Why do we greet the New Year with noise?

It's a custom that has spread from Europe

to many parts of he world, The clock

ticks away the seconds of the dying year

and suddenly, on the last stroke of mid

night, the waiting Crowds let out a cacophony of sound. Voices shout, bells ring, car horns and factory hooters blast

away, all in a concerted bid to make As

much noise as possible.

Ring out the old, ring in the new is a

comparatively recent explanation of a

Superstition that has figured in New Year

celebrations since pagan times, For cen-

turies, in the Scottish Highlands, villagers

Carrying sticks and dried cowhides sur

rounded one another's houses each New

Year's Eve. As midnight came, they

thrashed the walls with clubs and beat

their sticks against the cowhides, chant-

ing and shouting as loudly as they could.

It was a rite designed to drive out the

fairies, demons and spirits of the old year.

The same ritual -a superstitious clear-

ing of the air to give the New Year a fair

chance to bring good fortune - has been

handled on, though possibly few revellers

today understand why they are called

upon to make such a racket at midnight.

Facts with Brighton