The attractions of a Christmas legend, at least for some. Here's one to think about tomorrow, just before bedtime - a poem that refers to a country legend that farmyard animals kneel at midnight on Christmas Eve. By the time it was written Thomas Hardy had lost his faith. It encapsulates ... Read More...

Frank Key recalls a cosy memory of Christmas on the political hard Left... 1983 was, for me, a memorable year for Christmas crackers. I was young, newly-married, and an earnest and idealistic leftie. Being the armchair revolutionary type, I had not actually joined any of the various socialist or communist groupuscules ... Read More...

For your yuletide delight, Jonathon Green presents a seasonal selection box of slang... angel n. 1. (also fallen angel) a prostitute. 2. a young woman, esp. a pretty one; also in direct address. 3. an older gay man, usu. one who supports a younger lover. 4 .a sandwichboard-man. 5. a passive homosexual; a tramp’s young homosexual ... Read More...

Need to cook for pesky vegetarians this Christmas? Here Monix provides a delicious Christmas pie, which will also satisfy the carnivores... Like many modern families, mine contains a number of vegetarians, and veggie food usually takes a little more thought and preparation than meat or fish dishes. But it can be worth the ... Read More...

In a post that originally kicked off our National Treasures series, Brit looks at an infamous nativity scene... Pieter van Bruegel the Elder is best known for his large, peasant-filled landscapes, so this scene of the Magi offering their gifts to the infant Christ is a rare ‘close-up’. For something painted in ... Read More...

Will Lowe has a present for you: how to make the perfect Christmas Martini. Treat yourself on Christmas Day with a super special recipe. On a day when the rest of the world reaches for the champagne, I reach for the chemistry kit, and set about creating a cocktail fit for a ... Read More...

Last week Brit the Elder posed his fiendish Cryptic Hypergram quiz, in which every answer was an anagram plus 1 letter. A few of you got some or all of it, but nobody got question 8, which was the longest answer. 'Octane Ratings' was, admittedly, ludicrously difficult, so I'll sort out a winner ... Read More...

Gwyn Headley, the foremost authority on English follies and co-author of the magnificent new ebook series Follies of England, looks at one of Britains most horrible listed buildings... “Folly!” cry the locals. “Masterpiece!” cry the conservation societies. “Sod off!” cry the vandals. The Apollo Pavilion in Peterlee, County Durham, has today ... Read More...

For those who missed it last year, here's Jassy's attempt at a Christmas Mission Impossible: making sprouts edible... Is there a more painful Christmas ritual than the annual passing round of the Brussels sprouts, accompanied by the traditional chant: “You have to take at least one, you have to take at least ... Read More...

It took Nige years to find this brilliant novel in a secondhand bookshop. If only he'd known you can buy it for a penny online... The novels of Muriel Spark that most frequently turn up in charity shops are The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie, The Girls of Slender Means, A ... Read More...