1 00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:06,160 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday, everybody. As we're approaching Christmas, it seemed like 2 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:10,040 Speaker 1: the perfect time to revisit our episode on Washington Irving. 3 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:12,920 Speaker 1: Although he's most well known for the tale of the 4 00:00:12,960 --> 00:00:15,880 Speaker 1: Headless Horseman that's told in his story the Legend of 5 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:20,560 Speaker 1: Sleepy Hollow, Irving's writing about Christmas is important and deeply 6 00:00:20,600 --> 00:00:23,239 Speaker 1: influential to the way the holiday is celebrated in the 7 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:27,320 Speaker 1: United States, probably more than most people are aware. This 8 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:30,760 Speaker 1: episode originally came out on December twentieth, twenty twenty one. 9 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:37,479 Speaker 1: Enjoy Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a 10 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:47,520 Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio. Hello, and Welcome to the podcast. I'm 11 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:51,080 Speaker 1: tra C B. Wilson and I'm Holly Frye. Over the years, 12 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:54,520 Speaker 1: we've talked about various influences on Christmas as a holiday, 13 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:57,880 Speaker 1: particularly in the US and the UK. So we've talked 14 00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:02,000 Speaker 1: about Charles Dickens, a Christmas Carol, the poem, a Visit 15 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:06,679 Speaker 1: from Saint Nicholas, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Joel Roberts 16 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:11,640 Speaker 1: pointset namesake of the Poinsettia, NORAD's tradition of tracking Santa's 17 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:14,400 Speaker 1: progress on Christmas Eve, and then most recently, our episode 18 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:17,880 Speaker 1: on how the Nutcracker Ballet became a Christmas Times staple. 19 00:01:18,959 --> 00:01:22,640 Speaker 1: Another Christmas influence might come to mind more in connection 20 00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:27,319 Speaker 1: with Halloween, because it's Washington Irving, author of the Legend 21 00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:30,759 Speaker 1: of Sleepy Hollow, which became part of Disney's The Adventures 22 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:33,399 Speaker 1: of Ichabod and Mister Toad in nineteen forty nine and 23 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:37,920 Speaker 1: absolutely truly terrified me when I was a child. We 24 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:42,039 Speaker 1: will talk about Irving's work and his Christmas influence today, 25 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:46,880 Speaker 1: including his influence of Charles Dickens. Washington Irving did most 26 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:50,160 Speaker 1: of his Christmas related writing pretty early in his career, 27 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:53,440 Speaker 1: but we're going to save the most detailed discussion of 28 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:56,160 Speaker 1: it for the last third of the episode after our 29 00:01:56,200 --> 00:02:01,040 Speaker 1: second sponsor break. Also, if you listen to this show 30 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:04,640 Speaker 1: with anybody who's going to be just truly eagerly awaiting 31 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:08,120 Speaker 1: Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, that part of the episode 32 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:10,480 Speaker 1: might be something to just say for later, like, maybe 33 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:14,800 Speaker 1: listen to it yourself first before foisting it on any 34 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:18,919 Speaker 1: young ears. Sounds like a great plan, all with Washington 35 00:02:18,919 --> 00:02:21,880 Speaker 1: Irving was born on April third, seventeen eighty three, in 36 00:02:21,919 --> 00:02:24,680 Speaker 1: New York City. That is the same year that the 37 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:28,560 Speaker 1: Treaty of Paris formally ended the Revolutionary War, so he 38 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:31,880 Speaker 1: was growing up as the United States was establishing itself 39 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:36,760 Speaker 1: as an independent nation. Washington Irving was named after George Washington, 40 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:40,359 Speaker 1: and he also attended George Washington's inauguration in New York 41 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:44,800 Speaker 1: City just after he turned six. Irving was the youngest 42 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:48,640 Speaker 1: of William and Sarah Irving's eleven children, nine of whom 43 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:52,679 Speaker 1: survived to adulthood. Both of them had emigrated to North America. 44 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:55,960 Speaker 1: Sarah had come from Cornwall, England, and William from the 45 00:02:56,040 --> 00:03:00,080 Speaker 1: Orkney Islands, Scotland. William was a church deacon as well 46 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:03,600 Speaker 1: as being a hardware dealer and a merchant. In seventeen 47 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:07,040 Speaker 1: ninety eight, when he was fourteen, Washington's parents sent him 48 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:10,640 Speaker 1: to Terrytown on the Hudson River, not far from Sleepy Hollow, 49 00:03:10,919 --> 00:03:13,600 Speaker 1: to try to protect him from a devastating outbreak of 50 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:17,000 Speaker 1: yellow fever in New York City. He fell in love 51 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:20,240 Speaker 1: with the area, wandering around and exploring and learning the 52 00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:23,520 Speaker 1: folklore and heritage of its residents, many of whom were 53 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:28,200 Speaker 1: Dutch immigrants and their descendants. The young Washington Irving seems 54 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:30,560 Speaker 1: to have been really doted on As the baby of 55 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 1: the family, his father insisted that all of his younger 56 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:37,080 Speaker 1: brothers go to college, but Washington was described as kind 57 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:40,320 Speaker 1: of a dreamer and lax when it came to his studies, 58 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:43,760 Speaker 1: so rather than attending college like his brothers, he started 59 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:47,240 Speaker 1: a law apprenticeship at the age of fifteen. First he 60 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:50,320 Speaker 1: was at the law office of Henry Masterson and then 61 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:55,360 Speaker 1: with former New York Attorney General Josiah Ogden Hoffman. Irving 62 00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:58,000 Speaker 1: was chronically ill, and in eighteen oh four he went 63 00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:00,280 Speaker 1: to Europe with the hope of improving his head health. 