CHALLENGE ENTRY
Very soon, we will approach Hogmanay. This is the name given to New Year’s Eve in Scotland. We dont really k ow the orgins of the word but some say its from the French phrase hoguinané, which is a gift given at New Year. It may have been brought to Scotland by French-speaking soldiers during the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots. Another theory links Hogmanay to the Old Norse phrase höggo-nótt, which means the night of the last day of the year. It may have been brought to Scotland by the Vikings.
Many of our traditions go back to the when the Vikings were in Scotland. They celebrated Yule and over time, these traditions merged with Gaelic ones to form what was done on Hogmanay. This includes lighting fires and torches to ward off evil spirits and negativity. People would march through the street with torches to cleanse themselves and “burn away” evil spirits and negativity, thus purifying them for the New Year. This is still done today in some places but more for tourists. The biggest one is in Edinburgh, the captial city.
From Independent Travel Cats
In scotland, we go first-footing, where the first person to enter a home after midnight brings gifts and is believed to bring good luck for the coming year. Gifts are symbolic and represent different things: Coal form warmth, a coin for prosperity and whisky for health. The first person should not be blonde haired though. This dates back to the vikings again. They were fair headed and were linked with negative actions.
From StreetsofSalem
At midnight, we open our doors to say goodbye to the old and welcome in the new. Some people also walk out the back door of their house and come back in the front door to symbolise this. Pots and pans are banged to ward off evil spirits too. It is also traditional to eat steak pie after midnight or as a family meal on January 1st.
From Scotsman Newspaper
And of course, who can forget a rendition of Auld Lang Syne by arobert Burns…the Scottish song that has become a worldwide new year tradition.
From Express Newspaper