Happy New Year

Moments of celebration are cut with melancholy nonetheless.

Onwards into the New Year, comrades. Thank you for being here and special thanks to those of you who have upgraded to a paid subscription. Your support allows The Debatable Land to prosper and permits me to spend more time on it.

As 1961 turned to 1962, just 200 people braved the snow to bear public witness at Glasgow Cross to the arrival of the New Year; an even smaller gathering congregated before the city chambers in  George Square before setting off for the traditional “first footing” visiting friends and neighbours. The atmosphere was dark and wintry and, in some sense, felt like the ending of an era. 

“In another year or two” a policeman lamented, “there won’t be anyone here on Hogmanay at all. They’re all going for Christmas now”. In Edinburgh, it was reported that the arrival of a new year was celebrated “more decorously than at any time in living memory” and that “Fewer first-footers than ever appeared to be around”. A combination of poor weather, the increasing popularity of …