First Footing

“Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot and auld lang syne
For auld lang syne, my dear, for auld lang syne,
We’ll take a cup o kindness yet, for auld lang syne.”

The above words are likely familiar to most of us, as they have somehow become the official welcome to the new year, along with noisemakers, confetti and kissing when applicable.The words were first published in 1788 by the Scottish poet Rabbie Burns.

But I grew up (in the U.S.) with another tradition:  First Footing. Have you heard of it? What about Hogmanay?

The Scots' devotion to celebrating the new year with such intensity can be blamed on Presbyterianism. John Knox and his Reformation was adamant about revoking Catholic customs (the papists!) and this included the celebration of Christmas. In fact, it wasn't until the 1950s that Christmas became an actual 'day-off-from-work' holiday. To make up for it, they celebrated the New Year with exuberance (and superstition)!

You might see something strange about tossing one group of practices for another, but it wasn't easy to shake off the old ways!

The tradition of first-footing varied across Scotland, its isles and the north of England, but demands a visitor--preferably dark-haired male--arrive after midnight, bearing gifts. These were various tokens of good-fortune:   

a lump of coal, shortbread, a dram of whisky, 
coins, salt, black bun, and more. 

Preparation included taking out old things - like ash (Something I do daily this time of year--take out coal ash), sweeping the house, and even sending the head of the household out before the stroke of midnight.

The best scenario would be a dark-haired (and let's make him good-looking while we're at it!) visitor bearing gifts. Why dark hair? Those blond visitors known as Vikings brought nothing but bad luck in the seventh century!

Traditions change, and in some areas blond visitors are preferred, and the gifts are different.
Unfortunately, red-haired women were likely turned away!

When I was young, my grandfather would go outside, come back in and hand his wallet to his wife. Later on, we would just be glad if anyone came across the threshold. 

In Scotland, however, neighbors helped neighbors celebrate, and Hogmanay is bigger than ever!

I have no doubt that our colonial ancestors from Scotland kept this New Year's tradition of first-footing. But how often it is practiced now? I'm hoping to hear from those in the Carolinas, and east New Jersey where so many Scots settled, and find out who is still celebrating.

Have you heard of first-footers, and do you celebrate? 

So from me, and all of the authors at Colonial Quills, I offer this  blessing for your new year:

Go dtuga Dia deoch duit as an tobar nach dtrann

May God give you a drink from the well that never runs dry!

And some shortbread from my house to yours!

Visit Amazon to learn more about my Amateur Sleuth cozy set in Scotland,

Happy Colonial New Year!

Did you know that for the first 130 years of Colonial America we celebrated New Year's Day on March 25th? It's true.

Britain at that time reckoned March 25th as the beginning of the new year. On this day rents were due, contracts began, and obligations were renewed. They based this on the Julian calendar - authored by Julius Caesar in 46 B.C. That calendar had 12 months and 365 days, but had one flaw. There was no allowance for leap years, so it didn't quite match up with the solar year.

Many European countries had already adopted the use of the Gregorian calendar - authored by Pope Gregory XIII. Britain, not wanting to follow a Pope's lead, clung to the Julian calendar until 1752.

Colonial America was part of the British Empire, but it was also already culturally diverse. Immigrants from across Europe made the colonists familiar with both calendars. When the official switch came in 1752, the colonists took it all in stride, avoiding the upheaval that happened across the pond, and showing once again the colonists unique ability to adapt and prosper.

A nice tidbit of history to think about when writing - or reading - books set in Colonial America.

~ Pegg Thomas

PeggThomas.com

Colonial Christmas and Hogmanay

Finding things to share about colonial Christmas celebrations can be an interesting experience. Others have written about the importance of Advent to colonial folk, and how Christmas was seen more as a season with a spiritual focus rather than a particular holiday or event. The Colonial Williamsburg history website has an excellent article discussing colonial Christmas traditions, which I found very useful when researching for my Pioneer Christmas novella, Defending Truth. Along with the spiritual focus, and various traditions that included decorating the churches with green boughs, Christmas included plenty of gaeity and frivolity, especially in the eastern, more populated parts of the colonies. Presbyterian missionary Philip Fithian shared in a 1774 diary entry:

When it grew to dark to dance. . . . we conversed til half after six; Nothing is now to be heard of in conversation, but the Balls, the Fox-hunts, the fine entertainments, and the good fellowship, which are to be exhibited at the approaching Christmas.

But Christmas was considered so strongly a Catholic or even Anglican tradition (Christmas does, after all, come from the term "Christ Mass") that many denominations either didn't think it worthy of notice (Peter Kalm notes that the Quakers ignored the holiday at first) or because of doctrinal differences, felt it ungodly to indulge in the frivolity of the holiday. David DeSimone mentions how after sharing eastern Virginia's lavish Christmas celebrations, Philip Fithian must have been disappointed while serving in the backcountry of Virginia the following year:

Christmas Morning--Not A Gun is heard--Not a Shout--No company or Cabal assembled--To Day is like other Days every Way calm & temperate-- People go about their daily Business with the same Readiness, & apply themselves to it with the same Industry.

Robbie Shade - Fireworks over Edinburgh (Wikipedia)

The Scots-Irish Presbyterians in particular frowned upon Christmas, but there's evidence that the New Year was well observed. The Scottish New Year, or Hogmanay, a word which means the last day of the year, roots from Norse, Gaelic, and French terms and traditions, some of which involve children going door-to-door to request small gifts and sweets (sound familiar?), and some which involve giving special gifts to the poor. There's also much made of the "first foot," or the first person to set foot inside your house on the new year, beginning at midnight, and the traditional giving of gifts to the household for good luck, and then the hospitality shared with guests

We really don't have any way of knowing how extensively Scottish settlers held to the old traditions, but in recent years Colonial Williamsburg has included Hogmanay in its New Year's celebrations. With such a rich history of Advent, Christmas, and New Year's combined, is it any wonder that the month of December often feels like one long party?