Edinburgh's Hogmanay Street Party on New Year's Eve
There has always been a dichotomy within the Scottish character, a contrast between the people who supported John Knox, and his fire breathing Calvinism, and those who created Scotch whisky. There is even a name for it,
Caledonian antisyzygy, and it pops up regularly in Scottish literature.
The reputation of the Scots as a dour people may be due in large part to the influence of the Church of Scotland. The Presbyterian Church in Scotland arose during the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century and was led by John Knox, a disciple of John Calvin. In 1560, the Scottish Parliament ended the jurisdiction of the Pope, and barred all of the Roman Catholic Church's doctrine and practices that did not comply with the new reformed faith, including the celebration of Mass in Scotland.
Following the Scottish Reformation in the 1560s, celebrating Christmas was frowned upon by the rather dour version of Calvinism introduced by John Knox and his successors, who believed it was too superstitious and too Roman Catholic. This was taken so seriously, and preached so vociferously in parish churches, that the celebration of Christmas was effectively banned, except in its pure religious sense.
For four hundred years, Christmas was
celebrated quietly by members of other faiths in Scotland and pretty much ignored by the Church of Scotland. The day was not considered a holiday and shops and businesses remained open on Christmas day.
Until 1957, Christmas was not a legal holiday in Scotland.
But the canny Scots are not a people to be denied. The rest of the world may think them dour, but they know how to party. The Kirk could deny them a celebration of Christmas, but it could not deny them the celebration of the New Year. They call it Hogmanay, and it comes with its own ancient traditions.
Follow below the fold for more.
Edinburgh's Hogmanay
Torchlight Parade
From the
Hull Daily Mail – Tuesday, December 30, 1930:
The origin of Hogmanay, like that of haggis is wrapped in mystery. There are some who say that Hogmanay the Terrible was a Celtic tyrant of the second century BC who employed haggis as a means of ridding himself of his enemies. Others claim that the name is derived from St. Hogmanay, who accidentally invented the bagpipes and then journeyed barefoot to the Holy Land as a penance for it.
This ancient celebration of the New Year probably began as a winter solstice observation, as so many of today's holidays did. After the abolition of Christmas celebrations, it took on greater importance to the Scottish people.
The traditional New Year ceremony would involve people dressing up in the hides of cattle and running around the village whilst being hit by sticks. The festivities would also include the lighting of bonfires and tossing torches. Animal hide wrapped around sticks and ignited produced a smoke that was believed to be very effective in warding off evil spirits: this smoking stick was also known as a Hogmanay.
Many of these customs continue today, especially in the older communities of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. On the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides, the young men and boys form themselves into opposing bands; the leader of each wears a sheep skin, while another member carries a sack. The bands move through the village from house to house reciting a Gaelic rhyme. The boys are given bannocks (fruit buns) for their sack before moving on to the next house.
Redding the House
A longstanding tradition has been to completely clean the house on December 31. This includes not just taking out the old ashes from the fireplace, but also paying off old debts so that the New Year can start completely fresh.
In our household we always take the Christmas tree and decorations down on New Year's Eve so that the house would look nice the next morning when we got up way too early to watch the Rose Bowl Parade. Live. As for paying off old debts, clearly the ancient Celts knew little about mortgages.
First Footers
Black Bun, traditionally
used as a first foot gift.
The first person to set foot over the threshold on New Year's Day is considered a first footer. Good luck is supposed to accompany a tall dark man and ill luck a woman or a blonde man. Tradition has it that the first footer should not exit the house by the same door through which he entered, and should never be allowed to leave without enjoying the
hospitality of the home.
‘First Footing’ – the ‘first foot’ in the house after midnight is still very common is Scotland. To ensure good luck, a first footer should be a dark-haired male. Fair-haired first footers were not particularly welcome after the Viking invasions of ancient times. Traditional gifts include a lump of coal to lovingly place on the host’s fire, along with shortbread, a black bun and whisky to toast to a Happy New Year.
To first foot a household empty-handed is considered grossly discourteous, never mind unlucky!
Kirkwall Ba'
The New Year's Day Ba' Kirkwall, 2011
In Kirkwall, on the Mainland Island of the Orkneys, an all-day hangover cure, or football game, is played out in the streets by the men of the village. At 1 PM, a leather ball is tossed into the crowd of two teams, the Uppies and the Doonies who then compete to move the ball either up the high street to a wall on the south end of the town or down the street to Kirkwall Bay. Lacking much in the way of rules, the game can last for hours as the two teams fight over feet gained.
