In Scottish and Northern English folklore, the first-foot, also known in Manx Gaelic as „quaaltagh” or „qualtagh”, is the first person to enter the home of a household on New Year’s Day and a bringer of good fortune for the coming year.
However in „Christmas in Ritual and Tradition” we can read that in Yorkshire first footer used to come on Christmas morning as well as New Year’s day.
Although it is acceptable in many places for the first-footer to be a resident of the house, they must not be in the house at the stroke of midnight in order to first-foot (thus going out of the house after midnight and then coming back into the same house is not considered to be first-footing). It is said to be desirable for the first-foot to be a tall, dark-haired male; a female or fair-haired male are in some places regarded as unlucky. In Worcestershire, luck is ensured by stopping the first carol singer who appears and leading him through the house. In Yorkshire it must always be a male who enters the house first, but his fairness is no objection.
Czytaj dalej














