The almost-vanished Christmas tradition in Scotland

You may have noticed that the Scots celebrate New Year more enthusiastically than Christmas. The reason is historical: for several centuries Christmas was effectively forbidden in Scotland, and Hogmanay became the only midwinter feast worth marking. The anticipation carried party energies high, and arguably still does.

In ancient times the solstices were celebrated. When the early church needed a date for the birth of Christ — since scripture gives none — it was convenient to attach the new feast to a day people already celebrated. Despite that, pagan symbols and rituals lingered around Christmas, and the church kept trying to drive them out.

After the Scottish Reformation in 1560 the Kirk took a much harder line. Christmas was associated with Catholic excess, and from 1640 to 1958 it was not even a public holiday in Scotland. Workers reported for work on 25 December as on any other day. Many of the Christmas customs you might expect — trees, presents, family feasts — were imported relatively recently from continental Europe and England.

Hogmanay, by contrast, never lost its place: New Year's Eve and the days that follow are when Scots gather, sing Auld Lang Syne, first-foot their neighbours and welcome the year in properly. The energy that the Reformation kept out of Christmas flowed into Hogmanay instead — and you can still feel it on the streets of Edinburgh today.