Forst footin'

[paul mann]

Di folk in Bedlington still gan forst footin' at New Year?

[Maggie/915]

I do not think the younger generation do First Footing.

Shame really because it was a great thing to do.

I remember people arriving in the middle of the night and everyone on the street involved.

Well most folks.

It would be great to hear that people still 'Go First Footing'

Now I guess you would need a formal invite.

[Malcolm Robinson]

Had to wait in until my Forst Foot came today! My son had never heard of it!

[Pete]

Gone are the days when we relyed on the old pit buzzer to sound at midnight, that used to be the signal for the forst footer to knock the door.

[Tonyp]

When I was a younging me & me brother used to go to me grans on New Years day we were always her first foot we'd go in put some coal on her fire & she would give us a small bottle of babycham felt like a barrel of beer."Fond Memories"....

[paul mann]

I can remember folks arranging for the 'right' forst footer. The preference was for a tall, dark handsome bloke because he would bring good luck to the hoose for the rest of the year. Especially if he brought a piece of coal. We lived next door to the Cains at West Lea so it was big Sammy Cain (as opposed to little Sammy Cain) who was usually wor first foot. After the pubs and clubs had closed doon folk had just enough time to gan yem and start the New Year Party. Some blokes did ahlreet gannin from hoose te hoose forst footin and gettin' a free drink at ivery hoose.  

[Symptoms]

My Mum was always keen (almost obsessed?) about getting the 'first footer' organised in advance of the midnight gongs and, as Paul says, a lump of coal was always to hand.  Funny thing was she wasn't normally a superstitious person but I suppose it was something carried over from her childhood;  perhaps there lies the clue in why it isn't widely practiced these days ... lack of community continuity.  We lived in the Riggs and New Years Eve was a really big deal with most households visiting each other's houses around the Riggs ... a bit like a pub crawl.  The sessions would start early, say 8pm, and go on 'till maybe 5 or 6 in the morning.  Some houses would have a band playing (I've mentioned before about being in bands that did these sorts of gigs) with everybody stuffed into a front room dancing to the music and getting rat arsed.  My Dad used to brew his own beer and liquor (he had a glass still for distilling the hooch ... I remember he sent off to London after seeing an advert in the Exchange & Mart for the still and it arrived in a wooden crate swaddled in straw) so there was always gallons of booze available for folks to quaff.

[Maggie/915]

Our tradition is to let the old year or the old man out the back door and then in through the front door after the clock strikes midnight and the new year begins.

This year there were so many fireworks that the Grandkids refused to come in.

[Bedlingtonian]

I think Maggie is correct in that the younger generation do not do First Footing. Perhaps their parents have advised them not go into strangers houses and accept free drinks from older men and women.

[Canny lass]

If my memory serves me well it wasn't only a piece of coal that was carried over the threshold by the first-foot. In Netherton it was coal, salt and a silver coin, representing Health wealth and happiness. These were often left outside the door by the home owner for the first-foot to pick up on the way in. I also remember the feverish activity of getting the first-foot arranged a few Days Before they were needed. Some were more popular than others and booked up well in advance. On no account could it be a woman. As Paul said, it should ideally be a bloke and preferably one who was tall dark and handsome.

 

On that note, does anybody know when the tradition of first-footing started? I ask because I recently had occasion to research the Word 'handsome' and found that one of  it's meanings, now obsolete, was 'easily handled'. Tall, dark and easily handled - now there's something to Think about!

[Tonyp]

Maybe that's why a lot of people asked me to be there first foot LOL

[Maggie/915]

Be careful Tonyp !

Re read what Canny lass says.

Maybe that is what you mean.

[Tonyp]

Maggie at least you got my drift