Scotland’s lost festive season celebrations
Alison Campsie discovers how our current festive celebrations have been shaped by Druid blessings, Viking beliefs and the Roman Catholic Church
Christmas D may only have been declared a public holy in 1958 in Scotland but the country has long made merry during the festive season. From Vikin Yule feasts to the early 16th Cen ry carnival-style Twelfth Night parties, the festivities were wel elebrated over time.
A post-reformation ban on Christmas had a lon mpact on the way the season was observed in Scotland but new traditions took hold over time as older ones fell away.
Many Christmas traditions are rooted in the Celtic celebration of the winter solstice hen the shortest day marke dthe rebirth of the sun.
The Druids, or Celtic priests, would cut moe – a symbol of life – from the sacred oak tree and give it as a blessing. The tradition of the Yule log was also started by the Druids.
They believed the sun stood still for 12 days in th iddle of winter and durin his time a log was lit to conquer the darkness, banish evil spirits and bring lu rthe coming year.
Large scale Yule fires remained a common way to ma over the centuries in Scotland particularly in northern harbour towns.
The 12-day celebration of Yule was fully embraced by our Viking ancestors, who settled in Scotland between the 8th and 15th Centuries. Their celebration was devoted to Freyr, the god of Sunshine, who rode across the sky on a golden bristled boar. Central to the Yule feast was a boar head decorated with laurel and rosemary.
Presented in great ceremony, only a man of the highest reputation was allowed to carve the sacred symbol. After eating, a huge fire would be lit with men then holding hands and circling faster and faster around the flames shouting “Thor with us, Thor and Odin and Hale, Yule ha!” In Shetland, where the Scandinavian influence on Scotland is most a drink reportedly of noble and ancient lineage, was served at the end of a breakfast Yule feast in prominent island homes. It was made using a dozen egg yolks, a pound of sugar, half a pint of rum and a quart of fresh cream.
A large square of shortbread would be served on the side.
Celebrating the birth of Christ grew popular in the 11th Century when most of the Celtic churches came under the influence of Rome during the reign of Queen Margaret.
Christmas Day was primarily a religious festival but 25 December also signified the start of the Daft Days – or the 12 days of Yule – which ran until 6 January, or Uphalieday, and allowed for a period of merriment, frivolity and excess. This later translated to the 12 days of Christmas.
In the early 16th Century it was the duty of merchants and craftsmen
Celebrating the birth of Christ grew popular in the 11th Century when most of the Celtic churches came under the influence of Rome during the reign of Queen Margaret
of Edinburgh to escort the Provost by torchlight as he returned from Evensong on the Yule Days. Homes would be swept on Christmas Eve with the chaumer – or living room – festooned with evergreens. This custom dates to Celtic times.
Sir Walter Scott name-checked plum porridge in his poem Old Christmastide. Ingredients included a boiled leg and shin of beef, stock thickened with bread, spice, dried fruit, sugar and wine. It turned out in jelly form and was a popular Yule dish until the late 18th Century.
Meanwhile, children on Islay were threatened with a visit from 2Crom Dubh na Nollaig2, roughly translated as the dark crooked one of Christmas, if they did not behave during the festivities
Peggy Earl, a resident of Islay, recalled during a 1969 interview with the Kist o Riches archive that she was “absolutely terrified” of the imaginary creature who would reportedly howl down chimneys on the island. The 12th night of Christmas signalled the end of the and was with plays, and revelry. In 1540, a letter by an envoy of Henry VIII detailed an Uphalieday performance he Satire of the Three Estates at Linlithgow Palace watched by James V, his queen and the whole “spiritual and temporal” council of Scotland.
At Holyrood in 1563, Mary Queen of Scots enjoyed an Uphalieday party when one of her ladies posed as the monarch in “cloth of silver and bedecked with jewels”. The queen entered into the spirit of the night and dressed simply in black and white.
James VI also liked to celebrate Christmas by shooting cannons at Edinburgh Castle, according to accounts.