Britain is full of old Christmas traditions, some that have continued through the centuries and some that (sadly) have faded away. But others have been revived, among them the medieval Crying Christmas of Lincoln, which has the City of Lincoln Waites to thank for its reappearance. See here https://tinyurl.com/4bszwaxc.
Lest you jump to conclusions about the good people of Lincoln having to sob their way through Christmas, let me assure you it isn’t that at all. “….Crying Christmas marks the start of the festive period with the reading out of 15 verses….” These verses tell good folk that Christmas is starting and how they should behave. Not only ordinary folk are thus instructed, but royalty too!
“….The original Waites were the official band of the city’s mayor and can trace their origins back to the 1400s….Members wear period costumes and have instruments that date back to the time of King Richard III….”
The Waites will perform at St Mary Magdalene church over the Christmas period, playing 500-year-old music, but it seems that in times gone by they went through the streets of Lincoln, playing as they went and reading out the cries.
If you go to this link https://lincolnpost.co.uk/index.php/2025/12/24/historic-lincoln-tradition-crying-christmas-revived-by-local-performers/ (from which the illustration below is taken) you can read a lot more about Crying Christmases.
by viscountessw
The New Murrey and Blue blog 
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