For many Scots who don't wish to see Scottish New Year's Eve traditions such as first footing and redding die out, Hogmanay in Scotland is a time to welcome in the New Year into the home with customs based on rituals and celebrations from thousands of years ago, and to have a wee dram - or so - of Scotch whisky and the traditional black bun.
History of the Scottish New Year
The origins date back to the ancient Celts of the Iron Age about 600-800 years BC, who ritualised the marking of the seasons and led fire ceremonies to encourage the sun to continue burning throughout the long winter months. Over time these rituals became absorbed into the Roman celebrations during their occupation of Britain, and became transformed into Saturnalia, a pagan celebration in winter which signified misrule and chaos out of which would come order and regrowth.
By the time of the Viking invasions around 900AD the middle of winter was marked by the 12 days of Yule, which eventually became the 12 Days of Christmas, and once Christianity began to spread across Britain so the celebrations concentrated on the period of Christmas rather than the wider marking of the change of the seasons and the birth of the New Year.
During the Reformation in the late 1500s Christmas was banned by the Scottish Kirk, and remained so until the 1950s for its associations with the Catholic Church, so Scots continued to celebrate the end of the Old Year with their old customs and rituals.
First Footing, Black Bun and Scotch Whisky
After the last stroke of midnight a tall, dark stranger knocks at the door, bearing one of several gifts, and is the 'first foot' across the threshold. The importance of the visitor being dark haired is is thought to be a throw back to the time of the Viking invasions, when a knock on the door by a man with blond or even red hair may not have signified anything friendly at all.
On the first stroke of the Bells, the back door is opened to let out the Old Year and the front door opened once the Bells have struck 12, to let in both the New Year and the first footer who needs to be in place outside the front door before the Bells start and not knock to gain entrance until the Bells have finished.
The first footing gifts can be any or all of the following: a piece of coal, signifying warmth and comfort, salt or a piece of black bun to represent a full larder, a small denomination coin to represent wealth, and drink, usually Scotch whisky, to bring prosperity. The visitor is always invited in for a wee dram.
It's important for the members of a household - or anyone celebrating Hogmanay for that matter - to make as much noise as possible, shouting and banging saucepans to scare away any lingering evil spirits or mischief. This of course will leave people's throats very sore and dry, so copious amounts of Scotch whisky are necessary to ease the discomfort.
New Year's Eve Preparations
The ashes from the last fire of the year should be taken away so that the new fire can chase out bad spirits, and those Scots who have the gift will first read the ashes in the hearth to see what the New Year will bring.
Many Scots still carry out the redding or 'readying' the house for the New Year, by cleaning it from top to bottom. Rowan will be placed over the main door to invite luck into the house, a piece of misteltoe hung to prevent illness, and sprigs of holly, hazel and yew used to decorate the house to keep mischief and bad luck away from the house.
On New Year's day, the doors and windows are shut tight and burning juniper is carried through the house and outbuildings to cleanse and bless the house and its animals, otherwise known as saining. Water from a stream over which the living and the dead cross is drunk and sprinkled round the house and on the members of the household. When everyone is coughing, the house is opened up again and everyone given a wee dram of whisky to help them revive.
Gillean Calluinne
There are older rituals that still survive in the more remote areas of Scotland such as the Hebridean Islands. The Gillean Calluinne, or Hogmanay Boys, carry pieces of cow hide and gather round each of the houses in a village, beating the hides and the sides of the houses with sticks and chanting traditional rhymes. Once inside a house they will singe the skins in the fire, and each person in the house has to smell the hide for good luck and to keep illness at bay. The Hogmanay Boys must then be given food and drink or bad luck will descend on the household.
Hogmanay in Scotland
Hogmanay, or Oidhche Challainn, can be celebrated in many different ways, and the the traveller hoping to see some of the traditions and rituals of old Scotland will find the close knit neighbourhoods and the adherence to the old ways in the more remote areas of Scotland. These are customs worth preserving and rituals worth the practising, and they are a strong link to the long history of a proud nation with ancient roots.
Gillean Calluinne - 'The Hogmanay Boys of the Hebrides: a Dark Tradition' by Dr Neill Martin, presented at the International Ethnological Conference on the Ritual Year 2005
Other Scottish New Year Traditions, including information on redding and mystical herbs, from About Aberdeen.
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