For more than 20 years, British Hour Radio presented special pre-Christmas programs culminating with Queen Elizabeth II's Christmas message on Christmas Day. The seasonal shows were in keeping with the station's format of news, nostalgia, history, humor and the words and music of the British Isles.
The words, music and nostalgia part was easy, a matter of drawing on English Christmas customs, music and carols, songs and stories down the ages, from its origins, through medieval and Victorian traditions and right up to the present.
History and humor? No problem, with the help of Stanley Holloway (of "My Fair Lady" fame) and his humorous monologues on the exploits of Sam Small and his Christmas pudding, all in Lancashire accents, and Tom Lehrer's satirical "Ode to Christmas":
Christmas time is here by golly
Disapproval would be folly
Kill the turkeys, ducks, and chickens
Mix the punch, drag out the Dickens
Even thought the prospect sickens,
Brothers, here we go again!
Talking of Dickens: contrary to popular belief, Dickens did not invent Christmas, or Christmas carols-they came about when the medieval church decided to ban carousing during services, and hymn singers were forced onto the streets.
He didn't invent Santa; the bearded one started life as King Winter, dressed in a crown of greens and set beside the Saxon hearth. Nor did Dickens come up with the Christmas goose. That came to us by order of Elizabeth I; it was the first meal she ate after the defeat of the Spanish Armada.
The Queen's Christmas message always aired on Christmas Day on the more serious, commercial-free program, ending with the various heads of British- and Canadian-oriented organizations extending greetings and messages of goodwill and at last the British consul's introduction of the Queen.
We had to sign an affidavit that the Queen's message would not be used before it had been aired in Britain. With the international time zones being what they are, we stayed up all night recording the program, then had to drive to the airport to pick up the taped message.
On one occasion, the heavily registered package turned out to be a demo tape for a rock band. Fortunately, we checked it before putting it on the air! The day was saved by a young friend with a particularly fast motorbike, who was afterwards known as "the Royal dispatch rider." This all changed in the early '80s, when the Queen's Christmas greeting began to be televised.
The first Christmas broadcast was made in 1932 by George V (the Queen's grandfather), from a small room under the staircase at Sandringham. After he died in 1936, there were no more Christmas Day royal broadcasts until 1939 when, with World War II just begun, King George VI inspired hope with the simple message: "Winter lies before us cold and dark... but after winter comes spring."
The King was anxious about speaking into a microphone: "This is always an ordeal for me, and I don't begin to enjoy Christmas until after it is over," he once confided.
At first Elizabeth II also felt apprehensive, but over the years all trace of nervousness seems to have disappeared. She made her first Christmas broadcast as Queen from Sandringham, live, in 1952:
"As my beloved father used to do, I am speaking to you from my own home, where I am spending Christmas with my family; and let me say at once how I hope that your children are enjoying themselves as much as mine are on a day which is especially the children's festival, kept in honour of the Child born at Bethlehem."
My husband and I, together with relatives, family and friends, and our 1-year-old son, heard that first message, creating a tradition like thousands of other Brits who gathered 'round the radio after a Christmas dinner consisting of turkey, goose, Christmas pudding and mince pies, wearing paper hats and exchanging treasures found in the Christmas crackers.
Our tradition continued in Seattle, through producing the British Hour (among other things) and celebrating Christmas with family and friends from many different ethnic backgrounds and traditions, which were not really so different.
Christmas in Britain, celebrated with gusto through the ages, has its roots in many cultures - the Roman Saturnalia, for one, a topsy-turvy time of masters changing places with their servants, and everyone enjoying a day of general feasting and rejoicing.
The Celts and Druids gave us mistletoe, greenery and the holly and ivy reputed to keep witches and tax collectors away. The Vikings contributed the Yule log and ceremonial fires and the wassail, a mixture of ales, apples and cinnamon floated with a piece of toasted bread, from which we get the term "to drink a toast."
In medieval times, Christmas was celebrated lavishly, and many great state occasions were saved for that time of the year. The celebration went on for weeks. Festivities included gambling, card play, mummers and mimes, and grew to such proportions and expense by the time of Charles I that the Puritans under Cromwell outlawed Christmas.
This was all remedied by our merry monarch Charles II, who brought many Dutch customs back with him from his exile after the Restoration, including that of St. Nicholas, who developed into Father Christmas or Santa Claus.
St. Nicholas was a kindly Dutch bishop with his red robe, the patron saint of sailors and maidens without dowries. The story goes that he presented three bags of gold to a poor merchant as dowries for his three daughters... which developed into the pawnbroker's sign of three brass balls.
In Britain, the day after Christmas is a public holiday, Boxing Day, on which Christmas celebrations continue. As in ancient times, leftovers from the great feasts were distributed to the poor. The servants and family retainers also received their Christmas boxes on this day. Christmas boxes of money and gifts are given to the postman, the milkman, the dustman (garbage collector) and others who have given good service throughout the year.
Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's husband, gave us the Christmas tree from Germany. And Charles Dickens did the rest.
Above all, a British Christmas is family- and child-centered, a time for giving and sharing. So in the words of Tiny Tim: "God bless us, every one." Have a joyful holiday season. And to quote Tom Lehrer: "God bless you merry merchants, may you make the Yule-time pay!"
Merry, merry TTFN.[[In-content Ad]]
