Q is for Qualtagh

Sometimes, the first person I see after leaving the house in the morning is a grizzled old man smoking a cigarette because he is not allowed to do so in the house.

good-morning-this-morning (1)The Wiktionary defines qualtagh (Manx English) as “The first person one encounters, either after leaving one’s home or (sometimes) outside one’s home, especially on New Year’s Day.” Unused Words describes the word as “the first person one meets (either leaving or entering their house) after the start of the New Year.”

But the first reference I saw did not specify the New Year. So I started thinking about this: Who IS the first person I see when I leave my house? For the comic strip character Dagwood Bumstead, it’s Mr. Beasley, the postman he often collides with.

For me, during the school year, it’s often one particular school mom and her two kids, who seem to pass our house at just the right time. Last school year, it might have been the crossing guard, an animated woman who can practically stop traffic with her voice.

Sometimes, especially on the weekend, it’s one of the neighbors, a grizzled old man smoking a cigarette because he is not allowed to do so in the house. Occasionally, it’s a red-haired woman, the wife of a library school buddy of mine, doing her daily brisk walk.

I remember when I used to live alone, I would not have spoken to anyone before I left the house. On Election Day about 20 years ago, I was walking to the place where the election was conducted about 5:50 a.m. because I like to be first at the polls when I can. This cheerful man said, “Good morning!” I replied, apparently inaudibly, “Good morning.”

Mister Cheerful continued, “I SAID, good MORNING!” I explained that I had replied to his earlier greeting but that my vocal cords had not yet warmed up.

Y’know, that guy really ticked me off.

Here’s Good Morning from the 1939 movie Babes in Arms with Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney.

Plus Good Morning from the 1952 musical Singin’ in the Rain, with Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, and a young Debbie Reynolds. The Wife, The Daughter, and I watched the video together a couple of years ago.

abc15

ABC Wednesday, Round 15

Author: Roger

I'm a librarian. I hear music, even when it's not being played. I used to work at a comic book store, and it still informs my life. I won once on JEOPARDY! - ditto.

26 thoughts on “Q is for Qualtagh”

  1. Huh. I just realized one of the reasons I’ve been a little down is that my qualtagh has changed. My qualtagh was my neighbor Rebekah and her dog Sadie, who I would bump into right before or right after a workout. She moved down the road a few weeks ago.

  2. Well! I’ve not heard that word before and we only live a 2 hour boat trip across the Irish sea.
    It sounds very Manx.
    Unusual lot the Manx, they have tailless cats, nobody dare mention the worn Rat, only to be referred to as ‘long tails’,
    They smoke Kippers (kippers are smoked herring, most delicious)! and ride motorcycles at great speed around the island, for one week per year, this is called The TT Races— Mrs Nesbitt can vouch for this !
    Quirky but beautiful place to live or have a holiday.

    Di.

    Abcw team.

  3. Wonderful choice, – I am a morning person and enjoyed hearing Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney when they were so young and fresh! Lovely morning song….

  4. I can relate to the voice thing. Sometimes, when people phone me in the morning, I’m still raspy if I haven’t spoken yet, and they think they’ve awakened me! Anyhoo…I’ve never heard of the word “qualtagh” but we used to celebrate New Year’s by sending the darkest one out the front door to come back in the back door. It’s a Scottish tradition.

  5. I’m learning some new words today with all the Q posts. Maybe if I walked to places from my home I’d know better who the first person I encounter in the morning. Driving out of my garage and on to wherever leaves me out of the neighborhood loop…

  6. Like to learn new words, but I’m not disciplined enough to make it a weekly habit. Have to admit that people with a voice that can stop traffic annoy me.

  7. An interesting thought to who is the first person met on leaving the house, I wonder who I will see tomorrow. The Mickey Rooney/Julie Garland song would certainly perk one up before venturing out. I always thought their first film together was National Velvet but Babes in Arms pre-dates it by some years. Not one I’ve seen.

  8. The word is new to me but I’ve heard of the concept before; it’s called first-footers. Though usually ‘first footers’ are the first person to come into a house on New Year’s, and there are particular types of people (a dark-haired man especially) who are considered to be particularly good omens for the new year….

  9. Another new word for me. I suspect I will continue with the lengthier but dull “first person I meet after leaving my home” 🙂

  10. Don’t know if this is true, but I’ve always heard that when an (American) Indian was born, the father would step outside the house (teepee, whatever) and the first person, animal or thing that he would notice would be the name of the child. Perhaps qualtagh is an Indian word. Or maybe the Indians are Celts who migrated to the Americas from the Isle of Man!

  11. I like this word! But I’ve never heard it before. I think that from now on I will be looking around in the morning to see who my Qualtagh will be for that day.

  12. My qualtagh this year was the driver of the van I hired to take us to a lake to celebrate the New Year.

  13. What a word ! I don’t see anybody when I leave the house. Or people are gone to work or they still sleep. I have to say that I live in a street where you can drink your tea in the middle of the street the whole day without seeing nobody. When the weather is nice I might see a neighbor …

  14. This morning, I woke up with layringities, but I didn’t know. I walked out of the house and said Hi to a person on the road. I had no voice.

  15. I have never, ever come across that word before! But I think I’ll find a reason to use it now. 🙂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial