British Popular Customs, Present and Past. T. F. Thiselton-Dyer

the neighbourhood of Ross, it is deemed most unfortunate for a woman to enter the house first, and therefore an inquiry is generally made whether a male has previously been there. It is customary for the peasantry to send about on this day a small pyramid, made of leaves, apples, nuts, &c.—Fosbroke, Sketches of Ross, 1822, p. 58.

Lancashire.

       Table of Contents

      Should a female, or a light-haired male, be the first to enter a house on the morning of New Year’s Day, it is supposed to bring bad luck for the whole of the year then commencing. Various precautions are taken to prevent this misfortune: hence many male persons with black or dark hair are in the habit of going from house to house, on that day, to take the New Year in; for which they are treated with liquor, and presented with a small gratuity. So far is the apprehension carried, that some families will not open the door to any one until satisfied by the voice that he is likely to bring the house a year’s good luck by entering it.

      The most kindly and charitable woman in a neighbourhood will strongly refuse to give any one a light on the morning of New Year’s Day, as most unlucky to the one who gives it away.—Harland and Wilkinson’s Lancashire Folk-Lore, 1867, p. 214.

Isle of Man.

       Table of Contents

      On this day an old custom, says Train in his History of the Isle of Man (1845, vol. ii. p. 115), is observed called the quaaltagh. In almost every parish throughout the island, a party of young men go from house to house singing the following rhyme:

      “Again we assemble, a merry New Year

       To wish to each one of the family here,

       Whether man, woman, or girl, or boy,

       That long life, and happiness, all may enjoy,

       May they of potatoes and herrings have plenty,

       With butter and cheese, and each other dainty;

       And may their sleep never, by night or day,

       Disturbed be by even the tooth of a flea;

       Until at the Quaaltagh again we appear,

       To wish you, as now, all a happy New Year.”

      When these lines are repeated at the door, the whole party are invited into the house to partake of the best the family can afford. On these occasions a person of dark complexion always enters first, as a light-haired male or female is deemed unlucky to be the first-foot or quaaltagh on New Year’s morning. The actors of the quaaltagh do not assume fantastic habiliments like the mummers of England, or the guisards of Scotland, nor do they, like these rude performers of the Ancient Mysteries, appear ever to have been attended by minstrels playing on different kinds of musical instruments.

Northumberland.

       Table of Contents

      The following extract, relating to Newcastle-on-Tyne, is taken from the North of England Advertiser of January 4th, 1873:

      The children on New Year’s morn are busy begging their New Year’s gifts, saying, “Old Year out, New Year in; please give us my New Year’s gift;” or “A merry Christmas and a happy New Year;” followed by the usual appeal for a present. The first-foot is an important personage. If he should be a dark man, it is a sign of good luck; if a light one not so lucky; but alas! if a woman, the worst luck will befall the household. Similar to the first hearing of the cuckoo, it is of the greatest importance whether or not you have money in your pocket and your cupboard full on New Year’s Day.

Nottinghamshire.

       Table of Contents

      In this county it is considered unlucky to remove anything from a house until something has been brought in, and therefore, early in the morning, each member of the family carries some trifling thing in. In the neighbourhood of Newark, this rhyme is sung:

      “Take out, and take in,

       Bad luck is sure to begin;

       But take in and take out.

       Good luck will come about.”

      Jour. of Arch. Assoc. 1853, vol. viii. p. 231.

      Brand, in his Pop. Antiq. (1849, vol. i. p. 15), alludes to this custom as existing in Lincoln and its neighbourhood. The rhyme he quotes is slightly different from the above:

      “Take out, then take in,

       Bad luck will begin;

       Take in, then take out,

       Good luck comes in.”

Oxfordshire.

       Table of Contents

      Pointer, in his Oxoniensis Academia (1749, p. 71), alludes to a custom, observed at Brasenose College, Oxford, of the Bachelors of Arts and Undergraduates belonging to the college going in a body on New Year’s Day to their Principal, and each presenting him with an epistle by way of a New Year’s gift, wishing him a happy New Year.

      We learn from the same writer, that it was formerly the practice at Queen’s College to give a needle and thread to the Fellows, being a rebus on their founder’s name, Eglesfield, aiguille in French signifying a needle, and fil a thread (p. 38).

Staffordshire.

       Table of Contents

      A grotesque manorial custom is described as being kept up in the reign of Charles II., in connection with Hilton. There existed in that house a hollow brass image, about a foot high, representing a man kneeling in an indecorous position. It was known all over the country as Jack of Hilton. There were two apertures; one very small at the mouth, another about two-thirds of an inch in diameter at the back, and the interior would hold rather more than four pints of water, which, says Plot (History of Staffordshire, 1686, p. 433), ‘when set to a strong fire, evaporates in the same manner as in an Æolopile, and vents itself at the mouth in a constant blast, blowing the fire so strongly that it is very audible, and makes a sensible impression in that part of the fire where the blast lights.’

      The custom was this. An obligation lay upon the lord of the adjacent manor of Essington, every New Year’s Day, to bring a goose to Hilton, and drive it three times round the hall-fire, which Jack of Hilton was all the time blowing by the discharge of his steam. He was then to carry the bird into the kitchen and deliver it to the cook; and when it was dressed he was to carry it in a dish to the table of his lord paramount, the lord of Hilton, receiving in return a dish of meat for his own mess.

      An annual payment, called Moseley’s Dole, was formerly made by the corporation, consisting of a penny a piece to all the inhabitants of Walsall, and of the adjoining parish of Rushall, which is supposed to have anciently formed part of that of Walsall.

      Three persons were employed to make the distribution, who began on New Year’s Day, and went through the parishes, giving a penny to each inmate of every house, whether permanently or accidentally abiding there.

      It is stated by Plot (History of Staffordshire), that the earliest mention of this dole is in the 36th Henry VIII., when 7l. 10s.