The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1919-12-31
MEN, WOMEN
AND THINGS

| y
and honorable word. standing out bold
ly to ~scotchmen and those familiar
I with Scottish history and customs
It's the name given to New Years
Eve. and when you know the things
pulled off in Bonnie Scotland from
time immemorial and the pranks played
to this good day in Gotham you will
not be surprised if l tell you that New
Years Eve and New Years Day >were
called the daft Cor crazy days.
But if you ask me the meaning of
the word "Hogmanay' itself. l will
freely confess that haven't the faint
est idea, and, do it without shame,
as it has been sad puzzle to antigua
rians, and its etymology is still de-
batable question Some of the Ian
guage sharks say that it is derived
from the French phrase. "Au sui menez
| ('To the mistletoe bring'D, which the
mummers formerly called in France.
But I'll not contend for this, but let it
| rest along with some words which have
crept into the common law of England
| from across the channel as having
| largely lost their significance as French
terms, and being untranslatable, are
| to this day boldly mispronounced in
our courts by the highest legal lumi-
naries. It is enough to know that it is
| the cry used by some boys in certain
parts of France when they go about
begging on the last day of the year.
| Some consider it to be corruption
| of Eau gueux menez'-that is, Bring
| to the beggars" for in retired and
tomary says Mr.. Chambers. in his
Popular Rhymes" for the children of
the poorer class of people on the morn
| ing of the last day of the year, or
Hogmanay, to get themselves swaddled
| in a great sheet, doubled up in front
SO as to form great pocket, and then
to go along the streets in little bands,
calling at the doors of the weather.
inhabitants for a dole of wheaton
bread. Each child gets one quadrant
section of oat cake sometimes, in the
| case of particular favorites, improved
by an addition of cheese, and this is
called their "hogmanay,"
In expectation of the large demands
thus to be made upon them. the house
wives busy themselves for several days
before hand in preparing a sufficient
A c he hi =
dren arrive at the door. of a house they
Immediately cry out as loudly as they
can, ''Hogmanay," which opens por-
tails, for it is sufficient notice to
those within that they have come for
their portion. It is evidently well
established custom for nearly all those
who make a business of. tracing down
curious information have something to
say about it,
That it is an old one we gather from
the sold Rime:'
"Hogmanay,
/ Trollolay,
your gray
But there is possibly still older
one, which runs in this wise:
''The cottar weanies, glad and gay
Wi pocks out owre their shouther
Sing at the doors for hogmanay"
The favorite, however, seemed to be
this one;
Rise up, guide wife. and shake your
feathers
Dinna think that we are beggars
We are BARNS come to play
And to seek our hogmanay."
Cotgrave explains it in this WISE
'The voice of countrey people beg
gng small presents, or New Years
gifts, in Christmas; an ancient tearme
of rejoycing; derived from the Druides
who were wont, the first day of Jan
uary. to go into the woods, where. hav-
ing sacrificed and banquetted together,
they gathered mistletow esteeming i
excellent to make beasts Afruitful. and
most sovereign against all poyson"
1t always comforts me to get back
in old English, for | realize that our
forefathers never knew how to spell,
and why should I worry if the coming
generation should find among my writ
ings if they should happen to endure,
a mispelled word?
l thought that the antiquarans had
sufficiently beclouded the origin of
'Hogmanay." but in chasing down all
available information l found out that
because in some choruses it is coupled
with the term "Trollolay" some
of the experts find in the association
ground for the belief that the twain is !
a corruption and condensation of the
French. "Homme est ne, trois rois al
lois"-''A man is born, three kings are
come'--in allusion to the birth of
Christ and the visit of the wise men to
Bethlehem, who in medieval days were
known as the Three Kings"
Now. to the ordinary searcher after
truth, it would seem that he had been
sufficiently led astray and mystified
over the word "Hogmanay,'' but to
give out all that | ran across | must
inform you that another derivation is
"Hoggnight,' the old Scandinavian |
term for the night preceding the feast
OF the yule and. so called in allusinn