The Christmas Truce

A young boy named Justin finds a letter and learns about the Christmas truce of 1914. Justin moved with extra care as he crept along the upstairs hallway. One wrong step and the squeak of a floorboard might give him away. Downstairs, his sisters and grandparents were decorating the Christmas tree and singing carols. He doubted they could hear him over his sisters’ annoying voices. But he had to be careful all the same. There were six days left until Christmas, and Justin was on a mission. 

He knew his mother had hidden his Christmas gifts somewhere in his grandparents’ house. And he was determined to find them. So far, he’d searched every room except for the one that was strictly off-limits: his grandfather’s study. He was sure he’d get in trouble if anyone caught him in there, but he was willing to risk it. He wanted to find those presents. Taking a deep breath, Justin pushed open the study door and looked around. Immediately, his eyes fell on a large closet in the corner of the room. Jackpot. ...more

Here's what Christmas on P.E.I. was like 100 years ago

Presents were scarce, Christmas trees were rare and dinner was goose, not turkey...more

For many Mainers, ‘there is no Christmas without pork pie’

Each slice of French-Canadian tourtiere comes with memories of Christmas past.

(2017) The Past Whispers
All Rights Reserved

Silent Night

 

 

Silent Night Chapel at Oberndorf, Austria

The song was first performed on Christmas Eve 1818 at St Nicholas parish church in Oberndorf, a village in the Austrian Empire on the Salzach river in present-day Austria. A young priest, Father Joseph Mohr, had come to Oberndorf the year before. He had written the lyrics of the song "Stille Nacht" in 1816 at Mariapfarr, the hometown of his father in the Salzburg Lungau region, where Joseph had worked as a co-adjutor.

The melody was composed by Franz Xaver Gruber, schoolmaster and organist in the nearby village of Arnsdorf. Before Christmas Eve, Mohr brought the words to Gruber and asked him to compose a melody and guitar accompaniment for the Christmas Eve mass. Together they performed the new carol during the mass on the night of December 24.

The original manuscript has been lost. However, a manuscript was discovered in 1995 in Mohr's handwriting and dated by researchers as c. 1820. It states that Mohr wrote the words in 1816 when he was assigned to a pilgrim church in Mariapfarr, Austria, and shows that the music was composed by Gruber in 1818. 

In 1859, the Episcopal priest John Freeman Young, then serving at Trinity Church, New York City, wrote and published the English translation that is most frequently sung today, translated from three of Mohr's original six verses. The version of the melody that is generally used today is a slow, meditative lullaby or pastorale, differing slightly (particularly in the final strain) from Gruber's original, which was a "moderato" tune in 6
8 time and siciliana rhythm. Today, the lyrics and melody are in the public domain.

The carol has been translated into about 140 languages.

Mohr's German lyrics

Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht,
Alles schläft; einsam wacht
Nur das traute hochheilige Paar.
Holder Knabe im lockigen Haar,

Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh!
Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh!

Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht,
Hirten erst kundgemacht
Durch der Engel Halleluja,
Tönt es laut von fern und nah:

Christ, der Retter ist da!
Christ, der Retter ist da!

Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht,
Gottes Sohn, o wie lacht
Lieb' aus deinem göttlichen Mund,
Da uns schlägt die rettende Stund'.

Christ, in deiner Geburt!
Christ, in deiner Geburt!

Young’s English lyrics

Silent night, holy night,
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin mother and child.
Holy infant, so tender and mild,

Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.

Silent night, holy night,
Shepherds quake at the sight;
Glories stream from heaven afar,
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!

Christ the Savior is born,
Christ the Savior is born!

Silent night, holy night,
Son of God, love's pure light;
Radiant beams from thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace,

Jesus, Lord, at thy birth,
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth.

 

©2016 Linda Sullivan – Simpson
The Past Whispers
All Rights Reserved

The First Christmas Lights

 

One would think that Christmas lights have been around for as long as Christmas itself. Can any of you imagine Christmas without lights? How would the children find their way in the dark, so early on Christmas morning without them? The history of Christmas lights is intricately tied to the dawn of the modern era, when houses began to be supplied with electricity.

As you are likely aware, Thomas Edison invented the first functioning light bulb back in 1879. A few years later, in 1882, an associate of his first employed the use of lights on his Christmas tree. Edward Johnson was the first to electrically light his family Christmas tree in his New York home. His home was located in one of the first sections of the city to be wired for electricity.

