The Yule Beggar: A Scottish Christmas Story (Scottish Folklore)

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The winter holiday season in Scotland has always been a little odd, in the early days of the country we would follow many of the old Celtic traditions, such as great fires, feasts, village gatherings, gifts to the sith and celebrating the many days of yule, eventually these traditions would become intermingled with the celebration of the Christian god. Once Christianity was involved the festivities became far more restrained and for many years Christmas was more of a small occasion far less celebrated and important than easter. During the reformation of the Scottish church, the winter Christ Mass was officially banned by parliament in 1640 as it was to closely associated with Catholicism, this is one of the main reasons we in Scotland celebrate Hogmanay or the new year with such enthusiasm, for a long time it was our only winter holiday. All this to say that Christmas in Scotland has always been a very culturally mixed affair and is unique to this great land. Today we look at a tale from 14th century Scotland that took place on the very eve of Christmas.

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Intro Music: Written for me by Bobbin
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References:
BBC (2020) What is Hogmanay? BBC Newsround. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/38477036]
Forbes, A.P. (1874) The Historians of Scotland: The Lives of St. Ninian and St. Kentigern, vol. V, Edinburgh. Edmonston and Douglas
Mackinlay, J.M. (1904), Influence of the Pre-Reformation Church on Scottish Place-Names, Edinburgh. William Blackwood and Sons
Patrick, K. (2022) The Yule Beggar, the Scots Magazine [https://www.scotsmagazine.com/article...]
Watson, W.J. (1926) The history of the Celtic place-names of Scotland: being the Rhind lectures on archaeology delivered in 1916. Edinburgh. RCAHMS Shelf Number: C.4.2.WAT