A drunken kiss, and then farewell, Jonathan Campbell

Mon, 29 Dec 2003 00:00:00 +0000

Hogmanay is the name the Scots give to New Year’s Eve, a celebration they have made their own with a unique mix of tradition, self-indulgence, sentimentality and enthusiasm. The revelry of Hogmanay, buoyed by the free-flow of alcohol, bears out Ken Worpole’s observation that alcohol is both a necessary ingredient of social cohesion while paradoxically the cause of the severe anti-social fragmentation of our cities, that is to be found all over Europe – even, as Simon Roughneen describes, in once-convivial Dublin. The roots of Hogmanay reach way back to the pagan practice of sun and fire worship in the deep midwinter. This evolved – or was appropriated by – the ancient Saturnalia, a great Roman winter festival, where people could celebrate free of restraint and inhibition.

A depiction of Romans celebrating Saturnalia

From Scandinavia, the Vikings also brought across their Yule festival, which became the twelve days of Christmas, or the ‘Daft Days’ as they came to be known in Scotland. During the Reformation and following years, the winter festival went underground, but re-emerged at the end of the 17th century. Since then the customs have continued to evolve and adapt to changing times.

In most places the pagan festivities gradually merged with Christmas, but when strict Scottish Protestant clerics in the 16th century abolished Christmas for being a Catholic mass, the Scots – reluctant to be deprived of a midwinter knees-up – put all their energy into greeting the New Year.

Today, 1 January is a public holiday across the UK, but only in Scotland does the holiday extend to 2 January too. In fact, right up to the 1950s Christmas was a normal working day for many people in Scotland, and Hogmanay was widely regarded as by far the more important celebration. Such was the importance of Hogmanay, that gifts were given on New Year’s Day, and for many years the number of gifts in this “handselling” custom far exceeded those given at Christmas.

The origin of the name ‘Hogmanay’ is a matter of some controversy – even the spelling of the word can create argument (Hogmany, Hogmaney). Various sources suggest it comes from the Anglo-Saxon Haleg Monath (meaning Holy Month), or the Gaelic Oge Maidne (meaning New Morning). Some people also think that it could be from an Old French word meaning ‘gift’ due to the custom of giving gifts. Whatever the origin of the name, it has remained an important Scottish celebration for many centuries.

All roads lead to Edinburgh

Over the years, Hogmanay street parties in the middle of towns and cities became popular, often centring around a prominent clock face which would ring out ‘the bells’ at midnight.

A torchlight procession marches down the Royal Mile, one of the main streets in Edinburgh

For a decade, the largest New Year’s Eve street party in Europe has taken place in Edinburgh,with approximately 100,000 people on the streets of the city enjoying the culmination of a week-long series of events. On the evening before, a torchlight procession marches from Edinburgh Castle down the Royal Mile to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Rock and pop bands perform on stages in Princes Street Gardens playing to the increasingly inebriated masses and at midnight the huge fireworks display where hundreds of tons of fireworks are let off into the night sky above the castle and other prominent hills in the city. Once midnight has been signalled Edinburgh joins the rest of the world in singing “Auld Lang Syne”, an old Scottish tune with lyrics by Robert Burns, Scotland’s national poet.

The outdoor concert in Princes Street Gardens, overlooked by Edinburgh Castle

It is only in recent years that Hogmanay has been celebrated on this large scale. The first such event followed the Summit in the City in 1992 when Edinburgh hosted the European Union conference of heads of state. The first modern Hogmanay festival was so successful that it was commercially developed to become the biggest street party in the world and was voted as the best millennium party on earth by The Times newspaper. But has the increased marketability of the event begun to overshadow the true tradition of the celebrations?

Tradition renewed, or ending?

Traditionally houses were cleaned from top to bottom, debts were paid and quarrels made up, and, after the bells of midnight were rung, great significance was made of welcoming good luck into the house. This still takes the form of the tradition of ‘first-footing’ where neighbours visit one another bearing gifts. The ideal first-foot is a tall dark-haired male carrying a bottle of whisky. Women or redheads, on the other hand, bring bad luck, though I doubt anyone carrying a bottle of whisky would be turned away these days, whatever the colour of their hair. The website Rampant Scotland has more information about the traditions of Hogmanay.

Some older people still have memories of men carrying bits of coal and “black bun” (a rich fruit cake) into the house, and of the streets being alive with ‘happy’ people until well into the small hours. People who throughout the previous year might have been near-enemies would suddenly become the best of friends, and the practice of kissing absolute strangers was a pleasure enjoyed by many. It has been hinted that another interpretation of ‘Hogmanay’ might be hug-many. With the passing of the years, this celebration of goodwill is one part of the Hogmanay spirit that does appear to have vanished, all but for the hugging.

It is worth remembering the history of Hogmanay, a pagan rite to secure the goodwill of neighbours, in which sharing a drink is one part of the ritual, at a time when alcohol is so evidently a cause of un-neighbourly behaviour in our city centres.

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A drunken kiss, and then farewell, Jonathan Campbell