J. F. Campbell Collection > Popular rhymes of Scotland

RHYMES CONNECTED WITH NEW-YEAR, &C. 299
with all sorts of homely fare, and a hearty feast took place,
followed by copious libations of ale, charged with all sorts
of g-ood wishes. The party would then proceed to the next
house, Avhere a similar scene would be enacted : Heaven
knows how they contrived to take so many suppers in one
evening- ! No slight could be more keenly felt by a Deer-
ness farmer than to have his house passed over unvisited by
the New- Year singers.
The doings of the guizards (that is, masquers) form a con-
spicuous feature in the New-Year proceedings throughout
Scotland. The evenings on which these personages are
understood to be privileged to appear, are those of Christ-
mas, Hogmanay, New-Year's Day, and Handsel Monday.
Such of the boys as can pretend to anything like a voice,
have for weeks before been thumbing the collection of
excellent new songs, which lies like a bunch of rags in the
window sole ; and being now able to screech up ' Barbara
Allan,' or the ' Wee cot-house and the wee kail-yardie,'
they determine upon enacting the part of guizards. For
this purpose they don old shirts belonging to their fathers,
and mount casques of brown paper, shaped so like a mitre,
that I am tempted to believe them borrowed from the Abbot
of Un-reason : attached to this is a sheet of the same paper,
which, falling down in front, covers and conceals the whole
face, except where holes are made to let through the point
of the nose, and afford sight to the eyes and breath to the
mouth. Each vocal guizard is, like a knight of old, at-
tended by a kind of humble squire, who assumes the habili-
ments of a girl, with an old woman's cap, and a broomstick,
and is styled ' Bessie.' Bessie is equal in no respect, ex-
cept that she shares fairly in the proceeds of the enterprise.
She goes before her principal ; opens all the doors at which
he pleases to exert his singing powers ; and busies herself,
during the time of the song, in sweeping the floor with her
broomstick, or in playing any other antics that she thinks
may amuse the indwellers. The common reward of this
entertainment is a halfpenny; but many churlish persons
fall upon the unfortunate guizards, and beat them out of
the house. Let such persons, however, keep a good watch
upon their cabbage gardens next Halloween.
The more important doings of the guizards are of a
theatrical character. There is one rude and grotesque