by Roseanna White | Dec 30, 2013 | Word of the Week
First of all, I’d like too announce that next Monday will mark a pretty cool milestone around here–1,000 posts! Woot! I’ll have to think up some fun way to celebrate. Ideas welcome. 😉
And now, a word of the week. =)
I was designing a book cover with a bustle on it, which inspired me to look up the word. Not surprisingly the verb bustle dates back pretty far–all the way to 1570. It meant “be active,” and actually came from bustling, which is from the century before as an adjective. The adjective meant “noisy activity.”
The noun form followed by 1630 with the expected meaning of “activity, stir, fuss, commotion.”
So then, how about the padding in a skirt? Well, that arrived on the scene in the 1780s, though from where and how no one’s quite sure. Speculation is that its rustling sound inspired the name bustle, but it’s also possible that it came from the German buschel, which means “bunch or pad.” Either way, it was a key part of women’s fashion for well over a hundred years.
by Roseanna White | Dec 23, 2013 | Uncategorized
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| Happy Christmas by Johansen Viggo, 1891 |
I thought today I’d put together a little of everything for the week and leave it at that. 😉 I daresay many will be so busy with holiday prep that blog-reading will fall by the wayside. So today, a one-stop shop for some Christmasy history and fun.
So let’s take a look at Christmas carols. I confess that I love Christmas music! I have a Pandora channel on my Roku (hooked up to TV to let me access online stuff like Netflix) and have had the classical Christmas channel playing in the evenings. Lovely. But have you ever wondered when the songs came around? Here are just a few with their dates.
“Angels We Have Heard on High”
Lyrics translated to English in 1862
“Deck the Hall”
Lyrics, 1862. Music is a 16th century Welsh melody. (The ‘s’ got added to the title in 1877)
“God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen”
Dates from the mid 1700s (exact date unknown)
Lyrics by Isaac Watts, 1719–intended not as a Christmas song,
but as one to celebrate the second coming.
The tune we know was written in 1839 by Lowell Mason.
Earlier tune was taken from Handel’s Messiah.
“Silent Night” (my favorite)
Lyrics were written in 1816 and music in 1818 by a friend of the writer;
it was performed that Christmas Eve in a small German town.
“The Twelve Days of Christmas”
Lyrics from 1780, but without a tune. The melody we know wasn’t written until 1909.
“We Wish You a Merry Christmas”
This one takes the prize as the oldest! Words and music date from the 16th century!
And I do indeed with you all a very Merry Christmas! If anyone has down time on Wednesday or Thursday, I have a post scheduled on Colonial Quills that talks a bit about the tradition of the Yule log.
by Roseanna White | Dec 19, 2013 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized
Yesterday I had the honor of being a guest-poster on the Steve Laube Agency blog, at the invitation of my agent. A few of us did a series together on different discouragements writers face–others tackled a lot of the “big” things like chronic pain and this fickle industry.
I talked about the discouragement that comes from within ourselves when we are too focused on how we rank next to others. I’ve always had a competitive spirit, and sometimes it leads me straight to a not-so-nice place.
If you haven’t dropped by the Laube blog already, here’s a snippet and the link:
As a kid, I was used to being the best. Best grades, finished my
homework before leaving school, understood everything without needing
the teacher to explain it more than once. (Well, fractions gave me grief
for a week or two, but let’s just call that a blip on the screen.)
Every year, my mom would issue the same warning: “Roseanna, next year
the work will be harder. You might have more homework. It might not come
so easily.” I took that as a challenge. 
And all through school, I proved my wise mama wrong.
Then I hit the real world.
Read the whole article
Oddly, I wasn’t sure when this was scheduled to post and didn’t know it had until I got an email from someone who had read it. And was not exactly encouraged by it, as she’s dealing with some big things right now. Allow me to say that this is focused on one specific thing, not all the discouragement we face in life. Competitiveness certainly isn’t the worst trial we go through–but if it’s part of your nature as it is mine, it’s one of the most constant, and can sneak up on us when we least expect it.
