auctions , Blogroll , Current Affairs , druids , Mistletoe , Mistletoe Day , Religion , Science , social history , Tenbury Wells

Tenbury Mistletoe Festival 2022

by: Jonathan BriggsPosted on:

It’s back! The Tenbury Wells Mistletoe Festival returns again this year, having missed a couple of years due to the pandemic. Founded back in 2004 (by the five members – I was one of them – of the original Tenbury English Mistletoe Enterprise) it focuses on the first Saturday in December – the official Mistletoe Day (so 3rd December this year). There are also, of course, the town’s mistletoe auctions, which are on 22nd and […]

druids , Media , Mistletoe , social history

Dodgy Mistletoe Spin-offs 1957: Tony Hancock, sub-Druid 476

by: Jonathan BriggsPosted on:

Ok, this isn’t a 2021 mistletoe spin-off, it’s a January 1957 one, but re-broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra yesterday (8th December 2021). In this episode of Hancock’s Half Hour, the thirteenth in the fourth series, the lad himself (Tony H) is spooked by the unlucky number 13 (he is triskaidekaphobic) and takes to his bed, refusing to take part. He explains he’s from a suspicious part of the world (Birmingham!) and is afraid ‘the […]

Current Affairs , druids , Mistletoe , social history

Hanging the Mistletoe, by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

by: Jonathan BriggsPosted on:

By the mid-nineteenth century hanging mistletoe at Christmas was all the rage, featuring regularly in accounts of celebrations, particularly newspapers and magazine, often with pictures.  And of course there were paintings too, some by very famous painters – a favourite of mine is Bringing in the Mistletoe, a druid-themed painting by Edward Atkinson Hornel.  But that’s not the one I’m featuring today! Most were of a much more domestic scenario than Hornel’s picture, and one […]

berries , Current Affairs , druids , Food and Drink , Gardening , Media , Mistletoe , Orchard , social history

Mistletoe and Orchards on ITV today

by: Jonathan BriggsPosted on:

Plenty of mistletoe mentions on ITV this morning – all within the 2 hour show Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh (on ITV Hub here).  Helped along a bit by Sir Cliff ‘Mistletoe and Wine‘ Richard being the main guest. Christmas swag-making featured about 30 minutes in – with plenty of mistletoe incorporated into a very long decoration.  Some good mentions of how sticky the berries are, and their need for light when germinating, but […]

Current Affairs , Doctor Who , druids , Mistletoe , Science , social history

Whovian mistletoe from 1978

by: Jonathan BriggsPosted on:

A little light relief from current affairs – for Doctor Who fans anyway. I’ve commented before on mistletoe having bit parts in Doctor Who – notably protecting Queen Victoria (and David Tennant’s Doctor) from a Werewolf in a 2006 episode.  And also mistletoe featuring, unremarked but possibly significantly, outside a portal in a 2017 episode with Peter Capaldi’s Doctor (I met Mr C briefly this year. Nice man, he said ‘hello’). Now, via the magic […]

Blogroll , Current Affairs , Doctor Who , druids , Religion , Science , social history

Whovian mistletoe, again

by: Jonathan BriggsPosted on:

It’s August! Time to spot the six scarce, under-recorded in the UK, mistletoe insects! Which I discussed at a Biodiversity Workshop in Glastonbury a couple of weeks ago. But no, not yet. It’s August, the silly season for news. So here’s some silly news instead. Last night I watched the finale of the current Doctor Who series… and there was mistletoe in it! Understated, unremarked-on, but definitely there and used almost-certainly-deliberately (in my view) in […]