Dec. 17.]

SOW DAY.

SCOTLAND.

At Sandwick, in the Orkneys, it is usual for every family to kill a sow, whence this day is called Sow Day. This custom probably has some reference to the heathen worship of the sun, to which, among the northern nations, the male of this animal was sacred.—Sinclair, Stat. Acc. of Scotland, 1793, vol. xvi. p. 460; Med. Ævi Kalend. vol. i. p. 82.