Happy Hogmanay!!!

[LARAMANIAC]

As I'm leaving tomorrow might I be the first to wish you a Happy New Year or as they say in my country - Happy Hogmanay!!

The Scots have become renowned the world over for the manner in which they celebrate the coming of a new year. Many may say that today the Scottish Hogmanay traditions are vanishing, but there are some areas of Scotland where even in these modern times, old traditions thankfully die hard! In Lewis, for instance, there has long since been a tradition that on Hogmanay the boys form themselves into bands. The leader of each band should wear a sheep-skin, while a member must carry a sack. The bands then move from house to house, reciting a Gaelic rhyme. On being invited into the home by the woman of the family, the leader would walk clockwise around the fire, or around a chair in these modern times, while everyone else hit the skin with sticks. The boys would be given some bannocks for their sack, before moving on to the next house.

This is of course a rather localised tradition, although similar ceremonies are carried out in South Uist. More common throughout the rest of Scotland is the traditional firing of guns at midnight, followed by the men setting out to "first foot" all those houses to which they know they are welcome. The minimum requirement is a bottle of whisky and a bannock of oatcake, and it is this tradition that is almost universal.

The origins of the Scottish customs are as ancient as they are diverse. The very fact that Scotland chose to celebrate the New Year in preference to Christmas is said to have its roots in the Kirk, which viewed the Christmas celebrations as 'popish and superstitious'. Whatever the reasons, it has always been that the further north one travels in Britain, the more intense is the swing in celebrations towards the New Year. Strangely however, in recent years this diversity has not been so noticeable, as those in the south have become more aware of Hogmanay as a time of celebration, as evidenced by the large crowds who gather in Trafalgar Square (Scots will tell you that this crowd largely consists of stranded Scots and Irish).

The name "Hogmanay" is itself locked in some controversy. It is said variously to come from the Anglo-Saxon Haleg Monath (Holy Month), or the Gaelic oge maidne (New Morning). Whatever the origin of the name, it has remained in the conscience of the Scottish people for many centuries. Such was the importance of Hogmanay, it was once the custom in Scotland to give gifts on the first of January, and indeed until the 18th century the number of gifts given then far outshone those given at Christmas, in both number and quality. It is only very recently that some parts of Scotland ended the practice of giving tokens to children, which themselves
were called "hogmanays".



A Guid New Year to ane an' a'
A guid new year to ane an' a'
An' mony may ye see,
An' during a' the years to come,
O happy may ye be.
An' may ye ne'er hae cause to mourn,
To sigh or shed a tear;
To ane an'a baith great an' sma'
A hearty guid New year.

Chorus
A guid New Year to ane an' a'
An' mony may ye see,
An' during a' the years to come,
O happy may ye be.

O time flies past, he winna wait,
My friend for you or me,
He works his wonders day by day,
And onward still doth flee.
O wha can tell when ilka ane,
I see sae happy here,
Will meet again and merry be
Anither guid New year.

Chorus

We twa ha'e baith been happy lang.
We ran about the braes.
In yon wee cot beneath the tree,
We spent our early days.
We ran about the burnie's side,
The spot will aye be dear,
An'those that used to meet us there,
We'll think on mony a year.

Chorus

Noo let us hope our years may be
As guid as they ha'e been,
And trust we ne'er again may see,
The sorrows we ha'e seen.
And let us wish that ane an'a'
Our friends baith far an' near,
May aye enjoy in times to come -
A hearty guid New year!

Chorus

Meaning of unusual words:
mony=many
winna=will not
ilka=every
burnie=small stream



I miss you Dad!

[dhama]

Aye northern lass, happy Hogmanay!!

And may everyones new year be a positive one.

[TheWatcher]

Aye, ah'll be spendin' mah Hogmanay on the Speyside in the Highlands where the peat makes the water worthy of a bottle of Glenlivet (don't I wish). Sorry if I butchered the linguistics. Hopefully Claymore will come along and correct me.

Happy New Year everyone!