A Carol for Christmas III - The Watchman's Cry

Before the creation of the unified Metropolitan Police in 1829 the twisting alleyways and dark streets of London were guarded at night by watchmen. In medieval times the watch fell to local householders who, as part of their civic duty, were required to serve a watch, patrolling the streets from 8 or 9 o'clock at night until sunrise. Unpaid and unarmed they were expected to challenge any villainous characters lurking in the boundaries of their parish.  As the city grew so did the problems of urban unrest and the task of patrolling the streets and seeing to the disreputable and unruly fell to a salaried force of watchmen.  The rising merchant class saw an advantage to get a full night's sleep and in paying a small tax to have their homes and boundaries guarded by a paid force.

The Watchmen at St Marylebone prepare for their nightly duties.
The Microcosm of London published 1808-1810.

The watchmen were employed by parish and city councils and armed with little more than their lantern, a staff and their dogs their duty was to apprehend loose women, drunks, armed thugs and, perhaps worse, gentlemen out on a rout and take them to the local watchhouse.  They would then be turned over to the authorities to be seen to and punished - often harshly - for their criminal deeds or unseemly behavior.   The watchmen were often ridiculed in the playhouse and literature  - Shakespeare takes the mickey in Much Ado About Nothing with bumbling Dogberry and his coherts - but still to the average householder the watchman's cry of the clock and assurance that all was well - if indeed it had not disturbed them from their sleep - allowed them to rest easier. 

Though by 1924 the watchman's cry had long disappeared from the streets of London it was to reappear in the carol "Past Three A Clock and A Cold Frosty Morning" in The Cambridge Carol-Book, Being Fifty-Two Songs for Christmas, Easter and Other Seasons, published by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.  George Ratcliffe Woodward wrote the text and the music was arranged by Charles Wood.  An Anglican clergyman, Woodward was fascinated by old carols and  known for his ability to write verse in a pseudo-Renaissance style and frequently Wood collaborated with him,  adapted his lyrics to old melodies or composed new tunes in the old style.  A teacher at the Royal College of Music Wood counted Ralph Vaughan Williams and Herbert Howells amongst his students.  His settings of the Anglican mass and various canticles and anthems can still be heard in many churches with traditional choirs in England and Canada.

The refrain that gives the carol its title is based on the actual cry of the watchman and appears as a refrain to a song in Playford's Dancing Master in 1665.  The tune itself is based on an old  melody used by Waites.  Like the watchmen the Waites or town pipers were paid by their local civic or parish council to play on special occasions and to awaken people on dark winter mornings with the shrill sound of their pipes and shawms.    

This version of Woodward and Woods' carol is performed by the Stairwell Carollers, an a cappella choir from here in Ottawa. 

Throughout the year the Stairwell Carollers raise money for local charities with concerts and the sale of CDs.  As the name suggests they specialize in "carols" in the old sense of the word - music for secular and sacred feasts.


18 dicembre/December - San Malachia Profeta

Decking the Halls

Though the halls are not being decked as elaborately as they were in the past - during our time in Mexico City our Ambassador's wife remarked that our apartment looked like Eaton's windows at Christmas - there are still a good number of decorations that are being used to give our current residence a feel of Christmas.  Many of them have been around for years and have a significance not just to the season but to celebrations and events of the past.

I bought these two little carollers at the Bay on Rideau Street here in Ottawa
back in the early 80s - I don't recall seeing anything like them since. 
They may have found a place on one of our earlier trees but for the longest time
they have sung their carols perched on this evergreen bough.

More years ago than I care to think I bought two little papier-mâché and felt carollers and made a decoration for the crown of the eight foot high armoire that graced our various living rooms - and is now found a home with my brother-in-law and his wife - for many years.  It was a large piece of furniture with stunning feathered mahogany veneer and dated from the early 1800s.  Laurent's mother had save it when someone had thrown it out to be hauled away as garbage.  It dominated any room it was in but strangely the one place that it fit in perfectly was the small living room of our first house.  A house which figured mightily in my go-for-broke if not quite baroque Christmas decorating phase.  Sans armoire in our homes abroad the two little carollers became decorations for the front door and are serving that purpose once again this year. And they are also serving as the link to the postings to my favourite Christmas carols on the sidebar at the right.

The new tree with my silver balls in place.
A time honoured tradition continues.

Several people have asked - well okay no one really ask but its a good way of making a transition - about our tradition of Silver Christmas balls.  Well there had been some discussion about whither they would be put on the tree this year.  In other years we had a nine foot tree that fit with room to spare in the houses or apartments we lived in - unfortunately the our current apartment is a bit more restrictive.  So the good people at St Vincent gratefully took the old very large tree and the good people at Canadian Tire gratefully took our money for a new much smaller tree.  However we no longer have room for all the ornaments that have been collected over the past 40 or so years.  Some hard choices had to be made - the silver flowers of Christmas didn't go up but the Wedgewood ornaments did; the blown glass apples and oranges from Poland didn't go up but the Russian enamel did.  There was some talk about the trouble involved in getting my silver balls all bright and sparkling for the tree and the amount of time it would take but that argument gave way to a wave of nostalgia -  did we honestly want to break a 34 year old tradition?

Even in Mexico I don't recall the tarnish being so bad - they were almost black.
Ah well that's why silver polish and elbow grease were made I suppose?

