MUSINGS FROM THE BOWER 24

‘So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun

And so this is Christmas

I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young’

I love Christmas. When I think back to all the Christmases I’ve known, there is quite a contrast between my childhood ones and those of today. For a start, we are so much more materialistic that we were sixty or so years ago.  People of my generation often say, ‘When I was a child, a tangerine wrapped in foil, a book and a handful of sweets were my Christmas gifts. And I was lucky to get those.’ It’s true there was little money about after the war, but maybe I was specially lucky, as I usually had a doll together with a tea set, doll’s cot or highchair, as well as assorted novelties, though I never had the heap of presents children get today.

I recall coming downstairs one Christmas morning – I must have been about eight – and had already unpacked the pillowcase of books, puzzles and a doll that had mysteriously appeared in my bedroom overnight. There, in the living room was a desk and chair, something I had wanted for so long. The desk was made from plywood with blue metal legs, and even had an inkwell. The chair was wood with blue metal legs. When I lifted the desk lid, there inside was a Bible, a gift from a favourite aunt. I recall being amazed that I had a desk as well as my pillowcase gifts and spent most of the day sitting at the desk and alternating reading the Bible with reading my new Beano annual!

Decorations were not as prolific in the shops as they are today, but we still made our rooms look festive, especially with paper chains which seem to be out of fashion nowadays.  Sometimes we would buy narrow strips of gummed paper which were threaded through each other to make a chain – they needed to be licked to form the links – but often we would buy packets of crepe paper which we would cut into 3” wide strips. We would take strips of two different colours, such as red and green, and machine them together straight down the middle. Then we would make small cuts along the edges to form a frill. One end of the strip was drawing-pinned to the ceiling and then twisted before being pinned to the opposite corner of the ceiling. Often, the colourful crepe paper strips were then enhanced with Lametta (long narrow strips of metallic silver paper) which was thrown over them to hang down like icicles.

 

Other decorations included honeycomb-paper balls and bells which folded flat when not in use, and tinsel which was invariably silver and much thinner than today’s tinsel. It was also prone to tarnish. Artificial trees were used by some people, but most of us bought a real Christmas tree from the greengrocer and dressed it with glass baubles, bells made from foil milk bottle tops and large electric ‘fairy’ lights – much bigger than today’s strings of tiny bulbs. The tree was topped with a plastic fairy doll, usually bought from Woolworths. Finally, we placed the crib in position. I still have the crib that I was given when I was about eight or nine – it’s a small, plastic affair with flat figures and is very special to me.

Nowadays, I collect both fairy dolls and Christmas cribs. Each year I choose a different fairy to go on top of the tree – this year there is a 1930s’ cloth and papier-mâché doll gracing the main tree, and a 1950s’ Rosebud fairy on top of the small tree in the dining room. Both trees are positively groaning with baubles and other decorations, and each year I buy a few more to add to the collection. Now, the cake is made and iced, the mince pies are baked, and the turkey and vegetables are awaiting their starring role.  It is almost Christmas eve – just another half hour to go, as I write this. I have a special tradition on Christmas Eve. I go out into the garden late at night and look up at the sky, remembering the Christmases past and thinking about loved ones no longer with us. Then I listen. For a moment I am a child again, looking amongst the stars for Father Christmas and listening out for sleigh bells. And do you know, sometimes I am positive that I hear them!

Happy Christmas to those of you who so kindly read my blog.

MUSINGS FROM THE BOWER 23

Do parents still sing lullabies to their babies? I read recently that a survey of young mums showed that most of them sang the latest chart-topper to get their little ones to sleep. This is fine in some ways, for instance if the song happens to have a melody and a gentle rhythm, though perhaps not so good if it’s a rap or something which requires a lot of shouting. Although tradition doesn’t seem to count for much these days, it would be sad if the old lullabies just died out, because they are a link with our mothers, grandmothers, great grandmothers and even further back in time.

The lullaby which most people probably know is Rock-a-bye Baby on the Tree Top (originally, it was ‘Hush-a-by). It first appeared in print in 1765, so was no doubt known well before then.

Rock-a-bye baby, on the tree top
When the wind blows, the cradle will rock
When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall
And down will come baby, cradle and all

In 1916, in The Real Mother Goose Nursery Rhyme book, a version is included which reads:

Rock-a-bye, baby, thy cradle is green;

Father's a nobleman, mother's a queen;

And Betty's a lady, and wears a gold ring;

And Johnny's a drummer, and drums for the king

The tune of Rock-a-bye baby is based on a very old marching song known as Lillibulero.

My mother’s favourite lullaby, the one she used to sing when I was a child was:

Oh lulla lulla lulla lulla bye-bye

Do you want the moon to play with?
Or the stars to run away with?
They'll come if you don't cry
Oh lulla lulla lulla lulla bye-bye
Into mummy’s arms come creeping
And soon you’ll be a-sleeping

Lulla, lulla lulla lulla bye

She also used to sing Brahms Lullaby, though I believe her version might be slightly different to the more usual one:

Roses whisper goodnight

In the silvery light

They hide from the dew

The whole night through

They will bear you above

To a dreamland of love

They will bear you above

To a dreamland of love

And of course, Golden Slumbers was another favourite:

Golden slumbers

Kiss your eyes
Smiles await you

When you rise
Sleep pretty baby
Do not cry
And I will sing

A lullaby

I used to sing these to my children when they were tiny, until one evening my son said tearfully, ‘Don’t sing that sad song, mummy’ – referring to ‘Oh Lulla Lulla Lulla Lulla Bye-bye’. Did he perhaps pick up the wistfulness in my voice, the fact that I was no longer a child and so my mother could no longer sing that special tune to me? Nowadays, with my mother long gone, I find that particular song even more poignant

I’m interested in the traditional methods of baby care, and I’m especially taken by some of the earlier baby garments. I have a collection of Victorian and Edwardian baby gowns, and the exquisite hand-sewing is often breath-taking. The gowns frequently feature dozens of narrow pin tucks, or borders of feather stitches. Sometimes there are delicate lace inserts or embroidered panels. Many of the Victorian gowns are really small, almost doll-sized – babies were smaller in those days. These gowns tended to have a scoop neck and fairly short sleeves, as opposed to the Edwardian gowns which had wrist-length or elbow-length sleeves and round necks. The Edwardian gowns were shorter than the Victorian ones, too. Sometimes I get a magnifying glass to examine the stitching,  wondering how on earth those women, often working in poor light, managed to achieve such tiny, straight stitches. Next time you’re browsing a secondhand shop or collectors’ market, take a look at these beautiful creations and marvel.