Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1909-12-23

been marked by unpleasant features. On the eve of New
Year, 1872, the hoodlums Of Edinburgh took advantage OF
the festival to rob unsuspecting citizens. Two OF the
citizens died from the effects Of the maltreatment at the
hands of these rowdies, of whom three were executed as
an example. This unfortunate incident threatened to put
an end to the celebrations.
With the Scots. the eve of New Year is known parteu-
larly as "Hogmanay." Throughout the northeastern
counties of England it is known as "Hagmena,'' but In
many districts of the latter it is the entire week prece-
ding the New Year, rather than the last day OF the year.
There have been many attempts by philologists to get at
the derivation Of the term, and it has even been suggest
ed that it is a corruption Of two Greek words, signifying
"the holy moon or month" Opinion, however, leans to-
ward its French orgin-"Au gui menez" (bring in the
mistletoe), and eau gui Ian neuf Ito the mistletoe the
New Year,, both In allusion to the ceremonial gathering
Of the plant by the Druids. In almost every district in
France we find the term in a more or less corrupted or
dialectal form. The Scottish custom of the children go
ing from house to house singing a short verse and beg
ging the tiguid wife, for a small present is identically the
same as that known all over France.
Get up, guild wife, and shake we're feathers,
An dinna think that we are beggars,
For we're we're BARNS come cot the day, t
So rise and gie's DOR Hogmanay.
chants the little Scotch kiddie. and the analogue Of the
doggerel can be found in every village OF France. AS the
Scottish verselet shows, the "hogmanay" applies to the
presents to the children, and has not the custom OF CIV
ing presents at this season endured for centuries? Ovid,
in his Fasti, alludes to the custom among the Romans Of
his day. Then the presents do not seem to have been
at all costly and were more symbolical than otherwise
The palm-date and dried fig with the jar Of honey and
the small coin were the gifts, and 1t does not need any
great stretch Of imagination to guess their symbolic
meaning. The cakes, fruit and ~luck-penny are still given
the children-they are their "hogmanay.'
The superstition that the first person entering the
house on New Years morning, orsthe first one met dur.
ing the day, presages good or bad luck during the ensu-
ing year is almost universal. The first to cross the
threshold or first FOOT has thus a peculiar significance
and many are the precautions taken that he be Of the
lucky variety. We mention che" for except in a very few
isolated instances the superstition that should a woman
be the ~"frst-foot' illluck will follow is almost universal.
Moreover, he must be a dark mana red-headed man is
anathema. A splayfooted, a pigeon-toed, squinteyed or
an individual whose eyebrows closely approximate, in
fact any bodily or mental reformation carries bad luck
with 1t. Yet even here we find a few exception which
rather tend to disturb our belief in the infallibinty Of the
rule. In the Bradwell District Of Northumberland a
lighthaired and splayfooted Individual is preferred, In
parts of Lancashire and Yorkshire a blonde FIRST foot
is reckoned quite lucky, while in the Maritime Alpine dis
tricts a humpbacked visitor on New Years day is held
to bring in great luck with him. In Scotland the preju-
dice against a redhaired first foot Is very strong and
in the Isle of Man and all through Ireland it is quite as
pronounced.
The superstition of illIucR being attached to red hair
is very ancient. Among the ancient Egyptians and Jew
ish people 1t was known. Typhon is said to have had
this particular color to his 'thatGh," and red-haired men
were abused at certain festivals, as Plutarch tells us In
his "Moralia." Cain and Judas Iscarfot are both said to
have had the crimson topknot, while a well-known leg
end current among the Jews says that this peculiar tint
was the effect of falling down and w~orshiping the golden
calf. In Morse and Gaelic legend we find that the here
Is warned against a "gingerheaded" individual.