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Caro vecchio Natale
In Caro vecchio Natale si respira l’atmosfera tipica della festività più amata dell’anno: il Natale è nei preparativi, negli addobbi, nella scelta dei doni, nei canti dei bambini, nella compagnia dei famigliari e dei vecchi amici. Quella di Washington Irving è una celebrazione in cinque atti (Natale, La diligenza, La vigilia di Natale, Il giorno di Natale, Il pranzo di Natale) di riti e di tradizioni che oggi, a distanza di due secoli dalla prima pubblicazione, non sono affatto passati di moda: queste pagine ci regalano così, intatti e senza tempo, la magia e il calore dei nostri Natali migliori.
112 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1820
376 people are currently reading
1841 people want to read
About the author
Washington Irving
5,562 books1,049 followersPeople remember American writer Washington Irving for the stories "
Rip Van Winkle
" and "
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
," contained in
The Sketch Book
(1820).
This author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century wrote newspaper articles under the pseudonym Jonathan Oldstyle to begin his literary career at the age of nineteen years.
In 1809, he published The History of New York under his most popular public persona, Diedrich Knickerbocker.
Historical works of Irving include a five volume biography of George Washington (after whom he was named) as well as biographies of Oliver Goldsmith, Muhammad, and several histories, dealing with subjects, such as Christopher Columbus, the Moors, and the Alhambra, of 15th-century Spain. John Tyler, president, appointed Irving to serve as the first Spanish speaking United States minister to Spain from 1842 to 1846.
This author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century wrote newspaper articles under the pseudonym Jonathan Oldstyle to begin his literary career at the age of nineteen years.
In 1809, he published The History of New York under his most popular public persona, Diedrich Knickerbocker.
Historical works of Irving include a five volume biography of George Washington (after whom he was named) as well as biographies of Oliver Goldsmith, Muhammad, and several histories, dealing with subjects, such as Christopher Columbus, the Moors, and the Alhambra, of 15th-century Spain. John Tyler, president, appointed Irving to serve as the first Spanish speaking United States minister to Spain from 1842 to 1846.
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December 16, 2024
The old Christmas traditions of merrie England clearly held a powerful attraction for Washington Irving. In his Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. (1819-20), he included, along with much better-known works like “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” five sketches setting forth his favorable impressions of a traditional English Christmas celebration that he had the good fortune to witness while traveling in Yorkshire one December.
The Sketch Book vaulted Irving to instant literary fame, and helped make him the first American author who was able to support himself solely through the income from his writing. Yet it was not until 1875, sixteen years after Irving’s 1859 death, that those five Christmas sketches were published on their own as Old Christmas; and in that independent capacity, they provide a pleasant accompaniment to the holiday season.
The edition that I would recommend is the one that I have before me, published by (appropriately enough) the Sleepy Hollow Press of Tarrytown, New York. A helpful foreword by Andrew B. Myers of Fordham University establishes the historical and social context within which the Macmillan publishing company of London published the five Christmas sketches as the book Old Christmas, with evocative illustrations by Randolph Caldecott.
Myers’s foreword also helped me to reconsider Irving’s work in its entirety. On a first reading of The Sketch Book, I found that I sometimes lost patience with Irving’s seeming eagerness to talk about how everything in England was wonderful simply because it was old. Myers argues persuasively, however, that Irving’s world-view is best regarded as a measured appreciation for all that has proven to be of lasting value: “Ubi sunt – where are? – the tested ways of old, is a theme in much of Irving’s canon” (e).
As I see it, that means that Irving’s conservatism was a conservatism of temperament, and was not of the red-state kind; had he been living in the early 21st rather than the early 19th century, he would not have been posting to "Truth Social" or wearing a MAGA hat.
The American Irving’s reverence for England’s “tested ways of old” takes on particular significance when one considers that, just four years before the publication of The Sketch Book, Great Britain and the United States of America had been at war. The War of 1812 may seem like a “small” war by modern standards – my English father-in-law was not even taught anything about it when he was growing up in Essex – but, like all wars, it killed people (about 20,000 of them), and left much bitterness in its wake. In that context, as Myers puts it, “Irving’s festive message, in troubled transatlantic times, for these recent foes, was to all readers of good will” (d). These five Christmas sketches, in their quiet way, may have done much to encourage favorable feelings between Britons and Americans. Promoting peace on earth, goodwill toward all - what could be more in the Christmas spirit than that?
The five sketches themselves, working as what Myers calls “a deliberate effort to praise anew ancient Noël folkways [Irving] felt in danger of disappearing” (e), work surprisingly well as an independent little book of their own. In a conventional publication, they would not take up much space at all; I own the Penguin Books edition of The Sketch Book (helpfully re-titled The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories), and in that book the five Christmas sketches take up only 44 pages, from pp. 147-91. In order for Old Christmas to fill out the 159 pages of the edition I hold before me, the publishers had to adopt a number of clever stratagems: the book is relatively small in size, the typeface is large, the line spacing is generous, and the illustrations are many. But it would be Grinchy or Scroogelike to dwell at too much length on such things; so let us be generous, and hurry on to the tales themselves.
The first of the sketches, “Christmas,” frames Old Christmas well, with a claim that many readers, especially at this time of year, would no doubt agree with: “Of all the old festivals…that of Christmas awakens the strongest and most heartfelt associations” (3). In the second, “The Stage Coach,” Irving describes a Christmas Eve stagecoach journey through Yorkshire, praises English coachmen as a “very numerous and important class of functionaries, who have a dress, a manner, a language, an air, peculiar to themselves” (22), and tells of how a chance meeting with an English friend named Frank Bracebridge resulted in an invitation to the Bracebridges’ Yorkshire estate for an old-fashioned English Christmas.
The third of the sketches, “Christmas Eve,” enables us to spend December 24th in the company of Frank Bracebridge’s father, “The Squire,” a decidedly old-school country gentleman who “prides himself upon keeping up something of old English hospitality” (pp. 43-44), and “even regrets sometimes that he had not been born a few centuries earlier, when England was itself, and had its peculiar manners and customs” (p. 45). The fourth, “Christmas Day,” takes us through the elaborate rituals, both religious and secular, of December 25th at the Bracebridge estate, a time when “Everything conspired to produce kind and happy feelings in this stronghold of old-fashioned hospitality” (p. 79). And the fifth and last of the sketches, “The Christmas Dinner,” may well whet the reader’s appetite for some gustatory Christmas cheer of his or her own, given the loving detail with which Irving sets forth the holiday foods and drinks enjoyed by Squire Bracebridge and his guests.
The text and illustrations of Old Christmas complement one another well. Illustrator Caldecott does fine when interpreting the broad, caricature-like strokes with which Irving delineates minor characters, but his work shines when he depicts people who are young and in love. Caldecott’s health was always poor, and he was only 40 years old when he died; and when I look at the beautiful young women of his illustrations, I can’t help but think that Caldecott was feeling intimations of mortality, expressing his own sense that he would never get the chance to grow old with the woman he loved.
As for Irving’s text, the great son of New York’s Hudson River Valley excels at description, and conveys energetically the Yuletide interactions among the residents of, and visitors to, Bracebridge Hall. At the same time, I sense a tension between, on the one hand, Irving’s disposition to revere the ways of old, and, on the other hand, his pride in being a citizen of a young country where innovation and new ways of thinking are prized.
Case in point: I get a strong feeling that Irving does not approve when he quotes Squire Bracebridge talking of how “The nation…is altered; we have almost lost our simple true-hearted peasantry. They have broken asunder from the higher classes, and seem to think their interests are separate. They have become too knowing, and begin to read newspapers, listen to alehouse politicians, and talk of reform” (p. 109).
After all, one does not have to be a card-carrying member of the I.W.W. to ask, in response to the Squire’s disapproving words: Is there anything wrong with a “simple, true-hearted peasant” wanting to improve his or her lot in life? Or to read newspapers? Or to take an interest in politics? Or – saints preserve us! – to believe that some elements of society may need reforming?
Old Christmas is a fun holiday read; and as Myers points out in his foreword, it can be linked with other Christmas classics that helped set the tone for how the holiday season would be celebrated in North America and Western Europe – Clement Clarke Moore’s poem “A Visit From Saint Nicholas” (1823), for example, or Charles Dickens’s novella A Christmas Carol (1843). If you are disposed to make merry during the holiday season, then Irving’s little book certainly deserves a place in your stocking.
The Sketch Book vaulted Irving to instant literary fame, and helped make him the first American author who was able to support himself solely through the income from his writing. Yet it was not until 1875, sixteen years after Irving’s 1859 death, that those five Christmas sketches were published on their own as Old Christmas; and in that independent capacity, they provide a pleasant accompaniment to the holiday season.
The edition that I would recommend is the one that I have before me, published by (appropriately enough) the Sleepy Hollow Press of Tarrytown, New York. A helpful foreword by Andrew B. Myers of Fordham University establishes the historical and social context within which the Macmillan publishing company of London published the five Christmas sketches as the book Old Christmas, with evocative illustrations by Randolph Caldecott.
Myers’s foreword also helped me to reconsider Irving’s work in its entirety. On a first reading of The Sketch Book, I found that I sometimes lost patience with Irving’s seeming eagerness to talk about how everything in England was wonderful simply because it was old. Myers argues persuasively, however, that Irving’s world-view is best regarded as a measured appreciation for all that has proven to be of lasting value: “Ubi sunt – where are? – the tested ways of old, is a theme in much of Irving’s canon” (e).
As I see it, that means that Irving’s conservatism was a conservatism of temperament, and was not of the red-state kind; had he been living in the early 21st rather than the early 19th century, he would not have been posting to "Truth Social" or wearing a MAGA hat.
