Once a time of merriment when rules were subverted, Twelfth Night has long since lost its sparkle, says Vicky Liddell, as she digs into the colourful past of the Feast of Fools and finds that some traditions live on.
For most of us, Twelfth Night is the day we tear down tinsel and wrestle a desiccated tree out of the front door, but, up until the late 19th century, it was a time of feasting and merriment, second in importance only to Christmas Day. Fires were lit in…
