The tiny Scottish island where Christmas is celebrated today

Foula in Shetland, the most westerly of the archipelago, will celebrate Christmas today, 6 January, in observance of the old Julian calendar and the old ways of Yule.

On Foula, which has a population of around 35, the tradition of 6 January holds firm as residents open up their homes, play music, share gifts and guidicks - Shetland riddles - and make merry long into the night.

While Yule is part of island life, 25 December is also observed by many, particularly those with children, leaving residents with a double celebration in the depths of winter. While some may head to the mainland for the 25th, many will be back home for Yule.

“We have always done it this way and I can't see it ever changing,” a crofter earlier told The Scotsman.

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Newspaper cuttings from over the years show how the traditions of 6 January have long been happily upheld.

In 1986, it was reported that reestit mutton, or salted mutton, was the main dish of the day on 6 January along with tattie soup and Foula Yulebread, which is made with caraway seeds. Following the evening meal, it was tradition for all islanders to gather in one house for the night.

Keeping the Christmas tree going until 6 January takes a bit of work, with islanders sometimes keeping it in cold water to ensure it remains fresh for the big day.

Up until around 20 years ago, a hunt for the cormorant seabird was another tradition that marked the day.

An account from 1906 detailed how Yule was marked on the 8th to allow a day of rest, given the 6th fell on a Saturday.

That year, the festivities were launched with the firing of two guns in Hametoon, the main settlement, with the blast returned by a single shot fired back from Ham.

The January 6th celebration was limited in 2021 due to Covid with outbreaks of ‘flu also curtailing the festivities on several occasions over time.

In 1948, severe winter gales led to Foula being cut off from the outside world for 48 days, leaving it without fresh supplies or mail throughout December.

Just over a decade later and the harsh December conditions led to the island’s only shop - which is now closed - run out of tobacco and cigarettes with sugar, margarine, flour and oatmeal also perilously low. Tea and paraffin, however, remained in supply.

In 1899, it was reported that new pennies and fresh oranges were sent to the Congregational Manse on the island from Edinburgh churches to help children mark “old Christmas”.

According to accounts, Pope Gregory XIII took issue with the old Julian calendar in 1582. On assuming that each year contained 365-and-a-quarter days, an error had been allowed to build up over time with each year accumulating an extra 11 minutes. As a result, the calendar was becoming badly out of sync with the seasons.

Britain, reluctant to conform to European ways, did not adopt the Gregorian calendar until 1752, when 11 days had to be deleted. There was pubic outcry amid the refrain “give us back out 11 days!”

Most places, however, conformed although the Highlands and Islands continued to celebrate their important festivals 11 days later than the date on the new calendar.

Foula kept its dates after 1752 with the island now one day ahead of the Julian calendar and 12 days behind the Gregorian. While Christmas is celebrated on January 6, New Year is marked on January 13.

In Shetland, the new calendar was first adopted in Lerwick in 1879. But in Foula, the old ways stay the same.