so I"m looking up Hogmanay on the interwebs….I see now how all this punching and drinking and shouting came about...

"Customs vary throughout Scotland, and usually include gift-giving and visiting the homes of friends and neighbours, with special attention given to the first-foot, the first guest of the new year..."
Yes, I can see how this could get out of hand with EVERYONE wanting to be the first!

And the there's this old custom..."the first person to cross the threshold of a friend or neighbour and often involves the giving of symbolic gifts such as salt (less common today), coal, shortbread, whisky, and black bun (a rich fruit cake)"

Aha! this is where the whiskey comes in!

and I"m reading about fireballs being swung around in Aberdeenshire..

THen they get a bit less rambunctious here..."In the east coast fishing communities and Dundee, first-footers once carried a decorated herring." hehe

ooh boy...then there's this."...magic water....After the sprinkling of the water in every room, on the beds and all the inhabitants, the house is sealed up tight and branches of juniper are set on fire and carried throughout the house and byre. The juniper smoke is allowed to thoroughly fumigate the buildings until it causes sneezing and coughing among the inhabitants. Then all the doors and windows are flung open to let in the cold, fresh air of the new year. The woman of the house then administers 'a restorative' from the whisky bottle, and the household sits down to its New Year breakfast"

I can see how people just glossed over the first part and decided to just go straight away to the whiskey!

Auld Lang Syne my friend!! Stay safe out there ;0) and have fun punching many a random victim sunovabitches!!!