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{{short description|British and Manx New Year's ritual}}
In Scottish, Northern English, and Manx folklore, the '''first-foot''' ({{lang-gd|ciad-chuairt}}, {{lang-gv|quaaltagh/qualtagh}}) is the first person to enter the home of a household on [[New Year's Day]] and is seen as a bringer of good fortune for the coming year.<ref name=":2">{{cite book|last=Simpson|first=Jacqueline|title=A Dictionary of English Folklore|author2=Steve Roud|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2000|isbn=0-19-210019-X|chapter=New Year|chapter-url=http://blog.oup.com/2009/12/nye-folklore/}}</ref><ref name="EOTTNW">{{cite book |last=Page |first=Michael |author2=Robert Ingpen |title=Encyclopedia of Things that Never Were |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofth00page |url-access=registration |publisher=[[Viking Press]] |location=[[New York, New York|New York]] |year=1987 |isbn=0-670-81607-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofth00page/page/167 167] }}</ref> Similar practices are also found in [[Culture of Greece|Greek]], [[Culture of Vietnam| Vietnamese]], and [[Culture of Georgia (country)|Georgian]] new year traditions.▼
▲In Scottish, Northern English, and Manx folklore, the '''first-foot''' ({{lang-gd|ciad-chuairt}}, {{lang-gv|quaaltagh/qualtagh}}) is the first person to enter the home of a household on [[New Year's Day]] and is seen as a bringer of good fortune for the coming year.<ref name=":2">{{cite book|last=Simpson|first=Jacqueline|title=A Dictionary of English Folklore|author2=Steve Roud|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2000|isbn=0-19-210019-X|chapter=New Year|chapter-url=http://blog.oup.com/2009/12/nye-folklore/}}</ref><ref name="EOTTNW">{{cite book |last=Page |first=Michael |author2=Robert Ingpen |title=Encyclopedia of Things that Never Were |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofth00page |url-access=registration |publisher=[[Viking Press]] |location=[[New York, New York|New York]] |year=1987 |isbn=0-670-81607-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofth00page/page/167 167] }}</ref> Similar practices are also found in [[Culture of Greece|Greek]] and [[Culture of Georgia (country)|Georgian]] new year traditions.
== Origin ==
The origins of first-footing is uncertain,<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":32">{{Cite web|last=Sedgwick|first=Icy|date=29 December 2016|title=What is First-Footing and Can it Improve Tour Year?|url=https://folklorethursday.com/christmas/first-footing-can-improve-year/|access-date=4 August 2020|website=Folklore thursday}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite news|date=31 December 2012|title=Happy Hoggo-nott?: The 'lost' meanings of Hogmanay|work=BBC|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-20596225|access-date=5 August 2020}}</ref> although there may be a connection to the [[Viking expansion|Viking Invasion]] of the British Isles: "This may go back to the time of Vikings when the arrival of a blond stranger at your door would be the cause of fear and alarm."<ref name=":4" />
== Britain ==
=== North of England ===
The tradition of first-footing and how it is conducted varies from place to place in the [[Northern England|North of England]]. Generally, a tall, dark-haired male is preferred over a man with light hair or
Often it is expected that they will bring symbolic gifts, and be given food and drink in return by the inhabitants of the house they visit:<ref name=":2" /> <blockquote>The first-foot doesn’t enter the house empty-handed – any first-footers who do arrive empty-handed will bring bad luck with them. Instead, the first-foot should bring a selection of gifts for the household, which can include; a silver coin; shortbread or a black bun; salt; coal; and a drink, usually whisky. They represent prosperity, food, flavour, warmth for the house, and good cheer – the whisky is used to toast the new year.<ref name=":3" /></blockquote>
=== Scotland ===
The practice of first-footing is still common across Scotland and varies from place to place as part of [[Hogmanay]] celebrations.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Johnson|first=Ben|title=The History of Hogmanay|url=https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofScotland/The-History-of-Hogmanay/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CFirst%20footing%E2%80%9D%20(or%20the,a%20wee%20dram%20of%20whisky).|access-date=4 August 2020|website=Historic UK}}</ref> The luck that the first-foot brings with him will determine the luck for the household for the rest of the year.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|title=Hogmanay traditions old and new|work=BBC|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/highlandsandislands/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8434000/8434760.stm|access-date=4 August 2020}}</ref>
