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Meadow Sweet Grove |
fairies, vintage, folklore, garden & cooking
Merry Meet! You are welcome to enter the Grove. Delight in a magical dose of fairies, vintage, folklore, garden & cooking.
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The Fairy Shop
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THE FAIRY SHOP AT MEADOW SWEET GROVE
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GIF by Rhian Buchanan, 2019
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 See all items in The Fairy Shop
~ This Week's Fairy Offerings ~ Deck the Halls! |
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Handcrafted Rustic Greenery Holder Christmas Pine Tree Yule Country Repurposed - Made in Canada
CA$5.00
Vintage! Alderbrook The Three Wise Men Christmas Tree Ball Ornaments Gold Glitter - Made in Canada
CA$9.99
FEATURED ARTICLES
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~ Last time at Meadow Sweet Grove ~ Tomato & Spinach Casserole Here's a tasty vegetarian casserole that works wonderfully as a side dish, and can be complemented with soup or a meat dish to make a full supper meal ... Continue reading: tomato-spinach-casserole.html 
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~ A Calendar of Yuletide Doings ... COVID Style! ~
Even if Christmas sees us home alone this year, or with limited family or friends, here are some suggestions from the Meadow Sweet Grove fairy folk to make your season bright! Although 2020 might not allow for as much merry-making as is custom with Yule; you can still experience the magic of Christmas:
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Dec 1 - Open your advent calendar
Dec 2 - Send pretty Christmas cards to friends
Dec 3 - Watch classic movies like: A Christmas Carol or It's a Wonderful Life
Dec 4 - Make a bowl of oranges studded with cloves - they smell wonderful
Dec 5 - Trim your cedar or holly tree and leave out the free trimmings for your neighbours ...
or go on the search for pine cones or free trimmings someone left out for you!
Dec 6 - Decorate your front doorway with cedar boughs, holly & pine cones
Dec 7 - Build a snowman ... if you have snow, or watch Raymond Briggs' The Snowman
Dec 8 - Haul out the Christmas decorations and deck those halls
Dec 9 - Put up and decorate your Christmas Tree (save a few branches from the bottom)
Dec 10 - Make a wreath for the front door from stray branches cut from your Christmas tree
Dec 11 - Wrap up all those gifts you kindly purchased from Meadow Sweet Grove! Cut up old Christmas cards to use for tags
Dec 12 - Make catnip bags for the kitties or homemade treats for the doggies
Dec 13 - Do your grocery shop (online if you can) to gather all the Christmas fixings together for the big day
Dec 14 - Put together a Christmas puzzle with a child, spouse, roommate or by yourself with a glass of wine!
Dec 15 - Bake sugar cookies and cut into old-fashioned shapes like trees, stars, & snowmen
Dec 16 - Drop some of those cookies off on a neighbour's doorstep, knock, walk away and wave from a safe distance
Dec 17 - Watch funny movies like: A Christmas Story or Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean
Dec 18 - Make a cup of fancy hot chocolate
Dec 19 - Clean your little abode from top to bottom while listening to Christmas music
Dec 20 - Walk around the neighbourhood and look at all the Christmas lights
Dec 2 - Send pretty Christmas cards to friends
Dec 3 - Watch classic movies like: A Christmas Carol or It's a Wonderful Life
Dec 4 - Make a bowl of oranges studded with cloves - they smell wonderful
Dec 5 - Trim your cedar or holly tree and leave out the free trimmings for your neighbours ...
or go on the search for pine cones or free trimmings someone left out for you!
Dec 6 - Decorate your front doorway with cedar boughs, holly & pine cones
Dec 7 - Build a snowman ... if you have snow, or watch Raymond Briggs' The Snowman
Dec 8 - Haul out the Christmas decorations and deck those halls
Dec 9 - Put up and decorate your Christmas Tree (save a few branches from the bottom)
Dec 10 - Make a wreath for the front door from stray branches cut from your Christmas tree
Dec 11 - Wrap up all those gifts you kindly purchased from Meadow Sweet Grove! Cut up old Christmas cards to use for tags
Dec 12 - Make catnip bags for the kitties or homemade treats for the doggies
Dec 13 - Do your grocery shop (online if you can) to gather all the Christmas fixings together for the big day
Dec 14 - Put together a Christmas puzzle with a child, spouse, roommate or by yourself with a glass of wine!
