Alan Sutton Publishing has a series of these "Christmas anthologies," the first which I bought at a book sale several years ago, and I try to pick up inexpensive copies when I can find them. Most of them concentrate on a certain shire or area in England, but there are a handful, like A Dickens Christmas and A Bronte Christmas that are set around an historic or literary era instead.
I knew nothing about Monmouthshire, so I was surprised and happy to discover it is just over the border from Wales (and now known as Gwent), so we have several entries about the Welsh Calennig custom (similar to caroling or "souling" in which groups go around offering songs and a decorated apple known as a "Monty"). While many of these books have excerpts from fiction, this book is comprised almost completely of memoirs from people from the early 1900s all the way until the 1960s of the uniquely Welsh customs like Plygain or Mari Lywd; or growing up poor or in orphanages, but still enjoying the small tokens they received at Christmas--one multi-page selection chronicles centuries of entertainment at Tredegar House, the manor house of the Morgans; while the narrative talks about pre-1900 parties, there are photos of 20th century entertainments, too. Caroling, a ghost story at a priory, and some commentary on Tintern Abbey also make for great reading, plus there are photos and engravings galore.
A very interesting volume of holiday memories to start off the season!
No comments:
Post a Comment