The American Irving’s reverence for England’s “tested ways of old” takes on particular significance when one considers that, just four years before the publication of The Sketch Book, Great Britain and the United States of America had been at war. The War of 1812 may seem like a “small” war by modern standards – my English father-in-law was not even taught anything about it when he was growing up in Essex – but, like all wars, it killed people (about 20,000 of them), and left much bitterness in its wake. In that context, as Myers puts it, “Irving’s festive message, in troubled transatlantic times, for these recent foes, was to all readers of good will” (d). These five Christmas sketches, in their quiet way, may have done much to encourage favorable feelings between Britons and Americans. Promoting peace on earth, goodwill toward all - what could be more in the Christmas spirit than that?
The five sketches themselves, working as what Myers calls “a deliberate effort to praise anew ancient Noël folkways [Irving] felt in danger of disappearing” (e), work surprisingly well as an independent little book of their own. In a conventional publication, they would not take up much space at all; I own the Penguin Books edition of The Sketch Book (helpfully re-titled The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories), and in that book the five Christmas sketches take up only 44 pages, from pp. 147-91. In order for Old Christmas to fill out the 159 pages of the edition I hold before me, the publishers had to adopt a number of clever stratagems: the book is relatively small in size, the typeface is large, the line spacing is generous, and the illustrations are many. But it would be Grinchy or Scroogelike to dwell at too much length on such things; so let us be generous, and hurry on to the tales themselves.
The first of the sketches, “Christmas,” frames Old Christmas well, with a claim that many readers, especially at this time of year, would no doubt agree with: “Of all the old festivals…that of Christmas awakens the strongest and most heartfelt associations” (3). In the second, “The Stage Coach,” Irving describes a Christmas Eve stagecoach journey through Yorkshire, praises English coachmen as a “very numerous and important class of functionaries, who have a dress, a manner, a language, an air, peculiar to themselves” (22), and tells of how a chance meeting with an English friend named Frank Bracebridge resulted in an invitation to the Bracebridges’ Yorkshire estate for an old-fashioned English Christmas.
The third of the sketches, “Christmas Eve,” enables us to spend December 24th in the company of Frank Bracebridge’s father, “The Squire,” a decidedly old-school country gentleman who “prides himself upon keeping up something of old English hospitality” (pp. 43-44), and “even regrets sometimes that he had not been born a few centuries earlier, when England was itself, and had its peculiar manners and customs” (p. 45). The fourth, “Christmas Day,” takes us through the elaborate rituals, both religious and secular, of December 25th at the Bracebridge estate, a time when “Everything conspired to produce kind and happy feelings in this stronghold of old-fashioned hospitality” (p. 79). And the fifth and last of the sketches, “The Christmas Dinner,” may well whet the reader’s appetite for some gustatory Christmas cheer of his or her own, given the loving detail with which Irving sets forth the holiday foods and drinks enjoyed by Squire Bracebridge and his guests.
The text and illustrations of Old Christmas complement one another well. Illustrator Caldecott does fine when interpreting the broad, caricature-like strokes with which Irving delineates minor characters, but his work shines when he depicts people who are young and in love. Caldecott’s health was always poor, and he was only 40 years old when he died; and when I look at the beautiful young women of his illustrations, I can’t help but think that Caldecott was feeling intimations of mortality, expressing his own sense that he would never get the chance to grow old with the woman he loved.
As for Irving’s text, the great son of New York’s Hudson River Valley excels at description, and conveys energetically the Yuletide interactions among the residents of, and visitors to, Bracebridge Hall. At the same time, I sense a tension between, on the one hand, Irving’s disposition to revere the ways of old, and, on the other hand, his pride in being a citizen of a young country where innovation and new ways of thinking are prized.
Case in point: I get a strong feeling that Irving does not approve when he quotes Squire Bracebridge talking of how “The nation…is altered; we have almost lost our simple true-hearted peasantry. They have broken asunder from the higher classes, and seem to think their interests are separate. They have become too knowing, and begin to read newspapers, listen to alehouse politicians, and talk of reform” (p. 109).
After all, one does not have to be a card-carrying member of the I.W.W. to ask, in response to the Squire’s disapproving words: Is there anything wrong with a “simple, true-hearted peasant” wanting to improve his or her lot in life? Or to read newspapers? Or to take an interest in politics? Or – saints preserve us! – to believe that some elements of society may need reforming?
Old Christmas is a fun holiday read; and as Myers points out in his foreword, it can be linked with other Christmas classics that helped set the tone for how the holiday season would be celebrated in North America and Western Europe – Clement Clarke Moore’s poem “A Visit From Saint Nicholas” (1823), for example, or Charles Dickens’s novella A Christmas Carol (1843). If you are disposed to make merry during the holiday season, then Irving’s little book certainly deserves a place in your stocking.
March 21, 2018
Christmas in England! The stuff of my dreams. This collection of five Christmas essays, both entertaining and informative, paints a lovely picture of the festive season in the early 1800s. The stories left me wondering, however, how an American author had acquired such an intimate knowledge of the seasonal traditions of 19th-century England. As usual, Wikipedia yielded some details.
Washington Irving had moved from New York City to England in 1815 to try to salvage his family's trading business following the War of 1812. When the business slipped into bankruptcy in 1817, Irving was left without employment and subsequently chose, rather than returning to the USA "to the pity of my friends", to remain in England to try to make a name as a writer. Irving spent the next 15 years travelling in Europe and publishing an interesting variety of works.
This particular group of essays first appeared in the USA on January 1, 1820 as the fifth instalment of a seven-volume serialized edition of The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. (published under the pseudonym of Geoffrey Crayon, one of many pen-names used by Washington Irving). The seven paperback volumes containing 34 essays and stories were published in the USA between June 1819 and July 1820. Thirty-two of the pieces were published in England in 1820 in two hardback volumes. Further details about the British edition, as well as some lovely images, can be found on this blog.
These essays provide a brief and lighthearted introduction to the work of Washington Irving, as well as a charming picture of Christmas celebrations in an English country house of the early 19th century. The collection has inspired me to seek out additional stories from The Sketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon as well as other works by this important American author.
Washington Irving had moved from New York City to England in 1815 to try to salvage his family's trading business following the War of 1812. When the business slipped into bankruptcy in 1817, Irving was left without employment and subsequently chose, rather than returning to the USA "to the pity of my friends", to remain in England to try to make a name as a writer. Irving spent the next 15 years travelling in Europe and publishing an interesting variety of works.
This particular group of essays first appeared in the USA on January 1, 1820 as the fifth instalment of a seven-volume serialized edition of The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. (published under the pseudonym of Geoffrey Crayon, one of many pen-names used by Washington Irving). The seven paperback volumes containing 34 essays and stories were published in the USA between June 1819 and July 1820. Thirty-two of the pieces were published in England in 1820 in two hardback volumes. Further details about the British edition, as well as some lovely images, can be found on this blog.
These essays provide a brief and lighthearted introduction to the work of Washington Irving, as well as a charming picture of Christmas celebrations in an English country house of the early 19th century. The collection has inspired me to seek out additional stories from The Sketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon as well as other works by this important American author.
January 7, 2024
2023/120
Christmas. The most wonderful time of the year, right? For some unexpected reason, it doesn't feel like that right now. The truth is that I'm not feeling very Christmassy. And please don't get me wrong, I do love Christmas with all my heart, and not only because it's the moment when everyone, family, friends, is together, but also because of Christmas itself. From the origin of this beautiful tradition to the way we celebrate it now: food, music—carols—festivals, parades, gatherings, and so on. How could I forget previous Christmases? How could I let behind those days when being a child and Christmas time were the perfect combination? Sometimes I reminisce about going to Las Posadas, a typical celebration that starts nine days before Christmas and where, from that day until Christmas Eve, many children along with their parents would gather together at someone's house in the neighborhood to celebrate that Christmas is almost here (as a child, this way to see Las Posadas was more accurate and cheerful, so to speak, notwithstanding its traditional, religious meaning). Of course it couldn't be a real Posada without smashing the typical star-shaped piñata and running to collect as many candies as you could, candies that were left scattered on the floor, everywhere, after the eldest kid was chosen to utterly destroy the piñata, literally speaking. Waiting for some ground beef "picadillo" tamales and orange atole, some more candies for the unlucky ones who didn't get anything from the piñata, but also for the lucky and astute ones who got a bunch of them was an experience that, as a little kid, you always looked forward to—ultimately, nobody was left aside. Thinking about the whole tradition, the last Posada was definitely my favorite. The grown-ups would be praying for half an hour or so, which was tedious for me back in the day—a 28-year-old me can understand why people used to pray during those days, but a 8-year-old Axl was only waiting for the adults to come out of the house and start what I used to call 'the actual celebration.' Even today I still get excited about this part of La Posada—however, as soon as everyone was gathered outside, the 'Christmas Carols' part would begin: singing a few carols while walking on the streets with only some candles to light the way was like having something magical, wholesome in front of you, at least from an 8-year-old's point of view.
Vamos, pastores, vamos
Vamos a Belén
A ver en ese niño
La gloria del Edén
A ver en ese niño
La gloria del Edén.[1]
And another one...
Campana sobre campana
Y sobre campana una
Asómate a la ventana
Verás el niño en la cuna
Belén, campanas de Belén
Que los ángeles tocan
¿Qué nuevas me traéis?[2]
One more...