And I would just like to also say…two more days of school until Christmas break for us! 😉 We’ve got a good start on our holiday fun with lollipop sugar cookies and gingerbread men…er, and girls. And, er, trees…and moons…and teddy bears…
Of course, the little ones have also been distracted by the newest addition to our family, Noah–who is currently spending most of his time up the driveway at my mother-in-law’s (who does NOT have new carpet), but who will be spending a lot of time down here once he’s housebroken too. =)
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| Noah the Boxer puppy |
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Noah with his three best friends–
Xoe, Rowyn, and Heartbeat Bear |
Hope everyone is enjoying the season!
by Roseanna White | Dec 18, 2013 | Remember When Wednesdays, Uncategorized
Over these last few years, I’ve researched Christmas in Victorian times, in Colonial times, in the 20s. I’ve discovered how the Puritans banned it in New England, and how if you had a party in Maryland in the 1780s, the newspaper would publish when it was going to be, and strangers might just show up at your door. I’ve tracked some of the traditions through the ages, like hiding a pickle in your tree and wassailing. I’ve posted about the 12 Days of Christmas and how they actually begin on Christmas Day and end on the Epiphany (January 6).
All so much fun to learn about! Writing historicals has really opened my eyes to how our celebrations and traditions evolve through the ages, and how some pieces stay the same. Interestingly, we rarely know why we cling to some of the things that have stuck around for centuries, like mistletoe and yule logs.
And yet here I sit this morning going, What can I write about today? LOL. It feels like I’ve covered it all since I started blogging all those years ago. I’m sure I haven’t. But I apparently haven’t had enough coffee to make me think otherwise. So I thought I’d take a different course today.
One thing I love about all these celebrations I’ve learned is the thought that the traditions can bring the generations–the centuries, even–together. And sometimes I pause and wonder what our children will remember most. What are our Christmas traditions today, as a culture? Santa Claus? Christmas Eve candlelight services? Trimming the tree? Baking cookies?
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| Our tree and stockings |
Christmas has been a busy season for a lot of years, and though we today might think we’re busier than any generation before (and while we might be right), some of my favorite traditions are the ones that are pretty simple.
Singing Christmas songs.
Decorating the tree with my kids.
Brunch on Christmas morning with my family.
I love watching the delight on my kids’ faces as we bake or wrap or trim…and I love learning that back in Colonial days, Christmas really wasn’t for the kids like it is now. They received the same token gifts that parents would also give to servants–sweets, fruit, maybe a book or small toy. They weren’t invited to the parties. They were kept quiet in their rooms during much of the celebrating. Gotta say, I like having them involved. =)
What are some of your favorite traditions in your family? What are some that you’ve heard about that baffled or delighted you? Anything new you’re trying this year?
by Roseanna White | Dec 16, 2013 | Holidays, Word of the Week
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| Christmas throughout Christendom, 1873 |
I thought it would be fun to examine some Christmas traditions this week and next. So while this isn’t exactly etymology, it’s still looking at origins. 😉
The legend of mistletoe goes all the way back to Norse mythology. Baldr, grandson of Thor, had a troubling dream in which all living things were trying to kill him. His wife and mother saw how troubled he was by this and so went out to procure promises from all living things that they would not injure their beloved Baldr. They got these promises from everything from oak trees to cows…but not from the mistletoe. Some stories say they overlooked it, others that it seemed too young to give such promises. Whatever their reasoning, they failed to get its word–and then an arrow made of its stem pierced Baldr and killed him.
Mistletoe, therefore, became a reminder to remember and treasure what one loves, hence why couple kiss under it.
In Celtic traditions, mistletoe was considered a sacred plant, symbolic of fertility. The reasoning actually gets a bit explicit, but suffice it to say that this culture also held it as holy, and when Christianity spread, they integrated it into the Christmas tradition.
Kissing under mistletoe has been around for longer than we can accurately say, referenced in some European writings as early as the 17th century. The first English mention of it seems to be in the 1820s, though the mention implies it’s a longstanding tradition.
Whatever its origins, it’s always been a popular one, with young couples quite eager to lure a special someone under the berries and greens. And I daresay few care too much about why they’re doing it, LOL.
Hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas season!
Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.