British Winter Holidays
Many of the Christmas holiday traditions in Britain are similar to ours (stockings, decorations, carols, Christmas trees, etc.) but there are also some uniquely British ones. In Scotland, it becomes even more complicated since Christmas was almost entirely eliminated after the Protestant Reformation in 1558 and did not completely resurface until the mid-20th Century (Hogmanay -- Scottish New Years -- was instead celebrated; more on that in another post.) The following are some typical British Winter Holiday traditions. Father Christmas Since the late 1800s, Father Christmas has become almost identical to our Santa Claus. But because of the Catholic origins of Christmas (ie, the Mass of Christ) and Santa Claus (Saint Nicholas, a Turkish priest), Britain turned away from some of the Christmas traditions after the Protestant Reformation. St. Nick became Father Christmas, a pre-Christian figure (sometimes called Old Man Winter) who wore green robes and had red hair...