A country festive feast

The British reindeer farmer

Discovering the magic of mistletoe

A simple ChristmAs

Poinsettias | Mistletoe | Christm

as food | Pine cones | Bell ringers | Sprout wreath | Reindeers | Sledge | Knitted nativity | Xm

as markets | Robins | C

arols from King’s

Christm

as 2012LandScape - Life at nature’s pace

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Christmas 2012Life at nature’s pace £3.90

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The Christmas StarGrowing spectacular crimson poinsettias

is a passion for two gardening sisters

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Poinsettias are native to Central America. The Aztecs used to make dyes from their

vibrant red leaves but today they are popular across the world as Christmas decorations

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Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without a roast bird and all the mouth-watering trimmings

A festive feast

Hard boil the eggs then plunge into cold water and leave to cool. Melt 30g butter in a pan and sprinkle with flour, cooking for 1min. Stir in the milk gradually, heat up and simmer over a low heat for 5min, continuing to stir. Grate the cheese and add one spoonful to the sauce at a time so it melts. Season with salt and pepper, and leave to cool. Grease 6 ramekins. Remove the fish skin and bones and cut into small pieces. Shell the eggs and chop them up. Mix the fish and eggs with the sauce and fill the ramekins. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake in a preheated oven (175◦C /gas 4) for about 20min. Serve with warm buttered toast.

Arbroath smokiesServes 6 as a starter

2 medium eggs

50g butter

20g flour

250ml milk

70g cheddar cheese

Salt and pepper

400g smoked haddock

Fat for the ramekins

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Cinder toffee Grease a tin, roughly 17 x 17cm (7 x 7in), and line it with tin foil. Grease the tin foil as well. Put the sugar and syrup in a deep pan. Warm gently, stirring until the sugar has largely dissolved. Using a sugar thermometer, heat to 150◦C, without stirring. Take out the thermometer and add the baking powder. Take off the heat immediately and quickly stir with a spoon. As soon as the mixture thickens, pour it into the tin. Leave it to set at room temperature. Once set, remove from the tin. Peel off the foil and break the toffee into small pieces. Store in a dry, airtight container.

Makes about 30 toffee chunks

200g light brown sugar

120g golden syrup

1 tbsp baking powder

Fat for the tin

Tin foil

Sugar thermometer

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Wash and pat dry the oranges. Cut off the base and top of each orange and cut into quarters. Cut the orange flesh off the peel with a sharp knife. Next cut away as much of the white pith as possible. Cut the peel into thin strips. Boil some water in a small pan. Add the orange peel strips and cook for 15min. Pour off the water and leave the orange peel to drain in a sieve. Heat 150g sugar and 250ml water in a pan until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil and add the orange peel. Simmer gently for 30-40min. Drain the orange peel. Coat each piece in the remaining 50g of sugar and leave to cool overnight on baking parchment. The next day, break up the chocolate and melt it in a bowl over boiling water. Coat half of each orange piece by dipping it in the chocolate. Leave to cool and set. Store in a cool, dry container and eat within a month.

Candied orangesMakes about 50 pieces

4 unwaxed oranges

200g white sugar

200g dark chocolate

Baking parchment

Put the icing sugar, egg white and cream in a bowl. Knead into a smooth, firm dough, first with the kneading tool of a mixer, then by hand. The mixture should be easy to shape and not

sticky. If it is too soft, mix in more icing sugar. Add peppermint oil to taste. Shape the peppermint mixture into a long roll on a work surface sprinkled with icing sugar. Cut the roll into about

36 pieces. Put the pieces into a plastic freezer bag before shaping them, as they will soon dry out. Roll each piece into a

ball and then press flat. Make a star shape in the middle by gently pressing a piping nozzle into the centre. Lay on a baking

sheet covered with baking parchment. Do the same with the remaining pieces. Leave to dry overnight at room temperature.

Store in a tin in a cool, dry place. Eat within two weeks.

Peppermint creamsMakes 36 creams

500g icing sugar

1 medium egg white

1-2 tbsp whipping cream

A few drops peppermint oil

Fresh mint to decorate

Icing sugar for the work surface

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horseboxes in anticipation of carting away a big haul. They walk the rows, eyeing up the bundles, making notes of the lots for which they plan to bid.

“We get about 100 to 120 people who register as buyers,” says Nick, “but many more onlookers turn out to watch and soak up the atmosphere.”

Mistletoe quality has improved immensely since the auction started in the Victorian era. Gone are the rough-cut bundles, heavy with wood. Sellers registering their mistletoe now have to meet strict criteria. Their plants must be tightly tied in clearly tagged 10kg to 15kg bundles, with plenty of berries and good green foliage. Last year, in particular, was a good year for berries.

The bundles are laid out in long, neat rows for easy viewing. Each lot is labelled with the vendor’s name. There is no price reserve unless it has been submitted in writing prior to the sale. This makes the auction an exciting but

The familiar white-berried winter plant holds a special place at the heart of Christmas

The mistletoe auction

Buyers walk the long lines of mistletoe before the auction starts to

choose the lots they want to bid on

A t the end of November an air of excitement begins to build in and around the ancient market town of Tenbury Wells in Worchestershire. An annual mistletoe auction has been held here for

more than a century, the largest event of its kind in Britain. Hundreds of people stream to the market town on three consecutive Tuesdays to stock up on mistletoe for their business, to decorate their homes or for special events.

