[Illustration: HALLOWE'EN FESTIVITIES. 

_From an Old English Print_]

 The Book of Hallowe'en

 By

 RUTH EDNA KELLEY, A. M. 

 _Lynn Public Library_

 _ILLUSTRATED_

 BOSTON

 LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO. 

 * * * * *

 Published, August, 1919

 COPYRIGHT, 1919, BY LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO. 

 _All Rights Reserved_

 The Book of Hallowe'en

 Norwood Press BERWICK & SMITH CO. NORWOOD, MASS. U. S. A. 

 * * * * *

 _To my Mother and the memory of my Father who inspired and encouraged me in the writing of this book_

 * * * * *

PREFACE

This book is intended to give the reader an account of the originand history of Hallowe'en, how it absorbed some customs belongingto other days in the year, --such as May Day, Midsummer, andChristmas. The context is illustrated by selections from ancientand modern poetry and prose, related to Hallowe'en ideas. 

Those who wish suggestions for readings, recitations, plays, andparties, will find the lists in the appendix useful, in addition tothe books on entertainments and games to be found in any publiclibrary. 

Special acknowledgment is made to Messrs. E. P. Dutton & Companyfor permission to use the poem entitled "Hallowe'en" from "TheSpires of Oxford and Other Poems, " by W. M. Letts; to Messrs. Longmans, Green & Company for the poem "Pomona, " by William Morris;and to the Editors of _The Independent_ for the use of five poems. 

 RUTH EDNA KELLEY. 

 LYNN, _1919_. 

CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE

I. SUN-WORSHIP. THE SOURCES OF HALLOWE'EN 1

II. THE CELTS: THEIR RELIGION AND FESTIVALS 5

III. SAMHAIN 16

IV. POMONA 23

V. THE COMING OF CHRISTIANITY. ALL SAINTS'. ALL SOULS' 27

VI. ORIGIN AND CHARACTER OF HALLOWE'EN OMENS 33

VII. HALLOWE'EN BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS IN IRELAND 35

VIII. HALLOWE'EN BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS IN SCOTLAND AND THE HEBRIDES 59

IX. HALLOWE'EN BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS IN ENGLAND AND MAN 82

X. HALLOWE'EN BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS IN WALES 101

XI. HALLOWE'EN BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS IN BRITTANY AND FRANCE 107

XII. THE TEUTONIC RELIGION. WITCHES 119

XIII. WALPURGIS NIGHT 136

XIV. MORE HALLOWTIDE BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS 142

XV. HALLOWE'EN IN AMERICA 149

 "FOUR POEMS" 172

 MAGAZINE REFERENCES TO HALLOWE'EN ENTERTAINMENTS 179

 SUPPLEMENTARY LIST OF READINGS, RECITATIONS, AND PLAYS 182

 INDEX TO QUOTATIONS 184

 INDEX 188

ILLUSTRATIONS

Hallowe'en Festivities _Frontispiece_ FACING PAGEIn Hallowe'en Time 34

The Witch of the Walnut-Tree 100

The Witches' Dance (_Valpurgisnacht_) 138

Fortune-Telling 148

Hallowe'en Tables, I 156

Hallowe'en Tables, II 158

No Hallowe'en without a Jack-o'-lantern 178

The Book of Hallowe'en

CHAPTER I

SUN-WORSHIP. THE SOURCES OF HALLOWE'EN

If we could ask one of the old-world pagans whom he revered as hisgreatest gods, he would be sure to name among them the sun-god;calling him Apollo if he were a Greek; if an Egyptian, Horus orOsiris; if of Norway, Sol; if of Peru, Bochica. As the sun is thecenter of the physical universe, so all primitive peoples made itthe hub about which their religion revolved, nearly alwaysbelieving it a living person to whom they could say prayers andoffer sacrifices, who directed their lives and destinies, and couldeven snatch men from earthly existence to dwell for a time withhim, as it draws the water from lakes and seas. 

In believing this they followed an instinct of all early peoples, adesire to make persons of the great powers of nature, such as theworld of growing things, mountains and water, the sun, moon, andstars; and a wish for these gods they had made to take an interestin and be part of their daily life. The next step was makingstories about them to account for what was seen; so arose myths andlegends. 

The sun has always marked out work-time and rest, divided the yearinto winter idleness, seed-time, growth, and harvest; it has alwaysbeen responsible for all the beauty and goodness of the earth; itis itself splendid to look upon. It goes away and stays longer andlonger, leaving the land in cold and gloom; it returns bringing thelong fair days and resurrection of spring. A Japanese legend tellshow the hidden sun was lured out by an image made of a copper platewith saplings radiating from it like sunbeams, and a fire kindled, dancing, and prayers; and round the earth in North America theCherokees believed they brought the sun back upon its northwardpath by the same means of rousing its curiosity, so that it wouldcome out to see its counterpart and find out what was going on. 

All the more important church festivals are survivals of old ritesto the sun. "How many times the Church has decanted the new wine ofChristianity into the old bottles of heathendom. " Yule-tide, thepagan Christmas, celebrated the sun's turning north, and the oldmidsummer holiday is still kept in Ireland and on the Continent asSt. John's Day by the lighting of bonfires and a dance about themfrom east to west as the sun appears to move. The pagan Hallowe'enat the end of summer was a time of grief for the decline of thesun's glory, as well as a harvest festival of thanksgiving to himfor having ripened the grain and fruit, as we formerly hadhusking-bees when the ears had been garnered, and now keep our ownThanksgiving by eating of our winter store in praise of God whogives us our increase. 

Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit, lends us the harvest element ofHallowe'en; the Celtic day of "summer's end" was a time whenspirits, mostly evil, were abroad; the gods whom Christ dethronedjoined the ill-omened throng; the Church festivals of All Saints'and All Souls' coming at the same time of year--the first ofNovember--contributed the idea of the return of the dead; and theTeutonic May Eve assemblage of witches brought its hags and theirattendant beasts to help celebrate the night of October 31st. 

CHAPTER II

THE CELTS: THEIR RELIGION AND FESTIVALS

The first reference to Great Britain in European annals of which weknow was the statement in the fifth century B. C. Of the Greekhistorian Herodotus, that Ph[oe]nician sailors went to the BritishIsles for tin. He called them the "Tin Islands. " The people withwhom these sailors traded must have been Celts, for they were thefirst inhabitants of Britain who worked in metal instead of stone. 

The Druids were priests of the Celts centuries before Christ came. There is a tradition in Ireland that they first arrived there in270 B. C. , seven hundred years before St. Patrick. The account ofthem written by Julius Cæsar half a century before Christ speaksmainly of the Celts of Gaul, dividing them into two ruling classeswho kept the people almost in a state of slavery; the knights, whowaged war, and the Druids who had charge of worship and sacrifices, and were in addition physicians, historians, teachers, scientists, and judges. 

Cæsar says that this cult originated in Britain, and wastransferred to Gaul. Gaul and Britain had one religion and onelanguage, and might even have one king, so that what Cæsar wrote ofGallic Druids must have been true of British. 

The Celts worshipped spirits of forest and stream, and feared thepowers of evil, as did the Greeks and all other early races. Verymuch of their primitive belief has been kept, so that to Scotch, Irish, and Welsh peasantry brooks, hills, dales, and rocks aboundin tiny supernatural beings, who may work them good or evil, leadthem astray by flickering lights, or charm them into seven years'servitude unless they are bribed to show favor. 

The name "Druid" is derived from the Celtic word "druidh, " meaning"sage, " connected with the Greek word for oak, "drus, "

 "The rapid oak-tree-- Before him heaven and earth quake: Stout door-keeper against the foe. In every land his name is mine. "

 TALIESIN: _Battle of the Trees. _

for the oak was held sacred by them as a symbol of the omnipotentgod, upon whom they depended for life like the mistletoe growingupon it. Their ceremonies were held in oak-groves. 

Later from their name a word meaning "magician" was formed, showingthat these priests had gained the reputation of being dealers inmagic. 

 "The Druid followed him and suddenly, as we are told, struck him with a druidic wand, or according to one version, flung at him a tuft of grass over which he had pronounced a druidical incantation. "

 O'CURRY: _Ancient Irish. _

They dealt in symbols, common objects to which was given by theinterposition of spirits, meaning to signify certain facts, andpower to produce certain effects. Since they were tree-worshippers, trees and plants were thought to have peculiar powers. 

Cæsar provides them with a galaxy of Roman divinities, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Minerva, who of course were worshipped undertheir native names. Their chief god was Baal, of whom they believedthe sun the visible emblem. They represented him by lowlier tokens, such as circles and wheels. The trefoil, changed into a figurecomposed of three winged feet radiating from a center, representedthe swiftness of the sun's journey. The cross too was a symbol ofthe sun, being the appearance of its light shining upon dew orstream, making to the half-closed eye little bright crosses. Oneform of the cross was the swastika. 

To Baal they made sacrifices of criminals or prisoners of war, often burning them alive in wicker images. These bonfires lightedon the hills were meant to urge the god to protect and bless thecrops and herds. From the appearance of the victims sacrificed inthem, omens were taken that foretold the future. The gods and othersupernatural powers in answer to prayer were thought to signifytheir will by omens, and also by the following methods: the ordeal, in which the innocence or guilt of a person was shown by the waythe god permitted him to endure fire or other torture; exorcism, the driving out of demons by saying mysterious words or names overthem. Becoming skilled in interpreting the will of the gods, theDruids came to be known as prophets. 

 "O Deirdré, terrible child, For thee, red star of our ruin, Great weeping shall be in Eri-- Woe, woe, and a breach in Ulla. 

 * * * * *

 "Thy feet shall trample the mighty Yet stumble on heads thou lovest. "

 TODHUNTER: _Druid song of Cathvah. _

They kept their lore for the most part a secret, forbidding it tobe written, passing it down by word of mouth. They taught theimmortality of the soul, that it passed from one body to another atdeath. 

 "If, as those Druids taught, which kept the British rites, And dwelt in darksome groves, there counselling with sprites, When these our souls by death our bodies do forsake They instantly again do other bodies take----"

 DRAYTON: _Polyolbion. _

They believed that on the last night of the old year (October 31st)the lord of death gathered together the souls of all those who haddied in the passing year and had been condemned to live in thebodies of animals, to decree what forms they should inhabit for thenext twelve months. He could be coaxed to give lighter sentences bygifts and prayers. 

The badge of the initiated Druid was a glass ball reported to bemade in summer of the spittle of snakes, and caught by the priestsas the snakes tossed it into the air. 

 "And the potent adder-stone Gender'd 'fore the autumnal moon When in undulating twine The foaming snakes prolific join. "

 MASON: _Caractacus. _

It was real glass, blown by the Druids themselves. It was supposedto aid the wearer in winning lawsuits and securing the favor ofkings. 

An animal sacred to the Druids was the cat. 

"A slender black cat reclining on a chain of old silver" guardedtreasure in the old days. For a long time cats were dreaded by thepeople because they thought human beings had been changed to thatform by evil means. 

The chief festivals of the Druids fell on four days, celebratingphases of the sun's career. Fires of sacrifice were lightedespecially at spring and midsummer holidays, by exception onNovember 1st. 

May Day and November Day were the more important, the beginning andend of summer, yet neither equinoxes nor solstices. The time wasdivided then not according to sowing and reaping, but by the oldermethod of reckoning from when the herds were turned out to pasturein the spring and brought into the fold again at the approach ofwinter--by a pastoral rather than an agricultural people. 

On the night before Beltaine ("Baal-fire"), the first of May, fireswere burned to Baal to celebrate the return of the sun bringingsummer. Before sunrise the houses were decked with garlands togladden the sun when he appeared; a rite which has survived in"going maying. " The May-Day fires were used for purification. Cattle were singed by being led near the flames, and sometimes bledthat their blood might be offered as a sacrifice for a prosperousseason. 

 "When lo! a flame, A wavy flame of ruddy light Leaped up, the farmyard fence above. And while his children's shout rang high, His cows the farmer slowly drove Across the blaze, --he knew not why. "

 KICKHAM: _St. John's Eve. _

A cake was baked in the fire with one piece blacked with charcoal. Whoever got the black piece was thereby marked for sacrifice toBaal, so that, as the ship proceeded in safety after Jonah was castoverboard, the affairs of the group about the May-Eve fire mightprosper when it was purged of the one whom Baal designated by lot. Later only the symbol of offering was used, the victim being forcedto leap thrice over the flames. 

In history it was the day of the coming of good. Partholon, thediscoverer and promoter of Ireland, came thither from the otherworld to stay three hundred years. The gods themselves, thedeliverers of Ireland, first arrived there "through the air" on MayDay. 

June 21st, the day of the summer solstice, the height of the sun'spower, was marked by midnight fires of joy and by dances. Thesewere believed to strengthen the sun's heat. A blazing wheel torepresent the sun was rolled down hill. 

 "A happy thought. Give me this cart-wheel. I'll have it tied with ropes and smeared with pitch, And when it's lighted, I will roll it down The steepest hillside. "

 HAUPTMANN: _Sunken Bell. _ (Lewisohn _trans. _)

Spirits were believed to be abroad, and torches were carried aboutthe fields to protect them from invasion. Charms were tried on thatnight with seeds of fern and hemp, and dreams were believed to beprophetic. 

Lugh, in old Highland speech "the summer sun"

 "The hour may hither drift When at the last, amid the o'erwearied Shee-- Weary of long delight and deathless joys-- One you shall love may fade before your eyes, Before your eyes may fade, and be as mist Caught in the sunny hollow of Lu's hand, Lord of the Day. "

 SHARP: _Immortal Hour. _

had for father one of the gods and for mother the daughter of achief of the enemy. Hence he possessed some good and some eviltendencies. He may be the Celtic Mercury, for they were alikeskilled in magic and alchemy, in deception, successful in combatswith demons, the bringers of new strength and cleansing to thenation. He said farewell to power on the first of August, and hisfoster-mother had died on that day, so then it was he set hisfeast-day. The occasion was called "Lugnasad, " "the bridal of Lugh"and the earth, whence the harvest should spring. It was celebratedby the offering of the first fruits of harvest, and by races andathletic sports. In Meath, Ireland, this continued down into thenineteenth century, with dancing and horse-racing the first week ofAugust. 

CHAPTER III

SAMHAIN

On November first was Samhain ("summer's end"). 

 "Take my tidings: Stags contend; Snows descend-- Summer's end!

 "A chill wind raging, The sun low keeping, Swift to set O'er seas high sweeping. 

 "Dull red the fern; Shapes are shadows; Wild geese mourn O'er misty meadows. 

 "Keen cold limes each weaker wing, Icy times-- Such I sing! Take my tidings. "

 GRAVES: _First Winter Song. _

Then the flocks were driven in, and men first had leisure afterharvest toil. Fires were built as a thanksgiving to Baal forharvest. The old fire on the altar was quenched before the night ofOctober 31st, and the new one made, as were all sacred fires, byfriction. It was called "forced-fire. " A wheel and a spindle wereused: the wheel, the sun symbol, was turned from east to west, sunwise. The sparks were caught in tow, blazed upon the altar, andwere passed on to light the hilltop fires. The new fire was givennext morning, New Year's Day, by the priests to the people to lighttheir hearths, where all fires had been extinguished. The blessedfire was thought to protect the year through the home it warmed. InIreland the altar was Tlactga, on the hill of Ward in Meath, wheresacrifices, especially black sheep, were burnt in the new fire. From the death struggles and look of the creatures omens for thefuture year were taken. 

The year was over, and the sun's life of a year was done. TheCelts thought that at this time the sun fell a victim for sixmonths to the powers of winter darkness. In Egyptian mythology oneof the sun-gods, Osiris, was slain at a banquet by his brotherSîtou, the god of darkness. On the anniversary of the murder, thefirst day of winter, no Egyptian would begin any new business forfear of bad luck, since the spirit of evil was then in power. 

From the idea that the sun suffered from his enemies on this daygrew the association of Samhain with death. 

 "The melancholy days are come, the saddest of the year, Of wailing winds, and naked woods, and meadows brown and sere. Heaped in the hollows of the grove, the wither'd leaves lie dead; They rustle to the eddying gust, and to the rabbit's tread. The robin and the wren are flown, and from the shrub the jay And from the wood-top calls the crow, through all the gloomy day. 

 "The wind-flower and the violet, they perished long ago, And the wild rose and the orchis died amid the summer glow: But on the hill the golden-rod, and the aster in the wood, And the yellow sun-flower by the brook in autumn beauty stood, Till fell the frost from the cold clear heaven, as falls the plague on men, And the brightness of their smile was gone from upland, glade, and glen. "

 BRYANT: _Death of the Flowers. _

In the same state as those who are dead, are those who have neverlived, dwelling right in the world, but invisible to most mortalsat most times. Seers could see them at any time, and if very manywere abroad at once others might get a chance to watch them too. 

 "There is a world in which we dwell, And yet a world invisible. And do not think that naught can be Save only what with eyes ye see: I tell ye that, this very hour, Had but your sight a spirit's power, Ye would be looking, eye to eye, At a terrific company. "

 COXE: _Hallowe'en. _

These supernatural spirits ruled the dead. There were two classes:the Tuatha De Danann, "the people of the goddess Danu, " gods oflight and life; and spirits of darkness and evil. The Tuatha hadtheir chief seat on the Isle of Man, in the middle of the IrishSea, and brought under their power the islands about them. On aMidsummer Day they vanquished the Fir Bolgs and gained most ofIreland, by the battle of Moytura. 

A long time afterwards--perhaps 1000 B. C. --the Fomor, sea-demons, after destroying nearly all their enemies by plagues, exacted fromthose remaining, as tribute, "a third part of their corn, a thirdpart of their milk, and a third part of their children. " This taxwas paid on Samhain. It was on the week before Samhain that theFomor landed upon Ireland. On the eve of Samhain the gods met themin the second battle of Moytura, and they were driven back into theocean. 

As Tigernmas, a mythical king of Ireland, was sacrificing "thefirstlings of every issue, and the scions of every clan" to CromCroich, the king idol, and lay prostrate before the image, he andthree-fourths of his men mysteriously disappeared. 

 "Then came Tigernmas, the prince of Tara yonder On Hallowe'en with many hosts. A cause of grief to them was the deed. Dead were the men Of Bamba's host, without happy strength Around Tigernmas, the destructive man of the north, From the worship of Crom Cruaich. 'T was no luck for them. For I have learnt, Except one-fourth of the keen Gaels, Not a man alive--lasting the snare! Escaped without death in his mouth. "

 _Dinnsenchus of Mag Slecht_ (Meyer _trans. _). 

This was direct invocation, but the fire rites which were continuedso long afterwards were really only worshipping the sun by proxy, in his nearest likeness, fire. 

Samhain was then a day sacred to the death of the sun, on which hadbeen paid a sacrifice of death to evil powers. Though overcome atMoytura evil was ascendant at Samhain. Methods of finding out thewill of spirits and the future naturally worked better then, charmsand invocations had more power, for the spirits were near to help, if care was taken not to anger them, and due honors paid. 

CHAPTER IV

POMONA

Ops was the Latin goddess of plenty. Single parts of her provincewere taken over by various other divinities, among whom was Pomona(_pomorum patrona_, "she who cares for fruits"). She is representedas a maiden with fruit in her arms and a pruning-knife in her hand. 

 "I am the ancient apple-queen. As once I was so am I now-- For evermore a hope unseen Betwixt the blossom and the bough. 

 "Ah, where's the river's hidden gold! And where's the windy grave of Troy? Yet come I as I came of old, From out the heart of summer's joy. "

 MORRIS: _Pomona. _

Many Roman poets told stories about her, the best known being byOvid, who says that she was wooed by many orchard-gods, butpreferred to remain unmarried. Among her suitors was Vertumnus("the changer"), the god of the turning year, who had charge of theexchange of trade, the turning of river channels, and chiefly ofthe change in nature from flower to ripe fruit. True to hischaracter he took many forms to gain Pomona's love. Now he was aploughman (spring), now a fisherman (summer), now a reaper(autumn). 

At last he took the likeness of an old woman (winter), and went togossip with Pomona. After sounding her mind and finding her averseto marriage, the woman pleaded for Vertumnus's success. 

 "Is not he the first to have the fruits which are thy delight? And does he not hold thy gifts in his joyous right hand?"

 OVID: _Vertumnus and Pomona. _

Then the crone told her the story of Anaxarete who was so cold toher lover Iphis that he hanged himself, and she at the windowwatching his funeral train pass by was changed to a marble statue. Advising Pomona to avoid such a fate, Vertumnus donned his properform, that of a handsome young man, and Pomona, moved by the storyand his beauty, yielded and became his wife. 

