The Dark is Rising, a drama by Susan Cooper for BBC World Service.
Episode 5,
The Book of Grammarie Christmas Eve The day when the delight of Christmas really took fire in the Stanton family,
wonderful baking smells permeating the house from the kitchen,
the icing of the cake, and for Will, Stanton,
after breakfast, the great ritual of fetching the tree from Dawson's farm.
When no one else was looking,
Farmer Dawson slept a sprig of holly into the top buttonhole of Will's coat.
Holly is a good protection against the dark if pinned over the window or door.
And then they carried the tree ceremonially through the front door over the threshold of the Stanton's house.
And out of the boxes came the decorations that would turn the life of the family into a festival of twelve nights and days.
That evening, six of the Stanton children, James, Robin, Mary,
Barbara, Paul and Will, set out carol singing in the village.
It was dark by the time they left.
Robin carried a lantern on a pole and each of them had a candle in one coat pocket for when they would stand and sing.
On through the village they sang.
Until at last it was time for Miss Greythorn at the manor.
The last stop before home.
There, in the doorway of the manor house, stood Miss Greythorne's butler, smiling politely at them,
and Will, as he looked up at him, swallowed his last high note.