The story behind the Folk Song MacPherson's Rant at kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qpOclKeozbrapX0.html OR Whatever Happened to the Haggis Hunting Dog kzfaq.info/get/bejne/sKqhh72AvtTYp4U.html

It's so lovely hearing Bruce use his Scottish full accent and lingo.

In Geordie land Christmas was for the kids, New year was for the adults. We were allowed to stay up to see the New year in, given homemade ginger wine and a bowl of homemade soup, watched the neighbour playing the bagpipes on the green. First footer had to be a dark haired man, with a lump of coal and a glass of whiskey. The house had a full spring clean.

I am working night shift Right now Christmas Eve/Christmas I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed this chat. Just what I am missing visiting with my elders telling me stories Of Christmas/ NY past. Thank you

Superb Bruce🙏 I grew up in Canada, in the 70s-80s. My mum (a nurse - done her midwifery in Dunfermline before emigrating) ALWAYS worked Xmas day so she could have the Hogmanay off. Christmas was always a low key affair - apart from most others over here🇨🇦 ...we also carried on with the "first fit" every year, where I'd grown up (though it took the neighbours a few years to get used to the startling "intrusion", when all our lot would freely wander in with cheer!) "Here's tae us!"😁 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Forever😎👍

Thanks for this years work Bruce, I'm Brithish and 57 years young and have never learnt as much in a year as in the rest of my life about Scottish history. This is down to how good you are at telling a story 😃. Bruce please have a wee dram or two for us.. looking forward to more in the new year..Nollaig chridheil Agus bliadhna mhath ur"

Bruce, the video is prompting me to comment as it goes on. I remembered my gran’s homemade ginger wine. It was warming and hot and jaggy. I’d forgotten all about it! I remember my maw cleaning the whole hoose, ironing done, hoovered and dusted, everything just so for January 1st. I always thought ginger wine was alcoholic! The grownups were downstairs, taking drink and singing a’ the old songs, “Go on, Jimmy, gie”s a wee turn” In my mid teens a naughty aunt used to smuggle strong dink to me in bed and give me a wee snog! I suppose it would be considered child abuse nowadays! but ah didnae. Then later teens meant parties for long hours and even days trying for a lumber and usually failing. My record was no’ getting home till January 4th. Folk coming out their houses and taking a dram in the street. Oh, bugger Covid. A guid New Year, Bruce, and many ‘o them.

I grew up in Glasgow and my parents would usually have friends round on Hogmanay. First footing was still a tradition, but I don’t really remember it. Everyone would have a drink in their hand just before midnight to toast the new year, Andy Stewart would be on the telly, and at the bells we’d open a window to hear the ships on the Clyde sounding their horns. In my twenties I’d be out with friends and all I remember about it was reeling home shouting Happy New Year to everyone you met and there was such a friendly atmosphere. There’d be fireworks going off everywhere and a big display at Glasgow Green, although I only went there a couple of times. I remember drinking mulled wine out of a thermos flask. As regards Crabbies Ginger Wine, there was a bottle in my parents’ small drinks cupboard, but they weren’t great drinkers and I don’t remember anybody drinking it (I certainly didn’t). It probably sat there for years.

As a child born in the early 70's, I remember going for a sleep around 4pm till about 7pm, went down to my Gran & Gramps with my Mum and Dad where my other Gran and Grandpa, aunts and uncles, cousins would be waiting. Zulu would be on TV in the background, then Thingamayjig. Gran 1 would make a big pot of Stovies, and Gran 2 would make a big pot of mince n tatties. All in a tenement flat in Castlemilk.

I'm 31 years younger than you - and I can't tell you how precious interviews like this are to my generation, and how much I hope we treasure them. I certainly do. 🙂

I really enjoyed thattalk with those folk. Growing up in 1960s Birmingham with a Scots father and an English mother seems strange to hear these things. My dad calmed his accent and did not want us kids to be singled out as being different so he frowned down on us if we used any of his dialect. At new year we opened the front and back door for the spirit's passing and my elder brother, a dark haired boy had to first foot at the immediate neighbours and at our door, he hated it as he viewed himself as English. As dad got older he used to look back at his youth and I used to see him reading about Scotland more and more. The bug got me and I followed it up more later, researching our family as much as I could and reclaiming our heritage. I am now a life member of Clan Maclaren and of the London Caledonian Society, where next month I will attend the Burns Night supper, and fortunately, later in the month the RBL Burns Night. So twa haggis for me.

These are the stories I've heard from my mother about my parents and Christmas and New Year in Scotland. My father (born 1928): rated Christmas as good if he'd been given enough lollies (sweeties for Scots readers, candy for American) to throw up before breakfast. From all I heard, his family did celebrate Christmas. On his father's side they came from the Highlands and Islands, his mother's side were from the lowlands - with some intriguing Irish hints. My mother (born 1932): her parents had migrated from Scotland to Argentina. They also celebrated Christmas, although some years sound as if they'd been decidedly dismal. Hogmanay: my mother went to university in Scotland and also went to Scotland when she married my father. She was somewhat darker complected than most Scots (at one stage 23anem gave her a hint of sub-Saharan African and they still give her some Iberian) and so she was in demand for first footing. As discussed in this video she used to give people gifts of coal and bread. They came with the phrases "may you never want for heat and may you never want for food" or something like that. (Shortbread would have been problematic when she was a student - at that stage there was the post-war rationing, which, if anything, was even more restrictive than the rationing during the war had been.) Both sets of grandparents were influenced by the temperance movement - and my mother still thinks it's unconscionable to get children to sign the pledge when they are barely old enough to be able to read, let alone enter into a contract. So, with a great deal of disapproval from my maternal grandmother, there was alcohol provided for New Year's Eve party guests. (My impression is that they didn't start throwing the New Year's Eve parties until my mother was well into her mid to late teens.) The New Year's Eve party was quite big and there was a lot of food - rather more than the slightly puritanical Christmases. My paternal grandmother's father was an alcoholic and apparently, not a nice one. So it was understandable that my paternal grandmother wasn't too keen on people drinking. My paternal grandfather liked the occasional dram and my grandmother gave him hell for days afterwards if he had a drink or two. As an interesting "compare and contrast", a Vietnamese friend told me that Christmas in Vietnam tends to be celebrated with friends, whereas New Year is the family celebration.