Vertumnus had a statue in the Tuscan Way in Rome, and a temple. Hisfestival, the Vortumnalia, was held on the 23d of August, when thesummer began to wane. Garlands and garden produce were offered tohim. 

Pomona had been assigned one of the fifteen _flamina_, priestswhose duty it was to kindle the fire for special sacrifices. Shehad a grove near Ostia where a harvest festival was held aboutNovember first. Not much is known of the ceremonies, but from thesimilar August holiday much may be deduced. Then the deities offire and water were propitiated that their disfavor might not ruinthe crops. On Pomona's day doubtless thanks was rendered them fortheir aid to the harvest. An offering of first-fruits was made inAugust; in November the winter store of nuts and apples was opened. The horses released from toil contended in races. 

From Pomona's festival nuts and apples, from the Druidic Samhainthe supernatural element, combined to give later generations thecharms and omens from nuts and apples which are made trial of atHallowe'en. 

CHAPTER V

THE COMING OF CHRISTIANITY. ALL SAINTS'. ALL SOULS'

The great power which the Druids exercised over their peopleinterfered with the Roman rule of Britain. Converts were being madeat Rome. Augustus forbade Romans to became initiated, Tiberiusbanished the priestly clan and their adherents from Gaul, andClaudius utterly stamped out the belief there, and put to death aRoman knight for wearing the serpent's-egg badge to win a lawsuit. Forbidden to practise their rites in Britain, the Druids fled tothe isle of Mona, near the coast of Wales. The Romans pursued them, and in 61 A. D. They were slaughtered and their oak groves cutdown. During the next three centuries the cult was stifled todeath, and the Christian religion substituted. 

It was believed that at Christ's advent the pagan gods either diedor were banished. 

 "The lonely mountains o'er And the resounding shore A voice of weeping heard, and loud lament. From haunted spring and dale, Edged with poplar pale, The parting genius is with sighing sent. With flower-inwoven tresses torn The nymphs in twilight shade of tangled thickets mourn. "

 MILTON: _On the Morning of Christ's Nativity. _

The Christian Fathers explained all oracles and omens by sayingthat there was something in them, but that they were the work ofthe evil one. The miraculous power they seemed to possess worked"black magic. "

It was a long, hard effort to make men see that their gods had allthe time been wrong, and harder still to root out the age-longgrowth of rite and symbol. But on the old religion might be graftednew names; Midsummer was dedicated to the birth of Saint John;Lugnasad became Lammas. The fires belonging to these times of yearwere retained, their old significance forgotten or reconsecrated. The rowan, or mountain ash, whose berries had been the food of theTuatha, now exorcised those very beings. The trefoil signified theTrinity, and the cross no longer the rays of the sun on water, butthe cross of Calvary. The fires which had been built to propitiatethe god and consume his sacrifices to induce him to protect themwere now lighted to protect the people from the same god, declaredto be an evil mischief-maker. In time the autumn festival of theDruids became the vigil of All Hallows or All Saints' Day. 

All Saints' was first suggested in the fourth century, when theChristians were no longer persecuted, in memory of all the saints, since there were too many for each to have a special day on thechurch calendar. A day in May was chosen by Pope Boniface IV in 610for consecrating the Pantheon, the old Roman temple of all thegods, to the Virgin and all the saints and martyrs. Pope GregoryIII dedicated a chapel in St. Peter's to the same, and that day wasmade compulsory in 835 by Pope Gregory IV, as All Saints'. The daywas changed from May to November so that the crowds that throngedto Rome for the services might be fed from the harvest bounty. Itis celebrated with a special service in the Greek and Romanchurches and by Episcopalians. 

In the tenth century St. Odilo, Bishop of Cluny, instituted a dayof prayer and special masses for the souls of the dead. He had beentold that a hermit dwelling near a cave

 "heard the voices and howlings of devils, which complained strongly because that the souls of them that were dead were taken away from their hands by alms and by prayers. "

 DE VORAGINE: _Golden Legend. _

This day became All Souls', and was set for November 2d. 

It is very appropriate that the Celtic festival when the spirits ofthe dead and the supernatural powers held a carnival of triumphover the god of light, should be followed by All Saints' and AllSouls'. The church holy-days were celebrated by bonfires to lightsouls through Purgatory to Paradise, as they had lighted the sun tohis death on Samhain. On both occasions there were prayers: thepagan petitions to the lord of death for a pleasant dwelling-placefor the souls of departed friends; and the Christian for theirspeedy deliverance from torture. They have in common thecelebrating of death: the one, of the sun; the other, of mortals:of harvest: the one, of crops; the other, of sacred memories. Theyare kept by revelry and joy: first, to cheer men and make themforget the malign influences abroad; second, because as the saintsin heaven rejoice over one repentant sinner, we should rejoice overthose who, after struggles and sufferings past, have entered intoeverlasting glory. 

 "Mother, my Mother, Mother-Country, Yet were the fields in bud. And the harvest, --when shall it rise again Up through the fire and flood?

 * * * * *

 "Mother, my Mother, Mother-Country, Was it not all to save Harvest of bread?--Harvest of men? And the bright years, wave on wave?

 _"Search not, search not, my way-worn; Search neither weald nor wave. One is their heavy reaping-time To the earth, that is one wide grave. "_

 MARKS: _All Souls' Eve. _

CHAPTER VI

ORIGIN AND CHARACTER OF HALLOWE'EN OMENS

The custom of making tests to learn the future comes from the oldsystem of augury from sacrifice. Who sees in the nuts thrown intothe fire, turning in the heat, blazing and growing black, thewrithing victim of an old-time sacrifice to an idol?

Many superstitions and charms were believed to be active at anytime, but all those and numerous special ones worked best onNovember Eve. All the tests of all the Celtic festivals have beenallotted to Hallowe'en. Cakes from the May Eve fire, hemp-seed andprophetic dreams from Midsummer, games and sports from Lugnasadhave survived in varied forms. 

Tests are very often tried blindfold, so that the seeker may beguided by fate. Many are mystic--to evoke apparitions from thepast or future. Others are tried with harvest grains and fruits. Because skill and undivided attention is needed to carry themthrough successfully, many have degenerated into mere contests ofskill, have lost their meaning, and become rough games. 

Answers are sought to questions about one's future career; chieflyto: when and whom shall I marry? what will be my profession anddegree of wealth, and when shall I die?

[Illustration: IN HALLOWE'EN TIME. ]

CHAPTER VII

HALLOWE'EN BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS IN IRELAND

Ireland has a literature of Hallowe'en, or "Samhain, " as it used tobe called. Most of it was written between the seventh and thetwelfth centuries, but the events were thought to have happenedwhile paganism still ruled in Ireland. 

The evil powers that came out at Samhain lived the rest of the timein the cave of Cruachan in Connaught, the province which was givento the wicked Fomor after the battle of Moytura. This cave wascalled the "hell-gate of Ireland, " and was unlocked on November Eveto let out spirits and copper-colored birds which killed the farmanimals. They also stole babies, leaving in their placechangelings, goblins who were old in wickedness while still in thecradle, possessing superhuman cunning and skill in music. One wayof getting rid of these demon children was to ill-treat them sothat their people would come for them, bringing the right onesback; or one might boil egg-shells in the sight of the changeling, who would declare his demon nature by saying that in his centuriesof life he had never seen such a thing before. 

Brides too were stolen. 

 "You shall go with me, newly married bride, And gaze upon a merrier multitude; White-armed Nuala and Ængus of the birds, And Feacra of the hurtling foam, and him Who is the ruler of the western host, Finvarra, and the Land of Heart's Desire, Where beauty has no ebb, decay no flood, But joy is wisdom, time an endless song. "

 YEATS: _Land of Heart's Desire. _

In the first century B. C. Lived Ailill and his queen Medb. As theywere celebrating their Samhain feast in the palace, "Three days before Samhain at all times, And three days after, by ancient custom Did the hosts of high aspiration Continue to feast for the whole week. "

 O'CIARAIN: _Loch Garman. _

they offered a reward to the man who should tie a bundle of twigsabout the feet of a criminal who had been hanged by the gate. Itwas dangerous to go near dead bodies on November Eve, but a boldyoung man named Nera dared it, and tied the twigs successfully. Ashe turned to go he saw

 "the whole of the palace as if on fire before him, and the heads of the people of it lying on the ground, and then he thought he saw an army going into the hill of Cruachan, and he followed after the army. "

 GREGORY: _Cuchulain of Muirthemne. _

The door was shut. Nera was married to a fairy woman, who betrayedher kindred by sending Nera to warn King Ailill of the intendedattack upon his palace the next November Eve. Nera bore summerfruits with him to prove that he had been in the fairy _sid_. Thenext November Eve, when the doors were opened Ailill entered anddiscovered the crown, emblem of power, took it away, and plunderedthe treasury. Nera never returned again to the homes of men. 

Another story of about the same time was that of Angus, the son ofa Tuatha god, to whom in a dream a beautiful maiden appeared. Hewasted away with love for her, and searched the country for a girlwho should look like her. At last he saw in a meadow among ahundred and fifty maidens, each with a chain of silver about herneck, one who was like the beauty of his dream. She wore a goldenchain about her throat, and was the daughter of King Ethal Anbual. King Ethal's palace was stormed by Ailill, and he was forced togive up his daughter. He gave as a reason for withholding hisconsent so long, that on Samhain Princess Caer changed from amaiden to a swan, and back again the next year. 

 "And when the time came Angus went to the loch, and he saw the three times fifty white birds there with their silver chains about their necks, and Angus stood in a man's shape at the edge of the loch, and he called to the girl: 'Come and speak with me, O Caer!'

 "'Who is calling me?' said Caer. 

 "'Angus calls you, ' he said, 'and if you do come, I swear by my word I will not hinder you from going into the loch again. '"

 GREGORY: _Cuchulain of Muirthemne. _

She came, and he changed to a swan likewise, and they flew away toKing Dagda's palace, where every one who heard their sweet singingwas charmed into a sleep of three days and three nights. 

Princess Etain, of the race of the Tuatha, and wife of Midir, wasborn again as the daughter of Queen Medb, the wife of Ailill. Sheremembers a little of the land from which she came, is never quitehappy, "But sometimes--sometimes--tell me: have you heard, By dusk or moonset have you never heard Sweet voices, delicate music? Never seen The passage of the lordly beautiful ones Men call the Shee?"

 SHARP: _Immortal Hour. _

even when she wins the love of King Eochaidh. When they have beenmarried a year, there comes Midir from the Land of Youth. Bywinning a game of chess from the King, he gets anything he may ask, and prays to see the Queen. When he sees her he sings a song oflonging to her, and Eochaidh is troubled because it is Samhain, andhe knows the great power the hosts of the air "have then over thosewho wish for happiness. "

 "Etain, speak! What is the song the harper sings, what tongue Is this he speaks? for in no Gaelic lands Is speech like this upon the lips of men. No word of all these honey-dripping words Is known to me. Beware, beware the words Brewed in the moonshine under ancient oaks White with pale banners of the mistletoe Twined round them in their slow and stately death. It is the feast of Sáveen" (Samhain). 

 SHARP: _Immortal Hour. _

In vain Eochaidh pleads with her to stay with him. She has alreadyforgotten all but Midir and the life so long ago in the Land ofYouth. 

 "In the Land of Youth There are pleasant places; Green meadows, woods, Swift grey-blue waters. 

 "There is no age there, Nor any sorrow. As the stars in heaven Are the cattle in the valleys. 

 "Great rivers wander Through flowery plains. Streams of milk, of mead, Streams of strong ale. 

 "There is no hunger And no thirst In the Hollow Land, In the Land of Youth. "

 SHARP: _Immortal Hour. _

She and Midir fly away in the form of two swans, linked by a chainof gold. 

Cuchulain, hopelessly sick of a strange illness brought on by Fandand Liban, fairy sisters, was visited the day before Samhain by amessenger, who promised to cure him if he would go to theOtherworld. Cuchulain could not make up his mind to go, but sentLaeg, his charioteer. Such glorious reports did Laeg bring backfrom the Otherworld, "If all Erin were mine, And the kingship of yellow Bregia, I would give it, no trifling deed, To dwell for aye in the place I reached. "

 _Cuchulain's Sick-bed. _ (Meyer _trans. _)

that Cuchulain went thither, and championed the people thereagainst their enemies. He stayed a month with the fairy Fand. Emer, his wife at home, was beset with jealousy, and plotted againstFand, who had followed her hero home. Fand in fear returned to herdeserted husband, Emer was given a Druidic drink to drown herjealousy, and Cuchulain another to forget his infatuation, and theylived happily afterward. 

Even after Christianity was made the vital religion in Ireland, itwas believed that places not exorcised by prayers and by the signof the cross, were still haunted by Druids. As late as the fifthcentury the Druids kept their skill in fortune-telling. King Dathigot a Druid to foretell what would happen to him from oneHallowe'en to the next, and the prophecy came true. Their religionwas now declared evil, and all evil or at any rate suspiciousbeings were assigned to them or to the devil as followers. 

 "_Maire Bruin:_ Are not they, likewise, the children of God?

 _Father Hart:_ Colleen, they are the children of the fiend, And they have power until the end of Time, When God shall fight with them a great pitched battle And hack them into pieces. "

 YEATS: _Land of Heart's Desire. _

The power of fairy music was so great that St. Patrick himself wasput to sleep by a minstrel who appeared to him on the day beforeSamhain. The Tuatha De Danann, angered at the renegade people whono longer did them honor, sent another minstrel, who after layingthe ancient religious seat Tara under a twenty-three years' charm, burned up the city with his fiery breath. 

These infamous spirits dwelt in grassy mounds, called "forts, "which were the entrances to underground palaces full of treasure, where was always music and dancing. These treasure-houses were openonly on November Eve

 "For the fairy mounds of Erinn are always opened about Hallowe'en. "

 _Expedition of Nera. _ (Meyer _trans. _)

when the throngs of spirits, fairies, and goblins trooped out forrevels about the country. The old Druid idea of obsession, thebesieging of a person by an evil spirit, was practised by them atthat time. 

 "This is the first day of the winter, and to-day the Hosts of the Air are in their greatest power. "

 WARREN: _Twig of Thorn. _

If the fairies wished to seize a mortal--which power they had asthe sun-god could take men to himself--they caused him to givethem certain tokens by which he delivered himself into their hands. They might be milk and fire--

 "_Maire Bruin:_ A little queer old woman cloaked in green, Who came to beg a porringer of milk. 

 _Bridget Bruin:_ The good people go asking milk and fire Upon May Eve--woe to the house that gives, For they have power over it for a year. "

 YEATS: _Land of Heart's Desire. _

or one might receive a fairy thorn such as Oonah brings home, whichshrivels up at the touch of St. Bridget's image;

 "Oh, ever since I kept the twig of thorn and hid it, I have seen strange things, and heard strange laughter and far voices calling. "

 WARREN: _Twig of Thorn. _

or one might be lured by music as he stopped near the fort to watchthe dancing, for the revels were held in secret, as those of theDruids had been, and no one could look on them unaffected. 

A story is told of Paddy More, a great stout uncivil churl, andPaddy Beg, a cheerful little hunchback. The latter, seeing lightsand hearing music, paused by a mound, and was invited in. Urged totell stories, he complied; he danced as spryly as he could for hisdeformity; he sang, and made himself so agreeable that the fairiesdecided to take the hump off his back, and send him home a straightmanly fellow. The next Hallowe'en who should come by the same placebut Paddy More, and he stopped likewise to spy at the merrymaking. He too was called in, but would not dance politely, added nostories nor songs. The fairies clapped Paddy Beg's hump on hisback, and dismissed him under a double burden of discomfort. 

A lad called Guleesh, listening outside a fort on Hallowe'en heardthe spirits speaking of the fatal illness of his betrothed, thedaughter of the King of France. They said that if Guleesh but knewit, he might boil an herb that grew by his door and give it to theprincess and make her well. Joyfully Guleesh hastened home, prepared the herb, and cured the royal girl. 

Sometimes people did not have the luck to return, but were led awayto a realm of perpetual youth and music. 

 "_Father Hart. _ What are you reading?

 _Maire Bruin. _ How a Princess Edane, A daughter of a King of Ireland, heard A voice singing on a May Eve like this, And followed, half awake and half asleep, Until she came into the land of faery, Where nobody gets old and godly and grave, Where nobody gets old and crafty and wise, Where nobody gets old and bitter of tongue; And she is still there, busied with a dance, Deep in the dewy shadow of a wood, Or where stars walk upon a mountain-top. "

 YEATS: _Land of Heart's Desire. _

If one returned, he found that the space which seemed to him butone night, had been many years, and with the touch of earthly sodthe age he had postponed suddenly weighed him down. Ossian, released from fairyland after three hundred years dalliance there, rode back to his own country on horseback. He saw men imprisonedunder a block of marble and others trying to lift the stone. As heleaned over to aid them the girth broke. With the touch of earth"straightway the white horse fled away on his way home, and Ossianbecame aged, decrepit, and blind. "

No place as much as Ireland has kept the belief in all sorts ofsupernatural spirits abroad among its people. From the time when onthe hill of Ward, near Tara, in pre-Christian days, the sacrificeswere burned and the Tuatha were thought to appear on Samhain, to aslate as 1910, testimony to actual appearances of the "littlepeople" is to be found. 

 "'Among the usually invisible races which I have seen in Ireland, I distinguish five classes. There are the Gnomes, who are earth-spirits, and who seem to be a sorrowful race. I once saw some of them distinctly on the side of Ben Bulbin. They had rather round heads and dark thick-set bodies, and in stature were about two and one-half feet. The Leprechauns are different, being full of mischief, though they, too, are small. I followed a Leprechaun from the town of Wicklow out to the Carraig Sidhe, "Rock of the Fairies, " a distance of half a mile or more, where he disappeared. He had a very merry face, and beckoned to me with his finger. A third class are the Little People, who, unlike the Gnomes and Leprechauns, are quite good-looking; and they are very small. The Good People are tall, beautiful beings, as tall as ourselves. .. . They direct the magnetic currents of the earth. The Gods are really the Tuatha De Danann, and they are much taller than our race. '"

 WENTZ: _Fairy-faith in Celtic Countries. _

The sight of apparitions on Hallowe'en is believed to be fatal tothe beholder. 

 "One night my lady's soul walked along the wall like a cat. Long Tom Bowman beheld her and that day week fell he into the well and was drowned. "

 PYLE: _Priest and the Piper. _

One version of the Jack-o'-lantern story comes from Ireland. Astingy man named Jack was for his inhospitality barred from allhope of heaven, and because of practical jokes on the Devil waslocked out of hell. Until the Judgment Day he is condemned to walkthe earth with a lantern to light his way. 

The place of the old lord of the dead, the Tuatha god Saman, towhom vigil was kept and prayers said on November Eve for the goodof departed souls, was taken in Christian times by St. Colomba orColumb Kill, the founder of a monastery in Iona in the fifthcentury. In the seventeenth century the Irish peasants went aboutbegging money and goodies for a feast, and demanding in the name ofColumb Kill that fatted calves and black sheep be prepared. Inplace of the Druid fires, candles were collected and lighted onHallowe'en, and prayers for the souls of the givers said beforethem. The name of Saman is kept in the title "Oidhche Shamhna, ""vigil of Saman, " by which the night of October 31st was untilrecently called in Ireland. 

There are no Hallowe'en bonfires in Ireland now, but charms andtests are tried. Apples and nuts, the treasure of Pomona, figurelargely in these. They are representative winter fruits, thecommonest. They can be gathered late and kept all winter. 

A popular drink at the Hallowe'en gathering in the eighteenthcentury was milk in which crushed roasted apples had been mixed. Itwas called lambs'-wool (perhaps from "La Mas Ubhal, " "the day ofthe apple fruit"). At the Hallowe'en supper "callcannon, " mashedpotatoes, parsnips, and chopped onions, is indispensable. A ring isburied in it, and the one who finds it in his portion will bemarried in a year, or if he is already married, will be lucky. 

 "They had colcannon, and the funniest things were found in it--tiny dolls, mice, a pig made of china, silver sixpences, a thimble, a ring, and lots of other things. After supper was over all went into the big play-room, and dived for apples in a tub of water, fished for prizes in a basin of flour; then there were games----"

 TRANT: _Hallowe'en in Ireland. _

A coin betokened to the finder wealth; the thimble, that he wouldnever marry. 

A ring and a nut are baked in a cake. The ring of course meansearly marriage, the nut signifies that its finder will marry awidow or a widower. If the kernel is withered, no marriage at allis prophesied. In Roscommon, in central Ireland, a coin, a sloe, and a bit of wood were baked in a cake. The one getting the sloewould live longest, the one getting the wood was destined to diewithin the year. 

