection was broken up and taken to the four corners of the world by their new owners. However, right now the collection has once again been reassembled and will be exhibited at the Museum of Everything until the end of December. The iconic pieces, “The Kitten’s Wedding”, “The Kittens’ Tea Party” and “The Death and Burial of Cock Robin” will also be on display. James Brett, the Museum of Everything’s founder said : “Potter was . . . a true original and himself an outsider artist as much as a craftsman. I can tell a Potter from the work of another taxidermist at a glance across a room – he was a genius”.

Other loans for the exhibition come from the comedian Harry Hill, the photographer David Bailey, other passionate private enthusiasts, and Pat Morris, a retired academic and expert on the history of taxidermy who intends to leave his own collection to a museum. “The Death of Cock Robin,” which displays more than 100 birds including a weeping robin widow and an owl gravedigger who has tumbled some tiny bones out of the soil while preparing space for the dead robin. Phone calls were still coming in every day from Potter fanatics, according to Brett. The three-legged pig, the two-headed lamb and the four-winged chicken are already in place. He hopes the rabbits’ school, and the guinea pigs playing cricket, a piece believed to be in France, may yet turn up.

The Spirit of Christmas Past is Alive and Well in England

Country house festivities that celebrate both Christmas and history are taking place throughout England this year. Whether you choose to spend Christmas in the 16th century or early 19th century, there’s a venue that can provide the authentic feel of holidays past.

Polesden Lacey (above) in Surrey was once owned by Mrs. Ronald Greville DBE, who was the daughter of Scottish brewing magnate. The grounds boast a gorgeous, walled rose garden, while the house, once also owned by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, was the venue for the honeymoon of the future King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. Today, visitors can enjoy Mrs Greville’s collections, displayed in the reception rooms and galleries as they were at the time of her celebrated house parties. Cecil Beaton called Mrs. Greville “a galumphing, greedy, snobbish old toad,” though it was said that her servants were devoted to her.

The dining room at Polesden Lacey

During the holidays, servants, guides and volunteers at Polesden Lacey will don period costumes created by members of the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts and the halls of the house will be decked in Edwardian splendour. For Christmas opening times, click here.

Located in the Lake District, 13th Century Muncaster Castle (above) has been owned by the same family for 800 years, with Peter Frost-Pennington it’s current owner. He also gets into the Christmas mood by dressing up as a Victorian butler and taking groups of visitors round the Castle. According to Frost-Pennington, his character is a “grasping old butler who gives them behind-the-scenes-gossip.” In addition to Victorian Christmas decor, the Castle offers a sound and light show each night, while the gardens come alive with music and special effects.

The tree at Muncaster Castle

If you’d like to extend a Christmas visit to a country house to a stay at a country house, you might consider booking in to Chilston Park, where I’ve stayed in the past and highly recommend. Located in Kent, Chilston Park is a unique Grade I listed property that has been a home to eminent politicians, writers, Lords and Viscounts.

Carol singers and roaring fires will all be part of a Chilston Park Christmas, and mulled wine and mince pies will be served after Midnight Mass. Have breakfast served to you in bed whilst you open the presents delivered by Father Christmas through the previous night. In the afternoon, you can explore the acres of grounds and return in time to hear the Queen’s speech.

Foodies should head to the Manor House Hotel near Bath. The 14th Century manor house will be awash in twinkling white lights and you’ll be welcomed to the hotel with Afternoon Tea.

As part of the Barony of Combe, the Manor House was very much the heart of the breathtaking medieval village of Castle Combe. Today, the Hotel’s Michelin starred chef will prepare meals throughout your stay and on Christmas night you can join in the fun of a Quiz Night. Boxing Day options will include archery, walks through the 35 acre grounds or a trip to Bath to see the Pantomime.

Step it up a notch and mix fine food with spa treatments at Christmas at Stapleford Park. Early historical records indicate that at the time of the Norman Survey, Stapleford was held under the King by Henry de Ferrers, who fought at the battle of Hastings in 1066, and who was afterwards appointed the Doomsday Commissioner.

Today, guests can explore the 500 acres of grounds designed by Capability Brown, whilst inside, you’ll partake of a gourmet Christmas dinner. A champagne reception before lunch next day, candlelit buffet dinner later that night and a Boxing Day dinner dance are all perfect excuses to book into the spa for a little Christmaas pampering. After all, opening gifts can be tres exhausting.

The Wellington Connection: Ice Skating in London

Active until the end, the Duke of Wellington was an advocate of exercise and fresh air. In a letter to Angela Burdett-Coutts, he sent the following encouragement:

“Don’t repine! My Dear! that you are a Woman! There is nothing to prevent your skaiting; excepting the difficulty and want of opportunity now, possibly, of learning. But Women skait habitually in the Countries in which the Ice is certain annually, and in England I have seen Ladies skait beautifully. The best that I have seen, I think, is Lady Catherine Cavendish, and Her skaiting is admirable! But I have seen many who skait very well; as well at least as most Men . . . . “

Ice skating became so popular in Scotland that the first skating club was established in Edinburgh in 1742. In 1848, E. W. Bushnell invented the first all-iron ice skate that could be clipped to a boot. During the 1800’s, the popularity of ice skating skyrocketed. Skating clubs opened in London, Vienna and New York and rinks were built in Toronto, Canada and Davos, Switzerland. In 1876, the first artificially frozen ice rink, called the Glaciarium, was opened in London by John Gamgee and was mechanically refrigerated. Figure skating was first included as an event at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London.

