Christmas customs on British postage stamps

Press, 26 December 1986, Page 10

Christmas customs on British postage stamps

A set of stamps, featuring traditional British Christmas customs and legends. The 13p value shows one of the oldest Christmas legends — the Glastonbury Thorn. Tradition says that Joseph of Arimathea came to preach the gospel in Britain and at the end of his wanderings at Glastonbury, a thorn bush grew, flowering twice a year — on Christmas Eve to herald Christ's birth and also during spring. Grafts from the original thorn are said to; be growing in Glastonbury! today. The 18p marks the early Christmas morning carol service which flourished throughout most of Wales well into Victorian times and is named in the Welsh; language “Plygain.” It was held between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. and was remarkable for the special candles carried by the congregation as a symbol of the coming of the Light of the World.

The Hebrides Tribute is featured on the 22p. The origins of the ceremony are vague: folklore of the West-' ern Isles held that Christ! commanded Peter to row. 707 strokes before catching a miraculous fish. On Christmas Day, young fishermen of Uist would row the same number of strokes and distribute fish to the poor. The 31p depicts the Dewsbury Church Knell, the ringing of the tenor bell of the parish church on Christmas Eve — one 1 chime for each year since Christ’s birth — a custom which has survived intact since the 13th century. The 34p shows the Enthroning of the Boy Bishop — a custom over 1000 years old in which choirboys are elected for the role of mock

Bishop which they play from St Nicholas’ Day until December 28, when a real Bishop intervenes. The custom still prevails in many parts of Britain. The 41mm x 30mm stamps were designed by a British freelance artist, Lynda Gray, and printed in Photogravure by Harrison and Sons Limited.