Growing up on a hill farm we never referred to the 31st of December as New Year's Eve, but rather Old Years Night.
Mother scrubbed the house (and us kids) from top to bottom so we started the new year clean. we all had a coin in our pocket so we started the year with money. She laid the table out with food and drink and we sat around the fire chatting.
As the night drew on nearer to midnight, people started turning up at our door, with as tradition demanded a lump of coal for the hearth and a bottle. It was a quiet time, a wake for the year that was slowly passing.
So once again it is Old Years Night and as we look forward to the birth of the New Year its fitting to raise a glass to the passing year and those of our friends that didn't make into the New Year with us. She carried us safely through stormy times.
So lets raise a glass to 2021 and those we leave in her care