I’m so excited welcome Austenesque author, Alexa Adams, back to Austenesque Reviews today! Alexa is currently touring the blogsphere with her latest release, Holidays at Pemberley, the final book in her A Tale of Less Pride and Prejudice trilogy. In addition, Alexa is kicking butt in this
years’ NaNoWriMo! (Side note: Her next novel sounds fascinating!) I’m so glad she can pay us this visit today! I hope you enjoy her post about Holidays at Pemberley and the typical holiday traditions you’d see celebrated during Jane Austen’s time.
When I decided to write a third and final Tale of Less Pride and Prejudice, I did not know it would turn into a Christmas story. I wanted to provide Charlotte Lucas, who never marries Mr. Collins in my reimagined version of Austen’s story, with a love affair of her own, but the calendar of events which the two earlier novels imposed pretty much dictated that if she was to discover love at Pemberley, she was going to have to do so at Christmas time. Holidays at Pemberley, or Third Encounters: A Tale of Less Pride and Prejudice Concludes begins at a Christmas ball and ends three years later, at a Twelfth Night ball, and part of the joy of writing the book was imagining what this magical time of year would have been like in Regency England. Meredith kindly asked me to share some of the holiday traditions referenced in the story today.
‘I sincerely hope your Christmas in Hertfordshire may abound in the gaieties which that season generally brings …’
Austen does not provide any detailed glimpses at those gaieties Caroline Bingley refers to (unless you count Emma Woodhouse’s disastrous Christmas Eve at Randalls), and if she were to witness the frenzy surrounding the holiday today, she might scarcely recognize the event. The ubiquitous Christmas tree did not to come into fashion until Queen
Victoria’s time, along with many of our other modern traditions. In Austen’s day, festivities still retained a bit more pagan flare, and had not yet imbibed the germanic influence that is so prevalent in the modern holiday. Celebrations often began a few days before Christmas, with the Winter Solstice. This is when the Yule Log, large enough to burn for more than two weeks, would be brought into the house and lit, along with any outdoor greenery used to deck the halls. Kissing Boughs or mistletoe were usually shunned by genteel households as a bit too licentious. In my book I provide Pemberley with its own tradition regarding the bringing of the outdoors in: the youngest member of the household is to carry in the first bit of greenery, a custom which proves rather amusing (and harrowing) when an infant is charged with the task.
Christmas Eve was the time when family and friends would gather and make merry. A hearty meal, then and now, was absolutely essential to the festivities. Plum pudding was sure to be served, a tradition dating back to Medieval England but made fashionable by George I. Dinner would be followed by entertainments and parlor games. The Austen family was known to stage theatrics as part of their Christmas festivities, at least while they still resided at Steventon. Often a 
member of the family wrote the play being performed (usually the eldest son, James). The less genteel might engage in mumming, which took place throughout the year in England but was most prominent during the Christmas season. I’m from Philadelphia, where a modern take on this tradition survives, though I must assume it bears very little resemblance to the theatrics locals performed in public houses or door to door.
Christmas day would involve church, perhaps twice. Elaborate meals and festivities might continue that evening, but the next day was a busy one for any property owner, requiring a good night’s rest. Boxing Day was a time for the landed gentry to pay their respects to the tenants and servants upon whom they depended, usually by way of care packages (literally “boxed”) and bonuses. In my story, the tenants of Pemberley are further treated to their own ball that evening.
Social gatherings and festivities continued unabated until the celebration culminated on January 6th, or Twelfth Night. This was often a far bigger occasion than Christmas itself, when personal gifts would usually be exchanged, and the Wassail Bowl, (a punch, typically made with ale or cider), made its appearance. The origins of this tradition are pre-Christian, involving the blessing of trees and their gods, and it developed into the passing and sharing of a common beverage, sometimes carried door to door and accompanied by song, which is why we commonly remember the term as associated with caroling.
