Leadfingers, "Dont forget that the Early Church 'borrowed' a lot of the Pagan feast times for the Christian celebrations! So the Winter Solstcie became Christms!" Yes they did, but I don't think that helps me here.

I did think the confusion may have arise from a conflict of old and new calendars and a mix-up between old Christmas and old New Year. Christmas Day is now 25th December, but old Christmas Day was 6th January; and New Year's Day is now 1st January (and always was in the Gregorian calendar); but in the Middle Ages most of Europe used the Julian calendar where New Year's Day was 25th March. I thought maybe that some commentators had confused old Christmas with old New Year, stating that this tune was played on old New Year's Day, erroneously stated as 6th January, which was old Christmas. (Mmmm, I *think* I stated that clearly.)

Jack Campin seems to have part of the answer. If "yöl" on Shetland means "Chrismas and the festive season", then it's possible, I think, that a Shetlander might say "yöl" morning, meaning Christmas morning, though to anyone else "Yule" strictly means the Winter Solstice, 21st December. So that would make it a matter of cultural confusion.

But this is guesswork. Are there any Shetlanders or folklorists who could confirm or refute this? But this doesn't resolve Peter Cooke's assertion that it was played by Shetland fiddlers on New Year's morning. Did he just get it wrong?