Auction mornings are guaranteed to be cold and damp but there’s a warm pre-event welcome, in the shape of hot tea and bacon butties, to be had. Tenbury Wells auctioneer Nick Champion has been orchestrating proceedings for 35 years.

“It’s a great thing to be involved in at this time of year,” he says. “I meet people who have been coming back for the auction for decades. We get all sorts of different people attending, a real mix.”

Buyers arrive in vans, pulling trailers and driving ›

People arrive with every kind of trailer imaginable to tow away their mistletoe

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Above: auctioneer Nick Champion has overseen the annual mistletoe auction for more than three decades

Below: the quality of mistletoe for sale has improved since the auction first began over a century ago

arrival of mail and to sound curfews.In Henry VIII’s time (1491-1547) the

dissolution of the monasteries saw the removal of many church and monastery bells, which were often sold for scrap. However, during the Restoration period that followed, a new way of hanging bells was devised. The bell was mounted on a wheel with the rope passing around it, allowing more control of its movement. This led to the development of change ringing in the early 17th century and by the late 1600s it had become quite a popular hobby.

Today, there are more than 6,000

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The centuries’ old tradition of bell-ringing is a large part of Christmas for a family in Yorkshire’s East Riding

The bell ringers

R obert Wood pulls on the sturdy red, white and blue sally rope in the stone tower of All Saints’ parish church, and a deep

toll sounds out over the still Yorkshire village of North Ferriby. Christmas is Robert’s favourite time of year for the hobby that first captured his imagination as a 14-year-old schoolboy. Now 58, he is as passionate as ever about what is called change bell ringing.

Bells have been associated with religious services and national events for centuries. Village churches used them to announce services, the death of a villager,

The members of the All Saints’ group range in age from 11 to 80. They’re among the 40,000 bell-ringing enthusiasts across the British Isles

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Bell number 5, one of the heaviest bells at All Saints, was cast in around 1371. It was saved from the original medieval church on the site

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A forest walk at this time of year can be an opportunity to collect fragrant cones to make pretty decorations

Perfect cones

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Pot-PourriA room scenter which perfumes a room with the sharp tang of citrus and pine,

is made by putting polished cones and fresh fruit in a bowl. The oranges are studded with cloves and the skin of the lemons is scored with a knife or a zester.

A bundle of cinnamon sticks adds a spicy finish to the arrangement.

PersonAlised gift tAgsPaper tags can take on a seasonal air with the simple addition of a tiny cone decoration. A bright paper colour contrasts well with the more natural raffia tie and the black spruce cone glued to the tag.

T he first frosts have arrived and cast their wintery spell over the garden. This is the time to snap off ripe bright green button sprouts from their thick stems. Sprouts are best left on the tree until the

weather turns colder, as the frost gives them a much sweeter flavour. As a vegetable dish with the turkey, these small cabbages can be loved or loathed, but they have a hidden charm as they can also be shaped into eye-catching decorations such as wreaths. Green floristry wire is inserted into the base of each sprout, then they are individually speared in a foam ring. To give the wreath a hint of colour, a handful of purple sprouts are added and arranged in a circle. A large sprout is then carefully teased open, so that its leaves resemble the opening petals of a flower, and placed in the centre of the purple ring. A ribbon is tied in a bow above the ring of purple sprouts to set it off and, finally, thick green ribbon is used to hang the wreath.

Sprout wreathBrussels sprouts don’t have to be confined to the dinner table

at Christmas, they can be crafted into a novel decoration

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Left: purple sprouts ring the central sprout ‘flower’Far left: The leaves of the sprout are teased open to recreate the opening petals of a flower

Photography: Michelle Garrett

The sprouts are speared with 5cm to 8cm (2in to 3in) pieces of dark green floristry wire

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The striking green and purple sprout wreath can be hung from a door or wall using a length of green ribbon

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Magical mistletoeTranslucent white mistletoe berries lend a simple beauty and ethereal air to home decoration

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adorning a TealighT candleMistletoe berries shine when they are gently lit by the warm glow of a candle. Soft, slightly brown berries should be discarded when selecting sprigs for decoration, as these will soon deteriorate. All of the berries are poisonous so hands should be thoroughly washed after handling them.

seasonal welcoMeA bunch of freshly cut mistletoe can greet guests who come into the home. The stems are tied together with ribbon which has a Christmas bauble threaded on one side. The ends of the ribbon are then tied in a bow over a door handle.

crowning glorYInstead of hanging a bare mistletoe branch in a doorway ready for festive kissing, it can look prettier in a ring suspended from a light fitting. A candelabra is most atmospheric, with hidden floristry wire attaching the sprigs.

traditional poems and songs that were in danger of being forgotten, much like the German academics Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, who travelled Europe transcribing the regional tales and legends that would later be collected as Grimms’ Fairy Tales. Many of the verses and lyrics that Burns unearthed were sent to the music publisher James Johnson in Edinburgh. Johnson compiled them along with their traditional melodies in a comprehensive book series entitled the Scots Musical Museum.