A mould of flour turned out on the table held similar tokens. Eachperson cut off a slice with a knife, and drew out his prize withhis teeth. 

After supper the tests were tried. In the last century nut-shellswere burned. The best-known nut test is made as follows: three nutsare named for a girl and two sweethearts. If one burns steadilywith the girl's nut, that lover is faithful to her, but if eitherhers or one of the other nuts starts away, there will be no happyfriendship between them. 

Apples are snapped from the end of a stick hung parallel to thefloor by a twisted cord which whirls the stick rapidly when it islet go. Care has to be taken not to bite the candle burning on theother end. Sometimes this test is made easier by dropping theapples into a tub of water and diving for them, or piercing themwith a fork dropped straight down. 

Green herbs called "livelong" were plucked by the children and hungup on Midsummer Eve. If a plant was found to be still green onHallowe'en, the one who had hung it up would prosper for the year, but if it had turned yellow or had died, the child would also die. 

Hemp-seed is sown across three furrows, the sower repeating:"Hemp-seed, I saw thee, hemp-seed, I saw thee; and her that is tobe my true love, come after me and draw thee. " On looking back overhis shoulder he will see the apparition of his future wife in theact of gathering hemp. 

Seven cabbage stalks were named for any seven of the company, thenpulled up, and the guests asked to come out, and "see theirsowls. "

 "One, two, three, and up to seven; If all are white, all go to heaven; If one is black as Murtagh's evil, He'll soon be screechin' wi' the devil. "

Red Mike "was a queer one from his birth, an' no wonder, for hefirst saw the light atween dusk an' dark o' a Hallowe'en Eve. " Whenthe cabbage test was tried at a party where Mike was present, sixstalks were found to be white, but Mike's was "all black an' fowlwi' worms an' slugs, an' wi' a real bad smell ahint it. " Angered atthe ridicule he received, he cried: "I've the gift o' the night, Ihave, an' on this day my curse can blast whatever I choose. " Atthat the priest showed Mike a crucifix, and he ran away howling, and disappeared through a bog into the ground. 

 SHARP: _Threefold Chronicle. _

Twelve of the party may learn their future, if one gets a clod ofearth from the churchyard sets up twelve candles in it, lights andnames them. The fortune of each will be like that of thecandle-light named for him, --steady, wavering, or soon in darkness. 

A ball of blue yarn was thrown out of the window by a girl who heldfast to the end. She wound it over on her hand from left to right, saying the Creed backwards. When she had nearly finished, sheexpected the yarn would be held. She must ask "Who holds?" and thewind would sigh her sweetheart's name in at the window. 

In some charms the devil was invoked directly. If one walked abouta rick nine times with a rake, saying, "I rake this rick in thedevil's name, " a vision would come and take away the rake. 

If one went out with nine grains of oats in his mouth, and walkedabout until he heard a girl's name called or mentioned, he wouldknow the name of his future wife, for they would be the same. 

Lead is melted, and poured through a key or a ring into cold water. The form each spoonful takes in cooling indicates the occupationof the future husband of the girl who poured it. 

 "Now something like a horse would cause the jubilant maiden to call out, 'A dragoon!' Now some dim resemblance to a helmet would suggest a handsome member of the mounted police; or a round object with a spike would seem a ship, and this of course meant a sailor; or a cow would suggest a cattle-dealer, or a plough a farmer. "

 SHARP: _Threefold Chronicle. _

After the future had been searched, a piper played a jig, to whichall danced merrily with a loud noise to scare away the evilspirits. 

Just before midnight was the time to go out "alone and unperceived"to a south-running brook, dip a shirt-sleeve in it, bring it homeand hang it by the fire to dry. One must go to bed, but watch tillmidnight for a sight of the destined mate who would come to turnthe shirt to dry the other side. 

Ashes were raked smooth on the hearth at bedtime on Hallowe'en, andthe next morning examined for footprints. If one was turned fromthe door, guests or a marriage was prophesied; if toward the door, a death. 

To have prophetic dreams a girl should search for a briar growninto a hoop, creep through thrice in the name of the devil, cut itin silence, and go to bed with it under her pillow. A boy shouldcut ten ivy leaves, throw away one and put the rest under his headbefore he slept. 

If a girl leave beside her bed a glass of water with a sliver ofwood in it, and say before she falls asleep:

 "Husband mine that is to be, Come this night and rescue me, "

she will dream of falling off a bridge into the water, and of beingsaved at the last minute by the spirit of her future husband. Toreceive a drink from his hand she must eat a cake of flour, soot, and salt before she goes to bed. 

The Celtic spirit of yearning for the unknown, retained nowhereelse as much as in Ireland, is expressed very beautifully by thepoet Yeats in the introduction to his _Celtic Twilight_. 

 "The host is riding from Knocknarea And over the grave of Clooth-na-bare; Caolte tossing his burning hair, And Niam calling: 'Away, come away;

 "'And brood no more where the fire is bright, Filling thy heart with a mortal dream; For breasts are heaving and eyes a-gleam: Away, come away to the dim twilight

 "'Arms are heaving and lips apart; And if any gaze on our rushing band, We come between him and the deed of his hand, We come between him and the hope of his heart. '

 "The host is rushing twixt night and day, And where is there hope or deed as fair? Caolte tossing his burning hair, And Niam calling: 'Away, come away. '"

CHAPTER VIII

IN SCOTLAND AND THE HEBRIDES

As in Ireland the Scotch Baal festival of November was calledSamhain. Western Scotland, lying nearest Tara, center alike ofpagan and Christian religion in Ireland, was colonized by both thepeople and the customs of eastern Ireland. 

The November Eve fires which in Ireland either died out or werereplaced by candles were continued in Scotland. In Buchan, wherewas the altar-source of the Samhain fire, bonfires were lighted onhilltops in the eighteenth century; and in Moray the idea of firesof thanksgiving for harvest was kept to as late as 1866. Allthrough the eighteenth century in the Highlands and in Perthshiretorches of heath, broom, flax, or ferns were carried about thefields and villages by each family, with the intent to cause goodcrops in succeeding years. The course about the fields was sunwise, to have a good influence. Brought home at dark, the torches werethrown down in a heap, and made a fire. This blaze was called"Samhnagan, " "of rest and pleasure. " There was much competition tohave the largest fire. Each person put in one stone to make acircle about it. The young people ran about with burning brands. Supper was eaten out-of-doors, and games played. After the fire hadburned out, ashes were raked over the stones. In the morning eachsought his pebble, and if he found it misplaced, harmed, or afootprint marked near it in the ashes, he believed he should die ina year. 

In Aberdeenshire boys went about the villages saying: "Ge's a peatt' burn the witches. " They were thought to be out stealing milk andharming cattle. Torches used to counteract them were carried fromwest to east, against the sun. This ceremony grew into a game, whena fire was built by one party, attacked by another, and defended. As in the May fires of purification the lads lay down in the smokeclose by, or ran about and jumped over the flames. As the fun grewwilder they flung burning peats at each other, scattered the asheswith their feet, and hurried from one fire to another to have apart in scattering as many as possible before they died out. 

In 1874, at Balmoral, a royal celebration of Hallowe'en wasrecorded. Royalty, tenants, and servants bore torches through thegrounds and round the estates. In front of the castle was a heap ofstuff saved for the occasion. The torches were thrown on. When thefire was burning its liveliest, a hobgoblin appeared, drawing in acar the figure of a witch, surrounded by fairies carrying lances. The people formed a circle about the fire, and the witch was tossedin. Then there were dances to the music of bag-pipes. 

It was the time of year when servants changed masters or signed upanew under the old ones. They might enjoy a holiday before resumingwork. So they sang:

 "This is Hallaeven, The morn is Halladay; Nine free nichts till Martinmas, As soon they'll wear away. "

Children born on Hallowe'en could see and converse withsupernatural powers more easily than others. In Ireland, evilrelations caused Red Mike's downfall (q. V. ). For Scotland MaryAvenel, in Scott's _Monastery_, is the classic example. 

 "And touching the bairn, it's weel kenn'd she was born on Hallowe'en, and they that are born on Hallowe'en whiles see mair than ither folk. "

There is no hint of dark relations, but rather of aclear-sightedness which lays bare truths, even those concealed inmen's breasts. Mary Avenel sees the spirit of her father after hehas been dead for years. The White Lady of Avenel is her peculiarguardian. 

The Scottish Border, where Mary lived, is the seat of manysuperstitions and other worldly beliefs. The fairies of Scotlandare more terrible than those of Ireland, as the dells and streamsand woods are of greater grandeur, and the character of the peoplemore serious. It is unlucky to name the fairies, here as elsewhere, except by such placating titles as "Good Neighbors" or "Men ofPeace. " Rowan, elm, and holly are a protection against them. 

 "I have tied red thread round the bairns' throats, and given ilk ane of them a riding-wand of rowan-tree, forbye sewing up a slip of witch-elm into their doublets; and I wish to know of your reverence if there be onything mair that a lone woman can do in the matter of ghosts and fairies?--be here! that I should have named their unlucky names twice ower!"

 SCOTT: _Monastery. _

"The sign of the cross disarmeth all evil spirits. "

These spirits of the air have not human feelings or motives. Theyare conscienceless. In this respect Peter Pan is an immortal fairyas well as an immortal child. While like a child he resentsinjustice in horrified silence, like a fairy he acts with no senseof responsibility. When he saves Wendy's brother from falling asthey fly, "You felt it was his cleverness that interested him, and not the saving of human life. "

 BARRIE: _Peter and Wendy. _

The world in which Peter lived was so near the Kensington Gardensthat he could see them through the bridge as he sat on the shore ofthe Neverland. Yet for a long time he could not get to them. 

Peter is a fairy piper who steals away the souls of children. 

 "No man alive has seen me, But women hear me play, Sometimes at door or window, Fiddling the souls away-- The child's soul and the colleen's Out of the covering clay. "

 HOPPER: _Fairy Fiddler. _

On Hallowe'en all traditional spirits are abroad. The Scotchinvented the idea of a "Samhanach, " a goblin who comes out just at"Samhain. " It is he who in Ireland steals children. The fairiespass at crossroads, "But the night is Hallowe'en, lady, The morn is Hallowday; Then win me, win me, and ye will, For weel I wot ye may. 

 "Just at the mirk and midnight hour The fairy folk will ride. And they that wad their true-love win, At Miles Cross they maun bide. "

 _Ballad of Tam Lin. _

and in the Highlands whoever took a three-legged stool to wherethree crossroads met, and sat upon it at midnight, would hear thenames of those who were to die in a year. He might bring with himarticles of dress, and as each name was pronounced throw onegarment to the fairies. They would be so pleased by this gift thatthey would repeal the sentence of death. 

Even people who seemed to be like their neighbors every day couldfor this night fly away and join the other beings in their revels. 

 "This is the nicht o' Hallowe'en When a' the witchie may be seen; Some o' them black, some o' them green, Some o' them like a turkey bean. "

A witches' party was conducted in this way. The wretched women whohad sold their souls to the Devil, left a stick in bed which byevil means was made to have their likeness, and, anointed with thefat of murdered babies flew off up the chimney on a broomstick withcats attendant. Burns tells the story of a company of witchespulling ragwort by the roadside, getting each astride her ragwortwith the summons "Up horsie!" and flying away. 

 "The hag is astride This night for a ride, The devils and she together: Through thick and through thin, Now out and now in, Though ne'er so foul be the weather. 

 * * * * *

 "A thorn or a burr She takes for a spur, With a lash of the bramble she rides now. Through brake and through briers, O'er ditches and mires, She follows the spirit that guides now. "

 HERRICK: _The Hag. _

The meeting-place was arranged by the Devil, who sometimes rodethere on a goat. At their supper no bread or salt was eaten; theydrank out of horses' skulls, and danced, sometimes back to back, sometimes from west to east, for the dances at the ancient Baalfestivals were from east to west, and it was evil and ill-omened tomove the other way. For this dance the Devil played a bag-pipe madeof a hen's skull and cats' tails. 

 "There sat Auld Nick, in shape o' beast; A tousie tyke, black, grim, and large, To gie them music was his charge: He screw'd the pipes and gart them skirl, Till roof and rafters a' did dirl. "[1]

 BURNS: _Tam o' Shanter. _

[1] Ring. 

The light for the revelry came from a torch flaring between thehorns of the Devil's steed the goat, and at the close the asheswere divided for the witches to use in incantations. Peopleimagined that cats who had been up all night on Hallowe'en weretired out the next morning. 

Tam o' Shanter who was watching such a dance

 "By Alloway's auld haunted kirk"

in Ayrshire, could not resist calling out at the antics of aneighbor whom he recognized, and was pursued by the witches. Heurged his horse to top-speed, "Now do thy speedy utmost, Meg, And win the key-stane of the brig; There at them thou thy tail may toss, A running stream they dare na cross!"

 BURNS: _Tam o' Shanter. _

but poor Meg had no tail thereafter to toss at them, for though shesaved her rider, she was only her tail's length beyond the middleof the bridge when the foremost witch grasped it and seared it toa stub. 

Such witches might be questioned about the past or future. 

 "He that dare sit on St. Swithin's Chair, When the Night-Hag wings the troubled air, Questions three, when he speaks the spell, He may ask, and she must tell. "

 SCOTT: _St. Swithin's Chair. _

Children make of themselves bogies on this evening, carrying thelargest turnips they can save from harvest, hollowed out and carvedinto the likeness of a fearsome face, with teeth and foreheadblacked, and lighted by a candle fastened inside. 

If the spirit of a person simply appears without being summoned, and the person is still alive, it means that he is in danger. If hecomes toward the one to whom he appears the danger is over. If heseems to go away, he is dying. 

An apparition from the future especially is sought on Hallowe'en. It is a famous time for divination in love affairs. A typicaleighteenth century party in western Scotland is described by RobertBurns. 

Cabbages are important in Scotch superstition. Children believethat if they pile cabbage-stalks round the doors and windows of thehouse, the fairies will bring them a new brother or sister. 

 "And often when in his old-fashioned way He questioned me, . .. Who made the stars? and if within his hand He caught and held one, would his fingers burn? If I, the gray-haired dominie, was dug From out a cabbage-garden such as he Was found in----"

 BUCHANAN: _Willie Baird. _

Kale-pulling came first on the program in Burns's _Hallowe'en_. Just the single and unengaged went out hand in hand blindfolded tothe cabbage-garden. They pulled the first stalk they came upon, brought it back to the house, and were unbandaged. The size andshape of the stalk indicated the appearance of the future husbandor wife. 

 "Maybe you would rather not pull a stalk that was tall and straight and strong--that would mean Alastair? Maybe you would rather find you had got hold of a withered old stump with a lot of earth at the root--a decrepit old man with plenty of money in the bank? Or maybe you are wishing for one that is slim and supple and not so tall--for one that might mean Johnnie Semple. "

 BLACK: _Hallowe'en Wraith. _

A close white head meant an old husband, an open green head a youngone. His disposition would be like the taste of the stem. Todetermine his name, the stalks were hung over the door, and thenumber of one's stalk in the row noted. If Jessie put hers up thirdfrom the beginning, and the third man who passed through thedoorway under it was named Alan, her husband's first name would beAlan. This is practised only a little now among farmers. It hasspecial virtue if the cabbage has been stolen from the garden of anunmarried person. 

Sometimes the pith of a cabbage-stalk was pushed out, the holefilled with tow, which was set afire and blown through keyholes onHallowe'en. 

 "Their runts clean through and through were bored, And stuffed with raivelins fou, And like a chimley when on fire Each could the reek outspue. 

 "Jock through the key-hole sent a cloud That reached across the house, While in below the door reek rushed Like water through a sluice. "

 DICK: _Splores of a Hallowe'en. _

Cabbage-broth was a regular dish at the Hallowe'en feast. Mashedpotatoes, as in Ireland, or a dish of meal and milk holds symbolicobjects--a ring, a thimble, and a coin. In the cake are baked aring and a key. The ring signifies to the possessor marriage, andthe key a journey. 

Apple-ducking is still a universal custom in Scotland. A sixpenceis sometimes dropped into the tub or stuck into an apple to makethe reward greater. The contestants must keep their hands behindtheir backs. 

Nuts are put before the fire in pairs, instead of by threes as inIreland, and named for a lover and his lass. If they burn to ashestogether, long happy married life is destined for the lovers. Ifthey crackle or start away from each other, dissension andseparation are ahead. 

 "Jean slips in twa, wi' tentie[1] e'e; Wha 't was, she wadna tell; But this is _Jock_, an' this is _me_, She says in to hersel; He bleez'd owre her, an' she owre him, As they wad never mair part; Till fuff! he started up the lum, [2] And Jean had e'en a sair heart To see't that night. "

 BURNS: _Hallowe'en. _

[1] Careful. 

[2] Chimney. 

Three "luggies, " bowls with handles like the Druid lamps, werefilled, one with clean, one with dirty water, and one left empty. The person wishing to know his fate in marriage was blindfolded, turned about thrice, and put down his left hand. If he dipped itinto the clean water, he would marry a maiden; if into the dirty, awidow; if into the empty dish, not at all. He tried until he gotthe same result twice. The dishes were changed about each time. 

This spell still remains, as does that of hemp-seed sowing. Onegoes out alone with a handful of hemp-seed, sows it across ridgesof ploughed land, and harrows it with anything convenient, perhapswith a broom. Having said:

 "Hemp-seed, I saw thee, An' her that is to be my lass Come after me an' draw thee----"

 BURNS: _Hallowe'en. _

he looks behind him to see his sweetheart gathering hemp. Thisshould be tried just at midnight with the moon behind. 

 "At even o' Hallowmas no sleep I sought, But to the field a bag of hemp-seed brought. I scattered round the seed on every side, And three times three in trembling accents cried, 'This hemp-seed with my virgin hand I sow, Who shall my true-love be, the crop shall mow. '"

 GAY: _Pastorals. _

A spell that has been discontinued is throwing the clue of blueyarn into the kiln-pot, instead of out of the window, as inIreland. As it is wound backward, something holds it. The windermust ask, "Wha hauds?" to hear the name of her future sweetheart. 

 "An' ay she win't, an' ay she swat-- I wat she made nae jaukin; Till something held within the pat, Guid Lord! but she was quakin! But whether 't was the Deil himsel, Or whether 't was a bauk-en'[1] Or whether it was Andrew Bell, She did na wait on talkin To speir[2] that night. "

 BURNS: _Hallowe'en. _

[1] Cross-beam. 

[2] Ask. 

Another spell not commonly tried now is winnowing three measures ofimaginary corn, as one stands in the barn alone with both doorsopen to let the spirits that come in go out again freely. As onefinishes the motions, the apparition of the future husband willcome in at one door and pass out at the other. 

 "'I had not winnowed the last weight clean out, and the moon was shining bright upon the floor, when in stalked the presence of my dear Simon Glendinning, that is now happy. I never saw him plainer in my life than I did that moment; he held up an arrow as he passed me, and I swarf'd awa' wi' fright. .. . But mark the end o' 't, Tibb: we were married, and the grey-goose wing was the death o' him after a'. '"

 SCOTT: _The Monastery. _

At times other prophetic appearances were seen. 

 "Just as she was at the wark, what does she see in the moonlicht but her ain coffin moving between the doors instead of the likeness of a gudeman! and as sure's death she was in her coffin before the same time next year. "

 ANON: _Tale of Hallowe'en. _

Formerly a stack of beans, oats, or barley was measured round withthe arms against sun. At the end of the third time the arms wouldenclose the vision of the future husband or wife. 

Kale-pulling, apple-snapping, and lead-melting (see Ireland) aresocial rites, but many were to be tried alone and in secret. AHighland divination was tried with a shoe, held by the tip, andthrown over the house. The person will journey in the direction thetoe points out. If it falls sole up, it means bad luck. 

Girls would pull a straw each out of a thatch in Broadsea, andwould take it to an old woman in Fraserburgh. The seeress wouldbreak the straw and find within it a hair the color of thelover's-to-be. Blindfolded they plucked heads of oats, and countedthe number of grains to find out how many children they would have. If the tip was perfect, not broken or gone, they would be marriedhonorably. 

Another way of determining the number of children was to drop thewhite of an egg into a glass of water. The number of divisions wasthe number sought. White of egg is held with water in the mouth, like the grains of oats in Ireland, while one takes a walk to hearmentioned the name of his future wife. Names are written on papers, and laid upon the chimney-piece. Fate guides the hand of ablindfolded man to the slip which bears his sweetheart's name. 

A Hallowe'en mirror is made by the rays of the moon shining into alooking-glass. If a girl goes secretly into a room at midnightbetween October and November, sits down at the mirror, and cuts anapple into nine slices, holding each on the point of a knife beforeshe eats it, she may see in the moonlit glass the image of herlover looking over her left shoulder, and asking for the last pieceof apple. 

