Strange Scottish Christmas Traditions & New Year Customs

You might already know that Scotland is a place with a strong culture and a fascinating history. It’s no surprise then that there are plenty of unique Scottish Christmas traditions and bizarre New Year customs. Some of these go back to the mists of time while others are surprisingly modern creations!

The winter nights in Scotland are long and the weather can be hard to deal with! It explains why we have so many celebrations in such a short period of time from Halloween to St Andrew’s Day right through to Burns Night!

What better way to get through this tough time of year than eating, drinking and dancing with friends? Throw some fire festivals or sporting events in there to keep everybody warm and it’s a real party!

If you’re planning spending Christmas or New Year in Scotland, then try and add one of these traditions or events in to your celebration. I can guarantee you won’t forget it in a hurry!

Modern Scottish Christmas Traditions

Of course Scotland is a land of tradition and heritage, but it’s important to remember that not all customs last forever. This isn’t some odd time capsule, entirely stuck in the past, refusing to move on with the modern world. There aren’t many specifically Scottish Christmas traditions that are celebrated across the country.

These days, most people in Scotland celebrate Christmas in a similar way to the rest of the English-speaking world. On the 25^th of December, there’s turkey on the dinner table although you might get haggis stuffing if you’re lucky! There are presents under the tree, Christmas crackers, awful board games and plenty of family arguments.

So far it doesn’t seem particularly interesting, but trust me that there’s a good reason for this and it does get far more exciting!

The Scottish Christmas Ban!

One of the reasons that we’re a little short on Scottish Christmas traditions is that it was technically “banned” for over 300 years! Can you imagine how tough December would be without that to look forward to?

Way back in the early 16^th century, like many European countries, Christmas in Scotland was an important religious feast day. It had been for centuries, although most people would have known it as Yule. Then along came the Scottish Reformation with its completely different Protestant way of thinking. Celebrating Christ’s Mass was far too Catholic sounding and it was strongly discouraged.

In 1640, the Scottish government went further, passing a law making the celebration of Christmas illegal. Even simply baking a Yule bread was a step too far, never mind putting up a tree and placing stockings at the end of your bed. It wasn’t until the 1950s that things began to change and my grandparent’s generation still remember working on Christmas Day being the norm.

Of course, the day would still be noted but people just did some of their regular things in secret. Maybe mince pies are so small so they’re easier to hide from prying Presbetyrian elder’s eyes!

Orkney’s Festive Ba’ Game

There is one famous local Scottish Christmas tradition though – the Kirkwall Ba’ Game in Orkney. It takes place both on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day and as you can see here, it’s absolutely brutal. Think of it as a cross between rugby and a pitched battle!

In the days leading up to the Ba’ match, Kirkwall looks like a warzone. Barriers line the streets and windows and doors are boarded shut to protect from the upcoming rammy.

Two teams of hundreds of men face off in a game of football, split between Uppies and Doonies. Originally, your team was based on where you were born – up or down from St Magnus’ Cathedral. These days, most are born in the hospital so teams are passed down through families.

The Ba’ is a heavy, cork filled, leather ball, handmade for each game and taken home by the winner. The aim is for the Uppies to touch the ba’ against a wall in the south of the town, while the Doonies are trying to get it into Kirkwall Bay. Apart from that, there are no written rules.

A huge scrum with the ball at the centre is heaved, until somebody smuggles it to the edge and makes a break. There are fake breaks to confuse the opponents even attempts to take to Kirkwall’s rooftops!

It’s physical and tempers flare but the game self-polices itself. Folk won’t let their mates take things too far in the name of tradition. The average game takes five hours so what better way to spend Christmas in Scotland?

Here’s a quote from the Orcadian Newspaper, “ It was an intensely fought game on both sides, with a number of injuries, a wall falling foul of the pack and an hour long holdout by the Uppies down a lane by Kiln Corner.”

An Odd Explanation Of The Ba’ Origins

We know that the Ba’ is at least 300 years old and at one point there were Yuletide games across Orkney. There is an odd folk story to explain the origins of this festive fun. It’s from way back during the Viking Age, when Orkney was more Scandinavian than Scottish.

A mad Scottish tyrant was laying waste to the Viking held Caithness and Sutherland. His name was Tusker due to one large tooth that jutted out between his lips and he tormented those sweet, innocent Vikings. Tusker was just a downright evil man.

So one day a young Orcadian boy decided that enough was enough. If nobody else was going to do something about this tyrant, then he would do it himself! He jumped in his dad’s boat, rowed across the Pentland Firth and he made his way south to face this powerful warlord. Well Tusker must have underestimated this wee boy because somehow, the tyrant fell to his blade!

