A Righte Merrie Christmasse Part 30

Cut, cut and round, beware of your thumb, That me and my merry men may have some: Sing, fellows! sing, Hag-man-ha!

If you go to the black ark (chest), bring me ten marks; Ten marks, ten pound, throw it down upon the ground, That me and my merry men may have some: Sing, fellows! sing, Hog-man-ha!

The meaning of this word "Hogmany" is not clear, and has been a source of dispute among Scottish antiquaries; but two suggestions of its derivation are probable. One is that it comes from _Au qui menez_ (To the mistleto go), which mummers formerly cried in France at Christmas; and the other is that it is derived from _Au gueux menez_, _i.e._ bring the beggars--which would be suitable for charitable purposes at such a time. In some remote parts of Scotland the poor children robe themselves in a sheet, which is so arranged as to make a large pocket in front, and going about in little bands, they call at houses for their Hogmany, which is given them in the shape of some oat cake, and sometimes cheese, the cakes being prepared some days beforehand, in order to meet the demand. On arriving at a house they cry "Hogmany,"

or sing some rough verse, like--

Hogmanay, Trollolay, Give us of your white bread, and none of your grey!

In _Notes and Queries_ (2 ser. ix. 38) a singular Scotch custom is detailed. Speaking of the village of Burghead, on the southern sh.o.r.e of the Moray Frith, the writer says: "On the evening of the last day of December (old style) the youth of the village a.s.semble about dusk, and make the necessary preparations for the celebration of the 'cl[=a]vie.' Proceeding to some shop, they demand a strong empty barrel, which is usually gifted at once; but if refused, taken by force. Another for breaking up, and a quant.i.ty of tar are likewise procured at the same time. Thus furnished, they repair to a particular spot close to the sea sh.o.r.e, and commence operations.

"A hole, about four inches in diameter, is first made in the bottom of the stronger barrel, into which the end of a stout pole, five feet in length, is firmly fixed; to strengthen their hold, a number of supports are nailed round the outside of the former, and also closely round the latter. The tar is then put into the barrel, and set on fire; and the remaining one being broken up, stave after stave is thrown in, until it is quite full. The 'cl[=a]vie,' already burning fiercely, is now shouldered by some strong young man, and borne away at a rapid pace. As soon as the bearer gives signs of exhaustion, another willingly takes his place; and should any of those who are honoured to carry the blazing load meet with an accident, as sometimes happens, the misfortune excites no pity, even among his near relatives.

"In making the circuit of the village they are said to confine themselves to their old boundaries. Formerly the procession visited all the fishing boats, but this has been discontinued for some time.

Having gone over the appointed ground, the 'cl[=a]vie' is finally carried to a small artificial eminence near the point of the promontory, and, interesting as being a portion of the ancient fortifications, spared, probably on account of its being used for this purpose, where a circular heap of stones used to be hastily piled up, in the hollow centre of which the 'cl[=a]vie' was placed, still burning. On this eminence, which is termed the 'durie,' the present proprietor has recently erected a small round column, with a cavity in the centre, for admitting the free end of the pole, and into this it is now placed. After being allowed to burn on the 'durie' for a few minutes, the 'cl[=a]vie' is most unceremoniously hurled from its place, and the smoking embers scattered among the a.s.sembled crowd, by whom, in less enlightened times, they were eagerly caught at, and fragments of them carried home, and carefully preserved as charms against witchcraft." Some discussion took place on the origin of this custom, but nothing satisfactory was eliminated.

Another correspondent to the same periodical (2 ser. ix. 322) says: "A practice, which may be worth noting, came under my observation at the town of Biggar (in the upper ward of Lanarkshire) on 31st December last. It has been customary there, from time immemorial, among the inhabitants to celebrate what is called 'Burning out the Old Year.'

For this purpose, during the day of the 31st, a large quant.i.ty of fuel is collected, consisting of branches of trees, brushwood, and coals, and placed in a heap at the 'Cross'; and about nine o'clock at night the lighting of the fire is commenced, surrounded by a crowd of onlookers, who each thinks it a duty to cast into the flaming ma.s.s some additional portion of material, the whole becoming sufficient to maintain the fire till next, or New Year's morning is far advanced.

Fires are also kindled on the adjacent hills to add to the importance of the occasion."

In Ireland, according to Croker (_Researches in the South of Ireland_, p. 233), on the last night of the year a cake is thrown against the outside door of each house, by the head of the family, which ceremony is said to keep out hunger during the ensuing year:--

If New Year's Eve night wind blow South, It betokeneth warmth and growth; If West, much milk, and fish in the sea; If North, much cold and storms there will be; If East, the trees will bear much fruit; If North-East, flee it, man and brute.

