Do you remember the Old Christmas, back when Christmas came on January 6? Old Christmas is not the Twelfth Night or Epiphany. It is Christmas Day as reckoned on the Julian calendar. In 1752 the English Crown adopted the Gregorian calendar. The switch over to the new calendar was not immediate and for years many people in the Anglo-Celtic world preferred using the Julian calendar. Gradually, the Gregorian calendar became the norm, but, some people in rural areas, in the Upland South and Backsettlements, continued to record time according to the older Julian calendar. For them the Yule Holiday came on January 6.
1/6/2018 Associated Press Ryan leads Falcons' 26-13 playoff win over upstart LA Rams Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons showed the upstart Los Angeles Rams what playoff poise is all about. January 6, 2018. Cecil Lawrence Osburn Cecil Lawrence Osburn, 86, of Waycross, passed away at Hospice Satilla Thursday (Jan. 4, 2018) following a brief illness. He was born in Waycross on Oct. “Papa O” was a loving husband, father and grandfather. January 6, 2018 - Today's holidays are Apple Tree Day, Bean Day, Cuddle Up Day, Epiphany, Fruitcake Toss Day, National Shortbread Day, National Smith Day, National Take a Poet to Lunch Day, National.
It was among the Anglo-Celtic early settlers that Old Christmas held on. These people were of English, Irish, Welsh, Scottish, and Scots-Irish origins. My grandmother was Scots-Irish and came from County Cavan, in Ulster. Her family left Ireland early, circa 1700, and followed the frontier. They were in the Carolina Uplands in the mid-1700s and then to the hills and ridge country of southern Illinois by 1805. That area today is known as the Illinois Ozarks.
The region was settled primarily by Anglo-Celtic Scots-Irish and the people and their culture expanded into the Missouri and Arkansas Ozarks. It was here in the Ozarks, much like in Appalachia, that old customs and folkways endured for well over a century. These customs and folkways, like Old Christmas, are still remembered. The use of the Julian Calendar persisted even after the official change to the Gregorian calendar.
January 16, 2018 Houston
January 6 2018
The Old New Year was on March 25. Slowly however, the New Year was marked on January 1, making the dating of events confusing. As historians and family history researchers know, any dates prior to the Gregorian calendar’s use are often broken down into Old Style (Julian dating) and New Style (Gregorian dating). Clerks for many years after the calendar change had to abbreviate OS or NS to clarify a date on a record. The Old Christmas still lives and is growing in popularity. I keep both the Old and New Christmas at my house and it is a way to enjoy the holiday season.
There is something special about Old Christmas. It is a quiet celebration of our old customs, wonderfully free of consumerism. It is just pure Christmas, no commercialism. It is wonderful. I hear of other families that use the Old Christmas to celebrate those things most important. Family, clan, one's faith, the season of winter and reflection. These are good things.
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