Why we wish you all a Merry Christmas (24 days early) – Scotsman comment

Santa Claus puts on his glasses before taking part in a video call with a family (Picture: Niklas Halle'n/AFP via Getty Images)

Fortunately, as today is 1 December, the day when most advent calendars begin, we can all start putting up our Christmas decorations safe in the knowledge we are abiding by tradition, albeit a relatively modern one.

However, according to a new poll, 12 per cent of people in Scotland have already turned on their Christmas “illuminations”, people like Neil Wright and family in Dalkeith whose display, which includes an animated Santa and six penguins, went live in mid-November.

An outrage? Not a bit of it. After the traumatic year that has been 2020, the more jollity we can conjure up the better.

"We’ve already had quite a lot of people coming round and having a look and I think people are doing it as a trail this year,” Wright said. “It’s for the kids. After this year, we just want everyone to leave 2020 with a bit of a smile on their faces. One of our foster children is quite severely disabled and her face just lights up when she sees it. Christmas is going to be fantastic.”

With lockdown restrictions still with us as Covid continues to pose a serious threat, the festivities will not be quite the same as in more normal times. But that means we should get a free pass to embrace fun whenever and wherever it can be safely found. So, 24 days early, the Scotsman would like to say: “Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas.”

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