At this time of year, as we get ready to batten down the hatches for a food fest and carols in front of the log fire (albeit an imitation one!), I usually wax lyrical about the traditions that the season has passed down to us over the centuries.

However, there is one notable evening of music and entertainment I would like to bring to your attention before I launch into those magical, mistletoe moments.

It is tonight (Dec 20) at Moreton Methodist Church, Moreton, Wirral CH46 7TT and features someone who, for quite a few years, was a well-known and respected member of Wrexham Folk Club resident band, Offa.

The gentleman in question is Brian Jones and, over the last few seasons his Christmas Shows, often performed with members of his talented family, have become the stuff of legend.

This year will be no exception as, once again, he calls upon family and friends to present his 2019 show, Bringing Folk Back to Church for Christmas.

The format, a winning one, will be much the same as other years with Brian leading a cast that includes family members helped by some of his musical friends.

Among the latter will be local singer Helen Sheppard to lend her superb harmonies to the occasion and, in a nod to nostalgia, Wirral Sound, aka Moreton Boys and Girls Brigade Band (of whom Brian was once a boy member).

I have it on good authority that Brian will also be playing a couple of tunes with the band on the Scottish Bagpipes, and, believe me, he is the best Sassenach I have ever seen on this notoriously difficult instrument.

The music starts at 7.30pm and, in the true spirit of Christmas, all proceeds will go to Claire House & Leprosy Mission.

With entry at just £6 (including refreshments) this must be the bargain of the season.

Tickets can be reserved/booked by phoning Helen Sheppard on 07421 354990 but be quick as Brian's Christmas Show a couple of years ago sold out a packed 250-seater Heswall Hall.

Now, back to those more traditional Folklore moments that our ancestors, in their much simpler lives, might have enjoyed and even participated in back in the day.

Christmas, as a time of celebration, has a very long pedigree.

This great mid-winter festival was known to the Romans as Saturnalia and, even then, was celebrated with feasting and drinking over a 12-day period.

Wassail bowls and bobs, boar's heads stuffed with apples, carolling and mumming, riotous games in the hall were all presided over by the Lord of Misrule.

Twelfth Night signalled an end to the merry anarchy with great pies and rich fruitcakes. Indeed, many customs had their origins in Pagan ceremonies.

The humble mistletoe was a symbol of fertility back in Celtic times being used by the Druids in ceremonies throughout Wales, especially on Yns Mon (Anglesey).

The all-conquering Roman's put a stop to all that of course by crossing the Menai Straits and wiping out our Welsh ancestors, the Druids, although echoes of those self-same ceremonies live on in the Eisteddfods of today.

Even the old carol, The Holly and the Ivy, takes on more earthly tones when you consider that holly was a male emblem bringing fortune and fertility to the household and ivy, being "of a clinging habit", was a feminine symbol.

The earliest day when holly or mistletoe was considered safe to enter the house (and then only with a man) was Christmas Eve and holly was kept buried under the next year's Christmas tree as a sign of continuity.

Still to be seen, though you must look far and wide these days, are the Mummers plays, reputedly dating from the time of the Crusades.

Over 800 years and still running is pretty good going. It beats The Mousetrap anyway and, early in the 20th century, the Mummers were once to be found in every village all over England.

Our equivalent in Wales is, of course, the Mari Lwyd, great fun with a horse's skull on a stick held by someone draped in a flowing white sheet and led by a minder with several itinerant followers.

They used to call door to door in Holywell and other small towns and villages, but now it is more likely to be pub to pub, obviously a more rewarding journey.

Christmas cards, one of the more onerous duties at this time of year, were first promoted and popularised by the Victorians - they have a lot to answer for?

Did you know, for instance, that the first Christmas card, as such, was credited to have appeared in 1843 and throughout the Victoria era it then became common custom to exchange these tokens between friends and family.

One of my favourite Christmas traditions is carols and I'm, a sucker for Silent Night, The Holly and the Ivy, etc. Once upon a time carolers called door to door and were welcomed into the household or fed and watered on the doorstep.

Carol singing, soul-caking, yule logs, holly and mistletoe are all well documented traditions and our own Mari Lwyd, the Christmas ceremony of the grey mare, is still observed in parts of North East Wales.

It is recorded by a visitor to the North Riding in 1810 that he was "pleasantly awakened at six o'clock on Christmas morning by some sweet singing, and looking sleepily down saw a group of men and women carolling to welcome the day" - some might say an unbelievably masochistic happening that calls to mind the "message" in one of this year's cards - "What is black and brown and looks good on a carol singer? - a Rottweiler - how times change!

On the other hand, pantomime dates to the Italian "mummers" of Elizabethan times, passing through the lewdness of the 18th century, before being "cleaned up" in the 19th to become the young children's favourites of today.

But then is this all true anyway - "Oh, yes, it is" - "Oh, no it isn't" - "Oh, yes, it is" - "Oh, no it isn't", etc, etc!!!

When you give your cards and presents and then sit down to feast on turkey and Christmas pudding, remember you are only carrying on a long tradition passed down to us over generations. Whatever you are doing this coming week take some time to reflect, thank our ancestors for the traditions that they handed down to us over the years, and have a peaceful and happy Christmas and, of course, enjoy the music.

By DCM