A visiting reporter from Detroit reported the following in "The Detroit Post and Tribune": "Last evening I walked over beyond Fifth Avenue and called at the residence of Edward H. Johnson, vice-president of Edison's electric company. There, at the rear of the beautiful parlors, was a large Christmas tree presenting a most picturesque and uncanny aspect. It was brilliantly lighted with many colored globes about as large as an English walnut and was turning some six times a minute on a little pine box. There were eighty lights in all encased in these dainty glass eggs, and about equally divided between white, red and blue. As the tree turned, the colors alternated, all the lamps going out and being relit at every revolution. The result was a continuous twinkling of dancing colors, red, white, blue, white, red, blue---all evening."

In 1890, Edison published a promotional brochure which may have been the first mention of commercially available electrically powered Christmas lights. It stated that "There are few forms of decoration more beautiful and pleasing than miniature incandescent lamps placed among flowers, or interwoven in garlands or festoons; for decorating Christmas trees or conservatories..."

From there, the popularity of Christmas lights exploded. Before long, every family had them and they became synonymous with the Christmas tree. It's hard to imagine Christmas without Christmas lights. 

 

©2016 Linda Sullivan – Simpson
The Past Whispers
All Rights Reserved

History of the Christmas Card

 

A prominent educator and patron of the arts, Henry Cole travelled in the elite, social circles of early Victorian England, and had the misfortune of having too many friends.

During the holiday season of 1843, those friends were causing Cole much anxiety.

The problem were their letters: An old custom in England, the Christmas and New Year’s letter had received a new impetus with the recent expansion of the British postal system and the introduction of the “Penny Post,” allowing the sender to send a letter or card anywhere in the country by affixing a penny stamp to the correspondence.

Now, everybody was sending letters. Sir Cole—best remembered today as the founder of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London—was an enthusiastic supporter of the new postal system, and he enjoyed being the 1840s equivalent of an A-Lister, but he was a busy man. As he watched the stacks of unanswered correspondence he fretted over what to do. “In Victorian England, it was considered impolite not to answer mail,” says Ace Collins, author of Stories Behind the Great Traditions of Christmas. “He had to figure out a way to respond to all of these people.”

Cole hit on an ingenious idea. He approached an artist friend, J.C. Horsley, and asked him to design an idea that Cole had sketched out in his mind. Cole then took Horsley’s illustration—a triptych showing a family at table celebrating the holiday flanked by images of people helping the poor—and had a thousand copies made by a London printer. The image was printed on a piece of stiff cardboard 5 1/8 x 3 1/4 inches in size. At the top of each was the salutation, “TO:_____” allowing Cole to personalize his responses, which included the generic greeting “A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year To You.”

It was the first Christmas card.

Unlike many holiday traditions—can anyone really say who sent the first Christmas fruitcake?—we have a generally agreed upon name and date for the beginning of this one. But as with today’s brouhahas about Starbucks cups or “Happy Holidays” greetings, it was not without controversy. In their image of the family celebrating, Cole and Horsley had included several young children enjoying what appear to be glasses of wine along with their older siblings and parents. “At the time there was a big temperance movement in England,” Collins says. “So there were some that thought he was encouraging underage drinking.”

The criticism was not enough to blunt what some in Cole’s circle immediately recognized as a good way to save time. Within a few years, several other prominent Victorians had simply copied his and Horsley’s creation and were sending them out at Christmas.

While Cole and Horsley get the credit for the first, it took several decades for the Christmas card to really catch on, both in Great Britain and the United States. Once it did, it became an integral part of our holiday celebrations—even as the definition of “the holidays” became more expansive, and now includes not just Christmas and New Year’s, but Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and the Winter Solstice.

Louis Prang, a Prussian immigrant with a print shop near Boston, is credited with creating the first Christmas card originating in the United States in 1875. It was very different from Cole and Horsley’s of 30 years prior, in that it didn’t even contain a Christmas or holiday image. The card was a painting of a flower, and it read “Merry Christmas.” This more artistic, subtle approach would categorize this first generation of American Christmas cards.  “They were vivid, beautiful reproductions,” says Collins. “There were very few nativity scenes or depictions of holiday celebrations. You were typically looking at animals, nature, scenes that could have taken place in October or February.”

