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We haven’t visited Judge Willis’ Port Phillip for a while.  Now that Christmas is here, let’s read an article about Christmas that was published in the Port Phillip Patriot of 1841, Judge Willis’ first year in the Port Phillip District.

CHRISTMAS IN AUSTRALIA  (Author not identified)

…Hitherto…no one has attempted to give us a sketch of an “Australian Christmas”. This festive season, in our country, has not yet been described, and in order to make up for a deficiency so glaring, I shall endeavour to convey to the reader unacquainted with our genial clime, an idea of the twenty-fifth of December in this portion of the Southern hemisphere…

…The inhabitants of this colony have adopted a great many of those customs of their ancestors and the Australians look forward to the arrival of Christmas with the same degree of fondness and veneration as a Briton. Variations in the mode of living and a difference of soil and climate may cause this season to be celebrated with less precision and minuteness here than in England. We certainly have not the same associations [?] of antiquity to instigate us, and fill us with any degree of enthusiastic ardour, yet our love of Christmas is by no means of an ordinary description…

The author then indulges in some reminiscences of Christmas back ‘home’ before remembering that it’s Christmas in Australia that he’s writing about.

During the week immediately preceding the twenty-fifth of December, every family in the whole colony appears to be thrown into a state of bustle and activity. The farmer hurries to the metropolis with his eggs, his poultry, and the produce of his lands, and purchases an ample supply of Christmas dainties for the due celebration of the approaching holiday. Raisins, currants, wines, spirits, and a large variety of other niceties, which it would be impossible for me to enumerate, are obtained by the active housewife to adorn and set off the Christmas dinner. Every one is employed in providing for the eventful day, and the ordinary avocations of society seem to be almost forgotten.

I was particularly interested in some of the comments below, most particularly the mention of Aborigines  bearing Christmas Bush.  In his book Aboriginal Victorians, Richard Broome reminds us that early Melbourne (c. 1835- approx 1841) was an Aboriginal town, with the visible presence of Aboriginal people quite a common sight.  (See Section III p. 15 of Broome’s book, available through Google preview here). Although Superintendant La Trobe issued orders in September 1840 that ‘no Aboriginal blacks of the District are to visit the township of Melbourne under any pretext whatever’, this directive was impossible to enforce.   I wonder if there was some sort of exchange going on here, with the aborigines  collecting the Christmas bush and bringing it into town, knowing that it was prized by the settlers for decorating their houses?  Were the aborigines ‘in crowds’ or were they wandering through the crowds of settlers, I wonder?

Christmas-eve at length arrives, and the scene which it presents both in town and country is of a very peculiar and pleasing description. The aborigines themselves seem influenced by the day, and may be seen in crowds strolling through the town, bearing “Christmas bushes” for the purpose of adorning the houses.

I must admit that I’m not familiar with Christmas Bush, and the writer mentions that it is no longer common around Melbourne.  I assume that he’s referring to Ceratopetalum gummiferum, but I note that it now only seems to be found in New South Wales.

[These “Christmas bushes” are plucked from a beautiful tree which is now becoming very scarce in the vicinity of our towns. This tree usually attains the height of about twenty feet, and when in full bloom has a very picturesque appearance. The bark is smooth and frequently mottled, the leaves vary from two to three inches in length, are rather narrow, and terminate in a point, have the edge indented like a saw, and are of a glossy dark-green colour. The flowers are of the cruciform species, similar in shape to a cabbage blossom, and when in full vigour are of a fine red colour. Indeed, I think the whole vegetable kingdom could scarcely furnish a more appropriate shrub than this for the purpose of adorning our houses on Christmas Day.]

Here in Melbourne the weather on Christmas Day  tends to be highly variable.  I remember hot Christmas Days, but I also remember huge hail storms and some pretty ordinary weather.  Nonetheless, it was the novelty of a hot Christmas that impresses our author.

