Etymology of the Word Hogmanay

Hogmanay (pronounced hog-ma-NAY) is the Scottish holiday that celebrates the new year. Observed on December 31, festivities typically spill over into the first couple of days of January. In fact, there's a tradition known as "first-footing," in which the first person to enter a home brings the residents good luck for the coming year — of course, the guest must be dark-haired and preferably male; redheads and women aren't nearly as lucky!

Etymology of the Word "Hogmanay"

Where did the word "Hogmanay" come from, anyway? There are a few different theories about the origins and etymology. Rampant Scotland says,

"The Scandinavian word for the feast preceding Yule was Hoggo-nott while the Flemish words (many have come into Scots) hoog min dag means "great love day." Hogmanay could also be traced back to the Anglo-Saxon, Haleg monath, Holy Month, or the Gaelic, oge maidne, new morning. But the most likely source seems to be the French. Homme est né or "Man is born" while in France the last day of the year when gifts were exchanged was aguillaneuf, while in Normandy presents given at that time were hoguignetes."

Author Clement A. Miles says in Christmas in Ritual and Tradition that this tradition stems from back when a red- or blonde-haired stranger was probably an invading Norseman. Gifts are exchanged, and one of the popular food items on the Hogmanay menu is the black bun, which is a really rich fruitcake.

Gary Marshall at Metro UK says that Hogmanay is a pretty big deal because

"Until very recently, Scots didn’t do Christmas. The party-loving Protestant Reformation effectively banned Christmas for 400 years, and Christmas Day didn’t even become a public holiday in Scotland until 1958 and Boxing Day didn’t become a holiday until 1974. So while the rest of the world celebrated Christmas, Scots toiled. Their family get-togethers happened at Hogmanay instead."

⇐ Предыдущая 123 Следующая ⇒