The Glenrothes Hidden Tradition campaign - Christmas
For almost four centuries, Christmas wasn’t really celebrated in Scotland. In fact, Christmas Day was treated like any other right up until 1958, when it was finally recognised as a public holiday. To find out why, you have to go all the way back to 1640. The Church of Scotland – a Presbyterian church – believed that Christmas didn’t reflect what was in the Bible, and should not be celebrated. The Scottish Parliament passed a law that made celebrating Christmas illegal, and many Scots were arrested for unlawful celebrations. It’s thought that this ban on Christmas is why we Scots have such a great love for Hogmanay (New Year’s Eve to most of you)... We were finally allowed to celebrate something! Thankfully, things changed after 1958, and Christmas in Scotland is now celebrated across the country. This year is going to be a little different to most, but we’re extremely grateful that we’re able to celebrate Christmas in one form or another.