So last Saturday silver polish in rubber gloved hand and an old frayed flannel nightshirt torn into usable strips I set to work polishing my balls.  Oh for god's sake Cecilia stop it - I can bloody well hear you chortling from here!  I don't think I've ever seen them so tarnished even in the soup-like pollution that was Mexico City.  The sea air in the shipment?  Adjustment to the relatively unpolluted but humid air of Ottawa?  Who knows but tarnished they were and it took almost 4 hours to clean all 30 of them.  But polished and gleaming they were put on the tree in an unbroken tradition that reaches back to 1979.  Somethings you just don't toy with - I guess  my silver balls are one them.

17 dicembre/December - San Giovanni di Matha

A Carol for Christmas II - Mary's Joy

By the 1870s the Oxford Movement had led to the establishment of Anglo-Catholicism, a branch of the Church of England which had revived and embraced many of the rites, rituals and worship practices, if not all of the dogma, of Catholicism.   In parishes such as mine in Toronto the traditional Anglican services of Matins and Evensong were no longer the centre of worship but the celebration of Mass was considered a daily duty of faith and on high holidays an act of obligation.  Easter and Christmas were the two major days of the Church year but many other feast days dotted the calendar  including those bearing the name of Mary.  Marian worship was not as strong as in the practices of our Roman neighbours however on special feast days the Angelus was rung and said and the Rosary was encouraged as a source of private meditation.

Christmas Carols New and Old was born out of the Protestant tradition of the established Anglican church of its period however the Reverend H. R. Bramely was known to be a disciple of the  Oxford Tracticians and a strong High Church man.  It is little wonder than that a Marian carol found its way, surreptitiously perhaps,  into that first series of carols published in 1871.

The Seven Joys of Mary were popular in the devotional and artistic life of Medieval parishes and religious houses so it seems only natural that it should have become a carol - in the old sense of the word - to be sung at festive occasions.  Though not originally meant specifically for Christmas its introduction into Bramely and Stainer's collection has led to it being consider appropriate for the season. Again it is not a carol that was or is sung in churches (to the more Protestant it smacked of "Popery", to the High Church it was perhaps too frivolous in melody to be comfortable amongst the smells and bells)  however it was often sung in homes and by carollers as the season approached.

For some reason this carol is very popular in Eastern Canada -  its jig like melody does have a bit of that down-East Callie mood to it.  I recall that Rita McNeil always included it in her Christmas concerts and the version I've chosen to post is by Great Big Sea from Newfoundland.  Their version conjures up thoughts of an extended family around the kitchen fire, eating and drinking and celebrating the season as a cold wind blows snow off the  North Atlantic.  It is rather amusing, and comfortable, to see that in this rendition from Newfoundland - and it appears that versions differ from region to region -   at least three of the things that gave the Holy Virgin pleasure in her son growing up were things that gave every good Christian mother joy.

Thought I don't believe in advertising on my blog I believe also that artists should get credit, and recompense, for their work, so I'll mention that this is from an album called Atlantic Standards and is available at iTunes.  There are some lovely and little known pieces on it that I'm happy to have in my Christmas collection.


17 dicembre/December - San Giovanni de Matha

A Carol for Christmas - A Hymn for Christmas Day

The cover of the last (1878)  "library" edition
of Bramley and Stainers Christmas Carols New and Old.

In 1871 Henry Ramsden Bramley and Sir John Stainer published Christmas Carols New and Old,  a book of hymns and songs that could to be said to be responsible for the revival of the Christmas Carol in Victorian England and the English speaking world.  The two had met at in 1860 at Magdalen College, Oxford where Bramely was a fellow of the College and Stainer had been appointed organist.  At the beginning of the 1870s they  collaborated on a book of Christmas music - Bramley acting as editor, translator and in some cases lyricist while Stainer saw to the music and included arrangements thought suitable for use in church and parlor.

That first slim volume was to be expanded to a series of three hymnals and from twenty to seventy carols by the time the last combined edition was published in 1878.  In those seven years Bramley and Stainer introduced most of the carols that we hear in concerts, office parties, on TV specials, in shopping malls and at church during Christmastide.

That first edition included carols which we now take as givens at this time of year but for their time were if not new were certainly not well known - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, The First Nowell, What Child is This and Good King Wenceslas.  A wonderful interactive copy of that first series can be thumbed through at the Internet Archive - and notice the use of "f" or the "long s" in the lyrics.

The second book in the series included a carol which was often sung at Festal Evensongs during the Christmas season at St. Thomas and which  became one of my favourites.   "See amid the winter's snow" was published under the title A Song for Christmas and I particularly remember the wonderful descant and organ variations that Walter McNutt and his choir wove around it on those solemn evenings on Huron Street.  The text was by Edward Caswall, an Anglican priest who followed Newman's example and joined the Oratorians, and set to music by Sir John Gross who was known for the popular hymn Praise My Soul the King of Heaven.

I searched for a version that could perhaps bring back memories of those candlelit and garland festooned services at St Thomas's but came across this version by Annie Lennox that is as moving and memorable in its own way.  In 2010 Annie released an album of Christmas carols and songs and toured  extensively in North American during the time leading up to the holiday.  Though there are several postings on YouTube of the studio recording, one of which can be heard here, however  I choose a live recording that she did on a syndicated American morning show.  Despite the inanities of the hosts in the post performance segment - which can be fortunately avoided - there is a joy that shines through and illuminates the true meaning of this carol in her performance.  

