Hogmanay
Hogmanay (Hog-Man-Nay) is what the Scots call New Year’s Eve. And they celebrate Hogmanay across Scotland with a grab bag of quirky, festive traditions involving visits to loved ones, singing, gift giving, whiskey drinking, juniper smoke, fireballs, and cold plunges.
First Footing. A first-footer is the first person to enter the house after midnight on New Year’s Day. The first-footer must either be a brand new visitor to the house, or have left the building before the strike of midnight and then re-entered. Gifts of shortbread or whiskey are given as a token of luck for the coming year. The preferred first-footer is a dark haired man. Women and men with fair hair are thought to be unlucky. The unluckiness of fair hair is thought to stem from the Viking invasions, while a fearfulness of women may be based on the legend of Cailleach, a crone goddess of winter and death who appears as a woman.
Auld Lang Syne. Auld Lang Syne is a Robert Burns poem set to a traditional melody. Traditionally, it is sung to bid farewell to the old year at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve/Hogmanay. Everyone joins hands in a circle while singing the famous lyrics. You cross your arms over your chest at the last verse, without breaking hands with your neighbor. As the song ends, everyone rushes to the middle of the circle with hands still joined, ringing in the New Year.
Fire Ceremonies. Fire is a very important part of Hogmanay. In Edinburgh, thousands of people march through the streets carrying flaming torches. In Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, men swing giant fireballs on long metal poles in a midnight procession up and down the High Street. After the parade, they set off fireballs into the harbor.
Cow Hides. Originating from Celtic pagan customs, the traditional Hogmanay ceremony involved people dressing in cow hides and running around villages while being hit with sticks. Huh! Sounds like my childhood during summer break in rural Ohio!
Saining. Saining (blessing) the house and livestock is an old Highland custom that some people still practice today. This tradition involves drinking blessed water from a river ford that’s crossed by both the living and the dead. You also need to burn juniper branches to fill the house with smoke, which cleanses the house and drives away evil spirits. Next, you open all the windows and doors to let in the air and start a fresh new year.
Scotch Whiskey. Ring in the New Year with champagne? No way! Scotch whiskey is the ticket! It’s also custom to have a wee dram of whisky before enjoying a hearty breakfast on New Year’s Day.
Cold Plunges. Another common New Year’s Day tradition in Edinburgh is a polar plunge – also known as the “Loony Dook” where locals don silly costumes and brave the freezing waters to ring in the New Year (and then warm up with whisky afterward).
So, how did Hogmanay come to be?
Well… let’s start this explanation with the ancient Romans who celebrated the end of the dark days of winter solstice with Saturnalia, a merry pagan festival honoring Saturn, the god of agriculture with candles, wreaths, feasting, and gift exchanges. Saturnalia ran from the 17th through the 23rd of December. It was quite the party. The Roman New Year began on the 1st of January.
Christianity then supplanted Saturnalia, while adopting many of its rituals and traditions, and refocused the day away from the winter solstice (the arrival of the new sun) to 25 December, a date chosen to commemorate the birth of Jesus (the arrival of the “son.”)
In the Middle Ages in Scotland, rigorous Protestant reformation of corrupt church practices of the time made Christmas a serious religious affair and nudged the traditions of merriment, feasting, and gift giving farther down the calendar to the eve of the new year. Hogmanay!