The Christmas puddings that we eat nowadays usually come in the shape of the basin in which they are cooked; but when you see pictures of traditional Christmas puddings, they look like large footballs. This is because the pudding mixture was always tied up in a cloth or a bag and then boiled in a large pan, often in the tub that boiled the clothes on wash day. As the pudding cooked it would swell out to until it became round in shape.

Christmas puddings used to be called �plum pudding� because one of the main ingredients was dried plums or prunes. The name �plum pudding� continued to be used, even when people used raisins, currants, and sultanas instead of prunes.

The earliest puddings were nothing like the ones we enjoy today. They were long and round, and shaped like a thick sausage. They consisted of chopped-up meat, suet, oatmeal and spices and they were cooked in the scalded intestines of a sheep or pig. These puddings were served hot at the beginning of a meal as the first course.

Puddings rather like the ones we eat at Christmas began to appear in the sixteenth century. Since they were boiled in a bag, they were known as �bag puddings�. There is a legend about how such puddings came into being.

One Christmas Eve an English king found himself deep in a forest with only a little food for his journey. He knocked on the door of a woodman�s cottage and asked for food and shelter. The occupant had few provisions, so the king�s servant mixed together all the food the woodman would spare with the small amount the king had left. The result was a sticky mixture of chopped suet, flour, eggs, apples, dried plums, ale, sugar and brandy. This mixture was boiled in a cloth and a delicious pudding was invented.

Christmas puddings always used to be made on the Sunday nearest to St. Andrew�s Day. It was called Stir-Up Sunday because in the prayers set up for that day it says �Stir up, we beseech Thee o Lord, the will of thy faithful people�. Every member of the family would be sure to stir the mixture and make a secret wish.