The History of Scottish Christmas: Druids, Romans & Vikings (Scottish Folklore)
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- Опубликовано: 13 окт 2024
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I wish you all a wonderful festive period and happy new year when it comes.
Although Scotland has been a predominantly Christian country for many years now, it may surprise you to know that Christmas is a fairly recent tradition in our country. Other areas of Britan have celebrated Christmas for 100s of years, so why does Scotland appear to have such a strange affiliation with the holiday. That is exactly the question I hope to answer in today’s video. The history of Scottish Christmas.
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References:
BBC (2013) 'World's oldest calendar' discovered in Scottish field. BBC [www.bbc.co.uk/...]
Corning, C. (2006) The Celtic and Roman Traditions: Conflict and Consensus in the Early Medieval Church. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 1-4039-7299-0.
Dunn, D. (2011) Mistletoe: The Evolution of a Christmas Tradition. Smithsonian. [www.smithsonia...]
Ellis, P. (1994) Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508961-8
Gaffney, V. et al (2013) Time and a Place: A luni-solar 'time-reckoner' from 8th millennium BC Scotland, Internet Archaeology 34. doi.org/10.111...
Geller. (2016) Sol, Roman. mythology.net, [mythology.net/...]
Hall, T. (2020) Scotland’s Ancient Winter Celebrations. Kilcamb. [www.kilcamblod...]
Johnson, B. (2021) The History of Hogmanay. Historic UK. [www.historic-u...]
Kate & Catherine. (2015) Winter Solstice - History and Tradition. True Highlands. [www.truehighla...]
Keene, C. (2013) Saint Margaret, Queen of the Scots: A Life in Perspective. Springer. ISBN 978-1-137-03564-6.
Koch, J. T. (2006) Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO.
National Trust for Scotland (2023) Scottish Christmas traditions. NTS. [www.nts.org.uk...]
Orchard, A. (1997) Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend. Cassell. ISBN 0-304-34520-2.
Simek, R. (2007) Dictionary of Northern Mythology. Translated by Angela Hall. D. S. Brewer. ISBN 978-0-85991-513-7
Spooky Scotland (2023) Christmas in Scotland through the ages. [spookyscotland...]
Williams, A. (2014) Did the ancient Celts practice human sacrifice? Diss. University of Wales, Trinity St David. [repository.uwt...]
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I have always wondered why Hogmanay is more prominent in Scotland, whereas in England it is Christmas that is more prominent. Thank you very much.
Your channel, (and Julie fowlis’s music) has helped me so much with reconnecting to my Scottish culture. I can feel these stories in me like remembering a once forgotten memory. Thank you so much for sharing our stories. You’re keeping us alive.
It is difficult to make hard headed closed minded individuals understand that most every culture celebrated the solstice before Christianity existed, and you do a most wonderful job of doing so.
I raise a glass of good fortune to you in the spirit of the New Year!
This was fascinating--I love learning about my ancestors. I was so fortunate to be able to enjoy the Hogmany festivities when I used to live and study in Scotland. It was so hauntingly beautiful to parade through the streets of Edinburgh with thousands of other people carrying torches. I remember that some of the Jarl Squads from Shetlandcame that year and kicked the festivies off by burning a "small Viking galley." I'm hoping to make it to Up Helly Aa in Shetland in the future. In the meantime, I'll just have to celebrate some of my favourite Scotish festivities back in the U.S. until I can visit family and friends in Scotland again.
Thank you, that was fascinating. I have always wondered why Hogmanay was so much more important in Scotland than in England, coming to the conclusion that it was simply the need to party in the midst of a long Scottish winter, but your explanation makes far more sense!
I'm a Canadian with Finnish/Scottish ancestory. For some reason I was only every focused on Finnish mythology and folklore. And then your video popped up on my feed. Now I want to learn everything I can on Scottish mythology and folklore. Thanks for your video and I am now a subscriber.
My father emigrated with my grandparents to America in 1952. In our family, we spent Christmas with my mother's people and New Years Eve with my father's. I loved visiting my Dah building a bonfire & telling tales because he was born on the Orkney Islands. Now as an adult, I've worked every Christmas, unphased by the traditions but before going to work in NYE I spend the time making steak pie & black bun; going first footing after closing our restaurant-bar with my friends. Singing the full song of Auld Lang Syne, which has always shocked me since childhood that folks in America don't know all the words. Quite the identity crisis to have been raised in the American South, by a black mother and a Scottish-born father ....but have more traditions from both to be so different from the "culture" here.
I really enjoyed your story 🙌
My maternal ancestors came from the Orkneys. Hail sister 🍻
Did not know it was such a difference in traditions.