The standard editions of Bramley and Stainers carol books (as in the Internet Archive edition) were simply the words and music.  However there was a more elaborate "library edition" published for the home archives.  The illustrations were done by famous engravers of the period - the winter landscape for Caswell and Gross lovely carol was created by Edward Dalziel  one of the four Dalziel brothers who were popular engravers and lithographers of the period. 

The first page of "See amid the winter's snow"
illustrated by Edward Dalziel.

The "library" editions were illustrated and
annotated with the history of the carol

In the introduction to the final combined volume in 1878 Bramley and Stainer wrote:

The following collection of Christmas Carols, new and old, has been formed with the purpose of providing a single source, easily accessible, from which those who are so disposed may make choice of songs, suitable in words and music, for the sacred and joyous season of our Lord's Nativity.

The time-honoured and delightful custom of thus celebrating the Birthday of the Holy Child seems, with some change of form, to be steadily and rapidly gaining ground. Instead of the itinerant ballad-singer or the little bands of wandering children, the practice of singing Carols in Divine Service, or by a full choir at some fixed meeting, is becoming prevalent.

Among the Carols here given are some which are best suited for the old simple mode of rendering; others which require more ample means for their performance. Some, from their legendary, festive, or otherwise less serious character, are unfit for use within the Church.
.......

With this brief account of the purpose and nature of their undertaking they again submit the result to those orthodox lovers of music who desire to keep the Feast of Christmas with mirth which shall not overstep the bounds of reverence.

Henry Ramsden Bramley and John Stainer
London, 1878

I can't be alone in feeling that their stated purpose and nature was more than achieved.

15 dicembre/December - Beato Carlo Steeb

A Carol for Christmas - Prologue

"Well what other sort of carols are there?" you may ask?  Well there are all sorts of carols - Advent, Easter or just for general rejoicing.  The word carol appears to have been derived from the French "carole" or possibly the latin "carula" but in either case it meant music to be played and sung during a circular dance at a festive time.   During the 1100s they were particularly popular as dance melodies but were gradually incorporated in to processions of a religious nature or as an accompaniment to the Mystery Plays that were popular throughout Europe.

After having heard the news the Shepherds carol the birth
of the Christ Child in this 12th century manuscript.

In France they became the folk-like noels heard in Provence and the countryside eventually finding their way in the 16th century into the music of Charpentier, Campra and other courtly composers.  In Germany the Lutheran church encouraged music at Christmas and Luther himself wrote several carols for use at Christmastide.  In England many of the carols were written to be sung outside the church as bands of carollers went awassailing from house to house, a tradition which reached back to the pagan times and accounts for the secular sound of so many of the carols that are popular today.

Brady and Tate's New Version of the Psalms of David
included "While Shepherds Watched",
the first Christmas carol in an Anglican hymnal.

In the 17th century carols were banned in England by the Puritans as frivolous and an unsuccessful attempt was made to turn December 25th into a fast day.  It was revived as a feast day with  the Restoration of the Monarchy and the reestablishment of the Church of England however it didn't regain its full significance until the 19th century.  Though many carols and Christmas songs were written the only hymn accepted at Yuletide in the Anglican church in 1700 was "While shepherds watched" when it appeared in a supplement to the New Version of the Psalms of David by Nicholas Brady and Nahum Tate.  It was to be joined by two other carols in 1782 - Wesley's "Hark the Herald Angels" being one of them.  More carols were introduced in English country churches and by the 1870s had become a part of Christmas services throughout England and the colonies.

A wealth of Christmas text and music was added to Hymns Ancient and Modern in the period from 1850s onward and many of the popular carols we know and love today were composed at that time.  It was also a time when many of the earlier carols were arranged or reset to new tunes often having been translated from the Latin.

A band of children in Yorkshire, carrying greenery as symbols of rebirth, go from house to house singing carols in the tradition of wassail.  In exchange for their song and blessings on the house they would receive food, drink and sometimes small coins.

As I was growing up in the 50s and 60s a few popular standards - Silent Night, O Come All Ye Faithful, Joy to the World, Hark the Herald Angels and While Shepherds et al - seemed to be the only ones heard.  But during the 70s  I had the good fortune to be introduced to a treasury of Christmas music every week day afternoon by Bob Kerr on his programme Off the Record.  Much of what I enjoy today as music at Christmas I can trace back to his incredible eclectic mix of music for the season that encompassed so many periods, cultures and languages.  At the same time I became involved at St Thomas Anglican Church in Toronto and there discovered  Christmas carols that were part of a vital music tradition in the parish.  

Though I still love the old familiar carols there are so many beautiful songs that sing to the heart of the season and that make my Christmas a rich and happy time.  Over the next few days I'm planning to post a few of my favourites from those less well-known carols.  Hopefully they will bring you as much joy as they do me.

15 dicembre/December - Santa Maria Crocifissa di Rosa

Christmas Card - II

Though of a slightly later period this lovely
floral card is reminiscent of the early Christmas
Cards created by Louis Prang 

The United States Postal Service had been created back in 1775 with Benjamin Franklin as its first Postmaster General.  By the early 1800s the USPS relied on a system of horse, coach and steamboat delivery to carry an every increasing volume of correspondence as the country expanded.

