Tis of a verdant pair I sing and of their verdant year

So gather round, your glasses found, their doings you shall hear.

Striking experiences, 1 Universities call it the academic year, HM Revenue call it the fiscal year: it's time that the much-scorned tribe of Christmas-Letter-Writers had a word to describe the 365 and a bit days from one to the next. Well: at the start of the Letterary year, i.e. late Dec, we found ourselves playing bass viol/flute at an evening of Village Carols in a rural pub. Round Sheffield and other parts of Yorkshire it has remained the custom to sing local versions of carols, ever since [fill in date at whim, e.g. 1830]. Everyone for miles around is crammed into the local pub on the appointed evening. Local words, local tunes, built like country furniture, sturdily unfashionable. What a strong community was there - and how good at using up all the space.