Handsel Monday (occasionally misspelled as “Hansel Monday”) is an adopted tradition in Ireland: it used to be celebrated mainly in Scotland and the north of England, crossing the Irish Sea with immigrants and settlers. A minority tradition connected to a specific ethnic group, and slowly disappearing. And it may be one of the Twelve Days of Christmas (or not, as it is a kind of mobile party).
When is Hands on Monday?
Handsel Monday falls on the first Monday of the year, so the actual date in any year can be between January 1 and January 7. In 2014, January 6, also known as “Little Christmas” or “Women’s Christmas,” was Handsel Monday; in 2016 it was January 4 (right in the middle of the possible dates), in 2017 it will be January 2, with a Handsel on Monday January 1 or New Years Day in 2018.
Oddly enough, there are (at least in some areas of Scotland where the tradition is stronger) also celebrations of ‘Auld Hansel Monday’, the first Monday after January 12, thus adopting holidays according to the old Julian calendar. to dates in the new Gregorian Calendar: similar to the celebration of the Battle of the Boyne or the October Revolution in Russia.
What is the Handsel?
“Handsel” is believed to have its roots in the language of the Saxons (at least placing the name firmly in an English context), meaning “to hand something over.” A due to be given. It is not a massive tax: the meaning is closer to a small gift, be it money or goods, more like a sign to guarantee good luck from the beginning. Therefore, a handel would generally be a gift to mark (and bless) a beginning. By giving this gift, the giver also avoids not only a social misstep, but also a spell of bad luck.
The tradition
In the 19th century, Handsel Monday was the day when it was already customary (reflecting an older popular tradition) to give children and servants (both “dependents” of the paterfamilias, so to speak) a gift. Which shouldn’t be a sharp object, not for modern (and often just maddening) health and safety reasons, but because it can “cut ties.” Similar gift exclusions govern marriage gifts, to name just one other event. And another important warning was attached to the gifts on Handsel Monday …
If you gave him a purse, it should never be totally empty. Though in traditionally parsimonious county Cavan (to be nice), it would be hard to find more than a penny or (today) a penny in the new purse I guess.
Later, the house servants waited not only for tips (money, more than anything else, was becoming important over time) in the day, but also for everyone who called the house regularly: the newspaper boys. , the garbage men, the postman, delivery men from the local butchers, bakers and possibly also candle makers. Similar traditions are found in many parts of the world, although, as in Germany, for example, much of this gift would be immediately before Christmas or around New Year’s Day.
In the 21st century, Handsel Monday is almost forgotten in Ireland… although in some families children still receive small gifts on this day. Many modern Irish people will be hard-pressed to have even heard of Handsel Monday and can outright refute it, saying that it is “not an Irish tradition.” And they would be correct, as mentioned above.
An interesting description of the Handsel Monday proceedings in Limerick can be found in “The Park Danes” by Patsy Harrold:
“Hansel Monday” was also celebrated on the first Monday of the New Year. That morning, a child in each house would wish a happy new year and his mother would give him a half a hansel crown. The woman would then show her son through the back door of the house. After closing this door, the mother would open the front and welcome the child into the kitchen. However, the son’s wealth was short-lived, as the woman would quickly regain the hansel. Half crowns were never too abundant at Park.