we go to our friends house for a Hogmanay party, where we have food, drink, a quiz and all the craic and banter.

As a child in Edinburgh, we had a great time going to each other's houses having a carry on while the adults were getting blootered. I remember one year, my brother chased my into our [empty] house and I slammed the glass door on him. He smashed right through the glass. Not a mark on him but I knew I was in trouble immediately.

I grew up in Stonehaven and saw The Fireballs every Hogmanay. Highly recommend going to see them if you can!

Bruce, I’m 71, born 1950, and I clearly remember a tree and presents wrapped gaily all around it before 1958 and waking at midnight and asking “has Santa been?” only to be sent back to bed.

I was born and raised in Brisbane (Australia). Dad was born in Glasgow. He was in a Scottish branch of the Masonic Lodge. We would go to a dance they had on New Years Eve (1960’s). I remember to this day, even when very young, we would join in a circle, cross-link arms, walk inward and outward in the circle while all singing Auld Lang Syne.

All the best for 22 to you and yours Bruce.

I remember ginger wine--my mother would buy a bottle of the flavouring and add water. I also remember cleaning the house thoroughly before the bells,and putting out the tray with a bottle of whisky, a bottle of sherry and one of ginger wine. There was cherry cake as well, and shortbread. In those days, whisky was taken in wee glasses,with no ice or mixers. And at midnight we opened the window wide, to hear the bells and the ships' horns on the Clyde, and to let the new year in.

Another great video. Hogmanay and Ne'rday was a special time in Scotland. I was born in 1961 and can remember so much of what is described in the video. of course there were different New Year traditions and customs in various parts of Scotland but they all had the same basic core. Skittery Winters was a long tradition in some parts of Scotland but not where I'm from. A dark haired first foot or a red haired first foot depended on where you lived. I cringe when I hear Scots today talk of New Years Eve or New Years. That is just wrong! That English and American influence gets everywhere. Hogmanay at my Grandparents was special- the big pot o soup, cleaning the house, taking the ashes out, the last trip to the toilet. The ginger wine, short bread madeira cake, sherry, advocate for the weans. The kids playing the compendium of games they got for Christmas and reading the Broons/Oor Wullie annual. The kids waiting to get the auld calendar off the wall to cut the pictures out. Everybody doing their "turn" or party piece. Much of it survived into the 80s when the pubs and clubs shut early on Hogmanay and remained closed for the first week in of the New Year.Lumps of coal became harder to find with the switch to central heating. The television age helped anglicise the New year, diluting it and of course the London centric channels promoted an English Christmas and to a lesser extend the glamorous bountiful American supersized Christmas. The first time we ever saw lights hanging outside peoples houses was on the US shows like the Dick Van Dyke Show. Th Christmas lights decorating the outside of our homes only really became a thing in the 90s. TV helped promote Christmas to the main event while New Year lost it's dominance. Also the special feeling around Hogmanay and New Year was lost as people began to go out clubbing and partying every weekend of the year into the wee small hours. New Year lost its sparkle as a result. The passing on of the older generation of Grannies cut the final tie with the past and the traditions. Many families maintained the customs for a few more years but they too eventually gave up. Organised Ceilidhs and Hotel getaway New Year packages or holidaying abroad at Christmas and New Year became popular with some. Even the "traditional" Scots TV shows (most of which were absolute crap anyway) are also relegated to history. "New Year isn't what it used to be" is a common phrase we hear. My generation was the last to experience the traditional New Year and first to experience the new slick corporate organised repackaged events. Nothing lasts

I remember many of the mentioned traditions back in England too as a boy. This year was our first new year as owners of a pub in a Scottish fishing village and the whole affair was very well supported by the many. New years day we gave away free food ( veggie chilli ) which was very well received and ginger beer is still a firm favourite for plenty down in the bar. We look forward to reinvigorating some of the old ways and traditions in our new Scottish home.

Love this. When I get back to UK one of these days, I shall make a visit to the Wee Museum of Memory in Leith. Bruce is right, the half hearted "banning of Christmas" by Cromwell's Puritans in England was feeble compared to the full on Ban of John Knox in Scotland. I am 11 years older than Bruce, and do remember Christmas Day games of footy (First Division) as a child. These ended in 1959. In Scotland, the last full program of First Division games on Christmas Day, was in 1971. Games were patchy after that, and in 1975, the remaining Scottish Division One games were switched from Christmas Day.

Been away from Scotland for 49yrs I still keep with the traditions at Hogmanay, I have a piece of coal from an old steam train and dried thistle picked from Culloden Moor

thank you, Bruce for another great installment of Scottish History. my parents were from Mississippi. every New Year's Day(January 1st), momma would try to have "black eyed" peas, boiled cabbage, and ham for a meal. each item had it's special purpose for good luck. it's been too long ago and I can't remember what each one was for. in the South, supper is our evening meal.(even in the Army, we called it supper.) in other places it's called dinner. thanks again for another great story.

