Happy December, dear readers! When researching Mistaken Premise, my little nerd heart tap-danced whilst learning the multi-faceted and fascinating history of Christmas in Scotland.
As one could expect, there is evidence of neolithic people’s observances of the winter solstice, but the real fun comes after the Viking invasions starting in the eighth-century AD. The Vikings which immigrated and settled in Scotland brought the winter Jól (their word for feast) traditions with them, which became the Scottish Yule.
The centrepiece of the Viking, and Scottish, winter feast was the burning of the Yule log during the time of the winter solstice. Traditionally an entire tree, the goal was to keep the log burning for the twelve darkest days of the year, possibly in the belief that the warmth and light of the fire would encourage the sun to return. It was the worst luck possible if your Yule log burned itself out before the end of the twelfth night, thus it became tradition to light this year’s fire from a torch made from the remnant of last year’s log.
Being so far north, with dark, cold days, it is no wonder that many of the Scottish traditions centre around the warmth and light of a fire. Even after the introduction of Christianity, these traditions carried over, but now with symbolism associated with the Virgin Mary and Christ Child – for example, placing candles in the window was meant to light the way for the Holy Family in the mediaeval Christmas festivals. The Yule festival under the Catholic Church were days of feasting, games, gifts, and revelries with family and friends.
Of course, after the Scottish Parliament repudiated the Catholic Church and founded the Kirk of Scotland in 1560, John Knox and his band of, quite possibly, the most Calvinistic Protestants in Europe, proved HL Mencken’s quote, “Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.”[i] – at least as it applied to Christmas. The Kirk quickly adopted a policy eschewing any of the old Christmas traditions which were viewed as too extravagant and too papist by both the Kirk and Scottish Parliament. By 1583, St Mungo’s Cathedral (Glasgow) was excommunicating those who celebrated any form of Yule celebration, and elsewhere, even singing a Christmas carol might land you in jail.
In 1640, December 25 was made as any other day of the year, with the government, banks, shops, and other businesses remaining open, by the Act discharging the Yule vacance. This act in the Scottish Parliament was repealed in 1712, but culturally, it may as well have remained on the books. A contemporary of Sir Walter Scott recorded accounts of Scotswomen publicly weaving and spinning in the town square, and of Scotsmen ploughing muddy fields, on Christmas day simply to demonstrate that they were not like their indulgent counterparts to the south.
Christmas was reinstated as an official Scottish holiday in 1958, with Boxing Day added in 1974.
I have come across references to quiet, unobtrusive Christmas observances in Scotland – usually in less Calvinistic areas or with those with strong English ties – during the Georgian era. Sir Walter Scott wrote of observing Christmas with his family in Edinburgh, as did other leaders of the Scottish Enlightenment. Hence, in Mistaken Premise, my Duke of Soloway – with land holdings in the one of the stricter Kirk strongholds of western Scotland – enjoys spending his Christmases with Lizzy at Longbourn instead of hosting the Bennets at Netherfield, balancing the likely beliefs of his clan with his wider view of the world.
I wish all of my dear readers a happy festive season full of love, family, and joy wherever in the world you might be.
[i] HL Mencken (1880-1956): American essayist and satirist, from A Mencken Chrestomathy, p 1949
Sources:
Timeline of Christmas in Scotland: https://blog.historicenvironment.scot/2016/12/timeline-christmas-scotland/
Scottish Christmas traditions: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zwkt2v4
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