Fellow Listers, Scotland is definitely a unique little country (78772 km2 or 30414 sq mi) with its own way of doing things. It doesn't have a Scottish National Anthem, Scottish bank notes are not legal tender in Scotland and in fact it has no legal tender currency, it has its own unique legal system dating from before the Union in 1707 that is unlike any other legal system, its Official Animal is the mythical Unicorn, AND it has only relatively recently started to celebrate Christmas Day officially. When my family left Stranraer, Wigtownshire, Scotland to come to Australia in 1957 the 25th December (Christmas Day) was not a holiday and Boxing Day was unknown. We did get presents but it was a very low key affair. Christmas Day was not openly celebrated in Scotland for almost 400 years until 1958 when it again became a holiday for everyone. At the Scottish Reformation some four hundred years earlier it was decided that no day was to be kept a Holy Day except Sunday and this included Christmas (Christ-Mass). In August 1560 the Reformation Parliament passed a series of Acts including a new Scots "Confession of Faith". It abolished the Pope's authority in Scotland and forbade the celebration of Latin Mass. It reformed the Kirk and made education compulsory (so people could read the bible). Back in 1317 Pope John XXII had renewed the excommunication of Robert Bruce and placed the kingdom of Scotland under interdict. This led to the Declaration of Arbroath in 1320. In the "Golden Act" of 1592 James VI was compelled to accept the formal Presbyterian organisation of the Kirk. This did not last and Charles I attempted again to impose his religious wishes on Scotland. A National Covenant was drawn up and displayed in the Church of the Greyfriars on February 28th 1638. This Covenant was to lead to much bloodshed before it was played out. It developed into a war between the King and the Covenantors. So in Scotland until 1958 life went on as normal on December 25th as it was not a holiday and people went to work as usual. So if you want to celebrate Christmas the way your Scottish ancestors did it will mean going to work on Christmas Day. Sam Heron

I worked on Christmas Day from the mid 1960's thro the mid 1970's.   It was then that Parliment gave an extra day's holiday to the general public.   What happened in reality, was my firm which had offices in Glasgow and London, gave Christmas Day to the Glasgow Folk and New Years day to the London folk.   I can even remember paying out wages on Christmas day when it fell on a 'payday'.   Marion  From: "Sam Heron" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, December 21, 2010 7:48:38 PM Subject: [WIG LIST] Christmas Day in Scotland and the Covenanters Fellow Listers, Scotland is definitely a unique little country (78772 km2  or 30414 sq mi) with its own way of doing things. It doesn't have a Scottish National Anthem, Scottish bank notes are not legal tender in Scotland and in fact it has no legal tender currency, it has its own unique legal system dating from before the Union in 1707 that is unlike any other legal system, its Official Animal is the mythical Unicorn, AND it has only relatively recently started to celebrate Christmas Day officially. When my family left Stranraer, Wigtownshire, Scotland to come to Australia in 1957 the 25th December (Christmas Day) was not a holiday and Boxing Day was unknown. We did get presents but it was a very low key affair. Christmas Day was not openly celebrated in Scotland for almost 400 years until 1958 when it again became a holiday for everyone. At the Scottish Reformation some four hundred years earlier it was decided that no day was to be kept a Holy Day except Sunday and this included Christmas (Christ-Mass). In August 1560 the Reformation Parliament passed a series of Acts including a new Scots "Confession of Faith".  It abolished the Pope's authority in Scotland and forbade the celebration of Latin Mass.  It reformed the Kirk and made education compulsory (so people could read the bible).  Back in 1317 Pope John XXII had renewed the excommunication of Robert Bruce and placed the kingdom of Scotland under interdict.  This led to the Declaration of Arbroath in 1320.  In the "Golden Act" of 1592 James VI was compelled to accept the formal Presbyterian organisation of the Kirk. This did not last and Charles I attempted again to impose his religious wishes on Scotland.  A National Covenant!   was drawn up and displayed in the Church of the Greyfriars on February 28th 1638.  This Covenant was to lead to much bloodshed before it was played out.  It developed into a war between the King and the Covenantors. So in Scotland until 1958 life went on as normal on December 25th as it was not a holiday and people went to work as usual. So if you want to celebrate Christmas the way your Scottish ancestors did it will mean going to work on Christmas Day. Sam Heron ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message