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A Lump of Coal and a Black Bun

Alex Massie reflects on Hogmanay through the ages, with help from Robert Louis Stevenson, the great biographer James Boswell, and the Reverend I.M Jolly.

Alex Massie delves into Hogmanays past and present.

'The traditional 'first footing' gifts of the New Year - a lump of coal and a black bun - linger on,' Alex writes, 'though with diminished take-up and not just because few houses are coal-heated now and few people truly appreciate the black bun.'

Producer: Adele Armstrong
Sound: Peter Bosher
Production coordinator: Janet Staples
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith

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9 minutes

Last on

Sun 31 Dec 202308:48
BBC Radio 4

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Broadcasts

  • Fri 29 Dec 202320:50
    BBC Radio 4
  • Sun 31 Dec 202308:48
    BBC Radio 4

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