Christmas in England

Christmas around the World!

• The English enjoy beautiful Christmas music. They love to decorate Christmas Trees and hang up evergreen branches.

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• One of England's customs is mumming. In the Middle Ages, people called mummers put on masks and acted out Christmas plays. These plays are still performed in towns and villages.

• The English gift giver is called Father Christmas. He wears a long red or green robe, and leaves presents in stockings on Christmas Eve.

• Father Christmas delivers them during the night before Christmas. The Children leave an empty stocking or pillowcase hanging at the end of the bed. In the morning they hope it will be full of presents.

• This is a day to thank all our hardworking tradesmen like mailmen, delivery personnel, paperboys and the like as well as give to the poor. This tradition started long ago when kind folks, usually those well to do, would "box up" food, clothes and other gifts to distribute to their servants and nearby tradespeople. If Christmas is on a Saturday then Boxing Day is held until Monday.

• In England, the only thing that people ate on the day before the feast was Frumenty, which is, was a kind of porridge made from corn. Over the years the recipe changed. Eggs, fruit, spice, lumps of meat and dried plums were added. The whole mixture was wrapped in a cloth and boiled. This is how plum pudding began.

• In England the traditional Christmas dinner is roast turkey with vegetables and sauces. For dessert it is rich, fruity Christmas pudding with brandy sauce. Mince pies, pastry cases filled with a mixture of chopped dried fruit.

The Queens Speech

• A traditional feature of Christmas afternoon is the Queen's Christmas Message. At three o'clock in the afternoon, the Queen gives her Christmas Message to the nation which is broadcast on radio and television.

• The Queen's message is also broadcast throughout the British Commonwealth. The first televised broadcast of the Queen's Christmas message was in 1957, but it is a tradition begun on the radio in 1932 by George V. f projectbritain.com

• The Queen has made a Christmas Broadcast to the Commonwealth every year of her reign except 1969, when a repeat of the film `Royal Family' was shown and a written message from The Queen issued.

• In 2007, The Queen launched her own channel on video-sharing website YouTube, which featured the message.

•www.youtube.com/theroyalchannel

• The launch marks the 50th anniversary of the Queen's first televised festive address in 1957.

Christmas Crackers

• http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/xmas/crackers.html

Christmas Cornucopia• Christmas Cornucopia• Old-fashioned Christmas tree decorations used to include a cornucopia that was

hung on the tree and filled with candy and nuts. Create your own cornucopia with multicolored or silver and gold shiny paper. Roll up a piece of 8 x 10 inch paper into a cone shape. Experiment with the size until you achieve your desired width. Glue the edges together and trim the top to make it flat. Attach a strip of paper, or a length of string, from one side of the opening to the other for a handle. Decorate with ribbon, glitter, buttons or markers. Hang on the tree and fill with nuts, candy or dried fruit.

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Christmas Traditions in England

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbIiz49TE7g