CHAPTER XXIX

New Year's Day--Carol--New Year's Gifts--"Dipping"--Riding the "Stang"--Curious Tenures--G.o.d Cakes--The "Quaaltagh"--"First-foot" in Scotland--Highland Customs--In Ireland--Weather Prophecies--Handsel Monday.

There is a peculiar feeling of satisfaction that comes over us with the advent of the New Year. The Old Year, with its joys and sorrows, its gains and disappointments, is irrevocably dead--dead without hope of resurrection, and there is not one of us who does not hope that the forthcoming year may be a happier one than that departed.

The following very pretty "Carol for New Year's Day" is taken from _Psalmes, Songs, and Sonnets_, composed by William Byrd, Lond. 1611:--

O G.o.d, that guides the cheerful sun By motions strange the year to frame, Which now, returned whence it begun, From Heaven extols Thy glorious Name; This New Year's season sanctify With double blessings of Thy store, That graces new may multiply, And former follies reign no more.

So shall our hearts with Heaven agree, And both give laud and praise to Thee. Amen.

Th' old year, by course, is past and gone, Old Adam, Lord, from us expel; New creatures make us every one, New life becomes the New Year well.

As new-born babes from malice keep, New wedding garments, Christ, we crave; That we Thy face in Heaven may see, With Angels bright, our souls to save.

So shall our hearts with Heaven agree, And both give laud and praise to Thee. Amen.

The Church takes no notice of the first of January as the beginning of a New Year, but only as the Feast of the Circ.u.mcision of our Lord, and consequently, being included in the twelve days of Christ-tide festivity, it was only regarded as one of them, and no particular stress was placed upon it. There were, and are, local customs peculiar to the day, but, with the exception of some special festivity, general good wishes for health and prosperity, and the giving of presents, there is no extraordinary recognition of the day.

Naogeorgus says of it:--

The next to this is New Yeares day, whereon to every frende, They costly presents in do bring, and Newe Yeares giftes do sende.

These giftes the husband gives his wife, and father eke the childe, And maister on his men bestowes the like, with favour milde.

And good beginning of the yeare, they wishe and wishe againe, According to the auncient guise of heathen people vaine.

These eight dayes no man doth require his dettes of any man, Their tables do they furnish out with all the meate they can: With Marchpaynes, Tartes, and Custards great, they drink with staring eyes, They rowte and revell, feede and feast, as merry all as Pyes: As if they should at th' entrance of this newe yeare hap to die, Yet would they have theyr bellyes full, and auncient friendes allie.

The custom of mutual gifts on this day still obtains in England, but is in great force in France. Here it was general among all cla.s.ses, and many are the notices of presents to Royalty, but nowadays a present at Christmas has very greatly superseded the old custom. We owe the term "pin-money" to the gift of pins at this season. They were expensive articles, and occasionally money was given as a commutation.

Gloves were, as they are now, always an acceptable present, but to those who were not overburdened with this world's goods an orange stuck with cloves was deemed sufficient for a New Year's gift.

Among the many superst.i.tious customs which used to obtain in England was a kind of "Sortes Virgilianae," or divination, as to the coming year. Only the Bible was the medium, and the operation was termed "dipping." The ceremony usually took place before breakfast, as it was absolutely necessary that the rite should be performed fasting. The Bible was laid upon a table, and opened haphazard, a finger being placed, without premeditation, upon a verse, and the future for the coming year was dependent upon the sense of the verse pitched upon. A correspondent in _Notes and Queries_ (2 ser. xii. 303) writes: "About eight years ago I was staying in a little village in Oxfordshire on the first day of the year, and happening to pa.s.s by a cottage where an old woman lived whom I knew well, I stepped in, and wished her 'A Happy New Year.' Instead of replying to my salutation, she stared wildly at me, and exclaimed in a horrified tone, 'New Year's Day! and I have never dipped.' Not having the slightest idea of her meaning, I asked for an explanation, and gathered from her that it was customary to _dip_ into the Bible before twelve o'clock on New Year's Day, and the first verse that met the eye indicated the good or bad fortune of the inquirer through the ensuing year. My old friend added: 'Last year I dipped, and I opened on Job, and sure enough, I have had nought but trouble ever since.' Her consternation on receiving my good wishes was in consequence of her having let the opportunity of dipping go by for that year, it being past twelve o'clock."

