First footing

Although mainly associated with Scotland and Hogmanay (and the origin of that word is really obscure) the tradition of first footing was certainly alive and well in the West Midlands when I was a kid.  To be done properly, the first footer had to be the first person to enter a house once the clock had struck midnight on New Year's Eve. They should be a "stranger" - that is not a member of the household, and they must bring with them a loaf of bread and a piece of coal - thus providing the house with the two main essentials of life, food and warmth.  They must say as they enter "Peace be upon this house and all within" and the response from those in the house should be "Amen to that".  I was never allowed to be a first footer myself because back then I was fair-haired, and tradition required that the first footer had dark hair.  The practice gradually died out with the advent of television and access to a more structured celebration of New Year - Jimmy Shand and all that.