First footin' Do they still do that up North? Had to be a tall, dark man first through the door on January 1. He'd fetch coal, salt and sugar, supposed to symbolise warmth, preservative and sweetness for the coming year. Course it all led to bother all round. Not always enough tall, dark blokes for a start. Are there ever? In extremis a dark woman would do, though always considered a very poor second best.
Some old bods would not leave the house without their first foot. Scared witless of bad luck they'd wait for the knock at the door, but by January 5 even a ginger kid would do, just so as old Mrs Buggins could cross the threshold and get a pint of milk. So you'd be sent round there sharpish to release the poor soul.
Superstition has a lot to answer for.
There was plenty of free booze though. You could pile into anybody's place and get stuck in, strangers welcome. There was a lot of Asti and that dreadful, thick, yellow stuff, advocaat was it? Hideous, along with Cherry B and Babycham, but they did the job.Those days, up North, you needed something to blur the outlines.
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