Nostalgia: Celebrating Hogmanay in proper style

Published on Saturday 27 December 2008 09:55

IT is a typical New Year scene – thousands of revellers gathering on an Edinburgh street for the bells.

But back in 1990 it wasn't Princes Street playing host to the Hogmanay festivities – it was the traditional venue of the Tron Kirk on the Royal Mile, where that year around 20,000 people had gathered.

Crowded together, they sang, danced and made merry as the clock counted down the seconds until the traditional toasting at the bells.

And when the midnight hour came, a huge cheer went up, followed by renditions of Auld Lang Syne, and warm hugs and kisses for friends, family and passing strangers alike.

Despite the size of the crowd, only five people were arrested that night for minor offences and there were no serious injuries.

Heavy rain could not dampen the crowd's high spirits, and even the police on duty joined in the celebrations.

The high spirits could perhaps be put down to another Edinburgh Hogmanay tradition involving spirits of different kind.

In 1972, the New Year was greeted with a bottle bonanza as cut-price off-licences were swamped with customers stocking up on their favourite tipples. Whisky and beer were the top sellers, with sales of gin, vodka and wines also soaring. In fact, as 1971 drew to a close, one Edinburgh store reported liquor sales up 500 per cent on the previous year.

New Year is a time for triple celebrations in the McAslan household, with triplets Alan, Shona and Graham born at the Simpson Maternity Pavilion on New Year's Day 1969.

Born one month premature, the arrival of three babies was a bit of a surprise for parents James and Elizabeth and big brothers Ewan and Stewart, as the family only found out two weeks earlier that Mrs McAslan was expecting not one but three babies.

And the timing of the triplets' arrival continued a family tradition – they share a birthday with their brother Ewan, who was born on January 1, 1960.

Musselburgh man George Laidlaw chose to bring in 1970 in an unusual way, by taking a swim in the Firth of Forth.

Perhaps he was simply ahead of his time, with hundreds of revellers now opting to take a swim in the icy waters of the Forth at South Queensferry in the annual Loony Dook.

The tradition first started in 1987, thought up in a pub by friends Jim Kilcullen and Andy Kerr, who were looking for an alternative way to usher in the New Year.

But as well as providing the ultimate hangover cure, the dook has helped to raise tens of thousands of pounds for local charities and thousands more for causes around the world.

• This week's Nostalgia slideshow will be available from Monday