From Christmas trees to wreaths and garlands, one of Scotland’s castles is set to reconnect Scots with the origins of our festive traditions.
Transporting visitors through Christmas past, Castle Fraser in Aberdeenshire has been decked out in authentic decorations from medieval to Victorian times.
Period estates and castles across the country could join the approach in the years to come as the National Trust of Scotland (NTS) trials guidances built on months of research by Dr Jo Riley.
“It’s really important that visitors can connect and engage or even relate to what they’re seeing,” Dr Riley said. “It’s a much deeper experience.
Many of the winter celebrations we enjoy today have interesting histories and ancient origins.
The mince pie, for example, hides a tale of rebellion when a law passed in 1640 made “Yule vacations” illegal.
Christmas was seen as a Catholic church-led celebration and after the Reformation in 1560, associated festivities were gradually banned.
However, mince pies, which had actually been large oblong treats, were made smaller so Scots could hide the illicit goods “in their pockets”.
“Bakeries were banned from making them,” Dr Riley added.
For this reason, many of the seasonal decorations relate to Hogmanay rather than Christmas.
Visitors to Castle Fraser will be able to explore the sometimes forgotten meanings behind the traditions, era by era.
The medieval period will be centred around the Great Hall, moving into the Georgian period in the dining room, and progressing to the Victorian sitting room.
Speaking on the 16th-century Great Hall, Dr Riley said: “We’ve put the medieval kissing balls, and decorated the fireplace, which was always significant because of the Yule Log.”
The Yule Log also demonstrates the sustainability at the core of the idea, as the collections care team repurposed an oak branch that was brought down by Storm Arwen last year.
Each room also has a kissing ball, or holy boughs, showing how the tradition changed from bringing blessings to a modern-day kiss under the mistletoe.
Speaking on how the symbolism of still popular traditions became less recognised, Dr Riley said: “There was much more superstition and not just knowing the meaning but belief in them.
“Religion was so important that the fear of the afterlife, and if you did something against that, was so great, that everybody did believe the superstitions and religions meanings behind things.
“Very early on, people were much more aware of symbolism.”
While the motivations for some festive acts have changed, many of these traditions date even further back.
“We still see a lot of traditions, even the very early ones, but maybe in slightly different ways, or they have now different significance.,” she added.
“Evergreens have always been important. They’ve gone back to pre-Christian, pagan traditions, because of the significance of the greenery all over winter, it was seen to be strong and survive the winter months.”
Dr Riley has been working with NTS’s curator North, Vikki Duncan and gardeners to develop authentic decorations.
Many of the decorations were produced by the collections care team themselves using items from the grounds surrounding the Inverurie tower house.
“The gardener has found it so rewarding because it’s actually it’s like the second life of what she produces,” Dr Riley added.
“It’s all been grown from seed in the garden and now it’s been reused in the castle as it would have been.”
The festive look of the estate will be open to visitors until December 18 when castle will close until next spring.
Dr Riley said: “You just get a lovely feel as you go in the castle.
“I think because we’ve had a low budget to work on, everyone’s been really creative.
“My mum always used to say, ‘necessity is the mother of creation’ and I think it really has been.”
More will be in store for the grand castle, with this year marking only the beginning of NTS efforts to celebrate the festive season in historically accurate ways. The researcher explained that they hope to create “a memory” or “connection” for visitors.
“Those little things bring the castle alive,” she said.
Dr Jo Riley will join Jackie Bird on the Love Scotland podcast to discuss the NTS's work to bring Christmas to Castle Fraser in an episode due to be released on December 9.
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