A Righte Merrie Christmasse: The Story of Christ-Tide

Ashton, John, 1834-1911Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.0
Word count
488K words
Chapters
49

Tags

English Originals History and Culture Family BondsWinter MoodWarm MemoriesLegendary TalesTraditional AestheticsChristmas CustomsCultural ChangeFolk LoreFolk CustomsFestival Tradition

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.A Righte Merrie Christmasse: The Story of Christ-Tide by John AshtonAuthor: Ashton, John, 1834-1911,Language: English, Class: GT: Geography, Anthropology, Recreation: Manners and customs, Release Date: Nov 30, 2006

Editor's review

This book is English antiquarian John Ashton's popular survey of the history of Christmas, a classic work in the study of folklore and festive culture. Taking "Christ-Tide" as his thread, the author examines the origins of the festival, the evolution of its customs and modes of celebration, and presents to readers the layered process by which a religious feast became a season of secular merrymaking. As a public-domain ebook, it preserves the tone and charm of nineteenth-century scholarly historical writing; it serves both as an introductory text for the study of Christmas culture and as casual reading for anyone interested in English folklore and festive traditions. Its records of old Christmas customs offer a historical reference for understanding how the modern Christmas took shape. It need not be read for narrative continuity; it is better suited to reading by theme, as a short cultural history of the festival.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. Begin with the table of contents to identify topics of interest, such as the origins of the festival, food and drink, or celebratory customs, then read by chapter.
  2. Note unfamiliar old English customs and terms as you read, and check the background against public-domain reference works.
  3. Take notes comparing what you read with common Christmas customs today, observing how traditions persist and change.
  4. If the English original proves difficult, read the introductory chapters first to grasp the overall framework.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49

FAQ

Is this book a novel or a scholarly work? It is neither a novel nor a strictly modern academic monograph, but a popular work on festive culture written by a nineteenth-century scholar for general readers; it consists mainly of narrative history and customs, with a strong antiquarian flavor.
Can I understand it without a background in English history? Yes. The book revolves around Christmas, a familiar subject, and the unfamiliar parts are mostly old customs and place names. By reading selectively with the table of contents and looking up terms as needed, readers can grasp the main content without prior systematic knowledge of English history.
How is the electronic edition best used? As a public-domain ebook, it is easy to search and excerpt, making it suitable for reading by topic, for compiling material on festive culture, and for dipping into around Christmas; it need not be read linearly from start to finish.

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About the author

Ashton, John, 1834-1911 Author

John Ashton (1834–1911) was a British researcher of social history and popular culture. Public information about the details of his life is limited, and he is known to later generations mainly through his works. The library holds 17 of his works, focused on English social life from the late eighteenth to the early nineteenth century, with some extending back to the reign of Queen Anne. Drawing on original documents and contemporary materials, he sketched everyday life, customs, and social attitudes, as in the two-volume Social England under the Regency and The Dawn of the XIXth Century in England. He also attended to caricature and satire, writing on English caricature and satire of the Napoleonic era, as well as the distinctive cultural history The Devil in Britain and America. His writing is notable for its presentation of historical sources in a plain and readable style, offering accessible reference for the study of English social customs.