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’Tis the season to be jolly! If you’re celebrating Christmas or Hogmanay in Scotland this year, there are lots of seasonal Scottish traditions that you can take part in – some of them old, some of them new.
History of Christmas in Scotland
Neolithic solstice
Celtic Pagans held celebrations around the time of winter solstice (usually around the 21 or 22 of December) in acknowledgement of the shortest day of the year. The festivities were in part to brighten the dark winter days, and to appease the gods to allow the sun to return.
Viking Yule
Vikings began raiding Scotland in the late 700s AD, and settled here from the 8th–15th century. The Vikings brought their own way of celebrating the winter solstice, which they referred to as Jól. This old Norse term has its roots in the time of ‘Yule’, the pagan festivities which took place across what we now know as Christmastime, as well as being translated from Norse poetry as a word for ‘feast’ – highly appropriate since a mid-winter feast was a key part of Viking celebrations.
Why Christmas was banned in Scotland
There’s plenty to do in Scotland in the winter, and many Scots love getting in the festive spirit. But did you know that Christmas was banned here for almost four centuries?
Before the Reformation in 1560, Christmas in Scotland had been a religious feasting day. Then, with the powerful Kirk frowning upon anything related to Roman Catholicism, the Scottish Parliament passed a law in 1640 that made celebrating ‘Yule vacations’ illegal. The baking of Yule bread was a criminal act! Even after Charles II was restored to the throne, celebrating Christmas was frowned upon in Scotland for a long time – it wasn’t until 1958 that 25 December became a Scottish public holiday. Which is why Hogmanay and New Year celebrations in Scotland became so important.
Christmas in Scotland today
As well as Christmas Day becoming a public holiday in 1958 in Scotland, both Boxing Day and New Year’s Day achieved public holiday status over a decade later in 1974.
Many of the families who lived at our properties also loved to celebrate Christmas, ranging from the Hebrides to New Town in Edinburgh. If you are curious about Christmases of the more recent past, take a peek into what a Scottish merry Christmas has looked like for some:
