Holidays Around The World: Hogmanay
Author: Alyccea Nymaessene
If you happen to be in Scotland for the period from 31 December to 2 January, you may get to experience the Scots’ particularly interesting and unique New Year’s festival, Hogmanay.
Until as recently as the 1950s, Hogmanay was celebrated instead of Christmas in Scotland. The Scottish Presbyterian Church had been discouraging the celebration of Christmas since as early as the 1580s (holding it to be a Catholic holiday with no basis in the Bible). During the Protestant reformation in the 1640s, Christmas was even banned. Many Scots would therefore work over the Christmas period, so Hogmanay became the day on which they would visit friends and family and exchange gifts. Despite the ban on Christmas technically being lifted in 1660, December 25th nevertheless remained a normal working day in Scotland until 1958. Although Christmas is now widely observed throughout Scotland, in many areas Hogmanay remains the biggest holiday of the season.
The origins of Hogmanay are so old that nobody knows how it started. However, many speculate that this festival was first brought to Scotland by the Vikings, who (being from even further north) had good reason to try to drive out the winter chill on the shortest day of the year with alcohol, song, and general good cheer. Some believe that the Norse Yule traditions were further combined with the Gaelic celebration of Samhain to give rise to what we now know as the traditional Hogmanay celebrations.
Depending where you are in Scotland, you may be fortunate enough to witness some of the particular local customs in that area. For example, in Stonehaven, locals will construct giant balls out of flammable material wrapped in chicken wire and attached to a length of chain, set the balls alight, and parade along the main street swinging the flaming balls around their heads on long metal poles. After the parade, if any of the flaming balls are still lit, they are tossed into the sea. It is believed that the flaming balls represent the power of the sun, which consumes evil spirits.
On the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, young boys will form opposing teams and visit the houses in the village while reciting a rhyme. At each house, the leader (who wears a sheep skin) must walk clockwise around the fire while the rest of his team hits the sheep skin with sticks. They are then given some fruit buns before moving on to the next house.
In Edinburgh, a variety of events are held to celebrate this night, including a torchlight procession, street party, folk dance (or ceilidh), and fireworks.
In the Highlands, an old Hogmanay tradition consists of saining or blessing the home and livestock by sprinkling “magic water” throughout the home. The lady of the house will then visit each room with a smouldering juniper branch, fumigating each room until all of the inhabitants are sneezing and coughing. Only then are the doors and windows flung open to welcome the fresh air of the New Year, and whisky is served.
In order to get a fresh start to the new year, it is believed that each house should be thoroughly cleaned on 31 December (known as “redding the house”). All outstanding debts should also be cleared before the new year begins.
If you are visiting friends on Hogmanay, have a care for the sort of luck you might bring them for the rest of the year. Hogmanay carries a tradition of “first-footing”, in which the first guest to cross the threshold of a home in the new year establishes the household’s luck. If you are a tall, dark-haired man, you will be welcome as you bring good luck to the family. However, if you are short, female, yellow-haired or (even worse) a redhead, you may want to hold back until other guests have entered first. It is believed that this tradition may have arisen in Viking times, when Scotland was being invaded by fair-haired folk from over the sea.
It is also traditional to bring a gift for your hosts, and the type of gift is also symbolic of their fortune throughout the oncoming year. Some traditional gifts include coal (which signifies warmth), a silver coin (for financial prosperity), whisky (for good cheer), and sweetbreads or black bun (a type of rich dark fruit cake wrapped in pastry) which represent abundance.
Immediately after the stroke of midnight, Scots will join hands to sing the traditional New Year’s song For Auld Lang Syne. The Edinburgh singing of this song is supposed to be the largest singing of For Auld Lang Syne in the world.
So this Hogmanay, be sure to wish your neighbours “Lang may yer lum reek” (meaning “long may your chimney smoke,” a blessing for warmth and prosperity) and “A Guid New Year”!
