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The Christmas Season
"🎶 Oh, the mistletoe bough!"
~ The Mistletoe Bough, 1830 ballad
Designed to captivate—and perhaps even to mischievously encourage the wearer, or an admiring onlooker, to drift beneath an inviting sprig or wreath of mistletoe—this tartan draws on rich layers of holiday tradition and symbolism. Dressing for the season has long extended beyond festive colors in clothing to the literal “decking of the halls” with boughs of holly and mistletoe, often gathered into elaborate kissing-boughs.
The custom of kissing beneath the mistletoe is believed to reach back to the Druids of the first century, who revered the plant as sacred. Its remarkable ability to bloom in the depths of winter made it a potent symbol of renewal and new life, and it was used medicinally for both people and animals in hopes of restoring health and fertility.
Mistletoe also holds a prominent place in Scandinavian legend. Balder, the god of Peace, was tragically slain by an arrow fashioned from mistletoe, yet through divine intervention he was restored to life. In the aftermath, the plant—once an instrument of harm—was entrusted to the goddess of Love, who decreed that all who pass beneath its branches must share a kiss, transforming mistletoe into a timeless emblem of love, reconciliation, and hope.
And so, if you’ve donned this—or your favorite—tartan, mistletoe is decking the hallway, and this tale is tucked neatly into your conversational stocking, take full advantage of your splendid attire and propinquity, and let this charming holiday tradition do the rest! 💚 ❤️ 🤍 💚 💗 💋 🌱
Dressing for the holidays can often include not only seasonal colours for one's clothing, but traditional decorations, including decking the halls, not only with boughs of holly, but often with the mistletoe herb, in the form of a "kissing-bough."
Kissing under sprigs of mistletoe is a well-known holiday tradition, but this plant’s history as a symbolic herb dates back thousands of years. Many ancient cultures prized mistletoe for its healing properties.
The plant’s romantic overtones most likely started with the Celtic Druids of the 1st century A.D. Because mistletoe could blossom even during the frozen winter, the Druids came to view it as a sacred symbol of vivacity, and they administered it to humans and animals alike in the hope of restoring fertility.
Mistletoe’s associations with fertility and vitality continued through the Middle Ages, and by the 18th century it had become widely incorporated into Christmas celebrations. As part of the early custom, men were allowed to steal a kiss from any woman caught standing under the mistletoe, and refusing was viewed as bad luck.
This tartan, by designer Carol A.L. Martin, employs the traditional red and green on a snowy background for a Christmas tartan of holiday elegance.
The story, "The Legend of the Mistletoe Bough," tells the sad tale of a newlywed bride who accidentally locks herself in an old oak trunk while playing hide-and-seek with members of her wedding party, who then spend a long night searching for her in vain.
From tragic story to traditional Christmas song, this 1830 ballad begins:
THE MISTLETOE BOUGH
The mistletoe hung in the castle hall,
The holly branch shone on the old oak wall;
And the baron's retainers were blithe and gay,
And keeping their Christmas holiday.
The baron beheld with a father's pride
His beautiful child, young Lovell's bride;
While she with her bright eyes seemed to be
The star of the goodly company
Oh, the mistletoe bough.
Oh, the mistletoe bough.
For the rest of the song, click the cheerier picture of Robin Hood stealing a kiss under a mistletoe bough, by J.C. Leydendecker, from the Dec 23, 1933 issue of The Saturday Evening Post.