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The Antiquary.

JANUARY, 1882.

New Year Customs.

By the Rev. Walter Gregor.

I wish you a merry Christmas
And a happy New Year:
A pantry full of roast beef,
And a barrel full of beer.

and the boys and girls in the West Riding will repeat the same words as they go their round seeking New Year's gifts, while Dunbar has given his New Year's greeting to James IV. :

My Prince in God gif the guid grace,

Joy, glaidnes, confort, and solace,

with "

Play, pleasance, myrth, and mirrie cheir,

In hansell of this guid New Yeir ;*

many Fraunce crowns," and Alexander Scott, in "Ane New-Yeir Gift to the

New Year.

Et cur laeta tuis dicuntur verba kalendis

Et damus alternas accipimusque preces ?* The god of the New Year answers :Omina principiis (inquit) inesse solent. Ad primam uocem timidas aduertitis aures, Et uisam primum consulit augur auem. Templa patent auresque deum, nec lingua caducas Concipit ulla preces, dictaque pondus habent.+ In the opinion of Barnabe Googe, Christians have taken up the custom of New Year greetings from the heathen :

And good beginning of the yeare they wishe and wishe againe,

According to the auntient guise of heathen people

vaine.

Such greetings, whether heathenish or Christian, are kindly.

Every human heart is human, and will give vent to its feelings, despite laws and threats of all kind, whether from State or Church.

It was in vain Theodosius forbade all kinds of idolatry by the most severe punishments (392), bishops undertook the destruction of heathen temples, and numbers of monks were sent through the provinces with full power from the Roman emperors to root out every trace of heathen worship. It was to little purpose Ambrose, Augustine, Leo the Great, and other leaders used their eloquence and influence to put a stop to Pagan customs. The lads in Cleveland will still call through their neighbour's key-hole :

* Fasti, i. 11. 175, 176. +Ibid. 11. 178-182. The Popish Kingdom.

VOL. V.

(1561), has uttered the wish

To seiss thy subiectis so in luf and feir

That rycht and reasoun in thy realme may rule, God gife thé grace aganis this gude new-zeir; and Buchanan has paid his homage to the same unfortunate queen :

Do quod adest, &c. ;

and the poets laureate of England, from Thomas Shadwell (1688) to Henry James Pye, who died in 1813, and in his last ode paid a tribute to the heroes, who risked everything :

That climes remote, and regions yet unknown, May share a George's sway, and bless his patriot throne ;

and composers have done their best to set them to music, and musicians to sing them, and the Council Chamber of St. James has seen the king and his courtiers assembled in all their bravery to hear them sung.

Feasting held a prominent place in the New Year festivities.

Human nature is much the same in all ages and in all countries, and what was done on the banks of the Tiber was done in the north-east corner of Scotland. The old Roman put on his holiday attire, and enjoyed the sights to be seen in the streetsthe inauguration of the magistracy, with all its imposing ceremonies.

Vestibus intactis Tarpeias itur in arces,

Et populus festo concolor ipse suo est. Iamque noui præeunt fasces, noua purpura fulget, Et noua conspicuum pondera sentit ebur. Colla rudes operum præbent ferienda iuvenci, Quos aluit campis herba Falisca suis.+

*Dunbar's Poems, ed. by D. Laing, vol. i. p. 91. + Fasti, i. 11. 79-84.

B

In the north-east of Scotland, after all necessary work had been accomplished as eatly as possible, every one dressed and gave the day to pleasure-seeking-some visiting, some going to shooting-matches, some "thigging." Each household, however poor, made exertion to have something dainty for food. At night there was card-playing, sometimes in private houses, sometimes in alehouses, when a good deal of strong drink was used "for the good of the house," and sometimes there were balls. Not seldom in all this there were excesses.

Their tables do they furnish out with all the meate they can :

With march-paynes, tartes, and custards great, they drink with staring eyes,

They rowte and revell, feede and feaste, as merry all as pyes:

As if they should at th' entrance of this New Yeare hap to die,

Yet would they have their bellies full, and auncient

friends allie.*

An awa b' mony a toon, &c. Then they told their story, got their alms (a cogful of oatmeal, or a few pence), partook of hospitality. Between kindly greetings, news of the day, a little good-natured banter with the guidewives, and an occasional salute from the maidens, it was a day of glee. When a boy, often have I stood at my father's door and watched the stalwart happy lads scouring the district-side on their errand of mercy, feeling little the weight of the bag of meal on the back.

