December 26th carries much significance. It’s the second day of Christmas, in which two turtledoves show up (according to the carol). This year it is also the second night of Hanukkah, the festival of the miracle of the lamps. But it is the first night of Kwanzaa. I like this holiday though I don’t do anything with it. I applaud Maulana Karenga for working out a celebration that is rooted in reality and honors neglected cultures. You’ll not be surprised to learn that Kwanzaa is one of the inspirations for this blog. We’re taking back time from the dominant culture. But Kwanzaa isn’t for me in any sense. (Though I have thought hard about buying the book of Kwanzaa recipes from Smithsonian…)
Today is also Boxing Day. This is a national holiday in Canada. It’s merely a strong tradition in England and Australia. This is not a day to box up all the crap from December 25th and return all the unwanted gifts, though you’d be forgiven for thinking that. It is also not another Christmas, though that happens too in some places. This holiday is a living relic from the Roman age. On this day, privileged people box up what they feel like shedding, and they give it to the poor. Employers give boxed gifts — mostly food and small practical things — to their employees. It is not even unheard of to find your landlord has left a box of biscuits in the post slot. Boxing Day saw its peak in the mid-20th century. It has fallen on the neoliberal hard times that have caused most benevolent impulses to founder. Now, it is largely a day of boxing up the crap and returning the unwanted gifts…
December 26th is also St Stephen’s Day. We know this day from the song Good King Wenceslas written in the 19th century about a 10th century Bohemian duke (not king) of a chunk of land in what is now the Czech Republic. Wenceslas looked out on the Feast of Stephen and saw a pauper gathering fallen wood for his hearth. The duke decided to take alms to the poor even though the snow was lying round about deep and crisp and even. The duke took a page with him, presumably to carry the alms, but the boy couldn’t manage the deep snow. So the duke plowed a trail through and had the child follow in his footsteps.
St Stephen was the first martyr to the Christian faith. He was a deacon in the early church in Jerusalem who very publicly ticked off the city authorities with his blasphemies. He was stoned for his words on 26 December 36AD. It is said that Saul of Tarsus, the later apostle Paul, participated in the stoning of Stephen.
The Feast of Stephen is celebrated in much of the Christian world in ways that have nothing to do with Stephen or Christianity. Mummers run amok. They eat pasta in Catalonia and have stoning drinking contests in Bavaria. But in Ireland the Wren Boys are out. I have not one clue how this tradition began nor what it means. A group of young men will go hunt the wren in the early morning. They then mount the dead bird on a tall pole and carry it around the village begging for pennies to bury the wren. What alms they receive almost always go to the local pub.
There isn’t much hunting of the bird these days. They use stuffed or carved toys carried in elaborate cages. Also… they dress a bit funny. But they do sing for their alms. It’s generally a good time had by all when the Wren Boys show up.
©Elizabeth Anker 2024
By My Solitary Hearth 
On this day we are wilting in 36’C heat! I ave enjoyed your round-up of festivals.
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