Thecelebration of the New Year did not occur on the first day of January until after theintroduction of the Gregorian calendar in 1582—and even then only in France, thenorthern Italian city states, Portugal, and in the Spanish nations of Castileand Aragon. The new calendar wasnot accepted until 1600 in Scotland and 1752 in England and America.
From the earliest days of the Romanimperial calendar the New Year was celebrated on March 25—which is whySeptember, October, November, and December are derived from the Latin words septem (seven), octo (eight), novem (nine), and decem (ten).
ThroughoutChristendom, January 1 was instead celebrated as a day of renewal midway through the Yuletide season—it was thus a day for vows,vision, and vocation. It was onthis day that guild members took their annual pledge, that husbands and wivesrenewed their marriage promises, and that young believers reasserted theirresolution to walk in the grace of the Lord’s great Epiphany.
In Edinburgh beginning in theseventeenth century, revelers would gather at the Tron Church to watch thegreat clock tower mark the last hours of Christmastide—which was the inspirationbehind the much more recent Times Square ceremony in New York. In Edinburgh, of course, the purpose was notmerely to have a grand excuse for a public party, but was a way for the whole covenant community to celebrate thegrace of Epiphany newness.