And at no time of the year was that volume as critical as it was as the Christmas season approached.   People sent handmade greetings to family and friends spread out throughout the continent and often with the increase of immigration, overseas.  The workload was so bad in 1822 that the Superintendent of Post in Washington D.C. complained that he would have to hire 16 additional postmen.  Fearful of future bottlenecks in delivery he petitioned Congress to restrict the exchange of cards by post at Christmas time.  He issued the dire warning that the Service would grind to a halt if this sort of thing kept up.

The centre pane of this post card shows a traditional German Christmas that was soon to become the idea of how Christmas was celebrated throughout much of the English-Speaking World.  The border  seems to have a strange "bringing civilization" flavour to it.

As well as celebrating Christmas these stylish
Fraulein are modelling the latest fashions for the young set
in Wein in 1888.  Perhaps this card was designed for
a dressmaker or fashion shop - even then businesses sent out
Holiday Greetings to their patrons.

Poor man - it was of course only the beginning.  Once ready-made Christmas greetings became the rage the flood of cards was to become beyond the poor Superintendent's wildest imaginings.   Though  ready-made cards had been introduced in England in 1843 they didn't become fashionable in North America until 1875 when German-born lithographer Louis Prang introduced them at his shop in Boston.  His first Christmas cards were mostly floral bouquets and except for the odd possible bit of "language of flowers" that was popular in Victorian times had little to do with the season.  As time went on  what is considered now to be traditional Christmas themes began to appear.  He could be thought of as  the "father of the American Christmas card".  However by 1890 his cards fell out of favour and were being replaced by the cheaper Christmas-themed penny post cards imported from his native Germany.


The post card - cheaper to make, buy and send - was replacing the elaborate - and expensive - Victorian card as a way of sending Christmas wishes to friends and family.  Reflecting the traditions of Yuletide as they were celebrated in Mittel-Europe and were being observed in a Great Britain emulating their Queen and her family.  And of course under the influence of the "Motherland" most of her colonies and former colonies followed the customs.  They were to become the template of how Christmas was to be observed for much of the English speaking world.

With the coming of the Great War all things Germany were banished and though post cards continued to be sent they had a patriotic theme - on both sides of the barbed wire.  By the end of the war post cards were starting to fade from the scene and the older style cards with envelopes returned to favour.

That poor overwhelmed Superintendent would have thrown his hands up in despair at the millions of cards that flooded through the postal system a mere century after his dire prediction. 


14 dicembre/December - San Giovanni della Croce

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Lunedi Lunacy

At this time of year all over the  United Kingdom children are loudly warning a favorite Fairy Tale character of one sort or other to "Look Behind" them.  Yes its Panto time in England - and beloved Storyland heros and heroines are singing, dancing and prat falling their way across the nation's stages.  But even as they boo the evil Queen or the ravenous Wolf and applaud the happily united Cinders with her Prince, Aladdin and his Jasmine or Beauty with her transformed Beast not one of the little darlings in the audience gives thought to what happens once those plush red curtains engulf them.

Oh yes I know "They lived happily ever after."  Trips off the tongue easily doesn't it?  Oh for heaven's sake grow up!

Cinderella

Belle the Beauty

Princess Jasmine

Red Riding Hood

Sleeping Beauty

Snow White

The Little Mermaid

And though she isn't really a storybook character you have to admit that the Gospel According to Matel painted a pretty fairy tale life for Barbie that many a poor Ken has worked overtime to try and provide.

Barbie Turns 50.

"Happily ever after ....." Yeah right Mother Goose!

With thanks to my dear Naomi for sending me these and destroying my childish childlike beliefs.


12 dicembre/December - Nostra Signora di Guadalupe

A Big Day

This past weekend has been busy with getting together with old friends, polishing the balls - more of that later -  and trying to get the Christmas tree up.  Why is it even with the tree being pre-lit it still takes 3 days????

Anyway on Friday morning Laurent reminded me just after I got out of bed of what a big day it was. And after rubbing the sleep from my eyes and seeing to a few more pressing ablutions I realized that indeed it was a big day. December 9th, 2011  Stephen Harper became the 9th longest holder of the position of Prime Minister of Canada. He had been in office now for 5 year 306 days which is 4 days longer than that other great Conservative leader John (Dief the Chief) Diefenbaker.  And to think I've lived under both of them.

Which brings to light the other great event of the day - I was finally able to use my Senior Citizen bus pass legally.  Yes I hang my head in shame to admit that for two months I've used a Senior's bus pass, shall we say, a trifle illegally.  But the very nice young lady at the OC Transpo kiosk offered it to me in October and said that it would save everyone hassle when I actually qualified in two months.  So you see it was self-interest on her part and altruism on mine!  Honestly!

On the December 8th, 1946 my father announced that he would not be into work because his wife was having a baby the next day.  Not the sort of announcement that was greeted with credence in those far off days.  Its a long, boring story - or at least was at all those family gatherings - but apparently it was then or never so on December 9th as the snow blew up a treat on Grenville Street in Toronto, Dr Marion Hilliard delivered my poor mother of a pre-mature, mewling tiny creature that was whisked away immediately to an incubator for a few weeks.

Well thanks to pioneers in women's health like Dr Hilliard and her colleagues at Women's College Hospital I'm here today - still mewling, not much more mature than I was in those days, not so tiny and with almost as little hair.  I joke but Dr Hilliard and her ilk were remarkable women in an era when issues of women's health were given little attention and thanks to their work great advances were made.

