World History
Do you like Christmas Caroling? I will admit I do like it when carolers come by my house and sing. However, I am not big about going house to house and caroling myself. In part, this is because I am a lousy singer.
However, I may well have been a caroler in medieval times. Back then, carolers went house to house singing for beer. What a merry origin to this holiday tradition!
An AP story titled Take Cheer: Christmas has Been Out of Control for Centuries by Matt Crenson has details. Crenson wrote, "In the northern Europe of the late middle ages, gangs of young men would engage in 'wassailing,' a cross between Christmas caroling and home invasion. The gangs would visit wealthy homes, often in disguise, and sing songs that threatened violence if they were not invited in for food and drink. In agrarian societies, practices like wassailing served as a critical safety valve, giving people at the bottom of the social ladder a release that would keep them in line during the rest of the year."
Evidently, after the fall harvest, the average common workers had a lot of free time on their hands. And, just about Christmas time, lots of beer was fermented and ready to drink. Letting the masses get drunk was good policy and was a widespread tradition.
Of course, in modern times, drinking and Christmas go together as well. Wine, beer, and rum in eggnog are common. However, most people do not threaten their neighbors to get free drinks. It is always fun to learn about the origins of holiday traditions. It is nice to hear how caroling originated as well.
- Groundhog Day: The Forgotten Holiday
Today is February 2nd. That means in the United States and Canada, this is Groundhog Day. However, looking at the local paper and the news channels, there is little if any coverage of this holiday. What is wrong? Why do we have such a lack of respect...
- Auschwitz Through The Lens Of The Ss
Auschwitz Through the Lens of the SS. Talk about chilling. Did you know that the Auschwitz Death Camp was a place of fun and joy? Well, for a few people anyway. This website has photographs of Nazi leadership at the camp provided by the U.S. Holocaust...
- Thanksgiving Holiday
This will be my last blog post until next Monday. I will be traveling for the American Thanksgiving holiday and will have limited internet access. Despite the stress of travel, I hope I can watch football, drink beer, and enjoy my extended family. On...
- Evolution Of Santa
Evolution of Santa. The History Channel provides this history of Santa Claus. It begins, "The legend of Santa Claus can be traced back hundreds of years to a monk named St. Nicholas. It is believed that Nicholas was born sometime around 280 A.D. in Patara,...
- Soldier Of 1914 Christmas Truce Dies At 109
Soldier of 1914 Christmas truce dies at 109. The oldest man in Scotland died yesterday. Alfred Anderson is believed to have been the last survivor who witnessed the famous Christmas Truce of 1914 during World War One. The truce had been unplanned. Soldiers...
World History
Wassailing - Caroling for Beer
Do you like Christmas Caroling? I will admit I do like it when carolers come by my house and sing. However, I am not big about going house to house and caroling myself. In part, this is because I am a lousy singer.However, I may well have been a caroler in medieval times. Back then, carolers went house to house singing for beer. What a merry origin to this holiday tradition!
An AP story titled Take Cheer: Christmas has Been Out of Control for Centuries by Matt Crenson has details. Crenson wrote, "In the northern Europe of the late middle ages, gangs of young men would engage in 'wassailing,' a cross between Christmas caroling and home invasion. The gangs would visit wealthy homes, often in disguise, and sing songs that threatened violence if they were not invited in for food and drink. In agrarian societies, practices like wassailing served as a critical safety valve, giving people at the bottom of the social ladder a release that would keep them in line during the rest of the year."
Evidently, after the fall harvest, the average common workers had a lot of free time on their hands. And, just about Christmas time, lots of beer was fermented and ready to drink. Letting the masses get drunk was good policy and was a widespread tradition.
Of course, in modern times, drinking and Christmas go together as well. Wine, beer, and rum in eggnog are common. However, most people do not threaten their neighbors to get free drinks. It is always fun to learn about the origins of holiday traditions. It is nice to hear how caroling originated as well.
- Groundhog Day: The Forgotten Holiday
Today is February 2nd. That means in the United States and Canada, this is Groundhog Day. However, looking at the local paper and the news channels, there is little if any coverage of this holiday. What is wrong? Why do we have such a lack of respect...
- Auschwitz Through The Lens Of The Ss
Auschwitz Through the Lens of the SS. Talk about chilling. Did you know that the Auschwitz Death Camp was a place of fun and joy? Well, for a few people anyway. This website has photographs of Nazi leadership at the camp provided by the U.S. Holocaust...
- Thanksgiving Holiday
This will be my last blog post until next Monday. I will be traveling for the American Thanksgiving holiday and will have limited internet access. Despite the stress of travel, I hope I can watch football, drink beer, and enjoy my extended family. On...
- Evolution Of Santa
Evolution of Santa. The History Channel provides this history of Santa Claus. It begins, "The legend of Santa Claus can be traced back hundreds of years to a monk named St. Nicholas. It is believed that Nicholas was born sometime around 280 A.D. in Patara,...
- Soldier Of 1914 Christmas Truce Dies At 109
Soldier of 1914 Christmas truce dies at 109. The oldest man in Scotland died yesterday. Alfred Anderson is believed to have been the last survivor who witnessed the famous Christmas Truce of 1914 during World War One. The truce had been unplanned. Soldiers...