December 24th 2015

Christmas Eve. What does it signify? Different things to different folks, I expect. Has anybody ever decided whether Baby Jesus was born at night or some other part of the Day? I have no idea. However the Christmas Carol refers to "Silent Night, Holy Night". No mention of the day.

Worldwide, varying cultural traditions and experiences are associated with Christmas Eve, including the gathering of family and friends, the singing of Christmas carols, the illumination and enjoyment of Christmas lights, trees, and other decorations, the wrapping, exchange and opening of gifts, the over-imbibing of strong drink and general preparation for Christmas Day. Legendary Christmas gift-bearing figures including Santa Claus, Father Christmas and Saint Nicholas are also regarded as departing for their annual journey to deliver presents to children around the world on Christmas Eve. But this is only if they’ve been good all year round.

Why do so many people worldwide regard Christmas Eve as special? Who knows? People come back to their homes and homelands in numbers unparalled at any other time of the year. People who never go to Mass attend ‘Midnight Mass’. In fact so many reverent mass-goers used to turn up blind drunk that the starting time has been brought forward to nine o’clock in recent years. The best example of hard men observing the Christmas spirit occurred in 1914 during the First World War.

In 1914, mainly by accident, there was an unofficial Christmas truce, between British and German troops. The truce began on Christmas Eve, when German troops began decorating the area around their trenches in the region of Ypres, Belgium, for Christmas. They began by lighting candles on top of their trenches, then started singing Christmas carols, in particular, "Silent Night" (Stille Nacht). The explanation for why the Carol was sung by both the Germans and the English troops was the fact that the lyrics were written by an Austrian, Joseph Mohr in 1818, almost 100 years before, and had been translated into 150 languages.

The story goes that the two opposing armies tried to out sing one another. At some stage individual Christmas greetings were exchanged and then this became widespread. The next step was an invitation from both sides to cross over   "No man's land" when token gifts were exchanged. The truce also permitted both sides to recover the bodies of slain soldiers. It is claimed that in the case of some burials soldiers from both sides mourned the dead together and paid their respects. At one funeral soldiers from both sides gathered and read a passage from the Bible. The truce occurred in spite of opposition at higher levels of the military command. The commanding officer of the British was concerned less his troops might lose some of their ‘offensive spirit’.

The next day, Christmas Day, there was an apparent unwillingness among the common troops to start the killing again. In the words of one historian, Gerard DeGroot, “in many places, delightful chaos reigned”. After the war hundreds of soldiers retold the story of meeting their enemies, shaking hands, drinking swapped beer, receiving gifts. “We were with them about an hour and everybody was bursting laughing,” wrote one private. One Englishman by coincidence met a German barber, who provided a shave and haircut. “What a sight; little groups of Germans and British extending along the length of our front,” wrote Corporal John Ferguson of the Seaforth Highlanders. “We were laughing and chatting to men whom only a few hours before we were trying to kill.”

Seeming camaraderie led inevitably to football. Men who could not otherwise communicate shared a common language in the game. A ball appeared from somewhere and was kicked from the German side to the British. The ball was kicked back with interest and the inevitable challenge was laid down. Th FA rules weren’t exactly observed and it was something like 50aside. The Germans always claimed to have won the principal match by 3 goals to 2, and predictably the Brits claimed victory by the same margin. At any event what happened is remembered by a great many people despite the myths and mythologies.

My oldest memory of Christmas Eve when I was maybe four years old. We had been consigned to bed early because of the arrival of Santy Claus as we called him. We slept with both eyes tightly closed and eventually the door opened. We didn’t dare look. After an eternity the door closed quietly again and after an agreed signal we sneaked out of bed, switched on the naked bulb and checked our stockings which were hanging on horse nails on the back of the bedroom door. I got three glass marbles, a thin bar of Cadbury’s plain chocolate and an orange. I had never seen an orange before and thought it was a strange, small football.

I don’t recall much about Christmas Eve after that particular night but that one still is as plain as the Cadbury’s chocolate.

So what is it that makes Christmas Eve special? Different things to different people. Perhaps it has less to do with religion and more to do with cherished memories. Whatever the reason people of the most cynical disposition seem to look forward to, and enjoy, this particular day. Stuffing the bronze turkey with mother, the ould man flushed with good cheer, the expectation of not knowing what, the Christmas Tree with baubles and lights, Christmas Carols on the radio from radio 1 in Athlone, the few extra bob from relations in New York, ‘Jingle Bells’ and ‘White Christmas’. As Paddy Kavanagh wrote;

“Cassiopeia was over Cassidy’s hanging hill,

I looked and three whin bushes rode across the horizon –

the Three Wise Kings”.