First Footing

My Scottish grandfather used to be the designated 'first footer'. This meant, the first person over the threshold of a home after midnight on 'old year's night', as my mother's family used to call it. In order to bring luck he had to be tall and dark, and 'Other Daddy' fit that description. I called him 'Other Daddy' because my father was away in the second World War and my mother and I lived with her parents during those years. 'Other Daddy' died at this time, on old year's night, but not from first footing!

There are a couple of other traditions connected with this. For instance, the first footer would bring in a lump of coal to represent warmth for the coming year. Also, some kind of a small cake for nourishment. An English woman I met once told me that silver coins would be scattered on the stairs and swept under the carpet, to be found and used by the housewife at any time during the next year. Presumably those were for prosperity.

Our New Year's Eve will be a quiet looking back and a beginning to think about what those resolutions might need to be. I'm feeling the need to do some getting rid of the past, in order to make way for the future. So I've made a small start by going through my emails and deleting as many as feels fit. It's somewhat horrifying to see how much time this has taken!

And now to do some housecleaning in anticipation.