Quote:
Originally Posted by Moshulu Rob
I'm not sure if it's a Scottish or an Aberdonioan thing, but I've never seen half as much fuss made as I've seen up here. I've worked in bars in London, Birmingham, Nottingham, Bristol and Manchester and it's never been a particularly big thing.
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Scotland, having a shared Gaelic culture and language with ancient Ireland, has celebrated the festival of Samhain robustly for centuries. Robert Burns portrayed the varied customs in his poem "Hallowe'en" (1785).
The same could not be said for most of England in the post-Roman era. The Anglo-Saxon invasions of the 5th and 6th centuries AD pushed the native Celts north and westward in Britain, to present-day Wales and Northern England, taking the festival with them. All Saints Day (All Hallows Day) became fixed on the 1st of November in 835, and All Souls Day on the 2nd of November circa 998. On All Souls Eve, families sat up, and little "soul cakes" were eaten by everyone. At the stroke of midnight there was silence with candles burning in every room to guide the souls back to visit their earthly homes and a glass of wine on the table to refresh them. The tradition continued in some areas of Northern England as late as the 1930s, with children going from door to door "souling" for cakes or money, by singing a song. The English Reformation in the 16th century de-emphasised holydays like All Hallows Day and its associated eve. With the rise of Guy Fawkes Night celebrations in 17th century England, many Hallowe'en traditions, especially the building of bonfires, were transferred to 5 November, only five days from the old. Hallowe'en celebrations in England have again become popular when in the 1980s, American families living in London reintroduced Hallowe'en traditions such as pumpkin faces (and the US trick-or-treat) uncommon in Britain and Ireland.
Today, adults in the UK often dress up and go to fancy dress parties or pubs and clubs on Hallowe'en night.
Some believe the black cat portends bad luck, while a white cat may be good[citation needed].
Hallowe'en in Scotland consists chiefly of children going door to door "guising" (or "Galoshin" on the south bank of the lower Clyde) dressing up and offering entertainment of various sorts in return for gifts.
In some parts of Yorkshire, there is a similar festival called Mischief Night which falls on the 4 November. Children do tricks on adults which range from the minor to more serious such as taking doors off their hinges on this night. The doors were also often thrown into ponds, or taken a long way away. In recent years these tricks have, in some cases, turned into severe acts of vandalism and criminal damage including street fires and destruction of private property.[5]
Throughout the United Kingdom children carve faces or designs into pumpkins.[6] Then they place them on display in their windows to go along with the scary theme of Hallowe'en. (See article Jack-o'-lantern.)
Witch balls are also hung up in English homes, usually by the windows or front/back door and are said to glow if a witch passes by.
Bobbing for apples is also another English custom on Hallowe'en. Apples were put into a barrel that had been filled to the brim with water and an individual would have to catch an apple by catching them in their mouth without using their hands. Once an apple had been caught, it was traditional to peel the apple and drop the peelings into the barrel to see if the peel would spell out a letter. Whatever letter the peeling formed itself into would be the first initial of the participant's true love.
Other traditions include apple ducking, fireworks, recounting of ghost stories and playing games such as Hide 'n' Seek. Apple tarts are usually baked with a coin hidden inside, and large quantities of various types of nuts are eaten. Bolder children might also play a game called Thunder and Lightning, which involves knocking "like thunder" on a neighbours door, then running away "like lightning".
Tradition is slowly changing, however. Many children will arrive at a door and merely exclaim, "Trick or treat", and money is given out, as well as, or in place of, sweets. Bonfires are less commonly lit for Hallowe'en in Northern Ireland these days.