Among other things, the Puritans attempted to abolish Christmas. Today many would wish they had had more success although perhaps for different reasons.

In the first half of the 17th century Christmas was both an important religious festival and a time when the English population would indulge in a variety of traditional pastimes. The 25th December was a public holiday, all places of work closed and people attended special church services. The next eleven days included additional masses, with business hours limited. During the twelve days of Christmas, buildings were dressed with rosemary, holly and ivy and as well as marking the day’s religious elements, there was also non-stop dancing, singing, drinking, exchanging of presents and stage plays. The population indulged in feasts of roast beef, plum porridge, minced pies and special ale. Twelfth Night, the final day of celebration, often saw a fresh bout of feasting and carnivals.The Puritan’s war on Christmas came to an end in 1660 with the restoration of the monarchy although Pepys describes the celebrations of the season as being more restrained than the pre-Commonwealth revelry.

It is worth noting at this point that the “excesses” only extended to the Twelve Days OF Christmas. In our secular age Christmas begins sometime in September, ramps up a notch after Halloween and ends in a blaze of advertising on Christmas Day.

But do we really see ourselves as the inheritors of the Puritan tradition? Traditions, whether Christian or not, bind us to the past.