Christmas Eve is king in Wales. But even as a child growing up in the early 80’s in Wales I knew Hogmanay was the top dog in Scotland.

This is very late, but in Spain the tradition is to eat 12 grapes at the 12 strokes of midnight, using the clock tower in the Puerta del Sol, which is at the geographic centre of the country. This is pretty near universal. Little children may get the grapes seeded and peeled, and even in hospitals with the very sick they might give them a bit of grape juice or even put it through a feeding tube. I live in Scotland now, but we still do this on Spanish time (11pm Scottish). I would love to do it at local time, but no one cares about the 12 bells so no chance!

Being Cherokee, our New year was actually celebrated the the new moon of Du ni nv di (Month of Harvest or October to the rest of y'all). The day of the Great New Moon opened to everyone fasting, every fire put out and hearth swept clean, every home and part of the village or town being cleaned top to bottom, anything torn, dirty, or broken being tossed into a burn pit. Appointed elders and medicine people prayed throughout the day while the rest of the people made preparations - in addition to the cleaning, new clothing was being laid out, kindling for a ceremonial fire stacked in the pit that had been blessed for the purpose (all 7 sacred woods are used for the fire), and foods prepared. Late in the day, everyone bathed, thoroughly scrubbing from top to bottom as it were, hair oiled and braided and adorned, new clothes put on, and everyone gathered at dusk, waiting for the last bit of light to leave the sky. Once it was gone, the ceremonial fire was lit, prayers sung, and each man took a brand from the fire and handed it to his wife (or mother if his father was deceased) who then took it home to light the fire. There was feasting and dancing throughout the night. Modern times, we still do these, albeit somewhat modified. That central fire represents to us the Creator, who is the Source of light and life, as well as the kinship of our people. We all belong to the same fire.

As a child I can remember being allowed up late to see in the bells. My mum always had a a spread out with shortbread black bun sandwiches nuts crisps etc. Aunts and uncles would be there as well as neighbours. Everyone would take a turn singing or dancing. When I got older just before the bells I'd get sent outside the back door with a bottle or some food so that I could be the first foot of the new year.

Despite having Scot Irish ancestry, my German ancestors influenced our Christmas and New Years events. However one year, I spent Sylvester (German New Year) with a German Family and it was an evening of smoke salmon, capers and other foods. But the one saving grace was the German host did drink highland malt whisky. Now we simply toast the new year with family.

Although the Edinburgh Street party is not a traditional Hogmanay as it is spent with your family and neighbours traditionally, I would like to say for those that have moved to Edinburgh and away from their families and missing them and their traditions, the atmosphere of being with others, the good will and warmth when you are walking through the streets is still a comfort and a lovely thing, rather than being alone and seperate.

'96-'97 last unticketed year on Princes St. I got caught in the reason for tickets at the foot of the mound. I nearly stood on another lass who was down in the crush and helped pull her up. Someone else saw what was happening and started helping, we got her over to one of the ambulances. It was terrifying. It got VERY close to someone dying. Have the council got everything right - no, does it need crowd limits - yes.

My Dad, a short, dark haired man, was based up in Lossiemouth back in the 50's. On New Year's Eve, he was given a lump of coal and was taken First Footing by his friend, all along the friend's mother's street. He quickly got plastered.

I have a year or two on you Bruce, my memory of Christmas day was my dad in his working clothes, seeing us opening our presents before going to work. Santa visited my Grandparent's on Hogmanay so we had double hit of presents. Christmas was for kids and Hogmanay for adults. We were packed off o bed, where we listened to the muffled comings and goings, then surveyed the fallout in the morning. Then there was the first Hogmanay I was allowed to stay up wondering what the fuss had been about.

Ginger Wine was often homemade but as 10 year olds we were also given a whisky hot toddy at Hogmany

as long as i hear piper playing in the bells im happy

A'reyt Bruce. Nice to hear from real peoples' experiences. I am a dinner and tea sort too. I spent many New Years on a local pub crawl in fancy dress, many times in snow and ice. Then home to bring the coal in for good luck. I moved to another smaller town and there the local club replaced the pubs. The local club in the city I grew up in had been burned down in a riot and many of my community moved away, so I get the idea of times gone and friends displaced. Oh, f'r old long sin'. My girlfriend often asked about going to Edinburgh one New Year, but I assumed it would be commercial and instead suggested Benidorm for a genuine atmosphere, but we always end up with it being a busy time at work like you suggested, so never go. The last couple of years have been quiet at home. Strange times, hopefully soon replaced by future party times to come. One New Year the pub shut at 00:30 and a friend had a new flat to show off. Another friend and I were invited to help ourselves to whisky, from a fresh bottle. The host nodded off. Come about six we woke him, thanked him for the drink, gave back the empty bottle and said we really had to go get home for breakfast. "Happy New Year".

What a fantastic chat with three enthusiastic people who enjoy each others company. There were people in Newcastle Upon Tyne who wouldn’t leave the house until a dark haired man had crossed the threshold and the White Heather Club with Andy Stewart was also popular. My Mum’s first introduction to stottie cake was a disaster from which she never recovered 🌞

Personal comment of Laura Botten: Aye! Now I know where to take my husband, Jock, for a special birthday on Dec. 31! He's perfect for a Scottish New Year. 2021 we lost my Aunt Florence whose house was always full New Year's Day gathering the farming community around. The generations coming together no matter how far they've roamed. Everyone joking "I haven't seen you since last year!" and playing in the snow out in the field. Community, that's what it's about!

