Merry Old Christmas!

[Dave Monroe]

This Month in North Carolina History
December - Old Christmas

The Outer Banks town of Rodanthe has long maintained a custom once
observed in many parts of North Carolina: the celebration of "Old
Christmas." After observing modern Christmas on December 25th, people
in Rodanthe and a few other places on the Outer Banks enjoy another
Christmas Day on January the 5th.

Historians agree that Old Christmas arose from a change in calendars.
In 1752 the government of Great Britain adopted the Gregorian calendar
to replace the less accurate Julian calendar. To make the change,
eleven days were dropped from the month of September 1752 in Britain
and all of her colonies. This made Christmas day fall on December the
25th, but many North Carolinians continued to celebrate Christmas on
the old date in January.

Ultimately, only on the Outer Banks was the day preserved. One feature
of Old Christmas in Rodanthe is the appearance of "Old Buck," a
four-footed creature looking something like a bull which is said to
roam the forest during the year. At Christmas he appears to dance and
frolic among the celebrating children and adults. Music, bonfires, and
oyster roasts also mark this unusual North Carolina event.

http://www.lib.unc.edu/ncc/ref/nchistory/dec2004/dec2004.html

Eleven Missing Days

190; The Gregorian calendar, a modification of the Julian, introduced
in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII and at first adopted by only Catholic
countries, was not adopted in England until 1752; Schizochronic year
of '52, 192; Calendar Reform of '52, 554-55; 603; 629; See also New
Style

http://www.thomaspynchon.com/mason-dixon/alpha/e.html#eleven