A wonderful potted history, as we've come to expect here. Any mention of the Scottish Reformation makes me think of John Knox, with his impressive Druidic beard, and his book 'The First Blast of the Trumpet against the Monstrous Regiment of Women'. That's a memorable title - John Knox clearly had a high opinion of his own righteousness, and a low one of women in general. I don't think I would have liked him very much, despite the fine beard.
I always wondered why we celebrated New year as opposed to Christmas now I know. I enjoyed listening to the history about the festival's of Pagan people, and Druids of long ago. Thanks so much for telling us. Have a Guid Hogmanay and hope the New year is prosperous.for you 🥃
Very interesting for someone from Newcastle upon Tyne. A lot of traditions we celebrate here near the border.
Thank you once again for another dive into Scottish traditions. I think I prefer the celebration of the Daft Days, which I am doing now.
What do absolutely great video you put together I’m sure you put a lot of work into it. I love the imagery. I would love to be able to make video like this myself. I got to visit with three of the sacred sites you listen to videos daddy’s going to Callanish and many others during my celtic Shaman , Isn’t trip. I just wanted to say hi to barely hear you turn my volume up on my Earbus hoping that would work.
Thank you! I'll be looking into Hogmanay now!
The tales of old Scottland are cryptic yet wonderful. Thank you for sharing them with us.
Cracking video. Really enjoyed it as I'm settling down for the night 😊
Thanks so much for sharing this. I'm third generation Scottish-America, meaning it was my Great Grandparents who immigrated over here. I always wanted to know more about Scottish history, religion, and lore. My father wasn't interested in his ancestry one bit and could never help. I now love finding videos like this to share with the rest of the family.
Very interesting! This is all new information to me. Thank you!
As someone else pointed out (might have been Bruce Fummey), the fact that the Scottish reformers had to have such severe penalties for people who celebrated Yule or Christmas suggests that a lot of people _did_ want to celebrate it. The ban on Christmas was not popular.
When I listen to Scottish mythology I get the strong feeling that many Scots never really relinquished their pagan beliefs, there was a Christian overlay but what a lot of people believed deep down was pagan.
I think you correct and that how I tend to see Scotland and its people aswell.
One thing to remember: the ritual of mistletoe being cut by the Druids comes from Pliny, so we're not sure how accurate that is.
You are very correct, I was going to include a section on pliny, but it ran on for too long haha. There is so much discussion about the accuracy and reliability of his writings, that I find facinating, some of Pliny's works seem to correlate with other works of the times and would to many seem accurate, but then there is just obvious fiction, which has no place in his writting. either way, he is an interesting character. The connection to mistletoe, is mentioned in a few other sources. So that seems to be true, although the ritual and how it occurred is pure Pliny. Thanks for watching
@@LiathWolf Great stuff! If you haven't read it yet, I recommend Blood and Mistletoe by Professor Ronald Hutton.
@@authormichellefranklin I will check it out thanks
Interesting. I am Scottish, born and bred, although I now live in the USA. I lived in Scotland (various parts) for the first 55 years of my life. I am in my mid 60s, and my mother told me that when she was a little girl living in the north east there were no Christmas presents, but rather there were New Year presents. I don't think she knew the history of that tradition but it was interesting to get an idea of why that would have been the case. I love history and there are indicators of ancient history all over Scotland in the place names, the structures and traditions of the past. I look forward to seeing more of your videos.
My grand parents never celebrated Christmas or gave presents when they were young and often worked Christmas day. New year was always the time they celebrated. Thanks for watching.
Thank you, Scottish history as such was never taught to us. The personification of Old Man Winter does seem to be close to our modern Santa Claus, whose origins have remained hidden.
Unfortunately, its not really taught in Scotland either, at least that was the case while I was at school.
It appears to be correct. The Germans, for a time, were also using a King Bread ritual to choose someone to stand in as "King of Christmas" & it's not hard to imagine a deity referred to as Allfather to be repurposed into Father Christmas. They just properly Christianized the concept later by reassociating him with a Saint. In fact, on Christmas Eve, Germans have Krampusnacht, where they chase off the evil spirit Krampus from going after the children & the English observed the Anglo-Saxons having a Modersnacht (Mother's Night) on that same day. And, the modern German word for Christmas incorporates the known Pagan German word for sacred ground or temple.
I so enjoy your channel! Thank you!
This was a fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable presentation. I am of Scotch-Irish and Scandinavian decent. Happy New Year or whatever you celebrate! 🎉
I wonder if Sol Invictus replaced Jupiter as King of the gods in the Roman pantheon?
In some souces I found, Sol invictus replaces Jupiter, but in others it was merely a different name for jupiter, who was known to some as the unconquered or invincible Jupiter. Thanks for watching
@@LiathWolf Jupiter is really a combination of the the words Jove and pater ( father) . So it meant God the father.