...btw, we all had our "party pieces" as well (HATED IT - being put on the spot when we were kids - but it's the best thing families/communities could ever engage in!) "OFF WITH THE TELLY!" (apart from Fummey!)🤣

Thanks again Bruce. very heartwarming this...cheers!!

Thoroughly enjoyed this :) Thanks

Brought back many memories listening to this chat ...ginger wine, first footing, lump of coal... my Nana & Grandad, and Dad home for Christmas, if only in my heart and thoughts. Thank You.

I grew up in a typical mixed Canadian household, my mother's parents were both immigrants from Scotland. Her mother was from Uig on the Isle of Lewis and her father from West Calder. My father was from Hungary. The holidays were always a mish-mash of their traditions. We did observe first footing on New Year's Day, which was a source of anxiety because my red-headed, Irish godmother was often an early visitor. However, there was one sector of British Columbia's economy, mining, that celebrated January 2 as a holiday. It was affectionately known as "Wrestling Day". If "Boxing Day" occurs after Christmas, then it seems appropriate the "Wrestling Day" follows New Year's Day. The purpose was to allow miners to return to mine sites after the holidays. Most mines are in the far north away from any town. To travel to them, you have to fly on a scheduled flight to the nearest town then catch a small bush plane (or two) back to the mine site or drive for several hours. This allowed everyone to enjoy New Year's Eve and sober up before making the long trek back to work. As far as I know, this is the only sector that followed this practice. Logging is usually shut down in the winter. A LUMP OF COAL I had perplexing experience at work about a lump of coal left on my desk near Christmas time. Of course, in Scotland it is considered as good wishes for a warm hearth for the winter but in many European cultures it is considered a gift for bad children. A co-worker with a Scandinavian name left a piece on my desk. I was really worried about what I had done to piss her off but didn't say anything about it. She finally approached me late in the day about it and wondered why I hadn't said anything. I told her and she laughed. Her maiden name was MacDonald. So much for Multi-culturalism.

Very sad to hear you don't do first footing anymore. I'll never forget the hospitality in Glasgow, at Hogmanay, how they would ply you with food and drink, very like Galicia, the Celtic area of Spain. And in the North East of England, you were welcome in anybody's house.

Used to love new year back in the day in Stronsay (Orkney isles) one of the smaller isles so proper old school community. Went first footing and would visit several houses. Dancing in the hall till the bells then off to one house for soup and drams, then another for music and drams and so on until getting your ‘breakfast’ at a final house before heading home having no idea how you made it there. Then New Year’s Day came and off our you went again and if you didn’t go out. Then you had folk into yours. If the lights were on there would be folk in the door. Sometimes this went on for days. There was always a guitar or two passes round the room to anyone willing to play, with different generations playing different songs and those lacking in ability (such as myself) made up with enthusiasm. This accompanied by a fiddle, banjo keyboard or whatever depending on who was in at that time. I mind having relatives visiting and they took friends with them who stayed in self catering at the other end of the island. When they called a taxi these English guests couldn’t believe their eyes when the driver (egged on by the locals) proceeded to belt out a few classics on his keyboard and have a couple of OVDs before he took them home 😂. This was I should point out in the days before the drink driving laws were as tight as they are now. Another year I recall we all got snowed in our Granny’s house. This was not a problem. The party just continued until the snow melted. Thankfully my dear old Granny (rest her soul) had ample food drams and tins in for everyone and we all just kipped where we could. One year I remember when me wee brother was around 12 he was tasked as ‘Barman’ if you will, asked to pour out the drams to all the guests. This turned out to be one of those bad ideas conceived by a room full of drunken people and was quickly stopped when it became apparent that Sam had been taking sky sips of drinks before handing them out. Safe to say young Sam required a fair amount of Lucozade come the morning of the first. Miss those days so much. Now I live elsewhere and we never get first footers anymore me and my wife have a nip at the bells but that’s the height of it. Sad really. Maybe after covid this is the kind of thing we could bring back.

Loved this - my husband tells me of ginger ... he says it was the name given to any pop for kids, and the cleaning the house and the pots of soup. And ... his dad was a butcher too. Lots of steak pie!!

The Ginger Wine you mentioned, my Mum used to make it for when we put the tree up. It was a tonic wine cordial (non-alcoholic obviously) that she bought from the Co-Op and came in a brown glass medicine sized bottle with a few different flavour options (ginger being the worst of the bunch). It had to be massively diluted with sugar added and then boiled. Every year once the decorations were up, the big and wee lights were switched off, so that it was just the glow from the fire and the fairy lights, then my Mum would bring out her Granny’s decanter with matching shot glass sized glasses and we’d drink tonic wine cordial and eat hot mince pies with a dollop of cream. On Hogmanay my Mum used to get us kids to help clean the house from top to bottom while she was doing the washing and making a pot of soup, my Dad would help too if he wasn’t working), my Dad would go off to a social club that he had to pay his annual dues at for an hour or two in the evening. The rest of us would all get showered and dressed in our best party clothes and settle down to watch The Steamie, Scotch and Rye and whatever Scottish New Year show was on. My Dad would be home just after 10, so with plenty of time to get a shower and dressed smartly and then he was ready to play barman to ensure everyone had a drink to bring in the bells. Once the greetings were exchanged, we’d dance around the living room to the Scottish music. Then once our First Foot had been, we’d go to our next door neighbour’s and be theirs. New Year’s Day we’d visit my Dad’s parents where we would have roast beef cooked by my English Granny. Then we would go to my Godmother’s that night, as she always had quite a large typically Scottish party with lots of drinking and singing. The second was just like Boxing Day in that we all relaxed watching films, eating sweets and having relaxed meals.

