Neddy's Palaver

Today, January 5th is the Eve of the Epiphany.

For our ancestors, who celebrated “Old Christmas,” the night preceding January 6th is the Eve of Epiphany. It was on this night, over 2000 years ago, that the Magi came to Bethlehem to find the baby Jesus.

Today, the Day of Epiphany is still known as “Old Christmas,” which was the day that Christmas was celebrated before the calendar changed in the 18th century. One of the old beliefs concerning the Day of Epiphany was that a person should never lend anything to anybody on Old Christmas Day, because the lender would never get it back again. Also, the Eve of Epiphany is the night when the Holy Spirit manifests Itself upon the earth in many subtle ways. Upon that night, no matter how hard the ground was frozen, elder bushes would sprout from the ground. Even more mysterious is our ancestors’ belief that at midnight on Old Christmas Eve, if they crept silently into a barn or field, they could hear the cattle and sheep praying. At the exact stroke of midnight on Old Christmas Eve, animals would start moo-ing and baa-ing and bellowing as though they were crying, in remembrance of their own ancestors who had been present in the stable at Bethlehem to witness the birth of the Christ Child and His revelation to the Magi.

A wonderful book that I am reading about celebrating Christmas in England of long ago is “Old Christmas” by Washington Irving.

• “On The Twelth Day of Christmas”
• Old Christmas in Rodanthe, North Carolina.
• Epiphany 2007

The image, The Epiphany, was originally uploaded by barneykin. It is posted here from Barneykin’s account.

Visit Neddy’s Archives for more of Edna’s writings.

Jesus was a physician or doctor and referred to Himself as such. He set a powerful example for all Christians to follow. See Mark 2:17 and Luke 4:23.

Medical doctors whose faith teaches them to cure people and then kill them, such as the seven physicians of Britain’s National Health Service (NHS, July 2007), should read the teachings of Jesus who said “Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.” Those who follow in the footsteps of the Master Healer will lead happier lives on earth, and blessed rewards in Heaven — minus the 72 virgins.

The Healings of Jesus

Christmas In The Trenches” by John McDermott

Letter from the Western Front, December 25, 1914

“This will be the most memorable Christmas I’ve ever spent or likely to spend: since about tea time yesterday I don’t think there’s been a shot fired on either side up to now.”

“Some of our chaps went over to their lines. I think they’ve all come back bar one from ‘E’ Co. They no doubt kept him as a souvenir.”

“We can hardly believe that we’ve been firing at them for the last week or two - it all seems so strange.”

In his account of one of World War I’s most surreal moments, the British soldier described in his pencil written letter how German troops placed lights along their trenches before approaching the British lines to deliver Christmas greetings. He described the lull in fighting as soldiers played football, helped each other bury the dead, shared traditional Christmas foods, chatted and smoked peaceably together.

Irish singer Chris de Burgh recently purchased the newly discovered manuscript at auction, paying 14,400 pounds ($27,000) for it, according to Yahoo News.

Christian soldiers stopped killing each other along the Western Front on Christmas Eve of 1914. John McCutcheon wrote a poignant song voiced by one Francis Taliaferro about the Christmas Truce. The songwriter claims that it is based upon the true story of Scotsman Ian Calhoun, who was the commanding officer of the British forces involved. Calhoun was subsequently court-martialed for ‘consorting with the enemy’ and sentenced to death. King George V spared his life, praise be to God.

For more information and the words to the song see “Christmas In The Trenches”.

History News Network:

“They also gave us a few songs so we had quite a social party…

“After breakfast we had a game of football at the back of our trenches! We’ve had a few Germans over to see us this morning. They also sent a party over to bury a sniper we shot in the week. He was about 100 yds from our trench. A few of our fellows went out and helped to bury him.

“About 10.30 we had a short church parade, held in the trench. How we did sing. O come all ye faithful. … fried bacon and dip-bread followed by hot Xmas pudding, then muscatels and almonds, oranges, bananas, chocolate, cocoa and smokes”.

“You can guess we thought of the dinners at home. Just before dinner I had the pleasure of shaking hands with several Germans: a party of them came halfway over to us. So several of us went out to them. O exchanged one of my balaclavas for a hat. I’ve also got a button off one of their tunics. We also exchanged smokes etc and had a decent chat. They say they won’t fire tomorrow if we don’t, so I suppose we shall get a bit of a holiday - perhaps.”

“After exchanging autographs and them wishing us a Happy New Year we departed and came back and had our dinner. We can hardly believe we’ve been firing at them for the last week or two - it all seems so strange. At present it is freezing hard and everything is covered in ice…

“There must be something in the spirit of Christmas as today we are all on top of our trenches running about. Whereas other days we have to keep out heads well down…I had a parcel from B G’s Lace Dept containing a sweater, smokes, under clothes etc. We also had a card from the Queen, which I am sending back to you to look after please.”

“As I can’t explain to everyone how I spent my 25th, you might hand this round please…I never expected to shake hands with Germans between the firing lines on Christmas Day and I don’t suppose you thought of us doing so”.

