OCR Text |
Show HOGMANAY St. Andrews' Day Touches off Scots' New Year Doings The celebration of St. Andrew's Day touches off a series of Scottish Scot-tish celebrations that reach their peak at New Year (Hogmanay) and continue with little respite to Burn's Day on the 25th of January. Few national festivals occasion more uninhibited gusto over more of the world's face. From Houston to Hong Kong, Scots of all vintages dream of haggis, heather, highlands high-lands and the skirl of bagpipes. Indeed, they spare no effort to make the dream come true. The Illinois St. Andrew's Society, for instance, have been known to "fly-in" "fly-in" their supply of haggis and heather direct from Scotland, and to have "piped it" all the way from the airport to the dinner table. One of the most engaging customs cus-toms of Hogmanay is the ancient rite of "first-shooting" in the "wee sma' hours" of New Year's morning. morn-ing. A "First-foot" is literally the first person outside the family, to cross the threshold of the home after the clock has ushered the Old Year into history. For the best of portents, the visitor, if a man, should be dark and handsome; if a woman, she must be fair. In either case, the visitor should carry "handsel," which may be anything from an orange to a bottle bot-tle of whiskey. You don't have .to ask a Scot his preference, but an empty-handed "first-foot" will bring poverty and privation, so even an orange is worthwhile. Assuming that the "handsel" is in liquid form, the head of the house takes the first drink and then passes the bottle round the family. Thus fortified, all attack the traditional Hogmanay fare; round shortbread cake nipped round the edges to simulate the sun (the Druids were responsible for this); and Black Bun, a superior su-perior sort of mince pie containing contain-ing fruits, almonds, spices- and brandy. What happens after this is your own responsibility, but the Scots themselves ward off indigestion with music and dancing (with a capital D). Sometimes "first-footers" appear as "guizards" (a mummer or a strolling player) and the greater the number of first-footers," the more honored is the household. So nobody need be shy. Those "not to the tartan born" may wonder why the Scots lay such stress on the New Year, rather rath-er than Christmas. To find the answer you have to flick back a page or two of history. The Vikings probably started the Yuletide festivities fes-tivities and the Christian - reformers reform-ers merely took it over and invested in-vested it with the dignity of the Feast of the Nativity. |