First footing

[Pale Rider]

Will anyone be involved in the custom of first footing after midnight tonight?

Or does anyone know what it means?

It was all new to me when I moved to the North East, but it is something to do with carrying a lump of coal over the threshold of your house.

I was talking to my cycle group leader earlier who told me the tradition has declined to the point he will be first footing his own house tonight by going outside with his lump of coal, knocking on his door, and getting his wife to open it.

What are your thoughts/experiences of first footing?

 

[Slick]

Also, your first foot should have dark hair.

 

[Slick]

The significance of the coal is just your contribution to keeping everyone warm.

 

[Slick]

Some of it here, but not a lot.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-foot

 

[numbnuts]

Not down south that's for sure

 

[fossyant]

Never had the coal, but we used to send someone outside.

 

[NorthernDave]

We used to do it as kids when we visited the grandparents on NYD, many years ago.
My sister was the one who got to be first in / hand over the coal as she has dark hair, while the rest of us stood on the doorstep in the cold waiting to get in...

We've got distant relatives in the North-East so maybe it comes from there, as I don't really remember any of my mates families doing it.

Oh, and before @Markymark asks, the lump of coal used to get added to the rest of it in the tin bath...

 

[Slick]

There used to be a load of old superstitious twaddle around, but a female first foot was never a welcome sight when i was a boy.

 

[growingvegetables]

• "‘First Footing’ – the ‘first foot’ in the house after midnight is still very common is Scotland. To ensure good luck, a first footer should be a dark-haired male. Fair-haired first footers were not particularly welcome after the Viking invasions of ancient times. Traditional gifts include a lump of coal to lovingly place on the host’s fire, along with shortbread, a black bun and whisky to toast to a Happy New Year.
• To first foot a household empty-handed is considered grossly discourteous, never mind unlucky!"

I remember it well - the house I grew up in was so remote we sometimes didn't get our first foot until February!

 

[Hill Wimp]

My Dad being dark was always the first footer in my God Parents house where we always spent NYE.

My parents are there tonight so no doubt he will do it again.

We live on the South Coast and many people do it here.

 

[Mo1959]

A few strange customs still in some areas. If there were no first footers due, my mum used to open the door at midnight to let the old year out and the new one in. Lol

 

[Slick]

A few strange customs still in some areas. If there were no first footers due, my mum used to open the door at midnight to let the old year out and the new one in. Lol

Which one?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_New_Year

 

[growingvegetables]

Which one?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_New_Year

Foula time

"Foula has much that makes it distinct even from Shetland’s mainland. The island’s residents literally work on a different calendar. Not for them the Gregorian calendar like most of the rest of the Western world.


They’ve defiantly stuck with the Julian. The islanders celebrate Yule on 6th January and Newerday on the 13th. Almost all of them in the same house!"

Iirc, there were islands in the Hebrides still on the old calendar in the 1980s?

 

[irw]

• "‘First Footing’ – the ‘first foot’ in the house after midnight is still very common is Scotland. To ensure good luck, a first footer should be a dark-haired male. Fair-haired first footers were not particularly welcome after the Viking invasions of ancient times. Traditional gifts include a lump of coal to lovingly place on the host’s fire, along with shortbread, a black bun and whisky to toast to a Happy New Year.
• To first foot a household empty-handed is considered grossly discourteous, never mind unlucky!"

I remember it well - the house I grew up in was so remote we sometimes didn't get our first foot until February!

On the basis that nowadays many houses have gas-fired central heating, surely a cannister of Campinggaz would be more appropriate?

 

[Slick]

Foula time

"Foula has much that makes it distinct even from Shetland’s mainland. The island’s residents literally work on a different calendar. Not for them the Gregorian calendar like most of the rest of the Western world.


They’ve defiantly stuck with the Julian. The islanders celebrate Yule on 6th January and Newerday on the 13th. Almost all of them in the same house!"

Iirc, there were islands in the Hebrides still on the old calendar in the 1980s?

Maybe no longer on the old callender but they still celebrate the old new year. Worth a visit for that alone, most just kerp going. A new year in the Orkney Islands should be on everyones bucket list.