Burying the old year in Guernsey

31 December · Guernsey

No longer kept

In Guernsey the children used to dress up a figure of a man on the last day of the year, parade it through the parish and then bury it on the seashore or in some quiet spot. The ceremony was called enterrer le vieux bout de l’an, burying the old end of the year. Chambers also noted that the poor people and children of Guernsey had gone round at the New Year asking for gifts under the name of hoguinanno, a word he linked with the Scots hogmanay.

it used to be the practice of children to dress up a figure in the shape of a man, and after parading it through the parish, to bury it on the sea-shore, or in some retired spot

From Chambers's Book of Days, vol. 2, pp. 788, 794. Read the original

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Folklore from the old calendars

The ivy leaf in water Lore and belief EnglandLupton's book of Notable Things of 1660 gave a charm for the health of the coming year.
The track in the ashes Lore and belief Isle of ManTrain's history of the Isle of Man recorded that on New Year's Eve, in many of the upland cottages, the housewife raked the fire for the night and then, just before bed, spread the ashes smooth over the floor with the tongs.
Letting in the New Year Still kept Northern England, ScotlandOne of the most general customs of the last night of the year was to sit up until twelve o'clock, and then, when the hour had struck, go to the house door and unbar it with great formality, to let the old year out and the new year in.
Hagman Heigh No longer kept YorkshireClarkson's History of Richmond, quoted in the Table Book, described the Hagman Heigh, kept in Yorkshire on New Year's Eve.
New Year’s Eve at Deerness No longer kept OrkneyIn the parish of Deerness in Orkney, early in the nineteenth century, old and young gathered in a great band on the last evening of the year and went round every house in the district.
The guisers and Bessie No longer kept ScotlandIn Lowland Scotland the guisers went out at the New Year, faces hidden behind a sheet of paper with holes for the eyes, nose and mouth.
Hogmanay Still kept ScotlandWhile the English went back to work after Christmas, the Scots kept the Daft Days around the New Year, and the last day of the year was Hogmanay.

Burying the old year in Guernsey

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