Hi Lister Friends, With memories so much on my mind, I suddenly remembered the "treasure trove" that I was sitting on! I have photocopies of three letters written by my paternal grandmother, to my father, who was serving in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, in India. The family were living in Coventry, although George was born in Claydon and his forebears were from the Banbury area of Oxfordshire. Grandma was from Sowe, close to the NE boundary of Coventry, but which has subsequently been engulfed by the city. I hope that I haven't sent you to sleep, but I needed to "set the scene", as it were. I will quote from one of her letters, which describes an actual event, the like of which we see no more. Its importance struck me anew, as I re-remembered it, and there will be those amongst you who may also be interested. There is an introductory sentence before we get to the "nitty gritty", but it "places" the event. So, here goes--------------------> Jan 4th 1926 My Dearest Son (Len) ---------------------------------------------etc Now I must tell you a bit of how we spent Xmas, Well Dear Len the first start off, Dad came Home at 2pm on Xmas Eve with a goose 10 pounds, which he had won so I set too (sic) and stuffed it & got all ready for the oven on Xmas Morning, & it was a treat, I can tell you, but we never had a soul in all the Holiday till Bert & Len Thomas came in & Dick Farrer but we were going out to our cousins Tom Liggins at Cross Rd, it was on the Sunday night to join his party & hear some sacred singing being Sunday we could not have any fun like we did at Uncle Harrys. For we went there on Boxing night, and if you could have seen us all, the fun we had that night, it was a scream when they cried the forfeits. I had to go round the Room & Kiss all the gentlemen, married & single & then when that was over cousin Tom & Lydia played a lovely Duet on the piano. & then we all sang together, a song called ( Down on the Bings Farm) Then me & a young lady sang together (Good King Wenceslas) And they clapped us, for another one, so after that we had Wine & ale & sandwiches handed round, because of the shortness of table room, as there was 21 folks altogether but what spoilt it a little Lydia's Uncle Mr Twycross of Handsworth Bham was taken suddenly ill and had to go to bed with a Hot Bottle to his side he was in such pain, but he got better & was able to leave for Home on the next night. All of us were as sober as judges, but one Uncle from Stourpourt (sic), gave us a Comic Song, and by Jove I never did so much laughing since you left home, as I did that night, my neck was quite sore next morning, but I felt heaps better for the fun. --------------------------etc From Your loving Mother & Dad G & E. Parritt xxx xxx xx I ended up reading the account a trifle breathlessly as in my young days we were trained to breath at a fullstop, and snatch a quick breath at commas! ( I had worse problems when reading missives which Gt-Aunt Alice used to post to me in NZ.in the 60s, as the punctuation was extremely scarce!). Despite this the account comes across graphically, doesn't it? For readers from Canada and USA, Boxing Day is on December 26th, it is a public holiday,and traditionally postmen and tradesmen received a "tip", in appreciation of their services throughout the year. I have my doubts about the "sober as judges" comment; with the excitement of the evening and ale and potent home-made wines passed around? I knew Grandma only as a rather austere, formidable figure, so these letters were an eye-opener! Dad was posted out to India in 1922, so she had evidenty missed him, ( and his brother, who was there too), a lot. For the record, my brother has the originals of her letters. I hope that you enjoyed that account of evenings of yesteryear, as they were before the advent of the wireless, gramophone and television killed such familial gatherings, where you all had a "piece" you could perform for the entertainmment of the rest. It is a glimpse into another age. Regards, Muriel.