The Festive History of St Stephen’s Day / Boxing Day
Hello and Happy Saint Stephen’s Day!
Regular blog readers will know that I’m working on a new book “Words Christmas Gave Us” for release in 2023. As my blog post day this year falls on the 26th of December it feels right to share a draft extract from the book relating to this special day.
{Extract from “Words Christmas Gave Us” by Grace Tierney, copyright 2022}
Boxing Day / Saint Stephen’s Day
This entry will be a contentious one for any Irish reader so let me be clear before the shouting begins. Both these terms relate to the same date, the 26th of December. Boxing Day is the more common term in Britain, while Saint Stephen’s Day is adhered to by most living in Ireland. If you want to provoke a Christmas argument, try using Boxing Day to anybody Irish.
Boxing Day does have a charming history behind it. The term originated in the U.K. and is celebrated in several former British colonies such as Australia and Canada.
Since the Middle Ages, alms boxes were placed in churches to gather donations for the needy. The boxes were opened on Saint Stephen’s Day and the contents distributed, thus making it Boxing Day.
As early as the 1600s (it was was mentioned in Samuel Pepys’ diary) it was customary for tradespeople to request tips for good service throughout the year on the first weekday after Christmas (often Saint Stephen’s Day). Box in this sense referred to a gift, although in some cases the box was a literal box which the tradesperson or apprentice cracked open at the end of the day to count their riches.
The wealthier members of society gave their servants the day off, possibly with a Christmas bonus, and the servants would bring their own boxes (gifts) home to their families.
The association of gifts to tradespeople has continued up to the present day, although perhaps less commonly now. My mother always gave a festive gift to the bin collectors (garbage men in American English) and postman (mailman), for example, and it seems only right to recognise the hard-working delivery people as they work long hours during December.
Who was Saint Stephen though? He was the first martyr of the Christian church, stoned to death for his faith. The 26th of December is his feast day. In art he is usually depicted as a young man carrying a small church building.
[end of extract}
Other Christmas words associated with this day are the Wren Boys, Wenceslas, and pantomine, all explained in the book, but they’re stories for another day.
Until next time, Merry Christmas and happy reading, writing, and wordfooling,
Grace (@Wordfoolery)