It was Burns who brought Johnson’s attention to Auld Lang Syne, which he described as “an old song, of the olden times, and which has never been in print, nor even in manuscript until I took it

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A s the clocks strike midnight on New Year’s Eve, party goers all over the country will be forming into circles,

crossing arms and singing Auld Lang Syne. It is a song that has been sung by more people than any other ever written, with the possible exception of Happy Birthday. Originally a Scottish folk song, it travelled all over the globe as emigrant Scots settled away from their native land.

Today, versions of it are a New Year accompaniment as far afield as the US, India and China. Wherever it is sung it usually carries the same melody but with lyrics translated into local dialects.

Yet, despite its popularity, its authorship is uncertain and many people have no idea what the original lyrics mean.

Auld acquaintancesMost people believe Auld Lang Syne was written by the poet Robert Burns. By the time of his death at the age of 37, in 1796, Burns had established himself as the pre-eminent Scottish poet of his generation and enjoyed a wide readership. However, while Burns certainly had a hand in crafting the familiar lyrics, and is therefore the person most responsible for its enduring popularity, he didn’t actually write it.

To be fair, Burns himself never claimed

The New Year anthem is attributed to the poet Robert Burns but its history stretches much further back into the annals of time

authorship of the poem, admitting that he only had a hand in the drafting of two of its five verses. Even then, he was simply making amendments to lines that had been written several centuries before.

He was also a fierce champion of Scottish literature. He worked to ensure that the folk tales and songs of his childhood, most of which had been handed down by word of mouth, were preserved for posterity.

Burns scoured Scotland in search of

Above: a 19th century portrait of Robert Burns Right: the Edinburgh Hogmanay, one of the largest New Year’s Eve celebrations in the world

Auld Lang Syne

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down from an old man’s singing”. The lyric was then published in Volume 5 of the Scots Musical Museum in 1796. For its tune, Johnson paired Burns’ lyrics with a traditional melody. This melody was originally played at a much quicker tempo as an energetic dance that was variously known by the names The Miller’s Wedding and The Miller’s Daughter.

However, despite what Burns may have told Johnson when he presented him with the song, this was not the first time that Auld Lang Syne had been published. Tracing back through Scottish literature, the song had already been adapted by different writers decades before Burns established the now definitive version.

The very earliest form we see in print dates from the 16th century. Sir Robert Aytoun, a poet in the court of King James I and VI, published a poem entitled Old Long Syne, which bore a striking resemblance to Burns’ version:

“Should auld acquaintance be forgot,And never thought upon,

The flames of love extinguished, And freely past and gone?

Is thy kind heart now grown so coldIn that loving breast of thine,

That though canst never once reflectOn old long syne?”

Given the similarities between Old Long Syne and Auld Lang Syne, it’s difficult to believe that Burns was not aware of

Aytoun’s poem, nor of any number of variations that were published in between. Some of these echoed Aytoun’s romantic sentiment for past times. Others injected a contemporary political theme, as in a version written by the Lanarkshire poet Allan Ramsay in the 18th century:

“Should auld acquaintance be forgot,Tho’ they return with scars?

These are the noble hero’s lot,Obtain’d in glorious wars.”

It is now generally accepted that even Robert Aytoun’s Old Long Syne was based on a much older traditional Scottish ballad, whose author has long since been forgotten. It is also likely that Robert Burns drew on several versions of ›

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Toy maker Alan Dart has a unique way of recreating the traditional Christmas story

Knitting the nativity

The second nativity set Alan designed, with figures standing about 15cm (6in) tall

A t a cosy cottage in a tiny hamlet in the heart of Cumbria, Alan Dart is busy making up one of his intricate knitting

patterns. The peace of the room where he works is broken only by the crackle of pine logs on the fire and the rhythmical clicking of his knitting needles. In his experienced hands the balls of soft wool become Mary, Joseph and the Baby Jesus.

Each figure in the nativity scene is designed perfectly, down to the smallest detail. The Wise Men have tiny knitted crowns and long beards, the donkey wears

always preferred to follow my own creative instincts.”

Alan is painstaking in the care and attention he puts into his work. At this time of year, his life is f i l led with shepherds and Wise Men, furry fairies and Christmas elves.

“I do enjoy preparing for the holidays,” he says. “And I hope that filters through to my work. I get so much pleasure from designing and creating all my festive characters.

“I try to add as much detail as possible to every design, because people tell me

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a halter and Joseph carries a lantern. Alan developed an interest in

handicrafts as a child and, at the age of just six, he learned to knit by hand.

“My mother was very creative and encouraging, and passed on her skills to me,” he says. “The first thing I remember making was a hat for my teddy bear.

“I cannot recall a time in my life since then when I haven’t knitted. Not only that, but I’ve always designed my own creations as well. That’s something that comes naturally to me. I have never used existing patterns or instructions, I’ve

Knitting by hand makes it easier to increase and decrease the stitches between rows

Alan designs and makes up his toys first, before transcribing the instructions and creating patterns for other knitters