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 Of all the heinous offences laid at the feet of the puritans during the time of the Interregnum (1649-1660), the banning of Christmas raises the most interest. Oliver Cromwell is generally credited with this decision but the fact is that the abolition of Christmas (or “Christ’s Mass”) as a feast day and holiday predated Cromwell’s rise to power and was the outcome of the puritan domination of Parliament in the 1640s. Christmas had always been celebrated in England with traditions predating Christianity itself eg the “holly and the ivy” goes well back into pagan times. The traditions of wassailing, carols, feasting, mummers, plays and the resultant general drunkenness, frivolity and idleness were not looked on favourably by the puritans who believed that not only was it pagan but also resounded with Roman Catholic undertones. The puritans believed in a pure (hence the name) form of worship and devotion, based on the scriptures and felt that even the reformation had not gone far enough. In 1645, a “Directory of Public Worship” was produced in Westminster to replace the prayer book and in 1647 the parliament passed an ordinance abolishing the feasts of Christmas, Whitsun and Easter. In the 1650s this was taken further with a specific ordinance ordering shops and businesses to remain open on 25th December. Despite the ordinances and the threat of penalties (that included fines and being placed in the stocks) many people continued to covertly celebrate Christmas behind closed doors. For an account of one family’s perilous decision to continue the practice of Christmas, see the diaries of William Winstanley. Winstanley was an Essex farmer who “believed it was the duty of all Christians to celebrate the birth of their Saviour, with joyous festivity and open-handed generosity towards friends, relations and more especially the poor." (Alison Barnes, author of William Winstanley: The Man Who Saved Christmas ). In 1660 the monarchy was restored and the Christmas ban was lifted, although, not surprisingly, after 18 years it took some time for it to return to the familiar carousing and good cheer. As we contemplate the “stress” of Christmas, is there, perhaps a pause for consideration that perhaps the puritans were not all that wrong and that a purer form of worship and remembrance of Christ’s nativity should have a place in modern society? I would love to hear your thoughts… In the meantime I wish you and your family and loved ones a very safe and happy Christmas and holiday period and I join you in wishing peace in 2023! Alison Stuart   This is a love story… an enduring love story between a little girl and an old house… Once upon a time a little girl went to visit an old moated manor house in an obscure corner of Worcestershire, called Harvington Hall. The house creaked and groaned with a history dating back to the Middle Ages. Secret hiding places called Priest Holes dotted the house in strange corners. The little girl came from Australia and she had never seen anything so old… so mysterious… and she began to imagine a world of people who may have lived in this old house called the Thornton family. The house became Seven Ways and the cast of imaginary inhabitants lived on with the little girl as she grew up. Over the years she scribbled stories, sketched illustrations, drew family trees, floor plans and breathed life into the imaginary world of the Thorntons and their home. The story became lost in the bottom of the drawer and forgotten until one day she dislocated her shoulder in a skiing accident and left alone in a ski lodge all by herself she began to write… and in no time at all she had written A BOOK. The little girl had become a writer and the BOOK became BY THE SWORD, the first in a trilogy of books set in the years of Oliver Cromwell's rule (1650-1660) - THE GUARDIANS OF THE CROWN.
 I was born in Kenya and have lived most of my life in Australia. Don’t get me wrong, I consider myself an Australian to my bones (Aussie Oi!), but I get the strangest sensation when I return to a particular corner of England—the Midlands and, more specifically, a band that runs along the southern edges of Birmingham from Worcestershire to Warwickshire. That is where my family origins are strongest and whenever I return there I know I am coming home. My grandfather lived in the little village of Clent in the north of Worcestershire and he knew and loved Worcestershire with a passion. So on one of those rare visits to England in 1970 he took me to Harvington Hall, which had always interested him (this painting was done by my step-grandmother in 1938 and it hangs in my study). Harvington Hall’s history dates back to Saxon times but the house itself is largely a late middle ages construct. In Tudor times it was owned by the Packington family and in the 17th century it fell into the hands of the Throckmortons (Throckmorton = Thornton… stream of consciousness!). The Packingtons and Throckmortons appear to have retained Catholic sympathies. Hence the Priest Holes… My favourite is the one concealed behind a pivoting beam in ‘Dr Dodd’s Library’. In 1970 an exploring chid could actually go into it. It’s in this priest hole that Kate and Nell hide Giles in By the Sword. I should add that while just about every old house in Worcestershire claims to have sheltered Charles II after the Battle of Worcester, there is no evidence he ever set foot in Harvington Hall—an oversight of history that I corrected in By the Sword. Of course Seven Ways is not an exact replica of Harvington Hall, but it’s similar enough to be recognisable. These days it is well loved and, although not a National Trust property, it has an active group looking after it, so if you happen to find yourself passing through the village of Chaddesley Corbett on your way to Kidderminster… do drop in. It is worth a visit! Over the years, BY THE SWORD has had a few incarnations... won or been shortlisted for major awards... but has always been the book of my heart! And it has just been re- released and is on sale until the end of September.  |
Alison StuartAlison writes historical romances and short stories set in England and Australia and across different periods of history. Archives
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