Christmas Folk

Natalia Belting, the author of many thematic folktale collections presenting traditional lore from around the world, turns in this lovely 1969 picture-book to some of the obscure Christmas customs observed in Elizabethan England. Her poetic text covers some of the traditions of the Yule season,

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beginning with the first appearance of holiday mummers on November 30th, the feast of St. Andrew, and concluding on January 5th, AKA Twelfth Night (the conclusion of the Twelve Days of Christmas), with the dancing, feasting and revels associated with that night. In between are the dawn "hunsupping," or seasonal visits from a fiddler; the fireworks and canon-roar of St. Barbara's Day on December 4th; the pageantry and gift-giving of St. Nicholas' Day on December 6th; St. Finan's Eve on December 12th; Tul-ya-e'en on December 17th, on which the trows of Orkney and Shetland folklore were said to emerge; St. Thomas Eve on December 20th; and then Christmas Eve and Christmas Day itself...

I fully expected to enjoy Christmas Folk, given my appreciation for so many of Belting's other books, and given that the accompanying artwork was done by the marvelously talented Barbara Cooney. The subject matter, moreover - historical English Christmas customs - is fascinating. All that said, although I did find this engaging, I wasn't as thrilled as I'd hoped to be. The poetic free verse here sometimes felt a little difficult, and the folklorist in me was left wanting more, when it came to details about the customs described. Like the online friend who recommended it to me - thanks, Hilary! - I think Christmas Folk would have benefited greatly from an afterword giving more information. Of course, what I did learn was very interesting, and the illustrations were delightful. The frequent mentions of mumming made me think of things like the Christmas Revels, or the Waites in Kate Milford's brilliant middle-grade novel, The Ghosts of Greenglass House. Having had this sample of Elizabethan customs, I would love to track down something more detailed, even if it were historical fiction, but as it is, I still recommend this one, both to Barbara Cooney fans, and to those readers interested in historical Christmas folk customs.

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