How was Christmas time celebrated in Regency England?

Titled lords and ladies as well as the gentry would spend Christmas at their country estates/homes. Christmas trees were not a part of the celebration, not until the middle of the 1800’s, so how did they decorate?  The servants brought in boughs of greenery and draped it throughout the house.

The Christmas holiday stretched from December 21^st , the winter solstice through January 6^th, Epiphany (when the three kings came and offered gifts to Jesus and his family). There was Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve and day within those days. So there was a lot of celebrating.

Let’s start with the first celebration

Dec 21^st – The outdoor servants would bring in a Yuletide log. The word Yule comes from a Nordic tradition celebrating the winter solstice. So Yule tide means the time of the winter solstice–the shortest amount of daylight or day of the year.

The Yuletide log in England was usually a whole oak tree that had been cut down previously and dried out. Its bark would be removed and the whole tree would be brought inside with great ceremony. The largest part of the tree would be placed in the fire, leaving the large log sticking out into the room. The log would be fed into the fire until New Year’s Day.

The ashes would be removed and sprinkled around plants. This potash helps plants to flower. However, it was considered bad luck to throw out the ashes on Christmas Day.