Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942) Canadian author of the Anne of Green Gables series of novels, wrote many short stories, some of them Christmas in theme.
The L.M. Montgomery Christmas Collection: Selected stories and poems by Lucy Maud Montgomery, includes poems, stories, and excerpts of larger works. The theme of generosity is common throughout. In most of the stories, the characters are moved to generous acts by the spirit of the season.
In “Aunt Cyrilla’s Christmas Basket,” Montgomery writes about another kind of generosity, the kind that lasts all year long. Cyrilla’s generosity emerges from an ever generous heart and a desire to give for giving’s sake. In this story Montgomery highlights the kind of person for whom giving is an act that feeds them in a unique and energizing way, allowing them to give more.
Read Nasty Women Writers post: Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942): Canada’s most popular novelist.
Cyrilla’s giving is generative. The act of giving births more giving. Her basket is the magical vessel that provides.
Aunt Cyrilla’s Christmas Basket
Lucy Rose is upset with her Aunt Cyrilla when she walks “downstairs, somewhat flushed and breathless from her ascent to the garret, with a big, flat-covered basket hanging over her plump arm”(69).
The two are on their way to Pembroke for Christmas to visit Edward and Geraldine. Lucy Rose had hoped to have broken her aunt of the habit of “carrying that basket with her every time she went.”
Lucy Rose considers Geraldine to be “very stylish” and her aunt to be “provincial” and out of date.
Cyrilla is not moved by Lucy Rose’s judgment. She likes to feed people. She brings that big basket full of food wherever she goes and doles out the goodies along the way. “Aunt Cyrilla always would carry it on her arm and give cookies and apples and molasses taffy out of it to every child she encountered and, just as often not, to older folks too”(69).
“Now, Aunt C’rilla,” she pleaded, “you’re surely not going to take that funny old basket to Pembroke this time—Christmas Day and all.”
“Deed and ‘deed I am,” returned Aunt Cyrilla briskly, as she put it on the table and proceeded to dust it out. “I never went to see Edward and Geraldine since they were married that I didn’t take a basket of good things along with me for them, and I’m not going to stop now”(70).
She begins to consider what she shall fill it with:
“That big fruit cake for one thing—Edward does like my fruit cake; and that cold boiled tongue for another. Those three mince pies too, they’d spoil before we got back or your uncle’d make himself sick eating them—mince pie is his besetting sin. And that little stone bottle full of cream—Geraldine may carry any amount of style, but I’ve yet to see her look down on real good country cream, Lucy Rose; and another bottle of my raspberry vinegar. That plate of jelly cookies and doughnuts will please the children and fill up the chinks, and you can bring me the box of ice-cream candy out of the pantry, and that bag of striped candy sticks your uncle brought home from the corner last night. And apples, of course—three or four dozen of those good eaters—and a little pot of my greengage preserves—Edward’ll like that. And some sandwiches and pound cake for a snack for ourselves. Now, I guess that will do for eatables. The presents for the children can go in on top. There’s a doll for Daisy and the little boat your uncle made for Ray and a tatted lace handkerchief a piece for the twins, and the crochet hood for the baby.”
Lucy Rose comments sarcastically: “There’s a cold roast chicken in the pantry” to which Aunt Cyrilla replies that she can make room for the chicken.
Horrified, Lucy Rose stands over the basket and whispers: “Some day I’m going to burn this basket—when I get courage enough”(71).
However, when their train gets stopped on Christmas Eve, due to a blizzard, and they are stuck overnight with strangers on the tracks in the cold, Aunt Cyrilla provides a joyous Christmas dinner for everyone, and Lucy Rose sees the error of her ways. The story ends with her saying,“It’s a blessed old basket and I love it”(78).
The ones who are givers
Lucy Maud Montgomery. photo credit: Parks Canada
“Aunt Cyrilla’s Christmas Basket” is a delight to read for the character of Cyrilla and the easy tempo of the writing as Aunt Cyrilla methodically gives away the contents of her basket over the course of their delay. She prepares a delicious holiday meal for all and generates Christmas stockings for the children with the gifts she has brought and contributions from others on the train. She also helps out a passenger who is poverty-stricken by organizing a collection for her.
Her basket is her veritable Santa’s sack. Like Mary Poppins’ bag, it is the bottomless sack of gifts that only becomes larger and fuller with the giving. Cyrilla embodies the spirit of generosity that so many associate with the Christmas holiday, whether or not they are observant Christians.
There are certain people who embody this virtue more than others. Cyrilla is one of them. She is not deterred by her niece’s queasiness around her “basket habit” because she knows that the more she gives, the more she has to give.
Some of us are lucky enough to have people like this in our lives; people who are ready to help, who like to feed us, who know what to do when times are difficult without being asked.
Though being generous is a conscious effort for most, for these folks, it is who they are. They are fed by feeding others. The more they give, the more they have to give. The space they hold is enriched with the giving. As a result, most of them hold a large presence in their community.
My father was one such person. He loved to cook for people and feed them; he opened his door to everyone. He had time to listen and help. It was done naturally. He did not have to think about being generous, he just was. The more he gave, the more rarefied and cherished his presence became.
Santa Claus embodies such a spirit and is based on the story of St. Nicholas and his generous acts. In most traditions globally, there are stories of this type of person.
Since many of us endeavor to embody the spirit of generosity at the winter holiday time, we often hear the lament, Why can’t it be like Christmas all year long? The truth is that most of us cannot maintain this kind of generosity all year through. It is not in our nature. It takes a special kind of person to hold this space.
This winter holiday season, I offer recognition and gratitude to those who, like Aunt Cyrilla and my Dad, hold that space all year long.
©Theresa C. Dintino 2025
Works cited
The L.M. Montgomery Christmas Collection: Selected stories and poems by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Smidgen Press. 2023.
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