Page 54 of The Christmas Retreat
‘It’s a much smaller event than the winter one. Only the Druid and the two saintly characters lead a torchlit procession up the hill to the bonfire, but he does sprinkle the oak roots and the tomb with wassail then, too. Noel says couples used to jump over the bonfire at the Summer Solstice – for luck, I think – but it was dangerous so they stopped it eventually.’
He halted by a flat stone and put the rucksack on it, then drew out of it a large pair of shears in a leather holster and a hessian sack.
‘Much easier for cutting mistletoe than that scythe,’ he said, suiting the action to the words, and it didn’t take long to fill the sack, for the oaks were covered in the winged, white-berried evergreen.
I’d sat down on the empty rucksack, which cushioned me a bit against the cold stone, and watched him. He was so tall, he could reach up easily to cut the mistletoe.
Then I turned to look at the pool and thought there was a definite magic about this glade and probably even more so in summer, with the sunlight falling through the branches.
It would be a great setting for that watery Mrs Snowboots book I had in mind, and could even inspire a new Hedgehoppers book too. They could sail over this pond, which to them would seem a vast ocean, for new adventures.
Rhys, returning with a sack full of mistletoe, broke into my reverie.
‘That should do it,’ he said, and I got up to give him his rucksack back again, so he could stow the shears inside.
‘Come on, Ginny. Time has flown. I don’t know about you, but I’m starving and don’t want to miss breakfast.’
‘You’re right,’ I said, checking my watch and realizing that, despite the cushioning layer of rucksack, my bottom was quite numb from the cold of the rock I’d been sitting on.
We walked more briskly down towards the pottery once we were out of the woods and I asked him what Cariad would like for Christmas.
‘That’s a kind thought, but you really don’t have to get her anything.’
‘I’d really love to. It would be fun. I’ve never bought a gift for a child before, even if she does sound terribly grown up most of the time!’
‘Well, if you’d really like to, there’s her archaeology interests, of course, but she also likes all kinds of things wizards and dragons, butnotfairies. She thinks those are wet. I expect you could find something in St Melangell. There are lots of shopsthere now because, as well as being a pilgrimage site and still popular with artists, it’s a tourist hotspot in summer.’
‘I might walk there after lunch then, and see. Cariad told me she’d asked you for the complete Harry Potter books.’
‘Yes, I think she’s old enough to take them all in. Some of the later ones are dark, but I’ve never restricted what she reads because I think children take books in on a level they understand, and the rest goes over their heads.’
‘That’s what Evie’s always thought, too,’ I agreed.
‘Nerys is taking Mel and Cariad into Harlech this morning, because they want to buy their Christmas presents. They’ve been saving up their pocket money.’
We skirted the house and made for the garden hall door again. Snookums, who must have returned home much earlier, shot out of the cat flap to greet us and then frisked around our feet while we took off our anoraks.
We could hear the sound of voices in the refectory already so, after dumping the sack of mistletoe in the hall, we went in to breakfast, glowing from the cold.
Arwen
Letter from Arwen Madoc to Milly Vane, Monday 23 June 1919
Dearest Milly,
Here is my hasty description of yesterday’s Summer Solstice ceremony as promised – and very strange and thrilling I found it, too!
It was just as well that Mr Jones had kindly explained the significance of it all to me beforehand, because otherwise I would have been quite confused.
It is held on the longest day of the year and has been celebrated since prehistory to encourage the sun to continue to shine brightly, so ensuring continuing fruitfulness and good harvests. They even light a bonfire to assist it! The ceremony also banishes devils.
Later, strands of Christianity were woven into the remaining pagan rituals, not to mention some elements from English Mumming and Mystery plays, brought in by Prynne ancestors.
Only three characters from history and legend take part in thisprocession, the Arch Druid, St Melangell and St John the Baptist, a strange mixture, you will agree! Christians combined the Summer Solstice with St John’s Day, hence the presence of that saint. Apparently, there are several more even odder characters in the celebration of the Winter Solstice.
After dinner, as the sky slowly turned a dusky, magical blue, people began to gather on the small green in front of the village hall. By the time I joined them there was quite a crowd, for they come not just from Seren Bach, but from St Melangell too. Many had lanterns on long hooked poles, or carried torches.
I joined Lily and Daisy Trimble, and by then was not at all surprised when they pointed out the vicar and Rose standing by the steps ready to take part in this pageant, the vicar as St John the Baptist and Rose as St Melangell, in the very sky-blue robe and mantle embroidered with hares that Effie had borrowed for the portrait! She also had a gold cord tied around her head, which Lily said represented the saint’s halo.
