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{{short description|British and Manx New Year's ritual}}
In Scottish, Northern English, and [[Manx people|Manx]] folklore, the '''first-foot''' ({{langx|gd|ciad-chuairt}}, {{langx|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.

== Origin ==
The origins of first-footing are 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" /> 

Many customs of first-footing (bringing coal, knocking on doors, group singing [[Auld Lang Syne]] to pass from the old to the new) parallel those of [[Samhain]], the Celtic celebration marking the end of the [[harvest]] season, in which people recited verses door-to-door in exchange for food, and lit ritual bonfires.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hutton |first=Ronald |title=The stations of the sun: a history of the ritual year in Britain |date=1997 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-288045-1 |edition=1. |series=Oxford paperbacks |location=Oxford |pages=361, 382–83}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|text="Quite a degree of transferability of customs across the period between Samhain ... Christmas and New Year. Whether this represents a natural tendency to transfer celebrations that brighten the dull winter months or a concerted religious effort to dissipate or transform wholly pagan festivities remains unclear, but a combination of factors is likely."<ref>https://atlanticreligion.com/2013/10/28/the-meaning-of-samhain/  Atlantic Religion. com collected 31 December 2018</ref>}}

== Britain ==

=== North of England ===
The tradition of first-footing varies from place to place in the [[Northern England|North of England]]. Generally, a tall, dark-haired male is preferred over a light-haired man or a woman. There are regional variations about the hair colour of the first-foot, although generally they must be male.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|wstitle=First-foot|inline=yes|volume=10|page=424}}</ref> In [[East Riding of Yorkshire|East Yorkshire]], the first-footer should be dark-haired, but according to the [[North York Moors]] first-footers should be fair-haired.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|last=Sedgwick|first=Icy|date=29 December 2016|title=What is First-Footing and Can it Improve Your Year?|url=https://folklorethursday.com/christmas/first-footing-can-improve-year/|access-date=4 August 2020|website=Folklore thursday}}</ref>

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|text=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" />}}
=== 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-is-first-footing-where-the-scottish-hogmanay-tradition-comes-from-and-common-first-footing-gifts-3960956|access-date=11 November 2024|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" />

== Isle of Man ==
On the [[Isle of Man]] the practice of first-footing has also been a long-held tradition. [[Arthur William Moore|A. W. Moore]] in his book ''Folklore of the Isle of Man'' described the practice:

{{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. Boys with dark hair were considered lucky for the household and they were 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=19–20}}</ref>

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'''The New Year Blessing in Manx'''<ref>Entry for the headword "Quaaltagh or Qualtagh," in Archibald Cregeen, A Dictionary of the Manx Language (Douglas & London & Liverpool, 1835 [but 1837], 132b</ref>
<poem>{{lang|gv|Ollick ghennal erriu as bleïn feer vie,
Seihll as slaynt da’n slane lught thie.
Bea as gennallys eu bio ry-cheilley,
Shee as graih eddyr mraane as deiney.
Cooid as cowryn, stock as stoyr.
Palçhey phuddase, as skaddan dy-liooar.
Arran as caashey, eeym as roayrt.
Baase, myr lugh, ayns uhllin ny soalt.
Cadley sauçhey tra vees shiu ny lhie,
As feeackle y jargan, nagh bee dy mie.}}</poem>
{{col-2}}
'''The New Year Blessing in English'''

<poem>A merry Christmas on ye, and a very good year,
Long life and health to the whole household.
Your life and mirth living together,
Peace and love between women and men.
Goods and wealth, stock and store,
Plenty potatoes and enough herring.
Bread and cheese, butter and beef,
Death, like a mouse, in the stackyard of the barn.
Sleeping safely when you lie,
and the flea’s tooth, may it not be well.</poem>
{{col-end}}

== 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.com/books?id=rsJNIGDbej4C&pg=PT202 The Yule Log]". ''Christmas in Ritual and Tradition''. Forgotten Books. pp. 192–99. {{ISBN|978-1-60506-814-5}}. Retrieved 5 August 2020</ref> Like the first-foot tradition, it is expected that the visit will ensure good luck and well-being for the household in the ensuing year. Often a man or boy is chosen in advance for the visit on [[Christmas]] morning.<ref name=":5" /> 

There are practices similar to first-footing outside the British Isles. 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}} ''meḳvle'' (from {{lang|ka|კვალი}} ''ḳvali'' – 'footstep', 'footprint', 'trace'). In [[Mingrelian language]], the person is called {{lang|xmf|მაკუჩხური}} ''maḳučxuri'' (from {{lang|xmf|კუჩხი}} ''ḳučxi'' – 'foot'); and in [[Svan language]] – {{lang|sva|მჷჭშხი}} ''məč̣šxi'' (from {{lang|sva|ჭიშხ}} ''č̣išx'' – 'foot').

==See also==
* [[Serbian Christmas traditions#Polažajnik|Polažajnik]] in Serbian folklore
* [[House blessing]]
* [[Wassailing]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Wikisource|Folk-Lore/Volume 4/First-footing in Edinburgh|First-footing in Edinburgh}}
{{Wikisource|Folk-Lore/Volume 4/First-footing in Aberdeenshire|First-footing in Aberdeenshire}}
{{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]{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} in Northumbria (1950)

{{New Year}}
{{Superstitions}}

[[Category:Culture of Georgia (country)]]
[[Category:Hogmanay]]
[[Category:New Year celebrations]]
[[Category:Luck]]
[[Category:Scottish folklore]]
[[Category:Scottish popular culture]]
[[Category:Superstitions of Great Britain]]
[[Category:Winter traditions]]