Month: January 2025

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Twelfth Night? Time to take down your Christmas decorations, January 5th

To show a Christmas celebration in the Victorian period, probably twelfth night

On the twelfth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
Twelve drummers drumming, Eleven pipers piping, Ten lords a-leaping,
Nine ladies dancing, Eight maids a-milking, Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds, Three French hens, Two turtle-doves
And a partridge in a pear tree.

Twelfth Night

In 1775, William Snooke recorded in his diary, that he sat down to a fine dinner with

‘Mr and Mrs William Clifford and their seven children (and maid), John Fox Snr. and Sally Twining, Mr and Mrs William Fox, and William Weale.’ To feed this crowd took “Ham, Greens, 3 fowls roasted, Soup, Leg of Mutton, potatoes, Boiled rump of beef (large)”

Dessert included pudding, mince pies and a forequarter of home lamb. For supper, the assembled party consumed tarts, stuffed beef, mince pies, cold mutton, oysters, cold sliced beef, cold lamb, apple pies and pears.

This is recorded in a fine Pinterest post about Twelfth Night.

Twelfth Night Celebrations in Southwark

A recent ‘tradition’ for a Tweltfh Night procession has been established on the south side of the River Thames in London. The Lions Part Company begin their entertainments at the rebuilt Globe. The parade has all the traditional mummers characters, including the Green Man, and the Holly Man. They perform the Combat Play of St George. This involves the Old ‘Oss (which is the centre point of the May Day festivities at Padstow in Cornwall. They also have Twelth Night Cakes containing a bean and a pea. These are used to crown the King and Queen of the Day.

Photo of Twelfth Night Celebrations in Southwark, London on the South Bank
Photo of Twelfth Night Celebrations in Southwark, London on the South Bank

Confused by Twelfth Night?

It is of interest that the above meal was on January 6th, not the 5th. So why is there such confusion as to when is twelfth night? I have a suggestion as to the basis for the confusion as to when the Twelve Days of Christmas begin. It would seem perverse to leave Christmas Day out of the Twelve Days of Christmas. So many people start their count on the 25th December. But some folklore sources going back in time count from Boxing Day. For example, Gervase Markham’s ‘The English Husbandman of 1635 counts it from Boxing Day.

The Daily Express reveals to me that the Protestants count from Christmas Day and the Catholics from Boxing Day. That maybe it, but is the confusion more complicated than that? The religious festival really makes sense if it begins with Christmas Day, and ends with the Epiphany. This is the day the Three Kings from the Orient come to worship Jesus. But Epiphany is on the 6th January, which is 13 days from Christmas. 13 days of Christmas would be ill-omened. So two solutions: make the end of the Twelve Days the Eve of Epiphany, i.e. the 5th, or start the 12 days from Boxing Day.

I suspect there is a fudge going on here. Twelve is the magic number, twelve Apostles, 12 months in the year, so twelve Days of Christmas. But clearly, for Christians it stretches from Christmas Day to Epiphany. Two ways to square that 13 day difference. One is to begin the twelve days on Boxing Day. The other is to end with a Twelfth Night party on the Eve of Epiphany.

Time to take your decorations down- January 5th or 6th or Candlemas

However, we currently all agree that January 5th is the day to take down your Christmas decorations. If you fail to do it now, you have to keep them until Candlemas, which is on February 2nd. See my Candlemas post to see the official end of Christmas

Tomorrow I will look at Twelfth Night festivities.

Published 2024, revised 2025

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Last chance to make the Twelfth Night Cake & the Night Skies, January 4th

Twelfth Night Cake at the Museum of the Home
Twelfth Night Cake at the Museum of the Home, photo Kevin Flude

Twelfth Night Cake

On the 11th day of Christmas
My true love sent to me
11 pipers piping; Ten lords a-leaping; Nine ladies dancing
Eight maids a-milking; Seven swans a-swimming
Six geese a-laying
Five golden rings (five golden rings)
Four calling birds; Three French hens; Two turtle-doves
And a partridge in a pear tree.

