NEW YEAR'S EVE TRADITIONS

Chronicle (Levin), 31 December 1947, Page 4

NEW YEAR'S EVE TRADITIONS

TIme TGr MerBImenT-^and ' REFiEC®OSr "Of all sounds of all bells, " said Charles Laliib, '^most solema and.most touehing is the peal Wliich fingS Otit th.il old, year. I iiever hear it Avithout a ghtiiefiiigf rtp' Of rfiy mind to a edftcOu tratiou of all tlie images that have difftised OVer" the past twelvfemdnth ; all I have done or sirffered, pefformed or negleeted, in that regi'«*ted titne. 1 begin tb ItnoW its xvofth as \Vlien a pe'r soii dieSr1' "It has evea* been a ehstdnl atiidiig natiohs to see the old- ydar o'ut aiid tlienew one iri, "vvith the highest derti0.h§tra: tions of mfe'rriment and eOrlviviality, To but a few does it sOferir to o'eeui that the day is a nrehiofahdtinl of the suBs traetion. of anotlier year iy'o'iii 'the iittlv sum of life. s • The merrymakings on New Year's Eve arid Ne.w Year's Day are of vely aneient date in Kcotland and-in England, In England in former days the lledd of the house assembled his farhily aronnd a bowl of spiced ale, eomically. ealied "lamb's wool, " from whieh. hb drank their healtlisj tlien passed it to the rest, that thev might drink tdo. The word that passed* among them was the aneient Saxon phrase, "Wass hael;" that is, To yonr health. Eteriee ttiis came to he reeognised as the Wassali of Wassel Bowl. They 'had sorigs siiirable to the oeeasion, of whieh- a G-louees-tershire exampie Has been preservdd. "Wassail! Tr-assail! over "the town, Our tdast it is white, our ale it is brown; Our bowl it is made of the maplin tide; We be good fellows all; I drink to thde.

Till very few years ago in Sedtland, the eiistom of the wassii.il bowl at tlie' passing aWay of the Old year might be said to be still in eolnparative vigdtir. On the approach of twelve ct'-clock h 1 ' hot pint ' ' wds prepared — that is, a kettle oi flagdri full of wrirm, spiced, and sweetendd ale, with an intusioh ot spirits. When the cloc'k had strlick tliekneil of the cieparted year, each meinbei of the family drank of this mixture ua good hbalith and a happy New Yeilr aiid mriny of them" to all the rest, Witli a gdneral hand-shaking and perhaps a rlance aiound the lable. Then foliowed the eustom of "flrst footing." Tlie fbllowihg "recipe" for ' ' firSt footing" was contiibuted to "The by one whose brogrie is still aS l5road as his rhemory is stiarp of the rustoin as practifted in Hcotland. On New Year's .Eve, he said, Rcotch people Lisually bring in the New Year aroiind their ain fireftide aird drink a health to the NeW Yeai- as the bells, ring it in. Then. perhaps, a knock sounds at the dooi and a fiist footer has called. Yort ask hihi iri oi perhaps he just Walks iri, brillging with llim his win6 and cake: All gathfer i'Ouird aird partake df ltis wirie aiid cake, with best wislres tlrrpwft in, while he partakes df ydurg. After a sliort. stay; he eollec-ts one or twd of vour household and off they all go to fii'st fdot soitieoire Olse and SO the ba!l Starts. • rolling — wine, cake and best W'isHes-, and.'fio on . .through r. .the .eai'l^ liohrs of the morning. Woe betide tlie household ori who'm the ffrst fodters makO their last call, — they might be swanrped out. To bring you good luck the First Foot nrust be a dark man and he nrust have soiriethirig dark in his hand even if it be a p'iece of coal whieh is considered very htcky. If ynu waiit to go lirst footing vou must be out of your home before 1*2 nriilliight strrkes. Then you can fll'Rt foot your neighborlr, biit you nilist let your frieiul lirst . foot your home before you go in as it is rery un lticky to be yOrtr own lirst fooh And SO t'hiS lirst footin ' goes on till the "wfee sma' lroprs. " In Loudori; most Scotsmen bring in the New Year in the usnal eustom, bm open tlie celebrations ,by ineeltu-g rit St. Paui's Cathedral and on the stroke of midnight they join lrands in a big crrcle arourid it aird siilg "Auld Lang Syne. ' It may safely be said that New- Year 's Eve and (ky are celebiated in Seotland with- a heartiness nowhere surpassed. Everv face is briglit with smiles, every hand ready with the graSp of friend ship, differences are obliterate and gOOdwill r.eigns supreme.