Ring in the new!
Ring out wild bells to the wild sky, The flying cloud, the frosty light;
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.
Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring happy bells, across the snow;
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
from In Memoriam by Alfred Tennyson
Shhhh! It’s only seconds till midnight. The old year is dying. The new
year is almost here. As the clock begins to strike twelve, noise fills
the air. Church bells ring; people toot horns and blow whistles.
Everyone shouts, “Happy New Year!”
Why all the noise? It’s one way people show how happy they are. It’s
also an old custom. Long ago, people believed that loud noises scared
away evil spirits. Maybe they do. Maybe they don’t. But one good thing
about New Year’s Eve—you get to stay up a lot later than usual.
If you live in Scotland, you’ll be able to stay up to welcome the first
person to enter your house after midnight. This person is called the
“first-footer.” People believe that if the first-footer is a dark-haired
man, the family will have good luck in the new year.
First-footing is part of the old Scottish New Year’s Eve celebration
called Hogmanay [(hahg]{.smallcaps} muh nay). It is a time for old
friends and
relatives to get together—and to end up singing “Auld Lang Syne.”
Auld lang syne is Scottish for “old long since,” or simply “days gone
by.”
You may not live in Scotland. But wherever you live, everyone wishes you
good luck—and a happy new year!
