FROM THE ARCHIVES: HALLOWED AND ELEVATED:

Washington Irving's English Christmas: An American essayist penned one of the best descriptions of the 19th-century British Christmas traditions, and in so doing helped restore many of these then-dying customs on both sides of the Atlantic. (James Munson, 12/25/04, British Heritage)

In 1822 Washington Irving left England. His writing and his diplomatic career took him to France, Germany, and Spain. Finally, in 1832 he returned to America where he settled at Tarrytown in New York State, the scene of his The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. But of all his many other stories and essays, those concerning Christmas and the celebrations associated with it retain an immediacy that none of the others possess. Why do these sketches of Christmas long past still speak so directly to us? Washington Irving himself gave the answer: "There is a tone of sacred feeling that blends with our conviviality, and lifts the spirit to a state of hallowed and elevated enjoyment."

[originally posted: 2004-12-25]

Posted by oj at December 24, 2011 12:00 AM
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