Scottish Christmas Traditions
Not doing something for about four hundred years would generally suffice to make you forget about how exactly it was you did that thing again, right? Well yes, and unfortunately, such is the case for the Scottish Christmas celebrations…
Somewhere in the middle of the sixteenth century, Christmas was banned in Scotland. The country being Anglican (i.e. part of the Church of England), Christmas was seen in Scotland as a Roman Catholic holiday - and celebrating it was obviously unacceptable. The banning of Christmas was a very serious affair: there were plenty of legal repercussions for people who celebrated the birth of Christ anyway.
Only in the 1950s was the ban lifted, and Christmas became a national holiday in 1958, though many Scots still think it is highly unacceptable to make a big production out of the occasion. Before the 1950s, the Scottish used to celebrate New Year - a holiday they call "Hogmanay". Linguists point out that this word may actually derive from the French expression "un homme est né" (meaning "a man is born"), which would then link their celebrations to Christmas after all.
Keep the Elves Out
This charged history obviously had its repercussions on the way the Scottish celebrate Christmas. For one, there used to be a long standing superstition that one absolutely had to keep the fire going in the fireplace on Christmas Eve. If not, the elves that were roaming around outside would climb down the chimney - and apparently, you didn't want that to happen. It is worth noting at this point that pagan traditions are still very much a part of popular Scottish culture.Having been deprived of Christmas celebrations until a time when the mass media were already firmly in place has also caused the Scottish holiday customs to become heavily influenced by foreign traditions. That's why the Scots now eat a turkey dinner on Christmas Eve. Exchanging gifts has become customary, too, just like visiting friends and relatives. And of course, there are Christmas trees (most likely Scots pines), adorned with all kinds of shiny and twinkling stuff.
Skirting the Issue
But the Scottish (who are notoriously described as a very stubborn people fiercely fond of their - if not political, then at least mental - independence) wouldn't be the Scottish if they didn't have a few traditions of their own anyway. This is why it's not altogether uncommon to find men in skirts dancing around bonfires on Christmas day - obviously strutting their stuff to the tunes of bagpipe players.Another (once clandestine) custom is the burning of the Yule log: a log of birch wood is cut by the end of the summer and left to dry. It is then ceremoniously brought inside the house on Christmas Eve, paraded around the kitchen three times, toasted to and finally burned in the fireplace. And the Scottish even have their own Christmas dessert, though it's highly unlikely the tradition will catch on in the rest of the world. Their beloved Bannock cakes are made of oatmeal - not exactly marzipan.
- Merry Christmas!
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