Although the Christmas tradition of adornment with floral decorations has been traced back to the Roman festivities of Kalends, the Christmas Tree has more modern German origins. Records indicate that Christmas trees were sold in Alsace in 1531; in 1605 a German citizen wrote; 'At Christmas, they set up fir trees in the parlours...and hang thereon roses cut out of many-colored paper.' Folklore has long associated Martin Luther as an early champion of the Christmas tree-crediting him (probably erroneously) with inventing the practice of lighting tress with candles. The British love of Christmas trees is usually linked to Prince Albert who, in the 1840's, did much to make the tree part of the British Christmas. Records indicate, however that Queen Charlotte had a Christmas tree in Windsor as early as 1800. The most famous Christmas tree in Britain is that which stands in London's Trafalgar Square. Presented by the people of Norway each year since 1947, the tree is a symbolic gift of thanks for the role Britain played during the Second World War, and the sanctuary King Haakon VII was given in 1940.
Festive Rosemary- rosemary (Rosmarinus officianalis) was a popular Christmas decoration in the 19th century. St Thomas More said of it: "Tis the herb sacred to remembrance and therefore to friendship." The choirboys of Ripon carried it on Christmas morning as a sign of redemption. A number of legends link rosemary with Christmas: it is said that the herb's purple hue derives from the robes of the Virgin Mary; that its aroma comes from the swaddling clothes of Christ; that the plant will never grow taller than Christ; and that if a rosemary bush lives longer that Christ's 33 years, it will branch outwards not upwards. Because of these associations with Mary, it is said that rosemary grows best 'where the mistress is master'.
-Schott's Almanac
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