A great deal has been written
about Christmas Day, its history and its traditions. Whether Christian or
otherwise probably everyone in the world knows its meaning and many share the
day with family and friends. But not so many know about Boxing Day, its origins
and meaning—myself included. To me as I grew up it was just the day after
Christmas Day and I never took the time to ponder on why it was called such.
I remember it as a day for eating
leftover turkey, home-made mince pies and pudding, and the family lazing around
or playing cards in the afternoon and into evening. Card games were a staple
pastime with my family. When not partying or arguing, any family gathering
eventually ended up with a game of cards. The stakes were high, usually matchsticks.
One of my father’s favourites was Cribbage: http://www.cribbage.org/rules/rule1.asp
This game needed a board and I
brought my Dad’s one with me around the world and have put it away safely, so
darned safe that I currently don’t know where it is. Perhaps I have given it to
a younger family member for safe keeping. It wasn’t smart like the modern ones
but brown with curved edges, something like this picture. The pegs were lost
ages ago but my memories were of matchsticks always being used.
Apparently Boxing Day is only
celebrated in a few countries, and likely only those with connections to the UK
such as Australia, Canada (not so sure of) South Africa and New Zealand. It’s also celebrated in Germany (Zweite
Feiertag) Any German folk who read this please feel free to correct me on my
spelling.
It all began in the Middle Ages
around 800 years ago in the UK. In those days an alms box was kept in the
churches and opened the day after Christmas Day, so the contents could be
distributed among the poor folk in the parish, of which there were likely to be
many. This tradition is still kept in some churches and the “box” still opened
on Boxing Day. As a side note, some collection boxes in Holland were made out of
earthenware in the shape of pigs, so it is likely this was where the term “Piggy
Bank” was born.
Another memory I have was that
the postman, milkman, baker, butcher etc., in fact any delivery man, was always
given what my parents called a “Christmas Box” which was a small payment and as
much as they could afford. This tradition apparently springs from the old one
where large manor houses with servants always gave the staff a day off on
Boxing Day to spend with their families and they were also usually given a
gift. When we first settled in Australia (in the days when the postman etc.
actually knocked at the door to deliver) it was custom to give them bottles of
beer or similar. Even the garbage men received something in those days. This
custom all stopped because the garbage truck now picks up the bins with his truck’s
mechanical arm and the driver has no contact with us except the occasional wave
as he passes. Similarly the postman/woman whizzes by on his/her mini motorbike,
barely stopping long enough to deposit the mail in our letterbox. Those were
the good old days when we actually had a few welcome words to say to the people
who served us instead of talking to machines as we do in a lot of our larger stores
today.
A lot of sport is played on
Boxing Day. Here we have the cricket, which is a massive event in Melbourne.
The Boxing Day Test match is held between our National team and a visiting team.
Not sure who they are playing against this year as I am not a cricket fan.
Another huge sporting event is the Bluewater Classic, a yacht race that starts
on Boxing Day from Sydney Harbour and covers 630 nautical miles to end in
Hobart, beautiful Tasmania. I was fortunate to see the start of the race years
ago from one of the great vantage points around the Harbour with a yachting
friend of ours. It was quite a spectacular sight.
Another great memory from my
childhood in London was the pantomime. My mother ensured that I saw one most
years, and these mostly started playing around Christmas time or soon after.
Sometimes we would go to the local church hall where amateurs performed and
other times to a theatre. What a fun outing that was. It is a tradition that is
still carried on in the UK where nowadays well-known celebrities take part. The
ugly sisters of Cinderella were always men in drag, and Aladdin oddly always
played by a female. The audience shared the fun, as part of the enjoyment was
that you were urged to join in with lots of shouting and booing etc.
The 26th of December is also known
as St. Stephen’s Day, and there were two St. Stephen’s in history, one believed
to have been the first Christian Martyr. He was said to have been stoned to
death by some who did not believe in Jesus. The other St. Stephen was a missionary
who was a devout animal lover who especially loved horses. Also a Martyr, he
was killed by pagans in Sweden.
One of the carols I loved as a
child was Good King Wenceslas. The
rest of the carol has faded from my memory but I well recall the first verse,
which of course was set on the Feast of Stephen (St. Stephen’s Day). Because
the good King was helping the poor there was a strong connection to Boxing Day.
“Good King Wenceslas looked out, upon the Feast of Stephen, when the
snow lay round about, deep and crisp and even. Brightly shone the moon that
night, though the frost was cruel, when a poor man came in sight, gathering
winter fuel.”
How many of you were singing
along with that as I was as I wrote it.
Here in Australia the
post-Christmas sales start on Boxing Day where the stock left over after the
Christmas rush is sold at reduced prices. It is often a scramble to get a
bargain, and I personally take no part in it. I hate shopping at the best of
times and the idea of being pushed and shoved by bargain-hunters does not
appeal to me, but many make it a regular outing and have been known to pick up
phenomenal bargains
.
My appreciation to the following
for most of the above facts:
I wish everyone a magnificent
2018 and may we all enjoy the best of health and happiness. And wouldn’t it be
the best year ever if we all finally learnt to live together in the harmony we
yearn for.
saw the demise of the traditional Harlequinade.
It became pure variety, plus comedy and music. 
I knew none of this when my mother
took me along during the festive season to the local church hall or perhaps
later on to the nearest music hall, where we would join in the fun. I think my
mother probably enjoyed the show as much as me as it was likely she had little
time or money earlier when bringing up the other nine children to enjoy the pleasure
of a night out. How I loved those shows. It never occurred to me to question
why a girl always played Aladdin or Cinderella’s ugly sisters were always a
couple of middle aged male comedians. Audience participation was and still is a
vital part of the pantomime.
One of my favourites was Dick Whittington,
perhaps because I liked his cat who accompanied him on his search for the city
paved with gold. I can still see him on that stage, sitting on the milestone
outside London with his cat alongside him. Of course, I had no idea back then
that this panto story is based on the life of a real Richard Whittington who
went on to become a four times Lord Mayor of London. He was famous for
financing projects such as drainage systems in the poorer areas of Medieval
London. Folklore has it that he made a fortune by selling his cat to an Eastern
gent who sent the cat back to his rat-infested empire, but that is one of those
believe it or not stories probably with little truth in it.
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