‘A
Dickens Christmas’ by Tony May
In
the midst of the current recession, most of us are struggling a bit financially
these days. Thus, no matter how
much of the spirit of ‘old saint nick’ resides in us, to hear the word
Christmas being banded about again ‘so soon’ is unlikely to make us feel jolly.
Christmas
has become so commercialized these days, the religious aspect of the festive
season hardly gets a mention now and as a whole, the secret to enjoying a true ‘family
Christmas’ has been lost. As far as giving and receiving presents goes, the
traditional motto of “it’s the thought that counts” has, thanks to the birth of
television and the rise of the media, been replaced in the public consciousness
as “it’s how much that it costs”.
So,
what is at the heart of the problem?
My
Nan (who is 99) has often told me of the fun her family used to get up to when
she was young enjoying Christmas dinner together at the table, singing carols
around the piano and playing ‘parlour games’. The funniest game of all was when
her father, Maurice, who had a devilish sense of humour, would ‘do something’
or ‘make a motion’ that everyone had to mimic exactly. Should anyone get even
the slightest thing wrong they would have to pay a forfeit and Nan, recalls
with a smile, how one Christmas she had to stand on the top step in front of
their house and sing ‘God save the King’ at the top of her voice. Great fun
indeed - not a mobile phone, games consul or television in sight.
The
simple truth is that today we all have too much. How many times can you think
of for example where you have become exasperated because you cannot think of
what to buy someone? Most people have hundreds of books, compact discs and DVD’s
gathering dust on shelves in their living room already while bigger items are
so expensive you just cannot afford to buy them. Every year it gets more
difficult, stressful and likely to give us a headache, a lot of us turn into
Ebenezer Scrooge and spend most of November and December announcing to the
world how much we hate Christmas.
But
it doesn’t have to be that way and frankly, it shouldn’t.
Imagine
yourself back in the days of Charles Dickens for a moment. We must all have
seen at least one film adaptation of Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’. Can anyone honestly tell me they were
unmoved by the scene near the end where Bob Cratchit takes home a large Turkey
to feed poor Tiny Tim and the rest of his family? Remember, also, the joy on
the little boy’s face when he finds a big juicy round orange in his Christmas
stocking.
Yes
folks, an Orange. Not a brand new Playstation game or consul, not an ipod nor a
pair of designer trainers, a humble orange. I am also willing to bet that he spent far more time gazing
at his beloved gift and thinking how lucky he was to have it than any of our
kids do today. As the saying goes, less is more, sometimes, and it would do all
of us good to remember that these days.
Interestingly,
Charles Dickens himself made a few visits to Hastings during his lifetime. He
had a sister who lived in a house named ‘The Briars’ here and on the 8th
of November 1861, at The Music Hall he read extracts from ‘A Christmas Carol’
and ‘The Trial From Pickwick’ as part of a public reading tour.
The
Music Hall was situated where ‘Yates’s’ is today (opposite Debenhams) and also
had an entrance in Havelock Road. According to the Hastings & St Leonards
News of the day, the reading was a huge success and a great many people without
tickets had to be turned away. Dickens was apparently a very talented
performer. Earlier in life, he’d had some experience as an amateur on ‘the
boards’ and this it seems served him well. Aided by some stage accessories, he
performed magnificently changing his voice and facial expressions skillfully to
produce many an emotional response from his audience.
A
lot of ‘well to do’ people
attended the Hastings reading and afterwards two rows of carriages could be
seen extending half a mile up, what was then Bohemia Road, waiting to pick them
up.
It
was initially hoped that Dickens might make another professional appearance in
Hastings but sadly this never came to pass. His son, also Charles Dickens
(1837-1890), did however visit the town and like his father before him
performed a public reading of his father’s works. This visit took place on the
23rd of February 1889 at The Public Hall (The same venue as his
father had visited) and Dickens junior read extracts from ‘David Copperfield’
and ‘Bob Sawyers Party’.
Before
I finish, I should tackle one of Hastings most common rumours connecting ‘Dickens
Cottage’ in High Street with the great man. In fact, the connection with the
Dickens family is not through Charles Dickens himself but via his youngest son
Sir Henry Dickens (1849-1933) and his wife Lady Dickens. They were friends with
a Miss M Valette who owned the cottage and visited her there occasionally. She
apparently gave her home its name because of the couple’s visits and because
Lady Dickens considered it to be the ideal setting for Dickens’ Christmas book ‘The
Cricket On The Hearth’ published in 1845.
So,
there you go, Hastings has a genuine connection to the spirit of the man who
brought the traditional meaning and values of Christmas so powerfully home to
all of us. Let’s do him and each
other a favour this year then and CHEER UP A BIT! HA HA
Lots
of love to you all this Christmas,
Antony
May 16/09/09
Information
from this article gathered in part from ‘Hastings In Dickens and Dickens In
Hastings’ by Edward G. Preston, Wikkipedia and ‘Hastings And Men Of Letters’ by
Gerald Brodribb.
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