by Mary Jo
If you've read many Christmas Regency romances, I'm sure you've encountered the kissing bough. Christmas trees didn't become common in Britain until the Victorian age, and were brought into fashion by the Royal Family's German connections.
But the kissing bough has deep roots in British history and is part of the tradition of bringing evergreens into the house at the holiday season. It's essentially a globe of greens with a bunch of mistletoe fastened to the bottom. Traditionally one white mistletoe berry was removed each time there was a kiss. I presume that festive householders would refresh the berries as necessary! The image at the right is from the North Pole site, with instructions on how to make your own kissing bough.
Over time, kissing boughs became more elaborate, with ribbons and candles and fruit. I thought it would be fun to go to YouTube and find a couple of videos of people making kissing boughs. This first is from English Heritage and goes behind the scenes of Kenilworth Castle to see how a Tudor kissing bough is made. (It helps if you can wander into your knot garden and cut off some rose hips. <G>)
This second one is a clip that talks about Georgian kissing boughs, and also about the pagan associations of many of the plants. Apparently mistletoe isn't supposed to be brought into churches!
From a plot point of view, a kiss under the mistletoes can be embarrassing because of too much unruly attraction, or it can be a kiss that should be casual that turns out to be disturbingly electric. Either way, it affects the romance. Here's a kissing bough bit of the former type from my novella, The Christmas Cuckoo.
After receiving Jack’s playful kiss, Phoebe said gaily, “Your turn, Meg.”
Jack gave Meg an appalled glance. As plainly as if it were written on the wall in letters of flame, he knew they were both thinking of the kiss in the stable at Chippenham.
So much for her comment that they should forget what had happened! Jack recalled with absolute precision how her soft body had molded against him, how she had tasted, and how she had responded. Remembering that, it was impossible to kiss her casually now.
Just before the silence became embarrassingly obvious, Meg stepped up and presented her cheek with a determined let’s-get-this-over-with expression. Jack gave her a quick, awkward peck. Her creamy skin was silky smooth beneath his lips. Then the moment was over, to Jack’s immense relief.
Have you ever seen a real kissing bough? Are you now inspired to make one next year? They do look quite fun!
Mary Jo