El camino que lleva a Belén
Baja hasta el valle que la nieve cubrió
Los pastorcillos quieren ver a su rey
Le traen regalos en su humilde zurrón
Ropoponpon, ropoponpon
Ha nacido en un portal de Belén
El niño Dios.[3]
And the last one... (as far as I can remember)
Pero mira cómo beben los peces en el río
Pero mira cómo beben por ver al Dios nacido
Beben y beben y vuelven a beber
Los peces en el río por ver a Dios nacer.[4]
No sooner were we back home having celebrated our last Posada of the season in the neighborhood, which usually would have lasted till 10 pm—piñatas, Mexican ponche, and Christmas cookies included—than Christmas dinner was ready, though we would have to wait until midnight to enjoy it (perhaps this is not a Mexican thing, but rather a family thing, the fact that we at home have dinner at midnight with the entire family around the table on Christmas Eve, but I can't put my finger on it). And the food? Typical Mexican food: tacos, pambazos, tamales, or something else with beef, pork, or chicken. Lime Carlota for dessert, and more ponche to wrap up the night. The only rule would be not to repeat what we had last Christmas so that the whole experience might be different. After dinner, playing board games would be my thing and my cousins'; we would spend a lot of time playing Monopoly, Guess Who?, Clue, or whatever else was available. Now I see my nieces and nephew playing video games without talking to each other instead, or typing on their phones on Christmas Eve, and for some reason that I can't explain it doesn't feel the same anymore. Christmas doesn't feel the same anymore either, but even if I tried, I couldn't explain why. Maybe the fact that I'm getting older doesn't let me see Christmas as I used to back in the day. Maybe it's an Old Christmas, just like the one Washington Irving is describing in this little book—one of the fondest memories of my childhood—that doesn't let me appreciate Christmas today as much as I want. I still see that kid that would go to bed immediately after lighting some sparkles, wait for the adults to burn the 'Old Year' doll, and see the fireworks (even though they used to scare the heck out of me) standing next to his mother. I certainly see myself in that child, and after some more reminiscences I can't help but smile; I'm not sad because those moments are gone due to the fact I'm not a child anymore, I'm happy because they made me the adult I have become now. I guess I just need to find a way to get into the Christmas spirit again. Right, that I must do.
----
[1]Come on, shepherds, come on
Let's go to Bethlehem
Let's see in that child
The glory of Eden
Let's see in that child
The glory of Eden.
[2]Bells upon bells are pealing,
But one bell sounds clear o’er all,
The birth of Jesus revealing,
Babe born to redeem our Fall.
O bells of Bethlehem which reach the highest heav’n,
what news bring you?*
[3]The road leading to Betlehem
Go down to the valley that the snow covered
The shepherds want to see their King
They bring gifts in their humble bag
Ropo-pom-pón, ropo-pom-pón
Born in a portal in Bethlehem
The child God.
[4]But look at how the fish
in the river drink.
But look how they drink
in order to see God born.
They drink and they drink
and they return to drink,
the fish in the river,
to see God being born.
* Unfortunately, this is not a word-for-word translation of the Spanish version. Rather, it's a faithful interpretation of the original song.
My rating on a scale of 1 to 5:
Quality of writing [3.5/5]
Pace [4/5]
Plot development [4/5]
Characters [3.5/5]
Enjoyability [4/5]
Insightfulness [4/5]
Easy of reading [4/5]
Photos/Illustrations [N/A]
Total [27/7] = 3.85
Christmas. The most wonderful time of the year, right? For some unexpected reason, it doesn't feel like that right now. The truth is that I'm not feeling very Christmassy. And please don't get me wrong, I do love Christmas with all my heart, and not only because it's the moment when everyone, family, friends, is together, but also because of Christmas itself. From the origin of this beautiful tradition to the way we celebrate it now: food, music—carols—festivals, parades, gatherings, and so on. How could I forget previous Christmases? How could I let behind those days when being a child and Christmas time were the perfect combination? Sometimes I reminisce about going to Las Posadas, a typical celebration that starts nine days before Christmas and where, from that day until Christmas Eve, many children along with their parents would gather together at someone's house in the neighborhood to celebrate that Christmas is almost here (as a child, this way to see Las Posadas was more accurate and cheerful, so to speak, notwithstanding its traditional, religious meaning). Of course it couldn't be a real Posada without smashing the typical star-shaped piñata and running to collect as many candies as you could, candies that were left scattered on the floor, everywhere, after the eldest kid was chosen to utterly destroy the piñata, literally speaking. Waiting for some ground beef "picadillo" tamales and orange atole, some more candies for the unlucky ones who didn't get anything from the piñata, but also for the lucky and astute ones who got a bunch of them was an experience that, as a little kid, you always looked forward to—ultimately, nobody was left aside. Thinking about the whole tradition, the last Posada was definitely my favorite. The grown-ups would be praying for half an hour or so, which was tedious for me back in the day—a 28-year-old me can understand why people used to pray during those days, but a 8-year-old Axl was only waiting for the adults to come out of the house and start what I used to call 'the actual celebration.' Even today I still get excited about this part of La Posada—however, as soon as everyone was gathered outside, the 'Christmas Carols' part would begin: singing a few carols while walking on the streets with only some candles to light the way was like having something magical, wholesome in front of you, at least from an 8-year-old's point of view.
Vamos, pastores, vamos
Vamos a Belén
A ver en ese niño
La gloria del Edén
A ver en ese niño
La gloria del Edén.[1]
And another one...
Campana sobre campana
Y sobre campana una
Asómate a la ventana
Verás el niño en la cuna
Belén, campanas de Belén
Que los ángeles tocan
¿Qué nuevas me traéis?[2]
One more...
El camino que lleva a Belén
Baja hasta el valle que la nieve cubrió
Los pastorcillos quieren ver a su rey
Le traen regalos en su humilde zurrón
Ropoponpon, ropoponpon
Ha nacido en un portal de Belén
El niño Dios.[3]
And the last one... (as far as I can remember)
Pero mira cómo beben los peces en el río
Pero mira cómo beben por ver al Dios nacido
Beben y beben y vuelven a beber
Los peces en el río por ver a Dios nacer.[4]
No sooner were we back home having celebrated our last Posada of the season in the neighborhood, which usually would have lasted till 10 pm—piñatas, Mexican ponche, and Christmas cookies included—than Christmas dinner was ready, though we would have to wait until midnight to enjoy it (perhaps this is not a Mexican thing, but rather a family thing, the fact that we at home have dinner at midnight with the entire family around the table on Christmas Eve, but I can't put my finger on it). And the food? Typical Mexican food: tacos, pambazos, tamales, or something else with beef, pork, or chicken. Lime Carlota for dessert, and more ponche to wrap up the night. The only rule would be not to repeat what we had last Christmas so that the whole experience might be different. After dinner, playing board games would be my thing and my cousins'; we would spend a lot of time playing Monopoly, Guess Who?, Clue, or whatever else was available. Now I see my nieces and nephew playing video games without talking to each other instead, or typing on their phones on Christmas Eve, and for some reason that I can't explain it doesn't feel the same anymore. Christmas doesn't feel the same anymore either, but even if I tried, I couldn't explain why. Maybe the fact that I'm getting older doesn't let me see Christmas as I used to back in the day. Maybe it's an Old Christmas, just like the one Washington Irving is describing in this little book—one of the fondest memories of my childhood—that doesn't let me appreciate Christmas today as much as I want. I still see that kid that would go to bed immediately after lighting some sparkles, wait for the adults to burn the 'Old Year' doll, and see the fireworks (even though they used to scare the heck out of me) standing next to his mother. I certainly see myself in that child, and after some more reminiscences I can't help but smile; I'm not sad because those moments are gone due to the fact I'm not a child anymore, I'm happy because they made me the adult I have become now. I guess I just need to find a way to get into the Christmas spirit again. Right, that I must do.
----
[1]Come on, shepherds, come on
Let's go to Bethlehem
Let's see in that child
The glory of Eden
Let's see in that child
The glory of Eden.
[2]Bells upon bells are pealing,
But one bell sounds clear o’er all,
The birth of Jesus revealing,
Babe born to redeem our Fall.
O bells of Bethlehem which reach the highest heav’n,
what news bring you?*
[3]The road leading to Betlehem
Go down to the valley that the snow covered
The shepherds want to see their King
They bring gifts in their humble bag
Ropo-pom-pón, ropo-pom-pón
Born in a portal in Bethlehem
The child God.
[4]But look at how the fish
in the river drink.
But look how they drink
in order to see God born.
They drink and they drink
and they return to drink,
the fish in the river,
to see God being born.
* Unfortunately, this is not a word-for-word translation of the Spanish version. Rather, it's a faithful interpretation of the original song.
My rating on a scale of 1 to 5:
Quality of writing [3.5/5]
Pace [4/5]
Plot development [4/5]
Characters [3.5/5]
Enjoyability [4/5]
Insightfulness [4/5]
Easy of reading [4/5]
Photos/Illustrations [N/A]
Total [27/7] = 3.85
Read
December 1, 20187/10
I needed a pre-Christmas injection of Hallmark Sentimentality, without having to suffer through a Hallmark movie, and this fit the bill nicely, she said, only half in jest.
Nicely done, Mr. Irving.
I needed a pre-Christmas injection of Hallmark Sentimentality, without having to suffer through a Hallmark movie, and this fit the bill nicely, she said, only half in jest.
Nicely done, Mr. Irving.
December 20, 2023
Review to follow
December 31, 2021
Quaint and enjoyable! Wonderful book to end 2021! 🥳
December 6, 2017
This is a delightful quick read. I was able to finish it in little over an hour,and while eating breakfast. I love the language Irving uses....this basically talks about early Christmas celebrating in America,and some English traditions brought here.
Did you know they ate Peacock? It's interesting how it was prepared. I would recommend you read this with a piping hot drink to warm the cockles,and enjoy this short but fun little read. Definitely worth the time to read on Christmas Eve or Day....to escape from those annoying little relatives....I also recommend Dylan Thomas's A Child's Christmas in Wales...also short...also delightful.
Now I am on to A CHRISTMAS CAROL, which I try to read every year.
