Candlemas Day - 2 February,
Candlemas began as a Roman festival to celebrate the return of
spring. It is now a Scottish legal "quarter day" when rents and other
payments fall due. There is an old traditional poem which said that
"If Candlemas Day be bright and fair
Half the winter is to come and mair (more)
If Candlemas Day be dark and foul
Half the winter was over at Yowl (Christmas)
St Valentine's Day - 14th February
This used to be an excuse for youngsters to go round begging for
sweets, money or fruit, while older brothers and sisters tried to find
a sweetheart. "Name-papers" were sometimes used where names were
written and placed in a bonnet and and each person drew out a paper. If
the same name was drawn three times, it meant a marriage would take
place!
Whuppity Scoorie - 1st March
A rumbustious celebration by the young lads of Lanark. It is a
relic of the days when making a lot of noise was believed to frighten
away the evil spirits. Pennies supplied by money from the Common Good
Fund was thrown and the children scrambled to pick it up. Balls of
paper (or bonnets - a lot softer!) tied with string were used by the
participants to strike one another.
Original New Year - 25th March
The Celtic New Year was celebrated on Samhain (November 1st). Then,
until 1600, the Gregorian Calendar which was used in Scotland, placed
New Year on 25th March.
Fastern's E'en - Last Tuesday Before Lent
This was a carnival and feast held on the last Tuesday before the
sacrifices of Lent, during which meat, butter and fat were used up.
Around Scotland the day had different names such as Bannock Night, Beef
Brose and Shriften E'en. In some places there was a rowdy game of
football or handball, for example in Jedburgh, a rowdy game of handball
called the Callant's Ba' was held between the "uppies" and the
"downies".
Easter - Variable Dates
There was a festival for "Eastre", a Saxon goddess of fertility, in
pre-Christian times which was integrated into the Christian calendar.
The date is moveable, because the calculation is based on phases of the
moon. In Scotland, to this day, "hot cross buns" are baked, containing
spices and fruit and with a white pastry cross. On Good Friday, no
ploughing was done and no seed was sown. The custom of rolling painted,
hard-boiled eggs down a hill took place on Easter Monday.
Hunt the Gowk - 1st April
On this day people would play tricks and tell lies to catch each
other out. But the jokes had to stop at mid-day. Now called April
Fool's Day, hunting the gowk was originally sending someone on a
foolish errand.
"Dinna laugh, an' dinna smile
But hunt the gowk another mile"
Preen-tail Day or Tailie Day - 2nd April
The day following All Fool's Day when paper tails were attached to the backs of unsuspecting people as a joke.
Glen Saturday - the first or third Saturday in April
The day when the children of Kilmarnock in Ayrshire went to Crawfurdland Castle to pick daffodils.
Whitsunday - the seventh Sunday after Easter
Another Scottish legal quarter day when rents fell due.