The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #125553   Message #2781564
Posted By: Gweltas
05-Dec-09 - 04:47 PM
Thread Name: 'Old Christmas' January 6th
Subject: RE: 'Old Christmas' January 6th
In Co Kerry, Ireland, where I grew up, January 6th, the feast of the Epiphany, is also called "Little Christmas", or "The Women's Christmas". My late mother used to solemnly place the little statuettes of the Three Wise Kings in the "crib" (nativity set) on the eve of January 6th, as this was the night that the Magi were traditionally supposed to have arrived at the stable in Bethlehem, and unlike in a lot of other local households, these statuettes were not permitted to appear in OUR nativity display PRIOR to that date !!

"The Women's Christmas" was in effect a kind of "Mother's Day" and it was the day when the mother in the house was celebrated and thanked by the rest of her family for all her hard work in providing us with the best of everything over the Christmas period, and all the cooking and other household chores on that day were done by her family, so that she became a lady of leisure and had a day of rest and pampering. Little inexpensive gifts were also exchanged on that date as well.....hence the reference to "Little Christmas"

Here in Cornwall, where I now live, "Twelfth Night" is celebrated in Launceston every year with a fine informal music and singing session in Launceston, organised by Rob Strike.