“Heigh ho! sing heigh ho! unto the green holly:
Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then, heigh ho, the holly!
This life is most jolly.”
– William Shakespeare, As You Like It
Decorating one’s house with natural boughs has been a Christmas tradition since Celtic times. Boughs of holly with their bright red berries were especially coveted. (Read Mythology and the Folklore of Holly.) One understands how easily people in rural areas could obtain these bright green leaves, but what about those who lived in London? This image of a holly cart pulled by a donkey provides a solution.
Note that the customer purchases a small amount of boughs. Christmas decorations in the 19th century were modest to none compared to ours. In this 18th-century print of a coffee house or chocolate shop, one can see small leaves of holly placed in each window pane and a bough hanging from the center of the ceiling. (One cannot imagine that mistletoe would be hung in a public setting.)
Bowles and Carver print, London. Circa 1775
In this image of a lavish family dinner by Cruikshank, not a single bough of holly decorates the room. Most likely a wreath had been hung on the front door or some boughs had been hung from the ceiling. With holly hard to obtain in metropolitan areas, one imagines that the spare use of decorations was as much from necessity as from tradition.
Image: Art.com
This image by Cruikshank of a family celebrating Christmas during early Victorian times shows a few boughs inserted into the chandelier, a roaring fire, and the Christmas pudding about to be served to the hostess. This year, I have taken the Regency approach to decorating my house, emphasizing the season with just a few well placed decorations. And I love it.
Other Christmas Posts on this blog:
Jane Austen's World 
A classic case of ‘less is more.’ Sounds very enticing – the idea of just having a few boughs of holly around.
Grace x
Definitely – better to have a few classic/stylish pieces rather than plenty of tack. Are you putting up holly yourself, in 19th Century style?
Very little holly, a few strings of lights on my mantle, and two beautifully carved angels. Voila! Done.
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While not necessarily minimizing the decorations, I too am going for a more historical, authentic approach to the holidays this year—mostly in the realm of food and drink. Real plum pudding (no plums in there actually; who knew!) and the Smoking Bishop punch straight out of Dickens (whew! talk about holiday cheer!) have become our new Christmas traditions. Have a great season, all!
This makes me feel a little better about not having time to ‘finish’ decorating this year. I’ll just be celebrating like a 19th century woman.
I now have a cat–my first, and Lucy has played a role in determining what decorations I put out. She has already unraveled the garland and removed the ornaments from the bottom third of the tree. Next year, I shall have a grandson doing the same thing.
Happy Holidays, Vic, and thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.
Not being able to get at my Christmas decorations, in the loft, will see me probably bringing home some holly and ivy to decorate the place with.
As I’m making a muslin roundgown, and a Recency corded bonnet at the moment, I think it will be quite appropriate.
I just noticed, on re-reading bits of Parson Woodforde’s diary, that he calls holly ‘Hulver-boughs’. A local dialect I assume–I found it confusing and then, interesting. Merry Christmas, Vic!
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