person in turn to smell. The inhaling of its
fumes is a talisman against fairies, witches, and demons. In the island
of South Uist, according to a quite recent account, each person seizes
hold of it as it burns, making the sign of the cross, if he be a
Catholic, in the name of the Trinity, and it is put thrice sun-wise about
the heads of those present. If it should be extinguished it is a bad omen
for the New Year.{32}

The writer of the last account speaks of the "breast-strip" as the
"Hogmanay," and it is just possible that the well-known Hogmanay
processions of children on New Year's Eve (in Scotland and elsewhere) may
have some connection with the ritual above described. It is customary for
the poorer children to |329| swaddle themselves in a great sheet,
doubled up in front so as to form a vast pocket, and then go along the
streets in little bands, calling out "Hogmanay" at the doors of the
wealthier classes, and expecting a dole of oaten bread. Each child gets a
quadrant of oat-cake (sometimes with cheese), and this is called the
"Hogmanay." Here is one of the rhymes they sing:--

"Get up, goodwife, and shake your feathers,
And dinna think that we are beggars;
For we are bairns come out to play,
Get up and gie's our hogmanay!"{33}

The word _Hogmanay_--it is found in various forms in the northern English
counties as well as in Scotland--has been a puzzle to etymologists. It is
used both for the last day of the year and for the gift of the oaten cake
or the like; and, as we have seen, it is shouted by the children in their
quest. Exactly corresponding to it in sense and use is the French word
_aguillanneuf_, from which it appears to be derived. Although the
phonetic difference between this and the Scottish word is great, the
Norman form _hoguinane_ is much closer. There is, moreover, a Spanish
word _aguinaldo_ (formerly _aguilando_) = Christmas-box. The popular
explanation of the French term as _au-guy-l'an-neuf_ (to the mistletoe
the New Year) is now rejected by scholars, and it seems likely that the
word is a corruption of the Latin _Kalendae_.{34}

A few instances of _aguillanneuf_ customs may be given. Here are
specimens of rhymes sung by the New Year _queteurs_:--

"Si vous veniez a la depense,
A la depense de chez nous,
Vous mangeriez de bons choux,
On vous servirait du rost.
Hoguinano.

Donnez-moi mes hoguignettes
Dans un panier que voicy.
Je