Happy Hogmanay!

Otherwise known as Happy New Year!

The origins of the word ‘Hogmanay’ are uncertain, with some saying it traces to old Norse, others to old Gaelic, and yet others think it traces to old French. In any case, the Scottish celebration of the last day of December—or the start of the new year—dates back to at least the 1600s. However, some think the customs go back even further to the Vikings. The word first appears in print in the 1600, and Scotland adopted January 1 as the start of the new year when it switched from the Julian calendar, which had the new year beginning on March 25. England would not make this switch until 1752.

The celebration of the new year gained interest in Scotland due to in part to a ban against celebrating Christmas—that’s right, it was illegal to celebrate Christmas for a time. In the mid 1500s, Scotland split from the Catholic Church, and many of the “old” celebrations smacked of Papal excess to the Protestants, or even of pagan roots. In 1640, the Scottish Parliament passed a law against “Yule vacations”—meaning any celebrations associated with that date. It was no longer a holiday. The ban was revoked in 1712, but Scottish Protestant officials still frowned on anything more than going to church on Christmas. This meant that Hogmanay became a great way to celebrate with some of the old traditions.

Some of the oldest traditions include ‘Redding the House’, or a good house cleaning. Sweeping up the old ashes was part of this, and some might even have in a ‘spodomancers’ to read ashes to see what the new year forecast. (Spodomancy is divination by examining cinders, soot, or ashes.)

After the cleaning, ‘saining’ (a Scots word for blessing, protecting, or consecrating) would take place in which you sprinkled the rooms with river water and smudged the air with burning juniper (some say until everyone coughs). This would chase out any evil spirits (perhaps they were coughing, too).

‘First footing’ was for to have luck brought in with the first person who stepped across the threshold after the New Year. A dark-haired person across the doorway would bring good luck, while someone fairer-hared would bring bad. Since there are more fair-haired folks in Scotland, you could see how the dark haired might be thought special. Some might even go so far as to ask any dark-haired guest or family member to leave just before midnight just to step back inside and bring in the good luck with them.

Robert Burns would write Auld Lang Syne as a poem in the 1700s. A BBC article then traces the poem being put to music in 1783. It is “now thought that the tune to match the words was part of the overture for Rosina, an obscure operetta written in 1783 by Englishman, William Shield.” This song about the ‘good old days’ is now forever associated with ringing in the new year and Hogmanay—and raising a glass of whisky.

(On a side note, in Scotland it is whisky without the ‘e’ but in Ireland it is whiskey with the ‘e’. The Old Bushmills Distillery in Ireland is the oldest licensed whiskey distillery, with a license dating back to 1608. The English Malt Tax of 1725 pushed most of Scotland’s whisky production into hiding to avoid the excisemen, and it wouldn’t come out of the moonlit night production until after 1823, meaning it might be found in Scottish hands, but wasn’t a common drink in the English Regency, when the upper class preferred French smuggled wines and brandy and the lower class preferred the low-cost gin and home brews.)

For more information:
https://reginajeffers.blog/2020/12/30/first-footing-it-into-the-new-year/
https://wordwenches.typepad.com/word_wenches/2014/12/happy-hogmanay.html
https://philippajanekeyworth.com/2015/12/20/georgian-regency-drinks/

Article by Shannon Donnelly for The Quizzing Glass blog and The Regency Reader.