Whilst reading Jamaica Inn, Daphne Du Maurier’s tale of smugglers on Cornwall’s Bodmin Moor, recently I was interested to find two references to mistletoe at Christmas, seemingly suggesting that its usage was commonplace at the time and place the novel is set. That time was not precisely stated by Du Maurier but was, according to her opening note about the 1935 book, ‘over a hundred and twenty years ago’. That would make it before 1815.
But that date is well before mistletoe became universally popular at Christmas. As a seasonal phenomenon it only became really successful, and country-wide, several decades later, during the Victorian era’s general ‘standardisation’ of Christmas customs and, importantly, after better transport of fresh goods, mainly by rail. That later transport made mistletoe, an unusual regional product, readily available and reasonably affordable.
Of course there were local mistletoe traditions before that later sweeping popularisation, but these were mostly in areas where mistletoe grew abundantly. But Cornwall (nor adjoining Devon) has never been one of those. Indeed mistletoe is extremely rare in England’s extreme south-western counties. So it seems curious that Mary Yellan, the heroine of Jamaica Inn, who was brought up in Helford (in far western Cornwall, even further way from mistletoe areas) recalls customs from her local church in Helford (whilst speculating about the peculiar Altarnun vicar Francis Davey):
It would be hard to find much mistletoe near Helford, even today. Was Du Maurier, who was usually quite good at historical accuracy, basing this Helford mistletoe custom from sometime before 1815 on fact, or just on assumption?
A few pages further on Mary’s wannabe suitor, Jem Merlyn, brother of Jamaica Inn landlord Joss Merlyn, jokes that:
Jem, brought up on, and still living on, Bodmin Moor itself, is even less likely to ever had access to or have seen (and possibly even heard of) mistletoe. Plus the environment of the moor is a very unlikely place to support mistletoe even it wasn’t in Cornwall. So, again, was Du Maurier working this reference in as a definite custom of the day, or just assuming the custom was known locally then?
I suspect it was just assumption, as neither of the mistletoe references seem likely, to me, for either the period or the locations. But I think we can excuse Daphne, as she wouldn’t know details of when mistletoe traditions became universal. Also she was writing in the 1930s, an era in which, judging by contemporary newspaper coverage and trade reports(see e.g. Mistletoe Diary here, here and here) mistletoe use was immensely popular, almost essential, at Christmas.
There are, though, some who suggest the whole mistletoe kissing custom came from Cornwall, so perhaps Daphne was aware of that belief. That tradition is, frankly, fairly unlikely, seemingly based on a ‘Cornish Kissing Bunch’ – a ball of evergreens hung at Christmas that people kissed under that was the origin, according to its advocates, of the mistletoe kissing tradition. That doesn’t add up though (not least as no-one ever seems to have any reference for this) and seems likely to be based on the general ‘kissing ball’ winter tradition that is fairly widespread in many places Europe-wide. That itself is likely to have evolved from kissing under mistletoe (a custom with many other, mostly more plausible, possible explanations) rather than the other way around.
Going back to Du Maurier I would add that an anomaly for mistletoe pre-1815 in Cornwall is perhaps only apparent to a mistletoe anorak like me. Perhaps anoraks on subjects other than mistletoe might pick out some other anomalies, but that would surely be the case with any historic novel, however well-researched. Certainly Daphne’s geography always seems sound, as it should be for a Cornish resident. I can personally vouch, as a fairly regular traveller across Bodmin Moor, for that geography, knowing how the book locations like Jamaica Inn, Five Lanes, Altarnun and, to the north, Launceston, relate to each other. Though it is disappointing, these days, that today’s dual carriageway A30 road reduces much of the mystery of the moor, unless you’re travelling in mist or driving rain. The large car park and the sea of picnic tables outside Jamaica Inn itself reduce the drama there somewhat too. Though it is haunted, so they say, so maybe there is still drama inside…
What of Du Maurier’s other works and mistletoe? I don’t recall any other mentions and can’t find any on a quick review. Perhaps she intended a deliberate hint of ancient Celtic rites echoing through this particular work. Certainly that vicar (who was, spoiler alert, the chief baddie) was portrayed as having an interest in druidic history. And everyone ‘knows’ (though only one source – the notoriously unreliable Pliny – tells us this) that druids worked with mistletoe and so a druidic angle would, logically, have some mistletoe background too.
The only other mistletoe angle I can add to this is to report that, a few years ago when I was involved in supplying mail-order mistletoe each December, we did supply what we thought was a Du Maurier-linked address in Cornwall for a few years. That may, or may not, suggest a strong mistletoe tradition in the family, but we were never really quite sure who the customer was!
(the opening image, by the way, is the Bronze Age Hurlers Stone Circle at Minions on Bodmin Moor, with a 19th century mine engine house beyond)