Did you know they ate Peacock? It's interesting how it was prepared. I would recommend you read this with a piping hot drink to warm the cockles,and enjoy this short but fun little read. Definitely worth the time to read on Christmas Eve or Day....to escape from those annoying little relatives....I also recommend Dylan Thomas's A Child's Christmas in Wales...also short...also delightful.
Now I am on to A CHRISTMAS CAROL, which I try to read every year.
December 14, 2020
What a grand depiction of a victorian Christmas!
Irving is quite grandiloquent and has a unique way with words. The pages are filled with vivid descriptions of English pasture, wintry landscapes, luscious dinner tables and fire crackling at the hearth. He has some specific notion of Christmas, I really enjoyed reading it. The countryside abundance manifests itself in Irving’s generous style and grandiose selection of words.
One thing though, I made a mistake of listening to the audiobook version and took a look at the book later. If you do not want to miss out on the beautiful illustrations which complete the pages, try the Gutenberg project for this.
I have to say I was hungry throughout this book! The eccentric food decorating the tables made me want to jump into a time machine to experience the olden christmas in England:
“I could not, however, but notice a pie, magnificently decorated with peacocks' feathers, in imitation of the tail of that bird, which over shadowed a considerable tract of the table. This the Squire confessed, with some little hesitation, was a pheasant-pie, though a peacock-pie was certainly the most authentical; but there had been such a mortality among the peacocks this season, that he could not prevail upon himself to have one killed.”
Well weirdly delicious!
Eating, drinking and dancing, what more would anyone want from Christmas?
In his final words, he puts himself in the readers’ shoes: “Me thinks I hear the questions asked by my graver readers, "To what purpose is all this?—how is the world to be made wiser by this talk?"
And answers his question in his final words:
But in writing to amuse, if I fail, the only evil is my own disappointment. If, however, I can by any lucky chance, in these days of evil, rub out one wrinkle from the brow of care, or beguile the heavy heart of one moment of sorrow; if I can now and then penetrate through the gathering film of misanthropy, prompt a benevolent view of human nature, and make my reader more in good humour with his fellow-beings and himself, surely, surely, I shall not then have written entirely in vain.
Oh, he has a way with words, that’s for sure! I have to read his other works!
Irving is quite grandiloquent and has a unique way with words. The pages are filled with vivid descriptions of English pasture, wintry landscapes, luscious dinner tables and fire crackling at the hearth. He has some specific notion of Christmas, I really enjoyed reading it. The countryside abundance manifests itself in Irving’s generous style and grandiose selection of words.
One thing though, I made a mistake of listening to the audiobook version and took a look at the book later. If you do not want to miss out on the beautiful illustrations which complete the pages, try the Gutenberg project for this.
I have to say I was hungry throughout this book! The eccentric food decorating the tables made me want to jump into a time machine to experience the olden christmas in England:
“I could not, however, but notice a pie, magnificently decorated with peacocks' feathers, in imitation of the tail of that bird, which over shadowed a considerable tract of the table. This the Squire confessed, with some little hesitation, was a pheasant-pie, though a peacock-pie was certainly the most authentical; but there had been such a mortality among the peacocks this season, that he could not prevail upon himself to have one killed.”
Well weirdly delicious!
Eating, drinking and dancing, what more would anyone want from Christmas?
In his final words, he puts himself in the readers’ shoes: “Me thinks I hear the questions asked by my graver readers, "To what purpose is all this?—how is the world to be made wiser by this talk?"
And answers his question in his final words:
But in writing to amuse, if I fail, the only evil is my own disappointment. If, however, I can by any lucky chance, in these days of evil, rub out one wrinkle from the brow of care, or beguile the heavy heart of one moment of sorrow; if I can now and then penetrate through the gathering film of misanthropy, prompt a benevolent view of human nature, and make my reader more in good humour with his fellow-beings and himself, surely, surely, I shall not then have written entirely in vain.
Oh, he has a way with words, that’s for sure! I have to read his other works!
December 6, 2020
A sweet, joyous, and delightful rendezvous with Christmas past. We could all use a bit of that, I think.
Review here: https://www.greatbookstudy.com/2020/1...
Review here: https://www.greatbookstudy.com/2020/1...
December 14, 2023
A delightful read full of old English Christmas traditions, songs and poetry. It warmed my heart and helped me to slow down and experience the joy of the season.
December 27, 2023
¡¡Feliz navidad y felices fiestas a todos!! Como todos los años por los días de Navidad y Nochebuena he leído una obra relacionada con estas fiestas. La elegida en este 2023 es una lectura que durante mucho tiempo ha sido una gran olvidada, pese a que en el momento de su publicación gozo de mucha fama y quizás sea la narración más influyente de su autor pese a que, irónicamente, no sea la más popular actualmente. Y es que tuvo tanta fama en su momento que inspiró a un peso pesado como Charles Dickens para escribir uno de sus relatos más famosos de, ese sin el cual ya no se entiende que es la navidad en la actualidad y como la celebramos…
Publicado dentro de la colección de ensayos “El Cuaderno de Bocetos de Geoffrey Crayon” , editada entre 1819 y 1820, “Vieja Navidad” es un relato corto y entrañable articulado en cinco skeches. La obra, escrita a modo de cuaderno de viaje, se articula en torno a la estancia de un anónimo narrador en la casa de un amigo en la campiña inglesa, que durante los días de Navidad está poblada por los variopintos miembros de su abundante y colorida familia, y en la cual se conservan las viejas tradiciones navideñas, que el autor critica que van perdiéndose poco a poco con el desarrollo moderno.
Relato corto y encantador, “Vieja Navidad” es una oda no solo a las viejas tradiciones navideñas de la Inglaterra antigua; también lo es hacia los sentimientos que generan estas fiestas, como la felicidad por reunirse todos los miembros de un clan bajo el mismo techo unos días al año; la generosidad; el calor familiar; la amabilidad y las alegrías sanas y sencillas. A través de los ojos de nuestro narrador descubrimos como se celebraba la Navidad antiguamente, encontrándonos ante una época de felicitaciones, bailes y cantos, regalos, abundante comida, calor hogareño y chanzas. Muchas de las cosas que leemos en este encantador ensayo de Washington Irving son perfectamente reconocibles para el lector moderno. Así que resulta muy interesante descubrir como han ido evolucionando con el paso de los años estas fiestas, y hasta qué puntos ciertas tradiciones aún perviven en nuestros tiempos o han sido modificadas con el paso de los siglos. Pero si hay algo en lo que el autor de “La Leyenda de Sleepy Hollow” y “Cuentos de la Alhambra” incide es en la importancia de la Navidad como un tiempo de alegría y reencuentro, enfocándose en lo importante que es disfrutar de tus seres feliz queridos y en ser amable con los demás durante estos días. Por medio de los rituales de la familia, descubrimos las antiguas tradiciones navideñas de la Inglaterra de la regencia, como que en la hoguera ardiera un Tronco enorme conocido como “De Yule”; que se entonasen ciertas canciones y villancicos típicos de esos días, Invitar al resto del pueblo;,después de la misa a que viviesen y comieran algo con los señores del lugar; que los más jóvenes de la familia se disfrazasen; o los típicos platos que aparecían en la mesa en Nochebuena y en la cena del día de Navidad en ese entonces.
No se encontramos ante una lectura profundamente costumbrista, plagada de detalladas descripciones tanto de espacios como de situaciones y costumbres, sin olvidar como el autor nos habla del paso del invierno y de kas estampas que deja. La pluma de Irving tiene algo melancólico y nostálgico, a la vez que cálido y dulce. El primer capítulo de la obra nos habla de la importancia de la Navidad y el porqué se celebra, en un primer capitulo muy evocador y lírico que está escrito de una forma maravillosa y envolvente. Será la introducción perfecta para el encuentro fortuito del anónimo narrador con su amigo y su estancia en la casa de la familia Bracebridge, cuyo cabeza de familia es un personaje chapado a la antigua y defensor acérrimo de las viejas tradiciones. Durante dos días, nuestro narrador podrá dejar de lado su soledad para meterse en una nube de chanzas, cánticos, risas, bailes, bromas picaronas, ponche navideño e incluso leyendas y cuentos de fantasmas. Todo esto tiene cabida a la vera de una tipica familia inglesa y de unos personajes que tienen algo ridículo, representados con un tono humorístico dentro de una serie de cánones humorísticos de la narrativa muy ingleses. Pero a la vez tienen algo muy entrañable y tierno. Está muy conseguido el equilibrio entre comicidad y ridículo con sentimentalismo y amabilidad, y eso da lugar a unos personajes muy bien caracterizados pese a lo tópicos que pueden llegar a ser. Sin perder de vista su intención didáctica en cuanto a la Navidad, Irving también se permite hablar sobre el sistema rural inglés y la forma de vida de los caballeros ingleses en el campo, lo que da al libro una capa más al hablar y criticar de una forma soterrada y sutil a la sociedad inglesa y su antiguo sistema nobiliar desde una perspectiva amena y no pocas veces elogiosa.
Mención especial a la bellísima edición que he tenido el placer de leer. La colección de RBA “ Historias Asombrosas” es una belleza para los ojos por lo bonita y cuidada que están cada uno de sus volúmenes. Y creo que este se lleva la palma, prácticamente había una ilustración en alguna de sus hojas si no en todas, con algunas que ocupaban una página entera. Dichos dibujos, a color y en blanco y negro, están sacados de las ediciones ilustradas por los artistas Randolph Caldeccott y Cecil Aldin, publicadas en 1875 y 1908 respectivamente. Además, el tomo está plagado de detalles encantadores y muy cuidadas, con letras decoradas al principio de cada capitulo como si de un libro antiguo se tratara. Y todo esto hace que nos encontremos ante una edición de sabor añejo, preciosa y que transporta totalmente al lector a la Inglaterra del siglo XVIII. En serio, me quedo corta para describir lo bonito que es este libro desde su portadas hasta su última página, como hizo aún más inolvidable esta lectura.