Brilliant channel
Definitely could agree more
Happy New Year to you and thank you for all the wonderful old stories 🎉❤
Best wishes
Thank you for a another great story love this channel and love folklore and mythology and thank you for great info
One of yt’s best channels… hands dewn
Astérix references are always appreciated
Oooh! Bonus material! Thanks for this info. I would love a series on ancient pagan rites, celebrations, and beliefs, if you wish to make it. Happy 2024! Love from Mississippi.
Thank you for this excellent explanation, a lot of a-ha moments in here.
always love these videos, this one was fascinating
I think it’s all the plaid. Very festive 🎅🎄
Excellent cultural history! Thank you.
Well I'm Scots-Irish and American, but my husband and I are celebrating Christmas at New Years this year. Very interesting history, thank-you!
Funny enough, Scots-Irish are neither Scottish nor Irish, but they came from the borderland region of England between Scotland & Wales. They were well aware of the fact that they were mixed with all the different cultures of England- thus giving themselves the name Scots-Irish in the US- & seem to have also quickly forgotten where they originally came from within a few generations, leading to many just identifying as Irish, Scottish or both over English.
❤hawesome video
Thanks for this one 🍻
Hooray for the Scots!!!
interesting
Hi. BC Canada here. At the end you say something like 'Slan jova'.... what does it mean and how do you spell it? Gaelic?
Does it mean farewell?
Its traditional Scottish Gaelic, Spelt "Slàinte mhath" commonly used as a toast when raising a glass. It translates to Good health. hope that helps
@@LiathWolf Thanks for that. And for this: After watching your Samhain video, about the Seonaidh, water spirit I was inspired, since the spell was only done on the Isle of Lewis. My mother's family is Nichol, from Lewis. And I am Nichol by blood.
The spell is for plenty of seaweed for the gardens. I live on the West Coast on the ocean. Malaspina Strait to be exact. So I cast ale (beer) into the sea for the water spirit and added the salmon and the seals as well. Then one builds a fire, drinks the rest of the ale, and sleeps on the beach! Great spellwork! Really resonated here on the West Coast, I can tell you.🐟🦭🐳
Love your stories.
Thanks
Apart from the druids sacrificing people, an excellent synopsis. thank you :-)
Hogmany this word calls up a feeling of whimsy
So is Yul = Jol as a time of feasting related to the word “ jolly”?
Thats a great point, I never thought about that. It very well could be connected and seems to come from the same root Norse word.
@@LiathWolf This is my job. I could tell you things about English you aren’t aware of but very common.
@@garyfrancis6193 I will admit my knowledge on norse and even english etymology is far from vast, but I do always love learning about the history of words and language.
Thanks!
Thank you very much for the donation. Best wishes for the new year
What does “Liath Wolf”mean?
Grey wolf 😊
Isn't Jolnir a name for Thor?
My great grandmothers maiden name was McTigrit or McTigert...is a common name or familiar?
I know the name McTigrit, but I can say its very common at least not where I live, I am fairly sure it is a Scottish name, but honestly I don't know much about the history of the name, If you do find out I would love to know. Thanks for watching.
💪
Slàinte Mhath
This makes way too many assumptions about the solstice. Archaeology and historical literature all suggest that to the Celts, the moon phases were far more important than the solstices.
What about the stone and wood henges? Also, the moon phases, while certainly used to conveniently mark time, have no correlation to the seasons , so some level of seasonal consciousness would be necessary by ancient celts, no?
In many ways you are right, the Celtic people were very much concerened with and connected to the lunar calendar and circle. Yet there is also substantial evidence that they held the solstice in high regard aswell.
@@LiathWolf Yeah, I mean, they couldnt fail to notice winter exists, and winter is characterised by longer nights. They would vaguely guess there is a 'darkest period'. Highly consequential for survival. Perhpas their 12 days of celebration show that perhaps they didn't (originally) know the precise date, but did guess the fortnight period.
Parliament can only become government with the eradication of trial by jury of one's peers
A celebration in Law
Predating the roman war machine 16:39
Xmas has always historically been on January 7th for actual Christians. Its only the 25th for Western Schematics that followed Rome when it left in 1054AD. It was Rome that moved it over top of Saturnalia.
Old Calendar (Julian) Orthodox Christmas falls on December 25th by the Julian Calendar reckoning. It is merely by coincidence Old Calendar December 25th now falls on January 7th by the Modern Calendar (Gregorian) due to Modern Calendar adjusting for the drift of the Solstice a couple weeks over the last couple Millenia. The switch to having Christmas being celebrated on December 25th a few days after the First Day of the Solstice happened Centuries before the Great Schism between the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek (Hellenes) Orthodox Church. Also Yule and Saturnalia both covered time frames that extended beyond the Nativity and Christmas Season which the Roman Catholic Church still celebrates from December 25th to January 7th (or closest Sunday after) most years.