The brute creatures shared in the common

Quis sapiens, qui dominici Natalis sacramentum colit, non ebrietatem condemnat Saturnalium, non declinet lasciviam Kalendarum ?—Nam ita lasciviunt, ita vino et epulis satiantur, ut qui toto anno castus et temperans fuerit, illa die sit temulentus atque pollutus.+

In some places (e.g. Banff) it was not unusual for the servants and children of the better-class households to dine together, when the master and the mistress saw to their comfort, and the master made the punch and distributed it, offering his congratulations and good wishes to the domestics. This is the counterpart of the Roman treatment of slaves on the Saturnalia (17th December),

Saturnalibus, optimo dierum,+

may be still the custom, to give to each of the horses and cattle a small quantity of unthreshed oats ("a rip o' corn") as the morning provender. The morning provender. The "clyack" sheaf, (Gæl. cailleach, an old wife), which had been taken home in triumph when the crop was all cut, and carefully kept in store against this day, was given to the oldest mare, if in foal, and if there was not a mare in foal, it was given to the oldest cow in calf. This custom extended to other parts of Scotland. Burns says:

A guid New-Year I wish thee, Maggie ! Hae, there's a nipp to thy auld baggie.* The Roman citizens gave Strena to each other, and to their rulers. At first these gifts were simple and such as the poorest could give, mere expressions of goodwill and of

year. With the increase of wealth and power, and the loss of the austere mode of life, they became next to a tax on those who, from their rank, or office, or wealth, were required to give. The Emperors looked for them, and gladly accepted them, and gave in return. Of Augustus it is said:

Omnes ordines in lacum Curtii quotannis ex voto pro salute ejus stipem jaciebant : item kalendis Januariis strenam in capitolio, etiam absenti.+

* Burns, vol. i. p. 213, Chambers' Library Ed. 1856. + Sueton. XII. Cæsares: Octav. Aug. 57.

Nero would accept gifts only on the first of January, and issued a decree against what was called "strenarum commercium.”

Quotidiana oscula prohibuit edicto; item strenarum commercium, ne ultra Kalendas Januarias exerceretur. Consueverat et quadruplam streňam et de manu reddere.*

Caligula exceeded all the emperors in his greed of gold, and it is told of him that he used to roll himself on heaps of it :

Edixit et strenas ineunte anno se recepturum ; stetitque in vestibulo ædium Kalendis Januariis ad captandas stipes quas plenis ante eum manibus ac sinu omnis generis turba fundebat.†

Claudius abolished the custom.

The Italians have inherited the word, and Dante testifies to the value put on the gifts:

Virgilio inverso me queste cotali Parole usò; e mai non furo strenne, Che fosser di piacere a queste equali.‡ The French have adopted the word, and call a New Year gift étrenne, and speak of "le premier dimanche après les estraines,"§ as well as "le jour de l'estraine" :—

Mes dames & mes damoiselles,

Se Dieu vous doint joye prouchaine,
Etcoutez les dures nouvelles

Une j'ouy le jour de l'estraine.||

All along, with their refinement of manner, they have followed the custom of giving presents on New Year's Day; and "bone estraine" came to signify in a great measure, prosperity :

Mais Diex, qui est donnerres de joie souveraine, Li a cestui lundi envoie bone estraine.¶ while "malle estraine” meant misfortune :— Près nemont mort; Diex lor doint malle estraine.

It is, perhaps, in France that any one single New Year's present has reached the

Tiberius Nero, 34.

+ Caligula, 42. Purgatorio, canto xxvii. ll. 118-120. § "Item, Ladite confrairie (des drapiers] doit sevir le premier dimanche après les estraines, se celle de Nostre-Dame n'y eschevit, demandé & obtenu congié de notre prevost de Paris, & à y cellui siege appellé nostre procureur.-(Denis Francois) Secousse Ordonnances des roys de France de la troisième race. Tome iii. Paris: 1732; in folio, p. 583, No. 3.

Les Euvres de maistre Alain Chartier, &c., Paris: 1617; in-4to, pp. 525, 526.

Li Romans de Berte aus graus piés, coupl. 1. p. 73. Publié par Faulin, Paris,

**Chansons de Châtelain de Coucy, ch. xiv. p. 57.

greatest cost-that of Louis XIV. to Madame de Montespan. This gift consisted of two covered goblets and a salver of embossed gold, richly ornamented with diamonds and emeralds, and was valued at ten thousand

crowns.

Kings at times approached each other with gifts on New Year's day :

Massire Thomas Channelle, chevalier trenchant de Roy d'Engleterre, lequel est venu apporter l'estraine du Roy d'Engleterre du jour de l'an.

