Letting in the New Year

31 December

Still kept

One 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. It was a favourite night for gatherings of friends in Scotland and the north of England. Dissenters in England held midnight services on the last night of the year, and everywhere the bells burst out from the steeples once twelve had struck.

proceeding to the house-door, and unbarring it with great formality to 'let out the Old, and let in the New Year.'

From Chambers's Book of Days, vol. 2, p. 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.
Burying the old year in Guernsey No longer kept GuernseyIn 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.
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.

Letting in the New Year

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