Kate Rusby Live Christmas Albums

For 20 years Kate Rusby has been in the habit of touring the country in December and singing Christmas songs. We have been to several of these, although we couldn't make it this year. In 2020, she produced a 13 track recording of a worldwide live stream from December 12, the only thing that could be done at the time, if you recall (Happy Holly Day) and this year she has released another live album (20 Christmas is Merry) with 17 live tracks (recorded 2020-2024) plus five smooth re-recordings. I didn't know Little Jack Frost but it is in fact from the 2005 album (not a Christmas one) The girl who couldn't fly. Both live albums are very pleasant and worth getting hold of, especially in the Christmas period.

Easter Eggs at Christmas

I have just finished watching the movie Elf as I do at this time of the year each year. I was struck by one particular scene where Buddy the eld looks out from a bridge on a snowy night and how it references James Cagney in the Frank Capra film It's a wonderful life. Others have noticed similar things and the movie is described by some critics as being a "meta film" in the way it acknowledges and plays with audience expectations of the Christmas movie genre, tying familiar tropes together to create an original story wrapped in a "holiday classic bow".

1. It's A Wonderful Life Buddy's bridge scene references George Bailey contemplating his purpose in life.
2. Miracle on 34th Street Buddy's trip to Gimbel's is reminiscent of the scenes in Macy's. Gimbel's was Macy's store rival.
3. Edward Scissorhands Buddy makes snowflakes like Edward. He doesn't have the same tools but he achieves the same result.
4. A Christmas Story Buddy's snowball fight is a reference to this film. Buddy saves Michael from school bullies just like Ralphie.
5. A Christmas Story The Ralphie actor has a cameo. Peter Billingsley plays Buddy's elf supervisor Ming Ming.
6. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer Leon The Snowman resembles Rudolph's Sam. The snowman Leon and Sam are both mentors to elves
7. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer Buddy's elf costume recalls Hermey the mistfit elf's costume.
8. The Santa Clause Elf plays on the theme of nonbelievers being converted by the irrefutable evidence of the Christmas spirit and Santa Claus's existence, with a normal man being thrust into the North Pole environment.
9. The Christmas Star Edward Asner plays Santa again not a crook this time but the real thing.
10. National lampoon's Christmas Vacation Once again there are antics with an oversized Christmas tree.

These metareferences are sometimes referred o as Easter eggs. So Easter at Christmas!

The Skating Minister

 

The Skating Minister

The Skating Minister (The Reverend Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch) by Henry Raeburn, 1784. Oil on canvas. In The Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh. 76.2 x 63.5 cm.

Seasonal Quiz 13 (True/False 2)

1. Reindeer lose their antlers every year

2. The man who wrote "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is the same man who wrote "Rocking Around the Christmas Tree"

3. If the song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is taken literally, there are enough presents given for every day of the year (except for leap years)

4. Ukka is the Finnish name for its traditional Christmas sauna

5. There is a man whose job includes checking the roof of the Met Office in London on every hour of Christmas Day for signs of snowflakes

6. Holly usually has its male and female branches on the same tree

7. Margaret Thatcher was once enraged to hear the tune of the socialist anthem "The Red Flag" playing from her family Christmas tree

8. Silver fulminate, the explosive found in Christmas crackers, is highly dangerous in larger quantities

9. Shakespeare never mentions the word "Christmas" in his plays

10. In 1997, Manchester Airport's security machines were found to be unable to tell Christmas puddings from Semtex.

Ans

1 T Annoyingly for people showing off their reindeer to tourists at Christmas, male reindeer usually lose their antlers shortly before the Christmas period. Females tend to lose theirs in the New Year. Reindeer or Caribou are the only animals where both males and females grow antlers.

2 T Johnny Marks wrote the former in 1949 and the latter in 1958.

3  F Not quite. If you add up the 12 x 1 partridges, 11 x 2 turtle doves, 10 x 3 French hens and so on you end up with a total of 364 gifts. Just one short. "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is based on a French song about the 12 months of the year.

4 F Ukka is actually the goat Santa rides in the tradition of a few countries including Finland and Holland.

5 F With the big bets put on the occurrence or otherwise of a "white Christmas" in London, this monitoring is done, but a number of Met Office workers take shifts. Christmas Day actually falls in the middle of a warm spell in London and there were only 10 White Christmases here between 1900 and 2000.

6 F That would be true of most plants but holly (scientific name Ilex) is usually dioecious (pr. di-ee-shus) meaning that individual trees are either male or female. Note that on a holly tree the leaves are generally less prickly the higher up the tree you go.

7 T Of course, "The Red Flag" has the same tune as "O Christmas Tree".

8 T Unfortunately, a number of people have ended up with faces full of shrapnel trying to make this substance that is also found in explosive toy caps. If you see a recipe for making this stuff DON'T try it.