So here  I am here 65 years muttering at those 64 year old whippersnappers to get the hell up and give me the seat at the front of the bus.  And now comes the discounts at the drugstore,  the Ontario Drug Plan for Seniors, movie discounts and every other cut I can get for making it to 65!  But I will not go for the early bird special at the local diner - no one, not even a Senior Citizen eats at 5 o'clock in the afternoon.  Or at least not this Senior Citizen.

I can hear at least one person I know reading this shaking his head and saying "silly man"; all silliness aside I want to thank all my dear and wonderful friends and family for the wishes, the e-mails, the cards, the notes on Facebook. And to my father-in-law Denis and brother-in-law Stephan and other members of the Leprechaun Chorale - thanks for the singing telegram but don't give up the day job.

One of the great joys of the past 65 years has been the friends that I have made who have given me reason to rejoice in and gave so much meaning to my life.  1000 grazie e baci a tutti!


(Begun on December 9th and finally finished on December 11th.)


09 decembre/December - Juan Diego, nato Cuauhtlatoatzin

Christmas Cards - I

Over the past five years I may have mentioned that one of my favourite authors is E.F. Benson and chief amongst his books the series that traces the "alarmes and skirmishes" between those two forces of nature Elizabeth Mapp and Lucia. I was drawn to his books by the BBC TV Series that brought to life the citizens of Tilling in the persons of Geraldine McEwan, Prunella Scales and Nigel Hawthorne.  Though it is over 30 years old since they first appeared they are still a constant source of joy and gentle laughter.

As indeed are the Lucia novels that I have read, read again and reread a third, fourth and possibly fifth time.  Though there may be great things going on in the outside world but to the residents of Tilling they are as nothing compared to the daily thrill of life in their own little, fast fading, world.  Even the sending of Christmas cards became a matter of thrust and parry and tactical manoeuvrings.

The pleasant custom of sending Christmas cards prevailed in Tilling and most of the world met in the stationer's shop on Christmas Eve, selecting suitable salutations from the threepenny, the sixpenny and the shilling trays.  Elizabeth came in rather early and had almost completed her purchases when some of her friends arrived, and she hung about looking at the backs of volumes in the lending library, but keeping an eye on what they purchased.  Diva, she observed selected nothing from the shilling tray anymore than she had herself; in fact, she thought that Diva's purchases this year were made entirely from the threepenny tray.  Susan, on the other hand, ignored the threepenny tray and hovered between the sixpennies and the shillings, and expressed an odiously opulent regret that there were not some "choicer" cards to be obtained.  The Padre and Mrs Bartlett were certainly exclusively threepenny, but that was always the case.  However, they, like everybody else, studied the other trays, so that the next morning when they all received seasonable coloured greetings from their friends, a person must have a shocking memory if he did not know what had been the precise cost of all that were sent him. 

But where did the "pleasant custom of sending Christmas cards" originated?

The custom of exchanging greetings at Christmastide was an age old one and often took the form of handmade cards delivered by hand within a town and then as postal systems grew spread to family and acquaintances further afield.   In England at least, it appears that the first commercial Christmas card was created in 1843. Henry Cole (left in a caricature from Vanity Fair from August 1871), as well as being a civil servant, was the chief architect of the newly modernized British postal system, a moving force behind the Albert Hall, Great Exhibition of 1851 and promoted and oversaw the building of the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Needless to say he was a busy man and in 1843 felt he was too occupied to write out the personal greetings that friends expected to receive at Chistmas time  so he hired John Calcott Horsley to design a "greeting card" all ready to be sent. Horsley's design was hand-coloured and lithographed on stiff, dark cardboard and bore the greeting: A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you".

It featured adults and children at a Christmas feast raising a glass in a toast but also bore several readily recognizable Christian symbols: sprigs of holly for chastity and ivy symbolizing the footprints that God had left as he walked upon the earth.  And despite the festive atmosphere in the centre pane the receiver was reminded and encouraged to feed and cloth the poor at this time of year as an act of Christian charity.

The card proved popular  and 1000 were printed and sold in London stationery shops for a shilling each.  Of that original printing only two or three are known to exist today and at the most recent auction one that Cole sent to his grandmother went for £22,500 ($35,500.00).  A good deal of the popularity of the card stemmed from the ease of dispatching greetings to family and friends using Cole's newly introduced penny post.  Some controversy arose when several Temperance societies complained about the tipples being enjoyed by the merry throng, particularly the little girl who is being given a sip to celebrate the Feast - however like all "bad" publicity it may well have bolstered sales.

And though we may find it odd that our friends in Tilling were buying Christmas cards to send on Christmas Eve until the Second World War there was Christmas morning postal delivery in most English towns. Canada had no such luxury however we did have the distinction of issuing the first Christmas stamp in 1898.  Though without a Christmas theme - rather it glorifies a rather more temporal Kingdom -  the stamp bears the inscription Xmas 1898.  Legend says that when the Canadian Postmaster General William Murdock proposed a stamp to honour the "Prince" meaning the Prince of Wales,  a raised eyebrow and a pointed question from Queen Victoria - who it is said never quite approved of her son - as to "which Prince" brought the quick-witted reply:  Why the Prince of Peace, m'am.

It had been thought that the e-card would put a dent in the Christmas card market however last year in Great Britain alone - where Christmas cards began - £171.6 was spent on single Christmas cards.  Neither Cole nor Horsley could have dreamt that those 1000 cards would lead to the avalanche of greetings that are exchanged around the world at Christmastide.

