The (Violent) Origin of Christmas Vacation

A couple of nights ago, my lovely wife was reading me a bedtime story from the book The Battle for Christmas. (When a couple of book nerds hook up, they read to each other from strange books that most of the world doesn't care about).

As I drifted off to sleep, she read to me about sinister origins of the two-week Christmas vacation that teachers and students  will be enjoying this holiday season. Most everything we enjoy has a sinister origin.

Long ago, late in 16th century England, school boys decided that they needed some time off to relax, be lazy, and do whatever the heck they felt like without some stuffy schoolmaster breathing down their necks. Their solution? Lock 'em out:

"As Christmas drew near, the boys gathered together weapons, ammunition, and a store of provisions. Then one morning they seized the premises and barred the doors and windows against the master. The most important goal...was to force the schoolmaster to grant his pupils a holiday vacation."

photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/walhalla/5158645198/sizes/l/in/photostream/

And if the schoolmaster tried to break in? Well, shoot that sucker in the face! Read it in a schoolmaster's own words:

"While I was breaking in, they presently fired off 4 or 5 pistols and hurt one of my servants in the eye with the wadd...from one of the pistols."

Presumably this was before the days of Bloods, Crips, flying colors, throwing up sets, and whatever else they do in Gangland. So much for the good old days.

Thus it seems we can trace our lovely vacation back to some of the earliest instances of school violence. If you'll be enjoying some time off this holiday season, think back to the days of yore, where some of our forefathers made a courageous stand at the gates of the school.

Happy Holidays.