Do you smell what I smell? How scents linked to Christmas have changed

The smell of pine trees and cinnamon biscuits may mean that it is starting to smell like Christmas, but research has shown that it may not have had such a joyful meaning in the past.

In the 17th century an orange studded with cloves could have been associated with the plague.

While such spices and fruits were used in food preparation, cloves were also used inside pomanders.

In the 17th century it was used to protect against disease.

He said that Henry VIII's Cardinal Wolsey was the one who carried an orange stuffed with spices to cover up the smells of lawyers and the people who sued them.

When dried clove-stuffed oranges came back into fashion in the 20th century, it was because of the combination of oranges and cloves.

It has become a Christmas thing.

It was important to shift the association of oranges and cloves away from disease in order for the scent to be linked to the kitchen.

In the 17th century, the spices are being used in food. When we get to the end of the 18th century, people don't think that the smells of spices and herbs can help you. The only thing left is to use it for food and make your home smell good.

Cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and other spices have been used for a long time for food and drink, including in gingerbread and mulled wine, and their link to the festive season may have arisen from an earlier association with the new year.

The database known as the "SmellExplorer" contains 218,903 text extracts from the 16th to 20th century. The resource was created by the Odeuropa project, which uses artificial intelligence to sniff out smells from the past.

According to the 18th-century poet John Gay, the scent of Rosemary used to be associated with the holiday.

There is a time when he says, "When Rosemary, and bays, the poets' crown, Are bawled, in frequent cries, through all the town, then judge the festival of Christmas near."

The herb is cited in other texts. The 16th-century Christmas song 'Bedeck'd with bays and Rosemary' celebrates the serving of a pig's head.

Things haven't changed. A character in a play that was performed at the royal court at Christmas refers to someone who has been drinking as an English Christmas.

It was associated with the festive period because it was often used in wassail bowls.

He said that the idea of getting so drunk that you just smell alcohol as part of Christmas has been around for a long time.