’Tis the Fourth day in the Twelve Days of the great feast of
Christmas and I’m back to talk about celebrating the winter holidays in the
British Isles where the stories I’ve been writing are set.
A week of binge-watching the series Shetland gave me a good appreciation of the closeness of Scotland to Scandinavia. Given the Celtic and later Viking influence, It’s no wonder that many of this season’s customs date back to pagan festivities marking the winter solstice. The word Yule (as in Yuletide and Yule Log) comes from the Norse word “jul” or “houl” meaning wheel.
Ancient Rome also celebrated the winter solstice in the Saturnalia festivities of ancient Rome. I mentioned in my December post last year that the early Christian church built a religious holiday, Christmas, around this natural time of ancient celebration. Many of the Christmas traditions—Yule logs, mistletoe, feasting–date back long before the designation of December 25th as the birthday of Jesus.
Though we’re a week out from the shortest day of the year,
nights are still long, so why not keep partying? The seventh day of Christmas,
December 31st brings us to the celebration of the new year. In
Scotland, reaching back to their Norse roots, the locals celebrate Hogmanay
with torchlight parades, bonfires, and lots of good whisky.
My favorite Scottish New Year’s tradition is the First Foot.
Tradition says that if the first person to cross the threshold in the new year is a tall, dark, handsome man, the home and all who dwell therein will have good luck in the coming year. (No red-headed men, please—they’re considered unlucky!) I saw this set up in a blurb for a Christmas romance this year, and then promptly lost the link. If you recognize that story, please mention it in the comments below.
Whatever winter holiday you celebrate, I hope you’re surrounded by family and friends. I wish you many blessings in the New Year. Have a Happy Hogmanay!
Award-winning author Alina K. Field earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and German literature, but her true passion is the much happier world of romance fiction.
Award-winning author Alina K. Field earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and German literature, but her true passion is the much happier world of romance fiction.
A Slice of Orange is an affiliate with some of the booksellers listed on this website, including Barnes & Nobel, Books A Million, iBooks, Kobo, and Smashwords. This means A Slice of Orange may earn a small advertising fee from sales made through the links used on this website. There are reminders of these affiliate links on the pages for individual books.
Dayna hopes for a second chance at love . . . but . . .he wears a wedding band.
More info →The spark is still there... and brighter than ever
More info →Celebrating Five Years of Global Poetry Poetry that binds, Poetry that is NOW, Poetry that BONDS.
More info →A soldier and a nun discover forbidden love in war-torn Italy during the winter of 1943.
More info →A Slice of Orange is an affiliate with some of the booksellers listed on this website, including Barnes & Nobel, Books A Million, iBooks, Kobo, and Smashwords. This means A Slice of Orange may earn a small advertising fee from sales made through the links used on this website. There are reminders of these affiliate links on the pages for individual books.
Copyright ©2017 A Slice of Orange. All Rights Reserved. ~PROUDLY POWERED BY WORDPRESS ~ CREATED BY ISHYOBOY.COM
Session expired
Please log in again. The login page will open in a new tab. After logging in you can close it and return to this page.
Great information Alina. I’m hoping a tall, dark and handsome man walks through my door. Happy New Year!!
Haha, good luck, Jann!