LL-L 'Tradtions' 2006.12.30 (04) [E]

[Sandy Fleming]

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> From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Traditions
> 
> Thanks, Jonny. 
> 
> In the big cities of the north, kids used to dress up and go from door
> to door "begging," which involves serenading. Grown-ups still have
> fancy-dress party on New Years Eve.  It's much like Halloween and like
> the Scottish Hogmanay guising that Sandy talked about. 

Ron,

Guising in Scotland is done at Halloween, not Hogmanay. At Halloween
children would (at least until the American thing started catching on
here) go from house to house in disguise. At each house they'd be
invited in and all would give some entertainment, either individually or
in groups. This would be, for example, a song, a poetry recitation or
playing a musical instrument. They would then be rewarded with sweets,
fruit or, most usually in my memory, money.

I suppose another reason for the demise of this custom is that most
households have TV for entertainment now, and as with minor-language
programming, anything that gets in the way of Coronation Street or Dr
Who will soon be pushed aside. 'Trick or Treat' is perhaps just more
suited to modern living as the visits are brief and unintrusive.

Indeed there are other things that weren't particularly considered as
traditions that I think are now much rarer because of TV and now
probably also computers. When I was young, houses with elderly people
used to be targets for constant visiting, so that at evenings and
weekends every chair in the house would be filled with people who were
there not just to visit their aged relatives, but also because they knew
there would always be lots of other people to talk to. There also seemed
to be an unspoken code about use of the doors. The back door was always
unlocked and people who were just visiting would just walk in. But if
there came a knock to the front door the head of the house would answer
it and everyone would go quiet and listen to find out who the stranger
at the front door might be and what their mission was!

It was also not unusual to hear people serenading each other at the door
as they were leaving. A popular routine was for the departing guests to
sing a few of the more suitable verses of "We'r no awa tae bide awa" and
the hosts to sing "Haste ye back, we loe ye, dearie" and so on. If you
walked though a town late at night you might every now and again see the
light of a doorway and people standing in it singing and talking and you
knew their guests were departing.

loe /lu:/ - love

These days the only tradition of the protracted departure I see
regularly is amongst the Deaf. These days the tradition of the Deaf Club
is declining and Deaf people more often meet in pubs. A familiar sight
at closing time is a member of the bar staff going around asking, "Who's
hearing? Is anybody hearing?" so that they can get them to tell
everybody it's time to leave. The hearing in the group aren't usually
willing to spread the bad news, so nothing happens (the correct solution
is to flash the lights - some bar staff know this!). Everybody finally
gets outside, but then there may be some people still standing signing
in the street for an hour or two after, which is OK because signing
keeps you warm!

Sandy Fleming
http://scotstext.org/

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