Bring cheer, raise a glass to yourself

Tomorrow night, tens of millions of people across the world will stay up to see in the new year and bid the old year farewell.

- KEVIN RITCHIE

No one does it better than the Scots at Hogmanay and it’s thanks to them that we observe many of the rituals that we do at midnight.

Many of us in South Africa won't be first footing, not with the armed security in the suburbs and the JMPD roadblocks.

It’s difficult to explain to the uninitiated what we are doing with a bottle of whisky in one hand and a lump of coal in the other, along with a coin, salt and shortbread after midnight, even though they are traditional gifts presaging warmth, wealth, flavour, food and cheer for the year ahead.