Hogmanay?

Hogmanay is the Scottish word for New Year’s Eve. The word first appears in Scotland about the time of Mary Queen of Scots and probably derived from her childhood in France and the French word hoginane – meaning gala day.

Hogmanay becomes a day of rest for us as we get a true taste of Skye’s winter weather. A local advised us ‘Don’t forget your coat if it’s not raining – if it is, your coat will remember itself’. Today it rains steadily and the wind howls at 45 miles an hour. In this wind it becomes obvious why the garbage bins in the back yard need to be strapped into place, why houses don’t have eaves, why barns look like rounded WW2 air

craft hangers and why wind farms dot the landscape. The temperature is about 8 degrees, but the strong wind makes it very hard to stand without getting blown over.

Undeterred we explore the fascinating old village of Stein, which hosts the oldest inn on Skye. Today Stein is, sparsely populated and peacefully sleepy but the area’s history is rich, long and bloody. The ruins of the old Trumpan Church mark the place where a large gathering of the Clan MacLeod were burned alive inside the church one Sunday in 1578, in a raid by the Clan MacDonald. This was a revenge attack on the MacLeods who had massacred 395 MacDonalds the previous year. Historically the rich fishing grounds, fertile soil and mild climate of Skye have been fought over by the Picts, Vikings, Gaels, warring Highland clans and of course the English.

Hogmanay dinner is at our local, the Edinbane Inn. This is no ordinary pub grub and features local sea scallops, pork belly, chicken, leek and potato mash and a venison burger.

Hogmanay peacefully brings 2018 to a close as steady rain and gale force winds are not appropriate conditions for fireworks. 2019 begins and New Year’s Day dawns bright, with barely a cloud in the blue sky. What an unexpected delight!