En resumidas cuentas, en “Vieja Navidad” Washington Irving nos habla de un tiempo sencillo ya pasado con cariño y nostalgia, y nos demuestra las raíces que en Europa tienen las fiestas más famosas del año. Leyendo la sencillez y satisfacción hogareña que desprenden estas páginas uno no puede dejar de preguntarse hasta qué punto tiene significado aquello en lo que en muchas ocasiones se han convertido estas celebraciones, símbolo por antonomasia del consumismo masivo y la glotonería sin sentido. Quizás las cosas sean mucho más sencilla, no todo consiste en regalos innecesarios y en comer más de la cuenta. Quizás debamos recordar que las Navidades son esos días del año, en los que uno puede hacer buenos propósitos con sus semejantes y llevarlos a cabo, reencontrarse con sus seres queridos y compartir con ellos viejas, tradiciones familiares, más antiguas de los que ellos puedan imaginar. Un mensaje sencillo y encantador que busca que uno sienta calorcillo en el corazón y que se empape de los buenos sentimientos que caracterizan estas fechas. eso es lo que reconoce Irving, en las últimas páginas del libro: que el lector pueda olvidar por unos momentos con esta lectura, las cosas negativas de su vida, que las arrugas, que las preocupaciones generen en su frente, se alise y sean sustituidas por las arrugas de una sonrisa. Que durante unos minutos pueda abstenerse de las penas y zozobras y dejarse guiar por las risas de los niños, la bromas, las canciones y los ricos olores de los platos navideños. El libro es un canto hacia lo más benévolo del ser humano, uno que envuelve totalmente al lector como una mantita confortable y bien conocidas, y le ayuda a reconciliarse no solo con el mundo que le rodea, también consigo mismo. Es una lectura que incluso a los que no nos gustan mucho las Navidades nos deja muy buen sabor de boca, sentimientos muy positivos en el corazón y una cálida sonrisa. Solo por eso ya merece la pena leer este tomo.
Publicado dentro de la colección de ensayos “El Cuaderno de Bocetos de Geoffrey Crayon” , editada entre 1819 y 1820, “Vieja Navidad” es un relato corto y entrañable articulado en cinco skeches. La obra, escrita a modo de cuaderno de viaje, se articula en torno a la estancia de un anónimo narrador en la casa de un amigo en la campiña inglesa, que durante los días de Navidad está poblada por los variopintos miembros de su abundante y colorida familia, y en la cual se conservan las viejas tradiciones navideñas, que el autor critica que van perdiéndose poco a poco con el desarrollo moderno.
Relato corto y encantador, “Vieja Navidad” es una oda no solo a las viejas tradiciones navideñas de la Inglaterra antigua; también lo es hacia los sentimientos que generan estas fiestas, como la felicidad por reunirse todos los miembros de un clan bajo el mismo techo unos días al año; la generosidad; el calor familiar; la amabilidad y las alegrías sanas y sencillas. A través de los ojos de nuestro narrador descubrimos como se celebraba la Navidad antiguamente, encontrándonos ante una época de felicitaciones, bailes y cantos, regalos, abundante comida, calor hogareño y chanzas. Muchas de las cosas que leemos en este encantador ensayo de Washington Irving son perfectamente reconocibles para el lector moderno. Así que resulta muy interesante descubrir como han ido evolucionando con el paso de los años estas fiestas, y hasta qué puntos ciertas tradiciones aún perviven en nuestros tiempos o han sido modificadas con el paso de los siglos. Pero si hay algo en lo que el autor de “La Leyenda de Sleepy Hollow” y “Cuentos de la Alhambra” incide es en la importancia de la Navidad como un tiempo de alegría y reencuentro, enfocándose en lo importante que es disfrutar de tus seres feliz queridos y en ser amable con los demás durante estos días. Por medio de los rituales de la familia, descubrimos las antiguas tradiciones navideñas de la Inglaterra de la regencia, como que en la hoguera ardiera un Tronco enorme conocido como “De Yule”; que se entonasen ciertas canciones y villancicos típicos de esos días, Invitar al resto del pueblo;,después de la misa a que viviesen y comieran algo con los señores del lugar; que los más jóvenes de la familia se disfrazasen; o los típicos platos que aparecían en la mesa en Nochebuena y en la cena del día de Navidad en ese entonces.
No se encontramos ante una lectura profundamente costumbrista, plagada de detalladas descripciones tanto de espacios como de situaciones y costumbres, sin olvidar como el autor nos habla del paso del invierno y de kas estampas que deja. La pluma de Irving tiene algo melancólico y nostálgico, a la vez que cálido y dulce. El primer capítulo de la obra nos habla de la importancia de la Navidad y el porqué se celebra, en un primer capitulo muy evocador y lírico que está escrito de una forma maravillosa y envolvente. Será la introducción perfecta para el encuentro fortuito del anónimo narrador con su amigo y su estancia en la casa de la familia Bracebridge, cuyo cabeza de familia es un personaje chapado a la antigua y defensor acérrimo de las viejas tradiciones. Durante dos días, nuestro narrador podrá dejar de lado su soledad para meterse en una nube de chanzas, cánticos, risas, bailes, bromas picaronas, ponche navideño e incluso leyendas y cuentos de fantasmas. Todo esto tiene cabida a la vera de una tipica familia inglesa y de unos personajes que tienen algo ridículo, representados con un tono humorístico dentro de una serie de cánones humorísticos de la narrativa muy ingleses. Pero a la vez tienen algo muy entrañable y tierno. Está muy conseguido el equilibrio entre comicidad y ridículo con sentimentalismo y amabilidad, y eso da lugar a unos personajes muy bien caracterizados pese a lo tópicos que pueden llegar a ser. Sin perder de vista su intención didáctica en cuanto a la Navidad, Irving también se permite hablar sobre el sistema rural inglés y la forma de vida de los caballeros ingleses en el campo, lo que da al libro una capa más al hablar y criticar de una forma soterrada y sutil a la sociedad inglesa y su antiguo sistema nobiliar desde una perspectiva amena y no pocas veces elogiosa.
Mención especial a la bellísima edición que he tenido el placer de leer. La colección de RBA “ Historias Asombrosas” es una belleza para los ojos por lo bonita y cuidada que están cada uno de sus volúmenes. Y creo que este se lleva la palma, prácticamente había una ilustración en alguna de sus hojas si no en todas, con algunas que ocupaban una página entera. Dichos dibujos, a color y en blanco y negro, están sacados de las ediciones ilustradas por los artistas Randolph Caldeccott y Cecil Aldin, publicadas en 1875 y 1908 respectivamente. Además, el tomo está plagado de detalles encantadores y muy cuidadas, con letras decoradas al principio de cada capitulo como si de un libro antiguo se tratara. Y todo esto hace que nos encontremos ante una edición de sabor añejo, preciosa y que transporta totalmente al lector a la Inglaterra del siglo XVIII. En serio, me quedo corta para describir lo bonito que es este libro desde su portadas hasta su última página, como hizo aún más inolvidable esta lectura.
En resumidas cuentas, en “Vieja Navidad” Washington Irving nos habla de un tiempo sencillo ya pasado con cariño y nostalgia, y nos demuestra las raíces que en Europa tienen las fiestas más famosas del año. Leyendo la sencillez y satisfacción hogareña que desprenden estas páginas uno no puede dejar de preguntarse hasta qué punto tiene significado aquello en lo que en muchas ocasiones se han convertido estas celebraciones, símbolo por antonomasia del consumismo masivo y la glotonería sin sentido. Quizás las cosas sean mucho más sencilla, no todo consiste en regalos innecesarios y en comer más de la cuenta. Quizás debamos recordar que las Navidades son esos días del año, en los que uno puede hacer buenos propósitos con sus semejantes y llevarlos a cabo, reencontrarse con sus seres queridos y compartir con ellos viejas, tradiciones familiares, más antiguas de los que ellos puedan imaginar. Un mensaje sencillo y encantador que busca que uno sienta calorcillo en el corazón y que se empape de los buenos sentimientos que caracterizan estas fechas. eso es lo que reconoce Irving, en las últimas páginas del libro: que el lector pueda olvidar por unos momentos con esta lectura, las cosas negativas de su vida, que las arrugas, que las preocupaciones generen en su frente, se alise y sean sustituidas por las arrugas de una sonrisa. Que durante unos minutos pueda abstenerse de las penas y zozobras y dejarse guiar por las risas de los niños, la bromas, las canciones y los ricos olores de los platos navideños. El libro es un canto hacia lo más benévolo del ser humano, uno que envuelve totalmente al lector como una mantita confortable y bien conocidas, y le ayuda a reconciliarse no solo con el mundo que le rodea, también consigo mismo. Es una lectura que incluso a los que no nos gustan mucho las Navidades nos deja muy buen sabor de boca, sentimientos muy positivos en el corazón y una cálida sonrisa. Solo por eso ya merece la pena leer este tomo.
December 22, 2025
“I always consider an old English family as well worth studying as a collection of Holbein's portraits or Albert Durer's prints. There is much antiquarian lore to be acquired; much knowledge of the physiognomies of former times.”
And that is what this story is about: studying an old English family as they celebrate Christmas. I actually enjoyed the second section the most, “The Stagecoach,” which, after the narrator’s chance meeting at an inn with a man planning a trip home for the holidays, shares all kinds of little stagecoach details and celebrates anticipation of the coming special event.
