First of all, I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Great New Year! May you enjoy time with your families, find time to honor our ancestors with those great family stories, and find peace in your heart! I would also like to know of any Scottish Christmas traditions. I try to honor each of my lines by incorporting something traditional to each country at Christmas. (Some of my extended French / German families actually invented Christmas ornaments, the Greiner and Mueller families who lived in both Meisenthal France and Lauscha Germany). I made Scotch Shortbread from a recipe my cousin who was born in Scotland sent me. But I would like to know more. From reading I have done it sounds like Christmas was almost outlawed for a while. I also have a CD of Celtic Yuletide music. What do people on this list do at this time of year? Thanks for giving me a cultural education! (URLs I found) http://www.christmasarchives.com/scotland.html http://www.worldofchristmas.net/christmas-world/scotland.html http://www.heartoscotland.com/Categories/christmas-in-scotland.htm Laura

Heart of Scotland is very accurate nowadays. Before Xmas at school the younger children take part in a nativity play and the Mums have a wee cry and the grannies are proud.. On Xmas Eve the kids leave a present for Santa , depending on the household tradition. Ours left mince meat pie and beer for Santa , and a carrot for the reindeer. The more religious go to a Christmas Church Service on Xmas Eve, which finishes after Midnight. The kids usually get up very early on Christmas morning to open their stockings which is a bit of a problem as it used to be about 4 am before ours went to sleep ,( they were so excited ) and once asleep we could hang the stocking at the bottom of their beds, then about an hour later they would wake up , so ours weren't allowed to come and wake us till 7 am ( house rules) but the oooohs and aaaahhs and squeels of delight  as they discovered all their present would wake you anyway. But it was a lovely time. Ours are big kids now and I do miss the little ones around at Xmas. Oh ....and we tradionally have turkey with oatmeal stuffing ( a very Scottish stuffing) and sherry trifle.And even granny will have a wee sherry! And everyone is happy and cheerful and wishes everyone even strangers a Merry Xmas in the lead up to Christmas. And then after about 3 days recovering from Xmas it is time to hit the shops again to buy a trolleyload of snacks, sausage rolls, crisps, dundee cake and drinks incase neighbours dropped in for Hogmanay.And it usually snowed on New Years and so first footing was a bit of a treck as the buses didn't run and the taxis were nowhere to be found! And if you went first footing you had to take a bottle with you in your pocket and offer everyone in the house a dram, which they would refuse but you offered anyway. Now I am homesick.We haven't been home at Xmas in Scotland for the last 9 years. Merry Xmas everyone everywhere ,from hot and sticky Kuala Lumpur. Regards Karen The Good You Do Comes Back To You. --- On Thu, 24/12/09, Ron and Laura Bozzay <rbozzay@earthlink.net> wrote: From: Ron and Laura Bozzay <rbozzay@earthlink.net> Subject: [ABERDEEN] Scottish Christmas Traditions To: "aberdeen@rootsweb.com" <aberdeen@rootsweb.com> Date: Thursday, 24 December, 2009, 5:07 First of all, I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Great New Year! May you enjoy time with your families, find time to honor our ancestors with those great family stories, and find peace in your heart!  I would also like to know of any Scottish Christmas traditions.  I try to honor each of my lines by incorporting something traditional to each country at Christmas. (Some of my extended French / German families actually invented Christmas ornaments, the Greiner and Mueller families who lived in both Meisenthal France and Lauscha Germany).  I made Scotch Shortbread from a recipe my cousin who was born in Scotland sent me. But I would like to know more.  From reading I have done it sounds like Christmas was almost outlawed for a while.  I also have a CD of Celtic Yuletide music. What do people on this list do at this time of year?  Thanks for giving me a cultural education! (URLs I found) http://www.christmasarchives.com/scotland.html http://www.worldofchristmas.net/christmas-world/scotland.html http://www.heartoscotland.com/Categories/christmas-in-scotland.htm Laura ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ABERDEEN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

The main Scottish Christmas tradition is almost to ignore it. Christmas was a working day in my youth; I did get presents, though. I recall that the pubs were closed on Christmas day in Edinburgh in the 1950's - can't think why! Tony ---- Ron and Laura Bozzay <rbozzay@earthlink.net> wrote: > > First of all, I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Great New Year! May you enjoy time with your families, find time to honor our ancestors with those great family stories, and find peace in your heart! > > I would also like to know of any Scottish Christmas traditions. I try to honor > each of my lines by incorporting something traditional to each country at Christmas. > (Some of my extended French / German families actually invented Christmas ornaments, the Greiner and Mueller families who lived in both Meisenthal France and Lauscha Germany). > > I made Scotch Shortbread from a recipe my cousin who was born in Scotland sent me. But I would like to know more. From reading I have done it sounds like Christmas was almost outlawed for a while. I also have a CD of Celtic Yuletide music. > > What do people on this list do at this time of year? > > Thanks for giving me a cultural education! > > (URLs I found) > > http://www.christmasarchives.com/scotland.html > > http://www.worldofchristmas.net/christmas-world/scotland.html > > http://www.heartoscotland.com/Categories/christmas-in-scotland.htm > > Laura > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ABERDEEN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Ron and Laura Bozzay wrote: > ... > > I would also like to know of any Scottish Christmas traditions. I > try to honor each of my lines by incorporting something traditional > to each country at Christmas. (Some of my extended French / German > families actually invented Christmas ornaments, the Greiner and > Mueller families who lived in both Meisenthal France and Lauscha > Germany). > > I made Scotch Shortbread from a recipe my cousin who was born in > Scotland sent me. But I would like to know more. From reading I have > done it sounds like Christmas was almost outlawed for a while. I > also have a CD of Celtic Yuletide music. A bit late to help your Christmas this year (I was away from home for mine) but you are on the right track in supposing that Christmas was outlawed - but there was no "almost" about it! At the Reformation (which happened rather suddenly in Scotland, in 1560) the Calvinists abolished Christmas, along with much else, as blasphemous, or idolatrous, or popish (or any of the above), and while the first strict puritanism faded over time, it had become a custom in Scotland NOT to observe Christmas. My earliest memories are of a "modern" Christmas, but I believe that even at that time, Christmas Day was not an official holiday in Scotland, and that at least some people still went to work on 25th December. Gavin Bell