I must have watched this video a couple of years ago but I've just repeated the exercise. My wife was born in Bridge of Allan and her parents and her sister were all Scots, moving to Teesside in the late 1950s. In their street in Redcar there were at least a couple of other Scots families. Every year at Hogmanay there'd be a party which I (starting at 21yrs old?) and my friends (my best man used to go out with and later married, my wife's school friend) used to join in with. Basically my parents-in-law, as they became, used to do a big spread of food, and the group would go from house to house at the end of the cul-de-sac in which they lived. I remember we youngsters used to go to the pub first but would end up at the "party" after closing time. After the first year, we learned to "pace" ourselves because we were still going strong at the food and drink and listening to music as breakfast time approached. After we married and later moved to a village in North Yorkshire, I think the families in the cul-de-sac still partied but they agreed between themselves who would do what - "we'll go to the X's for a starter and some drinks, then go to Y's for a main course and more drinks, then to Z's for some pudding (clootie dumpling) and more drinks, then to ours for the rest of the night for nibbles/yet more drinks...." As they got older, into their late 70s/80s they decided to go to a local hotel for a dinner/dance but eventually they moved away/became too old to do that and now none of them are left - not much of a surprise as they were middle aged then and we are talking about my joining in those Hogmanay celebrations almost 50 years ago. The good news is that me + the wife are still married 42+ years later and my Best Man & his wife have been married a few years longer than that. Although my family is Welsh, and lived in a different part of town, we did the first footing thing, too (less elaborate and less drink involved than the Scottish side of the family!) with some dark haired member of the family or a friend doing the deed carrying some food (bread), a drink and a lump of coal first through the door. Happy Days! Probably a little quieter this New Year though .... In front of the TV with food & drink and probably won't even go to the pub because it will be filled to the rafters with part-time drinkers so that season-ticket-holding professional drinkers like us can't get near the bar ... Good video though, as we expect from you, Bruce!

Across in Fife you have a spectacular view of the fireworks for free. I remember in the '70s that the police joined in the festivities.

That was great Bruce. As a Canadian with Scottish Heritage it’s great learning about Hogmanay traditions. In Canada Christmas really starts after Remembrance Day and goes till Dec 25th. New Years Eve and New Years Day. As a boy always visited my grandparents and spent the time with them. I’d heard of first footing maybe from my grandpa who has Scottish background. My Mom’s side is from Newfoundland and the kids always dressed up as Mummers to visit my Nan on Christmas Eve and she’d pretend she didn’t know who the kids were 😂. At my age now I’m looking for more traditional ways to celebrate New Years. I guess working retail makes Christmas / New Years here feel a little manufactured, kind of like what you have going on Edinburgh it sounds like. We always have family get together on Christmas Day and New Years Day. There are some traditional foods on Christmas. My Mom always makes her Shortbread. My in-laws do a turkey on the barbecue and have traditional same meal with same vegetables. Then have a conversation circle after dinner. Then they go around the circle reviewing everyones last year goals. If you accomplished your goal you get cheered and if you didn’t you get booed 😂. Then they go around and everyone has to come up with a new goal for the new year. The community based traditions like Newfoundland Mummers and Hogmanay really sound like fun and heart warming. Idea of a people walking down the street playing pipes or fiddle and being welcomed by neighbours sounds like a ton of fun. Maybe it’s time to start some new traditions. Going to Open my window to let the old year out and the new one in. I better leave open for awhile though to make sure 2022 is good and gone😂.

Yes ginger wine was bought at the chemist in a small squareish dark bottle then made into about 8 pint bottles dads share had rum added to it. It was really hot and spicy 🤗

Wow, that brought so many memories back for me. I was brought up in Manchester to a Scottish Dad, Isle of Bute, and an English Mum, Eccles! Dad always did the first footing in our house, he was tall and dark haired, sometimes he'd get annoyed (Dad was normally very placid), as Mum sent him out of the back door at least 5 mins before the bells and he'd have to wait in the freezing cold until the bells at midnight, and then he could knock on the front door with his whisky, coal and shortbread in his hand! For a lot of years, we would visit friends of my parents who were originally from North East England, and their traditions were pretty similar to ours, I remember we all stood around an upright piano singing, whilst everyone took their turn. Oh I really miss those days. I was going through my Mothers things shortly after she passed away (Dec. 2019) and found a piece of coal wrapped in a plastic bag and wondered, at first, what this was for, until I remembered, that this would have been the piece of coal Dad would first foot with, he must have kept it after we had central heating installed! I've still got the piece of coal as a wonderful reminder of lovely and happy Hogamanay's spent with my Parents. I try to keep up some of the traditions, to which some of my English friends think I'm nuts, but I don't care and I hate it when I hear people saying that they prefer Christmas to New Year! Anyway, All the very best to you all and Lang May Yer Lum Reek. x

That was a great talk, it brought back good memories. We would always CLEAN and throw out the trash before New Years, to hear them talk it make miss my granny.

I brought my version of Hogmanay to Ireland. I stayed in the pub till after 12 then went to an Irish friends house with Fruit cake(nae black bun) fire wood(nae coal) and whisky. They had no idea of this tradition but they loved it.. Its never to late to bring this back. Also made soup and had steak pie. Love your channel keep up the great work. Lang may yer lum Reek.

