SCOTS’ welcome to the New Year of 1948 was as lively as ever, but Ne’erday visiting was somewhat depressing, thanks to the torrential rain that fell in the West, and to the thaw that followed heavy falls of snow in the North.

Even the Celtic-Rangers fixture, at Parkhead, succumbed, the pitch being waterlogged.

In Glasgow, the rain fell without cease from 9pm on Hogmanay until 9pm on New Year’s Day.

That said, Glasgow crowds, well-served by the all-night transport system, were able to defy the elements, and the trams and buses were packed until the early hours of January 1.

The police reported a quiet night, while the St Andrew’s Ambulance Association dealt with some 60 incidents over the period, roughly the same as the previous year’s total.

Indeed, this newspaper reported, “the most noticeable absentee from Glasgow’s celebrations was the traditional bottle of whisky. It was available at £3 10s a bottle but most people favoured sherry and port, and there was a particularly ready sale for Empire blends”.

As the city’s Lord Provost, Hector McNeill sang Auld Lang Syne with friends and colleagues (above), church bells were rung, and ships in the Clyde sounded their sirens. One of them tapped out ‘A happy new years’ in Morse.

Greenock’s Hogmanay celebrations were upbeat, while in Paisley, only about 50 people gathered at the Cross to bring in the New Year. Edinburgh witnessed its quietest Hogmanay on record, where there was only a small crowd at the Tron. “There were no incidents”, the Glasgow Herald recorded.

Around 60 mountaineers got away from it all on January 1 by climbing snow-clad Ben Nevis.

A dark-haired Scot was said to have walked into Broadcasting House in London’s Portland Place, one minute after midnight, bearing a pair of kippered herrings, a piece of bread, a bottle of malt whisky and a lump of coal.

The Herald said that his reception had been “polite but chilly”.

Read more: Herald Diary