Whiter shade of pale
The modern day Christmas is an increasingly colourful occasion. Coloured lights and baubles decorate Christmas trees, not to mention the twinkling light displays which adorn towns, cities, offices and homes up and down this country.
Red perhaps dominates, most noticeably in the uniform worn by Santa as he zips across the skies propelled by his team of reindeer, one of which, Rudolph, has his own little symbol of red!
There is red too on the chest of our little Christmas bird, Robin Redbreast.
Down the years, great flocks of robins have hopped across our mantlepieces for he is surely the most persistent of Christmas card images.
And yet, in reality this cheeky little fellow is hardly the embodiment of the spirit of Christmas. He may seem willing to live cheek by jowl with us, his breast fairly glowing, those warm brown eyes confiding and his voice, often the only one we hear at Christmas, sweet.
Yet in reality, he is a bundle of belligerent energy when it comes to his relationship with other cock robins, all too ready to fight for his territorial rights –to the death if necessary!
Yet, there he is ever since the first Christmas cards dropped through letter boxes in 1843, still one of the most popular images gracing these seasonal greetings.
There is also red in the bright holly berries that add extra colour to the Christmas decorations.
Again a belief that holly offered protection from asthma, dropsy, gout, rheumatism and measles harks back to pagan times but has spilled over into the Christian era in much the same way as the presence of lots of greenery has made the same journey.
Yew trees, which adorn many a churchyard, were often planted as a means of warding off evil spirits, whilst wearing a sprig of ivy in your hair was thought to prevent baldness.
Mistletoe was said to protect against witches, black magic, epilepsy and St Vitus’ Dance! The kiss under it seems to be a recent fad!
Even the Christmas tree has its pagan associations!
Apparently, the origins of the Christmas tree go back to a time during the 8th century when a certain St Boniface was carrying out missionary work in what is now Germany.
He came across a group of pagans worshipping an oak tree and about Why not send us your snaps and have your image appear as our Reader’s Pic of the Day?
You can e-mail photographs to news@stirling observer.co.uk or pop into our office at 34 Upper Craigs, to sacrifice a small child. The saint sprung into action, rescued the child and chopped the oak down.
He noticed however, a tiny spruce sapling growing among the oak roots and took it to mean a symbol of new life.
Thus, the tradition of the Christmas tree took root! And in time, the tradition was transplanted in Britain by Queen Victoria’s German consort, Prince Albert.
Therefore, what began as a royal fashion became universal until nowadays there are few British households which do not erect a Christmas tree as part of their seasonal celebrations.
And yet, whilst colour dominates our modern day festive celebrations, some dream of a White Christmas.
I well remember watching a pure brown stoat – except for the black tip to its tail and its white chest – making its way through a rabbit warren.
At the time, there were still plenty of rabbits around, although now they seem to have all but disappeared from this vicinity.
In and out of the burrows the stoat snaked but clearly there were no rabbits at home.
Later the same day I came across a stoat which had partly changed its coat to winter white but not completely. It was to all intents and purposes, skewbald!
Later still, I had an encounter with a pure ermine – completely white except for that black tip to its tail – all of them within about a few square miles of each other!
There are three of our native Stirling, FK8 2DW.
You can also log on to our website at www.stirling observer.co.uk and send your picture using the“send your pics”link. creatures that adopt this winter tactic. The stoat, the ptarmigan, a curious chameleon of a bird, which inhabits only the high places of the Scottish Highlands and the mountain hare, are the only British creatures that change their plumage or pelage to white during the winter months.
Elsewhere in Northern Europe, the weasel changes its fur colour to white but British-based weasels do not.
Of course, the ptarmigan and the mountain hare are high on the list of prey for golden eagles.
And because they live at high altitudes where snow is likely to lie for prolonged periods through the winter, the change to white plumage in the case of the ptarmigan and white fur in the case of the hare provides them with a very useful form of defence.
Even the sharp-eyed eagle finds them difficult to detect with their white camouflage. Presumably the change to white helps the ermine to conceal itself as it seeks out prey.
However, like the mountain hare, the change occurs as winter advances and reverts to normal pelage as spring returns. The ptarmigan, however, goes through four separate phases of plumage throughout the year and during the summer they have grey to tawny plumage with mottled white wings.
Ptarmigan are the hardiest of birds, living out their lives entirely above the tree-line, exposed to the worst winter can throw at them.
As for the mountain hare, this too is a hardy beast, spending much of its life in what would seem to us, the
Please make sure that when your are sending your images you include your name, address and contact details and a little piece of information about your picture. harshest of conditions.
In recent times, mountain hares have been at the centre of controversy. Culls have taken place and as a result, it is feared that their numbers may be in serious decline.
Mountain hares carry a tick which infects red grouse and causes reductions in their populations.
The culls are therefore organised in such a way as to reduce the risk to the precious grouse, despite the fact they are eventually destined to be shot!
In truth, the mountain hare is the only native hare in Britain for the brown hare, much more generally distributed across the country, is an import from Continental Europe, possibly first brought here by Neolithic man.
The invading Romans wrote quite extensively about the way in which hares were kept by British folk.
The change in pelage undergone by mountain hares and stoats and the change in plumage of the ptarmigan were once thought to be triggered by lowering temperatures.
But now the general consensus is, that as winter advances, the shortening daylight hours are the stimulus for the change whilst in springtime the increasing hours of daylight stimulate the return to normal or what, in the case of the hare, is commonly called ‘blue’ pelage.
Thus, if colour may be dominant in our celebrations of the birth of the Christ Child, others much prefer a White Christmas.
Of course, their very whiteness provides them with a better chance of longer life. And the winter solstice today brings good news, which means that from now onwards, days will imperceptibly get that little bit longer.
So rejoice and have a very Happy Christmas – if not necessarily a white one!