United States here, My mom used to have myself and older brothers go out the back door and come into the front door at midnight. Even into adulthood my mother would call me new years day and ask if I went out the back and into the front at midnight, which I did. Not sure where it came from. She's been gone 2 years now and I'm still carrying the tradition. Thanks for the great content!

How many memories this brought back . I am 83 and my memories are of the early 1940s in Glasgow.I thought Hogmanay was much more exciting than Christmas. Everything had to be clean and new clothes , even one item ready for wearing for New Year. Our Hebridean neighbors put out their fire and relit it when New Year rang in. The best cloth was on the table with Sultana cake and Cherry cake Shortbread and Ox tongue with bread and if you were lucky.,real butter. The kids were wakened up if they fell asleep and given a little hot toddy, would be considered child abuse now. Ken Tait ,I remember the party piece, and if you were reluctant they sang … Tell a story, sing a sang,, show your bum or oot ye gang. The kids knew they would get some extra cash from their relatives , who had all had a few drinks. The door was opened to all, nobody would ever have been turned away. Such great days. Thank you Bruce. I have been away 63years and still miss it. I go through the motions at Christmas but it does not have the meaning of Hogmanay and Ne’ er day .

Nice video about Scottish traditions, Bruce. I enjoyed it very much. It made me think how we celebrated Christmas and New Years in my old area of the USA (Detroit, Michigan) and how things changed, and not for the better. When I was a kid, Christmas was the big holiday, the majority of family and friends visiting was done on Christmas or within a day or two. New Years was a well controlled party. As time went on, Christmas traditions slowed down, many disappeared, and New Years turned into an amateur night drinking fest. Just not the same anymore. I live in Orlando, Florida now, and Christmas tends to be a strictly family affair, or would be if COVID wasn't around. My son and his tribe just left my place after spending Christmas Eve. He made a nice dinner (basically a Southern meal, honey glazed ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, etc). We opened gifts and had a good time. My oldest daughter was going to hold a full family gathering, but she and her hubby got the Rona. We're going to try for a gathering on New Years instead. Our own little Hogmanay.

I relate this from a slightly different perspective than most. In 1965 I was a 14 year old American living in Edinburgh. Christmas was a real let down from an American boy's perspective, absolutely nothing! I think we were the only family on our block that really celebrated Christmas. New Year's was a totally different thing to a young American. As I understand it the tradition was to go from house to house with a bottle. It would start at one house then every one would grab their bottles and go to the next house on the street. This was repeated until no longer practical (sober?). My folks thought this was a great thing.

I have always enjoyed your videos finding them interesting and informative. This one? I felt like I was invited in to a family gathering, thank you! Exactly what I needed as this year comes to a close and my own family is far away.

I'm 65 Bruce and remember all this lovely couple said. I remember first footing with raspberry cordial and coal and shortbread at 12 years old. After that? Let me tell you a story!

I am from Liverpool, we always looked forward to the Andy Stewart show and listening to the bagpipes on the TV. My mother always wanted a dark haired person to enter by the front door and leave by the back, we also had a coal fire, so she would have someone carry a piece into our house. I really miss the bagpipes!

Born in Rutherglen, Glasgow in '65, I fondly remember a rather quiet and sober whisky toast at the bells before waiting for our first foot. My dad always prearranged his dark-haired friend to come to avoid any bad luck at the start of the year brought with the appearance of someone with blond hair at the door. With shortbread and a bottle of whisky in a bag we would make our way up the street popping into the neighbours'' houses until we all landed at the designated house, now packed with people, food, drink and music. There we would all party the night away until the first signs of morning. Sadly Janeta, the vivacious host at number 61 passed away this year - I raise a glass!

During the war, my aunt, who lived in Ayr, worked at Prestwick Airport. They only got one day off over the festive season, but she said that there was something close to civil war between the Scots, who wanted New Year's day off, and the English , who wanted Christmas day off.

Bruce, thanks for doing the interview with the man & woman who grew up celebrating Hogmanay as it used to be...always best to hear of history & tradition from the people who lived/grew up with it. I'm in the U.S., descended from mostly German immigrant stock, and I also see that some of the old traditions we used to follow have changed or gone away in my lifetime. We develop new traditions but they seem flimsy compared to the old ones, which were often due to poverty and/or necessity--such as your mention of traditionally bringing coal for a Hogmanay visit, so there'd be sure to be heat in the house for the celebration. For my Grandpa, Tom & Jerrys were mandatory at Christmas and New Years--and that's the only time we drank them, I think because they had been an extravagant treat when Grandpa was growing up. (Tom & Jerry is a drink of fluffy beaten egg whites with the yolks and sugar mixed in, added to a glass of either cold or hot milk with rum for flavoring.) But now the few of us who remember drinking Tom & Jerrys with Grandpa drink pasteurized store-bought egg nog at Christmas (it's just not the same!), because the women who used to prepare the Tom & Jerrys (beat the egg whites & yolks separately, etc.) have either died and/or been replaced by younger women who say that Tom & Jerrys are too much work. And apparently the rest of us are too lazy to do the job ourselves, or too cowed into doing without (when I've tried to make them, I've sometimes been told "Get out of my kitchen...I have a meal to prepare!"...and I guess the tradition is not strong enough to be worth the fight??). I'm laid up recuperating from rotator cuff shoulder surgery (*2nd* surgery on the same shoulder in 3 months!!), and that's how I found your channel, surfing KZfaq. I'm going to waste most of a year with recuperation & physical therapy....but it won't entirely be a waste, because I'm learning a lot of Scottish history from you. You're an excellent storyteller, which keeps your videos interesting, and I'm enjoying the ride....Thanks.