Another singular custom which used to obtain in c.u.mberland and Westmoreland is noted in a letter in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for 1791, vol. lxi., part ii. p. 1169: "Early in the morning of the first of January the _Faex Populi_ a.s.semble together, carrying _stangs_[86]

and baskets. Any inhabitant, stranger, or whoever joins not this ruffian tribe in sacrificing to their favourite Saint day, if unfortunate enough to be met by any of the band, is immediately mounted across the stang (if a woman, she is basketed), and carried, shoulder height, to the nearest public-house, where the payment of sixpence immediately liberates the prisoner. No respect is paid to any person; the cobler on that day thinks himself equal to the parson, who generally gets mounted like the rest of his flock; whilst one of his porters _boasts and prides himself_ in having, but just before, got the _Squire_ across the pole. None, though ever so industriously inclined, are permitted to follow their respective avocations on that day."

[Footnote 86: Poles. To ride the stang was a popular punishment for husbands who behaved cruelly to their wives.]

Blount, in his _Tenures of Land_, etc., gives a very curious tenure by which the Manor of Essington, Staffordshire, was held; the lord of which manor (either by himself, deputy, or steward) oweth, and is obliged yearly to perform, service to the lord of the Manor of Hilton, a village about a mile distant from this manor. The Lord of Essington is to bring a goose every New Year's day, and drive it round the fire, at least three times, whilst Jack of Hilton is blowing the fire. This Jack of Hilton is an image of bra.s.s, of about twelve inches high, having a little hole at the mouth, at which, being filled with water, and set to a strong fire, which makes it evaporate like an _aeolipole_, it vents itself in a constant blast, so strongly that it is very audible, and blows the fire fiercely.

When the Lord of Essington has done his duty, and the other things are performed, he carries his goose into the kitchen of Hilton Hall, and delivers it to the cook, who, having dressed it, the Lord of Essington, or his deputy, by way of farther service, is to carry it to the table of the lord paramount of Hilton and Essington, and receives a dish from the Lord of Hilton's table for his own mess, and so departs.

He also gives a curious tenure at Hutton Conyers, Yorkshire: "Near this town, which lies a few miles from Ripon, there is a large common, called Hutton Conyers Moor.... The occupiers of messuages and cottages within the several towns of Hutton Conyers, Melmerby, Baldersby, Rainton, Dishforth, and Hewick have right of estray for their sheep to certain limited boundaries on the common, and each township has a shepherd.

"The lord's shepherd has a pre-eminence of tending his sheep on any part of the common, and, wherever he herds the lord's sheep, the several other shepherds have to give way to him, and give up their hoofing place, so long as he pleases to depasture the lord's sheep thereon. The lord holds his court the first day in the year, and, to ent.i.tle those several townships to such right of estray, the shepherd of each township attends the court, and does fealty by bringing to the court a large apple-pie and a twopenny sweet cake, except the shepherd of Hewick, who compounds by paying sixteenpence for ale (which is drunk as aftermentioned) and a wooden spoon; each pie is cut in two, and divided by the bailiff, one half between the steward, bailiff, and the tenant of a coney warren, and the other half into six parts, and divided amongst the six shepherds of the beforementioned six townships. In the pie brought by the shepherd of Rainton, an inner one is made, filled with prunes. The cakes are divided in the same manner. The bailiff of the manor provides furmety and mustard, and delivers to each shepherd a slice of cheese and a penny roll. The furmety, well mixed with mustard, is put into an earthen pot, and placed in a hole in the ground in a garth belonging to the bailiff's house, to which place the steward of the court, with the bailiff, tenant of the warren, and six shepherds adjourn, with their respective wooden spoons. The bailiff provides spoons for the steward, the tenant of the warren, and himself. The steward first pays respect to the furmety by taking a large spoonful; the bailiff has the next honour, the tenant of the warren next, then the shepherd of Hutton Conyers, and afterwards the other shepherds by regular turns; then each person is served with a gla.s.s of ale (paid for by the sixteenpence brought by the Hewick shepherd), and the health of the Lord of the Manor is drunk; then they adjourn back to the bailiff's house, and the further business of the court is proceeded with."

The question was asked (_Notes and Queries_, 2 ser. ii. 229), but never answered, Whether any reader could give information respecting the ancient custom in the city of Coventry of sending G.o.d Cakes on the first day of the year? "They are used by all cla.s.ses, and vary in price from a halfpenny to one pound. They are invariably made in a triangular shape, an inch thick, and filled with a kind of mince meat.

I believe the custom is peculiar to that city, and should be glad to know more about its origin. So general is the use of them on January 1st, that the cheaper sorts are hawked about the streets, as hot Cross buns are on Good Friday in London."