Banquettes and balls were common on Twelfth Night, and every self-respecting hostess would have a Twelfth Night cake to present, often another plum pudding. Inside would be baked a pea and a bean, or whatever else was handy,
and those who were served the slices containing the objects would be declared king and queen of the festivities, in deliberate disregard of rank. This custom can also be traced to pagan traditions, such as the Roman Saturnalia, and the chaos with which the celebration is associated provides Shakespeare his theme in the play of the same title. It should come as no surprise that Charlotte and her hero, probably with a great deal of connivance on the part of the staff, receive these coveted titles during the final Twelfth Night celebration in my book.
Feeling the holiday spirit? Holidays at Pemberley contains three full years of seasonal festivities in which to indulge! I hope you will allow my story to be part of your Christmas gaieties this year.
Don’t you just love the old-fashioned traditions that surround Christmas? I kind of wish more of them were around today, the Wassail Bowl sounds fun and delicious! Thanks for sharing some of the history behind these traditions, Alexa!
Connect with Alexa
GIVEAWAY TIME!!!
Author Alexa Adams brings with her today ONE lovely copy of Holidays at Pemberley (winners choice: paperback or ebook) for me to give away to ONE lucky winner!
To enter this giveaway, leave a comment, share your favorite “old-fashioned” holiday tradition, or a question for Alexa!
- This giveaway is open worldwide. Thank you, Alexa!
- This giveaway ends December 3rd!
DOUBLE your chances of winning by coming back WEDNESDAY and leaving a comment on my review!
*Image credits: 2nd Battalion, 95 Rifles
The only tradition my family has is everyone always gets a new pair of pjs on Christmas Eve! And we stay in our pjs all day Christmas Day. I have 3 books to put on my wish list for Christmas now.
Love that! We used to that too when we are younger! Now we are all adults and still fit into the ones from the year before so we don’t do it as often. 🙂
I always thought Boxing Day was called that in reference to the alms boxes in churches being opened for distribution to the poor rather than care packages, interesting.
I love Christmas, it’s such a great time for family traditions 🙂
You’re probably correct, Ceri. Most people certainly would participate by giving something extra to the alms box. The descriptions I’ve found of the event on estates usually refer to the care packages handed out as being in boxes, which is what fueled my commentary.
I love Christmas too, and it seems each year creates new traditions, or improves upon the old. Perhaps Christmas’ ability to reinvent itself for each age is part of the particular magic of this holiday.
The post looks beautiful, Meredith! Thank you so much for having me, and especially for the unexpected NaNoWriMo support! I really appreciate it!
My pleasure, Alexa! It was so kind of you to come visit! I’m so happy to hear that your NaNoWriMo has been so successful!
What a wonderful giveaway. Traditions are so important and meaningful. Thanks for this informative and special post.
You’re very welcome, Pearl!
Thank you for the giveaway. I am always fascinated to learn the history of Christmas traditions. Each family has their own that they embrace, and these are carried on with the next generation. Why does England still participate in Boxing Day and how has it changed since the Regency era?
That’s an enormous question, Eva, and one which I am terribly unqualified to answer. From the little I know of the modern holiday, it looks like some of the traditions of Twelfth Night and Boxing Day got rolled together a bit over the years, as have all the holidays mentioned in my post. I have been in the UK for the former, which seems to mostly be the day everyone takes down their decorations, but not the latter. Based on a episode of MASH I once saw, the British military, at least at the time of the Korean War, was honoring Boxing Day by having the officers trade ranks with the enlisted men. No idea how accurate that is. What I am certain of is that it is a national holiday, and that an extra day off at work is always a popular tradition to uphold. Perhaps a kindly Brit will read this comment and explain the modern traditions a bit better?
Well I am not really a churchgoer so I can’t comment on what the church does, but it’s a public holiday here and only in recent years are the shops open. Most people that I know have a day pretty much like Christmas Day but without the presents, so often a family get together with whichever people in the family you didn’t see the day before, lots of eating rich food, drinking, watching tv, playing win the kids new toys. There are some sales that start on Boxing Day but usually people will be celebrating with their families.
Thanks, Ceri!
