Hope
everyone had a lovely Christmas, or winter break if you don’t celebrate
anything in particular. I had a great time with the family and I'm now stocked up
with books, CDs and chocolate, amongst other lovely goodies.
Today
is the traditional Scottish Hogmanay and although we now enjoy the main
part of the evening with a meal at the village restaurant before ‘bringing in
the bells’, at one time this was a huge annual holiday up here. When I was young,
each housewife cleaned her home from top to bottom, everyone in the family had
a bath and hair wash and the ashes from the open fire were taken out, ensuring
we met the New Year as clean as possible. I'm afraid I didn't follow that
tradition for long!
Having
always lived near the River Clyde, we used to open the back doors at midnight
to hear any ships on the river toot their horn to welcome the New Year. One
tradition that still thrives in some places is the dancing. Many halls up and
down the country host a ceilidh for Scottish
country dancing. The best have a live group with fiddles and accordion – the
most toe-tapping sound you’re likely to hear all year! With energetic eightsome
reels and dashing white sergeants, jigs and strathspeys, very few people sit
still. And even more young men now wear the kilt at special
occasions, pleated tartan swinging at each turn. Enormous fun.
For
those celebrating at home, our television channels bring us the
evening’s entertainment from Glasgow or Edinburgh, with singing and Scottish
dancing. As twelve o'clock approaches, the ‘bells’ are counted down until the
stroke of midnight when we wish each other Happy New Year with a handshake, a
kiss, and a toast. In the past, we used to then sit down to our first meal of the New Year: steak pie - at just after midnight! I still make a steak pie as the first meal of the year, but we have it a more sensible time on New Year's Day.
But
another old tradition must be observed if possible. Each home should have a
‘first footer’ – a tall, dark and handsome man as the first person to enter a
house any time after midnight on Hogmanay. He should bring a lump of coal for
luck (not so common now!) and some shortbread or cake. Anyone visiting homes
over the New Year period will always take something for the host. And of
course, it wouldn't be Hogmanay without the ‘wee dram’ of whisky to
toast the New Year. Cheers!
So
here’s my toast to you all:
Wishing
you a Happy, Healthy
and Successful New Year!
