Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

From being illegal to now the biggest day of the year, this is Christmas’ past and present all wrapped up

a christmas dinner table
Places to enjoy a Christmas Day meal this year.

From being illegal to being one of the biggest celebrations of the year now, Christmas Day has a varied history and certainly is more than just a meal.

While the Christmas we know is primarily filled with joy and cheer, the day hasn’t always been celebrated in this manner with many unaware of its history.

In its time the day has gone from being a hardly celebrated event to one of the most important days of the year.

Family celebrating Christmas.

The Church of Scotland banned Christmas

During the 16th century when the Protestant Reformation was occurring, John Knox led a trend – started by Martin Luther in 1517 – in which there was an official split from the Catholic Church in 1560.

Traditions such as Christmas were viewed by the Protestant Church of Scotland as going against the teachings of the Bible, and were seen as being too extravagant.

As a result the church suspended the celebrations, against the desires of the Scottish people.

This caused resistance from the people and resulted in Parliament making celebrating Christmas illegal in 1640.

It was a crime to celebrate, bake Yule bread or even have a holiday on Christmas Day with the passing of two acts of Parliament in 1640 and 1690.

As a result the people in Scotland had to wait until Hogmanay (December 31) to celebrate.

Due to the apparent injustice, this was repealed in the 18th Century, and the Scottish Parliament revoked the ban in 1712.

Christmas
Empty church.

Hogmanay celebrated more than Christmas

Despite this the Church still frowned upon the celebrations of Christmas and this time was known as the dark years.

Individuals and families who celebrated during his time did so quietly and this continued for more than 300 years.

Finally in the middle for the 20th century, families became bold enough to have small Christmas get togethers and started to decorate their houses.

It was not until 1958 that December 25 became a national holiday, and in 1974 that Boxing Day was also a holiday.

As a result, Hogmanay for many in Scotland is a more celebrated occasion than others and for more than 400 years, was given more importance and planning.

Hogmanay celebrations.

Christmas is more than just a meal

With the official ability to celebrate as a family starting only 63 years ago when in 1958 it became a Scottish public holiday, many people use Christmas as an opportunity to make traditional food, puddings and bring the whole family together to eat, drink and celebrate.

As Christmas has become more commercialised, many have argued that the essence of what is important has been lost in the rush to buy presents and create a fancy feast.

For many, Christmas is no longer a religious celebration, and so the acts of charity and helping the poor, family and spending time with loved ones and celebrating love, happiness and joy have been forgotten.

christmas
Christmas dinner.

As a result of the on-going coronavirus pandemic, this year Christmas will also be quite different, with many people self-isolating to keep friends and family safe. Last year saw many more restrictions come into play on Boxing Day, with lighter restrictions in place this year throughout the festive break.

The adversity of the past two years may, in time, show a change in behaviour towards the extravagance during the holiday season, and perhaps make us think about what we can do to help others this year.

Taking care of yourself in the present

Due to the over commercialised world we live in, many of us will have been subjected to a range of Christmas adverts, emails and more, further feeling pressure to make the day perfect.

However with the long lasting effects that the pandemic has had and restrictions continuing to put pressure on the hospitality industry, some have fallen on hard times and will be unable to financially afford Christmas this year, or enjoy a Christmas meal with family and friends.

It is important that we, as a community, try to act more responsibly this Christmas, with regards to how much we buy and what to do with leftover Christmas food.

How to be more responsible at Christmas:

  1. Firstly try to plan and prepare as much as possible in order to avoid over buying food and drink. Creating a shopping list and only buying what you need will definitely help reduce waste.
  2. Cooking up the leftovers from Christmas can also help reduce food waste significantly and teach young ones about the importance of being mindful about food wastage.
  3. Donate food. In addition there are a range of ways to donate any food which is unused to the community fridges in local areas – with tinned cans and non-perishables preferred. Many people may be relying on those donations with the holidays approaching.

Posted by Gate Church Carbon Saving Project on Thursday, 23 December 2021


More from food and drink…