HISTORY

CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS

By Dr Lesley Wray

In Anglo Saxon Milborne Port the evergreen holly and ivy that were part of the pagan celebration were used as Christian symbols of eternal life. Other traditions evolved. The kissing-bough, decorated with mistletoe, once sacred to the Druids, hung from a beam and no woman could refuse a kiss if caught under it. The Yule log was put on the hearth on Christmas Eve and burnt throughout the twelve days of Christmas, having the greenery of the decorations thrown on to it on twelfth night to symbolise the end of the festival. By the middle ages the celebrations began at Advent, forty days before Christmas, and Boxing Day was when the rich gave alms to the poor. Only the wealthy could enjoy all these celebrations, food had to be cooked and served and beasts fed. The twelve days of Christmas, from Christmas Eve to the eve of Epiphany were the days on which the lower orders would be allowed to work slightly less, while shops and businesses opened for shorter hours. By Tudor times, Christmas for the wealthy had become a time for great feasts, gambling, plays, and dances, giving extravagant gifts and generally having a good time. Puritans had a strong work ethic and they tried to ban Christmas completely. Shops were to stay open, church services were only to be held on a Sunday, and feasting, gambling and drinking were forbidden. However, Christmas was often celebrated in private. Once the monarchy was restored, Christmas celebrations were allowed again, but they would never be as extravagant as before. Most people had to work on Christmas Day, although this might be for shorter hours. The Christmas meal would be as good as a family could afford, and gifts were given, particularly to children. For many poorer families, these gifts might be a piece of fruit, sometimes the only fruit they would get all year, or a homemade toy that would be passed down to each child in the family in turn. The poor often suffered around Christmas as the weather turned cold. In 1819, the Reverend Owen and the principal inhabitants of Milborne Port set up a fund to provide the poor with coal and other necessities at low cost. It was the Victorians who introduced many of our Christmas traditions including the decorated tree. In 1871, Boxing Day, Easter Monday, Whit Monday and the first Monday in August were made official bank holidays on which everyone was entitled to a day off with pay, although servants were seldom allowed these holidays, being offered time in lieu when it suited their employers. On Boxing Day 1901, the Milborne Port Town Band took up a position near the weighbridge and played during the morning to entertain the town’s people. Sir Medlycott gave a dance to the people of Milborne Port at Ven, which started at 9pm, included supper, and did not finish until 3am. The world wars of the twentieth century prevented many traditions from continuing. Mummers probably started in Milborne Port in Tudor times, but the troop disbanded during the First World War. In addition to Father Christmas, characters included a Turkish knight who would stage a fight to represent the crusades, and a doctor who could cure ‘the pip, the pox, the palsy, and the gout’. In 1936 the Milborne Port Women’s Institute organised a Christmas party for the old people of the village and this continued until the early sixties. Today’s tradition in Milborne Port is the Christmas Lights Switch On. The trees along the High Street and the large tree outside the town hall are supplied by the Spirit of Milborne Port and switching on the lights has always been a well supported event, accompanied in previous years by street markets, Father Christmas, and a children’s service in St John’s Church. If you would like to know more about the history of Milborne Port, please contact mphhgroup@gmail.com for information about our meetings and the museum opening times, or visit our website www. milborneporthistory.org.uk.

ADVERTORIAL

SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS

Robyn, founder and creative director of Let’s Talk Social (previously Purely Personal Marketing) is over the moon to be awarded the Most Outstanding Marketing Agency in 2021 - Somerset in the SME News, Elite Business Awards.

Let’s Talk Social began its life from a kitchen table while Robyn was pregnant with her son. Since its launch in winter 2018, the social media management agency has gone from strength to strength and now has a growing team and a diverse client base.

Robyn said, ‘2021 has been particularly tough both professionally and personally, so to receive this award helps to remind me about the journey we are on. We work so hard for our clients and love getting to know their business, so to know that it is valued in this way is so gratifying.’

The social media agency has recently undergone a rebrand and has honed its services to offer copywriting, social media management, ad management, social media training and social media audits to businesses across the UK.

BOOK REVIEW

By Wayne, Winstone’s

This month Winstone’s is featuring two exceptionally beautiful books by illustrator/artists Angela Harding and Susan Ogilvy.

Angela Harding illustrated the very memorable covers of Raynor Winn’s books Wild Silence and The Salt Path. The second illustrator is Somerset-based artist Susan Ogilvy who has produced an exquisitely illustrated, one-of-a-kind celebration of the hidden beauty of nature and the ingenuity of birds, Nests.