64 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:03,000 Speaker 1: He stayed there until eighteen oh six. Then, when he 65 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:05,040 Speaker 1: got back to the US, he was admitted to the 66 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:09,360 Speaker 1: New York Bar reportedly though just barely. He just barely 67 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:14,320 Speaker 1: got past that exam. After he returned to the US, 68 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:18,000 Speaker 1: Irving started a satirical periodical with his brother William and 69 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:21,520 Speaker 1: their friend James Kirk Paulding. Paulding also went on to 70 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:23,960 Speaker 1: become a writer in his own right and later served 71 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:26,600 Speaker 1: as the Secretary of the Navy under Martin van Buren. 72 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:30,960 Speaker 1: They called their periodical Selma Gundy, or the Whimwhams and 73 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:35,880 Speaker 1: Opinions of Launcelot langstaff Esquire It published about twenty issues 74 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:39,480 Speaker 1: in eighteen oh seven and eighteen oh eight. This periodical 75 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:42,520 Speaker 1: has been described as the mad magazine of its day, 76 00:04:42,640 --> 00:04:46,279 Speaker 1: and it lampooned a number of targets, but a lot 77 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:48,960 Speaker 1: of its focus was on the political and social life 78 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:52,400 Speaker 1: of New York City. The use of Gotham as a 79 00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:55,320 Speaker 1: nickname for New York City was coined in its pages. 80 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:59,520 Speaker 1: This picked up the name from the story The Wise 81 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:03,760 Speaker 1: Men of God, in which the villagers of Gotham Nottinghamshire, 82 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:07,040 Speaker 1: fame incompetence in order to get out of a visit 83 00:05:07,080 --> 00:05:11,080 Speaker 1: from King John. So this nickname of Gotham not meant 84 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:15,440 Speaker 1: to be flattering. Don't tell Batman. In eighteen oh eight, 85 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:19,279 Speaker 1: Irving became engaged to Matilda Hoffman, daughter of his law mentor, 86 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:22,920 Speaker 1: Josiah Ogden Hoffman, and about a year later he gave 87 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:27,000 Speaker 1: up any pretense of practicing law. In eighteen oh nine, 88 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:31,200 Speaker 1: Irving published a fictional history of the Dutch colonization of 89 00:05:31,240 --> 00:05:34,160 Speaker 1: New York called A History of New York from the 90 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:37,120 Speaker 1: Beginning of the World to the end of the Dutch Dynasty. 91 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:41,240 Speaker 1: This was narrated by and written under the pen name 92 00:05:41,279 --> 00:05:46,360 Speaker 1: of Diedrich knickerbocker. That's one of many pseudonyms that Irving 93 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:49,240 Speaker 1: used for different purposes during his career, and one of 94 00:05:49,279 --> 00:05:51,440 Speaker 1: the many names that he also seems to have picked 95 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:54,960 Speaker 1: up from somebody that he knew. Thanks to this book, 96 00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:59,360 Speaker 1: knickerbocker became a nickname for New Yorkers of Dutch ancestry, 97 00:05:59,400 --> 00:06:02,840 Speaker 1: and then an name for New Yorkers more generally. The 98 00:06:02,839 --> 00:06:05,560 Speaker 1: New York Knicks, if you're not aware, is short for 99 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:10,440 Speaker 1: the Knickerbockers. Knickerbockers are also baggy trousers that usually stop 100 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:13,280 Speaker 1: just below the knee and are gathered and fastened there 101 00:06:13,320 --> 00:06:16,239 Speaker 1: with a button or a buckle. This seems to trace 102 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:19,400 Speaker 1: back to Irving's work as well, and to illustrations in 103 00:06:19,480 --> 00:06:22,720 Speaker 1: the book that featured Dutch men in baggy knee breaches. 104 00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:27,000 Speaker 1: A History of New York was another satire. It parodied 105 00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:30,479 Speaker 1: Samuel L. Mitchell's The Picture of New York or The 106 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:33,799 Speaker 1: Traveler's Guide through the Commercial Metropolis of the United States, 107 00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:37,640 Speaker 1: But while it was fictional and comedic, it still drew 108 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:41,160 Speaker 1: from real people and places that Irving had known while 109 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:44,839 Speaker 1: living in New York's Hudson Valley. Irving led up to 110 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:47,800 Speaker 1: the publication of this book with something of a pr hoax. 111 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:51,680 Speaker 1: He posted a series of notices about a missing historian 112 00:06:51,839 --> 00:06:55,720 Speaker 1: named Diedrich Knickerbocker, establishing the name and reputation of the 113 00:06:55,760 --> 00:06:59,440 Speaker 1: spictitious person before the book hit the stands. The same 114 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:03,240 Speaker 1: year History of New York was published. Irving's fiancee, Matilda, 115 00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:07,160 Speaker 1: died of tuberculosis that happened on April twenty sixth, eighteen 116 00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:10,080 Speaker 1: oh nine. And she really seems to have been the 117 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:13,600 Speaker 1: love of his life, and Irving's writing about her is 118 00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:16,600 Speaker 1: full of loss. He later wrote in his journal, quote, 119 00:07:16,840 --> 00:07:19,520 Speaker 1: she died in the flower of her youth and of mine, 120 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:23,000 Speaker 1: but she has lived for me ever since. In all womankind, 121 00:07:23,800 --> 00:07:25,800 Speaker 1: I see her in their eyes, and it is the 122 00:07:25,840 --> 00:07:28,800 Speaker 1: remembrance of her that has given a tender interest in 123 00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:31,560 Speaker 1: my eyes to everything that bears the name of woman. 124 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:34,800 Speaker 1: At another point, he wrote, quote, for years I could 125 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:37,840 Speaker 1: not talk on the subject of this hopeless regret. I 126 00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:40,880 Speaker 1: could not even mention her name. But her image was 127 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:45,320 Speaker 1: continually before me, and I dreamt of her incessantly. It 128 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:48,040 Speaker 1: doesn't seem like Irving wrote a lot over the next 129 00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:51,320 Speaker 1: few years. He moved to Washington, d c. In eighteen 130 00:07:51,320 --> 00:07:54,200 Speaker 1: eleven to work as a lobbyist protecting the interests of 131 00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:57,800 Speaker 1: his family's merchant business. During the War of eighteen twelve. 