In fact, it would appear that the Yule practices
were simply transferred from a few days earlier to a few days later, and
thereby retained their original connection with the close of the year.
Prior to the Church interference there is no evidence that the first of
January was observed by the people as a general feast, but even with
this safety valve of a popular and yearly festival, the Church
encountered great difficulty in abolishing Yule. A few instances of the
opposition of the people will suffice.
The Glasgow Kirk Session, on the 26th December, 1583, had five persons
before them who were ordered to make public repentance, because they
kept the superstitious day called Yule. The _baxters_ were required to
give the names of those for whom they had baked Yule bread, so that they
might be dealt with by the Church. Ten years after this, in 1593, an Act
was again passed by the Glasgow Session against the keeping of Yule, and
therein it was ordained that the keepers of this feast were to be
debarred from the privileges of the Church, and also punished by the
magistrates.
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