Assoc for Scottish Literature

Oidhche Challain: No admission without a rhyme

Happy Old New Year!

After the 1750 Calendar Act changed the date of New Year’s Day, some Gaels – to make sure they didn’t miss it – chose to celebrate both. Dr Dòmhnall Uilleam Stiùbhart discusses the once ubiquitous Highland tradition of Oidhche Challain:

https://www.whfp.com/2020/01/08/oidhche-challain-no-admission-without-a-rhyme/

#Scottish #literature #Gaidhlig #Gaelic #poetry #tradition #NewYear #Highlands #Hebrides #OldNewYear

Oidhche Challain: No admission without a rhyme

Boisdale boys after visiting houses for Oidhche na Callainn, circa 1950. Credit DJ MacIntyre In the latest feature published in association with the Tobar an Dualchais/Kist o Riches project, Dr Dòmhnall Uilleam Stiùbhart, course leader for

West Highland Free Press - www.whfp.com
Jan 12 at 1:23pmWeb
Show threadAssoc for Scottish LiteratureJan 12

“There iss not a port I am not acquent with from the Tail of the Bank to Cairndow, where they keep the two New Years”

—Captain Para Handy, in “A Lost Man” by Neil Munro (1863–1930)

https://birlinn.co.uk/product/para-handy-2/

#Scottish #literature #20thcentury #humour #ParaHandy #Highlands #Hebrides

Show threadPeter BrownJan 12

@scotlit yes, Europe changed the date, Scotland changed the date, but England was so paranoid they thought it was a European plot to deprive them of 11 days of their life so they carried on using the old calendar.

A minefield for historians for the next few years.