Adding insult to injury, the Orcadian chopped off his foe’s head, strapped it to the man’s own saddle then stole his horse to shorten the journey home. However, as he rode along the bumpy track home, Tusker’s famous protruding tooth rubbed into the young boy’s thigh. And it rubbed and rubbed until it opened a wound that quickly became infected.

He survived long enough to make it to Kirkwall, stand up in the centre of town and throw the severed head into the massing crowds. Then he promptly collapsed and died. The Orcadian mob were so furious, that they kicked the head up and down the street in a rage and that was the start of this strange Scottish Christmas tradition!

Typical Scottish Hogmanay Traditions

With Christmas taking a backseat, that left lots of space for Scottish New Year traditions to take over! However, we don’t call it New Year in Scotland, it’s known as Hogmanay. Nobody knows the exact origin of the term, it’s just one of those things that seems to have always been.

There were once lots of Scottish New Year traditions, some have faded but others are still going strong. The first step is known as redding the house. Time to give your home a tidy up, sweeping old ashes out from the fire. Tradition states that if you don’t, your home will be a constant mess the next year!

After dark, the real Scottish Hogmanay celebration begins, usually in a neighbour’s home or local ceilidh. If you’re at home, then after midnight, your first visitor of the New Year was extremely important. This is one Scottish Hogmanay tradition that’s still going today called First Footing.

You want the first foot through your door to be a tall, dark man bearing gifts. Coal to keep your fire burning and something like shortbread to fill your belly. The lucky visitor usually receives a dram of whisky in return! The theory is that the arrival of a fair-haired gent foretold a Viking at your door.

Old Scottish New Year customs carry on the next day with saining, although that’s not common today. The house would be blessed with water from a river crossed by both the living and the dead. Then juniper branches burned and carried through the home before opening the windows to let the fresh air of the new year in.

For a more modern Hogmanay custom, many people enjoy a steak pie on New Year’s Day. Nobody knows exactly where this delicious idea came from, but I’m not complaining.

The Stonehaven Fireballs

When you mention local Hogmanay traditions, most in Scotland will think of the Stonehaven Fireballs. Once midnight has passed, the entertainment starts. Around 45 locals march down the streets of Stonehaven, swinging a ball of flames around their head on a bit of wire. Both men and women take part, all longstanding residents of the town.

Each person makes their own ball, with closely guarded family recipes passed down to make sure it burns brightly and for long enough. If somebody’s fireball burned out before the climax, they’d never be able to show their face in Stonehaven again!

It takes 10-20 minutes to make it down to the harbour where the fireballs are given a last few swings and launched into the water. Think of it as a mix between a bonfire, Hogmanay and the Highland Games, merging together under the gaze of thousands of spectators.

Like most fire festivals, the flames symbolise cleansing the streets, ridding the town of malicious spirits. Dumping the fireballs into the harbour amongst the fishing boats no doubt helped protect the local’s livelihood, especially since fishermen are amongst the most superstitious people.

As far as written documentation goes, the celebration might only go back around 150 years. Today, it’s a straight march down the street from lighting the fireball to launching in the water. However, early records show people sometimes only swung a few yards at a time before dropping the still blazing cage outside their mate’s house to go in for a drink.

Depending on how many friends you had, it could take a long time to get down the street to the harbour! But then again, that’s what Scottish Hogmanay traditions are all about! Stopping in to wish the best to your neighbours.

The Comrie Flambeaux

Torchlight Processions are becoming common Scottish New Year traditions in many places. The oldest and probably most obscure is the Comrie Flambeaux. Every Hogmanay, a dozen locals gather together in Comrie with 10 foot poles, wrapped in tattie sacks at the top and soaked in paraffin for 6 weeks.

Once midnight strikes, the poles are lit and a piper leads the group around the town. Again they’re cleansing the town of evil spirits but this time followed by locals in fancy dress! They light the way into the new year, before launching the flaming sticks over the bridge, then it’s time for a big ceilidh.

Originally the poles were carried by young men who would stop outside houses to get cakes and treats. If somebody didn’t have anything prepared then they had a chant:

Nobody knows where the Flambeaux comes from, but the name is our biggest clue. Comrie formed into a proper village in the 18^th century as people gathered to find new employment in things like weaving. To train these new weavers, dozens of French-speaking experts from the Low Countries were brought in.

So does that mean this Scottish Hogmanay tradition is really from the continent? Or was the foreign name by the amazed immigrants just the one that stuck? I’ll leave you to make up your mind because nobody knows for sure!

A Peculiar Old Fordyce Tradition

Taking a break from fire festivals, the wee Aberdeenshire village of Fordyce has something very different. Their odd Hogmanay tradition surrounds an ancient rock known as the Mortar Stane. Every Hogmanay, local boys would borrow a cart and load the stone into it. A fiddler then sat on top to make as much noise as possible while the cart was pulled around the streets.

