It’s the height of the pantomime season, but a fairy godmother can stop time, so she’s kindly found the time to respond to some legal problems submitted by her friends… I found this cool old lamp in a cave – can I keep it? Aladdin Ooh, treasure! That’s now defined by the Treasure Act 1996… Read More »
Growing up in Australia meant a very different feel to Christmas. Of course as an Australian you don’t think it is different until you come to live in Oxford and suddenly appreciate how weird it was that we ate roast turkey on days of 34 degrees celsius when really it is a hearty winter dish!… Read More »
The first performance of the Nutcracker ballet, which is now such a Christmas tradition in the US and the UK, took place at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg 122 years and one day ago, on 18 December 1892. So what is the connection between ballet and law? Well, how about intellectual property issues? One… Read More »
Santa, Father Christmas, St Nicholas, whatever the name, the popularity of this figure from our Christmas traditions remains steadfast, but where does Santa live and how did the letter writing tradition begin? When I was a girl, I sat down to write a letter to Father Christmas every year, and then the letter would be… Read More »
As a girl I was lucky enough to enjoy Christmas celebrations in Italy, on visits from Australia to spend time with my nonna and aunties. It was such a contrast to my experience of the sun and sand and heat of the Aussie Christmas! It just seems right to celebrate Christmas with crisp, cold, wintry days, all rugged up and… Read More »
That’s Merry Christmas in Hindi, one of over 300 languages and dialects spoken in India. The principal religions amongst the population are Hinduism and Islam, but India is also home to around 25 million Christians, who celebrate Jesus’ birth with a blend of both Western and traditional regional customs. Many Catholics attend Midnight Mass in… Read More »
“On Christmas night all Christians sing To hear the news the angels bring” The Sussex Carol? The jaunty Sussex Carol is a favourite at the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. A popular folk song all over the British Isles, dating back several hundred years, it is now known as the Sussex Carol simply because Ralph Vaughan… Read More »
What’s more traditional than the sound of dodgy Christmas tunes, the clink of glasses and the whirr of a photocopier. Yes it’s the Christmas office party. A time when colleagues come together to pull a cracker, have a glass of wine and reflect on the year gone by. A time for the company to thank… Read More »
Christmas is generally considered to be a time for families to be together. A lot of Christmas traditions focus on children, particularly when it comes to receiving gifts. In Thailand this tradition is reversed, as children have to give gifts to their elders instead, which some parents in the UK might appreciate! It is also… Read More »
The Tió de Nadal of Catalonia, unlike the bûche de Noël, is not itself edible, yet successfully provides a quick route to a sugar rush … in a rather “fundamental” way! A current version of the tradition (doubtless there are many variations) is to bring your Tió into the house early in Advent, and fondly swathe him in a warm… Read More »
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