First footing on New Year's
First footing is a Scottish and northern English New Year's custom: the first person to step into the house once midnight has passed is believed to decide how the household will fare all year. Dark hair was welcome; fair hair often was not.
What it may mean
First footing looks like a game of chance, but most households stack the deck. The rule says the first person to step over the doorstep once midnight strikes sets the luck of the year, so people arrange who that will be. A woman raised in Scotland learned that the first foot should have dark hair and carry a small gift; the student who recorded her added that someone who lives in the house can take the role if they were outside when the bells rang. In one family, a father makes a circuit of every room as soon as the year turns, so that he is the first person in each. The custom turns the start of the year into something people do on purpose instead of waiting for it. For your own beginnings, you can choose who or what crosses over first.
Depending on how you saw it
The Manx quaaltagh
In Manx custom, Brand records, a party called the quaaltagh went from house to house on New Year's morning, and a person of dark complexion always entered first, since a light-haired first foot was thought unlucky. Who would you choose to open your year?
Coal at midnight
A Scottish family friend described taking a piece of your own coal at midnight and giving it to others for their fires, often without their knowing which neighbor it came from. What warmth could you pass on without signing your name?
Never empty-handed
In some northern counties of Scotland, arriving empty-handed on January 1 was thought unlucky. What do you make sure to carry when you arrive somewhere that matters?
Why it happens in nature
First footing belongs to Hogmanay, Scotland's year-end celebration, when neighbors visit one another's houses after midnight with small gifts such as a drink or a piece of coal. Because the visits were made among friends who knew one another, the first foot was seldom left to chance, and households could choose a suitable person.
What folk beliefs say
Scotland
In Scotland, Daniels and Stevans note, the first person who comes to the house on January 1 governs the fortune of the house for the year, so the first foot is carefully watched.
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 3 (1903), vol. 3, p. 1566 (file v 3). View the page
Isle of Man
On the Isle of Man, Brand records, a party called the quaaltagh visited houses on New Year's morning, and a person of dark complexion always entered first, as a light-haired man or woman was thought unlucky as a first foot.
Source: John Brand; Henry Ellis (ed.), Observations on the Popular Antiquities of Great Britain, vol. 1 (1849), vol. 1, p. 538. View the page
Scotland
A woman born and raised in Scotland said the first person to step inside after the bells ring at Hogmanay must have dark hair and usually brings a small gift such as a drink, and must never be blond.
Source: Gavin Conlon (collector), First-foot (USC Digital Folklore Archive) (2019), folklore.usc.edu. View the page
Scotland
A Scottish family friend described first footing as taking a piece of your own coal at midnight and giving it to others for their fires.
Source: Kelly Lichter (collector), Holiday Tradition – Scotland (USC Digital Folklore Archive) (2011), folklore.usc.edu. View the page
Family custom
In one student's family, as soon as the clock strikes twelve on December 31, her father must walk through every room of the house, so that he is the first person in each.
Source: Ebi Penawou (collector), New Years First-Footing (USC Digital Folklore Archive) (2026), folklore.usc.edu. View the page
To reflect on
When something in your life starts fresh, who or what do you let in first?