by NONA BLYTH CLOUD
A guid New Year to ane an` a` and mony may ye see!
New Year’s Eve is celebrated around the world, but in Scotland, it’s called Hogmanay.
For about 400 years, from the end of the 17th century all the way to the 1950s, celebrations and festivities at Christmas were effectively banned in Scotland because they were considered “Popish” or Catholic by the Kirk (the Church of Scotland), especially during the Protestant Reformation. Many Scots had to work over Christmas. Their winter solstice holiday was at New Year when family and friends gathered for a party and to exchange presents, especially for the children, all the night of December 31, until before dawn on January 1.
The house was cleaned on December 31, especially removing the ashes from the old year’s fires, and there was also a superstition about clearing all your debts before “the bells” at…
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