132 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:01,280 Speaker 1: After Britain invaded Washington, DC and set fire to the 133 00:08:01,320 --> 00:08:04,400 Speaker 1: Capitol and the White House and other major buildings, Irving 134 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:06,960 Speaker 1: enlisted in the army. He served as an aid de 135 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:10,440 Speaker 1: camp to Governor Daniel Tompkins until the war ended in 136 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:14,200 Speaker 1: February of eighteen fifteen. After the war was over, Irving 137 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:17,239 Speaker 1: went back to Europe. His family had an import export 138 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:20,640 Speaker 1: business called P and E. Irving. The war had been 139 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:23,360 Speaker 1: really hard on most of these types of businesses, but 140 00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:26,800 Speaker 1: Irving's brothers had also made a series of missteps in 141 00:08:26,840 --> 00:08:30,560 Speaker 1: their efforts to recover. After the war was over, Irving 142 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:33,280 Speaker 1: went to London to try to help them save the business, 143 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:36,480 Speaker 1: something he really felt was just hopeless from the start. 144 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:39,559 Speaker 1: In the end, he was right. The business could not 145 00:08:39,679 --> 00:08:44,600 Speaker 1: be saved, and bankruptcy proceedings started in eighteen eighteen Washington. 146 00:08:44,640 --> 00:08:47,720 Speaker 1: Irving had been something of a silent partner in this business. 147 00:08:48,080 --> 00:08:50,600 Speaker 1: He had been earning an income from it without being 148 00:08:50,720 --> 00:08:54,240 Speaker 1: expected to really do any work, but this bankruptcy meant 149 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:58,199 Speaker 1: that income was gone. Poet and novelist Sir Walter Scott, 150 00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:01,400 Speaker 1: who had become one of Irving's friends and colleagues, encouraged 151 00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:04,000 Speaker 1: him to try to make a living as a writer, 152 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:07,440 Speaker 1: and we will talk more about that after a sponsor break. 153 00:09:16,520 --> 00:09:19,880 Speaker 1: While living in Europe Washington, Irving wrote the Sketch Book 154 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:23,600 Speaker 1: of Jeoffrey Crayon gent This was largely a series of 155 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:26,800 Speaker 1: sketches of English life based on what he had experienced 156 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:30,440 Speaker 1: while living there, and it also contained three short stories, 157 00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:35,480 Speaker 1: Rip van Winkle, the Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and Specter Bridegroom. 158 00:09:35,679 --> 00:09:38,679 Speaker 1: Although the sketch Book was published under the pseudonym of 159 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:41,960 Speaker 1: Jeffrey Crayon, Both Rib van Winkle, about a man who 160 00:09:41,960 --> 00:09:45,360 Speaker 1: goes off to the mountains to escape his stereotypically shrewish 161 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:48,600 Speaker 1: wife and sleeps for twenty years, and the Legend of 162 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:53,200 Speaker 1: Sleepy Hollow, about superstitious schoolteacher Ichabod Crane and his flight 163 00:09:53,200 --> 00:09:57,400 Speaker 1: from the Headless Horsemen, are attributed to Ddrich Knickerbacker. The 164 00:09:57,440 --> 00:10:00,360 Speaker 1: two stories are set in Dutch communities in New y York, 165 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:04,400 Speaker 1: but both are rooted in German folklore. The sketch Book 166 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:07,679 Speaker 1: also contained five essays about Christmas in England, and we'll 167 00:10:07,679 --> 00:10:10,480 Speaker 1: talk a little bit more about that later. Although many 168 00:10:10,480 --> 00:10:14,319 Speaker 1: of the other pieces describe Irving's experiences in England, two 169 00:10:14,360 --> 00:10:17,920 Speaker 1: of them are focused on indigenous communities in North America. 170 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:22,000 Speaker 1: There are Traits of Indian Character and Philip of Poconoke it. 171 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:26,640 Speaker 1: The first is a general discussion of North America's indigenous peoples, 172 00:10:26,880 --> 00:10:30,120 Speaker 1: especially in New England, and the second is the narrative 173 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:33,400 Speaker 1: of King Philip's War, which took place in the sixteen seventies, 174 00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:37,120 Speaker 1: in which we've covered on the show before. In terms 175 00:10:37,160 --> 00:10:40,360 Speaker 1: of Irving's racial attitudes, both of these writings are just 176 00:10:40,360 --> 00:10:44,280 Speaker 1: a tangle. Traits of Indian Character, for example, starts off 177 00:10:44,280 --> 00:10:46,760 Speaker 1: by saying that quote it has been the lot of 178 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:50,360 Speaker 1: the unfortunate Aborigines of America in the early periods of 179 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:54,280 Speaker 1: colonization to be doubly wronged by the white men. They 180 00:10:54,320 --> 00:10:57,920 Speaker 1: have been dispossessed of their hereditary possessions by mercenary and 181 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:01,960 Speaker 1: frequently wanton warfare, and their characters have been produced by 182 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:06,600 Speaker 1: bigoted and interested writers. The colonists often treated them like 183 00:11:06,679 --> 00:11:09,720 Speaker 1: beasts of the forest, and the author has endeavored to 184 00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:14,000 Speaker 1: justify him in his outrages. The former found it easier 185 00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:17,839 Speaker 1: to exterminate than to civilize, the latter, to vilify than 186 00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:22,280 Speaker 1: to discriminate. The appellations of savage and pagan were deemed 187 00:11:22,280 --> 00:11:26,240 Speaker 1: sufficient to sanction the hostilities of both, and thus the 188 00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:30,240 Speaker 1: poor wanderers of the forest were persecuted and defamed not 189 00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:34,599 Speaker 1: because they were guilty, but because they were ignorant. Irving's 190 00:11:34,640 --> 00:11:38,760 Speaker 1: criticisms of Europeans treatment of Indigenous people in North America, 191 00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:43,400 Speaker 1: particularly during the colonial period, are very pointed and often 192 00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:47,800 Speaker 1: perceptive and astute, but then threaded through that are racist 193 00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:51,640 Speaker 1: language and stereotypes, both reflecting the language that was commonly 194 00:11:51,760 --> 00:11:55,920 Speaker 1: used at the time and reflecting Irving's own paternalistic attitudes. 195 00:11:56,600 --> 00:12:00,200 Speaker 1: Sometimes it is almost whiplash inducing to read, like I 196 00:12:00,280 --> 00:12:03,280 Speaker 1: was trying to find a quote to read as an example, 197 00:12:03,679 --> 00:12:05,680 Speaker 1: and I was like, man, I just don't even want 198 00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:08,079 Speaker 1: to repeat this insulting part on the show for the 199 00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:12,040 Speaker 1: sake of illustration. Irving's descriptions of the state of things 200 00:12:12,040 --> 00:12:16,400 Speaker 1: as he was writing are also obliviously optimistic at best. 201 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:21,360 Speaker 1: While he acknowledges that the same prejudices against indigenous peoples 202 00:12:21,440 --> 00:12:25,480 Speaker 1: all still exist, he frames the federal government's relationship to 203 00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:30,280 Speaker 1: them as basically fine. Now here's a quote. American government 204 00:12:30,360 --> 00:12:34,480 Speaker 1: too has wisely and humanly exerted itself to inculcate a 205 00:12:34,559 --> 00:12:38,320 Speaker 1: friendly and forbearing spirit towards them and to protect them 206 00:12:38,360 --> 00:12:42,640 Speaker 1: from fraud and injustice. That's whiplashy in and of itself. 