Wow, look at this...when I started this blog, I had intended to post at least every two weeks. Well, it has been over a year since my last post! I'm a horrible individual, and an even worse blogger. :)
Now that I have shared my self-abasement with you, we can move on to something fun...Twelfth Night! I thought this would be an appropriate post for the current holiday season. For most people in the modern US, Christmas Day is the focus of the holiday, and come December 26th, the shelves of the stores are cleared of all the Christmas tree shaped peanut butter cups, and we're ready to move on to spring. This is a recent (historically speaking) mindset, however--for centuries, the Christmas holiday encompassed twelve days, and the days with the biggest celebrations were New Years and Twelfth Night! Twelfth Night marked the end of the holiday season and the beginning of the feast of the Epiphany (the day the three kings visited Jesus after his birth). These twelve days of Christmas were celebrated in Europe by both Protestant and Catholic alike, with spectacular parties thrown by people of all classes to celebrate. Wassail was a traditional English drink of the holiday, and King's Cake (galette des rois in France) was popular in many European countries.
These holiday traditions came with settlers to the New World, including to the area known as the Pays des Illinois or Upper Louisiana...a region that included the future city of St. Louis. The French Catholic settlers along the Mississippi, who needed little excuse to have a party, celebrated New Year's Eve with La Guignolée. This custom, which has been continually celebrated in Prairie du Rocher, IL (about an hour and twenty minutes SE of St. Louis) since 1722, was an occasion for men of the village to visit friends and relatives, sometimes in costume, feast, and (some believe) collect donations of food to be used in the upcoming Twelfth Night celebrations. The tradition moved across the Mississippi River to Ste. Genevieve with the settlers, and has recently been revived in that town. The translation of the original French begging song asks for a ridiculously huge piece of meat, and if that is not forthcoming, then the eldest daughter of the household...clearly the meat would be considered a safer bet in the hands of a pack of increasingly drunk men!
Good evening master and mistress,
And all who live with you.
For the first day of the year,
You owe us La Guignolée. If you have nothing to give,
A chine of meat or so will do.
A chine of meat is not a big thing,
Only ninety feet long. Again, we don't ask for very much,
Only the oldest daughter of the house.
We will give her lots of good cheer,
And we will surely warm her feet. Now, we greet you,
And beg you to forgive us please.
If we have acted a little crazy,
We meant it in good fun. Another time we'll surely be careful
To know when we must come back here again.
Let us dance La Guignolée,
-- La Guignolée, La Guignolée!
The evening of January 5th (to our ancestors Twelfth Night came before Twelfth Day, as holidays started at sunset the night before--i.e. Christmas began at sunset on the 24th, the evening of Christmas) was the night the gathered food would be served at parties, with the King's Cake taking center stage. Dancing generally continued until the wee hours of the morning, and then the Christmas season was over.
You can experience some of the music, dancing, clothing and food of 1773 St. Louis on January 5th, during the Twelfth Afternoon dance at the Old Courthouse. Dennis Stroughmatt et L'Espirit Creole will be performing from 12-4, with dancing from 1-4, called by Deborah Hyland, Dance Mistress. The event is free and open to the public. Eighteenth century clothing is not required!
Official event page for the Old Courthouse:
http://www.nps.gov/jeff/planyourvisit/upcoming-events-and-programs.htm
If you still feel like cutting a rug after 4 pm, make a full day of it, and travel the hour and twenty minutes to the American Legion Hall in Prairie du Rocher, IL, for their Twelfth Night dance. This dance does have a fee of $10.00.
http://www.stegenherald.com/articles/2013/01/02/community_news/doc50e480dc7e7dc809091772.txt
And all who live with you.
For the first day of the year,
You owe us La Guignolée. If you have nothing to give,
A chine of meat or so will do.
A chine of meat is not a big thing,
Only ninety feet long. Again, we don't ask for very much,
Only the oldest daughter of the house.
We will give her lots of good cheer,
And we will surely warm her feet. Now, we greet you,
And beg you to forgive us please.
If we have acted a little crazy,
We meant it in good fun. Another time we'll surely be careful
To know when we must come back here again.
Let us dance La Guignolée,
-- La Guignolée, La Guignolée!
The evening of January 5th (to our ancestors Twelfth Night came before Twelfth Day, as holidays started at sunset the night before--i.e. Christmas began at sunset on the 24th, the evening of Christmas) was the night the gathered food would be served at parties, with the King's Cake taking center stage. Dancing generally continued until the wee hours of the morning, and then the Christmas season was over.
You can experience some of the music, dancing, clothing and food of 1773 St. Louis on January 5th, during the Twelfth Afternoon dance at the Old Courthouse. Dennis Stroughmatt et L'Espirit Creole will be performing from 12-4, with dancing from 1-4, called by Deborah Hyland, Dance Mistress. The event is free and open to the public. Eighteenth century clothing is not required!
Official event page for the Old Courthouse:
http://www.nps.gov/jeff/planyourvisit/upcoming-events-and-programs.htm
If you still feel like cutting a rug after 4 pm, make a full day of it, and travel the hour and twenty minutes to the American Legion Hall in Prairie du Rocher, IL, for their Twelfth Night dance. This dance does have a fee of $10.00.
http://www.stegenherald.com/articles/2013/01/02/community_news/doc50e480dc7e7dc809091772.txt