If you truly want to go that route of Christmas was changed; then you should acknowledge for Earliest First to Fourth Century Christians often celebrated the Nativity closer to Early Spring and Pascha in Mid to Late Spring where conflicts were arising on which Days were Feast and Fast due to overlaps of Greater Lent and Christmas Season.
I've also heard the theory that the Roman economy began to crash when all the old pagan holidays were out, so they wanted to try to fix it by reorganizing, but if the Christians were doing stuff before then & Roman Pagans continued to exist for a while after, that probably isn't sensible.
Original Scott's and Druids are Moorish people.
How come you forgot to mention the Jews? After all, the reason Christmas was banned was because the Protestants began to imagine that they were Old Testament Jews, since that was the obvious "Biblical" way to be anti-Catholic. The fact that you could tell this story without that fact shows how repressed the truth is.
I have always thought that in general, the Reformers argued that salvation in Christianity was a completed status based on faith in Jesus alone and not a process that could involve good works, as in the Catholic view.
@@LiathWolf But that's based on a corrupt theology alien to the Orthodox view of salvation held by the Apostles and Church Fathers. Because it relies on the imputation of an alien righteousness on to the sinner by the shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ as a payment for the sins of those who believe in Him. The problem here is that you have Jesus Christ, who is God, being sacrificed to pay a debt to God the Father, as if God's honour cannot be satisfied without the shedding of blood, in some infantile feudal gangster way. And this is clearly in principle a contradiction of everything Jesus actually taught in the Gospel; and it poses the question of God having two opposing wills ! One God wants to see Man in hell, and the other one wants to save him, but the man is essentially unchanged and remains sinful, but gets a free pass by irrational belief in blood magic according to his wicked pagan laws. You see, the Western Christian tradition reverts to paganism as a result of the penal atonement theology development expounded by Anselm of Canterbury. It's just a warped way of altering Christianity to fit the conditions of feudal era, and it makes God roughly equivalent to the Devil. The Protestants, having already accepted this Papal heresy as a basic assumption, and knowing nothing about Greek, just carried the error to its logjcal conclusion: salvation was a completed transaction on the ledger books of God, hence the alien controlled Catholc Church was unnecessarily imposing itself by pretending there was anything left to do. One was saved because of one's theological beliefs. And coveniently, now the Tribe can reassert its pagan right to determine the religious life of the people. And the tribe of course recognizes the premise of human sacrifice as perfectly valid, as well as superstitious legslism. So why not just assume the attitude of Jewish rabbis toward the Catholic Church, but with certian messianic assumptions?
@@LiathWolfWhen Scotland was Jewish book review:
ruclips.net/video/OPhx19XHyuU/видео.htmlsi=spDtdKggJUFbolDz
@@MichaelK.-xl2qk Thats probably quite true, I am not stating if one or the other is correct, but merely stating their beliefs as they believe it. It was never intended to be a philosophical religious argument on the orthodoxy of Christianity.
@@LiathWolf I appreciate your viewpoint. Yet, from the perspective of the history of the Jews in Scotland and their prominent position in the upper class, it seems worthwhile to try and tell the story of how their beliefs and.preferences helped to shape the celebration of Christmas in Scotland. Namely, to try and stamp it out and turn it into just another day to make money.
Not many true Scottish people left in Scotland
Is this a real person speaking, or a bot that was given the voice of someone TRYING to sound like Sean Connery? I want to watch but the voice does not sound right, or Scottish for that matter.
yep its definitely my voice and I am definitely from Scotland haha
@@LiathWolf Are ya noo? Recently ,like? I'm in Ireland, my sister in Inverness for 25 years, and many friends between here and there. I can not place your accent. And truly tis a strange way of speaking you have, your oratory skills and cadence is off, although I have heard that before, as if it is meant to be the correct way for public speaking. If that is the case, I can assure you it is not.
@@thehighpriestess978 na min been here for ages lik, hiv ay bed here n probably ay wis will. Cana ging fu doric lik, or nae body wid hae a clue. So am stuck spikin a bit weird anoo but ill get better. 😂
Romans didn't get to Scotland
They built Hadrians Wall. Hadrian was one of the few emperors in his time who wasn't keen on expanding the empire any further.
@@GenerationX1984 more is was pointless then lack of expanding, the Romans tried many times to take Scotland, think of Scotland as a cold desolate Afghanistan, they couldn't ever hold it
Rubbish, absolute rubbish. The Romans built some of the best roads and small bridges in Scotland. They marched soldiers 10 abreast in rows of 10 = 100. As a result the roads were around 12 feet wide. Instead of going around a hill they went straight ahead thus having a direct route to their destinations. They built walls to keep the Highlanders out , and failed miserably at conquering the north of Scotland and left.