The wetting of the sark-sleeve in a south-running burn where "threelairds' lands meet, " and carrying it home to dry before the fire, was really a Scotch custom, but has already been described inIreland. 

 "The last Hallowe'en I was waukin[1] My droukit[2] sark-sleeve, as ye kin-- His likeness came up the house staukin, And the very grey breeks o' Tam Glen!"

 BURNS: _Tam Glen. _

[1] Watching. 

[2] Drenched. 

Just before breaking up, the crowd of young people partook ofsowens, oatmeal porridge cakes with butter, and strunt, a liquor, as they hoped for good luck throughout the year. 

The Hebrides, Scottish islands off the western coast, haveHallowe'en traditions of their own, as well as many borrowed fromIreland and Scotland. Barra, isolated near the end of the islandchain, still celebrates the Celtic days, Beltaine and November Eve. 

In the Hebrides is the Irish custom of eating on Hallowe'en a cakeof meal and salt, or a salt herring, bones and all, to dream ofsome one bringing a drink of water. Not a word must be spoken, nora drop of water drunk till the dream comes. 

In St. Kilda a large triangular cake is baked which must be alleaten up before morning. 

A curious custom that prevailed in the island of Lewis in theeighteenth century was the worship of Shony, a sea-god with a Norsename. His ceremonies were similar to those paid to Saman inIreland, but more picturesque. Ale was brewed at church from maltbrought collectively by the people. One took a cupful in his hand, and waded out into the sea up to his waist, saying as he poured itout: "Shony, I give you this cup of ale, hoping that you'll be sokind as to send us plenty of sea-ware, for enriching our ground theensuing year. " The party returned to the church, waited for a givensignal when a candle burning on the altar was blown out. Then theywent out into the fields, and drank ale with dance and song. 

The "dumb cake" originated in Lewis. Girls were each apportioned asmall piece of dough, mixed with any but spring water. They kneadedit with their left thumbs, in silence. Before midnight they prickedinitials on them with a new pin, and put them by the fire to bake. The girls withdrew to the farther end of the room, still in silence. At midnight each lover was expected to enter and lay his hand onthe cake marked with his initials. 

In South Uist and Eriskay on Hallowe'en fairies are out, a sourceof terror to those they meet. 

 "Hallowe'en will come, will come, Witchcraft will be set a-going, Fairies will be at full speed, Running in every pass. Avoid the road, children, children. "

But for the most part this belief has died out on Scottish land, except near the Border, and Hallowe'en is celebrated only bystories and jokes and games, songs and dances. 

CHAPTER IX

IN ENGLAND AND MAN

Man especially has a treasury of fairy tradition, Celtic and Norsecombined. Manx fairies too dwell in the middle world, since theyare fit for neither heaven nor hell. Even now Manx people thinkthey see circles of light in the late October midnight, and littlefolk dancing within. 

Longest of all in Man was Sauin (Samhain) considered New Year'sDay. According to the old style of reckoning time it came onNovember 12. 

 "To-night is New Year's night. Hogunnaa!" _Mummers' Song. _

As in Scotland the servants' year ends with October. 

New Year tests for finding out the future were tried on Sauin. Tohear her sweetheart's name a girl took a mouthful of water and twohandfuls of salt, and sat down at a door. The first name she heardmentioned was the wished-for one. The three dishes proclaimed thefate of the blindfolded seeker as in Scotland. Each was blindfoldedand touched one of several significant objects--meal forprosperity, earth for death, a net for tangled fortunes. 

Before retiring each filled a thimble with salt, and emptied it outin a little mound on a plate, remembering his own. If any heap werefound fallen over by morning, the person it represented wasdestined to die in a year. The Manx looked for prints in thesmooth-strewn ashes on the hearth, as the Scotch did, and gave thesame interpretation. 

There had been Christian churches in Britain as early as 300 A. D. , and Christian missionaries, St. Ninian, Pelagius, and St. Patrick, were active in the next century, and in the course of time St. Augustine. Still the old superstitions persisted, as they always dowhen they have grown up with the people. 

King Arthur, who was believed to have reigned in the fifth century, may be a personification of the sun-god. He comes from theOtherworld, his magic sword Excalibur is brought thence to him, hefights twelve battles, in number like the months, and is wounded todeath by evil Modred, once his own knight. He passes in a boat, attended by his fairy sister and two other queens, "'To the island-valley of Avilion; Where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow, Nor ever wind blows loudly; but it lies Deep-meadowed, happy, fair with orchard-lawns And bowery hollows crown'd with summer sea----'"

 TENNYSON: _Passing of Arthur. _

The hope of being healed there is like that given to Cuchulain (q. V. ), to persuade him to visit the fairy kingdom. Arthur wasexpected to come again sometime, as the sun renews his course. Ashe disappeared from the sight of Bedivere, the last of his knights, "The new sun rose bringing the new year. "

 _Ibid. _

Avilion means "apple-island. " It was like the Hesperides of Greekmythology, the western islands where grew the golden apples ofimmortality. 

In Cornwall after the sixth century, the sun-god became St. Michael, and the eastern point where he appeared St. Michael'sseat. 

 "Where the great vision of the guarded mount Looks toward Namancos, and Bayona's hold. "

 MILTON: _Lycidas. _

As fruit to Pomona, so berries were devoted to fairies. They wouldnot let any one cut a blackthorn shoot on Hallowe'en. In Cornwallsloes and blackberries were considered unfit to eat after thefairies had passed by, because all the goodness was extracted. Sothey were eaten to heart's content on October 31st, and avoidedthereafter. Hazels, because they were thought to contain wisdom andknowledge, were also sacred. 

Besides leaving berries for the "Little People, " food was set outfor them on Hallowe'en, and on other occasions. They rewarded thishospitality by doing an extraordinary amount of work. 

 "--how the drudging goblin sweat To earn his cream-bowl duly set, When in one night, ere glimpse of morn, His shadowy flail hath threshed the corn That ten day-laborers could not end. Then lies him down the lubbar fiend, And stretcht out all the chimney's length Basks at the fire his hairy strength. "

 MILTON: _L'Allegro. _

Such sprites did not scruple to pull away the chair as one wasabout to sit down, to pinch, or even to steal children and leavechangelings in their places. The first hint of dawn drove them backto their haunts. 

 "When larks 'gin sing, Away we fling; And babes new borne steal as we go, And elfe in bed We leave instead, And wend us laughing, ho, ho, ho!"

 JONSON: _Robin Goodfellow. _

Soulless and without gratitude or memory spirits of the air may be, like Ariel in _The Tempest_. He, like the fairy harpers of Ireland, puts men to sleep with his music. 

 "_Sebastian. _ What, art thou waking?

 _Antonio. _ Do you not hear me speak?

 _Sebastian. _ I do; and, surely, It is a sleepy language; and thou speak'st Out of thy sleep: What is it thou didst say? This is a strange repose, to be asleep With eyes wide open; standing, speaking, moving, And yet so fast asleep. "

 SHAKSPERE: _The Tempest. _

The people of England, in common with those who lived in the othercountries of Great Britain and in Europe, dreaded the coming ofwinter not only on account of the cold and loneliness, but becausethey believed that at this time the powers of evil were abroad andascendant. This belief harked back to the old idea that the sun hadbeen vanquished by his enemies in the late autumn. It was to forgetthe fearful influences about them that the English kept festivalso much in the winter-time. The Lords of Misrule, leaders of therevelry, "beginning their rule on All Hallow Eve, continued thesame till the morrow after the Feast of the Purification, commonliecalled Candelmas day: In all of which space there were fine andsubtle disguisinges, Maskes, and Mummeries. " This was written ofKing Henry IV's court at Eltham, in 1401, and is true of centuriesbefore and after. They gathered about the fire and made merry whilethe October tempests whirled the leaves outside, and shrieked roundthe house like ghosts and demons on a mad carousal. 

 "The autumn wind--oh hear it howl: Without--October's tempests scowl, As he troops away on the raving wind! And leaveth dry leaves in his path behind. 

 * * * * *

 "'Tis the night--the night Of the graves' delight, And the warlock[1] are at their play!

 Ye think that without The wild winds shout, But no, it is they--it is they!"

 COXE: _Hallowe'en. _

[1] Devils. 

Witchcraft--the origin of which will be traced farther on--had astrong following in England. The three witches in _Macbeth_ arereally fates who foretell the future, but they have a kettle inwhich they boil

 "Fillet of a fenny snake, * * * * *

 Eye of newt, and toe of frog, Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, Adder's fork, and blindworm's sting, Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing, For a charm of powerful trouble----"

 SHAKSPERE: _Macbeth. _

They connect themselves thereby with those evil creatures whopursued Tam o' Shanter, and were servants of the Devil. In 1892 inLincolnshire, people believed that if they looked in through thechurch door on Hallowe'en they would see the Devil preaching hisdoctrines from the pulpit, and inscribing the names of new witchesin his book. 

The Spectre Huntsman, known in Windsor Forest as Herne the Hunter, and in Todmorden as Gabriel Ratchets, was the spirit of an ungodlyhunter who for his crimes was condemned to lead the chase till theJudgment Day. In a storm on Hallowe'en is heard the belling of hishounds. 

 "Still, still shall last the dreadful chase Till time itself shall have an end; By day they scour earth's cavern'd space, At midnight's witching hour, ascend. 

 "This is the horn, the hound, and horse, That oft the lated peasant hears: Appall'd, he signs the frequent cross, When the wild din invades his ears. "

 SCOTT: _Wild Huntsman. _

In the north of England Hallowe'en was called "nut-crack" and"snap-apple night. " It was celebrated by "young people andsweethearts. "

A variation of the nut test is, naming two for two lovers beforethey are put before the fire to roast. The unfaithful lover's nutcracks and jumps away, the loyal burns with a steady ardent flameto ashes. 

 "Two hazel-nuts I threw into the flame, And to each nut I gave a sweetheart's name. This with the loudest bounce me sore amaz'd, That in a flame of brightest color blaz'd; As blaz'd the nut, so may thy passion grow, For 't was thy nut that did so brightly glow. "

 GAY: _The Spell. _

If they jump toward each other, they will be rivals. If one of thenuts has been named for the girl and burns quietly with a lover'snut, they will live happily together. If they are restless, thereis trouble ahead. 

 "These glowing nuts are emblems true Of what in human life we view; The ill-matched couple fret and fume, And thus in strife themselves consume, Or from each other wildly start And with a noise forever part. But see the happy, happy pair Of genuine love and truth sincere;

 With mutual fondness, while they burn Still to each other kindly turn: And as the vital sparks decay, Together gently sink away. Till, life's fierce ordeal being past, Their mingled ashes rest at last. "

 GRAYDON: _On Nuts Burning, Allhallows Eve. _

Sometimes peas on a hot shovel are used instead. 

Down the centuries from the Druid tree-worship comes the spell ofthe walnut-tree. It is circled thrice, with the invocation: "Lether that is to be my true-love bring me some walnuts;" and directlya spirit will be seen in the tree gathering nuts. 

 "Last Hallow Eve I sought a walnut-tree, In hope my true Love's face that I might see; Three times I called, three times I walked apace; Then in the tree I saw my true Love's face. "

 GAY: _Pastorals. _

The seeds of apples were used in many trials. Two stuck on cheeksor eyelids indicated by the time they clung the faithfulness of thefriends named for them. 

 "See from the core two kernels brown I take: This on my cheek for Lubberkin is worn, And Booby Clod on t'other side is borne; But Booby Clod soon drops upon the ground, A certain token that his love's unsound; While Lubberkin sticks firmly to the last. Oh! were his lips to mine but joined so fast. "

 GAY: _Pastorals. _

In a tub float stemless apples, to be seized by the teeth of himdesirous of having his love returned. If he is successful inbringing up the apple, his love-affair will end happily. 

 "The rosy apple's bobbing Upon the mimic sea-- 'T is tricksy and elusive, And glides away from me. 

 "One moment it is dreaming Beneath the candle's glare, Then over wave and eddy It glances here and there. 

 "And when at last I capture The prize with joy aglow, I sigh, may I this sunshine Of golden rapture know

 "When I essay to gather In all her witchery Love's sweetest rosy apple On Love's uncertain sea. "

 MUNKITTRICK: _Hallowe'en Wish. _

An apple is peeled all in one piece, and the paring swung threetimes round the head and dropped behind the left shoulder. If itdoes not break, and is looked at over the shoulder it forms theinitial of the true sweetheart's name. 

 "I pare this pippin round and round again, My sweetheart's name to flourish on the plain: I fling the unbroken paring o'er my head. A perfect 'L' upon the ground is read. "

 GAY: _Pastorals. _

In the north of England was a unique custom, "the scadding ofpeas. " A pea-pod was slit, a bean pushed inside, and the openingclosed again. The full pods were boiled, and apportioned to beshelled and the peas eaten with butter and salt. The one findingthe bean on his plate would be married first. Gay records anothertest with peas which is like the final trial made with kale-stalks. 

 "As peascods once I plucked I chanced to see One that was closely filled with three times three; Which when I crop'd, I safely home convey'd, And o'er the door the spell in secret laid;-- The latch moved up, when who should first come in, But in his proper person--Lubberkin. "

 GAY: _Pastorals. _

Candles, relics of the sacred fire, play an important parteverywhere on Hallowe'en. In England too the lighted candle and theapple were fastened to the stick, and as it whirled, each person inturn sprang up and tried to bite the apple. 

 "Or catch th' elusive apple with a bound, As with the taper it flew whizzing round. "

This was a rough game, more suited to boys' frolic than the ghostlydivinations that preceded it. Those with energy to spare foundmaterial to exercise it on. In an old book there is a picture of ayouth sitting on a stick placed across two stools. On one end ofthe stick is a lighted candle from which he is trying to lightanother in his hand. Beneath is a tub of water to receive him if heover-balances sideways. These games grew later into practicaljokes. 

The use of a goblet may perhaps come from the story of "The Luck ofEdenhall, " a glass stolen from the fairies, and holding ruin forthe House by whom it was stolen, if it should ever be broken. Withring and goblet this charm was tried: the ring, symbol of marriage, was suspended by a hair within a glass, and a name spelled out bybeginning the alphabet over each time the ring struck the glass. 

When tired of activity and noise, the party gathered about astory-teller, or passed a bundle of fagots from hand to hand, eachselecting one and reciting an installment of the tale till hisstick burned to ashes. 

 "I tell ye the story this chill Hallowe'en, For it suiteth the spirit-eve. "

 COXE: _Hallowe'en. _

To induce prophetic dreams the wood-and-water test was tried inEngland also. 

 "Last Hallow Eve I looked my love to see, And tried a spell to call her up to me. With wood and water standing by my side I dreamed a dream, and saw my own sweet bride. "

 GAY: _Pastorals. _

Though Hallowe'en is decidedly a country festival, in theseventeenth century young gentlemen in London chose a Master of theRevels, and held masques and dances with their friends on thisnight. 

In central and southern England the ecclesiastical side ofHallowtide is stressed. 

Bread or cake has till recently (1898) been as much a part ofHallowe'en preparations as plum pudding at Christmas. Probably thisoriginated from an autumn baking of bread from the new grain. InYorkshire each person gets a triangular seed-cake, and the eveningis called "cake night. "

 "Wife, some time this weeke, if the wether hold cleere, An end of wheat-sowing we make for this yeare. Remember you, therefore, though I do it not, The seed-cake, the Pasties, and Furmentie-pot. "

 TUSSER: _Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry_, 1580. 

Cakes appear also at the vigil of All Souls', the next day. At agathering they lie in a heap for the guests to take. In return theyare supposed to say prayers for the dead. 

 "A Soule-cake, a Soule-cake; have mercy on all Christen souls for a Soule-cake. "

 _Old Saying. _

The poor in Staffordshire and Shropshire went about singing forsoul-cakes or money, promising to pray and to spend the alms inmasses for the dead. The cakes were called Soul-mass or "somas"cakes. 

 "Soul! Soul! for a soul-cake; Pray, good mistress, for a soul-cake. One for Peter, two for Paul, Three for them who made us all. "

 _Notes and Queries. _

In Dorsetshire Hallowe'en was celebrated by the ringing of bells inmemory of the dead. King Henry VIII and later Queen Elizabethissued commands against this practice. 

In Lancashire in the early nineteenth century people used to goabout begging for candles to drive away the gatherings of witches. If the lights were kept burning till midnight, no evil influencecould remain near. 

In Derbyshire, central England, torches of straw were carried aboutthe stacks on All Souls' Eve, not to drive away evil spirits, as inScotland, but to light souls through Purgatory. 

Like the Bretons, the English have the superstition that the deadreturn on Hallowe'en. 

 "'Why do you wait at your door, woman, Alone in the night?' 'I am waiting for one who will come, stranger, To show him a light. He will see me afar on the road, And be glad at the sight. '

 "'Have you no fear in your heart, woman, To stand there alone? There is comfort for you and kindly content Beside the hearthstone. ' But she answered, 'No rest can I have Till I welcome my own. '

 "'Is it far he must travel to-night, This man of your heart?' 'Strange lands that I know not, and pitiless seas Have kept us apart, And he travels this night to his home Without guide, without chart. '

 "'And has he companions to cheer him?' 'Aye, many, ' she said. 'The candles are lighted, the hearthstones are swept, The fires glow red. We shall welcome them out of the night-- Our home-coming dead. '"

 LETTS: _Hallowe'en. _

[Illustration: THE WITCH OF THE WALNUT-TREE. ]

CHAPTER X

IN WALES

In Wales the custom of fires persisted from the time of the Druidfestival-days longer than in any other place. First sacrifices wereburned in them; then instead of being burned to death, thecreatures merely passed through the fire; and with the rise ofChristianity fire was thought to be a protection against the evilpower of the same gods. 

Pontypridd, in South Wales, was the Druid religious center ofWales. It is still marked by a stone circle and an altar on a hill. In after years it was believed that the stones were people changedto that form by the power of a witch. 

In North Wales the November Eve fire, which each family built inthe most prominent place near the house, was called Coel Coeth. Into the dying fire each member of the family threw a white stonemarked so that he could recognize it again. Circling about the firehand-in-hand they said their prayers and went to bed. In themorning each searched for his stone, and if he could not find it, he believed that he would die within the next twelve months. Thisis still credited. There is now the custom also of watching thefires till the last spark dies, and instantly rushing down hill, "the devil (or the cutty black sow) take the hindmost. " ACardiganshire proverb says:

 "A cutty[1] black sow On every stile, Spinning and carding Every Allhallows' Eve. "

[1] Short-tailed. 

November Eve was called "Nos-Galan-Gaeof, " the night of the winterCalends, that is, the night before the first day of winter. To theWelsh it was New Year's Eve. 

Welsh fairy tradition resembles that in the near-by countries. There is an old story of a man who lay down to sleep inside afairy ring, a circle of greener grass where the fairies danced bynight. The fairies carried him away and kept him seven years, andafter he had been rescued from them he would neither eat nor speak. 

In the sea was the Otherworld, a

 "Green fairy island reposing In sunlight and beauty on ocean's calm breast. "

 PARRY: _Welsh Melodies. _

This was the abode of the Druids, and hence of all supernaturalbeings, who were

 "Something betwixt heaven and hell, Something that neither stood nor fell. "

 SCOTT: _The Monastery. _

As in other countries the fairies or pixies are to be met atcrossroads, where happenings, such as funerals, may be witnessedweeks before they really occur. 

At the Hallow Eve supper parsnips and cakes are eaten, and nuts andapples roasted. A "puzzling jug" holds the ale. In the rim arethree holes that seem merely ornamental. They are connected withthe bottom of the jug by pipes through the handle, and theunwitting toper is well drenched unless he is clever enough to seethat he must stop up two of the holes, and drink through the third. 

Spells are tried in Wales too with apples and nuts. There isducking and snapping for apples. Nuts are thrown into the fire, denoting prosperity if they blaze brightly, misfortune if they pop, or smoulder and turn black. 

 "Old Pally threw on a nut. It flickered and then blazed up. Maggee tossed one into the fire. It smouldered and gave no light. "

 MARKS: _All-Hallows Honeymoon. _

Fate is revealed by the three luggies and the ball of yarn thrownout of the window: Scotch and Irish charms. The leek takes theplace of the cabbage in Scotland. Since King Cadwallo decorated hissoldiers with leeks for their valor in a battle by a leek-garden, they have been held in high esteem in Wales. A girl sticks a knifeamong leeks at Hallowe'en, and walks backward out of the garden. She returns later to find that her future husband has picked up theknife and thrown it into the center of the leek-bed. 

