The Twelve Days of Christmas: The Forgotten History of Britain’s Longest Festive Season - Tapa blanda

The Twelve Days of Christmas (Paperback)

Paperback. Condición: new. Paperback. Christmas did not always begin at the start of September and end halfway through Boxing Day. For centuries, Christmas Day marked the beginning of a twelve-day season of feasting, saints' days, games, disguises, wassailing, gambling, dancing, temporary rulers and decisions involving open flames that would now invalidate most home-insurance policies. In The Twelve Days of Christmas, Sam Westborn uncovers the forgotten history of Britain's longest festive season, from medieval banquets and Lords of Misrule to mummers, orchard wassails, Twelfth Night kings and the gradual disappearance of Christmas after Christmas Day. Along the way, the book investigates the famous song itself. Where did it come from? What were colly birds? Were the five gold rings actually jewellery? Was the song really a secret Catholic code? And what practical difficulties arise when somebody sends you 184 birds, forty milkmaids, thirty leaping lords and no clear instructions about where to put them?Written with warmth, wit and a healthy suspicion of overly tidy folklore, this lively history separates fact from festive fiction while showing just how strange, noisy and complicated Christmas once was. The book also includes twelve specially created black-and-white illustrations, one for each day of Christmas, following the accumulating gifts as they turn a simple seasonal offering into a full-scale domestic emergency. Perfect for readers of British history, folklore and Christmas traditions, and an ideal stocking filler or festive gift for anyone who has ever wondered why a partridge was placed in a pear tree in the first place. This item is printed on demand. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability. Nº de ref. del artículo: 9798188787110

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