Scotland loves to celebrateHogmanay(New Year ’s Eve ) , and along with belt out out the lyrics to “ Auld Lang Syne , ” many Scots enter in a custom calledfirst basis . The first person to cross the door of a theater on January 1 is called thefirst footnote . If you ’re at a New Year ’s Eve party in Scotland , do n’t be surprised if a guest give the house a few arcminute before midnight just so that they can re - enter as the first footer after the chime .
It ’s accustomed for first footer to arrive with symbolic gifts for the class before . A coin is brought for wealth , and a lump of coal for warmth . Food and drink are often part of the ritual , too . Whisky is the beverage of choice , and a fruit cake wrapped in pastry dough , known as ablack bunor Scotch roll , is the traditional food . Scotsman author Robert Louis Stevensondescribed the blackened bunas “ a dumb , smuggled substance , unfriendly to living . ” Unsurprisingly , these days many Scottish eschew the stodgy cake .
There is also a superstition that a disconsolate - hairy first footer will bring good fortune ; conversely , a fair - hirsute first footer mean bad luck . historian conceive this superstition comes from theViking invasion of Scotland , when fair - hairy strangers arriving at the threshold often meant bother .
When exactly first terms set about is unknown , but it likely developed from the exercise ofquaaltaghon the Isle of Man , off the west coast of Great Britain . Quaaltaghis a Manx word for the first person to enter a house on New Year ’s Day . The custom involves a group go door - to - doorway andsinging a versethat start “ Ollick ghennal erriu , as bleïn feer vie”(“A merry Christmas , and a very good class to you ” ) . A recording of the song can be heardhere .
So snaffle a lubber of coal and a bottle ofwhisky — plausibly best to ignore the black bun — and head to your neighbour ’s star sign to ring in the New Year in Scotch style .