Being a continental import, took a few years for me to get the traditions thing, but when friends got married off to local lassies, I learnt that on parts of the Ayrshire coast, first footing is very much still a thing; I was quite a popular first footer, being 6'4"+ and a stranger (well, probably strangest...). Since leaving Scotland, been back a couple of times for Hogmanay with friends, but what I miss most is the post-hangover steak pie on New Year's Day.

My family is Welsh, growing up we lived in Bradford, I well remember the New Year, my mother scrubbed the house made sure everything was ready for the next day. Coal, silver, food and drink was always offered for the first footer. We still did it every year until we lost the coal fire. Opened doors and windows.

I had my first Hogmanay in 1971 in Thurso. Me and my Dad left the house just after the bells, each with a piece of coal, slice of bread and a half bottle of whiskey. I quickly lost my Dad and didn't see him again for 3 days. Then, anybody who was holding a Hogmany party just left the door open. You just made your way from party to party, sometimes you even met the house owners. Nowadays sadly, no one would just go off to the niebours and leave the house open to all firstfooters. Such is progress.

Love these tales - growing up in Lockerbie, it was the same in the 1980's - away an see yer auntie an sit an talk. Great memories of a very social place.

Both Christmas and New Year's were untouched and Traditional in New Zealand. 31st would be out and about go to the pub or drinks with friends or family. When midnight came we would get together and sing Auld Lang Sine. With the 1st being lunch with family. Usually the left over ham from Christmas or a Barbie. Because it's our summer we would be on holiday at the batch/crib.

From a young age in the 1970s I was put out the house just before the Bells, with a bottle. When the Bells went I was the first foot. I also have memories of the extended family gathering on Hogmannay and having a good old sing song into the New Year.

I'm in the US and my family has a party every New Year's Eve for friends. We just gather and talk and have some food and sodas. One person likes to set off fireworks, so he does that right before midnight. I've never been to a manufactured New Year's party or event and I'm 73.

What! No Clootie Dumplin'? My mother made it every year in a pot on the fire with two sixpences inside. Never managed to get one. I remember the smell of the Mackeson stout with the stone stopper in the bottle that my father drank and Duncan Macrae on the TV singing "The Wee Cock Sparra".

Living in the US (Indiana), I totally enjoyed this look at Christmas and Hogmanay in Scotland :-) I didn't have a clue about Andy Stewart, but I do now - my favorite takeaway from this video :-)

Great vid that brought back some awfy gid memories fi the partys ma mer n fer had at new year. Like Christmas it had it's own special feeling aboot it. All the best ti you n yours, mate 😊👍🏻

Interesting that the first known reference to the word 'Hogmanay' is from the household accounts of Sir Robert Waterton of Methley, Yorkshire, England in 1444. It records payment for a big 'hogmanayse' and little 'hogmanayse'. And there is no record at all of the phrase or custom of 'first footing' before 1800.

My granny used to make ginger wine. It started of a wee bottle of concentrate from the chemists and made a about 40 litres. If it was too strong it set off my asthma.

Here in New England, Christmas celebrations didn't really become popular until sometime in the 19th century: previously, the Puritan authorities actively suppressed the 'riot and disorder' they associated with the holiday. The New Year generally suffered the same fate for a long time. "Definition of a Puritan: one who lies awake at night, tormented by the thought that somewhere, somebody may be enjoying himself." Anyway, Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

My granny used to make ginger wine from a concentrate like a cordial. It was non alcoholic (of course) and I have a vague memory she perhaps added sugar to ferment it but I wouldn’t swear to it.

We were allowed to open 1 gift on Christmas Eve, and were allowed one glass of wine on New Year’s Eve.

Whit an absolute delight. Beautiful conversation. Brings back so many memories. I was born in' '67, and came to Australia, with my parents of course, when I was two. Hogmanay is still my most important night of the year. We have a few friends round. It is normally very hot, so we entertain outside and BBQ, laugh and drink. At the bells I get out my pipes and play in the new year. Everyone at our party is in the street. We are loud but our neighbours aren't eejits so all is good. We finish off the night with more drinks and music. Next morning we have a bacon and eggs BBQ breakfast and bring in the new year at 11am, toasting with a dram the Scottish new year. (11am in a Australia is midnight in Scotland). Everyone who stayed the nights toasts again and the party goes on. Best night of the year

That was it for our New Years,mum being an exile Scot. Andy Stewart and the White Heather Club. Top of my head here but Kenneth McKellar and Moira Anderson in there too? Oh yes,and the Crabbies! Happy New Year!

It was very interesting for me to learn that Christmas was not a public holiday in Scotland until 1957. Hearing about the family and neighborhood New Year’s traditions reminds me how similar we all are. Saying farewell to the old year. Greeting the new one with hope. Celebrating with those nearest to us. Thanks for sharing this bit of folk history. Best wishes for you and Scotland History Tours in the coming year!

Haha! My Grandma on Dad’s side was a strict Presbyterian. She disapproved of Christmas. I saw a copy of a news paper from 1973, it was from the Scot’s side of the border. A minister (fun sponge) was having a campaign against a local school, they had the audacity to have a Christmas tree. We had non alcoholic home made ginger wine. Alcohol was disapproved of. The whiskey came out for grandad at new year. Nowadays I am up for all kinds of Christian/pagan fun and merrymaking. Even a bit of gayety! Have a merry Hogmanay! All the best.

