Folk Christmas: Yule, Solstice & Ancient English Traditions

Dan Snow's History Hit

History Hit

History

4.7 • 12.9K Ratings

🗓️ 23 December 2024

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Folktales around the fire, gooding & mumping and the terrifying Hooden Horse are just some of England's winter folk traditions from history. In this episode, Dan explores the unlikely and often dark origins of some of our Christmas traditions that can be traced back thousands of years. He's joined by folklore historian Vikki Bramshaw, to discover what midwinter legends were brought over with the Anglo-Saxon invasion, the origins of the Yule log and some of the unusual ways people passed the long nights in rural England (fortune-telling chestnuts).

He also explores the New Forest, Hampshire, with local historian Richard Reeves to find out more about how medieval people survived the cold winters in the woods.

You can discover more in Vikki's book 'New Forest Folklore, Traditions and Charms'.

This is episode 4 of our 'Origins of Christmas' series. This December, Dan explores the history behind our Christmas traditions—from extravagant Tudor feasts and carolling to midwinter Solstice celebrations, the bawdy entertainment of the Georgians, and the family-focused customs of the Victorians.

Produced by Mariana Des Forges.

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hi, I'm Dan Snow, and if you would like Dan Snow's History Hit ad-free, get early access and bonus episodes, sign up to History Hit.
0:09.6	With a History Hit subscription, you can also watch hundreds of hours of original documentaries with top history presenters and enjoy a new release every week.
0:19.4	Sign up now by visiting historyhit.com slash subscribe.
0:26.7	I'm Nicola Cochlin, and for BBC Radio 4,
0:30.1	this is history's youngest heroes,
0:33.3	rebellion, risk, and the radical power of youth.
0:37.0	She thought, right, I'll just do it.
0:38.6	She thought about others rather than herself.
0:41.6	Twelve stories of extraordinary young people from across history.
0:45.4	There's a real sense of urgency in them.
0:47.8	That resistance has to be mounted.
0:49.2	It has to be mounted now.
0:51.2	Follow histories youngest heroes, wherever you get your podcasts.
0:58.3	Hi, folks.
0:59.6	This episode is sponsored by The World, specifically The World podcast, with Richard Engel and Yaldah
1:07.5	Hakim from Sky News.
1:10.0	The World is a new World Affairs podcast, hosted by NBC's
1:14.5	chief foreign correspondent and Sky's lead world news presenter. Every week, Richard and Yalda are going
1:20.2	having decades of experience the table, cut through the noise and explain what's going on in the
1:25.4	world and why it matters. They cover conflict, democracy,
1:30.3	and the most urgent questions in geopolitics from the front lines, wherever in the world they are
1:35.6	playing out. If you're interested in how the world works, how nations and individuals make
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from History Hit, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of History Hit and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.