Dec 15 - Bake sugar cookies and cut into old-fashioned shapes like trees, stars, & snowmen
Dec 16 - Drop some of those cookies off on a neighbour's doorstep, knock, walk away and wave from a safe distance
Dec 17 - Watch funny movies like: A Christmas Story or Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean
Dec 18 - Make a cup of fancy hot chocolate
Dec 19 - Clean your little abode from top to bottom while listening to Christmas music
Dec 20 - Walk around the neighbourhood and look at all the Christmas lights
Dec 21 - Yule / Create a Winter Solstice Tree for all the little birds and woodland creatures that visit
your yard or balcony (click picture to read how!)
Dec 22 - Watch unique cartoon movies like: Raymond Briggs' Father Christmas or Klaus
Dec 23 - Spend a quiet evening, gazing at the twinkling lights & enchanting ornaments on your Christmas tree ... pour your favourite drink!
Dec 24 - Hang up your stocking, sit quietly by a window at midnight, and feel the approach of Santa's sleigh
Dec 25 - Yule / Christmas - HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS!
Dec 23 - Spend a quiet evening, gazing at the twinkling lights & enchanting ornaments on your Christmas tree ... pour your favourite drink!
Dec 24 - Hang up your stocking, sit quietly by a window at midnight, and feel the approach of Santa's sleigh
Dec 25 - Yule / Christmas - HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS!
Meadow Sweet Grove © V. Buchanan 2020
Did you know that articles from past weeks are archived in my Blog? Check it out here! tomato-spinach-casserole.html
FOLKLORE & MAGIC
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~ Old Father Christmas & His Yule Goat ~
I love buying discarded library books. In one, I found this delightfully pagan Father Christmas, complete with Wassail bowl and riding a goat ... and I'm further tickled that he's depicted on page 13!
I found it odd though, that he was described as "The British Father Christmas", when his little goat appeared more Scandinavian in nature. So much is going on here that I had to do some further reading. This is what I have learned. |
Illustrated by Barbara Bedell, Victorian Christmas, 1997
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Illustrator: Robert Seymour, 1836 "Old Christmas"
Interestingly, I immediately came across this image, which is so similar that I felt the artist must have based her artwork on it. This earlier version is titled "Old Christmas" and was illustrated in 1836 by Robert Seymour for "The Book of Christmas" by Thomas Kibble Hervey. Santa with his Yule Goat appear quite often in Christmas cards too during Victorian times.
I thought the goat might have been a nod to the old horned Gods or perhaps, because in other British Isle traditions like Puck's Fair and May Day, goats are sometimes crowned with flowers during harvest and summer festivals. He's an important little fellow associated with harvest and sun and so could easily be associated with Winter Solstice as well.
But of course there is the Yule Goat or Julbock in Scandinavia! My first introduction to the Yule Goat was many, many years ago when we bought a little boxed set of Christmas ornaments of straw goats from IKEA, the Swedish furniture company.
The Julbock in Scandanavia is thought perhaps to be derived from the two goats who pulled the sky chariot for the God Thor (Norse); or with the God Devac (Slavic) who was depicted as a white goat. Originally he demanded gifts, or offerings at this time of year, probably in exchange for returning the sun, and as the traditions changed and Santa Claus appeared, the white goat became the giver of gifts instead.
But getting back to why the artist called this "The British Father Christmas" and why Robert Seymour, a British illustrator depicted Santa in this way ... well, maybe the Yule Goat trotted his way on over to Britain and merged in wonderfully with the already existing English traditions surrounding the goat. Now as for the Wassail bowl ...
Bibliography: Victorian Christmas by Bobbie Kalman, Crabtree Publishing Company, 1997; Wikipedia, Yule Goat, October 2020; The Yule Goat Sneaks Heathen Tradition into Christmas, The Rational Heathen, Tyra Ulfdottir, 2017
Meadow Sweet Grove © V. Buchanan, 2020
Did you know that articles from past weeks are archived in my Blog? Check it out here! october-25-2016.html