06 decembre/December - San Nicola

Lunedi Lunacy

Need I say more?????

A left click will "enbiggen" these terms of sale for easier reading - like they really want you do to that!

05 decembre/December - San Saba Archimandrita

World AIDS Day II - A Few Thoughts and Figures

There was a time when the world seemed obsessed with finding a "Patient Zero" - for a time a work colleague of mine was unjustly branded as the culprit  - someone who brought AIDS to the wider world and could be blamed.  Now with this year's theme for World AIDS Day we are looking at "Zero" in a more positive way: Getting to Zero  - Zero new HIV infections. Zero discrimination. Zero AIDS-related deaths.  A theme?  A wish? A hope?  A goal!

In those first frightening and confusing years when the world grappled with the "gay plague" I  lost many friends  and under the most horrendous circumstances.  Visits to one friend - only the second person in Ottawa to diagnosed with AIDS - were carried out with visitors wearing protective face coverings and clothing.  Doctors and even some nurses were reluctant to go into hospital rooms and the atmosphere was one of fear.  And fear was the prevailing atmosphere in many gay - and straight - haunts and homes; sadly there was the odd medical professional who exploited that fear while others became compassionate care givers despite their own battles with the virus.  It was a time of ignorance and ignorance breeds fear.

As time went on we became more aware, better informed of possible causes and precautions and we became less fearful.  We now know that AIDS is not a "gay" disease; that like any disease it knows no sex, sexuality, race or age nor, despite what we hear from some religious groups,  is it "god's punishment".   We know that it is no longer an automatic death sentence and the fear has been replaced with some hope as research continues and advances are made.  Sadly it has also been replaced in some quarters with complacency as drug companies laud their products as a panacea for the effects of AIDS.  And the temptation is there for developed countries to lessen the enthusiastic support they proffered 6 years ago as statistics level off.

Certainly recent reports show a leveling but those levels themselves are still alarming.  In 2009 it was estimated that 3.3 million people were living with AIDS and 2.5 million of them were children.  In that year it is estimated that 1.8 million people died of AIDS or AIDS related diseases and that approximately 16.6 million children were left orphaned.  16.6 million children!  From newborns to teenagers left without mother or father or in some instance any family.  I knew from my association with the Wakefield Grannies that the figure was staggering but that number in one year is beyond comprehension.

Much has been done since those days when a diagnosis was a death sentence but much is left to be done in not only developing ways to live with AIDS but in finding a cure.  Much has been done to educate people about how to control the spread of AIDS but much is left to do in the way of education particularly in developing countries. Much has been done since those first dark days when friends saw fear and ignorance on the faces of those around them but there is still much to do to combat the fear and ignorance that still clouds so many people's perception of the disease and those living and dying with it.  Much has been done but much is left to do before we can reach the goal set out for this year's World AIDS Day.

Getting to Zero  - Zero new HIV infections. Zero discrimination. Zero AIDS-related deaths.  A theme? A wish? A hope? No, a goal!

01 decembre/December - World AIDS Day

World AIDS Day I - The Lottery

 On his blog Christopher had always tended to be a bit on the facile side - lots of things about his good life in London and the odd romantic heartache thrown in.  But just as often as he could "glitter and be gay" he could also touch the heart with a loving and thoughtful essay.  As I read his post on World AIDS Day six years ago I was brought face to face with my good fortune and my own "win".  

Once again this year I am posting this as a reminder that so many of us have indeed "won the lottery".

December 1, 2005
I have lottery fantasies.

I dream about being able to buy fast cars and designer clothes until they come out of my ears. I want houses in London, New York, East Hampton and Rio. I want to be able to travel first class and work out at The Third Space and get reservations at Annabel's just because of who I am. I want to be able to take hot dates on tours of the National Gallery. When it's closed. Because I'm one of it's biggest benefactors.

Needless to say, twice a week, I am disappointed.

This morning, on the way to work on the tube, I was reading a Times article, written by Annie Lennox, about the millions and millions of people in Africa who are suffering with HIV and AIDS, and dying, and how the governments of the richer nations, such as the one I live in, have pledged support over an eight year period. And how they absolutely must stay committed to this goal.

One of the kids she spoke to on a recent trip to Africa was dying of AIDS. But before he got sick he lost his mother, father, brothers, sisters and pretty much everyone else he cared about to the same disease. He was totally alone in the world. With no hope. And certainly no dreams of fast cars or a nice comfortable house, anywhere. And that shit isn't even near the important stuff.

There are approximately 6,450,000,000 humans on Earth.

Most of them are not 33 year olds who have careers which afford them access to guest lists to the best clubs and bars the city has to offer. They don't have friends who will stick with them no matter what (and slip them Jil Sander dress shirts every now and then.)They don't have housemates who have Thai cuisine prepared and ready to eat when they arrive home. They don't have comfortable beds to sleep in at night.

6,450,000,000.

When I think about it I kinda did win the lottery.

About 33 years ago

EVERYTHING IS NOT REAL - Christopher

For Pierre, Lawrence, Bill, Jim, Don, Andrew, Brian and the many others that we've lost but still love and hold in our hearts.