Once there we see how the old-fashioned family celebrates Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, full of games and mirth and good will. If we’re lucky, we’ve had someone like the head of this family in our childhood who was filled with such a Christmas spirit and knew how to make the magic children crave. “It was the policy of the good old gentleman to make his children feel that home was the happiest place in the world; and I value this delicious home-feeling as one of the choicest gifts a parent can bestow."
I don’t love Irving’s writing style, but still found this a very enjoyable trip to a long-ago Christmas celebration.
And that is what this story is about: studying an old English family as they celebrate Christmas. I actually enjoyed the second section the most, “The Stagecoach,” which, after the narrator’s chance meeting at an inn with a man planning a trip home for the holidays, shares all kinds of little stagecoach details and celebrates anticipation of the coming special event.
Once there we see how the old-fashioned family celebrates Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, full of games and mirth and good will. If we’re lucky, we’ve had someone like the head of this family in our childhood who was filled with such a Christmas spirit and knew how to make the magic children crave. “It was the policy of the good old gentleman to make his children feel that home was the happiest place in the world; and I value this delicious home-feeling as one of the choicest gifts a parent can bestow."
I don’t love Irving’s writing style, but still found this a very enjoyable trip to a long-ago Christmas celebration.
December 19, 2009
What a quaint old book this is! Washington Irving is best known for spooky stories set in the early part of 18th century America but here he looks back to the England that he traveled to in his younger days. There's a grand old country family with it's patriarch who entertains his extended family and even part of the village he heads. Irving describes these pre-Victorian (where lots of our modern traditions hail from) traditions as simple but still very enjoyable. As will most likely always be the case food and drink are a very important part of the celebrations as well as decorative greenery and children's games. In this case Squire Birchbridge, as he's known by all, has a right hand man who's a distant relative who keeps things organized and moving along by herding the children, letting visitors know of the traditions, and even preparing the Christmas Wassail. The Squire delights in the country customs and shuns London for his country life preferring to read books from previous eras that describe English country gentlemen's lives. He's also a keen amateur musician.....ok not exactly a musician but he does like to hunt out old verse and put it to tradition hymns and get the locals to perform them.
Here's one of my favorite passages from the book. It describes a thrown together church choir and orchestra:
"The orchestra was in a small gallery, and presented a most whimsical grouping of heads,[98:] piled one above the other, among which I particularly noticed that of the village tailor, a pale fellow with a retreating forehead and chin, who played on the clarionet, and seemed to have blown his face to a point; and there was another, a short pursy man, stooping and labouring at a bass viol, so as to show nothing but the top of a round bald head, like the egg of an ostrich. There were two or three pretty faces among the female[99:] singers, to which the keen air of a frosty morning had given a bright rosy tint; but the gentlemen choristers had evidently been chosen, like old Cremona fiddles, more for tone than looks; and as several had to sing from the same book, there were clusterings of odd physiognomies, not unlike those groups of cherubs we sometimes see on country tombstones.
The usual services of the choir were managed tolerably well, the vocal parts generally lagging a little behind the instrumental, and some loitering fiddler now and then making up for lost time by travelling over a passage with prodigious celerity, and clearing more bars than the keenest fox-hunter, to be in at the death. But the great trial was an anthem that had been prepared and arranged by Master Simon, and on which he had founded great expectation. Unluckily there was a blunder at the very outset; the musicians became flurried; Master Simon was in a fever, everything went on lamely and irregularly until[100:] they came to a chorus beginning "Now let us sing with one accord," which seemed to be a signal for parting company: all became discord and confusion; each shifted for himself, and got to the end as well, or rather as soon, as he could, excepting one old chorister in a pair of horn spectacles bestriding and pinching a long sonorous nose; who, happening to stand a little apart, and being wrapped up in his own melody, kept on a[101:] quavering course, wriggling his head, ogling his book, and winding all up by a nasal solo of at least three bars' duration."
This description made me laugh out loud! Irving also describes the Squire's many relatives, both young, middle and older aged as almost having stepped down from the manor house portraits since they all resemble one another so much.
There's also a village myth that a crusading knight Bridgebirch, who's buried in his armor, legs crossed to symbolize his having taken part in the Middle Eastern wars, as being restless and walking the church late at night or the church grounds trying to redress an old wrong or let people know where he's buried the family's treasure. One of the very best parts of this book is the lovely contemporary illustrations. Irving's "Old Christmas is a delicious seasonal treat.
Here's one of my favorite passages from the book. It describes a thrown together church choir and orchestra:
"The orchestra was in a small gallery, and presented a most whimsical grouping of heads,[98:] piled one above the other, among which I particularly noticed that of the village tailor, a pale fellow with a retreating forehead and chin, who played on the clarionet, and seemed to have blown his face to a point; and there was another, a short pursy man, stooping and labouring at a bass viol, so as to show nothing but the top of a round bald head, like the egg of an ostrich. There were two or three pretty faces among the female[99:] singers, to which the keen air of a frosty morning had given a bright rosy tint; but the gentlemen choristers had evidently been chosen, like old Cremona fiddles, more for tone than looks; and as several had to sing from the same book, there were clusterings of odd physiognomies, not unlike those groups of cherubs we sometimes see on country tombstones.
The usual services of the choir were managed tolerably well, the vocal parts generally lagging a little behind the instrumental, and some loitering fiddler now and then making up for lost time by travelling over a passage with prodigious celerity, and clearing more bars than the keenest fox-hunter, to be in at the death. But the great trial was an anthem that had been prepared and arranged by Master Simon, and on which he had founded great expectation. Unluckily there was a blunder at the very outset; the musicians became flurried; Master Simon was in a fever, everything went on lamely and irregularly until[100:] they came to a chorus beginning "Now let us sing with one accord," which seemed to be a signal for parting company: all became discord and confusion; each shifted for himself, and got to the end as well, or rather as soon, as he could, excepting one old chorister in a pair of horn spectacles bestriding and pinching a long sonorous nose; who, happening to stand a little apart, and being wrapped up in his own melody, kept on a[101:] quavering course, wriggling his head, ogling his book, and winding all up by a nasal solo of at least three bars' duration."
This description made me laugh out loud! Irving also describes the Squire's many relatives, both young, middle and older aged as almost having stepped down from the manor house portraits since they all resemble one another so much.
There's also a village myth that a crusading knight Bridgebirch, who's buried in his armor, legs crossed to symbolize his having taken part in the Middle Eastern wars, as being restless and walking the church late at night or the church grounds trying to redress an old wrong or let people know where he's buried the family's treasure. One of the very best parts of this book is the lovely contemporary illustrations. Irving's "Old Christmas is a delicious seasonal treat.
December 4, 2021
Old Christmas is a collection of five short stories that Washington Irving originally published in January 1820 as the fifth American installment of The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. All are told from Crayon’s first-person perspective as a traveler in England.
The first piece, “Christmas,” is an introductory essay in which Crayon reflects on the meaning of Christmas and the celebration of the holiday. “Amidst the general call to happiness, the bustle of the spirits, and stir of the affections, which prevail at this period, what bosom can remain insensible? It is, indeed, the season of regenerated feeling—the season for kindling, not merely the fire of hospitality in the hall, but the genial flame of charity in the heart.” He is unabashed in his love for Christmas, especially the old English Christmas traditions and customs that he saw were, sadly, fading away.
In the other four stories in the collection, Crayon illustrates his observations about English Christmas festivities with anecdotes of a Christmas that he spent in the English countryside. While traveling in a coach, he meets his friend Frank Bracebridge, who invites him to spend Christmas with his family at their country manor, Bracebridge Hall. The patriarch of the family, old Squire Bracebridge, is careful to preserve his ancestral estate in its original state. And when it comes to Christmas, he insists that his family and friends celebrate it in the authentic old English style.
Crayon participates in the festivities and enjoys them, but he also describes them with the keen observational eye of the experienced traveler and social chronicler. Some aspects of the goings-on amuse him. Looking around the table at dinner, for example, he notes that by comparing the diners with the family portraits on the walls, he could have “traced an old family nose … handed down from generation to generation.” But he’s a polite guest: “There were several dishes quaintly decorated, and which had evidently something traditionary in their embellishments; but about which, as I did not like to appear over-curious, I asked no questions.” In describing the choir at church, he says that “everything went on lamely and irregularly until they came to a chorus beginning ‘Now let us sing with one accord,’ which seemed to be a signal for parting company: all became discord and confusion.”
Crayon admires the squire’s kindness and benevolence, but he pokes some fun at his belief in the power of the Christmas traditions to pacify the peasants. “‘Our old games and local customs,’ said he, ‘had a great effect in making the peasant fond of his home, and the promotion of them by the gentry made him fond of his lord.’” Crayon doesn’t say so explicitly, but it’s clear that as an American, he finds this noblesse oblige attitude a bit condescending—and probably delusional.
This short book (an excerpt really, as described above) helped ease me into the Christmas spirit. The descriptions of the old English Christmas traditions were quite interesting and educational. And Irving’s writing is lively and amusing. I enjoyed the book, and if you’re looking for a quick holiday read, I’d recommend it.
The first piece, “Christmas,” is an introductory essay in which Crayon reflects on the meaning of Christmas and the celebration of the holiday. “Amidst the general call to happiness, the bustle of the spirits, and stir of the affections, which prevail at this period, what bosom can remain insensible? It is, indeed, the season of regenerated feeling—the season for kindling, not merely the fire of hospitality in the hall, but the genial flame of charity in the heart.” He is unabashed in his love for Christmas, especially the old English Christmas traditions and customs that he saw were, sadly, fading away.
In the other four stories in the collection, Crayon illustrates his observations about English Christmas festivities with anecdotes of a Christmas that he spent in the English countryside. While traveling in a coach, he meets his friend Frank Bracebridge, who invites him to spend Christmas with his family at their country manor, Bracebridge Hall. The patriarch of the family, old Squire Bracebridge, is careful to preserve his ancestral estate in its original state. And when it comes to Christmas, he insists that his family and friends celebrate it in the authentic old English style.
