Hogmanay is the Scots word for the last day of the year and is synonymous with the celebration of the New Year in the Scottish manner. It is normally followed by further celebration on the morning of New Year’s Day or, in some cases, 2 January. Customs vary throughout Scotland, and usually include gift-giving and visiting the homes of friends and neighbours.
About Hogmanay in brief
Hogmanay is the Scots word for the last day of the year and is synonymous with the celebration of the New Year in the Scottish manner. It is normally followed by further celebration on the morning of New Year’s Day or, in some cases, 2 January. The origins of Hogmanay are unclear, but it may be derived from Norse and Gaelic observances. Customs vary throughout Scotland, and usually include gift-giving and visiting the homes of friends and neighbours, with special attention given to the first-foot. The word is first recorded in a Latin entry in 1443 in the West Riding of Yorkshire as hagnonayse. The first appearance in English came in 1604 in the records of Elgin, as hagmonay. Subsequent 17th-century spellings include Hagmena, Hogmynae night, and Hagmane in an entry of the Scotch Presbyterian Eloquence. It may have been introduced to Middle Scots via French. The most commonly cited explanation is a derivation from the northern French dialectal word hoguinané, or variants such as hoginane, hoginono and hoguinettes. Other suggestions include au gui mener, à gueux mener ( au gui l’an neuf homme est né man is born’).
The word may have come from the Goidelic languages. Some authors reject both the French and French theories, and instead suggest that the ultimate source for the word is both Norman Scots, French Scots, and GoidelIC variants of the word. It has been recorded that in the south of Scotland, there is no ⟨m⟩, the word thus being Hunganay, which could suggest the m ⟩ is intrusive. Another theory is that the word resembles the phrase mi an èigheugh (I raised the cry), which resembles the rhymes traditionally recited at New Year but it is unclear if this is a case of folktymology or if it is simply simply referring to the Gaelic word Oidhcheirn or the full forms of the hill-men or the sea trolls. It’s suggested that the root of this word has a common Norse root or full forms and makes a link between Reppalish and the sea troll. The second element would appear to be l’An neuf, with some sources suggesting a druidical origin of the practice overall. Some sources also suggest a link to the obsolete customs in Jersey of crying ma hodgîngnole, and in Guernsey of asking for an oguinane for a New Year gift.
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This page is based on the article Hogmanay published in Wikipedia (as of Jan. 03, 2021) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
