It's Hogmanay!!

Hogmanay is the Scottish word for the last day of the New Year and a time of great celebration!!
Indeed, to many in Scotland, it is more celebrated than Christmas!!
The most important part is first-footing, which starts at midnight and involves the first person crossing the threshold of a home in the New Year bearing a small gift to bring luck. This gift could be coal, whisky, shortbread, fruit cake or salt. The visitor would then be rewarded with food and drink.
Many such guests would arrive until well into the early hours and generally, everyone gets plastered!! 😂
It may even be a few days before all people have visited all homes to share the luck around. That’s why Scotland gets an extra bank holiday on the 2nd of January!!!! 😂

The Scots tradition of singing Auld Lang Syne at midnight is now common in many places around the world.

Hogmanay is thought to have originated from the Norse celebration of Yule, which began on the Winter Solstice.
Some parts of Scotland have their own local customs, such as fireball swinging in Stonehaven and burning the clavie in Burghead.
In the Highlands, the practice of “saining” still takes place, where early on New Year's morning, householders drink and then sprinkle “magic water” from “a dead and living ford” (a river ford that is routinely crossed by both the living and the dead) around the house. After the sprinkling of the water in every room, on the beds and all the inhabitants, the house is sealed up tight and branches of juniper are set on fire and carried throughout the house. The juniper smoke is allowed to thoroughly fumigate the place until it causes sneezing and coughing among the inhabitants. Then all the doors and windows are flung open to let in the cold, fresh air of the new year. The woman of the house then administers a restorative from the whisky bottle, and the household sits down to its New Year breakfast.
The New Year’s Day celebratory meal is traditionally steak pie!!

Modern traditions include fireworks, and most large cities hold huge celebrations with big displays.
Celebrations in Edinburgh in 1996–97 were recognised by the Guinness Book of Records as the world's largest New Year’s party, with approximately 400,000 people taking part. Since then, numbers have been restricted due to safety concerns.

Any excuse for a party - both up there and on here, so join us later for our own New Year’s Eve party!!
Bring a bottle and a lump of coal!! 😁

All are welcome.
And please feel free to share all discussions you enjoy.