When fireside tales awoke the family ghosts of Christmas past

Long before the days of radio and television, people would occupy and entertain themselves with tales, either from their imagination or from their knowledge of local and family events.

There is no doubt many of these were ghost stories because the supernatural, or perhaps a fear of it, was very much a part of their lives.

An indication of the strength of the belief in ghosts is still remembered when we put out a glass of sherry and a mince pie for Father Christmas, and sometimes a carrot or two for his reindeer.

In fact this habit began centuries ago when householders believed the spirits of their ancestors returned to the family home at certain times of the year, such as Hallowe'en or Yuletide. A meal was always prepared for them and left on the table overnight. In our modern world, even if our children believe we are leaving out a meal for Father Christmas, the practice has its roots in that ancient show of welcome and hospitality for visits of the dear departed.

It is not easy to determine precisely when this custom started. In pagan times, the period we now call the Twelve Days of Christmas was when spirits, fairies, elves, ghosts and witches were thought to be at their most mischievous or dangerous and when Satan was struggling to capture the minds of the people.

With the family sitting around the fireside on a dark night, the smallest creak of a floorboard, draught of cold wind and rattle of a door or window would herald the presence of something spooky.

We must remember that homes were not so brightly illuminated as they are today - with perhaps only the glow from the fire or a candle, there were many dark corners within the house and many more outside. Once the fear or apprehension had been generated, it was easy to make someone's hair stand on end or cause cold shivers to run down the spine. The fertile imagination of the listeners provided the story-tellers with their finest effects.

If that kind of atmosphere was generated among our pagan ancestors, it continued into Christian times. The early Christians thought Satan was always around, often disguised in a variety of cunning ways, and he had to be thwarted by prayer and spiritual action.

One belief was that he tried to prevent weak-minded people from attending church on Christmas Eve, while Christmas Day, being the birthday of Christ, was always a sign that Satan's tactics had been defeated, at least for another year.

It must have been considered a great achievement to reach Christmas Day without being nobbled by Satan, witches or other evil creatures.

As people awaited the coming of Christmas, it seemed there was much to prevent them enjoying the days of Advent. Sitting beside their fires, they would listen to tales about their ancestors, especially their difficult times - there were stories of deceased relations returning as ghosts to apologise for their past misdemeanours or to seek forgiveness for past actions which were hurtful.

Some ghosts wanted to repair the damage they had done in the past to members of their family.

Throughout the years of Christianity, therefore, these tales have been passed down the generations, developing from family-orientated yarns to wider stories of ghosts and peculiar happenings, but generally among family and friends as they gathered around the fireside.

Not surprisingly, the practice of story-telling was not restricted to this country. Before Christianity came along, the people of Scandinavia believed that trolls, who were a type of mischievous imp, made their way to a mountain called Rastekais at Christmas. There they would hold a festival to the sun, with no-one daring an attempt to prevent them.

In Germany, a female god accompanied by dogs would roam the countryside at night to catch and punish idle people, while the folklore of the entire northern hemisphere is rich with similar tales.

In this country, it is not difficult to imagine our families in the past sitting around their fires and listening to tales of ghosts, whether of former relations or not, and then hearing noises outside. The howling of the wind, the rattling of a gate, the cries of night creatures like vixen and owls, or geese flying noisily but unseen overhead, would all create an atmosphere of terror. An old saying tells us that: "Talk of the devil, and he will make an appearance." I'm sure he made many at that time!

Perhaps it was Charles Dickens who established the ghost of Christmas in our modern minds when the spirit of Ebenezer Scrooge's deceased partner, Marley, made an appearance to persuade Scrooge to change his miserly ways. In some ways, that was nothing more than a variation of ancient tales from bygone times.

One of the regular mysteries of the Christmas period is the blossoming of the Holy Thorn of Glastonbury in Somerset.

This arises from a legend that Joseph of Arimathea, the man who owned the tomb in which Christ was buried, came to England some time after the Crucifixion.

He found his way to Glastonbury carrying a chalice which contained a few drops of Christ's blood, and he concealed this in a well at Glastonbury. The chalice became known as the Holy Grail, and since that time there has been a never-ending search for it. It has not yet been found.

During his visit, Joseph is said to have pushed his wooden staff into the ground, whereupon it sprouted to become the Holy Thorn of Glastonbury. It developed into a hawthorn bush which thrived for centuries until the Reformation, when it was destroyed because the authorities thought it was an idolatrous image.

The people of the time managed to retrieve some cuttings and later re-planted them, so the Holy Thorn of Glastonbury continues to flourish in that area.

So does it really bloom at Christmas? The answer is yes, but there is nothing miraculous about it. The shrub is a variety of hawthorn known as biflora, and it does come into flower around the Christmas period. It is still widespread around that part of the country and there is an annual Holy Thorn cutting ceremony which forms part of the local folklore calendar.

This story lends itself to another. It has often been claimed that Jesus himself visited England, and that he went to Glastonbury. The visit of Joseph (who was not the husband of Mary) is well-documented. He is even said to have built a chapel in the village, but stories about the visit of Jesus have never been found to have any substance.

It seems to have been circulated by the Celtic monks of the district when they encountered some Saxons and claimed that their local church had been built by God.

From this, there might have sprung the tale that Christ himself built the church. This is one of those legends which will always survive because it will be passed down the generations by word of mouth in the coming years, even if there is no proof.

Tomorrow is the start of a period of weather known as the halcyon days. We have come to regard the term as something which means a time of great happiness and prosperity during which we can enjoy all the good things of life, but originally the term meant a time of great calm at sea, particularly in the Mediterranean region.

The ancient Sicilians believed the kingfisher nested on the surface of the sea, where it incubated its eggs for 14 days. During that time, the water was always calm and the weather remained mild to allow the birds to hatch their young. The kingfisher was then known as the halcyon, so that period of 14 days became known as the halcyon days.

The kingfisher does not nest on the surface of the sea, however. Its nest is at the end of a long tunnel which it excavates in the sandy side of a cliff and it might be that lack of a readily visible nest which led to the suggestion that it nested on the sea. But, I am told, that period of fine, calm weather is quite real