Appreciation of the quality and the artistry of the cards grew in the late 1800s, spurred in part by competitions organized by card publishers, with cash prizes offered for the best designs. People soon collected Christmas cards like they would butterflies or coins, and the new crop each season were reviewed in newspapers, like books or films today.

In 1894, prominent British arts writer Gleeson White devoted an entire issue of his influential magazine, The Studio, to a study of Christmas cards. While he found the varied designs interesting, he was not impressed by the written sentiments. “It’s obvious that for the sake of their literature no collection would be worth making,” he sniffed. (White’s comments are included as part of an online exhibit of Victorian Christmas cards from Indiana University’s Lilly Library)

“In the manufacture of Victorian Christmas cards,” wrote George Buday in his 1968 book, The History of the Christmas Card, “we witness the emergence of a form of popular art, accommodated to the transitory conditions of society and its production methods.”

The modern Christmas card industry arguably began in 1915, when a Kansas City-based fledgling postcard printing company started by Joyce Hall, later to be joined by his brothers Rollie and William, published its first holiday card. The Hall Brothers company (which, a decade later, change its name to Hallmark), soon adapted a new format for the cards—4 inches wide, 6 inches high, folded once, and inserted in an envelope.

 

©2016 Linda Sullivan – Simpson
The Past Whispers
All Rights Reserved

Yes, Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus

 

Virginia O’Hanlon

 

DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.
Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
Papa says, ‘If you see it in THE SUN it’s so.’
Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

VIRGINIA O’HANLON.
115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET.

 

Francis P. Church

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

 

The Letter

 

©2016 Linda Sullivan – Simpson
The Past Whispers
All Rights Reserved

A Visit from St. Nicholas

'

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds;
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow,
Gave a lustre of midday to objects below,
When what to my wondering eyes did appear,
But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny rein-deer,

With a little old driver so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment he must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:

"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

As leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;

So up to the housetop the coursers they flew
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too—
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;

A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a pedler just opening his pack.
His eyes—how they twinkled! his dimples, how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath;

He had a broad face and a little round belly
That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,

And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight—

“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”

 

author – Clement Clarke Moore (1779–1863)

 

©2016 Linda Sullivan – Simpson
The Past Whispers
All Rights Reserved

Vermont Maple Pecan Cookies

 

 

 

3 Cups old-fashioned oats

1 Cup shredded unsweetened coconut

2 2/3 Cups all purpose flour

1 Tsp. salt

1 Tsp. ground cinnamon

2 Cups packed light brown sugar

1 Cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1/2 Cup Maple syrup

2 Tbs. light corn syrup

2 Tsp. baking soda

1/4 Cup boiling water

1 Tsp. maple flavoring

2 Cups chopped toasted pecans

Preheat oven to 300 degrees, line two baking sheets with parchment paper

Combine oats, coconut, flour, salt, cinnamon, and brown sugar in large bowl, whisk to blend.

Combine butter, maple syrup, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium low heat until butter melts, stirring occasionally; remove from heat.

Combine baking soda and boiling water, stirring to dissolve. Add to maple syrup mixture stirring well. Add maple extract. Stir well.

Place 1/4 cup size balls of dough on baking, 3 inches apart, flatten balls slightly.

Bake 15 minutes, cool on rack, enjoy.

 

©2016 Linda Sullivan – Simpson
The Past Whispers
All Rights Reserved

Cipâte aux Bluets (Deep Dish Blueberry Pie)

 

2 unbaked pie shells
5 cups blueberries
1 ¼ cups sugar
2 tablespoons butter

1. Heat oven to 350º F. Pour half of blueberries into deep dish casserole. Sprinkle with half of sugar and cover with a pie crust; trim crust to fit into dish.

2. Cover crust with the other half of blueberries, sprinkle with remaining sugar and dot with butter. Cover with top crust and trim edge to fit border of casserole. Cut a 2 inch hole in center of pie; this will allow steam to escape.

3. Bake for about two hours or until crust is light brown. Cool until lukewarm, and serve with pouring cream if desired.

 

 

©2016 Linda Sullivan – Simpson
The Past Whispers
All Rights Reserved

Vive la différence!

