Hogmanay is the Scots word for 31 December, New Year’s Eve. The first-foot is the first person through your door after midnight, who brings the household good or bad luck for the year. Here are the Hogmanay words and sayings you will hear in Scotland, and what each one means, checked against the Dictionary of the Scots Language.
What does Hogmanay mean?
The dictionary defines Hogmanay as “the 31st December, the last day of the year, New Year’s Eve”. It also used to mean a New Year gift, especially oatcakes or bread given to children who came to the door on New Year’s Eve, and a Hogmanay party (DSL: Hogmanay).
Where the word comes from has been argued over for a long time. The dictionary’s view is that it most likely came from a northern French word for a New Year gift, aguillanneuf, and was borrowed into Scots before 1560.
What is first-footing?
A first-foot is “the first person to enter a house on New Year’s morning, considered as the bringer of good (or bad) luck for the year”. To first-foot is to be that visitor, “usually to present a gift and to wish the inmates luck” (DSL: first-fit). The dictionary’s oldest example comes from Fife in 1719.
Who should be your first-foot?
Not just anyone will do. Old Scottish sources in the dictionary are blunt about one thing: “It was considered very unlucky to let a fair-complexioned buddy be your first-fit” (Kirkcudbrightshire, 1877).
What the first-foot carries, the coal, the shortbread or black bun and the dram, is set out in The Love Scotland Guide No. 011: Hogmanay and our first-footing page.
What does “Lang may your lum reek” mean?
A lum is a chimney, and to reek is to smoke (DSL: reek). The dictionary calls “Lang may your lum reek” “a common expression to wish someone prosperity and plenty”: may your fire never go out (DSL: lum). You will hear it at New Year and on cards.
What is Ne’erday?
Ne’erday is New Year’s Day, 1 January. The same dictionary entry records an Old New Year’s Day too, on 12 January, from the old calendar (DSL: New Year).
What does “auld lang syne” mean?
Auld is old, and lang syne is “long ago” (DSL: syne). So the song sung at midnight is a toast to old times and old friends.
What is a handsel?
A handsel is “a gift bestowed to commemorate an inaugural occasion, event or season, e.g. the beginning of the year”. Handsel Monday, the first Monday of the New Year, was the day for giving it and was once a holiday (DSL: handsel).
Where can I find more Scottish words and sayings?
Our hub, Scottish Words and Sayings: What They Mean, has the everyday words (wee, braw, dreich, ken) and the accent pages in one place.
Last checked: 7 November 2026, against the Dictionary of the Scots Language (dsl.ac.uk).