01 decembre/December - World AIDS Day

Mercoledi Musicale

I have joking said to many of my friends that I left the country in their hands for four years and its gone half-way to hell.  However in the case of the CBC Radio  its no joke.  I can't believe the shell it has become of what was once a broadcasting system that treated its audience if though they had some degree of intelligence.  Programming now talks down to the listeners, announcers mispronounce words and scripts - and I'm assuming there are still scripts - are badly written and edited.  Classical programming, where once knowledgeable hosts introduced music that they knew and understood, has been relegated to a few hours in the late morning presented by a simpering host whose inane comments would make a first year music student blush.  I've finally given up on our National Broadcaster and listen to CBC only first thing in the morning to get the traffic and weather reports.

Fortunately our friend Allan introduced me to the wonders of a little Apple gadget called Airport Express.  Basically a wireless receiver it has been hooked up to my stereo system and at its simplest using iTunes can bring some 2000-3000 radio stations into our living room.  Amongst others we have a choice of 345 Adult contemporary music stations, 195 80s Flashback streams, 317 religious stations (should that be your thing) and the list goes on: Metalica, Golden Oldies, Bluegrass, Country and - Hallelujah - 160 classical stations.  We've been listening to streams from Barcelona, Zurich, Berlin, Rome, Boston, San Fransisco, Los Angeles - now that's traffic reporting! -  and one of our favorites 90.1 University of Wyoming.  Most of the US streams are National Public Radio and though often the announcers can be a bit annoying in their gush there are a raft of good programmes that remind me of what classical radio programming can be and in Canada once was.

On Sunday afternoons American baritone Thomas Hampson, through his Hampsong Foundation and WFMT Chicago,  is presenting Song of America, a 13 part series devoted to the words and music of 250 years of American song.  This past Sunday the programme was devoted to Stephen Foster - and to his credit Hampson didn't shy away from addressing the influence of Minstrel shows on Foster and his lyrics which are now often considered racist and politically incorrect.  He also spoke of how these labels have meant only a limited number of Foster's songs are heard today.  However there is a wealth of beautiful melodies - many of them in a dialect meant to mirror the way African-Americans were said to speak at the time - that deserve to be rediscovered for the dignity and beauty they bring to their subjects.

One such song is Nelly Was A Lady - a beautiful lament of a man for his dead partner that Foster wrote in 1849 for the Christie Minstrels.   The race of the couple is of minor importance because the emotion is simple, dignified and universal and striking at the heart of his sorrow.  Yes the lyrics are filled with "da's", "tru lub's" and "jist" but it has been suggested that the "dialect" used by Foster was common all over the US at the time, and is more defined by class rather than race, or even  culture. But I'll leave that as a subject for better educated minds than mine to discuss.

Singer Tom Roush has created a series of YouTube videos of Foster songs included a lovely version of Nelly Was a Lady but unfortunately he changed the lyrics to avoid charges of racism that he often gets when he performs the song as written.  But I find even with the "santizing" Foster's words and music have a strong emotional appeal.  The tune and words have been running through my head the past few days.

The Internet Archive has an exceptionally lovely book created in 1888 with music and lyrics and a series of illustrations   "from nature" by Charles Copeland.  A left click on the cover will allow you to flip through through the original lyrics and some touching engravings that illustrate the story.

Hampson also played a song of Foster's that became popular parlor song when it was first pubished in 1854.  It was first recorded on an Edison Cylinder in 1905 and there are many versions of Hard Times Come Again No More but few strike so close to the sorrow and melancholy of the words and melody as this version by Kate & Anna McGarrigle.  Backed up by Rufus Wainwright (before he became famous for being famous), Emmylou Harris, Mary Black, Karen Matheson and Rod Paterson they seem to capture the pain and sorrow of the less fortunate.  Listening to it I'm struck by the immediacy of Foster's lyrics.  Its hard to believe this was written in 1854 - or perhaps it is just a condition of life that is always with us and applies as much to the hard times of today as it did to those of 1854.

I have every intention of following the next eleven weeks of Hampson's programme which promises Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance, Songs We've Always Sung and War Cries in his survey of 250 years of American song. Now that is radio programming the way I remember it.

30 novembre/November - Sant'Andrea apostolo

Lunedi Lunacy

Late last year and the earlier part of this year I posted a series of caricatures by the Swedish artist Einmar Nerman lining famous performers from New York, Hollywood and the West End. Many of them were well-known on both continents from their appearances on stage and screen but just many were artists who's fame rested solely in their work in England and Europe. Many of them were the stars of the hundreds of revues that filled West End theatres between the wars - shows produced by C.B. Cochrane or André Charlot with wonderful title like "London Calling", "Rats", "On With the Dance", "Queen High", "Bow Bells" or "Wake Up and Dream". Many of them features full scale production numbers with beautiful chorus girls and elaborate effects while others were small scaled and built on the abilities of multi-talented artists like Cicely Courtneidge and her husband Jack Hulbert.

Cicely was one those performers who was born in a trunk - her father Robert was a producer of theatricals from musical comedies to revivals of Shakespeare and in 1901 the 8 year old Cicely made her debut in 1901 as Peaseblossom in her father's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream in Manchester. By 16 she was playing leading roles in her father's musicals though there was some indication that her "star" status was dependent on paternal nepotism. When financial difficulties put an end to her father's days as a producer the young Cicily turned to playing the "Halls" realizing she could not be an "ingenue" forever.  And that experience with the raucous often unforgiving Music Hall audiences honed her craft as a comedienne, singers and dancer.  Her professional partnership with Jack Hulbert began in 1913 and led to a series of hit West End revues, many written by and produced by Hulbert. 