 

While you are all familiar with such Christmas staple songs as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Holy Night, Jingle Bells and Winter Wonderland, you may not be aware that we sing the same songs in French, only with translated lyrics. Sometimes the French lyrics are very similar to the English ones (Sleigh Ride is about a, well, sleigh ride in both languages, for instance). But quite often, only the melody is retained and the whole theme of the song changes entirely. Most often it’s because the new theme allows the French version to use words that fit the music better. Other times, it’s because the song would make cultural references that wouldn’t be as familiar.

One of the most different songs when translated is Jingle Bells. The original English song is about riding in a one-horse sleigh on a bright winter day. The French version, however, becomes Vive le vent and is all about the cold winter wind and how it brings an old man memories of his childhood winters.

Almost as different is Holy Night, the song about Jesus’ birth, which becomes Minuit, chrétiens, a reference to the Catholic midnight mass so popular in Québec. One of the starkest differences is the translation of the verse, “Fall on your knees! Oh hear the angel voices!”, which in French becomes, “Peuple à genoux! Attend ta délivrance!” (Kneeling people, await thy deliverance!)

It’s rather interesting that the English version is an exhortation to kneel in worship of the newborn King of Kings, while the French version addresses an already kneeling people, telling them that they will need kneel no longer when Jesus brings about their deliverance.

It’s not only the Christmas carols that are reworked. Sometimes a concept is simply given a little tweak to fit in better with the French culture. You may remember old Canadian Tire commercials featuring the character of Scrooge. The concept was well summed-up with the chain’s Christmas slogan: “Give like Santa and save like Scrooge!”

While Scrooge is known in Québec thanks to the translated Dickens work and of course its numerous adaptations, he’s just not traditionally a part of the lore. He’s more of a British creation. So when Canadian Tire produced French versions of the commercial, they kept the concept of the penny-pinching miser, but Scrooge instead became “Gratteux” (a French slang term for a spendthrift or a cheapskate), Santa’s accountant elf. The character’s costume remained the same and he was simply played by a French-Canadian actor.

courtesy – Chez Seb

 

©2016 Linda Sullivan – Simpson
The Past Whispers
All Rights Reserved

La chasse-galerie – a tale of Christmas

 

Back in the late 19th century, many French-Canadian men spent long winters in remote logging camps to support their families back in the cities and towns. In those days before modern travels, coming back every week or even month for a visit was out of the question. So the men would spend the whole season, including the holidays, far from their loved ones.

One Christmas (or New Year’s) Eve, a group of such men in a lonely camp were feeling homesick and wanted to spend the réveillon with their wives and girlfriends. So they made a deal with the devil: the Prince of Darkness would make their canoe fly over the forests and hills so they could go back to their homes for the night. Old Scratch gave three conditions to respect: they could not swear, they could not touch a church steeple with their canoe while in flight, and they had to be back at camp before 6 o’clock in the morning. If they broke any one of those rules, their souls would be damned to hell forever. Despite the risk, the homesick men agreed and off they flew!

The reunion with their beloveds are joyous indeed and they spend the night drinking and dancing. When they realize the late hour, they hurry back to the canoe to get back to camp before the devilish deadline. Of course, in their inebriated states they are much more prone to swearing or accidentally ramming the craft into a church. And one of them invariably begins to get agitated and comes close to swearing, so his panicked companions gag and tie him up, but he eventually breaks free and swears. The canoe crashes into a tall tree and the passengers are knocked out when they hit the ground.

In the most famous version, by Honoré-Beaugrand, the men wake up the next morning and never speak of the adventure again. However, in other versions they are doomed to fly forever across the sky, their souls never getting to their eternal rest. And they say if you look out on Christmas or New Year’s Eve, you can sometimes get a glimpse of the bewitched canoe.

While a deal with the devil might be an odd choice of theme for a Christmas story, it’s really indicative of the loneliness that develops when hardworking and honest men are forced to spend the holidays on their own, far from their kin.

While the most famous element of the chasse-galerie, the flying canoe, came about in 19th century Québec, it’s actually a newer version of an even older story from France. It is told that a nobleman named the Sieur de Galerie was such an avid hunter that he even skipped church in order to enjoy his favourite sport. The Lord did not take kindly to this and condemned his soul to forever run across the sky pursued by celestial hunters and wolves.

