Christmas (Nadelik) was celebrated in Cornwall when it had become unfashionable to do so across the rest of Britain. c

Numerous distinctive traditions and practicesare associated with this time of year including;

• The Cornish Christmas Bunch
• Cornish church towers being illuminated on Christmas-eve
• Triumphal arches of evergreens and flags were often seen in towns and villages
• Guise-dancing - Participants dressed in gentlemens hand me downs and wearing masks would tour the town enteraining others with music and dance for a full description of the practice of guise dancing click here. Often led by a "Lord of Misrule" or master of ceremonies.

Guise dancers with Penzance 'Obby 'Oss Penglaz during the 2008 Montol festival.

The Cornish play of "Saint George and the Turkish Knight and its variants - A variant on the story popularly played out by mummers across the UK with local variants.

• Candle Dancing - dancing around a basket full of sand with brightly coloured candles in it
• The Twelfth cake - And the general celebration of 12th night as a feast.
• The lighting and chalking of the Mock or Block. It was a tradition to draw a chalk man on the Christmas or yule log to symbolise the death of the old year and the start of the new. This was a communal activity and is still performed in public during the Montol festival in Penzance.
• The Cornish Christmas Carol - Cornwall has provided a suprisingly large number of Carols known throughout the world. For a full list click here.

A picture of a Cornish Christmas Bunch - hung on the ceiling in a Cornish houses at around the 21st of December which in Cornish was known as "Montol" - The Montol festival in Penzance has revived many of the Cornish customs of Christmas and can be found by clicking here.