Taking two long-stemmed roses, a girl goes to her room in silence. She twines the stems together, naming one for her sweetheart andthe other for herself, and thinking this rhyme:

 "Twine, twine, and intertwine. Let his love be wholly mine. If his heart be kind and true, Deeper grow his rose's hue. "

She can see, by watching closely, her lover's rose grow darker. 

The sacred ash figures in one charm. The party of young people seekan even-leaved sprig of ash. The first who finds one calls out"cyniver. " If a boy calls out first, the first girl who findsanother perfect shoot bears the name of the boy's future wife. 

Dancing and singing to the music of the harp close the evening. 

Instead of leaving stones in the fire to determine who are to die, people now go to church to see by the light of a candle held in thehand the spirits of those marked for death, or to hear the namescalled. The wind "blowing over the feet of the corpses" howls aboutthe doors of those who will not be alive next Hallowe'en. 

On the Eve of All Souls' Day, twenty-four hours after Hallowe'en, children in eastern Wales go from house to house singing for

 "An apple or a pear, a plum or a cherry, Or any good thing to make us merry. "

It is a time when charity is given freely to the poor. On thisnight and the next day, fires are burned, as in England, to lightsouls through Purgatory, and prayers are made for a good wheatharvest next year by the Welsh, who keep the forms of religion verydevoutly. 

CHAPTER XI

IN BRITTANY AND FRANCE

The Celts had been taught by their priests that the soul isimmortal. When the body died the spirit passed instantly intoanother existence in a country close at hand. We remember that theOtherworld of the British Isles, peopled by the banished Tuatha andall superhuman beings, was either in caves in the earth, as inIreland, or in an island like the English Avalon. By giving amortal one of their magic apples to eat, fairies could entice himwhither they would, and at last away into their country. 

In the Irish story of Nera (q. V. ), the corpse of the criminal isthe cause of Nera's being lured into the cave. So the dead have thesame power as fairies, and live in the same place. On May Eve andNovember Eve the dead and the fairies hold their revels togetherand make excursions together. If a young person died, he was saidto be called away by the fairies. The Tuatha may not have been arace of gods, but merely the early Celts, who grew to godlikeproportions as the years raised a mound of lore and legends fortheir pedestal. So they might really be only the dead, and not ofsuperhuman nature. 

In the fourth century A. D. , the men of England were hard pressedby the Picts and Scots from the northern border, and were helped intheir need by the Teutons. When this tribe saw the fair country ofthe Britons they decided to hold it for themselves. After they haddriven out the northern tribes, in the fifth century, when KingArthur was reigning in Cornwall, they drove out those whose causethey had fought. So the Britons were scattered to the mountains ofWales, to Cornwall, and across the Channel to Armorica, a part ofFrance, which they named Brittany after their home-land. In lowerBrittany, out of the zone of French influence, a language somethinglike Welsh or old British is still spoken, and many of the Celticbeliefs were retained more untouched than in Britain, not clear ofpaganism till the seventeenth century. Here especially didChristianity have to adapt the old belief to her own ends. 

Gaul, as we have seen from Cæsar's account, had been one of thechief seats of Druidical belief. The religious center was Carnutes, now Chartrain. The rites of sacrifice survived in the same forms asin the British Isles. In the fields of Deux-Sèvres fires were builtof stubble, ferns, leaves, and thorns, and the people danced aboutthem and burned nuts in them. On St. John's Day animals were burnedin the fires to secure the cattle from disease. This was continueddown into the seventeenth century. 

The pagan belief that lasted the longest in Brittany, and is by nomeans dead yet, was the cult of the dead. Cæsar said that the Celtsof Gaul traced their ancestry from the god of death, whom he calledDispater. Now figures of l'Ankou, a skeleton armed with a spear, can be seen in most villages of Brittany. This mindfulness ofdeath was strengthened by the sight of the prehistoric cairns ofstones on hilltops, the ancient altars of the Druids, and dolmens, formed of one flat rock resting like a roof on two others set up onend with a space between them, ancient tombs; and by the Bretonsbeing cut off from the rest of France by the nature of the country, and shut in among the uplands, black and misty in November, andblown over by chill Atlantic winds. Under a seeming dullindifference and melancholy the Bretons conceal a livelyimagination, and no place has a greater wealth of legendaryliterature. 

What fairies, dwarfs, pixies, and the like are to the Celts ofother places, the spirits of the dead are to the Celts of Brittany. They possess the earth on Christmas, St. John's Day, and AllSaints'. In Finistère, that western point of France, there is asaying that on the Eve of All Souls' "there are more dead in everyhouse than sands on the shore. " The dead have the power to charmmortals and take them away, and to foretell the future. They mustnot be spoken of directly, any more than the fairies of theScottish border, or met with, for fear of evil results. 

By the Bretons of the sixth century the near-by island of Britain, which they could just see on clear days, was called the Otherworld. An historian, Procopius, tells how the people nearest Britain wereexempted from paying tribute to the Franks, because they weresubject to nightly summons to ferry the souls of the dead across intheir boats, and deliver them into the hands of the keeper ofsouls. Farther inland a black bog seemed to be the entrance to anotherworld underground. One location which combined the ideas of anisland and a cave was a city buried in the sea. The people imaginedthey could hear the bells of Ker-Is ringing, and joyous musicsounding, for though this was a city of the dead, it resembled thefairy palaces of Ireland, and was ruled by King Grallon and hisfair daughter Dahut, who could lure mortals away by her beauty andenchantments. 

The approach of winter is believed to drive like the flocks, thesouls of the dead from their cold cheerless graves to the food andwarmth of home. This is why November Eve, the night before thefirst day of winter, was made sacred to them. 

 "When comes the harvest of the year Before the scythe the wheat will fall. "

 BOTREL: _Songs of Brittany. _

The harvest-time reminded the Bretons of the garnering by thatreaper, Death. On November Eve milk is poured on graves, feasts andcandles set out on the tables, and fires lighted on the hearths towelcome the spirits of departed kinsfolk and friends. 

In France from the twelfth to the fourteenth century stonebuildings like lighthouses were erected in cemeteries. They weretwenty or thirty feet high, with lanterns on top. On Hallowe'enthey were kept burning to safeguard the people from the fear ofnight-wandering spirits and the dead, so they were called"lanternes des morts. "

The cemetery is the social center of the Breton village. It is atonce meeting-place, playground, park, and church. The tombs thatoutline the hills make the place seem one vast cemetery. On AllSouls' Eve in the mid-nineteenth century the "procession of tombs"was held. All formed a line and walked about the cemetery, callingthe names of those who were dead, as they approached theirresting-places. The record was carefully remembered, so that notone should seem to be forgotten. 

"We live with our dead, " say the Bretons. First on the Eve of AllSouls' comes the religious service, "black vespers. " Theblessedness of death is praised, the sorrows and shortness of lifedwelt upon. After a common prayer all go out to the cemetery topray separately, each by the graves of his kin, or to the "place ofbones, " where the remains of those long dead are thrown alltogether in one tomb. They can be seen behind gratings, by thepeople as they pass, and rows of skulls at the sides of theentrance can be touched. In these tombs are Latin inscriptionsmeaning: "Remember thou must die, " "To-day to me, and to-morrow tothee, " and others reminding the reader of his coming death. 

From the cemetery the people go to a house or an inn which is thegathering-place for the night, singing or talking loudly on theroad to warn the dead who are hastening home, lest they may meet. Reunions of families take place on this night, in the spirit of theRoman feast of the dead, the Feralia, of which Ovid wrote:

 "After the visit to the tombs and to the ancestors who are no longer with us, it is pleasant to turn towards the living; after the loss of so many, it is pleasant to behold those who remain of our blood, and to reckon up the generations of our descendants. "

 _Fasti. _

A toast is drunk to the memory of the departed. The men sit aboutthe fireplace smoking or weaving baskets; the women apart, knittingor spinning by the light of the fire and one candle. The childrenplay with their gifts of apples and nuts. As the hour grows later, and mysterious noises begin to be heard about the house, and acurtain sways in a draught, the thoughts of the company alreadycentred upon the dead find expression in words, and each has a taleto tell of an adventure with some friend or enemy who has died. 

The dead are thought to take up existence where they left it off, working at the same trades, remembering their old debts, likes anddislikes, even wearing the same clothes they wore in life. Most ofthem stay not in some distant, definite Otherworld, but frequentthe scenes of their former life. They never trespass upon daylight, and it is dangerous to meet them at night, because they are veryready to punish any slight to their memory, such as selling theirpossessions or forgetting the hospitality due them. L'Ankou willcome to get a supply of shavings if the coffins are not lined withthem to make a softer resting-place for the dead bodies. 

The lively Celtic imagination turns the merest coincidence into anencounter with a spirit, and the poetic temperament of thenarrators clothes the stories with vividness and mystery. They tellhow the presence of a ghost made the midsummer air so cold thateven wood did not burn, and of groans and footsteps underground aslong as the ghost is displeased with what his relatives are doing. 

Just before midnight a bell-man goes about the streets to givewarning of the hour when the spirits will arrive. 

 "They will sit where we sat, and will talk of us as we talked of them: in the gray of the morning only will they go away. "

 LE BRAZ: _Night of the Dead. _

The supper for the souls is then set out. The poor who live in themountains have only black corn, milk, and smoked bacon to offer, but it is given freely. Those who can afford it spread on a whitecloth dishes of clotted milk, hot pancakes, and mugs of cider. 

After all have retired to lie with both eyes shut tight lest theysee one of the guests, death-singers make their rounds, chantingunder the windows:

 "You are comfortably lying in your bed, But with the poor dead it is otherwise; You are stretched softly in your bed While the poor souls are wandering abroad. 

 "A white sheet and five planks, A bundle of straw beneath the head, Five feet of earth above Are all the worldly goods we own. "

 LE BRAZ: _Night of the Dead. _

The tears of their deserted friends disturb the comfort of thedead, and sometimes they appear to tell those in sorrow that theirshrouds are always wet from the tears shed on their graves. 

Wakened by the dirge of the death-singers the people rise and prayfor the souls of the departed. 

Divination has little part in the annals of the evening, but one inFinistère is recorded. Twenty-five new needles are laid in a dish, and named, and water is poured upon them. Those who cross areenemies. 

In France is held a typical Continental celebration of All Saints'and All Souls'. On October 31st the children go asking for flowersto decorate the graves, and to adorn the church. At night bellsring to usher in All Saints'. On the day itself the churches aredecorated gaily with flowers, candles, and banners, and a specialservice is held. On the second day of November the light and colorgive way to black drapings, funeral songs, and prayers. 

CHAPTER XII

THE TEUTONIC RELIGION. WITCHES

The Teutons, that race of northern peoples called by the Romans, "barbarians, " comprised the Goths and Vandals who lived inScandinavia, and the Germans who dwelt north of Italy and east ofGaul. 

The nature of the northern country was such that the people couldnot get a living by peaceful agriculture. So it was natural that inthe intervals of cattle-tending they should explore the seas allabout, and ravage neighboring lands. The Romans and the Gaulsexperienced this in the centuries just before and after Christ, andEngland from the eighth to the tenth centuries. Such a life madethe Norsemen adventurous, hardy, warlike, independent, and quick ofaction, while the Celts were by nature more slothful and fond ofpeaceful social gatherings, though of quicker intellect and wit. 

Like the Greeks and Romans, the Teutons had twelve gods andgoddesses, among whom were Odin or Wotan, the king, and his wifeFreya, queen of beauty and love. Idun guarded the apples ofimmortality, which the gods ate to keep them eternally young. Thechief difference in Teutonic mythology was the presence of an evilgod, Loki. Like Vulcan, Loki was a god of fire, like him, Loki waslame because he had been cast out of heaven. Loki was alwaysplotting against the other gods, as Lucifer, after being banishedfrom Heaven by God, plotted against him and his people, and becameSatan, "the enemy. "

 "Him the Almighty Power Hurl'd headlong flaming from th' ethereal sky With hideous ruin and combustion down To bottomless perdition, there to dwell In adamantine chains and penal fire, Who durst defy th' Omnipotent to arms. "

 MILTON: _Paradise Lost. _

It was this god of evil in Teutonic myth who was responsible forthe death of the bright beautiful sun-god, Baldur. Mistletoe wasthe only thing in the world which had not sworn not to harm Baldur. Loki knew this, and gave a twig of mistletoe to Baldur's blindbrother, Hodur, and Hodur cast it at Baldur and "unwitting slew"him. Vali, a younger brother of Baldur, avenged him by killingHodur. Hodur is darkness and Baldur light; they are brothers; thelight falls a victim to blind darkness, who reigns until a youngerbrother, the sun of the next day, rises to slay him in turn. 

Below these gods, all nature was peopled with divinities. Therewere elves of two kinds: black elves, called trolls, who werefrost-spirits, and guarded treasure (seeds) in the ground; andwhite elves, who lived in mid-heaven, and danced on the earth infairy rings, where a mortal entering died. Will-o'-the-wispshovered over swamps to mislead travellers, and jack-o'-lanterns, the spirits of murderers, walked the earth near the places of theircrimes. 

The Otherworlds of the Teutons were Valhalla, the abode of theheroes whom death had found on the battlefield, and Niflheim, "themisty realm, " secure from the cold outside, ruled over by QueenHel. Valkyries, warlike women who rode through the air on swifthorses, seized the heroes from the field of slaughter, and tookthem to the halls of Valhalla, where they enjoyed daily combats, long feasts, and drinking-bouts, music and story-telling. 

The sacred tree of the Druids was the oak; that of the Teutonicpriests the ash. The flat disk of the earth was believed to besupported by a great ash-tree, Yggdrasil, "An ash know I standing, Named Yggdrasil, A stately tree sprinkled With water the purest; Thence come the dewdrops That fall in the dales; Ever-blooming, it stands O'er the Urdar-fountain. "

 _Völuspa saga. _ (Blackwell _trans. _)

guarded by three fates, Was, Will, and Shall Be. The name of Wasmeans the past, of Will, the power, howbeit small, which men haveover present circumstances, and Shall Be, the future over which manhas no control. Vurdh, the name of the latter, gives us the word"weird, " which means fate or fateful. The three Weird Sisters in_Macbeth_ are seeresses. 

Besides the ash, other trees and shrubs were believed to havepeculiar powers, which they have kept, with some changes ofmeaning, to this day. The elder (elves' grave), the hawthorn, andthe juniper, were sacred to supernatural powers. 

The priests of the Teutons sacrificed prisoners of war inconsecrated groves, to Tyr, god of the sword. The victims were notburned alive, as by the Druids, but cut and torn terribly, andtheir dead bodies burned. From these sacrifices auspices weretaken. A man's innocence or guilt was manifested by gods to menthrough ordeals by fire; walking upon red-hot ploughshares, holdinga heated bar of iron, or thrusting the hands into red-hotgauntlets, or into boiling water. If after a certain number ofdays no burns appeared the person was declared innocent. If asuspected man, thrown into the water, floated he was guilty; if hesank, he was acquitted. 

The rites of the Celts were done in secret, and it was forbiddenthat they be written down. Those of the Teutons were commemoratedin Edda and Saga (poetry and prose). 

In the far north the shortness of summer and the length of winterso impressed the people that when they made a story about it theytold of a maiden, the Spring, put to sleep, and guarded, along witha hoard of treasure, by a ring of fire. One knight only could breakthrough the flames, awaken her and seize the treasure. He is thereturning sun, and the treasure he gets possession of is the wealthof summer vegetation. So there is the story of Brynhild, pricked bythe "sleep-thorn" of her father, Wotan, and sleeping until Sigurdwakens her. They marry, but soon Sigurd has to give her up toGunnar, the relentless winter, and Gunnar cannot rest until he haskilled Sigurd, and reigns undisturbed. Grimms' story of Rapunzel, the princess who was shut up by a winter witch, and of Briar-Rose, pricked by a witch's spindle, and sleeping inside a hedge whichblooms with spring at the knight's approach, mean likewise thestruggle between summer and winter. 

The chief festivals of the Teutonic year were held at Midsummer andMidwinter. May-Day, the very beginning of spring, was celebrated byMay-ridings, when winter and spring, personified by two warriors, engaged in a combat in which Winter, the fur-clad king of ice andsnow, was defeated. It was then that the sacred fire had beenkindled, and the sacrificial feast held. Judgments were renderedthen. 

The summer solstice was marked by bonfires, like those of the Celtson May Eve and Midsummer. They were kindled in an open place or ona hill, and the ceremonies held about them were similar to theCeltic. As late as the eighteenth century these same customs wereobserved in Iceland. 

A May-pole wreathed with magical herbs is erected as the center ofthe dance in Sweden, and in Norway a child chosen May-bride isfollowed by a procession as at a real wedding. This is a symbol ofthe wedding of sun and earth deities in the spring. The May-pole, probably imported from Celtic countries, is used at Midsummerbecause the spring does not begin in the north before June. 

Yule-tide in December celebrated the sun's turning back, and wasmarked by banquets and gayety. A chief feature of all these feastswas the drinking of toasts to the gods, with vows and prayers. 

By the sixth century Christianity had supplanted Druidism in theBritish Isles. It was the ninth before Christianity made muchprogress in Scandinavia. After King Olaf had converted his nation, the toasts which had been drunk to the pagan gods were kept inhonor of Christian saints; for instance, those to Freya were nowdrunk to the Virgin Mary or to St. Gertrude. 

The "wetting of the sark-sleeve, " that custom of Scotland andIreland, was in its earliest form a rite to Freya as the northerngoddess of love. To secure her aid in a love-affair, a maid wouldwash in a running stream a piece of fine linen--for Freya was fondof personal adornment--and would hang it before the fire to dry anhour before midnight. At half-past eleven she must turn it, and attwelve her lover's apparition would appear to her, coming in at thehalf-open door. 

 "The wind howled through the leafless boughs, and there was every appearance of an early and severe winter, as indeed befell. Long before eleven o'clock all was hushed and quiet within the house, and indeed without (nothing was heard), except the cold wind which howled mournfully in gusts. The house was an old farmhouse, and we sat in the large kitchen with its stone floor, awaiting the first stroke of the eleventh hour. It struck at last, and then all pale and trembling we hung the garment before the fire which we had piled up with wood, and set the door ajar, for that was an essential point. The door was lofty and opened upon the farmyard, through which there was a kind of thoroughfare, very seldom used, it is true, and at each end of it there was a gate by which wayfarers occasionally passed to shorten the way. There we sat without speaking a word, shivering with cold and fear, listening to the clock which went slowly, tick, tick, and occasionally starting as the door creaked on its hinges, or a half-burnt billet fell upon the hearth. My sister was ghastly white, as white as the garment which was drying before the fire. And now half an hour had elapsed and it was time to turn. .. . This we did, I and my sister, without saying a word, and then we again sank on our chairs on either side of the fire. I was tired, and as the clock went tick-a-tick, I began to feel myself dozing. I did doze, I believe. All of a sudden I sprang up. The clock was striking one, two, but ere it could give the third chime, mercy upon us! we heard the gate slam to with a tremendous noise. .. . "

 "Well, and what happened then?"

 "Happened! before I could recover myself, my sister had sprung to the door, and both locked and bolted it. The next moment she was in convulsions. I scarcely knew what happened; and yet it appeared to me for a moment that something pressed against the door with a low moaning sound. Whether it was the wind or not, I can't say. I shall never forget that night. About two hours later, my father came home. He had been set upon by a highwayman whom he beat off. "

 BORROW: _Lavengro. _

Freya and Odin especially had had power over the souls of the dead. When Christianity turned all the old gods into spirits of evil, these two were accused especially of possessing unlawful learning, as having knowledge of the hidden matters of death. This unlawfulwisdom is the first accusation that has always been brought againstwitches. A mirror is often used to contain it. Such are thecrystals of the astrologers, and the looking-glasses which onHallowe'en materialize wishes. 

From that time in the Middle Ages when witches were first heard of, it has nearly always been women who were accused. Women for themost part were the priests in the old days: it was a woman to whomApollo at Delphi breathed his oracles. In all times it has beenwomen who plucked herbs and concocted drinks of healing andrefreshment. So it was very easy to imagine that they experimentedwith poisons and herbs of magic power under the guidance of the nowevil gods. If they were so directed, they must go on occasions toconsult with their masters. The idea arose of a witches' Sabbath, when women were enabled by evil means to fly away, and adore insecret the gods from whom the rest of the world had turned. Therewere such meeting-places all over Europe. They had been places ofsacrifice, of judgment, or of wells and springs considered holyunder the old religion, and whither the gods had now been banished. The most famous was the Blocksberg in the Hartz mountains inGermany. 