207 00:12:44,480 --> 00:12:48,680 Speaker 1: So Philip of Poconoka is similarly striking. Irving's treatment of Medicom, 208 00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:52,280 Speaker 1: who English colonists called King Philip, has been described as 209 00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:57,240 Speaker 1: groundbreaking and even radical, because it was way way more 210 00:12:57,320 --> 00:13:00,640 Speaker 1: sympathetic to Medicom and to the Wampanogu Confederate than the 211 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:04,240 Speaker 1: historical sources that he would have been using for his research. 212 00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:08,839 Speaker 1: His approach was probably influenced by the idea of the 213 00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:12,480 Speaker 1: noble savage, which had come to prominence among Europeans in 214 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:16,600 Speaker 1: the eighteenth century and beyond. But his treatment of Meticom 215 00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:19,319 Speaker 1: seems to really go beyond that and into a more 216 00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:23,239 Speaker 1: nuanced view of the war than would really be expected, 217 00:13:23,679 --> 00:13:26,440 Speaker 1: with a lot more empathy toward the Wampanogue and more 218 00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:30,720 Speaker 1: acknowledgment of all the context that was involved. And we 219 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:33,080 Speaker 1: should also take a moment here to say that Irving's 220 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:37,000 Speaker 1: writing related to people of African descent is similarly tangled. 221 00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:39,840 Speaker 1: When Irving was growing up, New York City was at 222 00:13:39,880 --> 00:13:42,760 Speaker 1: the heart of the largest slaveholding region of the North, 223 00:13:42,920 --> 00:13:46,160 Speaker 1: and it had an established community of free black people 224 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:49,800 Speaker 1: as well. The Dutch communities that Irving was so fond 225 00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:52,760 Speaker 1: of in the Hudson Valley were also home to both 226 00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:55,800 Speaker 1: enslaved and free black people, who were known as the 227 00:13:55,800 --> 00:13:58,720 Speaker 1: Black Dutch, which is one of several meanings that term 228 00:13:58,760 --> 00:14:02,920 Speaker 1: has carried. Irving clearly thought their folklore and traditions were 229 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:06,160 Speaker 1: as worthy of documentation as those of white people, and 230 00:14:06,280 --> 00:14:09,360 Speaker 1: he wrote about holidays like Pinkster, which was celebrated by 231 00:14:09,400 --> 00:14:13,200 Speaker 1: the black community and grew out of Dutch celebrations surrounding Pentecost. 232 00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:16,960 Speaker 1: But at the same time, Irving wrote about black people 233 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:22,880 Speaker 1: in a negatively stereotyped and sometimes even fetishizing way. Irving 234 00:14:22,960 --> 00:14:25,880 Speaker 1: had essays from the sketch book printed in the US 235 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:28,680 Speaker 1: at about the same time as the whole collection was 236 00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:31,440 Speaker 1: coming out in the UK to try to protect himself 237 00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:35,280 Speaker 1: and his profits from plagiarists. Its contents were printed on 238 00:14:35,360 --> 00:14:38,240 Speaker 1: both sides of the Atlantic between eighteen nineteen and eighteen 239 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:42,360 Speaker 1: twenty three. Was generally well received, especially the short stories, 240 00:14:42,400 --> 00:14:46,400 Speaker 1: with later critics describing Irving as the first American short 241 00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:49,720 Speaker 1: story writer. It also sold well enough that he was 242 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:53,640 Speaker 1: able to support himself. In eighteen twenty two, Irving was 243 00:14:53,680 --> 00:14:57,480 Speaker 1: paid one thousand guineas to write a sequel, Bracebridge Hall 244 00:14:57,720 --> 00:15:02,000 Speaker 1: or the Humorists, a medley, also under the Jeffrey Crayon pseudonym. 245 00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:06,080 Speaker 1: Then Tales of a Traveler followed in eighteen twenty four. 246 00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:10,640 Speaker 1: Tales of a Traveler contains another story attributed to Knickerbacker, 247 00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:14,640 Speaker 1: and that is The Devil and Tom Walker. Critics mostly 248 00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:17,440 Speaker 1: panned Tales of a Traveler, and Irving seems to have 249 00:15:17,440 --> 00:15:21,080 Speaker 1: stopped writing for a while. He remained in Europe, though, 250 00:15:21,280 --> 00:15:25,680 Speaker 1: and Alexander Hill Everett, the US Minister to Spain, invited 251 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:29,640 Speaker 1: him to Madrid. Spain had just released archival documents on 252 00:15:29,680 --> 00:15:33,000 Speaker 1: its colonization of the Americas, and Everett wanted Irving to 253 00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:37,040 Speaker 1: translate them for American use. Irving may have started out 254 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:40,160 Speaker 1: following that instruction, but soon he was using these documents 255 00:15:40,160 --> 00:15:42,800 Speaker 1: not to translate them, but to do research on his 256 00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:46,240 Speaker 1: own work. The result was a History of the Life 257 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:49,560 Speaker 1: and Voyages of Christopher Columbus, which was published in eighteen 258 00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:54,000 Speaker 1: twenty eight. This was a fictionalized biography of Columbus, sometimes 259 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:59,120 Speaker 1: described as a romantic biography. This work is extremely favorable 260 00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:02,040 Speaker 1: in its embellish treatment of Columbus, making him almost a 261 00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:05,600 Speaker 1: mythic figure. The book also put forth the fiction that 262 00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:08,600 Speaker 1: one of the reasons for Columbus's fourteen ninety two voyage 263 00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:11,600 Speaker 1: was to prove that the world was not flat, an 264 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:15,160 Speaker 1: idea that has persisted until today, even though people around 265 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:18,320 Speaker 1: the world have known the planet was roughly spherical for 266 00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:22,880 Speaker 1: literally thousands of years. Other work related to Spain followed 267 00:16:22,880 --> 00:16:26,760 Speaker 1: the Columbus biography, including a chronicle of the conquest of 268 00:16:26,800 --> 00:16:31,840 Speaker 1: Grenada from the manuscripts of Fray Antonio Agappita that being 269 00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:35,280 Speaker 1: yet another pseudonym. This work is described as having a 270 00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:40,080 Speaker 1: quote