In Nottinghamshire it is considered unlucky to take anything out of a house on New Year's day before something has been brought in; consequently, as early as possible in the morning, each member of the family brings in some trifle. Near Newark this rhyme is sung:--

Take out, and take in, Bad luck is sure to begin; But take in and take out, Good luck will come about.

Train, in his _History of the Isle of Man_ (ed. 1845, vol. ii. 115), says that on 1st January an old custom is observed, called the _quaaltagh_. In almost every parish throughout the island a party of young men go from house to house singing the following rhyme:--

Again we a.s.semble, a merry New Year To wish to each one of the family here, Whether man, woman, or girl, or boy, That long life and happiness all may enjoy; May they of potatoes and herrings have plenty, With b.u.t.ter and cheese, and each other dainty; And may their sleep never, by night or day, Disturbed be by even the tooth of a flea: Until at the Quaaltagh again we appear, To wish you, as now, all a happy New Year.

When these lines are repeated at the door, the whole party are invited into the house to partake of the best the family can afford. On these occasions a person of dark complexion always enters first, as a light-haired male or female is deemed unlucky to be the first-foot, or _quaaltagh_, on New Year's morning. The actors of the _quaaltagh_ do not a.s.sume fantastic habiliments like the Mummers of England, or the Guisards of Scotland; nor do they, like these rude performers of the Ancient Mysteries, appear ever to have been attended by minstrels playing on different kinds of musical instruments.

The custom of _first-footing_ is still in vogue in many parts of Scotland, although a very good authority, _Chambers's Book of Days_ (vol. i. p. 28), says it is dying out:--

"Till very few years ago in Scotland the custom of the wa.s.sail bowl, at the pa.s.sing away of the old year, might be said to be still in comparative vigour. On the approach of twelve o'clock a _hot pint_ was prepared--that is, a kettle or flagon full of warm, spiced, and sweetened ale, with an infusion of spirits. When the clock had struck the knell of the departed year, each member of the family drank of this mixture, 'A good health and a happy New Year, and many of them!'

to all the rest, with a general hand-shaking, and perhaps a dance round the table, with the addition of a song to the tune of _Hey tuttie taitie_--

"Weel may we a' be, Ill may we never see, Here's to the King And the gude companie! etc.

"The elders of the family would then most probably sally out, with the hot kettle, and bearing also a competent provision of buns and short cakes, or bread and cheese, with the design of visiting their neighbours, and interchanging with them the same cordial greetings. If they met by the way another party similarly bent whom they knew, they would stop, and give and take sips from their respective kettles.

Reaching the friends' house, they would enter with vociferous good wishes, and soon send the kettle a-circulating. If they were the first to enter the house since twelve o'clock, they were deemed the _first-foot_; and, as such, it was most important, for luck to the family in the coming year, that they should make their entry, not empty-handed, but with their hands full of cakes, and bread and cheese; of which, on the other hand, civility demanded that each individual in the house should partake.

"To such an extent did this custom prevail in Edinburgh, in the recollection of persons still living, that, according to their account, the princ.i.p.al streets were more thronged between twelve and one in the morning than they usually were at mid-day. Much innocent mirth prevailed, and mutual good feelings were largely promoted. An unlucky circ.u.mstance, which took place on the 1st January of 1812, proved the means of nearly extinguishing the custom. A small party of reckless boys formed the design of turning the innocent festivities of _first-footing_ to account, for the purposes of plunder. They kept their counsel well. No sooner had the people come abroad on the princ.i.p.al thoroughfares of the Old Town, than these youths sallied out in small bands, and commenced the business which they had undertaken.

Their previous agreement was--to _look out for the white neckcloths_, such being the best mark by which they could distinguish, in the dark, individuals likely to carry any property worthy of being taken. A great number of gentlemen were thus spoiled of their watches and other valuables. The least resistance was resented by the most brutal maltreatment. A policeman and a young man of the rank of a clerk in Leith died of the injuries they had received. An affair so singular, so uncharacteristic of the people among whom it happened, produced a widespread and lasting feeling of surprise. The outrage was expiated by the execution of three of the youthful rioters on the chief scene of their wickedness; but from that time it was observed that the old custom of going about with the _hot pint_--the ancient wa.s.sail--fell off.

"There was, in Scotland, a _first-footing_ independent of the _hot pint_. It was a time for some youthful friend of the family to steal to the door, in the hope of meeting there the young maiden of his fancy, and obtaining the privilege of a kiss, as her _first-foot_.

Great was the disappointment on his part, and great the joking among the family, if, through accident or plan, some half-withered aunt or ancient grand-dame came to receive him instead of the blooming Jenny."