 

©2016 Linda Sullivan-Simpson
The Past Whispers
All Rights Reserved

Buche de Noel

 

 

Buche de Noel is one of many traditional cakes baked at Christmas. As the name suggests, it is of French origin. The name of this recipe literally translates as "Christmas log," referring to the traditional Yule log burned centuries past. The ingedients suggest the cake is most likely a 19th century creation. That's when thinly rolled sponge cakes filled with jam or cream and covered with buttercream icing begin to show up in European cook books. Marzipan and meringue, typically employed for decorative purposes, date to the Medieval Ages and the 17th century respectively. We find no person/place/company credited for having *invented* this particular confection.

"[In France] where the buche de Noel, a roll of light sponge cake, is covered in chocolate or coffee buttercream textured to resemble bark. The conceit is carried further by mounding the cream over small pieces of cake stuck to the main roll, to represent trimmed branches. The ends of the roll and the cut faces of the branches are finished with vanilla cream, imitating pale newly cut wood, and the whole is decorated with leaves made from icing, or meringue mushrooms."

---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson, [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p. 184)

 

The yule log cake is served at the midnight feast that follows Mass on Christmas Eve. Although it does not take the place of our flaming Christmas pudding, it makes a nice dessert to serve at any time during the Christmas season.

Buche de Noel

4 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup sifted all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons melted butter
3 egg whites
Chocolate Butter Cream 1
1 teaspoon instant coffee
1 teaspoon hot water
2 or 3 blanched almonds
angelica
candied cherries
green sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Rinse the mixing bowl with hot water and wrap a hot wet towel around the base. Combine the egg yolks and sugar and beat for 5 minutes or until the mixture has doubled in volume. Fold in the flour and then the butter, which should be cooled. Fold in the beaten egg whites gently but thoroughly.

Butter a small, rimmed baking sheet or roasting pan (10X14) and dust it with flour. Pour the batter into the pan and smooth it evenly with a knife. Bake 10 minutes. Spread a damp towel on a marble slab or table. Run a knife around the edge of the baked cake and turn the pan upside down on the towel, leaving the pan on top of the cake until it is cool. Make the butter cream, using 5 egg yolks, and add to it the dissolved instant coffee. Spread the cake with the butter cream and roll it up lenghthwise like a jelly roll. Place seam side down on a long serving tray and cut off both ends diagonally. Put the remaining butter cream in a pastry bag fitted with a flat cannellated tip. Force the cream lengthwise over the surface of the cake to give the appearance of bark. Place a 'knot' here and there. Decorate the cake with almonds and a sprig of holly made with strips of angelica and little rounds of candied cherries. Sprinkle very lightly with green sugar."

 

©2016 Linda Sullivan-Simpson
The Past Whispers
All Rights Reserved

Tradition!

 

Traditional Christmas celebrations in the predominantly Catholic province of Quebec include attending midnight Mass. Just as in the United States, some families open their gifts on Christmas Eve, others on Christmas morning.
            To add a French Canadian touch to your holiday celebrations, try this traditional recipe.

 

  TOURTIERE DU SAGUENAY
            1 pound lean pork shoulder
            1 pound beef, venison or boned wild fowl meat
            1 pound veal shoulder or boned chicken
            6 medium onions, chopped
            1 teaspoon salt
            1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
            4 large potatoes, peeled
            Enough pastry for three 9-inch pie crusts (your favorite recipe or refrigerated storebought pastry)
            Egg wash (1 egg, beaten, mixed with 1 to teaspoons milk or water)

            Chop the meats into 1/2-inch cubes. Coming meat cubes with onions, salt and pepper in large bowl; mix thoroughly with your hands. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
            Dice potatoes into 1/4-inch cubes. Put in large bowl. Add 4 to 6 cups cold water. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

            The next morning, roll out pastry. (Use two-thirds of the pastry for the bottom crust, and the remaining one-third of the pastry and trimmings for the top crust.) Use bottom-crust pastry to line a baking dish (preferably a cast-iron Dutch oven) at least 4 inches deep that will hold about 12 to 14 cups of filling. Drain potatoes, reserving water. Add potatoes to meat mixture. Transfer mixture to pastry-lined baking dish. Add enough of the reserved potato water (about 3 cups) to bring it up to the top of the meat; add additional cold water if needed.

            Brush outer edge of pastry with eggwash. Cover with top crust; seal edges. In the center, cut a 2-inch hole and insert a small “chimney” of foil. Seal the base of the chimney with eggwash and a bit of the pastry trimmings. Brush surface of pastry with eggwash. Bake in preheated 350-degree oven one hour; reduce temperature to 250 degrees and bake 6 to 8 hours, or until richly golden brown. Check from time to time during baking to make sure the meat is not too dry and the juices can be seen in the foil chimney. If not, add a little hot water through the hole.