comically biased narrator. Irving had to leave Spain in 271 00:16:40,120 --> 00:16:43,120 Speaker 1: eighteen twenty nine after he was appointed secretary to the 272 00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:46,920 Speaker 1: American legation in London. He worked at the American Embassy 273 00:16:46,920 --> 00:16:50,120 Speaker 1: in London until eighteen thirty two, and then finally returned 274 00:16:50,120 --> 00:16:53,640 Speaker 1: to the United States. Irving had become famous while he 275 00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:55,920 Speaker 1: was away, and he returned to find that New York 276 00:16:55,960 --> 00:17:00,360 Speaker 1: City had grown tremendously in his absence. In the fall 277 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:04,320 Speaker 1: of eighteen thirty two, Irving joined Henry Levitt Ellsworth on 278 00:17:04,400 --> 00:17:09,440 Speaker 1: an expedition to what's now Missouri, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. President 279 00:17:09,440 --> 00:17:13,560 Speaker 1: Andrew Jackson had tasked Ellsworth with inspecting land that was 280 00:17:13,600 --> 00:17:16,680 Speaker 1: going to be used for the force relocation of indigenous 281 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:20,280 Speaker 1: peoples under the Indian Removal Act of eighteen thirty The 282 00:17:20,600 --> 00:17:23,879 Speaker 1: relocation later became known as the Trail of Tears, and 283 00:17:23,960 --> 00:17:27,120 Speaker 1: it forced tens of thousands of Indigenous people to leave 284 00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:32,439 Speaker 1: their homes and move west, including citizens of the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, Creek, 285 00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:36,680 Speaker 1: and Cherokee nations, among others. Irving was invited to accompany 286 00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:40,240 Speaker 1: this expedition, and he saw it as quote an opportunity 287 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:43,440 Speaker 1: of seeing the remnants of those great Indian tribes which 288 00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:47,199 Speaker 1: are now about to disappear as independent nations or to 289 00:17:47,240 --> 00:17:51,239 Speaker 1: be amalgamated under some new form of government. While on 290 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:54,679 Speaker 1: this expedition, Irving visited Sok leader Black Hawk, who at 291 00:17:54,720 --> 00:17:56,840 Speaker 1: the time was imprisoned for his role in the black 292 00:17:56,840 --> 00:17:59,959 Speaker 1: Hawk War, which had taken place earlier in eighteen thirty ten. 293 00:18:01,119 --> 00:18:04,040 Speaker 1: In a letter to a sister, Irving said of this meeting, quote, 294 00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:07,159 Speaker 1: I find it extremely difficult, even when so near the 295 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:09,840 Speaker 1: seat of action, to get at the right story of 296 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:12,520 Speaker 1: these feuds between the White and the Red Man, and 297 00:18:12,640 --> 00:18:17,000 Speaker 1: my sympathies go strongly with the latter. At the same time, though, 298 00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:21,480 Speaker 1: Irving does not seem particularly critical of Jackson's removal policy, 299 00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:24,919 Speaker 1: and that was something that directly led to the deaths 300 00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:29,080 Speaker 1: of thousands of people, loss of ancestral homelands, and the 301 00:18:29,119 --> 00:18:33,600 Speaker 1: total upheaval of families and social structures. Irving wrote several 302 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:37,520 Speaker 1: books drawn from this experience, including Tour on the Prairies, 303 00:18:37,560 --> 00:18:40,760 Speaker 1: which came out in eighteen thirty five, Enterprise Beyond the 304 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:43,800 Speaker 1: Rocky Mountains in eighteen thirty six, and Adventures in the 305 00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:47,800 Speaker 1: Far West in eighteen thirty seven. As these books were published, 306 00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:50,520 Speaker 1: Irving was living at Sunnyside, which was a farm not 307 00:18:50,600 --> 00:18:53,280 Speaker 1: far from Terrytown that he bought in eighteen thirty five, 308 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:56,200 Speaker 1: and he probably would have been content to live out 309 00:18:56,200 --> 00:18:58,960 Speaker 1: the rest of his days there, But in eighteen forty 310 00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:02,720 Speaker 1: two President John Tyler appointed Irving as Minister to Spain. 311 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:07,080 Speaker 1: He had been recommended by Daniel Webster, then Secretary of State, 312 00:19:07,359 --> 00:19:10,160 Speaker 1: who was a fan of Irving's writing and also knew 313 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:14,200 Speaker 1: of his earlier time and experiences in Spain. This is 314 00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:17,280 Speaker 1: the precarious time for Spain and for the United States 315 00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:21,000 Speaker 1: relations with it. Queen Isabella the Second was only twelve 316 00:19:21,280 --> 00:19:24,560 Speaker 1: and there were multiple factions wrestling for control of the 317 00:19:24,600 --> 00:19:28,600 Speaker 1: Spanish government. Meanwhile, the United States was in the process 318 00:19:28,640 --> 00:19:31,920 Speaker 1: of annexing Texas, which would ultimately lead it to war 319 00:19:31,960 --> 00:19:35,000 Speaker 1: with Mexico, and that was something that the United States 320 00:19:35,480 --> 00:19:39,280 Speaker 1: really wanted Spain to stay out of, meaning they wanted 321 00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:46,920 Speaker 1: Irving to make sure that Spain just stayed put. Unsurprisingly Washington. 322 00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:51,280 Speaker 1: Irving found this position extremely stressful and it aggravated various 323 00:19:51,359 --> 00:19:54,679 Speaker 1: chronic health conditions, but he held out until James K. 324 00:19:54,760 --> 00:19:57,080 Speaker 1: Polk took office, and then he resigned when it just 325 00:19:57,080 --> 00:19:59,800 Speaker 1: didn't seem like Polk was going to name a replacement anytime. 326 00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:04,520 Speaker 1: Irving was back at home in Sunnyside. In eighteen forty six, 327 00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:07,720 Speaker 1: he published The Life of Muhammad and Muhammad and his 328 00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:10,280 Speaker 1: Successors in eighteen forty nine and eighteen fifty. These were 329 00:20:10,280 --> 00:20:13,000 Speaker 1: books that he had started working on while living in Spain. 330 00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:18,399 Speaker 1: This has been described as the first sympathetic biography of 331 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:21,520 Speaker 1: the prophet Muhammad to be published. In North America. I 332 00:20:21,560 --> 00:20:25,000 Speaker 1: haven't personally read it. I did read articles about it 333 00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:28,960 Speaker 1: by Muslim people, and that was the description was that 334 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:31,959 Speaker 1: they found a treatment of Muhammad to be generally sympathetic 335 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:35,400 Speaker 1: and that that was groundbreaking given the time. Irving spent 336 00:20:35,480 --> 00:20:37,840 Speaker 1: most of his last years working on a biography of 337 00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:41,760 Speaker 1: George Washington that was published in five volumes between eighteen 338 00:20:41,800 --> 00:20:45,359 Speaker 1: fifty five and eighteen fifty nine. This is both a 339 00:20:45,400 --> 00:20:49,720 Speaker 1: favorable treatment of Washington and one that humanized him, focusing 340 00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:54,000 Speaker 1: primarily on his military career and his personal life. Irving 341 00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:58,000 Speaker 1: experienced a series of illnesses as he was finishing this biography. 