As a tree branch parasite mistletoe is, technically, rootless. But it has other roots, historical roots, from traditions. Those are mostly considered pagan in origin, as indeed is any midwinter celebration of the return of lighter days, using evergreen plants. Fir trees, holly, ivy, yew, mistletoe – all are used as symbols of ongoing life through the winter. The Christian celebration of Christmas coincides, not necessarily by chance, with this older tradition and it utilises […]
Blogroll , Current Affairs , druids , Mistletoe , Religion , social history , Trade
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Du Maurier, Jamaica Inn, and mistletoe
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. […]
Blogroll , Current Affairs , druids , Mistletoe , Mistletoe Day , Religion , social history , Tenbury Wells
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Mistletoe events – Washington DC, Brentor, Devon, Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire
It’s mistletoe-theme time again – lots of stuff with ‘mistletoe’ in the title that’s not, really, got a lot to do with mistletoe. All those ‘Mistletoe Markets’ so popular in the US, all those ‘Mistletoe Murders’ in that US TV series I’ve never actually watched. And not forgetting all those mistletoe-themed products – particularly my favourite bugbear, the ‘mistletoe’ scented candles, which smell of, er, pine (as mistletoe doesn’t have a scent). And all that […]
auctions , berries , Blogroll , Current Affairs , Mistletoe , Mistletoe Day , social history , Tenbury Wells
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Mistletoe Season 2025/6
It’s mistletoe time, yet again. And this year the berries have been ripening particularly early, some whitening up a month ago in October – which is very early indeed, and somewhat disconcerting! But they’re looking good now, many fully translucent and already glowing in the winter sun (when it actually shines). Mistletoe Diary is reporting on various matters this year, but here, to start with, are few of the usual event announcements: Mistletoe Auctions at […]
auctions , Blogroll , Current Affairs , Media , Mistletoe , music , social history , Tenbury Wells
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Mistletoe Songs #1
Following the recent media nonsense speculating that mistletoe traditions are on the wane, I thought about documenting various evidence to the contrary – not least the constant presence of mistletoe in book titles (lots of mistletoe-themed murder mysteries (!) and romances, in equal measure) , TV and film titles/themes (romance again, and, bizarrely, murder mysteries again) and in seasonal songs (romance only, I’ve not spotted any mistletoe murder songs yet). The whole gamut of that […]
auctions , Blogroll , Current Affairs , MistleGO , Mistletoe , social history , surveying mistletoe , Tenbury Wells
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Loadsa mistletoe sales
Yesterday I looked up how many people were selling mistletoe in the UK via Facebook Marketplace – and found that there were dozens and dozens of them. Some selling just a small amount, others with a production line of bundles tied with ribbon and a few advertising whole treefuls of mistletoe to anyone willing to come and gather it. The screen shots above and below show just a small sample. I was a little astonished. […]
auctions , Biodiversity , Blogroll , Current Affairs , druids , Food and Drink , Gardening , Mistletoe , Mistletoe Day , Orchard , Religion , social history , Tenbury Wells
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Mistletoe in Parliament
A recent query (in connection with this) about how we got Parliament’s approval for National Mistletoe Day in 2005, and a subsequent search for the relevant references, got me looking at mistletoe in parliament in general. Does it get mentioned often? And in what sort of context? The answer to ‘how often’ is ‘not very’. But the answer to type of context is ‘very variable’ as a search through Hansard, Parliament’s formal record (and allied […]
berries , birds , Blogroll , Current Affairs , Media , Mistletoe , surveying mistletoe
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Mistletoe morsels 2024
A slow start to Mistletoe Diary his year, too many other things going on. But masses of miscellaneous mistletoe morsels are planned for the next couple of weeks including: – Mistletoe in Parliament – a round-up of mistletoe mentions in the house, whether serious, jokey or filibuster – Mistletoe Song of the Day – a selection from the 1830s to the 2020s. Some good, some bad, some non-PC – Mistletoe as a habitat for an […]
auctions , Blogroll , Current Affairs , Mistletoe , Religion , Science , social history , stupidity , Tenbury Wells
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The silly season is upon us – apparently “wokery” could end mistletoe kisses. What a load of tosh.
There’s a story doing the rounds today that “wokery could put an end to kissing under the mistletoe at Christmas”. The comment is attributed to Nick Champion, the mistletoe auctioneer at Tenbury Wells*. He said, apparently, in the context of mistletoe sales not being as good as they once were, that this was due in part to that fact “workers used to kiss under the mistletoe at Christmas parties, but with all the wokery nowadays […]
auctions , Biodiversity , Blogroll , Current Affairs , druids , Gardening , Media , Science , social history
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Mistletoe Season 2024/25
A belated start to the diary this year! A few snippets of info and dates for now, more soon: Dates This year’s Tenbury Mistletoe Festival (and National Mistletoe Day) will be on Saturday 7th December. Details still to be confirmed, for updates see https://www.tenburymistletoe.org/ One definite fixture is the druid mistletoe ceremony at 3.00pm on the Burgage. This year’s Tenbury Mistletoe Auctions will be on Tuesday 26th November and Tuesday 3rd December at Burford House Garden Centre, Burford, Tenbury […]