Traditions are alive and well

In 1812, American novelist and travel writer Washington Irving declared: “Nowhere is Christmas celebrated with such splendour as in Yorkshire.”

With those words ringing in his ears, writer, broadcaster and folk singer Mike Harding takes himself off around the county to compare Christmas celebrations past and present.

Mike’s journey, in story and song, unfolds in Christmas in Yorkshire, an entertaining DVD revealing a wealth of festive traditions still practised in the region. Some, like sword dancing and village carols sung in pubs, are native to the county.

With his easy-going natural charm, Mike shares some intriguing titbits about the significant role Yorkshire has played in the origins and development of Christmas as we know it. Did you know, for example, that the origins of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol lie in North Yorkshire? Or that turkeys were introduced into Britain by a Yorkshireman?

Mike’s journey begins in the Yorkshire Dales on a snowy night. Hawes village hall is packed, a brass band is playing and the East Witton Male Voice Choir sings While Shepherds Watch Their Flocks By Night – to the tune of Ilkley Moor Baht’at, said to be the original tune for the carol.

In South Yorkshire, Mike discovers the ancient practise of communal carol singing, joining a bunch of hearty locals in a pub.

From a village pub we’re taken to York Minster, filled with the haunting sound of the Ebor Choir. Mike learns how the city played a significant role in developing Christmas traditions from Pagan festivities of the distant past.

Visiting the Bronte Parsonage at Haworth, Mike is surprised to discover that the traditional image of a cosy Victorian Christmas wasn’t quite the reality for the Bronte family. Bronte expert Dr Juliet Barker tells him there’s barely a mention of Christmas in letters documenting the Brontes’ lives. The only documented festive fact is a newly-married Charlotte and her husband distributing Christmas money around the village in 1854. In Malton, there’s an intriguing Dickens connection. Chatting to TV presenter Selina Scott, whose father was a founder of the Charles Dickens Malton Society, Mike discovers how Dickens made several visits to Malton to stay with his friend, solicitor Charles Smithson. Smithson’s office is said to be the inspiration for Scrooge’s workplace in A Christmas Carol. Dickens was also inspired to use Malton’s Chancery Lane and the bells of St Leonard’s Church.

Further along the coast, Mike learns about Bridlington man William Strickland, who brought turkeys to Yorkshire on his return from the Americas in 1542. Turkey is just about the only meat that doesn’t appear in the Yorkshire Christmas Pie, which Mike samples with glee. A game pie, dating back to the 18th century, it’s served with Yorkshire sauce. What else?

Accompanied by traditional festive music from the likes of the Leyburn Ladies Choir, Bridlington fiddler Jim Eldon, the Grenoside Sword Dancers and the North Yorks Mummers, this is a seasonal treat – something to curl up by the fire with, once you’ve escaped the festive rush.