That festive scene in every historical drama: our hero and heroine enjoying Christmas celebrations at the Big House: feasting, dancing, a sparkling tree, presents for everyone and Blind-Man’s Bluff. How true is the fantasy? As with anything historical, it depends. Christmas has swung in and out of fashion with the British gentry, but regular folk have never forgotten how to celebrate.
The winter solstice (21 December) was important enough for ancient people to align great monuments like Stonehenge with the sunset. The Romans celebrated Saturn, god of agriculture and plenty, at the raucous winter festival of Saturnalia, and feasting gave country people an excuse to eat the meat of any animals that would not survive a long winter. There was little work to do in frozen fields so labourers could take a well-earned rest and let off steam with games and merrymaking.
The early Church did not want such pagan-influenced