342 00:20:58,040 --> 00:21:01,440 Speaker 1: His health is described as decline throughout the whole process. 343 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:04,719 Speaker 1: He died on November twenty eighth, eighteen fifty nine, at 344 00:21:04,720 --> 00:21:07,240 Speaker 1: the age of seventy six, after having had a heart 345 00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:11,400 Speaker 1: attack in his bedroom at Sunnyside, Washington. Irving is considered 346 00:21:11,440 --> 00:21:14,760 Speaker 1: to be the first American man of letters. His work 347 00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:18,720 Speaker 1: also helped establish American literature as worthwhile in its own right, 348 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:22,679 Speaker 1: rather than simply being a minor offshoot of British literature, 349 00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:26,720 Speaker 1: because some of his work has preserved Dutch oral traditions 350 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:29,800 Speaker 1: in the Hudson Valley region. He has also been described 351 00:21:29,840 --> 00:21:33,040 Speaker 1: as the first folklorist in the US. His home in 352 00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:37,000 Speaker 1: Terrytown still stands today, and it is a National Historic Landmark, 353 00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:42,600 Speaker 1: especially around November and December. Christmas can seem so ubiquitous 354 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:45,280 Speaker 1: in the United States that it feels almost like it 355 00:21:45,359 --> 00:21:50,000 Speaker 1: must have always been this way. But when Washington, Irving 356 00:21:50,080 --> 00:21:53,200 Speaker 1: was growing up, Christmas really wasn't established as a holiday, 357 00:21:53,359 --> 00:21:56,320 Speaker 1: especially not as a holiday that involved lots of feasting 358 00:21:56,400 --> 00:22:00,480 Speaker 1: and merriment and presence and songs. Puritans in New England 359 00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:04,119 Speaker 1: outlawed Christmas in sixteen fifty nine, and that followed a 360 00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:07,399 Speaker 1: series of laws that had been passed in England starting 361 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:11,240 Speaker 1: in the sixteen forties. These laws in England had designated 362 00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:15,000 Speaker 1: the Christmas season as a time for fasting and humiliation 363 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:20,160 Speaker 1: that effectively outlawed Christmas celebrations in England until the restoration 364 00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:23,680 Speaker 1: of Charles the Second in sixteen sixty. By the time 365 00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:27,640 Speaker 1: Irving was born, laws outlying Christmas in the British colonies 366 00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:32,160 Speaker 1: had been repealed, but many denominations and sects still viewed 367 00:22:32,160 --> 00:22:35,520 Speaker 1: it with a lot of suspicion. In many places, Christmas 368 00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:39,080 Speaker 1: was a day for hard work and penitence not for revelry. 369 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:43,800 Speaker 1: This led to strife between denominations that opposed Christmas and 370 00:22:43,840 --> 00:22:46,719 Speaker 1: those like Anglicans, who were more likely to celebrate it. 371 00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:50,560 Speaker 1: Dutch colonists in the Hudson River Valley had brought the 372 00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:54,160 Speaker 1: tradition of center class or Saint Nicholas, who brought presents 373 00:22:54,200 --> 00:22:57,359 Speaker 1: to good children on Saint Nicholas Day or December sixth. 374 00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:02,080 Speaker 1: Irving mentioned Saint Nicholas more than forty times in his 375 00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:06,440 Speaker 1: History of New York. This includes attributing Dutch colonist's decision 376 00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:10,720 Speaker 1: to settle on Manhattan to Saint Nicholas. Irving relates the 377 00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:14,000 Speaker 1: tale in which Olaf van Courtland has a dream in 378 00:23:14,080 --> 00:23:17,600 Speaker 1: which quote Saint Nicholas came riding over the tops of 379 00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:20,840 Speaker 1: the trees and that self same wagon, wherein he brings 380 00:23:20,880 --> 00:23:24,960 Speaker 1: his yearly presence to children. In this dream, Saint Nicholas 381 00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:27,920 Speaker 1: smokes a pipe, with the smoke from his pipe assuming 382 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:33,360 Speaker 1: quote a variety of marvelous forms. Those forms include palaces, domes, 383 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:37,680 Speaker 1: and spires, and then quote, when Saint Nicholas had smoked 384 00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:40,960 Speaker 1: his pipe, he twisted it in his hatband and laying 385 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:44,720 Speaker 1: his finger beside his nose gave the astonished Van Cortland 386 00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:48,640 Speaker 1: a very significant look. Then, mounting his wagon, he returned 387 00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:52,479 Speaker 1: over the tree tops and disappeared. The History of New 388 00:23:52,560 --> 00:23:55,400 Speaker 1: York came out in eighteen oh nine, but this passage 389 00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:57,960 Speaker 1: seems to have been added in an eighteen twelve edition. 390 00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:01,840 Speaker 1: It may have been an inspiration for the poem A 391 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:04,919 Speaker 1: Visit from Saint Nicholas, which is the poem that begins 392 00:24:04,960 --> 00:24:07,159 Speaker 1: twas the Night before Christmas and all through the house. 393 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:11,399 Speaker 1: That poem was first published in eighteen twenty three. This 394 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:14,960 Speaker 1: poem is often attributed to Clement Clark Moore, who was 395 00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:18,399 Speaker 1: friends with Washington Irving, which really makes it seem like 396 00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:21,760 Speaker 1: the poem's pipe and the flying sleigh and Saint Nick 397 00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:24,800 Speaker 1: laying a finger aside his nose that might all have 398 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:29,280 Speaker 1: been inspired by Washington Irving. However, there is a competing 399 00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:32,679 Speaker 1: claim that Major Henry Livingston Junior is the person who 400 00:24:32,760 --> 00:24:34,560 Speaker 1: wrote this poem, and that that happened all the way 401 00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:36,520 Speaker 1: back in eighteen oh eight. And if that's the case, 402 00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:40,280 Speaker 1: obviously Washington Irving could not have been the person who 403 00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:43,399 Speaker 1: inspired it because it was already written when his book 404 00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:47,159 Speaker 1: came out. We talked about this authorship dispute in our 405 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:49,320 Speaker 1: Christmas Triple Feature, and that is going to be our 406 00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:52,920 Speaker 1: Saturday Classic on December twenty fifth. So, as we said earlier, 407 00:24:53,119 --> 00:24:56,800 Speaker 1: Washington Irving's sketch book contained five essays based on a 408 00:24:56,880 --> 00:25:00,480 Speaker 1: Christmas he spent in England. They are titled Christmas the 409 00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:05,119 Speaker 1: Stage Coach, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the Christmas Dinner. 