9 F He mentions it surprisingly little but he does mention it more than once, the most famous example being in "Love's Labour's Lost" where he says "At Christmas I no more desire a rose, than wish a snow in May's new-fangled shows". Marcellus in Hamlet does refer to the day of "our Saviour's birth".

10 T An airport spokesman said Christmas puddings - made of dried fruit, fat and spices - had an unusual density, similar to Semtex.

Seasonal Quiz 12

1. What colour is Dr Seuss's Grinch supposed to be?

a/ Red b. Purple c. Green d. Black

2. What is a manger?

a. a feeding trough b. a barn c. a stable d. a room behind an Inn

3. The carol beginning Now the holly bears a berry as white as the milk goes on to speak of the holly bearing berries of what three colours?

a. Green orange red b. Green black red c. Green purple red d. Blue Yellow Gold

4. In the song what did my true love send on the fifth day of Christmas?

a/ French Hens, b. Turtle doves, c. Gold rings, d. Calling birds

5. How many gifts were given altogether over the twelve days?

a. 220 b. 286 c. 364 d. 555

6. What was the name of the snowman in the song?

a. Snowy b. Frosty c. Jimmy d. Dicey

7. What is Christmas disease?

a. A liver disease b. a form of haemophilia c. a sort of cancer d. a disorder caused by over eating

8. Christmas Island in the Pacific belongs to which country?

a. Australia b. New Zealand c. USA d. Denmark

9. The Christmas truce is a term used to describe several brief unofficial cessations of hostilities that occurred on Christmas Eve or Day between British troops and their enemy in which war?

a. WWI b. WWII c. Crimean War d. Falklands War

20. It is said that Christians first fixed December 25 as the date of Christ's birth in what year?

a. 440 b. 850 c. 1133 d, 1540

Answers

CABCC

BBAAA

(Haemophilia B is a blood clotting disorder caused by a mutation of the Factor IX gene leading to a deficiency of Factor IX. It is the least common form of haemophilia, rarer than A. It is sometimes called Christmas disease after Stephen Christmas, the first patient described with this disease.)

Seasonal Quiz 11

1. Jesus was born in Bethlehem but what does Bethlehem mean?

a. House of love b. House of bread c. House of justice d. Where's the ham?

2. What kind of animal is Rudolph supposed to be?

a. Reindeer b. Dog c. Polar Bear d. Hedgehog

3. Donner and Blitzen are among Santa's reindeer but Donner und Blitzen is German for what?

a. The names of two German rivers b. Slow and fast c. Thunder and lightning c. Lamb and vegetables

4. Adeste fideles is the Latin title for which carol?

a. O come all ye faithful b. Hark the herald c. Away in a manger d. Little donkey

5. What is a manger?

a. a feeding trough b. a barn c. a stable d. a room behind an Inn

6. The singer Dido has a song that tells of a man who promises her he'll return when?

a. Christmas Eve b. Christmas Day c. Boxing Day d. Easter Monday

7. Who had the original hit with Blue Christmas?

a. Elvis Presley b. Johnny Cash c. Cliff Richard d. The Smurfs

8. In many households, part of the fun of eating Christmas pudding is finding a trinket that predicts your fortune for the coming year. For instance, finding a coin means you will become wealthy. What will you be if you find a button?

a. Poor b. Famous c. Bachelor d. Called away on a trip

9. Which well-known author of fantasy fiction also created a book called The Father Christmas Letters?

a. Lewis Carroll b. J R R Tolkien c.E Nesbit d. C S Lewis

10. Who had the original hit with White Christmas?

a. Bing Crosby b. Dean Martin c. Perry Como d.  David Bowie

Answers

BACAA

BACBA

(A ring means you will get married; while a thimble predicts spinsterhood. The idea of hiding something in the pudding comes from the tradition in the Middle Ages of hiding a bean in a cake that was served on Twelfth Night. Whoever found the bean became "king" for the rest of the night.

The Father Christmas Letters consists of letters written to the Tolkien children by Father Christmas. It was published in 1976. The illustrated letters describe adventures and events at the North Pole.)

L S Lowry Bourton on the Water Snow 1947

 

Title: Bourton-on-the-Water

Year: 1947

Artist: L.S. Lowry

Subject: The Cotswolds village of Bourton-on-the-Water

Significance: It is one of Lowry's few non-industrial paintings and is considered one of his most successful landscapes. It captures a sense of calm and ease, unlike the industrial crowds he is more known for painting.

Inspiration: The work was inspired by Lowry's visits to the Cotswolds in the 1940s, which he described as "quaint" and appreciated for the warm, honey-coloured stone of the buildings. He also illustrated a book about the area, A Cotswold Book, for which he produced 12 drawings.

Auction: The painting was part of the Modern British and Irish Art Evening Sale at Christie's in October 2025 and was valued at between £400,000 and £600,000.

Legacy: The Lowry museum in Salford, dedicated to the artist, has expressed a wish to borrow the painting on loan to display it.