 "Dame Baubo first, to lead the crew! A tough old sow and the mother thereon, Then follow the witches, every one. "

 GOETHE: _Faust. _ (Taylor _trans. _)

In Norway the mountains above Bergen were a resort, and theDovrefeld, once the home of the trolls. 

 "It's easy to slip in here, But outward the Dovre-King's gate opens not. "

 IBSEN: _Peer Gynt. _ (Archer _trans. _)

In Italy the witches met under a walnut tree near Benevento; inFrance, in Puy de Dome; in Spain, near Seville. 

In these night-ridings Odin was the leader of a wild hunt. Instormy, blustering autumn weather

 "The wonted roar was up among the woods. "

 MILTON: _Comus. _

Odin rode in pursuit of shadowy deer with the Furious Host behindhim. A ghostly huntsman of a later age was Dietrich von Bern, doomed to hunt till the Judgment Day. 

Frau Venus in Wagner's _Tannhäuser_ held her revels in anunderground palace in the Horselberg in Thuringia, Germany. Thiswas one of the seats of Holda, the goddess of spring. Venus herselfis like the Christian conception of Freya and Hel. She gathersabout her a throng of nymphs, sylphs, and those she has lured intothe mountain by intoxicating music and promises. "The enchantingsounds enticed only those in whose hearts wild sensuous longingshad already taken root. " Of these Tannhäuser is one. He has stayeda year, but it seems to him only one day. Already he is tired ofthe rosy light and eternal music and languor, and longs for thefresh green world of action he once knew. He fears that he hasforfeited his soul's salvation by being there at all, but cries, "Salvation rests for me in Mary!"

 WAGNER: _Tannhäuser. _

At the holy name Venus and her revellers vanish, and Tannhäuserfinds himself in a meadow, hears the tinkling herd-bells, and ashepherd's voice singing, "Frau Holda, goddess of the spring, Steps forth from the mountains old; She comes, and all the brooklets sing, And fled is winter's cold. 

 * * * * *

 Play, play, my pipe, your lightest lay, For spring has come, and merry May!"

 _Tannhäuser. _ (Huckel _trans. _)

praising the goddess in her blameless state. 

By the fifteenth century Satan, taking the place of the gods, assumed control of the evil creatures. Now that witches were thefollowers of the Devil, they wrote their names in his book, andwere carried away by him for the revels by night. A new witch waspricked with a needle to initiate her into his company. At theparty the Devil was adored with worship due to God alone. Dancing, a device of the pagans, and hence considered wholly wicked, wasindulged in to unseemly lengths. In 1883 in Sweden it was believedthat dances were held about the sanctuaries of the ancient gods, and that whoever stopped to watch were caught by the dancers andwhirled away. If they profaned holy days by this dancing, they weredoomed to keep it up for a year. 

At the witches' Sabbath the Devil himself sometimes appeared as agoat, and the witches were attended by cats, owls, bats, andcuckoos, because these creatures had once been sacred to Freya. Atthe feast horse-flesh, once the food of the gods at banquets, waseaten. The broth for the feast was brewed in a kettle held over thefire by a tripod, like that which supported the seat of Apollo'spriestess at Delphi. The kettle may be a reminder of the one Thorgot, which gave to each guest whatever food he asked of it, or itmay be merely that used in brewing the herb-remedies which womenmade before they were thought to practise witchcraft. In the kettlewere cooked mixtures which caused storms and shipwrecks, plagues, and blights. No salt was eaten, for that was a wholesome substance. 

The witches of Germany did not have prophetic power; those ofScandinavia, like the Norse Fates, did have it. The troll-wives ofScandinavia were like the witches of Germany--they were cannibals, especially relishing children, like the witch in _Hansel andGrethel_. 

From the fourteenth to the eighteenth century all through Europeand the new world people thought to be witches, and hence in thedevil's service, were persecuted. It was believed that they wereable to take the form of beasts. A wolf or other animal is caughtin a trap or shot, and disappears. Later an old woman who livesalone in the woods is found suffering from a similar wound. She isthen declared to be a witch. 

 "There was once an old castle in the middle of a vast thick wood; in it lived an old woman quite alone, and she was a witch. By day she made herself into a cat or a screech-owl, but regularly at night she became a human being again. "

 GRIMM: _Jorinda and Joringel. _

"Hares found on May morning are witches and should be stoned, "reads an old superstition. "If you tease a cat on May Eve, it willturn into a witch and hurt you. "

CHAPTER XIII

WALPURGIS NIGHT

Walpurga was a British nun who went to Germany in the eighthcentury to found holy houses. After a pious life she was buried atEichstatt, where it is said a healing oil trickled from herrock-tomb. This miracle reminded men of the fruitful dew which fellfrom the manes of the Valkyries' horses, and when one of the dayssacred to her came on May first, the wedding-day of Frau Holda andthe sun-god, the people thought of her as a Valkyrie, andidentified her with Holda. As, like a Valkyrie, she rode armed onher steed, she scattered, like Holda, spring flowers and fruitfuldew upon the fields and vales. When these deities fell intodisrepute, Walpurga too joined the pagan train that swept the skyon the eve of May first, and afterwards on mountain-tops tosacrifice and to adore Holda, as the priests had sacrificed for aprosperous season and a bountiful harvest. 

So this night was called Walpurgis Night, when evil beings wereabroad, and with them human worshippers who still guarded the oldfaith in secret. 

This is very like the occasion of November Eve, which shared withMay first Celtic manifestations of evil. Witches complete the listof supernatural beings which are out on Hallowe'en. All are to bemet at crossroads, with harm to the beholders. A superstition goes, that if one wishes to see witches, he must put on his clothes wrongside out, and creep backward to a crossroads, or wear wild radish, on May Eve. 

On Walpurgis Night precaution must be taken against witches who mayharm cattle. The stable doors are locked and sealed with threecrosses. Sprigs of ash, hawthorn, juniper, and elder, once sacredto the pagan gods, are now used as a protection against them. Horseshoes are nailed prongs up on the threshold or over the door. Holy bells are hung on the cows to scare away the witches, and theyare guided to pasture by a goad which has been blessed. Shots arefired over the cornfield. If one wishes, he may hide in the cornand hear what will happen for a year. 

Signs and omens on Walpurgis Night have more weight than at othertimes except on St. John's Day. 

 "On Walpurgis Night rain Makes good crops of autumn grain, "

but rain on May Day is harmful to them. 

[Illustration: THE WITCHES' DANCE (VALPURGISNACHT. )

_From Painting by Von Kreling. _]

Lovers try omens on this eve, as they do in Scotland on Hallowe'en. If you sleep with one stocking on, you will find on May morning inthe toe a hair the color of your sweetheart's. Girls try to findout the temperament of their husbands-to-be by keeping a linenthread for three days near an image of the Madonna, and at midnighton May Eve pulling it apart, saying:

 "Thread, I pull thee; Walpurga, I pray thee, That thou show to me What my husband's like to be. "

They judge of his disposition by the thread's being strong oreasily broken, soft or tightly woven. 

Dew on the morning of May first makes girls who wash in itbeautiful. 

 "The fair maid who on the first of May Goes to the fields at break of day And washes in dew from the hawthorn tree Will ever after handsome be. "

 _Encyclopedia of Superstitions. _

A heavy dew on this morning presages a good "butter-year. " You willfind fateful initials printed in dew on a handkerchief that hasbeen left out all the night of April thirtieth. On May Day girlsinvoke the cuckoo:

 "Cuckoo! cuckoo! on the bough, Tell me truly, tell me how Many years there will be Till a husband comes to me. "

Then they count the calls of the cuckoo until he pauses again. 

If a man wears clothes made of yarn spun on Walpurgis Night to theMay-shooting, he will always hit the bull's-eye, for the Devilgives away to those he favors, "freikugeln, " bullets which alwayshit the mark. 

On Walpurgis Night as on Hallowe'en strange things may happen toone. Zschokke tells a story of a Walpurgis Night dream that is morea vision than a dream. Led to be unfaithful to his wife, a manmurders the husband of a former sweetheart; to escape capture hefires a haystack, from which a whole village is kindled. In hisflight he enters an empty carriage, and drives away madly, crushingthe owner under the wheels. He finds that the dead man is his ownbrother. Faced by the person whom he believes to be the Devil, responsible for his misfortunes, the wretched man is ready toworship him if he will protect him. He finds that the seeming Devilis in reality his guardian-angel who sent him this dream that hemight learn the depths of wickedness lying unfathomed in hisheart, waiting an opportunity to burst out. 

Both May Eve and St. John's Eve are times of freedom andunrestraint. People are filled with a sort of madness which makesthem unaccountable for their deeds. 

 "For you see, pastor, within every one of us a spark of paganism is glowing. It has outlasted the thousand years since the old Teutonic times. Once a year it flames up high, and we call it St. John's Fire. Once a year comes Free-night. Yes, truly, Free-night. Then the witches, laughing scornfully, ride to Blocksberg, upon the mountain-top, on their broomsticks, the same broomsticks with which at other times their witchcraft is whipped out of them, --then the whole wild company skims along the forest way, --and then the wild desires awaken in our hearts which life has not fulfilled. "

 SUDERMANN: _St. John's Fire. _ (Porter _trans. _)

CHAPTER XIV

MORE HALLOWTIDE BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS

Only the Celts and the Teutons celebrate an occasion actually likeour Hallowe'en. The countries of southern Europe make of it areligious vigil, like that already described in France. 

In Italy on the night of All Souls', the spirits of the dead arethought to be abroad, as in Brittany. They may mingle with livingpeople, and not be remarked. The _Miserere_ is heard in all thecities. As the people pass dressed in black, bells are rung onstreet corners to remind them to pray for the souls of the dead. InNaples the skeletons in the funeral vaults are dressed up, and theplace visited on All Souls' Day. In Salerno before the people go tothe all-night service at church they set out a banquet for thedead. If any food is left in the morning, evil is in store for thehouse. 

 "Hark! Hark to the wind! 'T is the night, they say, When all souls come back from the far away-- The dead, forgotten this many a day!

 "And the dead remembered--ay! long and well-- And the little children whose spirits dwell In God's green garden of asphodel. 

 "Have you reached the country of all content, O souls we know, since the day you went From this time-worn world, where your years were spent?

 "Would you come back to the sun and the rain, The sweetness, the strife, the thing we call pain, And then unravel life's tangle again?

 "I lean to the dark--Hush!--was it a sigh? Or the painted vine-leaves that rustled by? Or only a night-bird's echoing cry?"

 SHEARD: _Hallowe'en. _

In Malta bells are rung, prayers said, and mourning worn on AllSouls' Day. Graves are decorated, and the inscriptions on tombsread and reread. For the poor is prepared an All Souls' dinner, ascakes are given to the poor in England and Wales. The custom ofdecorating graves with flowers and offering flowers to the deadcomes from the crowning of the dead by the ancients withshort-lived blooms, to signify the brevity of life. 

In Spain at dark on Hallowe'en cakes and nuts are laid on graves tobribe the spirits not to disturb the vigils of the saints. 

In Germany the graves of the dead are decorated with flowers andlights, on the first and second of November. To drive away ghostsfrom a church a key or a wand must be struck three times against abier. An All Souls' divination in Germany is a girl's going out andasking the first young man she meets his name. Her husband's willbe like it. If she walks thrice about a church and makes a wish, she will see it fulfilled. 

Belgian children build shrines in front of their homes withfigures of the Madonna and candles, and beg for money to buy cakes. As many cakes as one eats, so many souls he frees from Purgatory. 

The races of northern Europe believed that the dead returned, andwere grieved at the lamentations of their living relatives. Thesame belief was found in Brittany, and among the American Indians. 

 "Think of this, O Hiawatha! Speak of it to all the people, That henceforward and forever They no more with lamentations Sadden souls of the departed In the Islands of the Blessèd. "

 LONGFELLOW: _Hiawatha. _

The Chinese fear the dead and the dragons of the air. They devotethe first three weeks in April to visiting the graves of theirancestors, and laying baskets of offerings on them. The greatdragon, Feng-Shin, flies scattering blessings upon the houses. Hispath is straight, unless he meets with some building. Then he turnsaside, and the owner of the too lofty edifice misses the blessing. 

At Nikko, Japan, where there are many shrines to the spirits of thedead, masques are held to entertain the ghosts who return onMidsummer Day. Every street is lined with lighted lanterns, and thespirits are sent back to the otherworld in straw boats lit withlanterns, and floated down the river. To see ghosts in Japan onemust put one hundred rush-lights into a large lantern, and repeatone hundred lines of poetry, taking one light out at the end ofeach line; or go out into the dark with one light and blow it out. Ghosts are identified with witches. They come back especially onmoonlit nights. 

 "On moonlight nights, when the coast-wind whispers in the branches of the tree, O-Matsue and Teoyo may sometimes be seen, with bamboo rakes in their hands, gathering together the needles of the fir. "

 RINDER: _Great Fir-Tree of Takasago. _

There is a Chinese saying that a mirror is the soul of a woman. Apretty story is told of a girl whose mother before she died gaveher a mirror, saying:

"Now after I am dead, if you think longingly of me, take out thething that you will find inside this box, and look at it. When youdo so my spirit will meet yours, and you will be comforted. " Whenshe was lonely or her stepmother was harsh with her, the girl wentto her room and looked earnestly into the mirror. She saw thereonly her own face, but it was so much like her mother's that shebelieved it was hers indeed, and was consoled. When the stepmotherlearned what it was her daughter cherished so closely, her heartsoftened toward the lonely girl, and her life was made easier. 

By the Arabs spirits were called Djinns (or genii). They came fromfire, and looked like men or beasts. They might be good or evil, beautiful or horrible, and could disappear from mortal sight atwill. Nights when they were abroad, it behooved men to stay undercover. 

 "Ha! They are on us, close without! Shut tight the shelter where we lie; With hideous din the monster rout, Dragon and vampire, fill the sky. "

 HUGO: _The Djinns. _

[Illustration: FORTUNE-TELLING. ]

CHAPTER XV

HALLOWE'EN IN AMERICA

In Colonial days Hallowe'en was not celebrated much in America. Some English still kept the customs of the old world, such asapple-ducking and snapping, and girls tried the apple-paring charmto reveal their lovers' initials, and the comb-and-mirror test tosee their faces. Ballads were sung and ghost-stories told, for thedead were thought to return on Hallowe'en. 

 "There was a young officer in Phips's company at the time of the finding of the Spanish treasure-ship, who had gone mad at the sight of the bursting sacks that the divers had brought up from the sea, as the gold coins covered the deck. This man had once lived in the old stone house on the 'faire greene lane, ' and a report had gone out that his spirit still visited it, and caused discordant noises. Once . .. On a gusty November evening, when the clouds were scudding over the moon, a hall-door had blown open with a shrieking draft and a force that caused the floor to tremble. "

 BUTTERWORTH: _Hallowe'en Reformation. _

Elves, goblins, and fairies are native on American soil. TheIndians believed in evil _manitous_, some of whom were water-godswho exacted tribute from all who passed over their lakes. HenryHudson and his fellow-explorers haunted as mountain-trolls theCatskill range. Like Ossian and so many other visitors to theOtherworld, Rip Van Winkle is lured into the strange gathering, thinks that he passes the night there, wakes, and goes home to findthat twenty years have whitened his hair, rusted his gun, andsnatched from life many of his boon-companions. 

 "My gun must have cotched the rheumatix too. Now that's too bad. Them fellows have gone and stolen my good gun, and leave me this rusty old barrel. 

 "Why, is that the village of Falling Waters that I see? Why, the place is more than twice the size it was last night--I----

 "I don't know whether I am dreaming, or sleeping, or waking. "

 JEFFERSON: _Rip Van Winkle. _

The persecution of witches, prevalent in Europe, reached this sideof the Atlantic in the seventeenth century. 

 "This sudden burst of wickedness and crime Was but the common madness of the time, When in all lands, that lie within the sound Of Sabbath bells, a witch was burned or drowned. "

 LONGFELLOW: _Giles Corey of the Salem Farms. _

Men and women who had enemies to accuse them of evil knowledge andthe power to cause illness in others, were hanged or pressed todeath by heavy weights. Such sicknesses they could cause by keepinga waxen image, and sticking pins or nails into it, or melting itbefore the fire. The person whom they hated would be in torture, orwould waste away like the waxen doll. Witches' power to injure andto prophesy came from the Devil, who marked them with aneedle-prick. Such marks were sought as evidence at trials. 

"Witches' eyes are coals of fire from the pit. " They were attendedby black cats, owls, bats, and toads. 

Iron, as being a product of fire, was a protection against them, asagainst evil spirits everywhere. It had especial power when in theshape of a horseshoe. 

 "This horseshoe will I nail upon the threshold. There, ye night-hags and witches that torment The neighborhood, ye shall not enter here. "

 LONGFELLOW: _Giles Corey of the Salem Farms. _

The holiday-time of elves, witches, and ghosts is Hallowe'en. It isnot believed in here except by some children, who people the darkwith bogies who will carry them away if they are naughty. 

 "Onc't they was a little boy wouldn't say his prayers-- An' when he went to bed at night, away upstairs, His mammy heerd him holler, an' his daddy heerd him bawl, An' when they turn't the kivvers down, he wasn't there at all!

 An' they seeked him in the rafter-room, an' cubby-hole, an' press, An' seeked him up the chimbley-flue, an' ever'wheres, I guess; But all they ever found was thist his pants an' roundabout! An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you, ef you don't watch out!"

 RILEY: _Little Orphant Annie. _

Negroes are very superstitious, putting faith in all sorts ofsupernatural beings. 

 "Blame my trap! how de wind do blow; And dis is das de night for de witches, sho! Dey's trouble going to waste when de ole slut whine, An' you hear de cat a-spittin' when de moon don't shine. "

 RILEY: _When de Folks is Gone. _

While the original customs of Hallowe'en are being forgotten moreand more across the ocean, Americans have fostered them, and aremaking this an occasion something like what it must have been inits best days overseas. All Hallowe'en customs in the United Statesare borrowed directly or adapted from those of other countries. All superstitions, everyday ones, and those pertaining to Christmasand New Year's, have special value on Hallowe'en. 

It is a night of ghostly and merry revelry. Mischievous spiritschoose it for carrying off gates and other objects, and hiding themor putting them out of reach. 

 "Dear me, Polly, I wonder what them boys will be up to to-night. I do hope they'll not put the gate up on the shed as they did last year. "

 WRIGHT: _Tom's Hallowe'en Joke. _

Bags filled with flour sprinkle the passers-by. Door-bells are rungand mysterious raps sounded on doors, things thrown into halls, andknobs stolen. Such sports mean no more at Hallowe'en than thetricks played the night before the Fourth of July have to do withthe Declaration of Independence. We see manifested on all suchoccasions the spirit of "Free-night" of which George von Hartwigspeaks so enthusiastically in _St. John's Fire_ (page 141). 

Hallowe'en parties are the real survival of the ancient merrymakings. They are prepared for in secret. Guests are not to divulge the factthat they are invited. Often they come masked, as ghosts or witches. 

The decorations make plain the two elements of the festival. For the centerpiece of the table there may be a hollowed pumpkin, filled with apples and nuts and other fruits of harvest, ora pumpkin-chariot drawn by field-mice. So it is clear that thisis a harvest-party, like Pomona's feast. In the coach rides awitch, representing the other element, of magic and prophecy. Jack-o'-lanterns, with which the room is lighted, are hollowedpumpkins with candles inside. The candle-light shines through holescut like features. So the lantern becomes a bogy, and is held up ata window to frighten those inside. Corn-stalks from the gardenstand in clumps about the room. A frieze of witches on broomsticks, with cats, bats, and owls surmounts the fireplace, perhaps. A fullmoon shines over all, and a caldron on a tripod holds fortunestied in nut-shells. The prevailing colors are yellow and black: adeep yellow is the color of most ripe grain and fruit; black standsfor black magic and demoniac influence. Ghosts and skulls andcross-bones, symbols of death, startle the beholder. SinceHallowe'en is a time for lovers to learn their fate, hearts andother sentimental tokens are used to good effect, as the Scotchlads of Burns's time wore love-knots. 

Having marched to the dining-room to the time of a dirge, theguests find before them plain, hearty fare; doughnuts, gingerbread, cider, popcorn, apples, and nuts honored by time. The Hallowe'encake has held the place of honor since the beginning here inAmerica. A ring, key, thimble, penny, and button baked in itforetell respectively speedy marriage, a journey, spinsterhood, wealth, and bachelorhood. 

 "Polly was going to be married, Jennie was going on a long journey, and you--down went the knife against something hard. The girls crowded round. You had a hurt in your throat, and there, there, in your slice, was the horrid, hateful, big brass thimble. It was more than you could bear--soaking, dripping wet, and an old maid!"

