Happy Hogmanay The House of Scots Way

How Scots Celebrate

Nov 2025

Hogmanay is Scotland’s famous New Year celebration — a time of music, friendship, firelight, and tradition.

While much of the world celebrates New Year’s Eve, Hogmanay is uniquely Scottish, with customs that go back hundreds of years. No one knows for sure where the word “Hogmanay” comes from, but there are a few well-loved theories, including the Gaelic “oge maidne” meaning ‘new morning.’

Whichever its origin, the spirit is the same — Hogmanay is about welcoming the new year with warmth, generosity, and community. And who in the world isn’t familiar with Auld Lang Syne, the world-famous song by Scottish poet Robert Burns? It prompts us to think about how we best remember friends, memories, and experiences of the year before — Burns tells us to ‘share a cup of kindness yet’ as we join the new year.

How Scots Celebrate

For many years, Hogmanay was bigger than Christmas, running for several days of celebrations with plenty of food and drink, music, and singing — some say that’s why we have an extra bank holiday on 2nd January, because we’re still celebrating (or recovering).

Today in places like Stonehaven and Biggar, blazing torches or bonfires light the night sky to banish evil spirits and welcome renewal, while Edinburgh welcomes tens of thousands to the firework display and street party with a ringing of the bells and a firing of the cannon from Edinburgh Castle at the stroke of midnight.

Like many folk, though, we prefer to celebrate at home, honouring ancient traditions and rituals, wrapped in warmth and welcome.

At House of Scots, we’ve taken the rituals and customs that we grew up with and added a modern twist so that you can keep these traditions alive and enjoy more meaningful moments with your family and friends.

The House of Scots Way

Hogmanay is more than a countdown. It’s a fresh start—making room for warmth, laughter, and good fortune in the year ahead, so we tidy, clear the clutter, and ready the house to feel welcoming.

On New Year’s Eve, we dress our best and gather with drinks to reflect on the year gone by with gratitude for the people and experiences that brought us here. We share our hopes and dreams for the year to come, setting intentions and resolutions.

Half an hour before midnight, we open every window to let the old year out and invite the new one in. Then comes the most important tradition of the night: the First Foot.

The First Foot is the first person to step over the threshold after the bells, bringing good cheer and blessings. Tradition calls for a tall, dark, handsome man—when that’s not likely, we ask a kind, steady soul in the family to take the role.

Just before the bells, he wraps up in a heavy coat and warm scarf, steps outside, and gathers his hopes. As the bells chime, he knocks, offers a heartfelt “Happy New Year,” and shares gifts that promise health, wealth, and abundance:

• Coal – for a warm, light-filled home
• Shortbread – a table filled with food and sweetness
• Coin – prosperity and good fortune
• Whisky – a dram to toast the year
• Baileys Irish Cream – representing friendship and good cheer

We gather to enjoy hearty bowls of Scottish stew with bread. And then, of course, the real celebrations begin, with drinking and dancing, singing and storytelling into the wee small hours.

There really is no better way to have a Happy Hogmanay.