A Year Unfolding by Angela Harding |

£20 hbck Signed copies available

A beautifully illustrated guide to nature through the seasons by much-loved printmaker Angela Harding. The cover of this stunning book has an exclusive triptych printed on the reverse - a perfect collector's item. This stunning work, the first book that is solely dedicated to Angela's art, is a celebration of her beautiful prints, and a glimpse into her detailed and meticulous process.

A Year Unfolding is a journey through Angela's year in nature, watching the seasons unfold in front of her from her studio in Rutland, and giving the reader detail into how nature transforms and evolves over the course of the year. It also tells the stories behind some of Angela's most popular images, giving context to Angela's celebrated work, as well as new art created specifically for the book. The beautiful illustrations and evocative imagery of the prose make this the perfect book for nature and art lovers everywhere.

Nests by Susan Ogilvy | £20 hbck

Susan Ogilvy started painting bird nests almost by accident. One day, while tidying up her garden after a storm, she found a chaffinch nest - a strange, sodden lump on the grass under a fir tree. She carried it inside and placed it on a newspaper; over the next few hours, as the water drained out of it, the sodden lump blossomed into a mossy jewel. She was amazed, and dropped everything to make a painting of the nest at exact life size.

This was the start of an obsession and Ogilvy has since painted more than fifty bird nests from life. Although Nests showcases the specimens she has found near her homes in Somerset and on the Isle of Arran, its subject matter is by no means only British, since these same birds can be found all over Europe, Scandinavia and as far afield as Russia, Turkey and North Africa. This wondrous book is all the more special for its rarity. Few modern books exist specifically on the subject of bird nests; the most recent among the author's reference works was published in 1932. Exquisitely designed and packaged, Nests will be an essential addition to the libraries of all nature lovers.

8, Cheap Street, Sherborne, Dorset. DTP 3PX 01935 816 128 winstonebooks1@gmail.com www.winstonebooks.co.uk

IN-CAR LISTENING DRIVES UP RATINGS FOR RADIO

By Steve Haigh, Station Manager, Radio Ninesprings 104.5 FM

The big advantage that radio has over other media is that you can listen to it while doing other things, and driving a car is one of those other things. You can’t read a text message or a post on social media when you are driving, but you can listen to the radio and still be safe on the roads. So it came as no real surprise to read in a new survey that the preferred choice of in-car listening for motorists is still broadcast radio. The importance of radio being free-to-air was highlighted by motorists’ concerns about data charges for listening to streamed content. 79% who listened to audio via mobile devices said they were concerned about how much it was costing them.

Of the eleven hundred drivers surveyed in the UK, 89% said a radio tuner should be standard equipment in every car; a trend that was consistent across all age groups. Listening to broadcast radio while at the wheel of a car remains very high, with 89% of motorists saying they listened for more than one hour each week and 76% listening to radio every day.

A major factor for people when deciding what vehicle to buy was that it could receive broadcast radio, with 78% saying they would be less likely to buy a car that was not equipped with a built-in radio tuner. Other standard audio features like a USB port and Bluetooth were important. But what motorists most wanted in their cars was a built-in tuner. The survey also showed that day-to-day listening to broadcast radio by motorists remains significantly higher than for any other form of audio content. * survey commissioned by Radioplayer and sponsored by The National Association of Broadcasters. On behalf of everyone at Radio Ninesprings, may I wish you a Happy Christmas and prosperous New Year. If you’ve yet to tune into Radio Ninesprings please do give the station a try in 2022. Radio Ninesprings – You can’t get more Local!

To listen to Radio Ninesprings:

Yeovil and South Somerset 104.5 FM Chard/Ilminster 107.6 FM

61% said they listened to broadcast radio ‘frequently’, compared to 21% who listened to online streaming music services and 15% to CDs. 83% agreed that radio provides a better in-car listening experience than other types of audio sources. 58% said their primary reason for listening to broadcast radio was to get the latest news and information, followed by 42% who tuned in to hear their favourite songs being played.

Wincanton/Bruton 103.3 FM

To listen online:

www.radioninesprings.com Listen on Smart Speakers: say: ‘Alexa enable the Radio New Local Radio Station for Ninesprings skill’Yeovil and South Somerset thereafter: ‘Alexa play Radio Ninesprings’ Radio Ninesprings can also be heard on Amazon TV