Now is your last chance to make your Twelfth Night cake, its the 11th hour after all! Of course, Stir Up Sunday would have been the best day. Here is a recipe from 1604 by Elinor Fettiplace:

Take a peck of flower, and fower pound of currance, one ounce of Cinamon, half an ounce of ginger, two nutmegs, of cloves and mace two peniworth, of butter one pound, mingle your spice and flower & fruit together, but as much barme [the yeasty froth from the top of fermenting beer barrels] as will make it light, then take good Ale, & put your butter in it, saving a little, which you must put in the milk, & let the milk boyle with the butter, then make a posset with it, & temper the Cakes with the posset drink, & curd & all together, & put some sugar in & so bake it.

I found this on the excellent www.britishfoodhistory.com, where you can find more cooking instructions for Twelfth Night Cake and much more. If you want a more modern recipe, here is one from the BBC.

Whichever you choose, you should add a pea, and a bean to the recipe. These will be useful once you have read my Twelfth Night post.

The Night Skies in January.

The Quadrantid meteor shower appears from the point of the Plough’s handle. It continues to January 12th but is peaking today, (January 4th). At the peak there may be 100 meteors an hour. But, it will be low in the north-eastern sky and best seen from low light pollution areas. Twinkling above the Southern Horizon will be Sirius and this month’s brightest star. In the NE, the Plough can easily be seen. The Orion nebula south of Orion’s belt will be seen as a hazy patch with the naked eye. (from the Night Sky. Month by Month by Gater and Sparrow).

On This Day

1642 Charles I marched on the House of Commons to arrest five Members of Parliament. It failed, the MPs fled to Guildhall in the City of London. Charles followed and was surrounded by citizens of the City of London shouting ‘Priviledge of Parliament. He fled London and the Civil began soon after.

Revised January 4th 2025

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St. Genevieve’s Day January 3rd

St Genevieve stained glass windown. réalisé au XIXe siècle par Alfred Gérente pour orner le corridor de la nouvelle sacristie de Notre-Dame de Paris.
Saint Geneviève praying for the end of the rain. 19th Century by Alfred Gérente Notre-Dame de Paris.

St Genevieve of Nanterre (c. 419/422 AD – 502/512 AD) has her feast day today. Nanterre is an ancient settlement swallowed up by modern Paris. Genevieve was a most remarkable woman who met St Germanus of Auxerre on his way to Britain. Geneviève was only 7 when she met Germanus. He encouraged her piety. She became a consecrated virgin (someone who made vows of chastity to be a ‘bride of Christ’). Thereby living an aesthetic life of fasting and prayer. Miracles soon became associated with her, (including changing the weather) and the ‘usual’ medical miracles. After moving to Paris, she encouraged the women of the City to stay in the City for prayer and fasting to prevent the Huns capturing the City in 451. Attila and the Huns abandoned the siege.

St Genevieve saved the City on other occasions too, helped build two large Church projects, including St Dennis. In the medieval period, she became the Patron Saint of Paris. She is patron to: Paris, shepherds, winemakers, wax-chandlers, hatmakers; against eye complaints, fever, plagues, drought, and war.

St Germanus

St Germanus played a significant role in Genevieve’s life, protecting her from slander and attack. He is one of the most significant figures in post Roman studies in Britain. Accounts of his visits to Britain in the early 5th Century are among the very few descriptions of post-Roman life. He was sent to Britain to counter the Pelagian Heresy, which was endangering the Catholic version of Christianity.

17th Century print of Pelagius

He took part in a public debate about heresy which took place in a disused Roman amphitheatre. For more about Germanus and his visit to Britain read my post here.

More on Nanterre

Incidently, Nanterre has an interesting prehistory. The name in Celtic means ‘enduring sacred site’. A large cemetery has been found, which helps support the possibility that it is the original site of Paris. Julius Caesar attended an assembly with local Gallic leaders in the area. The topography of Nanterre fits as well for the location of the assembly as the island in the Seine (Île de la Cité) which is an alternative location.

This is an excerpt from Julius’s Caesar book. (It is photographed from my book- details below).

‘In Their Own Words – A Literary Companion To The Origins Of London‘ D A Horizons,  Kevin Flude

To buy the Kindle (£2.40) or a paperback version (£5.99), click here.  

