FEATURE
Is it time to put the tree up yet? The humble Christmas tree has become one of the mainstays of preparations for the festive season. Choosing a tree of the right height and girth – not too thin, not too wide, but with an appropriately proportioned triangularity and a suitable arrangement of branches – can be a delightful, much-anticipated, family outing that everybody in your household looks forward to embracing as part of the Christmas routine. However if you find your Christmas ‘to do’ list only seems to be increasing amidst an ever-dwindling amount of free time, then tree purchasing can become an onerous but essential chore, clouded by anxiety that all the trees with the best vital statistics will already have been snapped up as a result of your purchasing negligence - or even the unthinkable, that there won’t be any trees left at all which is nearly on a par with forgetting to buy the turkey. For some people the subsequent decoration is a traditional pleasure as you unearth treasured ornaments, reviving fond memories of previous years. Or maybe it’s a struggle even to locate the decorations
– you know you put them in a safe and logical place last year but just can’t remember where that might have been. However, when you stand back and survey the finished product in all its bedecked glory, and switch on the lights for the first time, it never ceases to enthral – unless of course there is that one rogue bulb that refuses to cooperate. So what made us start bringing parts of the forest landscape into our homes? The ancient Egyptians, the Romans, the Celts and the Vikings all used greenery of some description to decorate their dwellings and places of worship for special occasions. While later on, pagans in northern Europe marked the winter solstice with a celebration known as Yule, when it was customary for a very large log to be brought into the house and gradually burnt over several days. A popular theory is that the Christmas tree evolved from the ‘paradise tree’ which was a key element of mystery plays performed outside in the Middle Ages on Christmas Eve to celebrate Adam and Eve, by enacting the creation story - the paradise tree was
Auction Programme A U C T I O N E E R S
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VA L U E R S
Ever After at Lower Grenofen: design by Amanda Randell Cox; Clare Kinchin Photography
Silver, Gold, Jewellery & Watches December 8th Antiques & Art December 15th
1 Belliver Way, Roborough, Plymouth, PL6 7BP
Now accepting entries for our February sale Toys model railways, militaria, cameras, coins, stamps & medals
enquiries@eldreds.net
www.eldreds.net (01752) 721199
Diamond Earrings £1,000-1,500
The Abbey Still House Tavistock Winstanley’s Lighthouse £300-500
Please telephone or email to arrange valuations for Auction, Probate or Insurance
See our community website www.dartmoorlinks.co.uk
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