Here are two fun pictures of ice skaters from our favorite era. On the right is “The Skating Minister” by Henry Raeburn, from the National Gallery of Scotland, painted in the 1790’s. The full title is The Reverend Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch.

The second portrait, below, is by American Gilbert Stuart, painted in 1782, “The Skater,” aka Portrait of William Grant, part of the Andrew W. Mellon Collection in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C.

Should you wish to take up the Duke’s advice, here are a few locations in London where you can practice your “skaiting.”

Hyde Park Winter Wonderland – 19 November to 3 January – Each year, Hyde Park becomes home to Central London’s largest open air ice skating rink. £30.00 per session. Ice guides are available to escort your party on the ice.Each Ice guide can look after up to 15 skaters and will be exclusive to your group for the 1 hour session.

Somerset House – 5 November to 17 January – The 18th century courtyard provides a magical setting for the ice rink, graced by a 12 foot Xmas tree. A skating school is held on the Somerset House Ice Rink on weekdays from 8.30-9.30am for adults, and there’s also Penguin Club, which teaches kids how to skate.

Natural History Museum – 5 November to 9 January – The Natural History Museum ice rink features a special viewing platform for spectators and visitors, providing a perfect place to enjoy a break from the ice. Visit the ice side Cafe Bar for food, drink and a chat with fellow skaters, before heading back to the ice for another quick spin or two. The Cafe Bar is always a popular addition to the ice skating, serving up mulled wine, hot chocolate and a great birdseye view of the ice rink itself.

Tower of London – 20 November to 9 January – Located in the dry moat beneath the fortress, the real-ice rink offers the chance to skate in a truly unique setting on the banks of the River Thames. The Moat Cafe offe
rs hot drinks to warm the cockles of skater’s hearts.

Hampton Court Palace – 27 November to 9 January – One of London’s most dramatic ice rinks, the rink at Hampton Court Palace is set against the backdrop of Henry VIII’s Tudor palace. The 900-square-metre rink which has room for 250 skaters. The adjacent café serves hot chocolate and snacks.

A Gathering of Graces – Part Three

Torquhil Campbell, 13th Duke of Argyll – title created 1701. Additional titles: Marquess of Kintyre and Lorne, Viscount Lochow and Glenilla and Lord Morvern, Chief of Clan Campbell.

Family Pile: Inveraray Castle, Argyllshire.

History: The dukedom brings with it the the hereditary posts of Master of HM’s Household in Scotland and Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland.

The family suffered serious scandal in the Sixties, when the divorce proceedings of the 11th duke unearthed a famous photograph of his soon-to-be former wife with a mysterious naked man. Also introduced to the court was a list of eighty-eight men the Duke believed had enjoyed his wife’s favours; the list is said to include two government ministers and three royals. The judge commented that the Duchess had indulged in “disgusting sexual activities”.

The present duke, when not working in the whisky trade, is captain of the Scottish elephant polo team.

Holdings: Family owns 60,000 acres of Scotland, valued at £12.5m in 2001.

Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Duke of Leinster – title created 1766. Additional titles: Marquess of Kildare and Earl of Offaly. Family Pile: Formerly Carton House, Co. Kildare. Now a farmhouse in Oxfordshire.

History: The FitzGeralds assisted Edward I in his battles against the Scots. The family fortunes declined in the 20th century after the 7th Duke sold his interests in the family estates and was then declared bankrupt. His fourth wife, with whom he opened a teashop in Rye in 1965, was the caretaker of the block of flats in which he lived. Educated at Millfield, the present Duke is president of the Oxfordshire Dyslexia Association and is the highest ranking member of the Peerage of Ireland.

Holdings: None of note – the Duke works as a landscape gardener.

Murray Beauclerk, 14th Duke of St Albans Age: 70. Title created: 1684. Other titles include Earl of Burford, and Baron Heddington. Family Pile: Seat: A terrace house in Knightsbridge, London.

History: The first Duke was the illegitimate son of Charles II and Nell Gwyn. Though the present Duke is a Tonbridge-educated chartered accountant, an eccentric strain still runs through family. His heir, the Earl of Burford, has long campaigned to prove his ancestor, Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, was the true author of the works of Shakespeare. In 1999, the young Earl was forcibly expelled from the House of Lords for jumping on the Woolsack and accusing the Government of treason in its expulsion of hereditary peers.

Holdings: Never a great landowning family, the Beauclerks were said to own 4,000 acres, worth £12m, in 2001.

Arthur Wellesley, 8th Duke of Wellington – title created 1814. Additional titles: Prince of Waterloo, Duke of Vittoria and Earl of Mornington.

Family Pile: Stratfield Saye House, Hampshire

Second Family Pile: Apsley House, London.

History: Like the original Iron Duke, the present Duke had a long Army career, winning the Military Cross and reaching the rank of Brigadier. In later life, he has devoted himself to his estates and charities, coming top in Country Life’s ‘Good Duke Guide’ in 1991. The Duchess of Wellington died on November 1 of this year. His heir, the Marquess of Douro, is a former Tory MEP and his grandson. Arthur, Lord Mornington, is married to Jemma Kidd (Lady Mornington), the make-up artist, seen below.

Holdings: 7,000-acre Hampshire estate, 20,000 acres of Belgium and Spain. Thought to be worth £50m in 2001. For all you want to know – and probably more – about the 1st Duke of Wellington, check the 40-something posts to be found under “Labels” in the left sidebar of this blog.

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