Jane Austen's Christmas The Festive Season in Georgian England

Essential reading for anyone interested in this period, or simply curious as to how Christmas was celebrated in the past, this is a wonderful piece of indulgent nostalgia.

Christmas comes up time and time again in Jane Austen’s books, from childish chaos in Persuasion to fraught festivities in Northanger Abbey. Join Christmas historian Maria Hubert on a delightful meander through Georgian Christmases both fact and fiction. Eavesdrop on Austen family letters, immerse yourself in prose, drama and poetry from Jane and her contemporaries, or use the recipes to cook exemplary vegetables for your own Regency Christmas – Jane Austen’s Christmas is essential reading for an Austenite’s long winter nights

Contents

Introduction 9

Christmas at Mansfield Park 15
Jane Austen

Cousin Eliza’s Christmas Gaieties 19
Letter from Eliza, Comtesse de Feuillide

A Pianoforte for Christmas 23
Letter from Mrs Austen

Unfashionably Prudish 25
A Mystery for Christmas

A St Nicholas Verse 33
Jane Austen

Britannia’s Housewives Blithe 34
Romaine Joseph Thorne

Charades for Christmas 36

Lady Susan Spoils Christmas 41
Jane Austen

Some Georgian Christmas Recipes 45

A Poem for Christmas Day 1795 49
Robert Southey

Dances and Charities 50
Letter from Jane Austen

Muslin for a New Gown 53

Thankfulness and Sauce 56
Revd William Holland

The Festive Board 57

The Turkey Stage 61
Peter Parley

The Invalids’ Christmas 62
Revd William Holland

Georgian Christmas Puddings 64

A Parlour Theatrical 68
Jane Austen

The Cold in this Country is Intense … 72
Robert Southey

Bullet Pudding and Messy Games 75
Letters from Fanny Austen

The Parson at Work and Play 79
Revd William Holland

Gaieties and Masques
at Godmersham Park, 1806 84
Letter from Fanny Austen

The Religion of Plumcake 87
Robert Southey

A Christmas Baby 89
Letter from Charles Austen

Mistletoe: A Charade in Three Acts 91

Strong Beer and a Parcel from London 96
Revd William Holland

Christmas at Godmersham Park, 1808–09 98
Letters from Fanny Austen

from The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon 100
Washington Irving

Winter Balls and Festive Soups 109

More Balls and Fashions 112
Letters from Jane Austen

The Mistletoe Bough 115
Thomas Bayly

Christmas at Godmersham Park, 1811–12 117
Letter from Fanny Austen

Emma’s Christmas Presents 120

Christmas at Tredegar House 123

Twelfth Night Festivities 126

Emma’s Christmas 129

Parson Holland’s Last Christmas 138
Revd William Holland

Two adapted Georgian recipes 140

Christmas at Uppercross 147
Jane Austen

The Musgroves’ Christmas 150
Jane Austen

In Olden Times 152
Sir Walter Scott

A Literary Christmas Dinner 156
Benjamin Robert Haydon

Oh Noisesome Bells! 160
Revd Robert Skinner

New Year Wishes from a Good Aunt 161
Letter from Jane Austen

December 163
John Clare

Christmas Goes out in Fine Style 168
James Henry Leigh Hunt

Christmas with Mr Darcy 170
Jane Austen

Acknowledgements 174
Answers to Charades