            Serve piping hot with beet pickles and a variety of relishes.

 
            Yield: 10 to 12 servings.
            Note: Traditionally, lard pastry is used. 

            

© 2016 Linda Sullivan-Simpson
The Past Whispers
All Rights Reserved

Origins of Celtic Christmas

 

Christmas has been marked in Ireland since St Patrick brought Christianity to the island in the fifth century. Over the centuries pagan Celtic customs merged with Christianity to produce some uniquely Celtic Christmas traditions for the winter festival. While not all are practiced today, some can still be seen – customs which date back to earlier, less commercial times.

Before the coming of Christianity the people of Ireland practiced a pagan druidic religion which gave them a keen sense of their connection with the natural world. Like many earlier peoples around the world, the winter solstice of 21^st December was particularly important to the Gaelic Irish. The winter solstice is the shortest day / longest night of the year. However for the Celts it marked the turning point in the year. In the dark and cold of winter, at solstice the sun begins the long journey back towards its midsummer peak.

The Celts celebrated the turning point of the sun with fires in sacred places such as the Hill of Tara. The use of fire to mark the winter solstice may have contributed to the more recent Irish tradition of placing a candle in the window of your house during the twelve days of the Christmas season. It is the time of year when the Celts, just like people all across the world want to rekindle the light of love and hope in their lives.

A candle in the window: As well as a throw-back to the ancient Celtic custom of using fire to celebrate the turning point of the year, this tradition is said to be aimed at welcoming travellers to your home. The candle in the window marks the way to warmth and hospitality to anyone who finds themselves, like Mary and Joseph in the New Testament, without a place to stay at Christmas time.

Greenery: The druids of the ancient Celtic world used evergreen to branches to symbolize the eternal nature of the human soul. In Christian times the tradition of bringing evergreen branches into an Irish home has continued, as a symbol of the eternal life brought about by Christ’s resurrection. In Celtic countries evergreen branches such as holly and yew are more traditional than the German custom of bringing an entire tree into the home.

In Irish (Gaelic) Nollaig Shona Duit means Happy Christmas to you. It is pronounced no-leg show-na ditch.

A traditional Irish Christmas blessing in English is: 'May peace and plenty be the first to lift the latch on your door, and happiness be guided to your home by the candle of Christmas.'

At new years it is traditional in Ireland to say 'Go mbeire muid beo ar an am seo arís.'In English - May we be alive at this time next year...

 

©2016 Linda Sullivan-Simpson
The Past Whispers
All Rights Reserved

Canadian Pacific Holiday Train

 

Now in its 18th year, Canadian Pacific's annual Holiday Train will travel across Canada and the northern United States to raise money, food and awareness for food banks and hunger issues while hosting free concerts along the way.
Since its launch in 1999, the program has raised more than C$12 million and nearly 4 million pounds of food for communities along CP's routes.

There will be two trains under the Holiday Train banner, each approximately 1,000 feet in length with 14 rail cars decorated with thousands of LED lights and a boxcar that has been converted into a traveling stage.

 

"For nearly 20 years, CP has watched communities turn out to enjoy a wonderful event while taking a stand against hunger," E. Hunter Harrison, CP's CEO, said. "We are proud of the role the Holiday Train plays, but more importantly, we're proud of the people and families that come out year after year to help their neighbors. They're the reason we keep bringing the train back."

One train will launch on Nov. 25 and the other launches a day later - both out of Montreal. The final shows of the U.S. train will be in Saskatchewan on Dec. 15 and the final show of the tour will be in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, on Dec. 17.
Every pound of food and dollar raised at each stop stays with the local food back to help those in need in that community.

The Canadian train will feature musical guests Dallas Smith and Odds, while the U.S. train will feature Kelly Prescott and Doc Walker between Montreal and Windsor, Ontario and Colin James covering the Midwest and Great Plains shows. Jonathan Roy will perform at the Quebec locations.

"We are very excited about this year's CP Holiday Train and are encouraging all event attendees to bring healthy, nutritious food items to the shows," Pam Jolliffee, interim executive director for Food Banks Canada, said.

