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Little Christmas ( ga, Nollaig na mBan, lit=Women's Christmas), also known as Old Christmas, Green Christmas, or Twelfth Night, is one of the traditional names among Irish Christians and Amish Christians for 6 January, which is also known more widely as the
Feast of the Epiphany Epiphany ( ), also known as Theophany in Eastern Christian traditions, is a Christian feast day that celebrates the revelation (theophany) of God incarnate as Jesus Christ. In Western Christianity, the feast commemorates principally (but not ...
, celebrated after the conclusion of the twelve days of
Christmastide Christmastide is a season of the liturgical year in most Christian churches. In some, Christmastide is identical to Twelvetide. For the Catholic Church, Lutheran Church, Anglican Church and Methodist Church, Christmastide begins on 24 Decembe ...
. It is the traditional end of the Christmas season and until 2013 was the last day of the Christmas holidays for both primary and secondary schools in Ireland.


Origins

Owing to differences in liturgical calendars, as early as the fourth century, the churches of the eastern Roman Empire were celebrating Christmas on 6 January, while those of the western Roman Empire were celebrating it on 25 December. In October 1582,
Pope Gregory XIII Pope Gregory XIII ( la, Gregorius XIII; it, Gregorio XIII; 7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585), born Ugo Boncompagni, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 May 1572 to his death in April 1585. He is best known for ...
introduced the
Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years di ...
as a correction of the
Julian calendar The Julian calendar, proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on , by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematics, Greek mathematicians and Ancient Greek astronomy, as ...
, because the latter has too many leap years that cause it to drift out of alignment with the
solar year A tropical year or solar year (or tropical period) is the time that the Sun takes to return to the same position in the sky of a celestial body of the Solar System such as the Earth, completing a full cycle of seasons; for example, the time ...
. This has liturgical significance since calculation of the date of Easter assumes that spring
Equinox A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun crosses the Earth's equator, which is to say, appears zenith, directly above the equator, rather than north or south of the equator. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise "due east" ...
in the Northern Hemisphere occurs on 21 March. To correct the accumulated error, he ordained the date be advanced by ten days. Most Roman Catholic countries adopted the new calendar immediately and Protestant countries followed suit over the following 200 years. In particular, the
British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading post ...
(including the American colonies) did so from 1752 with the
Calendar (New Style) Act 1750 The Calendar (New Style) Act 1750 (24 Geo. II c.23), also known as Chesterfield's Act or (in American usage) the British Calendar Act of 1751, is an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. Its purpose was for Great Britain and ...
, by which time the divergence had grown to eleven days. This meant that Christmas Day on 25 December ( 'New Style) was eleven days earlier than it would have been but for the Act, making "Old Christmas" 'Old Style')">ld_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="5 December (Old Style and New Style dates">'Old Style')happen on 5 January (NS). In February 1800, the Julian calendar had another leap year but the Gregorian did not, moving Old Christmas to 6 January (NS), which coincided with the
Feast of the Epiphany Epiphany ( ), also known as Theophany in Eastern Christian traditions, is a Christian feast day that celebrates the revelation (theophany) of God incarnate as Jesus Christ. In Western Christianity, the feast commemorates principally (but not ...
. For this reason, in some parts of the world, the Feast of the Epiphany, which is traditionally observed on 6 January, is sometimes referred to as ''Old Christmas'' or ''Old Christmas Day''. (Although 1900 was also not a leap year in the Gregorian calendar (and thus the Julian 25 December has since that year coincided with 7January in the Gregorian calendar) the custom of celebrating Little Christmas on 6January did not change.)


