by John Cargile

Created on: December 29, 2008

One of the things in life which my mother taught, God rest her soul, is to pursue without limitations anything worth pursuing. She was an avid genealogist, and the work she did on her family tree gave impetus to start my own tree.

Most people do not begin their family genealogy until they are older, and have time on their hands because genealogy takes time and patience.

I cannot remember when I first started the family tree. It was some time long ago, back in the late 1960's. In later life I began to pursue it more judiciously.

I am most proud of the fact I came to know myself and understand my family a little clearer after tracing the family back to old Scotland. When I became aware of this fact, I began to call myself a Scots-American like thousands of other people who came to this country from Scotland through Ireland.

One of the last gleanings after discovering Scotland as the homeland of my ancestors was some of the traditions they celebrated. One of them happens to be the Christmas and New Year's celebrations or lack thereof. They brought these traditions with them when they came to the New America.

Not until 1958 did Scotsman celebrate Christmas as we do now. Older Scots believed Christmas was a pagan celebration, and there is enough evidence of it being a pagan belief.

Scots were mostly Protestants, and Christmas was brought about by the Roman Catholic Church. To Catholics, in those days, it was a "Christ Mass". The Scots fought England largely upon religious principle, and to follow the Catholic Church was considered "popery." The Scots believed in religious freedom and fought for it through many wars.

Up until 1958, however, older Scots celebrated what they called Hogmanay.

Most Scots worked over the Christ Mass celebrations until the New Year. The "party" was the New Year, which was a pre-Christian celebration.

Hogmanay has always been important to Scots. It is still celebrated in the streets and villages of Scotland today.

For many years it was customary to lavish gifts on friends and relatives on New Year's Eve. There is often the firing of a canon, and the sounding of a ship's siren to indicate midnight. It is then traditional to leave your own house and visit your neighbors.

In doing so, it was and is important to take some gifts with you; a bottle of whiskey, a lump of coal and some type of food. Traditionally oatcakes, black bun or shortbread were the foods of choice.

Those Scotsmen who stayed home generally hoped that the first person to visit them would

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