Celebrating A Scottish Christmas with Willa Blair

Would You Like to Celebrate a Scottish Christmas?

While Christmas, or Yule as it was once called, is celebrated in modern Scotland with many of the same trimmings as in America, it’s a more subdued affair.  Christmas was banned in Scotland in the mid-16th century because it was seen as a Catholic holiday by the Protestant Reformation.  That ban lasted nearly 400 years, until the 1950s. 

During that bleak time, a few old traditions survived, most derived from ancient midwinter celebrations.  Candles in windows were once meant to light the way to warmth and safety for travelers out in harsh winter weather.  Now candles are everywhere, from windows to Christmas tree branches, though we’ve modernized that fire hazard into strings of LED lights.  

The yule log was borrowed from the early Norse invaders to light the longest night of the year and provide an omen, good or bad, of the coming year in its ashes.  Scots also believed that the fire burning all night kept spirits and sprites from coming down the chimney and entering the house to do mischief.  No wonder Santa Claus didn’t visit. 

How things have changed!  We’re more likely to eat a yule log than light one on fire.  There are many versions of yule log cakes, from the simple jelly roll to gorgeously decorated holiday cakes.

          

So if Scots didn’t celebrate Christmas, what did they do?  Scotland has a long history of trade with France due to the Auld Alliance, and the term for Scotland’s New Year celebration, Hogmanay, is believed to have been derived from a French phrase for Christmas. Gifts were given for Hogmanay rather than Christmas, and special feasts celebrated it.  On New Year’s Eve, houses were cleaned to clear away the old year.  Candles lit the way for the First Footer, a tradition that survives today.  The first person to enter the house after midnight on New Year’s Eve/Day, preferably a tall, dark-haired, male bearing a gift of food, fuel, or whisky, brings good luck to the house and those within it.  The preference for dark hair may come from the time when light hair was associated with Norse invaders.

Yule logs, outdoor bonfires, and other fire ceremonies may have fallen out of favor, but the modern equivalent - fireworks - are a big part of New Year’s Eve celebrations all over the world. 

Nowadays, Scots celebrate Christmas, Hogmanay, Boxing Day, all the way through Twelfth Night.  So if you want to celebrate the holidays in Scotland, be prepared to stay a while.  If you just want to celebrate like a Scot, stock up on food and single malts, light some candles - or the LED equivalent, invite your friends, and enjoy! Merry Christmas, and have a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!

Cheers!
Willa

HIGHLAND HEALER  available at The Wild Rose Press, Amazon, B&N, iBook and others

Highland Seer available NOW on Amazon 

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Four For Friday--Willa Blair

Four For Friday is a weekly feature where guest authors choose one of their own characters to complete four sentences. 

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This week's post is by Willa Blair from her new novel, Highland Seer.

My name is Donal MacNabb, arms master and husband to Ellie, Laird MacKyrie.  People will tell ye I'm a skeptic. 'Tis true I used to trust my five senses and little else - until I met the Lathan Healer. I didna trust my his laird’s fascination with the healer he brought home from the invading army, but I came to believe her talent was real.  So when I met Ellie MacKyrie, her Sight wasna quite as hard to swallow as the fact that she was laird of her clan and wanted me to be her consort. Other than my skill with a sword, I had nothing to offer - no lands, wealth or armies. But Ellie became my soul. With her, I found my true home and learned to trust my heart as well as my senses.

1. The spookiest thing that ever happened was on All Hallows many years gone.  I heard a banshee scream. There are those who will say I heard a wildcat or an eagle.  I heard a banshee.  When ye hear one, someone near to ye is going to die. My sister’s husband died that night of the fever that took my sister a day later. Aye, the banshee screamed twice.

2. When I was younger, I wanted to be a warrior and to fight for my clan.  I became one - a bloody good one. I’ve fought for my clan and my adopted clans many times over the years.  And the lads I’ve trained to fight with fists and weapons are still alive today.

3. I used to think if I were wealthy, I would improve the clan’s weapons and defenses.  Now that I am, I'm doing that, and seeing to the welfare of the bairns left fatherless by the King’s folly at Flodden.  

4. My favorite food?  I dinna think I have one.  I’ve spent years traveling and fighting and I’ve learned to eat just about anything when hungry.  I enjoy an ale by the fire on a cold evening, and a wee dram doesna go amiss.  Lately, I’ve developed a liking for MacKyrie whisky.  Fortunately, we have a good supply of it.

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Willa Blair is the best-selling and award-winning author of Scottish romance with a paranormal twist, set in the 16th century Highlands, when the old ways, and old talents, still shaped events. If you'd like to learn more about Willa and her books, visit her blog.

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