Just a couple of days to Christmas – jewellery and perfume sales will be rocketing as panicked husbands stampede the stores. A couple of years ago I was congratulated by the owner of a local upmarket shop because I was in buying gifts in mid-December. She confided that Christmas Eve afternoons get so busy that blokes are packed shoulder to shoulder – like huddled Emperor penguins in a wildlife documentary.

It wasn’t like that for the Stewart kings and queens when they enjoyed festive celebrations at the castle. Everyone else did the running around. Back in 1541 the young James V and his lovely queen, Mary of Guise, spent Christmas and New Year here, partly because they wanted to see how the construction of their new palace was coming along. It must have been quite a scene with lords and ladies settling into their lodgings while servants buzzed around making sure they were comfortable. Jesters, musicians, acrobats, players and poets would have been lined up to provide entertainment. There would be dancing, games and perhaps masked balls. Religion was important, though in 1542 the dean of the old Chapel Royal complained he couldn’t celebrate Christmas properly because a certain Patrick Hume had got his mitre and staff.

Probably the busiest place would be the royal kitchens. Huge amounts of cooked meats, pies and puddings (which could be anything sweet or savoury cooked in gut) would have been produced. Then there were sweets with cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger brought vast distances from places like India and China. Sugar, imported from Persia, was used for candied fruit, peel or nuts, and perhaps boiled sweets.

But the party was coming to an end. The Protestant Reformation triumphed in the 1560s and John Knox and his comrades condemned Christmas celebrations as ‘Popish’. In 1575 the General Assembly called for punishments for “all those who kept Yule and other festivals by ceremonies, banqueting, playing, fasting and sick uther vanities”. The harrumphing got so loud that in the end the royal family did stop openly making a big day of Christmas – but no one said anything about Hogmanay, which became the main focus for the annual knees up.

Right up until the 50s and 60s Christmas was just another working day for many Scots. Since then the 400 years of abstinence have been rapidly thrown off and everyone has become hugely enthusiastic about Christmas. I say everyone, but there’ll doubtless be some glum faces during the final rush to the shops on Friday afternoon.

Matthew Shelley, Stirling Castle Communications

We are closed on the 25th and 26th of December, but why not come up and see us for a post-Christmas day out.