Crayon participates in the festivities and enjoys them, but he also describes them with the keen observational eye of the experienced traveler and social chronicler. Some aspects of the goings-on amuse him. Looking around the table at dinner, for example, he notes that by comparing the diners with the family portraits on the walls, he could have “traced an old family nose … handed down from generation to generation.” But he’s a polite guest: “There were several dishes quaintly decorated, and which had evidently something traditionary in their embellishments; but about which, as I did not like to appear over-curious, I asked no questions.” In describing the choir at church, he says that “everything went on lamely and irregularly until they came to a chorus beginning ‘Now let us sing with one accord,’ which seemed to be a signal for parting company: all became discord and confusion.”
Crayon admires the squire’s kindness and benevolence, but he pokes some fun at his belief in the power of the Christmas traditions to pacify the peasants. “‘Our old games and local customs,’ said he, ‘had a great effect in making the peasant fond of his home, and the promotion of them by the gentry made him fond of his lord.’” Crayon doesn’t say so explicitly, but it’s clear that as an American, he finds this noblesse oblige attitude a bit condescending—and probably delusional.
This short book (an excerpt really, as described above) helped ease me into the Christmas spirit. The descriptions of the old English Christmas traditions were quite interesting and educational. And Irving’s writing is lively and amusing. I enjoyed the book, and if you’re looking for a quick holiday read, I’d recommend it.
December 22, 2019
Colección de los cinco ensayos navideños del autor estadounidense Washington Irving, responsables de que la Navidad se popularizase en Estados Unidos y de que Charles Dickens escribiera sus cuentos navideños. Una obra de carácter descriptivo que te permite descubrir cómo se celebraban estas fechas en la campiña inglesa de principios del siglo XIX.
RESEÑA COMPLETA: https://youtu.be/X-inWnaqXdQ
RESEÑA COMPLETA: https://youtu.be/X-inWnaqXdQ
November 23, 2017
Old Christmas by Washington Irving conveys a simple message of the joy of the Christmas season and its traditions. This is a nice and uplifting story and I’m glad I stumbled across this audiobook on LibriVox.
December 28, 2024
It has become a Christmas tradition of mine to read Washington Irving's Old Christmas, an excerpt from his Sketchbook, with wonderful illustrations by Caldecott originally published in 1875. The caricatures and sketches of old English Christmas traditions always puts me in a festive and contemplative mood for the season and can be easily read over the course of an evening or so.
September 10, 2021
The illustrations contained in this edition by Randolph Caldecott of the traditions involved in an Old Fashioned English Christmas are simply enchanting and illustrative of the times well worth a reader's perusal.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS:
THE MOULDERING TOWER
CHRISTMAS ANTHEM IN CATHEDRAL
THE WANDERER'S RETURN
" NATURE LIES DESPOILED OF EVERY CHARM"
"THE HONEST FACE OF HOSPITALITY"
"THE SHY GLANCE OF LOVE" .
OLD HALL OF CASTLE
THE GREAT OAKEN GALLERY
THE WAITS
"AND SIT DOWN DARKLING AND REPINING"
THE STAGE COACH
THE THREE SCHOOLBOYS
THE OLD ENGLISH STAGE COACHMAN
" HE THROWS DOWN THE REINS WITH SOMETHING OF AN AIR"
THE STABLE IMITATORS
THE PUBLIC HOUSE
THE HOUSEMAID
THE SMITHY
"NOW OR NEVER MUST MUSIC BE IN TUNE "
THE COUNTRY MAID
THE OLD SERVANT AND BANTAM
A NEAT COUNTRY SEAT
INN KITCHEN
THE RECOGNITION. TAILPIECE
THE POST-CHAISE
THE LODGE GATE
THE OLD PRIMITIVE DAME
" THE LITTLE DOGS AND ALL "
MISTLETOE
THE SQUIRE'S RECEPTION
THE FAMILY PARTY
TOYS
THE YULE LOG 57
THE SQUIRE IN HIS HEREDITARY CHAIR
THE FAMILY PLATE
MASTER SIMON
YOUNG GIRL.
HER MOTHER
THE OLD HARPER
MASTER SIMON DANCING
THE OXONIAN AND HIS MAIDEN AUNT
THE YOUNG OFFICER WITH HIS GUITAR
THE FAIR JULIA
ASLEEP
CHRISTMAS DAY
THE CHILDREN'S CAROL
ROBIN ON THE MOUNTAIN ASH
MASTER SIMON AS CLERK
BREAKFAST
VIEWING THE DOGS
MASTER SIMON GOING TO CHURCH
THE VILLAGE CHURCH
THE PARSON
REBUKING THE SEXTON
EFFIGY OF A WARRIOR
MASTER SIMON AT CHURCH
THE VILLAGE CHOIR
THE VILLAGE TAILOR
AN OLD CHORISTER
THE SERMON
CHURCHYARD GREETINGS
FROSTY THRALDOM OF WINTER
MERRY OLD ENGLISH GAMES
THE POOR AT HOME in
VILLAGE ANTICS
TASTING THE SQUIRE'S ALE
THE WIT OF THE VILLAGE
COQUETTISH HOUSEMAID
ANTIQUE SIDEBOARD
THE COOK WITH THE ROLLING-PIN
THE WARRIOR'S ARMS
" FLAGONS, CANS, CUPS, BEAKERS, GOBLETS, BASINS, AND EWERS"
THE CHRISTMAS DINNER
A HIGH ROMAN NOSE
THE PARSON SAID GRACE
THE BOAR'S HEAD
THE FAT-HEADED OLD GENTLEMAN
PEACOCK PIE
THE WASSAIL BOWL
THE SQUIRE'S TOAST
THE LONG-WINDED JOKER
LONG STORIES
THE PARSON AND THE PRETTY MILKMAID
MASTER SIMON GROWS MAUDLIN
THE BLUE-EYED ROMP
THE PARSON'S TALE
THE SEXTON'S REBUFF 146
THE CRUSADER'S NIGHT RIDE
ANCIENT CHRISTMAS AND DAME MINCE-PIE
ROBIN HOOD AND MAID MARIAN
THE MINUET
ROAST BEEF, PLUM PUDDING, AND MISRULE
THE CHRISTMAS DANCE IN COSTUME
" CHUCKLING AND RUBBING HIS HANDS "
" ECHOING BACK THE JOVIALITY OF LONG-DEPARTED YEARS "
RETROSPECT
Stories
Christmas - 3 Stars
The Stage Coach - 4 Stars
Christmas Eve - 4.5 Stars
Christmas Day - 3.5 Stars
The Christmas Dinner - 5 Stars
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS:
THE MOULDERING TOWER
CHRISTMAS ANTHEM IN CATHEDRAL
THE WANDERER'S RETURN
" NATURE LIES DESPOILED OF EVERY CHARM"
"THE HONEST FACE OF HOSPITALITY"
"THE SHY GLANCE OF LOVE" .
OLD HALL OF CASTLE
THE GREAT OAKEN GALLERY
THE WAITS
"AND SIT DOWN DARKLING AND REPINING"
THE STAGE COACH
THE THREE SCHOOLBOYS
THE OLD ENGLISH STAGE COACHMAN
" HE THROWS DOWN THE REINS WITH SOMETHING OF AN AIR"
THE STABLE IMITATORS
THE PUBLIC HOUSE
THE HOUSEMAID
THE SMITHY
"NOW OR NEVER MUST MUSIC BE IN TUNE "
THE COUNTRY MAID
THE OLD SERVANT AND BANTAM
A NEAT COUNTRY SEAT
INN KITCHEN
THE RECOGNITION. TAILPIECE
THE POST-CHAISE
THE LODGE GATE
THE OLD PRIMITIVE DAME
" THE LITTLE DOGS AND ALL "
MISTLETOE
THE SQUIRE'S RECEPTION
THE FAMILY PARTY
TOYS
THE YULE LOG 57
THE SQUIRE IN HIS HEREDITARY CHAIR
THE FAMILY PLATE
MASTER SIMON
YOUNG GIRL.
HER MOTHER
THE OLD HARPER
MASTER SIMON DANCING
THE OXONIAN AND HIS MAIDEN AUNT
THE YOUNG OFFICER WITH HIS GUITAR
THE FAIR JULIA
ASLEEP
CHRISTMAS DAY
THE CHILDREN'S CAROL
ROBIN ON THE MOUNTAIN ASH
MASTER SIMON AS CLERK
BREAKFAST
VIEWING THE DOGS
MASTER SIMON GOING TO CHURCH
THE VILLAGE CHURCH
THE PARSON
REBUKING THE SEXTON
EFFIGY OF A WARRIOR
MASTER SIMON AT CHURCH
THE VILLAGE CHOIR
THE VILLAGE TAILOR
AN OLD CHORISTER
THE SERMON
CHURCHYARD GREETINGS
FROSTY THRALDOM OF WINTER
MERRY OLD ENGLISH GAMES
THE POOR AT HOME in
VILLAGE ANTICS
TASTING THE SQUIRE'S ALE
THE WIT OF THE VILLAGE
COQUETTISH HOUSEMAID
ANTIQUE SIDEBOARD
THE COOK WITH THE ROLLING-PIN
THE WARRIOR'S ARMS
" FLAGONS, CANS, CUPS, BEAKERS, GOBLETS, BASINS, AND EWERS"
THE CHRISTMAS DINNER
A HIGH ROMAN NOSE
THE PARSON SAID GRACE
THE BOAR'S HEAD
THE FAT-HEADED OLD GENTLEMAN
PEACOCK PIE
THE WASSAIL BOWL
THE SQUIRE'S TOAST
THE LONG-WINDED JOKER
LONG STORIES
THE PARSON AND THE PRETTY MILKMAID
MASTER SIMON GROWS MAUDLIN
THE BLUE-EYED ROMP
THE PARSON'S TALE
THE SEXTON'S REBUFF 146
THE CRUSADER'S NIGHT RIDE
ANCIENT CHRISTMAS AND DAME MINCE-PIE
ROBIN HOOD AND MAID MARIAN
THE MINUET
ROAST BEEF, PLUM PUDDING, AND MISRULE
THE CHRISTMAS DANCE IN COSTUME
" CHUCKLING AND RUBBING HIS HANDS "
" ECHOING BACK THE JOVIALITY OF LONG-DEPARTED YEARS "
RETROSPECT
Stories
Christmas - 3 Stars
The Stage Coach - 4 Stars
Christmas Eve - 4.5 Stars
Christmas Day - 3.5 Stars
The Christmas Dinner - 5 Stars
April 19, 2013
Full of charm - and wonderful sketches - this little book is a collection of observances about Christmas in England many years ago. It begins with the authour rambling a bit about Christmas and how it has changed, then he meets up with a friend, and having no other plans, agrees to join him and his family for Christmas.
