JK Decorations

[davewitley]

Ali wrote:

> I wonder if this is a cultural thing, but most Brits I know will 
> have taken their decorations down by January 6th regardless of 
what 
> denomination they might be. I think we tend to put our decorations 
> up later than people in the US might (although we are getting 
> earlier each year) and will take them down in the days following 
New 
> Year.

I was always taught as a child that Christmas very definitely comes 
to an end on January 6th.  I'm not sure if this was an English or a 
Danish thing, or both.  I will try to remember to ask my parents.

The song, The Twelve Days of Christmas, of course celebrates the 
same timespan, and Shakespeare's play, Twelfth Night, in which 
everything is turned upside down, is named in tribute to the old 
tradition that the masters would (supposedly - one wonders how this 
could have worked in practice) serve the servants on that day.  

What it meant was that on Twelfth Night (ie 6/1) we'd light the tree 
for one last time (it would have been lit Christmas Eve, New Year's 
Eve and possibly one other evening) and let the candles burn right 
down: when the last candle went out, that was the end of Christmas.  
The decorations would therefore be taken down the following day.  As 
we grew older, school doubtless interfered with this pattern, though 
I don't remember very well.

David