Boxing Day

Happy Boxing Day!

"If they can make penicillin out of moldy bread, they can sure make something out of you." -- Muhammad Ali

It's December 26^th, happy Boxing Day! Despite its name, Boxing Day has nothing to do with floating like a butterfly or stinging like a bee. It's not a day honouring people with special last names like Foreman, Holyfield, De La Hoya and Ali.

Boxing Day is celebrated in Canada, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand and in most regions originally settled by the English, with the United States being the major exception.

In England, it is a public holiday marked with soccer games and a traditional meal of roast lamb or beef. Around the world, it is another day off, another reason to gather with family and friends during the holiday season and a good time to start planning New Year’s resolutions.

The origins of the holiday are obscure, but it is likely that Boxing Day began in England during the Middle Ages.

It was customary for the English aristocracy to box-up leftovers and used goods for the poor and present gifts to servants and others like the gardener, butcher and lamplighter. Servants were required to work on Christmas Day, but took the following day off. As servants prepared to leave to visit their families, their employers would present them with gift boxes.

It’s also considered that this was the day the churches would open the alms boxes and distribute their contents to the poor and needy.

December 26^th is also the Feast of Stephen or Saint Stephen’s Day. Stephen was the first Christian martyr stoned to death after the Crucifixion. In Ireland, the day is widely celebrated but festivities have little to do with the Saint.

The Irish refer to it as the day for Hunting the Wren. Groups of young boys hunt a wren then tie the dead bird to the top of a pole decorated with ribbons and holly. Then they travel house to house with blackened faces singing for coins, gifts or food. People who give money receive a feather from the wren as thanks. All the money is then pooled and used to host a dance for the village.

Nobody really knows for sure how this tradition came about. One legend tells of a wren alerting enemies on Saint Stephen's whereabouts. Another tells of a wren eating breadcrumbs one night on a drum in a Viking camp during the 700's. This woke the drummer who sounded the alarm thwarting a surprise attack by Irish soldiers.

Across Canada today, Boxing Day has become a day where shoppers find the best deals of the whole year. In some provinces, shops are closed on the 26^th with the Boxing Day sales taking place on the 27^th.

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Giv'er Atlantic Canada!