December 5, 2012
Stir-up Saturday
This year, for the very first time, I have made my own Christmas cake. I was a little late for the traditional date of Stir-up Sunday and could only manage a Saturday but I did it all the same. The warm, spicy aroma of the boozy fruits brought back memories of the Christmases of my childhood. Every year, my Mum made a Christmas cake (pictured above). I remember the scorched top of the brown paper tied with string that towered above the tin hiding the rich fruit-filled cake. My sister and I would watch as the marzipan layer was applied with apricot jam and then the final coating of snow-white icing.
Last year, while I was watching Downton Abbey on Christmas Day, it set me thinking about what Christmas would have been like for my own ancestors. As they were all poor, there wouldn’t have been glittering decorations, sumptuous gifts and delicious cakes. In fact, on further research, life during the festive period was pretty grim for many of them whether they lived in the city or the countryside. Harsh winter conditions meant that many vulnerable children, and some adults, died of seasonal illnesses such as bronchitis and flu. Many of the families on my tree were separated from their loved ones at Christmas also due to migration both to the city and abroad.
It was surprising how many family events took place at Christmas: there were several baptisms and a few marriages – some reasons to celebrate! My Italian ancestors enjoyed lively and colourful Christmas festivities in their adopted home of Manchester and even the destruction of their church in the Christmas Blitz of 1940 didn’t deter them.
It was an interesting exercise to browse my family history for Christmas events and I gained some insight into how Christmas would have been in the past. This year, when I tuck into my home-made Christmas cake (hopefully!), I will remember to raise a glass to those who went before me.
The full story, The Ghosts of Christmas Past, is available in the Christmas issue of Family Tree magazine
tigersregt said,
December 10, 2012 at 10:59 pm
Great post!
Angela Buckley said,
December 11, 2012 at 11:43 am
Thank you – I’m glad you enjoyed it!
enorthey said,
December 16, 2012 at 9:12 am
Hi Angela,
Cousin Mike France sent me word of your blog and very nce writing too! Something hypnotic and addictive about other people’s lives. And what a rich mixture we all are. Mike told me you were researching Jerome Caminada. I did a play called Telling lives, about people in Prestwich asylum at the turn of the last cenury. A patient there, John McGarrigal, thought himself to be both Jerome Caminada and Jack the Ripper; that must have been hard to bear with those two opposing voices in your head. This is what I made of him. (The typographical layout doesn’t quite work on a blog, but you’ll get the idea I’m sure.Best wishes, Eric Northey.
FROM ONE SIDE OF THE STAGE A FURTIVE MALE FIGURE SIDLES IN WITH RAT-LIKE CAUTION. HE CARRIES A NEWSPAPER. WE CAN SEE THE HEADLINES ARE ABOUT JACK THE RIPPER.
DR PERCEVAL
See that man who has just crept in. That’s John MaGarrigal. He can be very dangerous. You need to keep an eye on him. All the time. He thinks he is both Jack the Ripper and Jerome Caminada, the detective.
LIGHTING CHANGE
JOHN MAGARRIGAL COMES TO CENTRE STAGE, HIS FACE IS MASKED SO THAT IT IS SPLIT EQUALLY DOWN THE MIDDLE – ONE SIDE THE RIPPER, THE OTHER CAMINADA. HE PACES RIGHT OR LEFT DEPENDING ON WHICH PERSONA HE IS.IN THE BACKGROUND, THE OTHER CAST MIMIC HIS WORDS
MUSIC JOHN’S SONG
JOHN MAGARRIGAL (SUNG)
When daylight’s here, I slink away.
The shadows are my place.
I stand against the wall and watch.
Caminada’s on the case.
CHORUS
He stands against the wall to watch
Caminada’s on the case.
I stalk the whores along the streets
of Whitechapel in the night
And seek the human vermin out.
Jack’s got them in his sights.
CHORUS
He seeks the human vermin out
Jack’s got them in his sights.
I sense when Jack’s around and think
I’d recognise his face
The second that I saw it.
Caminada’s on the case.
CHORUS
The second that he saw it,
Caminada’s on the case.
I know you all – Liz, Mary, Kate –
who stand beneath the light
to ply your filthy trade. Beware,
Jack’s got you in his sights.
