The Statistical Account of Scotland reported that in part of the parish of Sandwick in Orkney every family that kept a herd of swine killed a sow on 17 December. The day was therefore called Sow-day. The minister found no tradition of how the practice began.
Sow-day in Sandwick
17 December · Sandwick, Orkney
No longer kept
every family that has a herd of swine, kills a sow on the 17th day of December, and thence it is called Sow-day.
From Brand's Popular Antiquities, vol. 1, p. 400. Read the original
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