Traditionally, the Scots were a superstitious race at the best of times and for an event as significant as the dawning of a new year, customs, rituals and traditions inevitably arose around the country. Many of these have now disappeared but others have carried on down through the years and some have even become essential ingredients of today's celebrations.

Cleaning the House
The last day of the year was traditionally regarded as a time of preparation: business would concluded to let the new year start afresh and houses were thoroughly cleaned (known as 'redding'). Fireplaces in particular had to be swept out and in a variation on reading tea-leaves, the ashes of the last fire of the old year were believed to show what lay ahead in the new year.

First Footing
One of the major Hogmanay customs was 'first footing'. Shortly after 'the bells' - the stroke of midnight when public clocks would chime to signal the start of the new year - neighbours would visit one another's houses to wish each other a good new year. This visiting was known as 'first footing', and the luckiest first-foot into any house was a tall, dark and handsome man - perhaps as a reward to the woman who traditionally had spent the previous day scrubbing her house (another Hogmanay ritual). Women or red heads, however, were always considered bad luck as first-foots.

First-foots brought symbolic gifts to 'handsel' the house: coal for the fire, to ensure that the house would be warm and safe, and shortbread or black bun (a type of fruit cake) to symbolise that the household would never go hungry that year.

First-footing has faded in recent years, particularly with the growth of the major street celebrations in Edinburgh and Glasgow, although not the Scots love of a good party, of which there are plenty on the night!

Regional Variations
Each area of Scotland often developed its own particular Hogmanay ritual. In the east coast fishing communities and Dundee, first-footers used carry a decorated herring while in Falkland in Fife, local men would go in torchlight procession to the top of the Lomond Hills as midnight approached. Bakers in St Andrews would bake special cakes for their Hogmanay celebration (known as Cake Day) and distribute them to local children.

Other Scottish towns and cities had their own celebrations, as did institutions. For example, amongst the Scottish regiments, the officers had to wait on the men at special dinners while at the bells, the Old Year is piped out of barrack gates. The sentry then challenges the new escort outside the gates: 'Who goes there?' The answer is 'The New Year, all's well.'

Sadly, almost all of these regional traditions have now lapsed although a number of Scottish communities still retain their own very distinctive ways of celebrating Hogmanay, notably Stonehaven, Comrie and Biggar.

Other Traditions
Two further Hogmanay traditions that have survived are the singing of Auld Lang Syne and the making of new year resolutions.

It's not clear when joining hands with your neighbour for the singing of the Burns' favourite became associated with Hogmanay particularly, although it's now a world-wide phenomenon. Because of this widespread popularity, the song's rather touching lyrics tend to get reduced to a spirited repetition of the chorus which is a shame. So impress your friends and learn at least a verse or two, particularly if you're planning to take part in the world's biggest Auld Lang Syne as part of this year's Edinburgh's Hogmanay.

New year resolutions hark bark to the notion at the core of many Hogmanay traditions of old: making a new start. After a particularly heavy night's partying, a common resolution made by many is 'never again'. But of course, if there one Hogmanay tradition that's never likely to fade it's that most resolutions rarely last beyond the end of January so don't feel too bad if you fall by the wayside.