They headed to the house of the most eligible young lady in the village, shouting messages of good luck to this chosen one. The stone and fiddler were then dumped at the door, where the boys would all be welcomed with drinks by the girl’s happy father. That Mortar Stane would sit there all year as a symbol and the girl would usually be married by next Hogmanay!

At some point before the end of the year, the stone would be quietly removed to a secret location until the ceremony started again. It had to be guarded well since families looking to marry off daughters might steal it to place outside their own door for luck!

Apparently, vandals once tipped the Mortar Stane in an old flooded quarry and the locals fashioned a replacement. Things just weren’t the same and the ladies of Fordyce demanded the quarry drained and their original retrieved!

Unfortunately, this is Scottish New Year tradition seems to have ended around the 1940s. Probably due to most of the men and older boys not returning from World War II. A sign at the church claims the Mortar Stane can be found in the graveyard, but I couldn’t find any trace.

Hopefully it was being guarded for a revival of an ancient tradition!

Newer Scottish Hogmanay Traditions

Not every Scottish Christmas tradition or Hogmanay event is hundreds of years old though. There are plenty of more modern traditions, for example Edinburgh and Glasgow play each other at rugby on Boxing Day. They then have the reverse fixture on New Year’s Day.

If you’re in Edinburgh for Hogmanay then you might want to look into the Loony Dook. That’s where people, often in fancy dress, dive into the chilly sea early on New Year’s Day. The original Loony Dook is at South Queensferry but many people head to the slightly closer Portobello. There’s nothing stopping you have a dook anywhere though, as long as you’re brave enough!

Burning The Clavie In Burghead

Not every Scottish Christmas tradition or Hogmanay custom ties up neatly with modern dates. The people of Burghead in Moray have a celebration that takes place on the 11th of January due to sheer stubbornness.

In the 1750s Britain moved to the Gregorian Calendar and lost 11 days that year to fall into line. Those in Burghead refused to accept the new date for Hogmanay, celebrating the same day it had always been. This isn’t a typical party either, it’s a tradition known as the Burning of the Clavie.

The Clavie is a specially made barrel, filled with tar and nailed to a post. It’s then lit from an old fireplace and carried around the town in a raucous procession. Every so often the Clavie crew stop to hand out bits of burning wood as chunks fall over the poor soul carrying the thing.

Once they’ve made it round the streets, the Clavie is fixed on Doorie Hill. More fuel is thrown on the burning barrel until half the hillside is alight! Eventually the Clavie collapses and people rush forward to grab smouldering planks. These bits of burnt wood are kept to bring good luck for the year.

Nobody knows when the tradition started but since Burghead was such an important Pictish settlement, it could well date back over a thousand years. Maybe Macbeth, who was Mormaer of Moray before becoming King of Scots, was once involved in hauling around this burning barrel!

It’s over the top with showmanship and absolutely unique in Scotland. This kind of celebration may once have been a common Scottish Hogmanay tradition and if so, Burghead saved it for all of us to appreciate today!

Shetland’s Up Helly Aa

I’ve saved arguably the most impressive Scottish New Year tradition for last. Up Helly Aa takes place in Shetland and there are many spread around the islands on different days. The best known and largest is found in Lerwick on the last Tuesday in January.

This tradition leans heavily into Shetland’s Scandinavian heritage, with around 1000 people marching through the streets of Lerwick in teams of fancy dress. There’s one very special group and that’s the Jarl’s Squad, the only group in Viking outfits.

They’re led by the Guizer Jarl and this day has been 15 years in the making for them, ever since they joined the Up Helly Aa committee. His squad’s handmade matching outfits have been carefully crafted to reflect a figure from the Viking sagas. The most important part though is comfortable shoes, because this is a long day!

They’re up at the crack of day to march around the town, erecting an enormous written proclamation full of inside jokes at the market cross. The rest of the day involves dropping into local schools, hospitals and museums. Once darkness falls, torches are lit and the holders form ranks.

The Guizer Jarl stands at the helm of a lovingly crafted replica longship which is then hauled by his squad into town. As the torchbearers circle, the Jarl disembarks before torches are hurled inside to set the beautiful vessel ablaze. The guizers then all sing The Norseman’s Home as the boat crumbles to pieces.

That might seem like a crescendo, but the squads carry on partying until the sun has come back up.

What’s interesting is that this Scottish New Year celebration is barely 140 years old! Before that, groups of young men celebrated by dragging burning barrels through the streets. They almost set the town on fire more than once and it was banned in 1874.

Soon, a torchlit procession was introduced to carry on old celebrations. Then a burning boat was introduced and shortly after that the strong Viking element was introduced and we ended up with today’s epic occasion!

Has learning about Scottish Christmas traditions and Hogmanay celebrations inspired you to visit Scotland?

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