The Antigonish Highland Society once again fired up the torches and took to the streets as part of our 3^rd annual Hogmanay celebration! For those who don’t know, Hogmanay is the name for the Scottish New Year, and it has been celebrated in Scotland for over 460 years! It began as a result of the Reformation, during which Catholics faced heavy scrutiny and restrictions. In particular, Christmas celebrations were outlawed in 1640, which meant Catholics had to work on December 25^th. While Hogmanay had already existed for a number of years at that time, this new law resulted in Hogmanay becoming the predominant holiday celebration among Scottish Highlanders. In fact, even though the law was revoked in 1712, it would not be until 1958 that Scots would resume the tradition of celebrating Christmas on December 25^th. Despite the return of Christmas celebrations, Hogmanay continues to be an enormous celebration in Scotland. In fact, Edinburgh has become the unofficial home of Hogmanay celebrations in Scotland, where as many as 400,000 people have taken part in the festivities that span several days!

While the AHS has a decidedly smaller attendance, our Hogmanay event was a tremendous success! Approximately 40 people joined us at the Antigonish Heritage Museum, where we lit our torches from a communal flame. This is in line with the Hogmanay tradition of lighting torches from a large community bonfire before walking through the streets bearing these torches to ward off all evil spirits that may have taken up residence over the last year. With torches in hand, the procession walked from the Antigonish Heritage Museum to the Town Hall, with a brief stop at Columbus Field to bid a final farewell to the 159^th Antigonish Highland Games, and to welcome 2025 and the upcoming 160^th AHG! This is no small milestone, and the AHS has some incredible ideas in-store for our biggest AHG yet! Once we reached Town Hall, Operations Manager Dan Cochrane delivered some interesting facts about Hogmanay, such as the origin of the name itself. Some believe it originated from the Normandy word for presents, which is “Hah gwin-nays”. This seems to be supported by the fact that Hogmanay became more regularly celebrated once Mary, Queen of Scots returned from France in 1562. On the other hand, others believe it originated from the Anglo-Saxon phrase haleg monath, (Hah leg mo nayth) which means “holy month;” still others think it originates in Scandinavia, and is derived from the Scandinavian hoggo-nott, a term used for “yule”.

Upon our return to the museum, we discussed the tradition of the “first footer”, which is the first person to enter your residence after the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve. It was said that the occupants of the home would have good luck if the first footer was dark haired, whereas light hair was thought to be a harbinger of poor fortunes to come. This is likely related to the Scots’ tense relations with Vikings, as it is understandable that a fair-haired Viking’s arrival at your door was generally bad news. Fortunately, Justin Gregg was up to the task, ensuring all in attendance would have a year of good luck ahead! Once inside, everyone was treated to cider, hot chocolate, oatcakes, and great company. We concluded the night with a gaelic countdown to the Scottish “midnight”, which arrives at 8:00pm AST.

It was another remarkable night with great people, and a fitting end to an incredible 2024 for the AHS. We can’t wait to do it again next year, and we hope to see you all there!