IronJambo Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 So christmas was banned in Scotland for over 400 years. Thus is the reason why hogmanay is so big. who on here can remember when christmas wasn't allowed in Scotland? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larbertjambo Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 wasnt even a public holidays in the early 60s, remember when i was very young my dad having to go to work (building trade) on xmas day. when i was doing my apprenticeship in the early /mid 70s we only got xmas day as holiday, it was a real pain going to work on boxing day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumpy Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 Don't personally remember it but my dad used to tell me he had to work Christmas day right up to the early 60's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpyjambo Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 I started work in 71 and the electrical contracting industry had only started getting Christmas day off, it was murder getting up to go to work on Boxing Day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharpie Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 \ I remember when it wasn't a holiday, but did not know it was the result of any ban. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wibble Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 That's one ban I'd like to see brought back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portobellojambo1 Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 The reason Christmas was not celebrated until recently go back to the time of John Knox in the 1580's as it was seen to be papist in origin - the ban was strictly enforced in law. It wasn't a public holiday until 1958. Up till then, people worked normally on Christmas day. My old man was a master baker, who worked Christmas Eve, and normally got home about 07:00 on Christmas Morning, watched us opening presents, went to bed, got up and ate around 17:00, and went back to work at night around 10:00. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gasman Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 That's one ban I'd like to see brought back. I thought it was going to be banned til 2050, I wish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
269miles Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 The reason Christmas was not celebrated until recently go back to the time of John Knox in the 1580's as it was seen to be papist in origin - the ban was strictly enforced in law. It wasn't a public holiday until 1958. Up till then, people worked normally on Christmas day. My old man was a master baker, who worked Christmas Eve, and normally got home about 07:00 on Christmas Morning, watched us opening presents, went to bed, got up and ate around 17:00, and went back to work at night around 10:00. Xmas was banned by the folks that went off to find/found the USA. I can remember Xmas in the early 60s was just a day for the kids. New Year was when ALL the family was around. I know guys in the forces who told me they were glad to have Scots in their regiment etc as they would volunteer for Xmas duty so they could get home for Hogmanay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cabbie754 Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 I wouldn't say Christmas was banned in Scotland just that it was never considered a public holiday like it is now. Christmas was always celebrated but not in the same way as down south. It's only recently that people seem to be off for weeks now for the whole of Christmas and new year. When I started working it was a forty hour week and everything shut on a Sunday. It took years to get four weeks paid holiday and flexy time was not thought off. Oh how times have changed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronJambo Posted December 29, 2009 Author Share Posted December 29, 2009 ]I wouldn't say Christmas was banned in Scotland just that it was never considered a public holiday like it is now[/b]. Christmas was always celebrated but not in the same way as down south. It's only recently that people seem to be off for weeks now for the whole of Christmas and new year. When I started working it was a forty hour week and everything shut on a Sunday. It took years to get four weeks paid holiday and flexy time was not thought off. Oh how times have changed it certainly was banned by john knox as portyjambo says in post 7. i'll go out on a limb and suggest that the law probably wasn't enforced anywhere close to 1958 when the ban was lifted but our culture was shaped by then. i found it interesting as i stumbled across this and found it quite unbelievable in the first instance. after finding many articles on it through google that backed it up it suddenly made sense on why hogmanay is such a strong part of Scottish culture. in some way its sad as i feel a much bigger pull towards christmas than hogmanay now. christmas feels like a much nicer time to spend with family (which was what hogmanay was originally about for us) are we losing part of our heritage or am i alone in finding christmas a nicer time? edit: see links - http://www.siliconglen.com/Scotland/12_15.html http://www.rampantscotland.com/know/blknow11.htm http://www.maybole.org/community/celebrations/christmas/greetings/traditions.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Bill Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 Even Hearts played fairly often on Christmas day. The last time being against Celtic in 1971. http://www.londonhearts.com/scores/games/197112251.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The White Cockade Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 Christmas wasn't banned in the 19th or 20th Century - don't know how long before that if it ever was John Knox bans Christmas as it celebrates the birth of Christ (that is papist?) The man was an arse! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaun.lawson Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 Even Hearts played fairly often on Christmas day. The last time being against Celtic in 1971. http://www.londonhearts.com/scores/games/197112251.html There was a full set of Xmas Day fixtures scheduled for 1976 - but the weather caused all to be postponed. 1971 was, as you say, the last time before that. But even in England, a couple of Xmas Day fixtures were played in 1959, so I'm not sure it was just a Scottish thing. And festive games aren't quite what they used to be. Below, my favourite set of Xmas results ever - from Boxing Day 1963 in the English First Division: Blackpool 1-5 Chelsea Burnley 6-1 Manchester United Fulham 10-1 Ipswich Town Leicester City 2-0 Everton Liverpool 6-1 Stoke City Nottingham Forest 3-3 Sheffield United West Bromwich Albion 4-4 Tottenham Hotspur Sheffield Wednesday 3-0 Bolton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-3 Aston Villa West Ham United 2-8 Blackburn Rovers 66 goals in 10 games! A few too many mince pies and glasses of mulled wine appear to have been consumed by certain players the previous day... Even better, when the 'return' games were played two days later, West Ham turned a 2-8 home defeat into a 3-1 win at Blackburn; Man Utd promptly thrashed Burnley 5-1 at Old Trafford; and Ipswich, humiliated at the Cottage, turned the tables on Fulham with a 4-2 victory! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Currahee! Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 There was a full set of Xmas Day fixtures scheduled for 1976 - but the weather caused all to be postponed. 1971 was, as you say, the last time before that. But even in England, a couple of Xmas Day fixtures were played in 1959, so I'm not sure it was just a Scottish thing. And festive games aren't quite what they used to be. Below, my favourite set of Xmas results ever - from Boxing Day 1963 in the English First Division: Blackpool 1-5 Chelsea Burnley 6-1 Manchester United Fulham 10-1 Ipswich Town Leicester City 2-0 Everton Liverpool 6-1 Stoke City Nottingham Forest 3-3 Sheffield United West Bromwich Albion 4-4 Tottenham Hotspur Sheffield Wednesday 3-0 Bolton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-3 Aston Villa West Ham United 2-8 Blackburn Rovers 66 goals in 10 games! A few too many mince pies and glasses of mulled wine appear to have been consumed by certain players the previous day... Even better, when the 'return' games were played two days later, West Ham turned a 2-8 home defeat into a 3-1 win at Blackburn; Man Utd promptly thrashed Burnley 5-1 at Old Trafford; and Ipswich, humiliated at the Cottage, turned the tables on Fulham with a 4-2 victory! That's some turnaround of results. I don't think it was too many mince pies etc. I reckon the player's got the in-laws to play instead. Games back then seemed to be more open though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.