Probably you wonder what Christmas in Scotland looks like. Is it really different than in other countries? Well, of course it is! So go ahead and read our article about a real Scottish Christmas. Sadly, a lot of old traditions aren’t kept nowadays.
For a long, long time Christmas were rather unpopular holiday in Scotland. That was strongly connected with Church of Scotland – the Presbyterian Church, which has never placed strong emphasis on it. For years until 1950′ it was banned and people who went against this ban were punished. Christmas wasn’t even public holiday before 1958!
Preparations for Christmas in Scotland begin after Halloween. Children start writing letters to Santa Claus then and many Scots decorate their houses with garlands and lights. Some of them even roll fake snow across the roofs and put Santa Claus figure in the garden! When it comes to indoor decorations, people like to hang holly in their houses. Children love advent calendars and each day the open one window to find sweet or little toy in there. Everyone sends cards with Christmas greetings.
Traditional Scottish Christmas is celebrated on 25th December. Day after it is called Boxing Day, and day before – Christmas Eve. On Christmas Eve ordinary food is eaten and everything is more or less the same as on normal day.
Presents are traditionally found on 25th December in the morning under the Christmas Tree or in the stockings. Christmas lunch is usually big and consists of turkey with trimmings. What is interesting, on Christmas many Scots burn twig of rowen tree to clear away bad feelings between family members.
Black buns are Scottish tradition. Black bun is very rich fruit cake with almonds, spices and whisky. Dundee cake is also popular in whole Britain as Christmas sweet, although it is not as rich as black bun. Nowadays most Scots eat turkey, but traditional Christmas dish is venison stew.
Christmas may have been forgotten in Scotland, but end of the old and start of New Year has always been celebrated with enthusiasm. There are some interesting traditions connected with it. For example, who doesn’t know first footing? It is symbolic start of the new year. There are lots of funny superstitions, e.g. fair haired visitor was considered bad luck. Other traditions are Redding the House (annual cleaning, that helps to prevent home from bad luck), fire festivals and group performances of “Auld Lang Syne” with lyrics by Robert Burns.
Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!
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