Pwy sy'n dwad dros y bryn.......
.... yn ddistaw, ddistaw bach? A'i farf yn llaes a'i wallt yn wyn, a rhywbeth yn ei sach....
Awwww, a classic Welsh nursery rhyme that will hopefully bring back happy memories of Christmases in Wales for many of our blog readers! It's all about the fabulous and hard working Father Christmas, sneaking through the village with his hoard of toys.
Good moustache Santa!
Image by juliaf on sxc.hu
As the countdown to Christmas reaches the final, chaotic week, we got to wondering here at the Oakeley Arms just where did our favourite festive character come from? And who is he?
We can trace the origins of Father Christmas as far back as the 17th century (yes, he really is that old, no wonder his hair is white!) when Christmas carols started to depict the idea of Christmas as a jolly old man. He was associated with the eating and drinking feasts of the festive season, but sometime during the Victorian Era he began to take on the characteristics of St Nicholas - who traditionally gave gifts to children at Christmas.
It wasn't until the late nineteenth century however that Father Christmas started to appear as the figure we know and love today - an older, jolly chap with white hair and a beard and dressed in a cosy red suit. He has loads of different names - Santa Claus is the name Americans use; he is Papa Noel in Spain, Pere Noel in France and Babbo Natale in Italy.
But, however we know him, one thing's for sure, is that no Christmas is complete without him. So, we hope that all our lovely blog readers have been very good boys and girls this year (Father Christmas keeps a list of wrongs you know.... I hope he's got enough paper!) so that the good old man brings lots of goodies.
As you know, Father Christmas will be pretty busy this week in the run up to Christmas. He's finishing all his packing, getting his reindeer ready and polishing his sleigh ready for his mammoth journey across the world on Christmas Eve.
You can track Father Christmas's journey on this fabulous website here http://www.noradsanta.org/en/; check back on Christmas Eve to find out exactly where he is, and where he's going next - it's nearly your turn!
image by barrym67 on sxc.hu
No comments:
Post a Comment