… In Australia the difference of climate causes the scene to bear a different and less animating aspect. Instead of the cool breezes and snow storms of an English winter, the sultry winds of summer and the scorching rays of an almost vertical sun, effectually put a stop to all sorts of amusement. In the towns, clouds of dust occasionally darken the atmosphere and render the weather peculiarly disagreeable. Under these circumstances every one is constrained to rest quietly within his doors, and wait patiently until the approach of night may in some degree moderate the oppressive blast. Even then there is a warmth in the air- a calm, sultry heat, which renders it totally impossible for any one to arouse himself to exertion. Instead of blazing fires glowing in the hearth, every fire-place is ornamented with evergreens; and instead of sitting opposite the burning ‘yule clog’ the peasant seats himself quietly in the open air on the outside of his humble cottage.

Well, this little ‘peasant’ here in 2014 won’t be sitting quietly in the open air outside my humble cottage.  She will, however, be relaxing on Christmas night after lunch with her family.  Happy Christmas readers – or whatever salutation you prefer.

Well, it’s the end of the year and time for toting up my reads for The Australian Women Writers Challenge again.  I had intended to read more histories written by women, and I’m rather disappointed to see that I hadn’t really read as much as I thought I had.  I do, however, have an excuse as this thesis really does need to be written.  In fact, the high number of fiction books gives a hint as to why it hasn’t been finished this year as planned.

Here they are, then:

FICTION

The Golden Age by Joan London

When It Rains by Maggie Mackellar

The Kayles of Bushy Lodge by Vera G. Dwyer

All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld

After the Fire, A Small Still Voice by Evie Wyld

Letter to George Clooney by Debra Adelaide

NON-FICTION  (Memoirs, biographies, non-fiction)

Velocity by Mandy Sayer

The Tainted Trial of Farah Jama Julie Szego

Boy, Lost by Kristina Olsson

Night Games Anna Krein

Housewife Superstar Danielle Wood

The Ghost at the Wedding Shirley Walker

Mrs Cook: the Real and Imagined Life of the Captain’s Wife Marele Day

Madness by Kate Richards

HISTORY

Shattered Anzacs Marina Larsson

What’s Wrong with ANZAC?  Marilyn Lake and Henry Reynolds

The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka Clare Wright

Broken Nation Joan Beaumont

And my favourites?  The Golden Age for fiction; a dead heat between Boy, Lost and Madness for non-fiction and Shattered Anzacs for history.

Posted to Australian Women Writers Challenge 2014

I don’t normally get my history from the New Scientist, but there was an interesting article in the 6 September 2014 issue called “Imagine there’s no countries…” written by Debora MacKenzie.  Her article incorporated some historical approaches (Benedict Anderson etc) but also highlighted findings from the social sciences related to nationhood.  For example, here’s some rather disjointed observations from the article that attracted my attention:

Robert Dunbar of Oxford University has found that one individual can keep track of social interactions linking no more than about 150 people. He came up with this figure through studies of villages and army units throughout history and the average tally of Facebook friends (!!).  Society transcended that number by the invention of hierarchy, which meant that leaders could coordinate large groups without anyone having to keep personal track of more than 150 people.

Peter Turchin of the University of Connecticut notes that Eurasion empires grew largest where fighting was fiercest, suggesting that war was a major factor in political enlargement.  Picking up on the idea that hierarchy facilitated larger groups than the 150 figure, Turchin suggests that in addition to their immediate circle, an individual interacted with one person from a higher level in the hierarchy, and typically eight people from lower levels.

These hierarchies, of course, are not nation states.  A number of historians have concluded that states define nations, not the other way round.  For example, in France in 1789, half its residents did not speak French; while in Italy in 1860 at reunification, only 2.5% only spoke standard Italian.

When nation-states fail, they break down into civil war.  Civil wars are often blamed on ethnic or sectarian tensions, but there are other nation-states that combine multiple ethnicities and religions.  What makes the difference, the article suggests, is bureaucracy.  An interesting thought, especially given the rage that conservatives, in particular, direct towards ‘red tape’.  While we might complain about lengthy processes, queues etc. a return to  the alternative of patronage, bribery and ‘who you know’  being the basis of service provision  is pretty unappealing.

Four years ago today.

Mum was an airhostess with TAA before she married.