Fans of the Holiday Train are encouraged to take photos capturing the train in various cities and landscapes and entering the "Capture the Spirit" photo contest on Facebook for a chance to win an exclusive ride on next year's train.

The train will make stops in Quebec, New York, Ontario, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota and Saskatchewan. For a full schedule, click here.

For those not in the area of the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train, there are various holiday-based excursions around the country. Here is a state-by-state list we've put together.

Chasing the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train

Holiday Train – 2015

 

©2016 Linda Sullivan-Simpson
The Past Whispers
All Rights Reserved

Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

 

On December 25, 1943, the acrid smell of cordite hung over the rubble barricades of Ortona, Italy, where Canadians and Germans were engaged in grim hand-to-hand combat. Even amid the thunder of collapsing walls and the blinding dust and smoke darkening the alleys, the men of The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada and The Loyal Edmonton Regiment were determined to celebrate Christmas. They chose the abandoned church of Santa Maria di Constantinopoli as their banquet hall.

 

The dinner was set out on long rows of tables with white tablecloths, and a bottle of beer, candies, cigarettes, nuts, oranges, apples and chocolate bars at each setting. The companies ate in relays. As each company finished eating, they went forward to relieve the next. The menu was soup, pork with applesauce, cauliflower, mixed vegetables, mashed potatoes, gravy, Christmas pudding and mince pie. In the corner of the room was a small, decorated tree. Even amidst the dread of war, that most universal of Christmas symbols provided comfort and hope.

Though intimately associated with Christianity, the Christmas tree has a pagan origin. Many pagan cultures cut down evergreen trees in December and moved them into the home or temple to recognize the winter solstice, which occurs sometime between December 20 and 23. The evergreen trees seemed to have magical powers that enabled them to withstand the life-threatening powers of darkness and cold.

Legends about the first Christian use of the tree include that of a woodcutter who helps a small hungry child. The next morning, the child appears to the woodcutter and his wife as the Christchild. The child breaks a branch from a fir tree and tells the couple that it will bear fruit at Christmas time. As foretold, the tree is laden with apples of gold and nuts of silver. By the 1700s the Christbaum, or "Christ tree,” was a firmly established tradition in Germany.

 

©2016 Linda Sullivan-Simpson
The Past Whispers
All Rights Reserved

Christmas Trees In Canada

The first Christmas tree in North America appeared on Christmas Eve 1781, in Sorel, Québec, when the baroness Riedesel hosted a party of British and German officers. She served an English pudding, but the sensation of the evening was a balsam fir cut for the occasion and placed in the corner of the dining room, its branches decorated with fruits and lit with white candles. The baroness was determined to mark her family's return to Canada after a trying ordeal with a traditional German celebration.

Baron Frederick-Adolphus Riedesel was commander of a group of German soldiers sent by the Duke of Brunswick to help defend Canada. Riedesel and his family were taken prisoner during the disastrous British offensive in northern New York in 1777. They were not released until 1780, when they returned to Sorel.


The famous English engraving of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and their tree in 1848. The German-born Albert helped to popularize the Christmas tree in Britain and Canada (Illustrated London News).

It is commonly said that the Christmas tree's popularity dates from the time of Prince Albert, consort to Queen Victoria, who decorated a tree at Windsor Castle in 1841 to celebrate their first-born son. However, though Albert may have popularized the Christmas tree, the English royal family had been decorating trees since at least 1800 when Queen Charlotte raised one at Queen's Lodge, Berkshire. The tradition only gained popularity among the general population after the illustration of the family's decorated tree at Windsor Castle was published in 1848.

The first time a Christmas tree was lit by electricity was in 1882 in the New York City home of Edward Johnson, of the Edison Electric Company. He lit a Christmas tree with a string of 80 small electric light bulbs, which he had made himself. These strings of light began to be produced around 1890. One of the first electrically lit Christmas trees was erected in Westmount, Québec, in 1896. In 1900, some large stores put up illuminated trees to attract customers.
Today the Christmas tree is a firmly established tradition throughout Canada, where the fresh scent of the evergreen and the multicoloured decorations contrast with the dark nights and bleak landscape. Beyond its pagan and Christian origins, the Christmas tree is a universal symbol of rebirth, of light in the darkest time, of hovering angels, and of the star that points to the place of peace.

©2016 Linda Sullivan-Simpson
The Past Whispers
All Rights Reserved