In England the nobles sent a purse with gold in it to the king, and retainers made a present to their lords, often a capon:—

Yet must he haunt his greedy landlord hall With often presents at ech festivall; With crammed capon's every new year's morn.+ In Scotland, presents were made, and till lately, on Hansel Monday. Mistresses on the morning of this day gave a small gift, commonly a piece of dress, to each of her domestics. In some districts scholars presented their masters with small tokens of goodwill. On this day in parts of Buchan some gave nothing away till something was got. Such an act would have given away the luck of the year. Town corporations made presents to such as had the means of forwarding or hindering the prosperity of the towns. Leicester may be cited as an example. In return for a gift of two corslets, a pike, a musket, a sword, and a dagger, sent on New Year's Day, 1610-11, by Mistress Elizabeth Haslewood, the corporation sent "a runlett of wyne and one suger lofe," of the value of 31s.‡

Although the Church tried to put an end to the practice of giving presents on New Year's Day, it was to no purpose. Maximus exclaims :

Illud autem quale est, quod surgentes mature ad publicum cum munusculis, h.e. strenis unusquisque procedit, et salutaturus amicos, salutat præmio antequam osculo.§

It is only according to human nature to try to forecast the future and to use means to secure its prosperity. The good Bishop

Notice des émaux, bijoux & objets divers, exposés dans les galeries du musée du Louvre, Ile. partie, documents & glossaire, p. 307. Paris, 1853, in-12. M. Leon de Laborde

+ Bishop Hall's Satires, v. 1. Chiswick, 1824.
Notes and Queries, 5th Series, vol. xi. p. 24.
§ Hom. ciii.

In many a house in Banffshire, the last thing done was to cover up the peat fire with the ashes and to smooth it over. It was carefully and anxiously examined in the morning to see if there was in the ashes, anything like the print of a foot with the toes towards the door. If such a print was traced it was a forecast that one of the household was to leave, if not die. The first fire, too, was watched. If a peat or live coal rolled away from it, there was to be a break in the family circle.

The first foot held a prominent place in forecasting what was to be the course of fate during the coming year. A woman as "first-foot" forboded evil (North of England); one having flat-soles was the bringer of much ill-luck (North of England and Patrick); a sanctimonious person brought nothing good in his steps (Patrick). To meet a cat as the first-foot was the worst thing that could befall one (Banffshire). In the same county there were some men and women who were at all times looked upon as harbingers of good fortune, and to receive hansel from such, on setting on a journey or on entering upon an undertaking ensured success. To meet such a one on New Year's morning as the first-foot brought full measure of success. One with a highly-arched sole (North of England) as well as a bachelor (Stamfordham) was a good first-foot, and for a maiden to meet her lover was a most happy circumstance. St. Agnes' Eve or Day, however (January 21), was of more moment and was much observed by maidens to divine who were to be their husbands. By certain ceremonies and certain formulæ, St. Agne, was pleased to send them dreams which revealed the future as to marriage. In Durham the words are :

*In Circumcisione Domini, siue de Kalendis Januarii Increpatio Lugduni, 1633.

Fair Saint Agnes, play thy part,
And send to me my own sweatheart,
Not in his best nor worst array,
But in the clothes he wears every day;
That to-morrow I may him ken,
From among all other men.

So much stress was laid by some on the "first-foot," or "lucky-bird" in Yorkshire speech, that means were often taken to secure that one who had the reputation of carrying fortune in his steps, should be the first to enter the house. Of course the first-foot had to partake of hospitality-" to get's mornin" in Scots phrase.

Divination by the Bible has been practised from the earliest times of Christianity not merely on New Year's day, but on other occasions. Nicephorus Gregoras speaks of such a practice. Heraclius is said to have asked counsel of the New Testament. Augustine refers to it. This is but the Greek orixoμavreía, or "Sortes Sibyllinæ."

The weather entered into the forecasts of the coming year, and the dying year as well as New Year's Day, and other days was supposed to give indication of it. On the north-east corner of Buchan there were those who pretended to forecast from the appearance of the stars on the last night of the year what the crops were to be, and in many parts of Scotland is current the rhyme :—

If New Year's Eve night-wind bloweth 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.

St. Paul's Day (January 25) held an important place in weather lore:

Clara dies Pauli bona tempora denotat anni,
Si nix vel pluvia, designat tempora cara.
Si fiant nebulæ, morietur bestia quæque
Si fiant venti, præliabunt pælia genti.

In France also this day was much observed as a weather indicator. It may be mentioned that it is Candlemas Day from which it is divined in Banffshire how long the winter is to be :

Gen Candlemas day be clear and fair,
The half of the winter is t'gang an mair,
Gen Candlemas day be black and fool (foul),
The half o' the winter is deen at Yule.