First-Footing at Hogmanay: Bringing Luck into the New Year

In Scotland and the north of England, the luck of the coming year was believed to depend on the first person to cross the threshold after midnight on Hogmanay, the "first-foot". Ideally a tall, dark-haired man, he arrived bearing coal for the fire, food, salt and drink, so that the household would lack none of them in the year ahead. First-footing remains one of the best-loved New Year customs in Britain and is easy to keep at home.

How to do it§

1. Redd the house. On 31 December, clean and tidy the whole house, as Scottish custom requires: sweep the floors, clear the ashes from the fire, wash the dishes and, ideally, pay off small debts. Nothing of the old year's mess should be carried into the new.
2. Choose your first-foot. Arrange in advance for someone to be first over your threshold after midnight. Tradition favours a tall, dark-haired man who is not a member of the household; in many places a fair-haired or red-haired person, a woman, or someone flat-footed or with eyebrows meeting was thought unlucky. Today households choose whoever they like, and many treat these rules with humour.
3. Prepare the gifts. The first-foot should carry coal (warmth), shortbread or black bun (food), salt (flavour and plenty) and a drink. Some add a coin for money.
4. Midnight. As the clock strikes twelve, the first-foot steps outside, often by the back door, and then knocks at the front door. In some households the back door is opened at midnight to let the old year out before the front door lets the new year in.
5. Welcome them. Let the first-foot in without a word until they have greeted the house. They place the coal on the fire, or in the hearth or a dish if there is no fire, set down the gifts and wish everyone "A Guid New Year". Everyone shares a drink and a piece of shortbread.
6. Keep the luck. Tradition says nothing should leave the house on New Year's Day until something has come in, so do not take out rubbish or ashes, and do not lend anything. The coal can sit by the hearth all year as a sign of warmth.

Origins and history§

The word "Hogmanay" is first recorded in Scotland in the early seventeenth century, and its origin is disputed; suggested sources include an old French word for a New Year gift and older northern English or Scandinavian terms. After the Reformation, the Church of Scotland discouraged the celebration of Christmas, and New Year became the main midwinter festival in Scotland until the later twentieth century.

First-footing is described in detail in late eighteenth- and nineteenth-century sources. Robert Chambers's Book of Days (1864) describes crowds in Edinburgh waiting at the Tron Kirk for midnight and then setting out to first-foot their friends, carrying hot drinks and cakes. F. Marian McNeill's four-volume Silver Bough (1957–68) collected regional versions across Scotland, including the preference for a dark first-foot and the gifts of coal, salt and bread. Ronald Hutton's Stations of the Sun (1996) places the custom within British New Year traditions of "letting in" luck, and notes that the explanations sometimes given for the dark-haired first-foot, such as fear of fair-haired Viking raiders, are modern guesses rather than recorded history.

Related customs include the Manx qualtagh, the first person met on New Year's morning, and the English "lucky bird". The singing of Robert Burns's "Auld Lang Syne", published in 1796, became attached to the moment of midnight in the nineteenth century.

Variations§

In the Highlands, households once practised saining at New Year, sprinkling water and burning juniper to purify the house, a custom McNeill records. Some families keep a "handsel" custom of gifts on the first Monday of the year. In northeast England a dark-haired visitor bringing coal is still sought in many villages.

Safety and good sense§

Put coal or wood only into a fireplace or stove designed for it; if you have no fire, keep the coal as a token. Make sure walking first-foots are safe on icy streets, and if alcohol is shared, offer non-alcoholic alternatives and never drive after drinking. Luck customs are about hospitality and hope; they do not replace practical help in a hard year.

Sources and further reading§

• The Book of Days — Robert Chambers, 1864
• The Silver Bough — F. Marian McNeill, 1957
• The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain — Ronald Hutton, 1996
• The Penguin Guide to the Superstitions of Britain and Ireland — Steve Roud, 2003
• A Dictionary of Superstitions — Iona Opie and Moira Tatem, 1989