Hogmany

In the global village many of the customs of old Scotland have been swept aside or forgotten.

Once upon a time (or up to the 1950s, at least) parts of Scotland celebrated Hogmanay, the last night of the old year, as a much more important event than Christmas. In some places, till well within living memory, it was business as usual on 25th December in factories and places of work.

New Year's Day was another matter entirely and the biggest holiday and celebration on the calendar. Today, the whole Scottish nation embraces Christmas wholeheartedly, with Christmas lights and shopping nights, and as much of a festive frenzy as any other part of the UK.

Yet Hogmanay remains a uniquely Scottish and still popular occasion in the Scots' festive calendar - and thanks to some towns' and cities' emphasis on organised entertainment, the New Year celebrations can offer spectacle and entertainments galore.

The common element in Christmas, Hogmanay or any of the other winter festivals - such as the Viking-inspired Up-Helly-Aa in Shetland held later in January - is fire and good cheer in defiance of the deepest, darkest part of winter. Far back in time, ancient Druid priests are said to have initiated the old festival of Yuletide, which took in Hogmanay and the first week in January.

As for Hogmanay in particular, it has been around so long that nobody can even agree what the word means. Some say it means 'a New Year gift' and comes from an obscure north French dialect word "hoginane", or it could be "to the mistletoe go" from a French dialect "au gui menez". (Several visitors thought it must mean literally "hug many" judging by their performance during Edinburgh's Hogmanay last year.)

All customs evolve. Once upon a time Hogmanay in Scotland was heavy with ritual, varying from place to place, but always involving the bringing of symbolic gifts. Another focus was the household fire - the very symbol of warmth and home. As midnight approached in the Scotland of old, the main fire in the house would be made to burn brightly. This was to ensure prosperity so that the fire would be able to be lit for the year ahead.

The house would likewise be cleaned thoroughly in expectation of the New Year. The front door was opened to let the old year out and the new in. From an open front door it is but a short way to the still prevalent Scottish custom of "first footing". Ideally, the first person over the threshold after midnight has to be a tall dark male. (Both redheads and women were formerly thought to be unlucky.)

The male visitor should carry gifts (or symbols) which relate to food or fire. This explains why a small piece of (carefully washed!) coal will sometimes still be carried by a man arriving after midnight at a friend's or neighbour's door. The food part can be something as simple as a packet of shortbread.Sometimes the fuel takes the form of a bottle of whisky.

The other traditionally important element is offering to visitors some sort of rich cake, another symbol of celebration and future prosperity. Though plenty of cakes are baked at home, larger scale commercial but traditionally-minded Scottish bakers, such as Walkers of Aberlour, still produce "black bun" (the traditional name for a rich fruit cake), Dundee Cake (another kind of fruit cake) and the ubiquitous shortbread for consumption over the festive season. (Just one of the many layers of symbolism we hardly notice at Hogmanay, the wavy pattern on the edge of a round of shortbread is thought to be a symbol of the sun and connected to festive cakes baked for sun-worshipping ceremonies by the ancient Druids!)

Many old regional variations of Hogmanay have all but died out. No longer in Dundee does the first-footer carry a decorated herring (honestly!) as a symbol of prosperity. (This was a custom once prevalent along the east coast fishing communities.) No longer do the men of Falkland in Fife go in torchlight procession to the top of the Lomond Hills as midnight approaches. Nor do bakers in St Andrews bake special cakes for their Hogmanay celebration (known as Cake Day) and give them away free to local children.

All of these activities were at one time Hogmanay customs (and Cake Day certainly sounds worth reviving!). However, a number of Scottish communities still retain their own ways of celebrating Hogmanay. As the midnight bells bring in the New Year at Stonehaven, south of Aberdeen, a procession gets under way. Fireballs are lit and swung around on wires and this spectacle tours the streets - to frighten off evil spirits, it is said.

The procession makes its way to the harbour where the fireballs are thrown in a great arc to be doused in the water. A similar fire-custom still survives at Comrie in Perthshire. Here the procession carries flambeaux and the torchlight gathering makes its way round this attractive little town on the edge of the Highlands.

At Burghead, north of Aberdeen on the Moray Firth coast, fire is once again the theme, though this time the activity takes place on the 11th January, rather than the 31st December, in accordance with the old Julian calendar, replaced in 1600 in Scotland.

The ceremony is known as the Burning of the Clavie. The clavie (a word whose origin is lost in obscurity) is basically a half-barrel mounted on a pole. Filled with combustible material, it is lit and carried round the streets of Burghead. Finally the clavie is taken to the Doorie Hill, a high point in the town, and more fuel is piled on. Later, the dying embers are much sought after as good luck charms for the coming year.

So what can the visitor expect of Hogmanay today? Well, there are parties and gatherings, both in private houses and organised by hotels, for instance. Walk around the streets of any Scottish town around midnight on the 31st December and youÕll certainly get the impression that something is going on, especially if you congregate in any town centre.

But it is in Edinburgh that, over the last few years, Hogmanay has been given a new direction. Now it is a four-day event with such a reputation that it was, for example, placed fourth in a league of the Top 40 world festivals for 2001, getting into the same league as the Rio Carnival and Pamplona's Fiesta de San Fermin (Running of the Bulls). (This was according to the poll initiated by the web-based travel guide set up by the founders of the Rough Guide travel publications.)

Highlights for this year's event include a Torchlight Procession and Fire Festival (29 Dec) and the Night Afore Fiesta (30 Dec) - a blend of international entertainment, massed pipes and drums, the world's biggest ceilidh, the Latin Carnival stage and international street theatre. Then comes the Royal Bank Street Party (31 Dec - admission by pass only) - giant screens, live stages in the city centres.

There is also a full programme of indoor and outdoor events for New Year's Day, from sports to nightclubs. These are just some of the events which also range from indoor ceilidhs to choral music with the whole event running not just on Hogmanay itself, but from the 29th Dec to 1st January. Other towns and cities also lay on entertainment.

George Square in Glasgow is the focus for Glasgow's own party, when about 100,000 people will welcome in the New year on the streets of Glasgow for a programme of dance, traditional, pop and rock music, all for free. Hogmanay in Stirling takes advantage of the castle and the esplanade's dramatic setting venue with a spectacular programme of music and fireworks.

Among the crowds, look out for a very little figure dancing about the streets. This will be merchant and town benefactor John Cowane - or, at least, his statue. Normally it sits on a niche on the front of his 16rth century house in the Old Town - but comes alive only on Hogmanay. Cowane died in 1633, so it's all very strange. But then, some very curious things happen during this most Scottish of festive events!