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8 OPINION 8.12.2022 Rekindling the origins of bygone Christmas traditions George Mangion George Mangion is a senior partner at PKF, an audit and consultancy firm, and has over 25 years' experience in accounting, taxation, financial and consultancy services. His efforts have made PKF instrumental in establishing many companies in Malta and established PKF as a leading professional financial service provider on the Island D ifferent pagan groups such as Romans, Celt- ics, Norse, Druids, and more, all shared one big celebra- tion that just happened to fall around Christmas time – the winter solstice. People living in the northern hemisphere celebrate winter solstice in the middle of De- cember, and historians think this explains why Christmas happens to fall around the same time as previous pagan holidays. e Roman midwin- ter festival of Saturnalia was held in honour of the Roman god Saturn. Starting on the 17th of December, it consisted of up to seven days of parties and public ceremonies. Amazingly, during the Sat- urnalia, strict rules of elite Romans and their slaves were relaxed and the Senate encour- aged all folks to celebrate. Even slaves, who led hard lives, had permission to join in the rev- elry. Fast forward to the nineteen century and let us examine British prevailing traditions which evolved around Christ- mas. Before Queen Victo- ria's reign in 1837, nobody had heard of Santa Claus. No Christmas cards were sent and most people did not have holi- days from work. e wealth and innovative technologies generated by the industrial revolution of the Victorian era improved the fate of Christmas forever. Such wealth generated by new fac- tories and industries of the age allowed middle class families in England and Wales to take time off work and celebrate over two days, Christmas Day and Box- ing Day. Father Christmas was orig- inally formed part of an old English midwinter festival, normally dressed in green, a sign of the returning spring whereas the tradition of St. Nicholas (Sinter Klaas in Hol- land) came via Dutch settlers to America in the 17th Cen- tury. From the 1870's Sinter Klaas became known in Brit- ain as Santa Claus and with him came a unique gift and toy distribution system lovingly driven by magical reindeer on a sleigh decked with mistletoe. Where did the Victorian tra- dition of giving gifts originate and how did it spread to us - a colony? Some argue that in England, its origins were high- lighted by folksy books written by Charles Dickens - like the famous Christmas Carol - pub- lished in 1843. Dickens in his writings actually encouraged rich Victorians to redistribute their wealth by donating mon- ey and gifts to the poor. No detail should be omitted when describing the celebrated dinner in the Victorian festiv- ities. is occasion could not be complete without savour- ing the delicious mince pies. ese pies were filled mostly with mutton and beef, but in some households, fish filling was also used. Like mince pies, which were originally made with shredded meat, the plum pudding had contained boiled beef and mutton, and was ac- tually a form of a thick wheat porridge containing plenty of raisins, currants, prunes, wines and spices. It became known as plum pudding – plum because of the prunes which were used in its making before the use of rai- sins – when it was later thick- ened with eggs, breadcrumbs, dried fruit, ale and spirits. As for the choice of meat, most Victorian families had roast goose for their Christ- mas, while wealthy families ate beef, venison and turkey, often served with a chestnut or veal forcemeat stuffing. Turkey too, had a long tradition linked to Christmas consumption – it was introduced to Europe in the 16th century by the con- quistadors. It was served as an entrée, either stuffed with meat or boiled with celery. e popular stuffing for the turkey in those days includ- ed chestnuts, dry fruits, sau- sage, oysters and fruits. It was served with regional fresh veg- etables like potatoes, turnips, carrots and sweet potatoes. Al- ternatively, a goose, would be cooked at the bakers, since few working-class households had ovens, so the baker, for a small consideration, would leave his oven alight on Christmas Day. Roasted goose was also the centrepiece on dinner tables in several households. In those days, goose clubs were quite popular in London and poor families started to save mon- ey months before Christmas to buy a healthy goose. Just a few days before Christmas the meat markets in London were jam packed with geese and tur- keys - mostly imported from France and Germany. Many who read Charles Dick- ens classic - "A Christmas Car- ol" will be familiar how a goose was cooked including a sprin- kle of sea salt and black pepper while the essential apple and shallots were a tasty accompa- niment. For making the gravy, goose fat and body parts were used. However, in a majority of mod- est families, it was popular to make a dish consisting of chopped sirloin steak. Sweet- ness came from dried fruits and honey used in cooking. Spices like saffron and ginger were used to create a fusion of flavours. In Victorian days, iconic mince pies were eaten on all 12 days during Christmas sea- son washed down by hot gin punch - preferably before go- ing to sleep. Another favourite concoction consisting of gin, lemon juice and zest, sherry and brown sugar which when mixed together tastes amaz- ingly good. Nothing beats the pudding for pure taste and a unique Yuletide tradition. Usually, the plum pudding was made weeks before Christmas and a small amount of brandy was poured on the pudding and lit just before serving. Some fam- ilies used to place a silver coin in the pudding - which was deemed a ritual leading to on- set of wealth. Varieties of nuts, raisins, almonds and spices like nutmeg and cinnamon were used in the pudding to create a rich flavour. In conclusion, our journey to the nineteenth century and quoting extracts from "A Christmas Carol", reminds us of the misery and poverty of Bob Cratchit's family during their cold Christmas dinner. Here Scrooge is overwhelmed at the inner peace and hap- piness of this family during a ghostly visit with the spirit of Christmas past. Just like the old Scrooge, some of the corporate Scrooges of today are hoarding their wealth in shell companies rather than helping to reduce poverty and drought particularly in some war infested African countries. However, the old Scrooge — unlike the corporate Scrooges — paid attention to the lessons taught by the spirits of the past, present and future. e old Scrooge saw his worker (Bob Cratchit) as a cost to be mini- mized but in contrast, the re- deemed Scrooge provided him with a living wage plus bene- fits, this raise provided a living wage with good benefits, "I'll raise your salary and endeav- our to assist your struggling family". us ends a tale of bygone traditions mostly centred in Victorian England, and natu- rally residents of Malta having in the past been a British col- ony, enthusiastically mirrored most of these festive traditions intertwined with teachings of the Catholic faith.