THAT ineffable feeling that Christmas is here comes to different people at different times.
For many years it fell to Huddersfield Methodist Choir or the Choral to float my seasonal boat.
This year it was Maddy Prior and the Carnival Band, appearing with a bunch of ancient carols and capers with Christmas but days away at St George’s Hall, Bradford.
They apologised throughout for stringencies brought about by the recession – a song scroll instead of a laser light show and tiny Christmas tree (‘A gift from the government of Norway’).
The band had been thinking of song titles suitable for our straitened times. I Saw Two Ships Come Sailing In – neither of which you can fly planes from – was my favourite.
I’m Dreaming of a Tight Christmas was another.
And what’s wrong with a tight Christmas?’ the band’s founder, Andy Watts, asked in a Yorkshire accent.
Andy was brought up in Knaresborough so if anyone has a free pass to poke gentle fun at Tyke stereotypes it’s him.
The perception that we Tykes are careful with our money is widespread. We are physically and sartorially different from the rest of Britain in that we have short arms and deep pockets, so the legend runs.
But several people I know who were born and bred in the south have remarked not on Yorkshire folk’s stinginess but on their generosity – if not directly in cash, in time and kindliness.
And at Christmas time, no creature on earth is more generous than a Yorkshireman.
I have already forgiven Andy Watts.
