firstfooting

January 1, 2014 by Amanda Moffet

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A digital first footing to all of you. Immediately after midnight on New Year’s Eve, open the back door of your home to let the old year out and welcome the "First-Foot" into your home, bringing with him good fortune for the coming year! The First-Foot is the first person to cross the threshold of a friend or neighbor’s home with symbolic gifts of salt, coal and a silver coin. The coal represents heat and warmth, the coin wealth and the salt guarantees a supply of food. As the bringer of good luck, the First-Foot is greeted by everyone in the house with a handshake or a kiss, and then directed to the fire on which he places his piece of coal and spoonful of salt. The coin is given to the master of the house and only with all these duties completed may the First-Foot speak. The First-Foot should not be a family member, must not have been in the house at midnight, and must not leave the house by the door through which he entered or without a gift, usually a drink, a piece of spice cake and a wedge of cheese. The welcome and reward were sometimes so good that fights would break out among youths competing for First-Foot rights in prosperous neighborhoods! The nuances and rules of First-Footing vary greatly. Wealth could be represented by a silver coin or salt. In England, the food was normally bread, but regional variations ranged from red herrings to fruit cake. Sometimes the food was replaced by or supplemented with drink - a glass of wine or whiskey. Equally varied is the type of person doing the First-Footing. Long ago, it could have been a chance caller, but now people make sure of their luck. Often a member of the family or someone at a New Year's party will go outside before midnight to come back to perform the ceremony, or a neighbor or friend is enlisted. In most places the First Foot will be a man, but in some parts women are preferred. In some areas the First-Foot must be tall and dark-haired, while in other places blondes were allowed. Typically, the First-Foot frequently must not speak until his piece of coal is placed on the fire, while some places things were far noisier where the First-Foot would run through the house shouting “Please to let the New Year in” or the like.

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