Have a ‘hygge’ Christmas!
Laura Plummer, the leading light in the Lecale Singers group, has sent out her Christmas message to the district.
For several years the singing group has been spreading its cheer around the area all year round and a special Christmas message from the folk songster certainly indicates Laura is heading for a ‘hygge’ Christmas just like they celebrate in Denmark.
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A Christmas message from Laura Plummer and the Lecale Singers… enjoy a hyyge Christmas![/caption]
The folk singer said: “The term comes from a Norwegian word meaning ‘wellbeing’. It first appeared in Danish writing in the 19th Century and has since evolved into the cultural idea known in Denmark today.
“Here’s a bit from the BBC News website Magazine: ‘Sitting by the fire on a cold night, wearing a woolly jumper, while drinking mulled wine and stroking a dog – probably surrounded by candles. That’s definitely ‘hygge’.
‘Eating home-made cinnamon pastries. Watching TV under a duvet. Tea served in a china set. Family get-togethers at Christmas. They’re all hygge too.
‘The Danish word, pronounced “hoo-ga”, is usually translated into English as “cosiness”. But it’s much more than that, say its aficionados – an entire attitude to life that helps Denmark to vie with Switzerland and Iceland to be the world’s happiest country.
‘With up to 17 hours of darkness per day in the depths of winter, and average temperatures hovering around 0C, people spend more time indoors as a result.
‘The rest of the world seems to be slowly waking up to what Danes have been wise to for generations – that having a relaxed, cosy time with friends and family, often with coffee, cake or beer, can be good for the soul,” says Helen Russell, author of The Year of Living Danishly: Uncovering the Secrets of the World’s Happiest Country.
‘Hygge seems to me to be about being kind to yourself – indulging, having a nice time, not punishing or denying yourself anything. All very useful come January when in the UK everyone’s on diets or manically exercising or abstaining from alcohol.
‘There isn’t so much enforced deprivation in Denmark. Instead you’re kinder to yourselves and so to each other. Danes don’t binge then purge – there’s not much yo-yo dieting in Denmark. No wonder they’re happier than we are in the UK.’
“Food for thought indeed,” added Laura.
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Laura Plummer and the Lecale Singers wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.[/caption]
“Voices of Lecale have had another busy December with our ‘Welcome,Yule!’ Christmas Concert at Downe Museum and our participation in the Carol Ship project singing carols on the ferry between Strangford and Portaferry. The third event was at  Rowallane Garden’s Yuletide Market on Saturday 12 December when we were singing from 1-3pm, and finally we’ll be back in Downpatrick on Wednesday 16 December singing carols round the wards in the Downe hospital from 2.30 – 3.30pm.
“Then we wind down for another year and a well deserved break and look forward to singing in another new year together.
“I would like to thank everyone who attends our concerts and recitals – your support means a lot to me and to all the choir members.
“As 2015 comes to an end I’d like to thank everyone who has joined me in making music this year – to all the singers at Down Arts Centre and in the Downe U3A group, and to everyone who has come to my singing workshops and especially to those in our choir, Voices of Lecale. Then there are my lovely musical friends from home and away with whom I’ve had such good fun – Willie, Michael, Fil & Tom, Aidan, Rosie, Marie (the Netherlands), Federica (Italy), my brother Pat and my son Declan. Lovely memories of this past year!
“In his book ‘The 7 Secrets Of Happiness‘, Gyles Brandreth reminds us of what so many philosphers and great thinkers have being saying down the ages… to be happy in this life you need a passion for ‘something’ that will sustain and nourish you through good times and bad.
“For me it has been music, right from my earliest days. No doubt when my parents positioned my day-cot directly below the shelf housing our ‘radiogram’ it had some effect – I must have absorbed a lot of popular and light classical music from a variety of BBC programmes before I was eating solid food! So I often thank my late parents for starting me on my musical journey long before they sent me to a cross wee woman for piano lessons when I was 10!
“And thank you to all the other teachers I’ve had since then. And to BBC for its ‘Singing Together’ programme which was one of the best things about primary school – I still remember many of the songs I learnt back then (‘Marianina, Marianina, come, O come and turn us into foam!’)
“And then there’s Miss McCann (music) at Rathmore Grammar School for making silk purses out of sows’ ears, and Patrick Murray who taught me ‘grown-up’ piano and Tom McGonigle for helping me get to grips with the concertina. And more recently Kate Fletcher for introducing me to so many great songs.
“Thanks also to everyone for some great nights in Downpatrick Folk Club and at Paddy’s Barn in years past. And to The Pluckin’ Squeezers & DaisyJanes – great craic singing in each others’ homes and making CD’s.
“Thanks to my long-suffering husband Stephen who has bought me guitars, concertinas, and an autoharp.
“And finally thanks to my son Declan for ‘making me’ learn DADGAD guitar, encouraging me to learn the bouzouki, introducing me to Irish trad, getting me started on the music software Finale and supporting me in so many ways at gigs and in recording projects – you can learn a lot from your kids!
“May you have a wonderful Christmas in the company of family and friends. And health, happiness, prosperity and the joy of music now and in the year to come,” added Laura.
The Shortest Day
(A poem by Susan Cooper.)
So the shortest day came, and the year died, And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world Came people singing, dancing, To drive the dark away. They lighted candles in the winter trees; They hung their homes with evergreen; They burned beseeching fires all night long To keep the year alive, And when the new year’s sunshine blazed awake They shouted, revelling. Through all the frosty ages you can hear them Echoing behind us – Listen!!
All the long echoes sing the same delight, This shortest day, As promise wakens in the sleeping land: They carol, fest, give thanks, And dearly love their friends, And hope for peace. And so do we, here, now, This year and every year. Welcome Yule !
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