 BRADLEY: _Different Party. _

[Illustration: A WITCH TABLE. 

AN OWL TABLE. 

HALLOWE'EN TABLES, I. ]

The kitchen is the best place for the rough games and after-suppercharms. 

On the stems of the apples which are to be dipped for may be tiednames; for the boys in one tub, for the girls in another. Eachsearcher of the future must draw out with his teeth an apple with aname which will be like that of his future mate. 

A variation of the Irish snap-apple is a hoop hung by strings fromthe ceiling, round which at intervals are placed bread, apples, cakes, peppers, candies, and candles. The strings are twisted, thenlet go, and as the hoop revolves, each may step up and get a bitefrom whatever comes to him. By the taste he determines what thecharacter of his married life will be, --whether wholesome, acid, soft, fiery, or sweet. Whoever bites the candle is twiceunfortunate, for he must pay a forfeit too. An apple and a bag offlour are placed on the ends of a stick, and whoever dares to seizea mouthful of apple must risk being blinded by flour. Apples aresuspended one to a string in a doorway. As they swing, each guesttries to secure his apple. To blow out a candle as it revolves on astick requires attention and accuracy of aim. 

[Illustration: A WITCHES'-CALDRON TABLE. 

A BLACK-CAT TABLE. 

HALLOWE'EN TABLES, II. ]

The one who first succeeds in threading a needle as he sits on around bottle on the floor, will be first married. Twelve candlesare lighted, and placed at convenient distances on the floor in arow. As the guest leaps over them, the first he blows out willindicate his wedding-month. One candle only placed on the floor andblown out in the same way means a year of wretchedness ahead. If itstill burns, it presages a year of joy. 

Among the quieter tests some of the most common are tried withapple-seeds. As in England a pair of seeds named for two lovers arestuck on brow or eyelids. The one who sticks longer is the true, the one who soon falls, the disloyal sweetheart. Seeds are used inthis way to tell also whether one is to be a traveler or astay-at-home. Apple-seeds are twice ominous, partaking of bothapple and nut nature. Even the number of seeds found in a core hasmeaning. If you put them upon the palm of your hand, and strike itwith the other, the number remaining will tell you how many lettersyou will receive in a fortnight. With twelve seeds and the names oftwelve friends, the old rhyme may be repeated:

 "One I love, Two I love, Three I love, I say; Four I love with all my heart: Five I cast away. Six he loves, Seven she loves, Eight they both love; Nine he comes, Ten he tarries, Eleven he courts, and Twelve he marries. "

Nuts are burned in the open fire. It is generally agreed that theone for whom the first that pops is named, loves. 

 "If he loves me, pop and fly; If he hates me, live and die. "

Often the superstition connected therewith is forgotten in theexcitement of the moment. 

 "When ebery one among us toe de smallest pickaninny Would huddle in de chimbley cohnah's glow, Toe listen toe dem chilly win's ob ole Novembah's Go a-screechin' lack a spook around de huts, 'Twell de pickaninnies' fingahs gits to shakin' o'er de embahs, An' dey laik ter roas' dey knuckles 'stead o' nuts. "

 IN WERNER'S _Readings, Number 31_. 

Letters of the alphabet are carved on a pumpkin. Fate guides thehand of the blindfolded seeker to the fateful initial which hestabs with a pin. Letters cut out of paper are sprinkled on waterin a tub. They form groups from which any one with imagination mayspell out names. 

Girls walk down cellar backward with a candle in one hand and alooking-glass in the other, expecting to see a face in the glass. 

 "Last night 't was witching Hallowe'en, Dearest; an apple russet-brown I pared, and thrice above my crown Whirled the long skin; they watched it keen; I flung it far; they laughed and cried me shame-- Dearest, there lay the letter of your name. 

 "Took I the mirror then, and crept Down, down the creaking narrow stair; The milk-pans caught my candle's flare And mice walked soft and spiders slept. I spoke the spell, and stood the magic space, Dearest--and in the glass I saw your face!

 "And then I stole out in the night Alone; the frogs piped sweet and loud, The moon looked through a ragged cloud. Thrice round the house I sped me light, Dearest; and there, methought--charm of my charms! You met me, kissed me, took me to your arms!"

 OPPER: _The Charms. _

There are many mirror-tests. A girl who sits before a mirror atmidnight on Hallowe'en combing her hair and eating an apple willsee the face of her true love reflected in the glass. Standing sothat through a window she may see the moon in a glass she holds, she counts the number of reflections to find out how many pleasantthings will happen to her in the next twelve months. Alabama hastaken over the Scotch mirror test in its entirety. 

A girl with a looking-glass in her hand steps backward from thedoor out into the yard. Saying:

 "Round and round, O stars so fair! Ye travel, and search out everywhere. I pray you, sweet stars, now show to me, This night, who my future husband shall be!"

she goes to meet her fate. 

 "So Leslie backed out at the door, and we shut it upon her. The instant after, we heard a great laugh. Off the piazza she had stepped backward directly against two gentlemen coming in. 

 "Doctor Ingleside was one, coming to get his supper; the other was a friend of his. .. . 'Doctor John Hautayne, ' he said, introducing him by his full name. "

 WHITNEY: _We Girls. _

A custom that is a reminder of the lighted boats sent down-streamin Japan to bear away the souls of the dead, is that which makesuse of nut-shell boats. These have tiny candles fastened in them, are lighted, and named, and set adrift on a tub of water. If theycling to the side, their namesakes will lead a quiet life. Somewill float together. Some will collide and be shipwrecked. Otherswill bear steadily toward a goal though the waves are rocked in atempest. Their behavior is significant. The candle which burnslongest belongs to the one who will marry first. 

The Midsummer wheel which was rolled down into the Moselle River inFrance, and meant, if the flames that wreathed it were notextinguished, that the grape-harvest would be abundant, hassurvived in the fortune wheel which is rolled about from one guestto another, and brings a gift to each. 

The actions of cats on Hallowe'en betoken good or bad luck. If acat sits quietly beside any one, he will enjoy a peaceful, prosperous life; if one rubs against him, it brings good luck, doubly good if one jumps into his lap. If a cat yawns near you onHallowe'en, be alert and do not let opportunity slip by you. If acat runs from you, you have a secret which will be revealed inseven days. 

Different states have put interpretations of their own on thecommonest charms. In Massachusetts the one who first draws an applefrom the tub with his teeth will be first married. If a girl stealsa cabbage, she will see her future husband as she pulls it up, ormeet him as she goes home. If these fail, she must put the cabbageover the door and watch to see whom it falls on, for him she is tomarry. A button concealed in mashed potato brings misfortune to thefinder. The names of three men are written on slips of paper, andenclosed in three balls of meal. The one that rises first when theyare thrown into water will disclose the sought-for name. 

Maine has borrowed the yarn-test from Scotland. A ball is throwninto a barn or cellar, and wound off on the hand. The lover willcome and help to wind. Girls in New Hampshire place in a row threedishes with earth, water, and a ring in them, respectively. The onewho blindfolded touches earth will soon die; water, will nevermarry; the ring, will soon be wedded. 

To dream of the future on Hallowe'en in Pennsylvania, one must goout of the front door backward, pick up dust or grass, wrap it inpaper, and put it under his pillow. 

In Maryland girls see their future husbands by a rite similar tothe Scotch "wetting of the sark-sleeve. " They put an egg to roast, and open wide all the doors and windows. The man they seek willcome in and turn the egg. At supper girls stand behind the chairs, knowing that the ones they are to marry will come to sit in frontof them. 

The South has always been famous for its hospitality and goodtimes. On Hallowe'en a miniature Druid-fire burns in a bowl on thetable. In the blazing alcohol are put fortunes wrapped in tin-foil, figs, orange-peel, raisins, almonds, and dates. The one whosnatches the best will meet his sweetheart inside of a year, andall may try for a fortune from the flames. The origin of thiscustom was the taking of omens from the death-struggles ofcreatures burning in the fire of sacrifice. 

Another Southern custom is adapted from one of Brittany. Needlesare named and floated in a dish of water. Those which cling side byside are lovers. 

Good fortune is in store for the one who wins an apple from thetub, or against whose glass a ring suspended by a hair strikes witha sharp chime. 

A very elaborate charm is tried in Newfoundland. As the clockstrikes midnight a girl puts the twenty-six letters of thealphabet, cut from paper, into a pure-white bowl which has beentouched by the lips of a new-born babe only. After saying:

 "Kind fortune, tell me where is he Who my future lord shall be; From this bowl all that I claim Is to know my sweetheart's name. "

she puts the bowl into a safe place until morning. Then she isblindfolded and picks out the same number of letters as there arein her own name, and spells another from them. 

In New Brunswick, instead of an apple, a hard-boiled egg withoutsalt is eaten before a mirror, with the same result. In Canada athread is held over a lamp. The number that can be counted slowlybefore the thread parts, is the number of years before the one whocounts will marry. 

In the United States a hair is thrown to the winds with the stanzachanted:

 "I pluck this lock of hair off my head To tell whence comes the one I shall wed. Fly, silken hair, fly all the world around, Until you reach the spot where my true love is found. "

The direction in which the hair floats is prophetic. 

The taste in Hallowe'en festivities now is to study old traditions, and hold a Scotch party, using Burns's poem _Hallowe'en_ as aguide; or to go a-souling as the English used. In short, no customthat was once honored at Hallowe'en is out of fashion now. "Cyniver" has been borrowed from Wales, and the "dumb-cake" fromthe Hebrides. In the Scotch custom of cabbage-stalk pulling, if thestalk comes up easily, the husband or wife will be easy to win. Themelted-lead test to show the occupation of the husband-to-be hasbeen adopted in the United States. If the metal cools in rounddrops, the tester will never marry, or her husband will have noprofession. White of egg is used in the same way. Like the Welshtest is that of filling the mouth with water, and walking round thehouse until one meets one's fate. An adaptation of the Scottish"three luggies" is the row of four dishes holding dirt, water, aring, and a rag. The dirt means divorce, the water, a trip acrossthe ocean, the ring, marriage, the rag, no marriage at all. 

After the charms have been tried, fagots are passed about, and bythe eerie light of burning salt and alcohol, ghost stories aretold, each concluding his installment as his fagot withers intoashes. Sometimes the cabbage stalks used in the omens take theplace of fagots. 

To induce prophetic dreams salt, in quantities from a pinch to anegg full, is eaten before one goes to bed. 

 "'Miss Jeanette, that's such a fine trick! You must swallow a salt herring in three bites, bones and all, and not drink a drop till the apparition of your future spouse comes in the night to offer you a drink of water. '"

 ADAMS: _Chrissie's Fate. _

If, after taking three doses of salt two minutes apart, a girl goesto bed backward, lies on her right side, and does not move tillmorning, she is sure to have eventful dreams. Pills made of ahazelnut, a walnut, and nutmeg grated together and mixed withbutter and sugar cause dreams: if of gold, the husband will berich; if of noise, a tradesman; if of thunder and lightning, atraveler. As in Ireland bay-leaves on or under a man's pillow causehim to dream of his sweetheart. Also

 "Turn your boots toward the street, Leave your garters on your feet, Put your stockings on your head, You'll dream of the one you're going to wed. "

Lemon-peel carried all day and rubbed on the bed-posts at nightwill cause an apparition to bring the dreaming girl two lemons. Forquiet sleep and the fulfilment of any wish eat before going to bedon Hallowe'en a piece of dry bread. 

A far more interesting development of the Hallowe'en idea thanthese innocent but colorless superstitions, is promised by thepageant at Fort Worth, Texas, on October thirty-first, 1916. In themasque and pageant of the afternoon four thousand school childrentook part. At night scenes from the pageant were staged on floatswhich passed along the streets. The subject was _Preparedness for__Peace_, and comprised scenes from American history in which peaceplayed an honorable part. Such were: the conference of William Pennand the Quakers with the Indians, and the opening of the East toAmerican trade. This is not a subject limited to performances atHallowtide. May there not be written and presented in America atruly Hallowe'en pageant, illustrating and befitting its nobleorigin, and making its place secure among the holidays of theyear?

 HALLOWE'EN

 Bring forth the raisins and the nuts-- To-night All-Hallows' Spectre struts Along the moonlit way. No time is this for tear or sob, Or other woes our joys to rob, But time for Pippin and for Bob, And Jack-o'-lantern gay. 

 Come forth, ye lass and trousered kid, From prisoned mischief raise the lid, And lift it good and high. Leave grave old Wisdom in the lurch, Set Folly on a lofty perch, Nor fear the awesome rod of birch When dawn illumes the sky. 

 'Tis night for revel, set apart To reillume the darkened heart, And rout the hosts of Dole. 'Tis night when Goblin, Elf, and Fay, Come dancing in their best array To prank and royster on the way, And ease the troubled soul. 

 The ghosts of all things, past parade, Emerging from the mist and shade That hid them from our gaze, And full of song and ringing mirth, In one glad moment of rebirth, Again they walk the ways of earth, As in the ancient days. 

 The beacon light shines on the hill, The will-o'-wisps the forests fill With flashes filched from noon; And witches on their broomsticks spry Speed here and yonder in the sky, And lift their strident voices high Unto the Hunter's moon. 

 The air resounds with tuneful notes From myriads of straining throats, All hailing Folly Queen; So join the swelling choral throng, Forget your sorrow and your wrong, In one glad hour of joyous song To honor Hallowe'en. 

 J. K. BANGS _in Harper's Weekly, Nov. 5, 1910_. 

 HALLOWE'EN FAILURE

 Who's dat peekin' in de do'? Set mah heart a-beatin'! Thought I see' a spook for sho On mah way to meetin'. Heerd a rustlin' all aroun', Trees all sort o' jiggled; An' along de frosty groun' Funny shadders wriggled. 

 Who's dat by de winder-sill? Gittin' sort o' skeery; Feets is feelin' kind o' chill, Eyes is sort o' teary. 'Most as nervous as a coon When de dawgs is barkin', Er a widder when some spoon Comes along a-sparkin'. 

 Whass dat creepin' up de road, Quiet like a ferret, Hoppin' sof'ly as a toad? Maybe hit's a sperrit! Lordy! hope dey ain't no ghos' Come to tell me howdy. I ain't got no use for those Fantoms damp an' cloudy. 

 Whass dat standin' by de fence Wid its eyes a-yearnin', Drivin' out mah common-sense Wid its glances burnin'? Don't dass skeercely go to bed Wid dem spookses roun' me. Ain't no res' fo' dis yere head When dem folks surroun' me. 

 Whass dat groanin' soun' I hear Off dar by de gyardin? Lordy! Lordy! Lordy dear, Grant dis sinner pardon! I won't nebber--I declar' Ef it ain't my Sammy! Sambo, what yo' doin' dar? Yo' can't skeer yo' mammy!

 CARLYLE SMITH _in Harper's Weekly, Oct. 29, 1910_. 

 HALLOWE'EN

 Pixie, kobold, elf, and sprite All are on their rounds to-night, -- In the wan moon's silver ray Thrives their helter-skelter play. 

 Fond of cellar, barn, or stack True unto the almanac, They present to credulous eyes Strange hobgoblin mysteries. 

 Cabbage-stumps--straws wet with dew-- Apple-skins, and chestnuts too, And a mirror for some lass Show what wonders come to pass. 

 Doors they move, and gates they hide Mischiefs that on moonbeams ride Are their deeds, --and, by their spells, Love records its oracles. 

 Don't we all, of long ago By the ruddy fireplace glow, In the kitchen and the hall, Those queer, coof-like pranks recall?

 Eery shadows were they then-- But to-night they come again; Were we once more but sixteen Precious would be Hallowe'en. 

 JOEL BENTON _in Harper's Weekly, Oct. 31, 1896_. 

[Illustration: NO HALLOWE'EN WITHOUT A JACK-O'-LANTERN. ]

 HALLOWE'EN

 A gypsy flame is on the hearth, Sign of this carnival of mirth. Through the dun fields and from the glade Flash merry folk in masquerade-- It is the witching Hallowe'en. 

 Pale tapers glimmer in the sky, The dead and dying leaves go by; Dimly across the faded green Strange shadows, stranger shades, are seen-- It is the mystic Hallowe'en. 

 Soft gusts of love and memory Beat at the heart reproachfully; The lights that burn for those who die Were flickering low, let them flare high-- It is the haunting Hallowe'en. 

 A. F. MURRAY _in Harper's Weekly, Oct. 30, 1909. _

Magazine References to Hallowe'en Entertainments

CHARADES:

 Charades, menu, tests. H. Bazar, 32:894. 

CHILDREN'S PARTIES:

 Fortune games for very little children. St. N. , 23:33. Hallowe'en fortunes for boys and girls. Delin. , 66:631. Masquerade, games, tests. W. H. C. , 35:43. Decorations. W. H. C. , 36:34. Old-fashioned games. St. N. , 35:51. Children's celebration of Hallowe'en. St. N. , 32:1124. 

CHURCH PARTIES:

 Mystic party. L. H. J. , 22:57. For Young People's Soc. L. H. J. , 26:34. "Phantom fair. " W. H. C. , 39:32. 

CLUB PARTIES:

 For Country Club. Invitation. Costumes. Supper. Dance. W. H. C. , 41:30. "Candle-light café. " W. H. C. , 42. Oct. , 1915. 

COSTUMES:

 Delin. , 78:258. 

COUNTRY-HOUSE PARTY:

 Country Life, 18:624. 

DANCES:

 Dances, drills, costumes. Delin. , 78:258. Hallowe'en party. W. H. C. , 40:39. Barn party. W. H. C. , 34:30. 

DECORATIONS AND FAVORS:

 Autumn-leaf decorations and prizes. Delin. , 64:638. Cobweb party. Delin. , 91:44. Hall: Handicraft for handy girls. Place-cards, verses. L. H. J. , 28:50. L. H. J. , 31:40. H. Bazar, 39:1046. L. H. J. , 20:48. L. H. J. , 16:38. Cinderella party. W. H. C. , 34:30. Favors. H. Bazar, 45:516. Nut favors. W. H. C. , 32:53. Original decorations. W. H. C. , 32:32. Fads and frills. W. H. C. , 32:24. 

GAMES AND FORTUNES:

 Witchery games for Hallowe'en. Delin. , 64:576. H. Bazar. , 33:1650. L. H. J. , 20:48. L. H. J. , 25:58. Blain: Games for Hallowe'en. Quaint customs. H. Bazar, 46:578. H. Bazar, 32:894. Witches' think cap. L. H. J. , 32:29. Hallowe'en happenings. St. N. , 35:51. 

INVITATIONS:

 H. Bazar, 33:1650. 

PARTIES (miscellaneous):

 H. Bazar, 28 pt. 2:841. H. Bazar, 32:894. L. H. J. , 29:105. L. H. J. , 30:103. Nut-crack night party. H. Bazar, 41:1106. Nut-crack party. H. Bazar, 38:1092. Novel party. W. H. C. , 31:42. Yarn party. L. H. J. , 26:63. L. H. J. , 23:68. L. H. J. , 14:25. Barn party. W. H. C. , 34:30. Novel party with musical accompaniment. Musician, 18:665. Cotter's Saturday night. W. H. C. , 38:40. "Ghosts I have met" party. Pantomime. W. H. C. , 37:27. Two jolly affairs. W. H. C. , 39:32. Tryst of witches. Good H. , 53:463. Tam o' Shanter party. Delin. , 85:26. Jolly good time. Delin. , 74:367. Hints for Hallowe'en hilarities. L. H. J. , 27:46. Jolly party. L. H. J. , 19:41. Hallowe'en fun. L. H. J. , 33:33. Pumpkin stunt party. W. H. C. , 45. Oct. , 1917. Character party. W. H. C. , 45. Oct. , 1917. 

SCHOOL PARTIES:

 "Cotter's Saturday night. " W. H. C. , 38:40. High school party. W. H. C. , 42:34. How the college girl celebrates Hallowe'en. W. H. C. , 31:16. 

SUPPERS, TABLE DECORATIONS, MENUS:

 Hallowe'en suppers. H. Bazar, 35:1670. H. Bazar, 37:1063. L. H. J. , 24:78. L. H. J. , 16:38. W. H. C. , 40:39. W. H. C. , 43:35. H. Bazar, 44:641. H. Bazar, 45:507. Hallowe'en party table. L. H. J. , 29:44. H. Bazar, 32:894. Hallowe'en supper. Good H. , 53:569. 

The pages refer always to the October number of the year. 