The family live in a large manor house where the Christmas gathering includes people of all ages. The Christmas Eve celebrations are described - from the children's games to the grown-ups toasting each other over the wassail bowl - then the next chapter talks about Christmas morning and another details the Christmas feast.
I tend to leave books I like quite marked up and I found lots to underline in Old Christmas:
On society... "The World has become more worldly. There is more of dissipation and less of enjoyment. Pleasure has expanded into a broader but a shallower stream, and has forsaken many of those deep and quiet channels where it flowed sweetly through the calm bosom of domestic life."
On Christmas..."It is, indeed, the season of regenerated feeling - the season for rekindling, not merely the fire of hospitality in the hall, but the genial flame of charity in the heart."
On family..."It was the policy of the good old gentleman to make his children feel that home was the happiest place in the world; and I value this delicious home-feeling as one of the choicest gifts a parent can bestow."
As good as those are, my favourite quote comes from the last ten lines of the book...but I'll leave you to discover that for yourself.
This is a treasure of a book. I never get tired of reading it, it's such a pleasure. I class it with "A Child's Christmas In Wales" and "A Christmas Carol" and I think that's probably the best recommendation I can give it!
The family live in a large manor house where the Christmas gathering includes people of all ages. The Christmas Eve celebrations are described - from the children's games to the grown-ups toasting each other over the wassail bowl - then the next chapter talks about Christmas morning and another details the Christmas feast.
I tend to leave books I like quite marked up and I found lots to underline in Old Christmas:
On society... "The World has become more worldly. There is more of dissipation and less of enjoyment. Pleasure has expanded into a broader but a shallower stream, and has forsaken many of those deep and quiet channels where it flowed sweetly through the calm bosom of domestic life."
On Christmas..."It is, indeed, the season of regenerated feeling - the season for rekindling, not merely the fire of hospitality in the hall, but the genial flame of charity in the heart."
On family..."It was the policy of the good old gentleman to make his children feel that home was the happiest place in the world; and I value this delicious home-feeling as one of the choicest gifts a parent can bestow."
As good as those are, my favourite quote comes from the last ten lines of the book...but I'll leave you to discover that for yourself.
This is a treasure of a book. I never get tired of reading it, it's such a pleasure. I class it with "A Child's Christmas In Wales" and "A Christmas Carol" and I think that's probably the best recommendation I can give it!
December 27, 2023
Un libro perfecto para esta época del año.
El autor nos detalla su experiencia navideña en Europa, describiendo cinco aspectos relevantes que son en los que se divide este particular libro.
Nos da un recorrido por la cultura navideña de la época, así que estos 5 textos, tipo ensayo, nos entregarán la visión del autor durante su estadía, haciéndonos un descriptivo y ameno recorrido.
Con su característica pluma nos lleva por las costumbres, atmósferas, acontecimientos, características cotidianas, entre otros, que nos sumergira en el ambiente y época navideña.
Realmente he disfrutado mucho de su lectura, no se me hizo pesado o repetitivo en ningún momento y se me hacía muy interesante lo que nos iba narrando por la cercanía con la que lo hacía.
El autor nos detalla su experiencia navideña en Europa, describiendo cinco aspectos relevantes que son en los que se divide este particular libro.
Nos da un recorrido por la cultura navideña de la época, así que estos 5 textos, tipo ensayo, nos entregarán la visión del autor durante su estadía, haciéndonos un descriptivo y ameno recorrido.
Con su característica pluma nos lleva por las costumbres, atmósferas, acontecimientos, características cotidianas, entre otros, que nos sumergira en el ambiente y época navideña.
Realmente he disfrutado mucho de su lectura, no se me hizo pesado o repetitivo en ningún momento y se me hacía muy interesante lo que nos iba narrando por la cercanía con la que lo hacía.
December 26, 2015
Very short. By a man who loves Christmas and is full of positive feeling about it, except of course that the young people are ruining it, and no, it should be done the old way, and look! isn't the old way lovely?
And it is lovely.
There are all kinds of Christmases, all kinds of ways to celebrate it - this book only proves that.
And it is lovely.
There are all kinds of Christmases, all kinds of ways to celebrate it - this book only proves that.
February 1, 2017
A charming little book filled with ancient Christmas traditions. Irving's power of description does a great job of taking you back to older times.
January 4, 2018
A charming memoir on Irving's time in Britain. The chapter that includes his reflections on the Christmas prayer service is especially good.
December 27, 2019
In my pile of Christmas reading, I found this old, old story. Dust and musty air caught between the pages and freed itself in my 2019 room. . . .
Poor old Washington Irving sounded just like my old grandpa years ago, about how nobody celebrated Christmas like they'd done in his youth. Then W Irving describes every kind of "christmas" thing that is not on my list - peacock pie? A harpier in the corner? a game called snap-dragon? It was the description of a world of a world of a world away from mine. . . .and knowing some old grandpa of mine would have loved his gentle grumble that was really an excuse to remind all those who'd had such a Christmas that there was another who remembered those days as well.
A pleasure to add to my holiday reading treats this year. 3 stars as it was very toned down for my taste, and primarily just a tour through that time and space, not really a story.
Poor old Washington Irving sounded just like my old grandpa years ago, about how nobody celebrated Christmas like they'd done in his youth. Then W Irving describes every kind of "christmas" thing that is not on my list - peacock pie? A harpier in the corner? a game called snap-dragon? It was the description of a world of a world of a world away from mine. . . .and knowing some old grandpa of mine would have loved his gentle grumble that was really an excuse to remind all those who'd had such a Christmas that there was another who remembered those days as well.
A pleasure to add to my holiday reading treats this year. 3 stars as it was very toned down for my taste, and primarily just a tour through that time and space, not really a story.
July 22, 2017
One of Washinton Irving's most often read books. Set at Bracebridge Hall in the north of England in the early 1800s it describes his "experiences" during the families Yuletide celebrations, & is a delightful picture of an "Old Christmas" complete with Youle logs, holly wreaths & greens, holiday parlour games, music & merriment. My wife & I read this classic every year at Christmas as part of our Yuletide celebration & Christmas wouldn't seem complete without it. A perfect delight.
August 13, 2016
A fascinating, Dickensian depiction of Christmas traditions in the 19th-century English countryside. Made me nostalgic for a time when Instagramming gifts wasn't a prevalent part of Christmas. Be sure to read an edition containing Caldecott's wonderful illustrations (can be found here: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20656/...).
November 20, 2017
Old Christmas is rather a charming essay, made up of Washington Irving's reflections on Christmas traditions. I found some sections far more interesting than others, but very much admired his writing style throughout, and loved learning about forgotten festive customs. A must-read for Christmas.
November 27, 2018
Touted as the author who singlehandedly revived American Christmas traditions, Irving depicts light narrations of rural British celebration. Bountiful adjectives, food, music, more adjectives, and blazing firesides. I read it as a comparison to Dickens' Christmas celebration in his Pickwick Papers.
December 12, 2015
A delightful, nostalgic reminiscence about old English Christmas celebrations and customs. Perfect for getting in the holiday spirit.
December 7, 2020
This is a collection of five essays by Irving that describe Christmas in England. The first essay is an overview and description of Christmas, both as to meaning and ways of celebrating it. The next four essays, “The Stagecoach”, “Christmas Eve”, “Christmas Day”, and “Christmas Dinner” describe a method of observing Christmas that is virtually non-existent today. As I read this (slowly!!), I thought of the movie version of “The Christmas Carol”, the one with Alastair Sim as Scrooge. This was so enjoyable, and among the many passages that struck me, was this one from “Christmas Eve”: “It was the policy of the good old gentleman to make his children feel that home was the happiest place in the world; and I value this delicious home-feeling as one of the choicest gifts a parent can bestow.” It’s passages like this, and the description of a truly old fashioned Christmas, that give this book a nostalgic feel, and generate not a little homesickness. (And make me think of COLORED lights, not WHITE lights, on a Christmas tree).
There are a lot of layers to these essays, and I was truly sorry to come to the end, as I tried to drag it out as long as I could. So, I have already started reading them again, since it’s only 7 DEC. I’ve found some things that I missed the first time, and this little book is already acting as a soothing break from work, reading other books, etc. Washington Irving’s writing, in any of his stories and works, never fails to engage me.
There are a lot of layers to these essays, and I was truly sorry to come to the end, as I tried to drag it out as long as I could. So, I have already started reading them again, since it’s only 7 DEC. I’ve found some things that I missed the first time, and this little book is already acting as a soothing break from work, reading other books, etc. Washington Irving’s writing, in any of his stories and works, never fails to engage me.
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