Cover of Kevin Flude's 'In their Own Words'

First written in January 2023, revised and republished January 2024, and 2025

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The French Revolutionary Calendar — January 2nd

French Revolutionary Calendar Pocket Watch

On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me 
Nine ladies dancing, Eight maids a-milking, Seven swans a-swimming, 
Six geese a-laying, Five golden rings, 
Four calling birds, Three French hens, Two turtle-doves, 
And a partridge in a pear tree. 

Ripping up the Year

On this day in 1793 the National Convention in Revolutionary France decreed that Year II of the Republic had begun the day before. That is on New Year’s Day, January 1st. But, by October, they decided that the French Revolutionary Calendar should have begun on the Autumn Equinox. So they, retrospectively, made 22 September 1792 the first day of Year I.

By choosing a radical and rational reform of the Calendar the Revolutionaries were following Julius Caesar’s example. His Julian Calender tidied up the old Roman Calendar but kept many of the essentials in place. The French, by contrast, almost completely ripped up the calendrical rule book. For more on the Julian Calendar read my post here.

Wheezy, Sneezy and Freezy Months

Let’s start with the names of the months. The concept of the month they kept but got rid of the irrational Latin-based names. They replaced them with neologisms derived from seasonal indicators as you will see.

But it’s more fun to begin with the names as reported, satirically, by John Brady. He published these in England in 1811. The list starts with ‘October’ as the year began at the Winter Solstice. The seasons are separated by semicolons.

Wheezy, Sneezy and Freezy; Slippy, Drippy and Nippy; Showery, Flowery
and Bowery; Hoppy, Croppy and Poppy.

The historian Thomas Carlyle suggested somewhat more serious English names
in his 1837 work ‘The French Revolution: A History’ namely:

Vintagearious, Fogarious, Frostarious; Snowous, Rainous, Windous; Buddal,
Floweral, Meadowal; Reapidor, Heatidor, and Fruitidor.

The actual revolutionary names were: Vendémiaire, Brumaire, Frimaire; Nivôse, Pluviôse, Ventôse; Germinal, Floréal, Prairial; Messidor, Thermidor, Fructidor

Each month was a rational 30 days, leaving 5 days of the solar year to be sorted out. These were given to the Sans Culottes as holidays and called complimentary days. The leap year was similarly given to the Sans Culottes; an extra day, every 4 years. It was a copy of the Egyptian year, which had inspired Caesar to make the Roman year rational.

Working flat out 10/10

And like the Egyptians, the 7-day week went out the window. The month was divided into three décades of 10 days. The tenth day, the décadi, being a day of rest. By my calculations, the ‘lucky’ Sans Culottes gained 5 days at the end of the year. But lost 16 Sundays, a net lost of 11 days over the year. I’m guessing they would have been compensated somewhere in the year? By time off to celebrate various revolutionary festivals, such as the 14th July (celebrating the storming of the Bastille)? The days were called primidi (first day) duodi (second day) tridi (third day) etc.

The hours of the day were decimalised. So each day was divided into 10 hours, rather than the 24 hours we use. The hours into 100 decimal minutes, and the minute into 100 decimal seconds. This meant that an hour was 144 conventional minutes; a minute 86.4 conventional seconds, and a second 0.864 conventional seconds.

Thank you, Napoleon?

So, had we adopted the French Revolutionary Calendar as we did the metric system this would be Tridi 13th Nivôse, Year 233. (According to the calculator at French Calendar.)

The French Revolutionary Calendar did not survive Napoleon, who recalled the conventional calendar. Time keeping returned to the Gregorian standard on 1 January 1806.

I do like the idea of the 10-day week. But I would like it to be 6 days of work and 4 days of leisure, thank you. I do wish we could rename our months: Wheezy, Sneezy and Freezy; Slippy, Drippy and Nippy; Showery, Flowery and Bowery; Hoppy, Croppy and Poppy.

To find out more look at Wikipedia and consult John Brady (1812), Clavis Calendaria: Or, A Compendious Analysis of the Calendar; Illustrated with Ecclesiastical, Historical, and Classical Anecdotes, vol. 1, Rogerson and Tuxford

On this Day

Today, is special for the Cybele, Isis, Aphrodite and Ishtar, and is the Vigil for St Genevieve of Nanterre. Paris. (more tomorrow).

Sorry to post so many today, but had to catch up after New Year’s Eve. Where is that willow bark?

