IN October the guild held its annual harvest supper, and in November several members were guests of the mayor. They had a most enjoyable visit and were given a tour of the Guildhall.
Paul Harding joined us for the November meeting and entertained us with his talk on the origins of Christmas.
He began with the pagan festival of the winter solstice, and moved on to the Roman festival of Saturn and then to the Vikings and their winter candle light feast. The words “Chris’s Mas” were first heard in mediaeval times.
Cromwell banned all Christmas festivities, but they were reinstated when Charles II came to throne. In Victorian times we saw the introduction of Christmas trees, greeting cards and the tradition of hanging up stockings.
Children expected to find a new penny, a piece of coal, a piece of fruit and at the top a small toy. All these were supposed to give good fortune, good food and happiness in the coming year.
The next meeting of the guild will be on Thursday, January 21, at 7.30pm in Bromyard Road Methodist Church Hall when John Walton will give a talk entitled “An African Adventure”.
BARBARA SPODE
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