Boxing Day at the Old Manse: Refreshments for Redcoats

On December 26 the Old Manse will once again celebrate Boxing Day with a grand sale of British goods and foodstuffs, and a continuation of its popular  winter bookstore sale. House tours take place hourly,... and all visitors who become members of The Trustees of Reservations (or buy a gift membership) will receive a free tour of the rarely seen, atmospheric (and some say haunted) Old Manse attic. Also, you will meet members of the Redcoat Regiment that fought at the Old North Bridge on April 19, 1775. They will discuss weapons, uniforms, tactics and military history with all interested, and also talk about British perspectives on the Revolutionary War.

So what is Boxing Day all about, then?

Traditionally, 'Boxing Day' has taken place in the United Kingdom and in British Commonwealth countries on December 26, on the Feast of St. Stephen, since the late Middle Ages, when servants were required to work on Christmas Day. They took the following day off to visit families, and their employers presented them with gift boxes to take with them. Another theory claims wealthy parishioners deposited coins in boxes placed in churches, which the Minister opened and distributed to the poor on the day after Christmas.

England's American colonies celebrated Boxing Day for many generations, but abandoned it after Independence. However, it will re-appear in Concord's Old Manse for the third consecutive year. Starting this weekend, come and join curious locals, and ex-pat Brits, yearning for a taste of the old country, to buy such delicacies as treacle sponge pudding, potato crisps, chocolate digestive biscuits, HP sauce and Branston Pickle. Because of the Manse's proximity to the Old North Bridge, the Old Manse markets these goods as 'Refreshments for Redcoats.'