CHORUS
You ply your filthy trade. Beware
Jack’s got you in his sights.
I’m fast, that’s why I’m so renowned.
I use my steady pace
To seek out the specks of human gore.
Caminada’s on the case.
CHORUS
He seeks out specks of human gore
Caminada’s on the case.
I sneer when papers say I’m cruel.
They’ve got me bang to rights.
You lift your skirts. I disembowel.
Jack’s got you in his sights.
CHORUS
They lift their skirts. He disembowels.
Jack’s got them in his sights.
These whispering voices spin me round,
like faces on a coin,
with Caminada in my brain,
the Ripper at my groin.
CHORUS
He’s got Caminada in his brain,
But the Ripper’s at his groin.
The Ripper’s at his groin!
BLACKOUT
EXIT ALL
FROM ONE SIDE OF THE STAGE A FURTIVE MALE FIGURE SIDLES IN WITH RAT-LIKE CAUTION. HE CARRIES A NEWSPAPER. WE CAN SEE THE HEADLINES ARE ABOUT JACK THE RIPPER.
DR PERCEVAL
See that man who has just crept in. That’s John MaGarrigal. He can be very dangerous. You need to keep an eye on him. All the time. He thinks he is both Jack the Ripper and Jerome Caminada, the detective.
LIGHTING CHANGE
JOHN MAGARRIGAL COMES TO CENTRE STAGE, HIS FACE IS MASKED SO THAT IT IS SPLIT EQUALLY DOWN THE MIDDLE – ONE SIDE THE RIPPER, THE OTHER CAMINADA. HE PACES RIGHT OR LEFT DEPENDING ON WHICH PERSONA HE IS.IN THE BACKGROUND, THE OTHER CAST MIMIC HIS WORDS
MUSIC JOHN’S SONG
JOHN MAGARRIGAL (SUNG)
When daylight’s here, I slink away.
The shadows are my place.
I stand against the wall and watch.
Caminada’s on the case.
CHORUS
He stands against the wall to watch
Caminada’s on the case.
I stalk the whores along the streets
of Whitechapel in the night
And seek the human vermin out.
Jack’s got them in his sights.
CHORUS
He seeks the human vermin out
Jack’s got them in his sights.
I sense when Jack’s around and think
I’d recognise his face
The second that I saw it.
Caminada’s on the case.
CHORUS
The second that he saw it,
Caminada’s on the case.
I know you all – Liz, Mary, Kate –
who stand beneath the light to ply your filthy trade. Beware,
Jack’s got you in his sights.
CHORUS
You ply your filthy trade. Beware
Jack’s got you in his sights.
I’m fast, that’s why I’m so renowned.
I use my steady pace
To seek out the specks of human gore.
Caminada’s on the case.
CHORUS
He seeks out specks of human gore
Caminada’s on the case.
I sneer when papers say I’m cruel.
They’ve got me bang to rights.
You lift your skirts. I disembowel.
Jack’s got you in his sights.
CHORUS
They lift their skirts. He disembowels.
Jack’s got them in his sights.
These whispering voices spin me round,
like faces on a coin,
with Caminada in my brain,
the Ripper at my groin.
CHORUS
He’s got Caminada in his brain,
But the Ripper’s at his groin.
The Ripper’s at his groin!
BLACKOUT
EXIT ALL
Angela Buckley said,
December 17, 2012 at 11:09 am
Hi Eric, thank you so much for getting in touch and for sharing your work with me, which I really enjoyed reading. I had a look at your YouTube introduction and the play looks very powerful and completely fascinating – it must have been a very moving experience researching the lives of those poor souls in Prestwich. I’m researching Jerome Caminada for a biography and the case of John McGarrigal is really intriguing. It’s very interesting that he linked the two characters together in his mind – I haven’t come across any evidence yet that Caminada helped with the Ripper case at all but I do have a lead that suggests that he worked with Chief Constable ‘Dolly’ Williamson on undercover assignments to track Fenians so maybe there is a real link as well as the imagined one. I’d love to hear more about your work and especially if you have any further information about McGarrigal. My email is amebuckley@btinternet.com if you’d like to discuss this further. Thanks again and very best wishes, Angela