A Guid Ne’erday

The celebration of Christmas was banned for almost 400 years in Scotland (outlawed during the Protestant Reformation) and so Hogmanay (December 31) and the New Year became the focus of mid-winter festivities. The period after Christmas up to Handsel Monday (the first Monday of the New Year when people exchanged a small gift as a token of luck) became known as the “Daft Days”. This was a time of fun and light-hearted good cheer and was the subject of Robert Fergusson’s 1772 poem “The Daft-Days”. Here’s an extract:

This statue of Robert Fergusson stands on The Royal Mile. Edinburgh outside Canongate Kirk where he is buried in the churchyard.
Image credit: Dun Deagh on Visual Hunt, CC BY-SA

When merry Yule-day comes, I trou,
You’ll scantlins find a hungry mou;
Sma are our cares, our stamacks fou
O’ gusty gear,
And kickshaws, strangers to our view,
Sin fairn-year.

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Festive wishes

This year seems unlikely to be a white Christmas in our corner of Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park but we’ve already had some wonderfully crisp, frosted-white and sunny winter days. This image is of nearby Loch Lubnaig on just such a day earlier this month when I ventured out to practise with my new camera. It was so cold my fingers were quickly numb but the scenery was at its breathtaking best.

With the solstice now behind us, at Tigh a’ Mhaide we are already looking forward to the return of the sun and longer days. We wish all our guests and blog readers a truly merry festive season and we look forward to welcoming many more visitors to The Trossachs in 2020. Don’t forget you can book with us directly at http://www.tam.scot.