Christmas in Scotland.

Te Aroha News, Volume I, Issue 40, 8 March 1884, Page 4

C hristmas in Scotland.

Tun popularity of Christmas Day, both as a public holiday and a church festival, is extending very rapidly in this country. This last year there has been a marked increase in the observance of the season. In most of the towns the banks, several of the public works, and places of business were closed, while a more than usually lavish display of evergreens and other Christmas decorations were observable. Special services were celebrated in the various places of worship, and the "goodwill " which characterises the season took the form in many places of donations and treats to the children, the aged, and the poor. In Glasgow the customary dinner to the poor was given in the City Hall. About "2000 persons of all ages were gathered together, and the Lord Provost provided. The custom of sending Christmas boxes and greetings has everywhere severely taxed the energy and efficiency of the post-office. In Glasgow where the banks, exchanges, markets, and public buildings generally were closed, the usual services were held in the Episcopalian and Roman Catholic churches, and appropriate devotional exercises were arranged for many of the Presbyterian congregations. At the post-office large as was the number of Christmas missives in ISB2 it waslastyear more than doubled. Outward letters were despatched in regular course, but notwithstanding the large force of auxiliaries, the deliveries in the city and suburbs were so heavy that large numbers of letters had to be left over. The parcel traffic was also beyond all previous experience. The weather, though overcast in many districts, was exceedingly mild and spring-like, and a large number of holidaymakers left and arrived by train.