410 00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:10,520 Speaker 1: So Christmas celebrations returned to England far more speedily than 411 00:25:10,520 --> 00:25:14,040 Speaker 1: they did in North America, and Christmas contains some general 412 00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:18,560 Speaker 1: observations about the holiday in England. Here's a sample quote 413 00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:21,720 Speaker 1: of all the old festivals. However, that of Christmas awakens 414 00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:25,840 Speaker 1: the strongest and most heartfelt associations. There is a tone 415 00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:29,879 Speaker 1: of solemn and sacred feeling that blends with our conviviality 416 00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:32,720 Speaker 1: and lifts the spirit to a state of hallowed and 417 00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:36,639 Speaker 1: elevated enjoyment. The services of the Church about this season 418 00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:40,480 Speaker 1: are extremely tender and inspiring. They dwell and the beautiful 419 00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:43,760 Speaker 1: story of the origin of our faith and the pastoral 420 00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:48,760 Speaker 1: scenes that accompanied its announcement. They gradually increase in fervor 421 00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:51,960 Speaker 1: and pathos during the season of Advent, until they break 422 00:25:52,040 --> 00:25:55,280 Speaker 1: forth in full jubilee on the morning that brought peace 423 00:25:55,359 --> 00:25:59,040 Speaker 1: and goodwill to men. I do not know a grander 424 00:25:59,080 --> 00:26:02,040 Speaker 1: effect of music on the moral feelings than to hear 425 00:26:02,119 --> 00:26:06,160 Speaker 1: the full choir and the pealing organ performing a Christmas 426 00:26:06,160 --> 00:26:09,800 Speaker 1: anthem in a cathedral and filling every part of the 427 00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:15,080 Speaker 1: vast pile with triumphant harmony. He also repeatedly stresses the 428 00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:18,320 Speaker 1: idea that this is a time to be happy and merry. 429 00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:22,480 Speaker 1: He talks about being a stranger, no friends around him. Quote, 430 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:25,600 Speaker 1: yet I feel the influence of the season beaming into 431 00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:28,240 Speaker 1: my soul from the happy looks of those around me. 432 00:26:29,119 --> 00:26:31,280 Speaker 1: He goes on to say, quote, He who can turn 433 00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:35,600 Speaker 1: churlishly away from contemplating the felicity of his fellow beings, 434 00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:39,280 Speaker 1: and can sit down, darkling and repining in his loneliness 435 00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:42,760 Speaker 1: when all around is joyful may have his moments of 436 00:26:42,800 --> 00:26:47,160 Speaker 1: strong excitement and selfish gratification, but he wants the genial 437 00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:51,639 Speaker 1: and social sympathies which constitute the charm of a merry Christmas. 438 00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:55,639 Speaker 1: In the stage Coach, Irving describes traveling by coach on 439 00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:58,639 Speaker 1: a tour of Yorkshire on the day before Christmas and 440 00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:02,480 Speaker 1: seeing other passengers, all bound for holiday visits with laden 441 00:27:02,560 --> 00:27:06,320 Speaker 1: with hampers full of delicious foods. He winds up at 442 00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:08,960 Speaker 1: an inn that's quote decorated here and there with a 443 00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:12,680 Speaker 1: Christmas green. He runs into a friend who invites him 444 00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:15,440 Speaker 1: to stay for a few days, staying with friends being 445 00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:19,199 Speaker 1: better than having Christmas dinner alone at an inn. So 446 00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:22,760 Speaker 1: for Christmas Eve, Irving winds up at the Bracebridge's estate. 447 00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:26,320 Speaker 1: He hears lots of merriment coming from the servants quarters. 448 00:27:26,359 --> 00:27:28,960 Speaker 1: They are playing lots of games, some of which sound 449 00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:32,320 Speaker 1: familiar today and some which do not. Quote here were 450 00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:35,679 Speaker 1: kept up the old games of hoodman, blind shoe, the 451 00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:40,000 Speaker 1: wild mare, hot cockles, steal the white loaf, bob apple 452 00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:44,840 Speaker 1: and snapdragon. The Yule clog and Christmas candle were regularly burnt, 453 00:27:45,160 --> 00:27:47,840 Speaker 1: and the missiletoe with its white berries, hung up to 454 00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:52,200 Speaker 1: the imminent peril of all the pretty housemaids. A footnote 455 00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:54,960 Speaker 1: explains that young men get to kiss young women under 456 00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:58,760 Speaker 1: the missiletoe, removing a berry from the sprig each time, 457 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:02,000 Speaker 1: and when the berries are go on quote, the privilege ceases. 458 00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:07,120 Speaker 1: Irving describes the Yule clog, which is an enormous log 459 00:28:07,200 --> 00:28:09,600 Speaker 1: burned during the holiday, with a bit of its save 460 00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:12,240 Speaker 1: to light the next year's log as well as a 461 00:28:12,359 --> 00:28:16,360 Speaker 1: range of superstitions associated with it. He also talks about 462 00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:20,280 Speaker 1: Christmas candles being wreathed in greens, and lots of singing 463 00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:24,240 Speaker 1: and dancing in general gayety. His Christmas Day account begins 464 00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:27,080 Speaker 1: with the household's children going door to door through the house, 465 00:28:27,520 --> 00:28:31,120 Speaker 1: singing a Christmas carol to wake everyone up. Then there 466 00:28:31,160 --> 00:28:34,320 Speaker 1: are family prayers, followed by another carol, and then a 467 00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:37,679 Speaker 1: church service later in the day, and distribution of beef, 468 00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:41,520 Speaker 1: bread and ale to the poor. On arrival at the church, 469 00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:44,440 Speaker 1: Irving writes, quote, on reaching the church porch, we found 470 00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:48,520 Speaker 1: the parson rebuking the gray headed sexton for having used 471 00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:52,480 Speaker 1: mistletoe among the greens with which the church was decorated. 