The age-herald., 1901-01-01
A Guid New Year to Ye.'

"In Scotland New Years Eve and New Years Day are virtually time of unbrl- dled license" said Birmingham man who sojourned for several years in Fife shire. the most Scottish of all the Scotch counties.
 "At midnight on New Years Eve l have seen hundreds of men crowded together in a town of 22,OOO population, and all intoxi- cated, all having riproarlng time and all singing Auld Lang Syne, we shall brithers be an a that an a that and so on
 "One New Years Eve at midnight I made a careful estimate of the number of men in one crowd at the Cross in the High street of the Aud Grey toun of Dun fermline, and my figures were 400, every man of whom was roaring with whusky, ye ken, and every one as affectionate to- wards the other as a pleased child. There was not so much as sfPangry or cross word spoken, to say nothing of the total absence of quarreling, of fighting, of knives and pistols. It was one great love-feast, quite the happiest scene I have ever witnessed among men.
 "One solitary policeman was in sight, with nothing to do except laugh, and now and then. towards morning, kindly escort home some poor fellow who had taken wee droppie tae muckle. I knew well this policeman His name was Peebles. Return- ing from dining and having great joy in home of culture and splendid luxury, where I had been one of many guests, paused inside a doorway to watch the fun. Peebles approached and saluted me, wishing me nh hp of every Scotchman. gave him the little present which had gotten for him-every- body gives New Years presents in Scot land-and referred to the riotous joy of the crowd
 "'Ay, tn lahdies ay, tn lahdies! they are having gae guid time, Sir, an I'm not the mon to interfere!
 Upon the stroke of midnight a great many of the merrymakers broke away from the crowd and sped off as fast as their un- steady legs would carry them, hurrying to make the first futten'-lterally the first footing'-which is the carrying out of the ancient and hospitable custom of the Scotch to individually strive to be the first person to put foot in a friends house on New Years day. Every household waits up to receive gladly and affectionately the first futter, and he is given the best in the house to eat and drink. To be enabled to be first to enter a respectable home is regarded as bringing good luck for the whole year.
 !" The Cross is found in every old Scotch town, and is survival of olden times when at the intersection of the two principal streets which crossed each other the an- cient church buHded a religious cross. Many of these were torn down in John Knox s time, and others have been removed since, but in their places one usually finds a Greek cross, or maybe rude star, and each spot in every town still goes by the name of the Cross. Such places as Kings Cross, Charing Cross, and so on, so familiar in London, were derived from the fact that at those places in old times kings and great men of the state erected commemorative crosses.
 But imagine 400 drunken men together on New Years eve, and nobody murdered! To an American it is almost inconcefvable In such a crowd in this country there would be work cut out for the coroner for weeks perhaps"