First-footing

Recorded English folk custom

At Stamfordham the visitor had to be a bachelor and brought coal. Henderson’s Durham account did not require a bachelor.

William Henderson, Notes on the Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties of England and the Borders, new edition (1879), Days and Seasons; New Year’s Day, paragraphs beginning “On New Year’s Day” and “A friend tells me”

A New Year custom in which the first visitor crosses a household’s threshold.

Sources1 source

Primary source

William Henderson, Notes on the Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties of England and the Borders, new edition (W. Satchell, Peyton and Co. for the Folk-Lore Society, 1879), 1879, Days and Seasons; New Year’s Day, paragraphs beginning “On New Year’s Day” and “A friend tells me”Records the named locality, reported belief or custom, attributed meaning and local detail stated in this entry.