Generally, the first-foot should be a tall dark-haired male who is not already in the house when midnight strikes.<ref name=":1" /> In many areas, the first-foot should bring with him symbolic gifts such as coal, coins, whisky, or [[Black bun|black buns]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Mcindoe|first=Ross|date=19 December 2019|title=What is first footing? where the Scottish Hogmanay tradition comes from and common first footing gifts|url=https://www.scotsman.com/heritage-and-retro/heritage/what-first-footing-where-scottish-hogmanay-tradition-comes-and-common-first-footing-gifts-1399325|access-date=4 August 2020|website=The Scotsman}}</ref> Food and drink will be given to the first-foot and any other guests. Often women and light or red haired men are considered very unlucky.<ref name=":0" /> In Scotland, first-footing has traditionally been more elaborate than in England, involving subsequent entertainment.<ref name="EB1911" />
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{{quote|The ''qualtagh'' (he or she) may also be the first person who enters a house on New Year's morning. In this case it is usual to place before him or her the best fare the family can afford. It was considered fortunate if the ''qualtagh'' were a person (a man being preferred to a woman), of dark complexion, as meeting a person of light complexion at this time, especially if his or her hair is red, would be thought very unlucky.<ref>{{Cite web|last=A. W.|first=Moore|date=1891|title=Chapter VI: Customs and Superstitions Connected with the Seasons|url=http://www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/fulltext/folklore/ch06.htm|access-date=1 August 2020|website=A Manx Notebook}}</ref>}}
Traditionally, young boys would visit the houses in their local area on New Year's Day. They would recite a poem in the [[Manx language]] at every house and then a boy with dark hair was considered to be lucky for the household and he was given the best food and drink the inhabitants had to share.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Quaaltagh|url=https://www.culturevannin.im/manxfolklore/quaaltagh-574047/|access-date=1 August 2020|website=Culture Vannin}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Gell|first=John|title=Conversational Manx|publisher=Yn Çheshaght Ghailckagh|year=1954|isbn=1-87-0029-10-0|pages=
{{col-start}}
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== Outside of the British Isles ==
{{Main articles|Polaznik}}
In [[Serbian folklore]], the ''[[polaznik]]'', ''polažajnik'', ''polaženik'', or ''radovan'', is the first person who visits the family on Christmas Day.<ref name=":5">Miles, Clement A. (2008). "[https://books.google.
There are practices similar to first-footing outside the British Isles. For example, it exists in Sweden, where having a fair-skinned, blond(e) first-foot is considered the highest blessing whereas darker persons are considered bad luck. In a similar [[Greece|Greek]] tradition called ''pothariko'', also called ''podariko'' (from the root ''pod-'', or 'foot'), it is believed that the first person to enter the house on [[New Year's Eve]] brings either good or bad luck. Many households to this day keep this tradition and specially select who first enters the house. After the first-foot, the lady of the house serves the guests with [[Christmas]] treats or gives them an amount of money to ensure that good luck will come in the new year.
A similar tradition exists in the country of [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], where the person is called {{lang|ka|მეკვლე}} ''
==See also==
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==External links==
{{
{{
{{Wiktionary|first-foot|qualtagh}}
* Recording of [[John Gell (Manx language activist)|John Gell]] reciting the [https://soundcloud.com/culture-vannin/the-manx-quaaltagh-blessing-john-gell?in=culture-vannin/sets/quaaltagh#t=0:05 Manx New Year blessing]▼
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110608190511/http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=50277 Article about first-footing] from [[PR Newswire]]▼
* [http://www.yorkshirefilmarchive.com/film/northumbrian-custom-first-footing Short video about first-footing] in Northumbria (1950)▼
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{{New Year}}
{{Superstitions}}
[[Category:
[[Category:Winter traditions]]▼
[[Category:Hogmanay]]
[[Category:New Year celebrations]]
[[Category:Luck]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Scottish popular culture]]
[[Category:Superstitions of Great Britain]]
▲[[Category:Winter traditions]]
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