In British folklore, the first-foot, also known in Manx Gaelic as quaaltagh or qualtagh, is the first person to cross the threshold of a home on New Year's Day and a bringer of good fortune for the coming year.[1][2]
Although it is acceptable in many places for the first-footer to be a resident of the house, they must not be in the house at the stroke of midnight in order to first-foot (thus going out of the house after midnight and then coming back in to the same house is not considered to be first-footing). The first-foot is traditionally a tall, dark-haired male; a female or fair-haired male are in some places regarded as unlucky. In Worcestershire, luck is ensured by stopping the first carol singer who appears and leading him through the house. In Yorkshire it must always be a male who enters the house first, but his fairness is no objection.
The first-foot usually brings several gifts, including perhaps a coin, bread, salt, coal, or a drink (usually whisky), which respectively represent financial prosperity, food, flavour, warmth, and good cheer.[2] In Scotland, first-footing has traditionally been more elaborate than in England,[citation needed] and involving subsequent entertainment.
In a similar Greek tradition, it is believed that the first person to enter the house on New Year's Eve brings either good luck or bad luck. Many households to this day keep this tradition and specially select who enters first into the house. After the first-foot, also called "podariko" (from the root pod-, or 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.
See also
- Polažajnik in Serbian folklore
- house blessing
References
- ^ Simpson, Jacqueline (2000). "New Year". A dictionary of English Folklore. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-210019-X.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ a b Page, Michael (1987). Encyclopedia of Things that Never Were. New York: Viking Press. p. 167. ISBN 0-670-81607-8.
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External links
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)