Observance by country


Europe

In the Scottish Highlands the term ''Little Christmas'' ( gd, Nollaig Bheag) is applied to New Year's Day, also known as , or ,Edward Dwelly, ''Illustrated Gaelic-English Dictionary'' (Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2001). while Epiphany is known as , the feast-day of the Kings. The
Transalpine Redemptorists The Congregation of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer ( la, Filii Sanctissimi Redemptoris; FSSR), commonly known as the Transalpine Redemptorists or The Sons, are a religious institute of the Catholic Church canonically erected in the Roman C ...
who live on
Papa Stronsay Papa Stronsay ( sco, Papa Stronsee; non, Papey Minni) is a small island in Orkney, Scotland, lying north east of Stronsay. It is in size, and above sea level at its highest point. After being largely abandoned, the island was bought at the en ...
in Scotland, celebrate 'Little Christmas' on the twenty-fifth day of every month, except for December, when the twenty-fifth day is celebrated as
Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
. The custom of blessing homes on Epiphany developed because the feast commemorates the time that the three kings visited the home of the
Holy Family The Holy Family consists of the Child Jesus, the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph. The subject became popular in art from the 1490s on, but veneration of the Holy Family was formally begun in the 17th century by Saint François de Laval, the first ...
. In the late 19th Century, the day was also known as Little Christmas in some parts of England, such as
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...
. In the
Isle of Man ) , anthem = " O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europ ...
, New Year's Day on 1 January was formerly called in
Manx Manx (; formerly sometimes spelled Manks) is an adjective (and derived noun) describing things or people related to the Isle of Man: * Manx people **Manx surnames * Isle of Man It may also refer to: Languages * Manx language, also known as Manx ...
, or ''Little Christmas Day'', while 6 January was referred to as ''Old Christmas Day''. The name ''Little Christmas'' is also found in other languages including Slovene (), Galician (), and Ukrainian. In
Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...
, where the main celebration of Christmas is on Christmas Eve, the evening of 23 December is known as ''little Christmas Eve'' ( da, lillejuleaften). In some parts of the Spanish-speaking world, the emphasis of Christmas Day is on family dinner reunion and church attendance, while gifts are exchanged on the Feast of the Epiphany, when according to tradition the Three Wise Men (or Magi) brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the Child Jesus. Tradition names them Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar. It is an important celebration in Spanish-speaking countries, mainly dedicated to children, who receive their gifts on the morning of 6 January. In some countries, like Spain, it is a public holiday that marks the end of the Christmas season which started on Christmas Eve (24 December). In the Western Christian world, the two traditional days when Christmas decorations are removed are
Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins V ...
(the night before the Feast of the Epiphany) and if they are not taken down on that day,
Candlemas Candlemas (also spelled Candlemass), also known as the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus Christ, the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or the Feast of the Holy Encounter, is a Christian holiday commemorating the presenta ...
, the latter of which ends the Christmas-Epiphany season in some denominations.


North America

Some
Anabaptist Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek : 're-' and 'baptism', german: Täufer, earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. ...
s, such as the
Amish The Amish (; pdc, Amisch; german: link=no, Amische), formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptist Christian church fellowships with Swiss German and Alsatian origins. They are closely related to Mennonite churches ...
and
Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Ra ...
s, celebrate Christmas as a religious feast-day on 6 January. Celebration of Christmas Day on 6 January is reflected in the words of Cherry-Tree Carol, an English folk-song that migrated to
Appalachia Appalachia () is a cultural region in the Eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York State to northern Alabama and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Newfoundland and Labrador, ...
in the Eastern United States. In his paper ''The Observance of Old Christmas in Southern Appalachia'', CRYoung writes 'sometime before the twentieth century, singers who may have been Appalachian residents turned the question which Mary asks of Jesus in regard to "what this world will be" into a query which Joseph puts to the unborn baby. Taking "Mary all on his left knee," he inquires when the birthday will be. Jesus responds:' Young reports that "Bill 'Kitchen' Isom, an advocate of Old Christmas whose rendering of this carol Jean Thomas recorded in Carter County, Kentucky, gave the 'wind up of it' in these words: The holiday was also recognized by certain Ozark communities,
''"In some sections of Arkansas there are people who bury the entrails of a black hen under the hearth on “Old Christmas.” This is said to protect the house against destruction by lightning or fire. ..I know that some “peckerwood families” did bury chicken guts under their hearths as recently as 1935, not far from the enlightened metropolis of Hot Springs."''


Women's Christmas

In Ireland, Little Christmas is also called Women's Christmas ( ga, Nollaig na mBan), and sometimes ''Women's Little Christmas''. The tradition, still strong in Cork and Kerry, is so called because Irish men take on household duties for the day. Goose was the traditional meat served on Women's Christmas. Some women hold parties or go out to celebrate the day with their friends, sisters, mothers and aunts. As a result, parties of women and girls are common in bars and restaurants on this night. In Ireland and
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
, it is the traditional day to remove the Christmas tree and decorations. The tradition is not well documented, but one article from ''The Irish Times'' (January 1998), entitled "On the woman's day of Christmas," describes both some sources of information and the spirit of this occasion.


Other meanings

A "Little Christmas" is also a figure in
Irish set dancing Irish set dancing, sometimes called "Irish sets", is a popular form of folk dance, folk dancing in Ireland danced to irish tunes in groups of eight or four dancers. It is also sometime named set dance, but this name refers more often to a kind of da ...
. It refers to a figure where half the set, four dancers, join together with hands linked behind partners lower back, and the whole figure proceeds to rotate in a clockwise motion, usually for eight bars. In the dance concerned, female participants enacted the traditional celebration's house visits and slightly subversive tone by taking the active "male" role of switching from partner to partner. Connecticut Irish dance teacher Kathy Mulkerin Carew, quoted in Mary Burke.
Forgotten Remembrances
The 6 January 'Women's Christmas' and the 6 January 1839 'Night of the Big Wind' in 'The Dead'". James Joyce Quarterly 54.3-4 (2017): 267.


See also

* Chalking the door


Notes


References


Notes


Sources

*


External links


Article from the ''James Joyce Quarterly'' on references to Women's Christmas in the work of James Joyce (Mary Burke)
{{Authority control Amish Christmas in Ireland Christmas in Scotland Epiphany (holiday) January observances Christmas in England Christmas in the United Kingdom