Hoguinano.
Donnez-moi mes hoguignettes
Dans un panier que voicy.
Je l'achetai samedy
D'un bon homme de dehors;
Mais il est encore a payer.
Hoguinano."{35}
|330| Formerly at Matignon and Ploubalay in Brittany on Christmas Eve
the boys used to get together, carry big sticks and wallets, and knock at
farmhouse doors. When the inmates called out, "Who's there?" they would
answer, "The _hoguihanneu_," and after singing something they were given
a piece of lard. This was put on a pointed stick carried by one of the
boys, and was kept for a feast called the _bouriho_.{36} Elsewhere in
Brittany poor children went round crying "_au guyane_," and were given
pieces of lard or salt beef, which they stuck on a long spit.{37} In
Guernsey the children's quest at the New Year was called _oguinane_. They
chanted the following rhyme:--
"Oguinani! Oguinano!
Ouvre ta pouque, et pis la recclios."[115]{38}
Similar processions are common in eastern Europe at the New Year. In some
parts of Macedonia on New Year's Eve men or boys go about making a noise
with bells. In other districts, early on New Year's morning, lads run
about with sticks or clubs, knock people up, cry out good wishes, and
expect to be rewarded with something to eat.
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