It was in one of their revues, Clowns in Clover, that she first ordered "A Dozen Double Damask Dinner Napkins" and

She first appeared on stage with Hulbert in 1913 and they married - despite her father's warning of dire things to come if she married an actor - in 1916. They were to appear on stage together until 1976 and that "undesirable" marriage was to last until Hulbert's death in 1978. Though known chiefly for her stage work Cicely appeared in several successful movies in the 1930s and 40s as a comedienne.   In this clip from Soldiers of the King, a 1933 musical,  she fills in for the missing member of an Adagio act in a - you'll never guess what??? - West End revue.  I may be missing something but I can't see where any stunt double takes over for her - the acrobatics seem to be solely Courtnedige at her comedic best.

Though she was to make marvellous cameo appearances in movies until she retired in 1977  her most memorable performance was as the elderly Lesbian actress in The L-Shaped Room in 1962.  She continued preforming  on stage and in 1971 during the run of Move Over, Mrs Markham celebrated her 70th year as a performer.  She toured this quintessential British farce throughout England and as far afield as Toronto's O'Keefe Centre.  It was the only time I saw her on stage and to be quite honest little about the play sticks in my memory.  However what happened afterwards is one of those small moments I cherish.  I went backstage afterwards clutching a copy of Robert Baral's Revue which I had bought a few weeks before.  He devoted several pages to London revues and included a picture of Cecily Courtneidge  and Jack Hulbert amongst the illustrations.  Dame Cecily - an honour she received in 1972 -  seemed a bit nonplused by this kid from the suburbs standing in the doorway of her dressing room - I'm sure there had been very few autograph seekers during the run -  but graciously invited me in.  She introduced me to an elegant gentleman who was seated in the corner but I didn't quite catch his name.  She signed my book and showed him the photo and they both chuckled.  He asked if I wanted his autograph too?  Stupidly I said no, as to be honest I've always been awkward at being an autograph hound and after mumbling my thanks I  beat an embarrassed retreat.  It was only later that I realized it was Hulbert and I missed my chance to get the two of them to sign the photo.  And am not at all sure to this day that I may not have offended his professional pride just a bit.

As a way to make up for it, here's a wonderful clip of the two of them together throughout their professional and private lives with Jack singing a song that could have been their theme:  Where There's You  There's Me.

I will always regret only getting Cecily Courtneidge's autograph when I had Jack Hulbert sitting - unrecognized - right in front of me.  Oh the foolishness of youth!

28 novembre/November - San Giacomo della Marca

Larry's Advent Calendar

My dear friend Larry's blog has been dormant for the past few months and I was afraid that another cherished tradition may be about to fall by the wayside: his Advent Calendar.

But I'm overjoyed to report that once again this year he will be marking  the days leading to Christmas with a daily picture and verse .  In previous years he's taken us through Roman doors and gates, allowed us to gaze through Roman windows and given us glimpses of the angels that guard the city.  This year he's quenching our thirst at a few of the many fountains that are found in his - and previously my - adoptive city.

As always I will be posting a sidebar link so that you can open a window each day and share the sights and words of Advent with Larry.  Given the time change it may be a little late in the day when the window is opened but opened it shall be.  A click on the image above will take you to his posting for today - the First Sunday in Advent.

There are some traditions I'm happy to see continue and don't ever want to lose.


27 novembre/November - Prima Domenica di Avvento

HFH Discover Winter's Wonderland

The HFH discovered the joys of the winter wonderland that will be their home for, if memory serves, at least the next six months.

And if truth be told they probably handled it better than I did.

27 novembre/November - San Primitivo

For Those Who Gather Today

For my family and friend in the United States I wish you all the happiest of Thanksgivings as you gather with your families and friends.

This particular video is not available for embeding but is worth clicking to on YouTube for the incredible voice of Jussi Björling.

To think that there once was a time when in America - and Canada - people watched programmes like The Voice of Firestone every Sunday night and heard great classical singers in operatic arias and what is now known as cross over music.

And my wish for all those who are "gathered together" and indeed for all those I love and care for is echoed in this card from Vintage Holiday Crafts:  May your joys be as countless as the golden grains.

24 novembre/November - Giorno del Ringraziamento (Festa Americana)

Oh Blessed Cecilia

Every year for the past few I've posted something for the feast day of Santa Cecilia - the patron saint of music. For the first few years it was part of one of the Odes or Masses composed in her honour but its also just been music that I felt celebrated the art which claimed her patronage. As I've mentioned before her connection with music is a bit tenuous to say the least. It has something to do with her hearing heavenly music either at her marriage or as she was being beheaded - the difference being????

This year's Santa Cecilia selection has a slightly stronger link to the blessed virgin (yes I know that heavenly music-marriage thing not withstanding)and martyr.  And I did say "slightly".  It is thought that perhaps the Cecilia of this song may well refer to the patron saint of music in the Catholic tradition, and thus the song might refer to the frustration of fleeting inspiration in songwriting.

Apparently the percussion track was recorded at Paul Simon's house with Paul and Art slapping their thighs, Eddie Simon thumping on a piano bench and a friend strumming a guitar with string slackened to the point of that they were almost out of tune. What ever the inspiration or scoring it proved to be one of Simon and Garfunkel's biggest hits.

And as always as well as tribute to the blessed Cecilia of saintly fame I'm dedicated this to my own bright Cecilia.

22 novembre/November - Santa Cecilia