New Years Eve

As 2013 shuffles to the door marked exit, it is time to prepare for 2014. And as folks have done for centuries, say goodbye to the past and hello to the future. Seeing the New Year in is a tradition all over the world, and in many countries the first seconds of the 1^st of January are greeted with a cacophony of sound. Yet, perhaps the greatest New Year celebrations occur in Scotland, and amongst people of Scottish descent. This is the time of year when you may be visited by a first-footer, who should be the first person to enter your home in this year. The tradition varies a little, but the first-footer is usually a man with dark hair who has regular features. He tends to arrive with a gift such as coal, salt or evergreen foliage; of course what he really brings is good luck to the household. He knocks at the door and is allowed in (in some traditions he must remain silent), he then passes over the threshold and is offered a drink. Sometimes it is enough for him to merely cross into the house, but according to other people, he must walk around the building, whilst other traditions claim he must enter via the front door and leave via the back. Folklore also claims that what you do on New Year’s Day will reoccur for the remaining 12 months, so it is good luck to wear new clothes and carry cash, but bad luck to cry or break anything.