First Published Jan 2nd 2023, republished Jan 2024, and 2025

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Hangover Cures & Bacchus – January 1st

Marble statue of Bacchus from the Temple of Mithras London. The inscription reads ‘hominibus vagis vitam’ Translation … (give) life to men who wander.

On the eighth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
8 Maids a Milking; 7 Swans a Swimming; 6 Geese a Laying
5 Golden Rings
4 Calling Birds; 3 French Hens; 2 Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree

Closing Time

The 8th day, New Years Day, is the day of the Throbbing Head. In ‘Closing Time’ Leonard Cohen wrote about drinking to excess. I like to think he refers to Christmas and New Year’s Day:

‘And the whole damn place goes crazy twice
And it’s once for the devil and it’s once for Christ
But the boss don’t like these dizzy heights
We’re busted in the blinding lights of closing time.

Trouble is the song mentions summer. Oh well. You can enjoy the official video on YouTube below:

Hangover Cure

So what you need is a hangover cure. Nature provides many plants that can soothe headaches. And in the midst of the season of excess, let’s start with a hangover cure.

Common ivy Photo by Zuriel Galindo from unsplash

Ivy and Bacchus

Ivy, ‘is a plant of Bacchus’…. ‘the berries taken before one be set to drink hard, preserve from drunkenness…. and if one hath got a surfeit by drinking of wine, the speediest cure is to drink a draft of the same wine, wherein a handful of ivy leaves (being first bruised) have been boiled.’

Culpeper Herbal 1653 quoted in ‘the Perpetual Almanac’ by Charles Kightly

The image of Bacchus, at the top of the post, is from a fascinating article by the Museum of London on wine making in Roman Britain. Bacchus is often shown with an ivy crown around his head as Romans were wont to wear them to fend of hangovers.

Skullache, and Willow,

Crack Willow Trees on the Oxford Canal, August 2021

One of the best documented folk hangover cure is willow bark. It could be used for headaches, earaches and toothaches. Here is a record of how simple it was to use:

‘I am nearly 70 years old and was born and bred in Norfolk… My father, if he had a ‘skullache’ as he called it, would often chew a new growth willow twig, like a cigarette in the mouth.’

‘A Dictionary of Plant Lore by Roy Vickery (Pg 401)

In the 19th Century, Willow was found to contain salicylic acid from which aspirin was derived. As a child I remember chewing liquorice sticks in a similar way. However, we chewed, supposedly for the pleasure and the sweetness not for the medicinal virtues of the plant.

Country Weather

January 1st’s weather on the 8th Day of Christmas was warm and wet all day. So, according to Gervase Markham, the 8th Month, August, will be similarly warm and drenched. (source: ‘The English Husbandman’ of 1635.)

On this Day

It was the Day of Nymphs in Greece dedicated to Artemis, Andromeda, Ariadne, Ceres. (according to the Goddess Book of Days by Diane Stein.)

First Published in 2024, republished in 2025

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New Year’s Day & Almanacs—January 1st

From the Kalendar of Shepherdes (illus. 1529)

Old Moore’s

Ebay advert screenshot for Old Moore’s Almanac 2025

Alcohol poisoning may mean this is not the day to think about the New Year and make our resolutions. But we might turn to an almanac to see what the year has ahead. Newspapers and the web have now taken over largely from almanacs. They print articles about the upcoming highlights of the Political, Sporting, Gardening or the Musical year. But almanacs are still produced. One of the most popular is Old Moore’s which has been in production since 1697. For more on Old Moore’s see my post. They have chosen Michael McIntyre, Taylor Swift, Elon Musk and Kate Windsor for their cover. As you can see, they promise to help with your gambling, gardening, fishing and help you through the year with predictions and horoscopes.

Arguably, they grew from medieval manuscript Books of Hours. The 1493 Kalendar of Shepherds, published in Paris, was particularly important. Each month has a succinct description of the activity. Moreover, there was important information for farmers and others. Eventually, a British version was made. The illustration below gives its description of what goes on in January in the 16th Century. It is well worth a read. It goes with the picture at the top of this post, which is borrowed from the original French version.

