Well, here it comes again: the festive season of Christmas is upon us once more. Everyone is running around in a panic, shopping for this and that and hoping that things turn out right on the day.

It's shop till you drop, spend, spend, spend. The big splurge is on, it's empty your wallet season. With gusto lash back the turkey, the ham, the mince pies, the roast spuds and the Brussels sprouts. Throw back the Hino, the Bud and the Harpic. Stick the feet up, turn on the box and watch Willie Wonka and the Chocolate factory, for the tenth time.

And of course the clichéd 'it's all gone too commercial' will be sung from every hymn sheet. Well at one time it was too commercial, too commercial for Oliver that is. In the seventeenth century Oliver Cromwell and his buddies were putting the damper on Christmas.

While Cromwell personally did not ban Christmas he certainly took a shine to the idea. It was the 'Puritan Party' that pushed the ban through the elected parliament. The dampener on Christmas was introduced in the 1640s and stayed in place until the restoration in1660. During the period 1653 to 1658 Cromwell became Lord Protector and ensured the ban on Christmas stayed in place.

The celebration of Christmas in the early seventeenth century was similar to today's celebrations. Christmas Day 25th December was a holy day and recalled the birth of Christ, (Christ's Mass). People went to church. Shops, businesses and offices closed. It also marked the beginning of twelve days of feasting and merriment.

In England and Ireland the New Year began on the 25th of March as dictated by the English calendar. However, the majority of people regarded the 1st of January, the 'continental calendar ' as the beginning of the New Year.

The twelve days of Christmas finished with 'twelfth night' with more feasting and shenanigans. There were visits to family and friends where over-eating and drinking was the norm. During the twelve days of Christmas shops only opened occasionally for a few hours at a time.

Churches, Chapels and family houses were decked out in holly and ivy. The pubs, known as taverns, were raking it in. The portly 'Father Christmas' was a benign figure who watched over and delighted in the celebrations. He was not known at this stage as one who gave pressies to deserving children.

Cromwell, the Puritan parliamentarians and a large section of society disliked all these celebrations. They saw it as wasteful, sinful and overindulgence. They also viewed it as a survival of the Roman Catholic faith. This was a Popish celebration and Christ had never suggested his nativity be celebrated in this way, they declared. They wanted a clampdown on Christmas and Easter celebrations and stricter adherence of the Lord's day.

In the 1640s, the 'Long Parliament ' as it was known introduced the clampdown. They decreed that Christmas, Easter and Holy days be abolished. Sunday, the Lord's day, was for religious services, fasting and praying. Shops and business premises were ordered to stay open on December 25th. Any person found attending a church service on Christmas day was liable to a hefty fine.

The 'Long Parliament' met on the 25th of December 1656 and discussed the idea of further clampdowns on Christmas. On paper, at least, it appeared that Christmas celebrations had been axed. The 'Long Parliament's' ban on Christmas merriment and secular enjoyment had become law.

However, many people continued to celebrate Christmas. Secret religious ceremonies took place and the secular enjoyment and feasting continued.

In the late 1640s there were riots and disturbances between supporters and opponents of Christmas. Some people tried to force shops to stay open while others frowned on the secular celebrations. As the parliamentarians met on December 25th 1656 they were extremely annoyed at the number of shops and business premises which remained closed. Writers to newspapers suggested that the secular government had no right to make laws concerning Christmas. Most people continued to celebrate Christmas in a religious and festive manner.

At the Restoration in 1660, all laws banning Christmas celebrations were abolished. Christmas festivities could continue once more. Cromwell and the 'Long Parliament' ban on Christmas was over.