Christmas in Brittany. From 'Dorigen'.

It is Christmas and so I have posted this extract from 'Dorigen'. This is a 14th century Christmas in Brittany. You can find the complete poem earlier in the blog if you want to read more.

The people stayed inside their houses warm
And prepared their Christmas as best they could,
With holly, and its berries red that should
Add some colour to the cold, grey days.

In the inn the people sat around the room.
In the fireplace was a blazing fire
Where cherry logs were placed across the dogs
And smelled like flowers in bloom.
The ingle nook was taken by the grey-haired men
Who said the winters of their youth
Were colder far than these today.
Though when the young came in from work
With fingers blue and cheeks bright red
They did not yield the seats they had
So close to the red embers of the logs.
They drank in sips the warm mulled wine
And made it last the evening through
And passed the old brown jug around
As they had done on Christmases before.
The great boar’s head was roasted then.
Apple in mouth, it held the centre of the board,
And Noel sang the merry boys and men.

At home the fires were stoked and logs
Were stacked to dry inside the ingle nook.
Each night the father would take out the holy book
And read the Christmas story once again
To the children round his knee.
Their mother bustled round the stove
And stirred a stew of onions, carrots and of meat
And mixed the fruit into a pudding sweet.
Candles were lit around the room each day.
Fresh rushes were then strewn upon the floor
And the Christmas wreath was hung upon the door.