Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1894-12-20
IN THE LAND OF CAKES.
Curious Customs and Myths of Esv Eear's
bay Still Prevalent.


Day Still Prevalent.
"Hogmanay, as the Scotch folk call
their New Years eve, is; ths greatest
festival of the year in the -Iand O.
cakes and has many ancient and Gu
ri0us customs and superstitisns con-
nected With it. The origin,o of the name
is uncertain, but it is pretty generally
conceded tn have been derived from the
French words ''au gui mener'' dead
to the missletoe), in allusion 10 the an
cient Druidical custom of, cutting the
mistletoe from the oak, on, the night Of
| the last day of the yesr. The sacred
plant was brought bySthe priests into
the towns and marketplacss, and given
| to the people as an amulett0 preserve
them frmm war and other oalamfties.
| While they had such a,good old tongue
as the Gaelic near abs hand, it Is not to
be supposed that the piousi Druids spoke
to their votaries in, the. language Of
Johnny Crapaud. Tho intimate connec-
tion of Scotland and'FranGe during the
middle ages will easily account for the
introduction of theterm 'hogmanay."
The. days about; New Years, which
from the revelry and nunmeTy that
characterized them;ware, called by the
Scotch the "daftdays," bear close re-
semhlance to the, "fetes des fous,"
which interferedl so scandalously with
the vigils i'll the French churches dur
ing the sixteenth! century that they were
finally put down by the bishop of An
gres in 1893. During these ''fetes des;
fons" bands OF beggars clad in fantastic
garbs broke into thechurches on the eve
Of the New Year, and after singing
their weird oapolS demanded aims OF
the worshipers.
The modern Scotch representatives of
! these obtrusivo bcggars were known as.
tho "guisards" or ''gyzars. ?" These,
were harmless and entertaining mask.
ers, who We're generally admitted into
, the houses Of the best families in the
country, where, after singing their
/ carols, they were permitted To dance
with the members of the household.
| Many assert that the hoghmen, or hill-
: men, were the good genii versus the
r trolls, or evil ones, who were the beings
4 referred to; hence the ditty:
S Hogmanay, Trollolay,
n Gle me o. your white bread,
I'll hae name o. your gray.
The white bread, signifying the good
q things of life, versus the gray, or evil
: ones. A very popular rhyme, with a
n moral, is one freely sung in the north
> eastern counties of Scotland:
% Get up, guide wife, avid binna sweir [lazyl
h And deal your bread to them that's here,
For the time will come when yen be dead
~ And then yen neither need ale nor bread
le My feet's cauld. my shoons thin.
Gie's my cakes and let me rim.
ii Having ohalked the doors with tn
N New Years numbers, they depart +
II gather coppers, cakes and fruit else
t. where,
th At the stroke of midnight each p,,n
le Der of the family party would ouaff
IS full bumper Of shot pint aud wish tn
d, others happy New Year and many {
at them. Then it was customary eeot ii
10 elaers TO sally forth with hot kettle
VI rr.ead and cheese, etc., and pay visits {
b. greeting to the neighbors. The fri
or party to enter house were called til
IT. ''first foot" and were warmly WELDON
al ed, as their arrival in that capacity il
rs dicated good luck Much kindly rivalr
he ensued, and from midnight to / o'oloc
It, the streets were fairly swarming wit
st would be FIRST footers" This custoi
ad was still prevalent in Scott's day.