(no subject)

[erastes]

Found on the Book Depository: Christmas Trivia!

England only had seven white Christmases in the entire twentieth century!? The definition of a white Christmas is when one snowflake falls on the roof of the London Weather Centre. It wasn't until A.D. 440 that the church officially proclaimed December 25 as the birth of Jesus. Some people claim that the typical Father Christmas costume of red clothes with white fur trim originated with a Coca-cola advert, but actually the Santa suit we know today was well established by the 1920s and it was not until the 1930s that Coca-cola first used the Santa Claus design. Before settling on the name of Tiny Tim for his character in A Christmas Carol three other alliterative names were considered by Charles Dickens. They were Little Larry, Puny Pete, and Small Sam. (Giggles) Christmas trees are edible. Many parts of pines, spruces, and firs can be eaten: the needles are a good source of vitamin C; pine nut oil can act as an appetite suppression and is an antioxidant. In 1647, the English parliament passed a law that made Christmas illegal. Festivities were banned by Puritan leader, Oliver Cromwell, who considered feasting and revelry, on what was supposed to be a holy day, to be immoral. The ban was lifted only when the Puritans lost power in 1660.

Erastes Hates the Cromwell. We Hates him, precioussss..... hates him forever.

Comments

[schmoo999.livejournal.com]

Here is some good reading about Father Christmas: http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/santa.asp

which I knew that here the image of Santa was established by the famous story of Twas The Night Before Christmas.

and man that Cromwell was just a right old bastard.

[maxfromathens.livejournal.com]

>Festivities were banned by Puritan leader, Oliver Cromwell
It's really one of curious events of history.

>Erastes Hates the Cromwell. We Hates him
It seems that a lot of people hated him, but his posthumous execution is creepy(how could they do that?).

Nice Christmas decoration on pic ;)

[octoberstorm.livejournal.com]

The best part of that execution is the fact afterwards they put his head on a pike it stayed up there for a long time, and one day the wind blew it off and this guy who was in the army with him picked it up, put it under his shirt and took it home with him!

His family kept the skull until 1970 when they gave it to Cambridge Uni, IIRC. But everyone else was like, *omg* it's an *omen of doom*

I just find that incredibly amusing. We Americans only have tea in harbors, none of this stolen head stuff :D

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Shame I never got my hands on it....

*growls *

*grinding bones to make my bread*

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I'd have volunteered to do it.

I'd have PAID to do it.

[annebrooke.livejournal.com]

But Cromwell was lovely!! And much maligned. King Charles was an idjit. And a liar. For his era, the big OC was surprisingly tolerant - allowing Jews to enter the country and trade etc etc, not banning wildcard protestant groups. And equally surprisingly merciful in battle, including punishing his troops if they pillaged etc. I could go on, but I can see everyone's eyes glazing over. Sorry, I'm a big Cromwell fan! He did very well for a suspected manic depressive - I'm all for widening participation for leaders!

:))

A
xxx

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I don't disagree with Charles being an idiot, an arrogant idiot too, but was that sufficient to execution? I don't think so. And I'm sorry - whatever Cromwell's tactical genius is, I can't consider him lovely, I'm Irish and what he did there will never be forgiven. Post mortem execution? Too damned good for him.

[annebrooke.livejournal.com]

Actually, Cromwell wasn't entirely responsible for the Irish situation, to be fair. It was also more of a reaction against Catholics rather than Irish per se (though I do see the two were fairly interchangeable at the time) - as the Catholics had massacred a lot of Protestants in Ireland, I think a year or two previously.

Interestingly, the Cromwell situation in Ireland is seen by historians now (a growing number) as unusually out of character for him - which may be part of the manic/depressive streak which was for a time out of control? It was also an unusual bending to public opinion in the mainland, as people here were very keen for a strike to be carried out in Ireland. It wasn't something he regularly did, unlike some. I still think Cromwell is one of the great men of history. The royalists treated him and his memory appallingly when they returned, mainly by ridiculous propaganda.

And Charles? - he was lucky to survive as long as he did!

:))

A
xxx

[jean-roberta.livejournal.com]

But the U.S. of A. was at least partly founded by the Puritans who were kicked out of England! (See the existing records & modern explanations of the Salem witchcraft trials & various works of fiction about that era, e.g. "Young Goodman Brown" and "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne.)

What Cromwell objected to was prob. a lot more fun than most of the celebrations we have now. Imagine 12 days of Christmas (with a present for each day), presided over by a Lord of Misrule! (Might be some compensation for no electricity or indoor plumbing.)

[erastes.livejournal.com]

But was it Cromwell who kicked the Puritans out? I thought it was the Kings? Cromwell was a god loving blood thirsty merciless bigot.

*hate hate hate*

:)

[jean-roberta.livejournal.com]

I'm sure you're right - Cromwell would not have kicked out his fellow-Puritans. I hadn't heard the manic-depressive (or bipolar, to be modern) take on his personality, though. I wonder if high-tech testing of the remains could prove it. Still wouldn't justify what his army did in Ireland (destroyed the city of Drogheda? My knowledge of that is hazy, but I know there's a limerick about it.)

My First Nations activist friend (who was involved in the American Indian Movement standoff at Wounded Knee in the U.S. in the 1970s) says that the English cut their teeth on the Irish, then tried out the same techniques of oppression on all the native peoples they found in the "New World," setting up a legacy that has been passed on to a governing class of English descent. This seems to be a widespread take on colonial history in the native-rights movement.

Luckily, we all still have Christmas (or a period of self-indulgent feasting, booze-guzzling & gift exchange around the time of the Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere). :)