Growth of the market for Almanacs

By the 1600s almanacs were the most published form of book apart from the Bible. Lauren Kassell in ‘Almanacs and Prognostications’ reports estimates that by 1660 one third of every household had one.

Originally, they had a Calendar for each month, and information about the phases of the month, the tides. They gave predictions of the weather, and health issues likely to occur at that time of the year. Astrology was an important element. London Almanacs contained further information about the year, its ceremonies and elections of officials. As this informational side to the almanac grew, they included lists of monarchs, interesting stories, verse foretelling the weather, recipes and cures.

Cover page of the Illustrated london almanack for 1867

Here, is a verse about January from the Kalendar of Shepherds. You can read more about the Kalendar on my post here.

Verse about January from the Kalendar of Shepherde's (translated from the 1493 Paris edition)
January from the Kalendar of Shepherde’s (translated from the 1493 Paris edition)

The earliest almanacs were made of wood and were called ‘clog almanacs. You can read more about them on my post here:

Originally published in 2024, republished in 2025.

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Next Walks

Here are listed the public walks and tours I have currently got in my diary. I will be adding others all the time.

Jane Austen’s London Anniversary Walk 2.30 pm Saturday 25th Jan25
Green Park underground station, Green Park exit, by the fountain To book
Jane Austen’s ‘A Picture of London in 1809 Virtual Walk Mon 7.30 27th Jan25 To book Charles I and the Civil War. Martyrdom Anniversary Walk 2.30 Thurs 30th Jan25 Exit 4 Westminster Underground Station Booking details to follow
The Civil War, Restoration and the Great Fire of London Virtual Tour 7:30pm Thurs 30th Jan25To book
Jane Austen’s London Anniversary Walk 2.30 pm Sunday 9th February 25 To book
A Virtual Tour of Jane Austen’s Bath 7.30pm 10th February 2025 To book
Jane Austen’s London Anniversary Walk 2.30 pm Saturday 8th March 25 To book
Jane Austen’s London Anniversary Walk 11.30 pm Sunday 6th April 25 To book
Chaucer’s Medieval London Guided Walk Sun 2:30pm 6 April 2025 Aldgate Underground to Book
Chaucer’s London To Canterbury Virtual Pilgrimage 7.30pm Friday 18th April 25 To book


For a complete list of my walks for London Walks in 2025 look here

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Archive of Guided Walks/Events for 2025

Every year I keep a list of my walks, and tours on my blog the ‘Almanac of the Past’. Here are the walks I have so far done in 2025.

Here is my ‘Almost Complete List of Walks, Study Tours, Lectures’

Ring in the New Year Virtual Guided Walk

Old New Year Card

Monday 1st January 2025 7.00 pm
On this Virtual Walk we look at how London has celebrated the New Year over the past 2000 years.

The New Year has been a time of review, renewal, and anticipation of the future from time immemorial. The Ancient Britons saw the Solstice as a symbol of a promise of renewal as the Sun was reborn. As the weather turns to bleak mid winter, a festival or reflection and renewal cheers everyone up. This idea of renewal was followed by the Romans, and presided over by a two headed God called Janus who looked both backwards and forwards. Dickens Christmas Carol was based on redemption and his second great Christmas Book ‘The Chimes’ on the renewal that the New Year encouraged.

We look at London’s past to see where and how the New Year was celebrated. We also explore the different New Years we use and their associated Calendars – the Pagan year, the Christian year, the Roman year, the Jewish year, the Financial year, the Academic year and we reveal how these began. We look at folk traditions, Medieval Christmas Festivals, Boy Bishops, Distaff Sunday and Plough Monday, and other Winter Festival and New Year London traditions and folklore.

At the end, we use ancient methods to divine what is in store for us in 2023.

The virtual walk finds interesting and historic places in the City of London to link to our stories of Past New Year’s Days. We begin, virtually, at the Barbican Underground and continue to the Museum of London, the Roman Fort; Noble Street, Goldsmiths Hall, Foster Lane, St Pauls, Doctors Commons, St. Nicholas Colechurch and on towards the River Thames.

Here are previous archive of guided walks/events/

Archive of Events/Walks 2024
Archive of events/Walks 2023
Archive of Events/Walks 2022
Archive of Recent Walks (2021)
Archive of Resent Walks (2019-2020)