Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 3, 1892.djvu/261

 FIRST-FOOT IN THE BRITISH ISLES.

IN his paper on Manx Folk-lore {supra, pp. 74-91), Pro- fessor Rhys drew attention to the importance attached to the sex orcomplexion of the first person who enters the house on New Year's Day. In Man, objection is made to a woman or fair man being the first to enter on that day. Con- siderable interest was shown in the subject by the speakers on Prof Rhys's paper, and a certain amount of evidence was forthcoming, showing that a like superstition existed in many places in the British Isles. An appeal was accordingly made in the last number of FOLK-LORE for information on the subject from its readers. The Editor cannot report that he has been overwhelmed with correspondence on the subject, and some of the letters dealt with superstitions somewhat different from the " first- foot" — e.g., the custom of giving a handsel to the first person met with on the way to a christening ; the habit of bringing fresh water into the house on New Year's Day, etc.

Sufficient material has been sent in, however, to make the subject both more important and, at the same time, more precise. Reserving some of the communications for more detailed notice later, we may summarise the informa- tion given in the following table, in which the kind of person preferred to enter a house as first-foot on New Year's Day has been classified. In the few instances no preference is expressed, but only the person to be avoided : a short line is put where no information is given. It is possible, too, that in many of the cases referred to there was some preference for either sex, though only complexion is mentioned. Our table gives, we believe, all the pertinent information in the communications sent.