A tight scrum forms around the leather trophy, while players on the outside brace themselves against any nearby buildings to prevent the opposition capturing ground. With the streets now their playing field, a heaving throng of men push and pulling to try and gain a few metres nearer their goal. In the cold, winter air, steam hangs above the pack.
At least three hundred years old, the origins of the game have been lost to time, but it likely dates all of the way back to the Vikings who were regular visitors to the Orkney Islands.
In 1982 the BBC said of it, "It is not so much a game ... more a civil war."
Fire has always played a prominent role in Hogmanay celebrations, both as a cleanser of evil spirits and as an homage to the sun which lies so low on the horizon at midwinter. Many of the Hogmanay observances include bonfires, some of them quite large, but I don't know that they can compare to the swinging of the fireballs.
Fireball Ceremony
Residents of Stonehaven, a fishing village south of Aberdeen, celebrate the New Year by swinging balls of fire around their heads. Seriously.
Fishermen tend to be a superstitious folk, and it is believed that this tradition was a way for them to get rid of broken bits of rope, nets, cork floats, all of which had been tarred to stay afloat. The remnants were considered "unlucky" by the fishermen, and the
Fireball Ceremony was a means of riding the New Year of any ill-meaning spirits that might be hanging about.
Originally, the fisherman would light his fireball, walk a few paces down the high street, swinging the fireball over his head before placing the fireball on the curb in front of the house of a neighbor. He would then visit with the resident, exchanging New Year greetings and a dram or two, pick up the fireball and proceed to swing it to the next house. Today's fireball celebrants are all sober and make the trek down the high street to the cheers of onlookers without stopping.
Edinburgh Hogmanay
Torchlight procession
to Carlton Hill
What has to be the world's largest block party, the Hogmanay celebrations begin on December 30, with a torchlight procession up Calton Hill to the National Monument, where wicker figures are lit and fireworks are set off. Last year there were 35,000 participating in the parade including bands, bagpipes and torch bearers.
The Edinburgh Hogmanay is one of the largest celebrations in the world. On New Year's Eve in 1996 there were over 300,000 people in the city center. Safety reasons have restricted it to a ticketed affair, with 100,000 in the city center. There are estimates that the total number taking part throughout the city is 200,000. The population of Edinburgh is about 450,000.
Traditional Scottish music and dancing is held on the Mound, more modern music in the Princes Street Gardens, and the Hot Dub Time Machine carries on in the Haymarket. There is music and dance all over the city center, as well as bars and food vendors every few feet.
And at the ringing of the bells, there are the fireworks, from Calton Hill and Edinburgh Castle.
Edinburgh Castle in the background,
Princes Street on the right
"Auld Lang Syne" is sung the way it is supposed to be sung, according to the Scots, with, at the very least, the first and fifth verses.
As the bells strike midnight, join
hands with friends from across
the globe in the world’s biggest
rendition of Auld Lang Syne…
all together now!
AULD LANG SYNE
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne?
CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear
For auld lang syne
We’ll tak a cup o kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!
And here’s a hand my trusty fiere
-JOIN CROSSED HANDS-
And gies a hand o thine
We’ll tak a right guid-willie waught,
For auld lang syne
CHORUS X 2
It doesn't end there. The next day there will be a few hearty souls to take the Loony Dook, a dip in the bracingly chill Firth of Forth:
For over a quarter of a century, thousands of people have taken the New Year plunge, raising tens of thousands of pounds for charities across the UK.
Take part in the Dooker Parade through the High Street, finishing in the freezing Forth, under the gaze of the iconic Forth Bridges. Spectators are welcome to cheer on the Dookers at various vantage points along the route or down on the beach.
And for those with more sense, there will be Scot:Lands, "a cosmic journey across Edinburgh's Old Town to the newly discovered constellation of Scot:Lands. The very best in music, art and theater, created and curated by Scotland's most innovative artists and musicians."
The Hogmanay holiday is closed out on January 2, a bank holiday in Scotland, with a football game between the Edinburgh Rugby and the Glasgow Warriors.
Those Scots know how to party.