And then there was Hogmanay

We have nothing like it in the US. It is delightful and exhausting and terribly social - at least a week of non-stop visiting and ceilidhs and music. The tradition of "first-footing" - the first time you step over a neighbor's threshold in the New Year - means that everyone in the village goes off on rounds of visiting everyone else. You either are entertaining guests at home or are off driving around going to other peoples homes and they entertain you and anyone else that shows up. And that means offering a dram and a bite to eat. The old people who don't go out serve sherry and tea and goodies to those who come to visit - and no one is forgotten. The rest of the people around the penninsula drive about and drop in wherever there's a light on.

After the pub closes most people go off to someone's house for a night of partying - lots of singing and playing all kinds of instruments - and everyone brings a bottle or a six-pack. This can go on all night and after a week we could hardly move - we just weren't in condition yet!

It was during this first Hogmanay we had our first Castlehill ceilidh. We made popcorn for the first time - no one had ever tasted it except for the disgustingly sweet stuff they serve in movie theaters in the cities. People were leery of tasting it - then said it tasted sort of like styrofoam - then pollished off many batches - just to be polite! It was the start of a ceilidh tradition, for our house became a regular ceilidh house and many a night after the pub closed people would drift in and our home was always filled with music.