SwanseaFamilyHistory

This month many of us will sit down on Christmas Day and tuck into a traditional Christmas dinner . Charles Wilson Watkins , our family historian has been looking into the origins of this annual meal. A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas or commonly known as A Christmas Carol , a story written by Charles Dickens and published in 1843.  This well-known story is of miser Ebenezer Scrooge , who is visited by the ghost of his former business partner, Jacob Marley along with the spirits of Christmas Past , Present and Yet to Come . Dickens wrote this novella during a period when the Victorian society was exploring and re-evaluating past Christmas traditions. In the last stave (chapter) of A Christmas Carol , Dickens writes “ That on Christmas morning, Scrooge now a changed man sends anonymously a large turkey to the Cratchit household ”. This is the introduct-ion of turkey as the main meat in a Christmas dinner. No Brussels sprouts were harmed i...

The classical appearance of the Harlequin character in the commedia dell’arte of the 1670s, complete with battle or ‘slapstick’, two thin slats of wood, which make a ‘slap’ when striking another actor As this month’s magazine is the Christmas edition I thought we should look at the history of pantomime and why children and adults alike, enjoy this very British festive fun . Pantomimes are usually based on well-known fairy tales. Included in the performance is slapstick comedy and dancing, with added songs for good measure. This year, the 107th annual pantomime at the Swansea Grand Theatre will be the return of Peter Pan, which was first performed here at Christmas 1997/98. Starring is Coronation Street’s Tristan Gemmill , ( Robert Preston ) who plays Captain Hook and Swansea’s own Kevin Johns as Mrs Smee. I will return to Peter Pan at the end of the article. The story of pantomime begins with the 16th century Italian tradition of Commedia dell’arte “ comedy of t...