472 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:56,880 Speaker 1: It was he observed an unholy plant, profaned by having 473 00:28:56,920 --> 00:29:00,160 Speaker 1: been used by the druids and their mystic ceremonies. And 474 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:03,600 Speaker 1: though it might be innocently employed in the festive ornamenting 475 00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:06,840 Speaker 1: of halls and kitchens, yet it had been deemed by 476 00:29:06,880 --> 00:29:10,880 Speaker 1: the fathers of the church as unhallowed and totally unfit 477 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:15,200 Speaker 1: for sacred purposes. In Christmas dinner, Irving is at first 478 00:29:15,320 --> 00:29:18,160 Speaker 1: perplexed when a pig's head is brought out on a platter, 479 00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:21,200 Speaker 1: until his host explains that it's meant to represent a 480 00:29:21,240 --> 00:29:25,120 Speaker 1: bores head, something that had traditionally been served at Christmas 481 00:29:25,120 --> 00:29:28,560 Speaker 1: in earlier years, including at the Oxford College that he 482 00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:33,880 Speaker 1: had attended. The family's Christmas dinner also includes turkey, pheasant pie, 483 00:29:33,920 --> 00:29:38,080 Speaker 1: and a wastle bowl. After dinner, the family gathers for 484 00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:41,960 Speaker 1: the telling of Christmas ghost stories and a quote Christmas 485 00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:46,960 Speaker 1: mummery or masking. This has another footnote quote maskings or 486 00:29:47,040 --> 00:29:50,320 Speaker 1: mummeries where favorite sports at Christmas in old times, and 487 00:29:50,360 --> 00:29:53,400 Speaker 1: the wardrobes at halls and manor houses were often laid 488 00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:58,920 Speaker 1: under contribution to furnished dresses and fantastic disguisings. I strongly 489 00:29:58,960 --> 00:30:01,880 Speaker 1: suspect masters and to have taken the idea of his 490 00:30:02,320 --> 00:30:06,640 Speaker 1: from Ben Johnson's mask of Christmas to someone living in 491 00:30:06,640 --> 00:30:09,560 Speaker 1: the US today, where Christmas can feel like a giant 492 00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:12,760 Speaker 1: commercial juggernaut. None of this really sounds all that dramatic, 493 00:30:13,360 --> 00:30:17,320 Speaker 1: more like a quaint, old fashioned English Christmas. But again, 494 00:30:17,400 --> 00:30:20,160 Speaker 1: the holiday really wasn't established in much of the US 495 00:30:20,200 --> 00:30:23,600 Speaker 1: at that point. Irving's writing about it comes across as 496 00:30:23,640 --> 00:30:27,600 Speaker 1: somewhat nostalgic, emphasizing that he thinks these kinds of traditions 497 00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:31,600 Speaker 1: should be preserved. Then, as we said earlier, the sketch 498 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:36,000 Speaker 1: book was really popular, so Irving's fond descriptions of this 499 00:30:36,160 --> 00:30:40,080 Speaker 1: English holiday spread across his reading audience in the US. 500 00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:43,320 Speaker 1: And it also had an impact on another writer whose 501 00:30:43,360 --> 00:30:46,440 Speaker 1: work has been credited with influencing the way Christmas is 502 00:30:46,520 --> 00:30:51,120 Speaker 1: thought about and celebrated, and that is Charles Dickens. Charles 503 00:30:51,120 --> 00:30:54,640 Speaker 1: Dickens was kind of a Washington Irving super fan. The 504 00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:57,040 Speaker 1: sketch book was published when he was about eight, and 505 00:30:57,080 --> 00:31:00,320 Speaker 1: he read it over and over. It is like that 506 00:31:00,360 --> 00:31:04,480 Speaker 1: Dickens named his own sketches by Boz after irving sketchbook, 507 00:31:04,840 --> 00:31:09,120 Speaker 1: and the sketchbook influenced Dickens's eighteen thirty five A Christmas Dinner, 508 00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:12,440 Speaker 1: as well as Christmas scenes and Pickwick Papers in eighteen 509 00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:16,640 Speaker 1: thirty six. Irving wrote to Dickens in eighteen forty one 510 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:21,440 Speaker 1: complimenting him on his work, and Dickens's reply is effusive. 511 00:31:22,360 --> 00:31:26,120 Speaker 1: Here is a sample quote. I have been so accustomed 512 00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:29,920 Speaker 1: to associate you with my pleasantest and happiest thoughts, and 513 00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:33,640 Speaker 1: with my leisure hours, that I rush at once into 514 00:31:33,800 --> 00:31:37,840 Speaker 1: full confidence with you and fall, as it were naturally 515 00:31:38,240 --> 00:31:42,480 Speaker 1: and by the very laws of gravity, into your open arms. 516 00:31:43,080 --> 00:31:46,920 Speaker 1: Questions come thronging to my pen, as to the lips 517 00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:50,120 Speaker 1: of people who meet after long hoping to do so. 518 00:31:50,720 --> 00:31:53,320 Speaker 1: I don't know what to say first, or what to 519 00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:57,440 Speaker 1: leave unsaid, and am constantly disposed to break off and 520 00:31:57,520 --> 00:32:01,840 Speaker 1: tell you again, how glad I am this moment has arrived. 521 00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:05,920 Speaker 1: I don't know if Charles Dickens meant this to sound 522 00:32:05,960 --> 00:32:11,760 Speaker 1: a little suggestive. It's very romantic. It is extremely romantic. 523 00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:18,200 Speaker 1: Irving and Dickens exchanged flattering letters back and forth until 524 00:32:18,280 --> 00:32:21,520 Speaker 1: meeting during Dickens's tour of the US in eighteen forty two. 525 00:32:22,480 --> 00:32:25,840 Speaker 1: In eighteen forty three, Dickens published a Christmas Carol, again 526 00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:29,440 Speaker 1: influenced by Irving, and whose influence on Christmas Time we 527 00:32:29,440 --> 00:32:33,080 Speaker 1: have previously discussed on the show. Their friendship might not 528 00:32:33,160 --> 00:32:36,840 Speaker 1: have lasted beyond that tour, though if they corresponded after 529 00:32:36,880 --> 00:32:39,920 Speaker 1: Irving left for that appointment as Minister to Spain. Those 530 00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:43,960 Speaker 1: letters have not survived, and there's also a second hand 531 00:32:44,040 --> 00:32:49,000 Speaker 1: report that Irving had found Dickens to be quote outrageously vulgar. 532 00:32:49,920 --> 00:32:54,320 Speaker 1: Regardless Christmas became more of an established and public holiday 533 00:32:54,400 --> 00:32:56,920 Speaker 1: in the US over the course of the nineteenth century, 534 00:32:57,200 --> 00:32:59,720 Speaker 1: and it became a federal holiday in the US on 535 00:32:59,720 --> 00:33:03,440 Speaker 1: gu twenty sixth, eighteen seventy. Well, that's a bit about 536 00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:08,000 Speaker 1: Washington Irving and his influence on the Christmas season, on 537 00:33:08,080 --> 00:33:13,760 Speaker 1: the season of holiday cheer and greenery. And I feel 538 00:33:13,760 --> 00:33:17,240 Speaker 1: like he would have an aneurysm if he walked into 539 00:33:17,320 --> 00:33:20,840 Speaker 1: like a big box store and saw like the assault 540 00:33:20,880 --> 00:33:24,080 Speaker 1: of Christmas everything, which I'm not complaining about, by the way, 541 00:33:24,120 --> 00:33:26,080 Speaker 1: but to him, it would feel that way one hundred percent. 542 00:33:26,520 --> 00:33:34,160 Speaker 1: I met so thanks so much for joining us on 543 00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:36,640 Speaker 1: this Saturday. If you'd like to send us a note, 544 00:33:36,680 --> 00:33:41,440 Speaker 1: our email addresses History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com, and 545 00:33:41,640 --> 00:33:44,200 Speaker 1: you can subscribe to the show on the iHeartRadio app, 546 00:33:44,320 --> 00:33:52,600 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.