“So after a fashion we’ve enjoyed our Christmas. Hoping you spend a happy time with George Boy as well. How we thought of England during the day. Kind regards to all the neighbours. With much love from Boy.”

April 19th is Primrose Day.

My father was born on Primrose Day, April 19th, 1901, at Forest Hill, London, England. For more about Primrose Day see my explanation at Neddy’s Nook on the Net.

Upon the death of the beloved British Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli (Lord Beaconsfield), on April nineteenth, 1881, Primrose Day was instituted in his honor, as the English primrose was his favorite flower. Queen Victoria sent bouquets of primroses to his funeral according to a contempory account; The coffin lies on its bier in an alcove leading out of the modest hall of Hughenden Manor. But of its material, one might almost say of its dimensions, nothing can be seen. It is literally one mass of floral beauty. Here are wreaths from every member of the Royal Family in England bouquets of primroses sent by the Queen, with an inscription attached to them, saying that they came from Osborne Hill, and that they are of the sort which Lord Beaconsfield loved. Two years later, a bronze statue of Lord Beaconsfield was erected at Parliament Square, and it became customary to decorate it with primroses every year on the anniversary of his death. Ofttimes at Easter the woodlands of England are seen carpeted with wild primroses.
~ Primrose Day — April 19th

Oh, to be in England
Now that April’s there,
And whoever wakes in England
Sees, some morning, unaware,
That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf
Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,
While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough
In England–now!

~~Robert Browning

“There’ll Always Be An England” is a freedom song from long ago, written by Ross Parker and Hugh Charles, that was once beloved by the British people. Today finds the tome very much despised by the British left. The wartime rendition here of “Always Be An England” is by Vera Lynn.

There’ll always be an England
And England shall be free
If England means as much to you
As England means to me.

October 18th - The World Turned Upside Down

What a glorious day it was for General Washington and his men when the world’s mightiest army surrendered to them. What a blow for the British to lose their most valuable colony. Lord Charles Cornwallis attempted to evacuate his army from Yorktown, but it was not possible as the French and American guns bombarded their position in the early morning of October 17th. After the American victory and the British surrender at Yorktown, Virginia, the defeated Redcoats departed to the strains of “The World Turned Upside Down“, a tune expressive of the sentiments of the day:

“If ponies rode men and grass ate cows,
And cats were chased into holes by the mouse . . .
If summer were spring and the other way round,
Then all the world would be upside down.”

Surrender at Yorktown: Washington refused to make the same mistake that had been made four years earlier by Horatio Gates in the surrender at Saratoga, where the defeated soldiers were allowed to return to their homes in exchange for a promise not to reenter the war in North America at a later point. The obvious problem with such leniency was that those soldiers could be assigned to another theater, thus replacing soldiers in that location who could then be sent to America.

Terms were negotiated on October 18th and included the following provisions:

* surrendering soldiers were to march out of their fortification with colors folded, surrender their arms at a predetermined location, then depart to detention

* British officers were allowed to keep their side arms and to depart to Britain, or to a British-occupied American port

* officers and soldiers were allowed to retain personal possessions

In a breech of military etiquette, Cornwallis declined to attend the surrender ceremony, claiming illness. The second in command, Brigadier General Charles O’Hara, filled that role. To avoid the humiliation of turning over Cornwallis’ sword to Washington — known contemptuously to many British as “General Buckskin” — O’Hara attempted to present the token to General Rochambeau. The French commander refused to accept the sword and pointed to Washington. When O’Hara turned to make the presentation, Washington called on his second-in-command, General Benjamin Lincoln, to accept. Thus, General Buckskin won some satisfaction in the wake of his humiliation at the surrender of Charleston.

My grandfather’s great, great grandfather, the young Virginia soldier William Via, was there at the momentous day of the victory at Yorktown.

Does this sound familiar: Ban on the Banner of Saint George? Americans all know that the “Southern Cross“, an ensign representing the cross of Saint Andrew, is offensive to some, but now comes word that the “Red Cross” is also offensive to others.

The “Red Cross” comes from the banner of the martyred Saint George, a red cross on a white background. It began as a battle flag for English crusaders during the middle ages and later became the national flag of England.

And what’s to become of the British Union Jack? That ensign contains three crosses representing three Christian saints. When the British remove the offending red cross, the cross of Saint George, does anyone truly believe that will be sufficient? Certainly, someone, somewhere, will claim something offensive about the white diagonal cross of Saint Andrew and/or the red diagonal cross of Saint Patrick. Multi-culturalism means that the majority must give up its ancient heritage, religion, symbols and history, bequeathed to it by the blood of martyrs and patriots, so that the minority be not offended. More at Kerfuffles.

How Much of a Snob Are You?

This is a cute test, brought to us by the folks at PBS. I scored 57% snob - not really good, as they said I was on my way to the middle class. All I need is a golden retriever.

Are you a snob?

There is also a page that tells what your life would be like if you lived in 1904 Edwardian England. You in 1904

The Diplomat’s Dream:

• A Chinese chef.
• An English cottage.
• An American paycheck.
• A Japanese wife.

• An English chef.
• A Japanese house.
• A Chinese paycheck.
• An American wife.