Scotland, Christmas Island goes against the grain: when it celebrates Christmas

There is an island in the Shetland archipelago, in Scotland, that will only celebrate Christmas in two weeks. In Foula, thirty inhabitants nestled in a village embraced by the North Sea, the Julian calendar is still in force, the one promulgated by Julius Caesar in 46 BC, based on the phases of the moon and the seasons. In 1752, Britain, almost two centuries late, adopted the Gregorian calendar, issued by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 to correct errors made by the ancient Romans that effectively made the solar year “shorter” by 13 days. In Foula the inhabitants, who do not consider themselves Scottish or even English, but heirs of Norse and Viking civilization, wanted to remain faithful to Caesar’s calendar. Even though we are Christians of the Anglican faith, just as the Orthodox celebrate the birth of Jesus on January 7th. When Russia, after the October Revolution, switched from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar, religious holidays remained anchored in the old almanac. It was decided not to disturb traditions. Foula also decided to remain connected to the past. “It was everyone else who changed, not us”, say the inhabitants who are referring precisely to Russia: “We are not the only ones. Even in Moscow, Christmas is celebrated on January 7th and greetings and gifts are exchanged on that day.”

And consequently Newerday, as New Year’s Eve is called in Shetland, falls a week later. In small, icy Foula, 160 kilometers north of mainland Scotland, at the same latitude as Greenland, no one is willing to give up Christmas on January 7th. The island is so remote and hit by very violent waves that a few years ago the Church of Scotland minister, the Reverend Tom Macintyre, had to embark three times to get to Foula for Christmas mass and three times he had to give up. The storm canceled the mass, but not the islanders’ desire to celebrate.