OT-Ancient Scottish Rite

[Stephe]

Scots Mark New Year With Fiery Ancient Rites

Lara Suziedelis Bogle
for National Geographic News
December 31, 2002
  
Greeting the new year with friends and spirits is customary in many 
parts of the world. Residents of Scotland mark the arrival of the 
new year with particular passion in a holiday they call Hogmanay 
that draws on their history of Viking invasions, superstition, and 
ancient pagan rituals. 
Hogmanay's origins date back to pagan rituals that marked the time 
of the winter solstice. Roman celebrations of the hedonistic winter 
festival of Saturnalia and Viking celebrations of Yule (the origin 
of the twelve days of Christmas) contributed to celebrations in 
Scotland around the new year. These celebrations and other 
ceremonies evolved over the centuries to become the Hogmanay holiday 
celebrated in Scotland today. 

For many centuries in Scotland, Hogmanay was a far more important 
holiday than Christmas. Historians suggest this may have been a 
result of the Protestant Reformation after which Christmas, and its 
close ties to the Roman Catholic Church, was seen as "too Papist." 
Others point to the grueling work schedules of laborers during the 
Industrial Revolution which did not provide time off for the 
Christmas holiday. 
  
A costumed reveler watches the burning of a Viking long ship during 
the Up Helly Aa festival in Scotland's Shetland Islands. The 
festival is one of many customs practiced in Scotland to mark the 
new year.

Only in the mid-20th century did Christmas emerge as the popular 
holiday it is in other Christian countries. But don't be fooled—New 
Year's still reigns supreme. In the last several years, two of 
Scotland's cities have hosted some of the largest street parties in 
the world. 

Hogmanay—Then and Now 

Today, Edinburgh and Glasgow are renowned for large outdoor street 
celebrations similar to New York City's New Year's Eve celebration 
in Times Square. Despite cold weather, the festivities draw large 
crowds and are marked by drinking and carousing into the wee hours 
of the morning. Thanks to marketing efforts, attendance has grown so 
overwhelming in recent years that tickets are now required to 
control crowds. 

Some of the country's more interesting Hogmanay traditions are found 
in private homes and in the Scottish Highlands and islands. A number 
extend well into the new year. 

A custom known as "first footing" dictates that the first person to 
cross a home's threshold after midnight on New Year's Eve will 
determine the homeowner's luck for the new year. The ideal visitor 
bears gifts—preferably whiskey, coal for the fire, small cakes, or a 
coin—and should be a man with a dark complexion. Why? The answer 
hearkens back to the 8th century, when the presumably fair-haired 
Vikings invaded Scotland: a blond visitor was not a good omen. 

Although less commonly practiced today, friends celebrate first 
footing by visiting each other's homes shortly after midnight. They 
share food and drink and exchange small gifts. It is also customary 
to sing Auld Lang Syne, the traditional song famously transcribed by 
Scottish poet Robert Burns. 

Another custom is to clean the house thoroughly and burn juniper to 
rid the house of evil spirits in the coming year. 

Many Hogmanay traditions involve fire, another throwback to pagan 
and Viking times. It is believed fire symbolized the sun's return 
after the winter solstice or was used to ward off evil spirits. 

Locals in the small town of Biggar in southern Scotland have built a 
bonfire every Hogmanay for hundreds of years, despite the complaints 
of some residents. 

In Stonehaven, a town on Scotland's east coast, the Ancient 
Fireballs Ceremony unfolds as sixty locals march through the town 
swinging large flaming spheres over their heads. 

Even more extreme is the ritual known as Up Helly Aa, which is 
carried out in towns in the Shetland Islands on the last Tuesday in 
January. A custom dating only back to the early 1800s, Up Helly Aa 
involves entire towns dressing up as Vikings and ceremonially 
burning a replica of a Viking ship—followed by raucous celebrating. 

No one can say for sure which traditions came from exactly where 
exactly when, only that thousands of years of history have blended 
to create the cultural centerpiece of the Scottish holiday season. 

Hogma-what? 

Even the origin of the word Hogmanay is a subject of debate. A few 
possibilities: It may derive from the Gaelic oge maiden meaning "new 
morning"; the Celtic hogunnus meaning "new year"; hoog min dag, a 
Flemish-Dutch phrase meaning "great love day"; or the Old French 
word aguillanneuf, which refers to both the last day of the year and 
the gift traditionally given on that day. The last possibility seems 
especially likely since one of the old Scottish traditions was for 
children to run from door to door on New Year's Eve asking for 
presents and shouting, Hogmanay! 

Whatever its origins, Hogmanay is an integral part of Scottish 
culture today. Apparently, one day to recover isn't enough: January 
2nd is an official holiday in Scotland, too.