27th Dec 2022
The New Year would not be the same without having a party, making resolutions and watching a spectacular fireworks display. Or so you might think. For centuries, the New Year throughout Britain was more about superstition than celebration. Will you adopt some of the unusual traditions that once brought luck and prosperity to the people of Cornwall?
SAND THE DOORSTEP AND ALL YEAR LONG YOU'LL HAVE GOOD LUCK
The most well-known and unusual New Year ritual in Cornwall was to sand the doorstep on New Year's Day. This involved quite literally covering the doorstep with sand. M.A. Courtney supposed that 'people coming into the house were sure to bring some of it in with them sticking to their feet.' Boys would go house to house placing sand on people's doorsteps for a small reward.
An archaic belief associated with this custom was that it was unlucky for a woman to enter the house first on New Year's morning. This of course follows similar superstitions about the unluckiness of women in mines. We are luckier these days that this has not survived.
DON’T WORK ON NEW YEAR’S EVE AND DAY (IF YOU’RE A MINER)
Miners refused to work on New Year's Eve and Day based on various but vague superstitions.
GO WASSAILING
Wassailing or warsailing is often associated with Christmas. However, the old Christmas ran throughout the New Year period and ended on 5 or 6 January. This means that many Christmas and New Year traditions were enjoyed at the same time. On New Year's Eve, groups of men would go from house to house with a small bowl to collect money for a feast. They would open doors without knocking first and call out 'Warsail!' before launching into song.
OPEN THE BIBLE AT RANDOM
On New Year's Eve, some women opened their Bibles at random to find out their future for the next year.
FULFIL THE PROMISES YOU MADE BUT DID NOT KEEP
The next St. Tibb's Day is the deadline for fulfilling the promises you have made but never intended to keep. This falls either between the old and new year, or comes neither before nor after Christmas. Good luck!
LEAVE SOME MONEY ON THE THRESHOLD
On New Year's Eve, people placed money on the threshold and took it in first thing in the morning. This would ensure wealth and prosperity for the year ahead.
DON’T LEND ANYTHING ON NEW YEAR’S DAY
It was considered unlucky to lend anything on New Year's Day or take anything out the house. Even dust! Bringing things into the house would be very lucky.
HAVE A PARTY WITH YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY
Cornish people have always enjoyed gathering together with their friends and family over the festive period.
EAT ALL YOUR CAKE AND TAKE DOWN THE DECORATIONS BY THE NIGHT OF TWELFTH-TIDE
It was unlucky to have any Christmas cake left over by the night of Twelfth-tide, which usually fell on 5 or 6 January. Additionally, all Christmas decorations must be taken down on Twelfth Day. It was said that a ghost would be seen in the house for every forgotten evergreen leaf over the next year.
CAST SPELLS AND PREDICT THE FUTURE
On Twelfth Night, people enjoyed a midnight feast before casting spells to predict their future. Young people in particular would take part to discover what the next year would bring them. One spell involved foraging for rushes and ivy-leaves in silence, bringing them into the house and letting them burn in the fire. Fates would be sealed dependent on how they burned. Rushes that burned smoothly meant that couples would be married. By the number of cracks they made when burning, ivy-leaves determined the number of years it would take to get married and how many children a couple would have.
Whether you're busy sanding the doorstep or making sausage rolls for your New Year party, bledhen nowydh da!
Further Reading
Courtney, M.A. Cornish Feasts and Folklore. (1890) Books on Demand, 2018
Hunt, Robert. Popular Romances of the West of England. John Camden Hotten, 1865
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