Here in Illinois we celebrate at New Year's Eve, because Christmas is over! lol

Great article Bruce! As a young American Sailor based at RAF Machrihanish in the late 70's and early 80's I

My granny moved to Montreal, Canada when she was just a newborn, in 1921. I remember so many years later, and now so many years past, that we did almost everything that's been described in this video. Huge family gathering at my grandparents house, music, dancing, singing, drinking, and of course, first footing. I had no idea at the time that it was a Scottish tradition. My grandparents wouldn't have experienced Hogmanay in Scotland, I believe my grandpa was born in Canada, and my granny, as I mentioned, came here as a newborn, but obviously their own parents, my great-grandparents, had brought the tradition over with them,. That would have lasted a good 50+ years until everyone started moving farther and farther away from one another. Now I'm thinking of taking up the bagpipes so I can go out to the street on New Years Eve and terrorize my neighbours!!! 😆😆😆 But they'd probably call the police, cuz you're right, there's very little sense of community these days, and where I am, pretty much none whatsoever. Thanks for the video, brought back some good memories.

What nice story-telling. I enjoyed those stories.

Just love how the Scots get their way about what they want one way or another! I’m a kid of the 60’s also. Raised in Denver, Colorado. We celebrate Christmas eve- going to church to hear the story of Christs birth and sing Christmas carols. Santa brings gifts that night when all kids are asleep; Stuffs stockings hung above the fireplace with wee gifts & candy. But the big gifts, if you were a good lad or lass all year, were left under the Christmas tree for you to open Christmas morning and we celebrate it as remembrance of the birth of Jesus and his gift of eternal life. A big Christmas dinner with Turkey or Ham, all the trimmings, pies and candies are all a part of the days celebration. People decorate their homes with lights and yard displays beginning just after our Thanksgiving holiday at the end of November. Christmas night our family always drives around to see them all, & to cap off the day! New Years eve is a huge party with food & drinks. At almost midnight there is a countdown of the last few seconds to the final second of letting go of the old year and welcoming the new. Lots of fireworks, music, champagne, kisses and cheers as midnight arrives.

I remember ginger cordial. My granny made it at new year. Also raspberry cordial

I was in the park, under the castle for the party at the end of 2004, headlined by Blondie and the Scissor Sisters. Couldn't see the stage due to a large bush but watching the locals laugh themselves into unconsciousness at ppl slipping down the muddy embankment we were standing on was FAR better. As an Aussie on his first trip abroad it was BRILLIANT. Thanks Edinburgh.

Thank you for a wonderful year of education and entertainment I really love your channel bruce

I so enjoyed this! It reminds me of my summers with my Gramma in Maine when I was little. I was always an old soul who had sheet for old ways & it was a regular thing for her to take me to one sister or brother’s house to “visit”. She had 6 siblings and I enjoyed listening to them reminisce about the way things used to be. It was fun hearing all your “ayes” in convo! For New Years in the 1st here, my grandparents were always with us in VA where they escaped their Maine winters. We would stay up watching Dick Clark and watch the ball drop in Times Square. My Gramma would almost be like a little kid with her excitement watching it. She’d been watching it on TV since the 50s. Once she got into her 80’s, she was nearly blond, so we put a kitchen chair up to the TV so she could get up close & watch as best she could. We have pics of her up there with her cane watching. She was adorable. Our family were strict Protestant fundamentalists so there wasn’t a drink or smoke in sight 😩🤷🏻‍♀️ I love the symbolism of coal, whiskey and Shortbreads. Thanks for sharing this ✨

I'm U S so Christmas has always been celebrated right along with New Years Good Friday and Easter.

I spent Hogmanay in Edinburgh in 1989 with a group of other USAF from RAF Lakenheath. My best memory was going to the pubs and having all of the Scottish lassies just begging us to speak since we were Americans. They just wanted to hear the accent.

Da made beef, yorkshire pudding or roasted lamb with mint jelly, sometimes brandy fruit cake, always scones with currants, socks and underwear at Xmas not much else but older brothers and sisters (by 25 to 30 years older with kids of their own) brought some chocolates and fruits, and I'd get a new Catholuc school uniform and shoes. That's how they rolled. Me children got bikes, new musical instruments and martial arts weapons since they went to dojang after school until were 4th degree masters by high school. A major change of holiday gifting in only one generation.

Growing up in the sixties, ma granny made plain cake, current cake, the flavored wines, and of course, the nippy ginger wine. Good chat brought back childhood memories.

That was fantastic. Memories! Thanks Bruce...from South Africa

Another great video and lesson!!! My wife was captivated by the couple telling the stories of how they celebrated in the past. Her grandmother came over here to the States at the age of 12 with her parents from Glasgow and pretty much celebrated New Years as her generation did here in the US. But my wife was lucky enough to get to know her great grandmother a bit as well and take part in some of the older traditions of Hogmanay. Their stories must have been taking her back to sitting with her great grandmother. Thanks again and here's to a great 2022 to you all!!!!

Yulade ginger wine. Came in a wee bottle and was added to a huge pot of boiling water and sugar. I grew up with this as New Year, made by my gran. You can still get it round this time of year, we used to get it from the Co Op

My family in Australia in the 70'S celebrated as was discussed, the cleaning of the house, the best table cloth and the house shining from the spring clean. Then good friends and family and first footing with a bottle, shortbread and a lump of coal. Thank you for bringing back such beautiful memories. Happy New Year fae Australia.