Reading about the Christmas traditions makes me think of A Christmas Carol and the plum pudding makes me think of an Agatha Christie Christmas story featuring plum pudding.
It’s much easier to find information about Victorian Christmas traditions, like those we associate with A Christmas Carol, than Regency. However, the plum pudding probably stayed pretty much the same, in Agatha Christie’s day, too!
Interesting read. Thanks for the information.
Where could I find more information (besides this book) about Christmas during this period? It’s fascinating.
Good question, Robyn. It’s not easy, as this was the period immediately proceeding all the changes the holiday would undergo once Prince Albert’s German influence began to be felt. Most 19th century Christmas books focuses on the quintessential Victorian Christmas that subsequently emerged. The links Meredith included in the post might be a good starting place, janeaustensworld.wordpress.com has some great Christmas information, and there is a book (which might be out of print, though still available on Amazon) called Jane Austen’s Christmas by Maria Hubert, but I unfortunately have never read it.
I’ve read the book by Maria Hubert – unfortunately it isn’t as informative as one would like. https://austenesquereviews.com/2011/12/jane-austens-christmas-maria-hubert.html
I’m not sure if this is old-fashioned or not, but we have done this ever since children, and I have not heard of anyone else doing it. We actually celebrate St. Nick’s Day (December 6) through stuffing stockings with toys and candy. I think others actually use the stocking as part of Christmas; we do it as part of St. Nick’s Day.
But I like that Twelfth Night Cake. It sounds great.
Jodi
My family despite being American, has occasionally indulged in a plum pudding, such as would be used for a Twelfth Night Cake. It must be prepared months in advanced (sometime a whole year!) and for something that takes so much work, the end result tis a bit boozy tasting for me to even remotely enjoy. I far prefer the New Orleans version – a King Cake. More like a danish or coffee cake than a hang over recipe, with a baby jesus inside for one lucky guest!
my family tradition is to kiss & hug each other at the stroke of midnight & say Merry Christmas to each other……..
thank you for the giveaway!!!
Simple and sweet! I love it!
This book sounds like a lovely read around the fire during the Christmas holidays. My family shares the tradition of the greens coming in only a few days before the holidays: I don’t get home for the celebration until Dec 20, so we don’t put up the tree until the 21st at the earliest! Looking forward to reading your book, Alexa!
Thanks Regina! My family does the opposite with the greens. Probably because I never had a Christmas tree growing up, I buy one the day after Thanksgiving. All our decorations are usually up by December 1st, so that I can enjoy them for as long as possible. Have a great holiday!
This novel sounds wonderful for this season. Traditions which we enjoy are spending time with family and preparing the meals together since they are a cherished memory.
My family loves to cook together, too. Whenever we arrive at my in-laws, usually a few days before Christmas, there is always a ham in the over, spreading its holiday aromas throughout the house. We then eat and cook pretty much non stop for a week. Can’t wait!
My family doesn’t have too many traditions anymore, but I’m glad this year I’ll be able to spend the entire holiday season with them instead of just the week after Christmas. It’s always fun (and so chaotic) to watch my nieces and nephews open their gifts. My mom is really big on stockings, so we always have overstuffed stockings waiting for us.
Hi Monica. I married into a family seeped in Christmas tradition, but there were no children left when I first met them, so I never experienced the early morning, present opening mayhem until last year. Such fun! Can’t wait for this year, as my daughter is now old enough to remember what a good time she had last!
My favorite old fashioned tradition is writing Christmas letters. To wish lovedones well during the holidays. To share with them the special things that happened throughout the year. In 2013 almost everything goes by email & I just think that it is SO magical to get a handwritten letter! So yes, that’s probably the one I like the most 🙂
Love the info on Christmas. We have a tradition of making the same cookies every season that everyone looks forward to. The bad part is that by the time the bon bons, bourbon balls, chocolate crinkles and a few others are made, I don’t feel up to baking more and the pile of new recipes I’ve wanted to try making for years continues to grow.
My favorite tradition is going to church on Christmas evening 🙂