Supplementary List of Readings, Recitations, and Plays

 * * * * *

 TITLE AUTHOR SOURCE

 _All Hallowe'en_ (story) All the Year Round, 60:347 _All Souls' Eve_ (story) Hopper Eng. Illus. Mag. , 18:225 _All Souls' Eve_ (story) Lyall Temple Bar. , 124:379 _Black cat_ (story) Poe _Boogah Man_ Dunbar Eldridge Entertainment House _Brier-Rose_ (story) Grimm Fairy tales _Broomstick brigade_ J. T. Wagner 6 Barclay St. , N. Y. City _Bud's fairy tale_ (poem) Riley Child-world Children's Play with musical accompaniment Musician, 16:693 _Corn-song_ (poem) Whittier _Elder-tree mother_ (story) Andersen Fairy tales _Fairies_ (poem) Allingham _Fairy and witch_ (play) Nelson Eldridge Entertainment House _Feast of the little lanterns_ (operetta) Bliss _Fisherman and the genie_ _Arabian Nights_ (story) _Ghost_ (story) O'Connor _Ghosts I have met_ Bangs _Ghost's touch_ (story) Collins _Golden arm_ (story) Clemens _How to tell a story_ _Goblin stone_ (play) Wickes Child's Book, p. 127 _Guess who_ (song and drill) Murray Eldridge Entertainment House _Hallowe'en adventure_ McDonald Canad. Mag. , 12:61 (story)

 _Hallowe'en adventure_ Koogle Eldridge Entertainment (play) House _Hallowe'en frolic_ Cone St. N. 20 pt. 1:15 (poem) _Haunted gale_ (play) Wormwood Eldridge Entertainment House _House in the wood_ Grimm Fairy tales (story) _Little Butterkin_ Asbjornsen _Fairy tales from the (story) far north_ _Little Donna Juana_ Brooks (story) _Mother Goose recital_ Musician, 21:633 _Nix of the mill-pond_ Grimm Fairy tales (story) _Peter Pan in Kensington_ Barrie _Gardens_ (story) _Rapunzel_ (story) Grimm Fairy tales _Red shoes_ (story) Andersen Fairy tales _Scarecrows a-roaming_ Eldridge Entertainment (play) House _Seein' things_ (poem) Field Love songs of childhood _Snow-white_ (story) Grimm Fairy tales _Straw phantom_ (pantomime) Blackall St. N. , 44:1133 _Testing of Sir Gawayne_ Merington _Festival plays_, (play) p. 211 _Voyage of Bran_ Meyer _Walpurgisnight_ (story) Zschokke _Wind in the rose-bush_ Freeman (story)

INDEX TO QUOTATIONS

 * * * * *

 TITLE |AUTHOR |PAGE |SOURCE --------------------------------------------------------------------- _All-hallows honeymoon_ | | |New Eng. Magazine, (story) |Marks |104 | 37:308 _All Souls' Eve_ (poem) |Marks, J. P. |31-32 | _Ancient Irish_ |O'Curry |7 | _Ballad of Tam Lin_ | |65 |Child's Ballads _Battle of the trees_ |Taliesin |7 |_Neo-druidical heresy_ _Caractacus_ (poem) |Mason |11 | _Celtic twilight_ (poem | | | in introduction to) |Yeats |58 | _Charms_ (poem) |Opper |161 |Munsey, 30:285 _Comus_ (play) |Milton |131 | _Cuchulain of Muirthemne_|Gregory |37-38- | | |39 | _Cuchulain's sick-bed_ | |42 | _Death of the flowers_ |Bryant |18-19 | (poem) | | | _Different party_ |Bradley |156-157|Harper's Bazar, 41:131 (story) | | | _Dinnsenchus of Mag | |21 |_Neo-druidical heresy_ Slecht_ | | | _Djinns_ (poem) |Hugo |148 | _Druid song of Cathvah_ | | | (poem) |Todhunter |9 | _Expedition of Nera_ | |44 | "Fair maid who" | |139 |Encyc. Of Superstitions _Fairy-faith in Celtic | | | countries_ |Wentz |48-49 | _Fairy fiddler_ (poem) |Hopper |64 | _Fasti_ |Ovid |114 | _Faust_ (play) |Goethe |130 | _First winter song_ | | | (poem) |Graves |16 | "Five hundred points" |Tusser |98 | _Giles Corey of the Salem| | | Farms_ (play) |Longfellow |151-152| _Golden Legend_ |De Voragine|30 | _Great fir-tree of | | | Takasago_ (story) |Rinder |146 |_Old-world Japan_ "Green fairy island" |Parry |103 |Welsh Melodies _Hag_ (poem) |Herrick |66-67 | _Hallowe'en_ (poem) |Burns |73-74- | | |75 | _Hallowe'en_ (poem) |Coxe |18-19- | | |88-89- | | |96 | _Hallowe'en_ (poem) |Letts |99-100 | _Hallowe'en_ (poem) |Sheard |143 |Canadian mag. , 36:33 _Hallowe'en_ (poem) |Bangs |172-173|Harper's Weekly, Nov. | | | 5, 1910 _Hallowe'en_ (poem) |Benton |176-177|Harper's Weekly, Oct. | | | 31, 1896 _Hallowe'en_ (poem) |Murray |178 |Harper's Weekly, Oct. | | | 30, 1909 _Hallowe'en Failure_ |Smith |175 |Harper's Weekly, Oct. (poem) | | | 29, 1910 _Hallowe'en or Christie's|Adams |169 |Scribner's, 3:26 fate_ (story) | | | _Hallowe'en in Ireland_ |Trant |51 |_Dewdrops and Diamonds_ _Hallowe'en Fantasy_ |Pyle |49 |Harper's Bazar, 31, pt. (play), | | | 2: 947 (Priest and the Piper)| | | _Hallowe'en reformation_ |Butterworth|149-150|Century, 27:48 (story) | | | _Hallowe'en wish_ (poem) |Munkittrick|93-94 |Harper's Weekly, Oct. | | | 27, 1900 _Hiawatha_ (poem) |Longfellow |145 | _Immortal Hour_ (play) |Sharp |39-40- |Fortn. Rev. 74:867 | |41 | _Jorinda and Joringel_ |Grimm |135 |Grimm's Fairy Tales (story) | | | _L'Allegro_ (poem) |Milton |86 | _Land of Heart's Desire_ | |36-43- | (play) |Yeats |45-47 | _Lavengro_ (story) |Borrow |129 | _Little Orphant Annie_ |Riley |152-153| _Loch Garman_ |O'Ciarain |36 | _Lycidas_ (poem) |Milton |85 | _Macbeth_ (play) |Shakspere |89 | _Monastery_ (story) |Scott |62-63- | | |76-103 | _Night of the dead_ |Le Braz |116-117|_Legend of the dead_ "On nuts burning" |Graydon |91-92 | _On the morning of | | | Christ's nativity_ | | | (poem) |Milton |28 | _Paradise Lost_ (poem) |Milton |120 | _Passing of Arthur_ |Tennyson |84 | (poem) | | | _Pastorals_ (poem) |Gay |74-75- | | |92-93- | | |94-95- | | |97 | _Peer Gynt_ (play) |Ibsen |131 | _Peter and Wendy_ (story)|Barrie |64 | _Polyolbion_ (poem) |Drayton |10 | _Pomona_ (poem) |Morris |23 | _Rip Van Winkle_ (play) |Jefferson |150-151| _Robin Goodfellow_ (poem)|Johnson |86 | _St. John's Eve_ (poem) |Kickham |12 | _St. John's Fire_ (play) |Sudermann |141 | _St. Swithin's Chair_ | | | (poem) |Scott |69 | "Soul, soul" | |98 |Notes and Queries _Spell_ (poem) |Gay |91 | _Splores of a Hallowe'en_| | | (poem) |Dick |72 | _Sunken bell_ (play) |Hauptmann |14 | _Tale of Hallowe'en_ | | | (story) | |76 |Leisure Hour, 23:765 _Tam Glen_ (poem) |Burns |79 | _Tam o' Shanter_ (poem) |Burns |67-68 | _Tannhäuser_ (play) |Wagner |132-133| _Tempest_ (play) |Shakspere |67 | _Three-fold chronicle_ |Sharp |54-56 |Harper's, 73:842 (story) | | | _Tom's Hallowe'en joke_ |Wright |154 |_Dewdrops and Diamonds_ (story) | | | _Twig of thorn_ (play) |Warren |44-45 | _Vertumnus and Pomona_ |Ovid |24 | (poem) | | | _Völuspa_ (poem) | |122 | _We girls_ (story) |Whitney |162-163| "When comes the harvest" |Botrel |112 |_Songs of Brittany_ _When de folks is gone_ |Riley |153 | (poem) | | | "When ebery one" | |160 |Werner's Readings, | | | No. 31 _Wild huntsman_ (poem) |Scott |90 | _Willie Baird_ (poem) |Buchanan |70 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------

INDEX

 Aberdeenshire, 60

 Adder-stone, (serpent's-egg badge), 11, 27

 Ailill, 36-38, 39

 Ale, 80, 103

 All Hallows Eve, 29, 88, 102, 106. See also Hallowe'en

 All Saints', 4, 29-30, 110, 118, 126

 All Souls', 4, 30-31, 98-99, 106, 110, 113, 118, 142, 144

 Alphabet, 96, 160, 166-167

 America, 149, 153

 Anaxarete, 24

 Angus, 36, 38-39

 Ankou, 109, 115

 Apollo, 1, 129, 134

 Apparitions. See Ghosts

 Apples, 23, 26, 50-53, 72, 77-78, 92, 95, 103-104, 106-107, 115, 120, 149, 155, 157-158, 161, 162, 164, 166

 Apple-island, 85

 Apple-seeds, 92-93, 158-159

 Arabs, 147

 Ariel, 87

 Armorica, 108

 Arthur, King, 84, 108

 Ash-tree, 63, 105, 122, 137; berries of, 29

 Ashes, 56, 60, 68, 83

 Augury. See Omens

 August, Roman festival in, 25-26

 August first, Celtic festival of, 15

 Augustus, 27

 Avilion (Avalon), 84-85, 107

 Ayrshire, 68

 Baal, 8, 12-13, 17

 Baal-fire, 12

 Baldur, 120-121

 Balmoral, 61

 Barra, 79

 Bats, 134, 152, 155

 Bay-leaves, 170

 Bean, 94

 Bedivere, 84

 Belgian, 144

 Beltaine, 12, 79

 Bells, 99, 111, 116, 118, 132, 137, 142, 154

 Benevento, 131

 Bergen, 130

 Black, 156

 Black sheep, 17, 50

 Black sow, 102

 "Black vespers, " 113

 Blindfolded seekers, 33, 70, 73, 77-78, 83, 160

 Blocksberg, 130, 141

 Boats, 146, 163

 Bochica, 1

 Bonfires, 3, 8-9, 12, 13, 17, 21, 50, 59-61, 101-102, 125; to light through Purgatory, 31, 106; to protect from evil, 29, 101

 Boniface, 29

 Border, Scottish, 62, 81, 111

 Bretons, 99, 110-111

 Briar, 57

 Briar-Rose, 125

 Bride, 36

 Britain, 5-6, 27, 87, 109, 111

 British Isles, 5, 107, 109, 126

 Brittany, 108-109, 142, 145, 166

 Brynhild, 124

 Buchan, 59

 Button, 156, 164

 Cabbages, 53-54, 70-72, 77, 95, 104, 164, 168-169

 Cadwallo, King, 104

 Caer, 38

 Cæsar, 5-8, 109

 Cake, 13, 33, 79, 97-98, 103, 144, 145, 156

 Callcannon, 51

 Canada, 167

 Candlemas Day, 88

 Candles, 50, 53, 55, 59, 69, 80, 95-96, 99, 112, 118, 145, 155, 158, 163

 Cardiganshire, 102

 Carnutes, 109

 Cat, 11, 49, 66, 68, 134, 152, 155, 164

 Catskill Mts. , 150

 _Celtic twilight_, 58

 Celts, classes of, 5; beliefs, 6, 15, 18, 30, 33, 79, 82, 107-110, 124, 125, 142; characteristics of, 115, 119

 Cemeteries, 54-55, 113-114, 142

 Changelings, 35-36, 86

 Charms. See Omens

 Chartrain, 109

 Cherokees, 3

 Chinese, 145

 Christ, 4-5, 27, 119

 Christian religion, 3, 27-31, 50, 59, 83, 101, 109, 126, 129; in Britain, 27, 129; in Ireland, 42; in Brittany, 109; in Scandinavia, 126

 Christmas, 3, 97, 110, 154

 Church, 3-4, 30-31, 80, 89, 113, 118, 143, 144; festivals, 3

 Circle, 8

 Claudius, 27

 Cluny, 30

 Coel Coeth, 101

 Coins, 51-52, 72, 156

 Colonies, 149

 Columb Kill. See St. Colomba

 Connaught, 35

 Continent, 3, 118

 Corn, 138; -stalks, 155

 Cornwall, 85, 108

 Creed, 55

 Crom Croich (Cruaich), 20-21

 Cross, sun-symbol, 8; Christian, 29, 42, 63, 137; -roads, 65, 103, 137

 Cruachan, 35, 37

 Cuchulain, 41-42, 84

 Cuckoos, 134, 139-140

 Cyniver, 105, 168

 Dagda, 39

 Dahut, 111

 Dance, 3, 44, 56, 61, 67, 80, 81-82, 103, 106, 126, 133

 Danann. See Tuatha De Danann

 Danu, 20

 Dathi, 43

 Dead, 19-20, 30, 37, 98-99, 109-117, 129, 142 _et seq. _; return, 4, 99, 107, 114-117, 145, 146, 149; disturbed by weeping, 117, 145

 Death, 10, 112, 156; Lord of. See Saman. Samhain associated with, 20-21, 30-31; prophesied, 52, 57, 60, 65, 83, 102, 106

 Decoration of graves, 118, 144

 Delphi, 129, 134

 Derbyshire, 99

 Deux-Sèvres, 109

 Devil, 43, 50, 55, 57, 66-68, 89, 102, 133-135, 140

 Dew, 136, 139

 Dietrich von Bern, 131

 Dishes, 73, 83, 104, 165, 168

 Dispater, 109

 Dissatisfied, 39-40, 57-58, 132, 141

 Djinns, 147-148

 Doll, wax, 151

 Dolmens, 110

 Dorsetshire, 99

 Dovrefeld, 130

 Dragon, 145

 Dreams, 140; prophetic, 14, 57, 79, 165, 169

 Drink, 57, 79

 Druid, meaning, 6-7; draught, 42; festivals, 11, 26, 101; lamps, 73; stone, 11; stones, 110; wand, 7; -fire, 50, 166

 Druids, 9-11, 29, 42-43, 92, 103, 109-110, 122-123, 126; as priests, 5-6; powers of, 7, 27

 "Drus, " 6

 Dumb-cake, 80, 168

 Dwarfs, 110

 Earth, 54, 83, 165

 Edane, 47. See also Etain

 Edda, 124

 Egg, 165, 167; white of, 77-78, 168; -shells, 36

 Egyptian beliefs, 1, 18

 Eichstatt, 136

 Elder, 123, 137

 Elizabeth, Queen, 99

 Elm, 63

 Elves, 121, 149, 152

 Emer, 42

 England, 87, 89, 97, 99, 106, 108, 119, 144

 English, 149

 Eochaidh, 39-40

 Episcopalians, 30

 Eriskay, 81

 Etain, 39-40

 Ethal, 38

 Europe, 87, 130, 135, 142, 145

 Excalibur, 84

 Exorcism, 9, 29, 42

 Fagots, 96, 169

 Fairies, 6, 44, 46, 49, 61-65, 81-82, 84-85, 96, 103, 107, 110, 149

 Fand, 41-42

 Fates, 89, 123, 134

 Feast, of dead, 116, 143; of poor, 144

 Feng-Shin, 145

 Feralia, 114

 Fern, 14, 59

 Finistère, 110, 117

 Fir Bolgs, 20

 Fire, 21, 23, 45, 123-125; -god, 120; spirits of, 147

 Fires, 11, 17, 28-29, 50, 52, 101, 109, 112. See also Bonfires

 _Flamina_, 25

 Flour, 52, 57, 154, 158

 Flowers, 118, 144

 Fomor, 20, 35

 Footprints, 57, 60, 83

 "Forced-fire, " 17

 Fort Worth, 170

 Forts, fairy, 37, 44, 46

 France, 108, 110, 112, 118, 131, 142

 Franks, 111

 "Free-night, " 141, 154

 Freya, 120, 127, 129, 131, 134

 "Furious Host, " 131

 Future, questions about, 34, 69

 Gabriel Ratchets, 90

 Gaul, 5-6, 27, 109, 119

 Germans, 119

 Germany, 130, 131, 134, 136, 144

 Ghosts, 49, 63, 69, 76-77, 88, 116, 127, 144, 146, 152, 155. See also Dead

 Glass, 10-11, 96, 166

 Gnomes, 48

 Goat, 67-68, 134

 Goblin, 35-36, 61, 64, 149, 153

 Gods of Ireland. See Tuatha De Danann

 "Good Neighbors, " 63

 "Good People, " 45, 49

 Goths, 119

 Grallon, 111

 Great Britain. See Britain

 Greek, 1, 5, 6, 30, 85, 120

 Gregory, 29-30

 Guleesh, 46

 Gunnar, 124

 Hair, 77, 96, 138, 166-167

 Hallowe'en, 3-4, 35, 43, 46, 49-50, 61, 64-66, 68, 72, 79, 81, 85, 89, 90, 95-96, 99, 103, 105, 106, 112, 129, 138, 140, 142, 144, 149, 152, 154, 164, 165, 170; pagan, 3, 21; charms at, 26, 33, 53, 56; born on, 54, 62

 _Hallowe'en_, poem, 70, 168

 _Hansel and Grethel_, 134

 Hares, 135

 Hartz Mts. , 130

 Harvest, 3-4, 15, 17, 25, 30-31, 34, 59, 69, 97, 106, 112, 137, 155

 Hawthorn, 123, 137

 Hazel, 85

 Hearts, 156

 Hebrides, 79

 Hel, 122, 131

 Hemp, 14, 33, 53, 74

 Henry VIII, 99

 Henry Hudson, 150

 Herbs, 46-47, 53, 66, 126, 129-130

 Herne the Hunter, 90

 Herodotus, 5

 Hesperides, 85

 Highlands, 59, 65, 77

 Hodur, 121

 Holda, 131-132, 136

 Holiday, 61

 Hollow Land, 41

 Holly, 63

 Hoop, 157

 Horselberg, 131

 Horseshoes, 138, 152

 Horus, 1

 Husking-bees, 3

 Iceland, 125

 Idun, 120

 Immortality, 10, 85, 107, 120

 Indians, 3, 145, 150

 Invocation, 21, 92

 Iona, 50

 Iphis, 24

 Ireland 3, 5, 13, 15, 17, 20, 35, 48-50, 59, 62, 72-73, 78-80, 104, 107, 127, 170; belief in fairies, 6, 35

 Irish Sea, 20

 Iron, 152

 Italy, 119, 131, 142

 Ivy, 57

 Jack-o'-lantern, 49-50, 69, 121, 155

 Japan, 2, 146

 Jokes, 154

 Jonah, 13

 Juniper, 123, 137

 Jupiter, 8

 Kale. See Cabbages

 Kensington Gardens, 64

 Ker-Is, 111

 Kettle, 89, 134, 155

 Key, 55, 72, 144, 156

 Laeg, 42

 "Lambswool, " 51

 Lammas, 28

 Lancashire, 99

 Land of Heart's Desire, 36

 Land of Youth, 40

 "Lanterns of the dead, " 112

 Lanterns in Japan, 146

 Latin. See Rome

 Lead-melting, 55-56, 77, 168

 Leek, 104-105

 Legends, origin of, 2

 Lemons, 170

 Leprechauns, 48

 Lewis, 80

 Liban, 41

 Lincolnshire, 89

 "Little People, " 48-49, 85

 "Livelong, " 53

 Loki, 120

 London, 97

 Lords of Misrule, 88

 Love-knots, 156

 Lucifer, 120

 "Luck of Edenhall, " 96

 Luggies. See Dishes

 Lugh, 14-15

 Lugnasad, 15, 28, 33

 _Macbeth_, 123

 Magic, 7, 15, 155; black, 28, 156

 Maine, 165

 Malt, 80

 Malta, 144

 Man, Isle of, 20, 82

 Manitous, 150

 Mars, 8

 Martinmas, 62

 Mary, Virgin, 29, 126, 132, 138, 145

 Mary Avenel, 62

 Maryland, 165

 Massachusetts, 164

 Master of the Revels, 97

 May-bride, 126

 May Eve and Day, 4, 11-13, 29, 33, 45, 47, 107, 125, 135, 136, _et seq. _; -fires, 13, 61; -pole, 126; -ridings, 125; -shooting, 140

 Meal, 83, 164

 Meath, 15, 17

 Medb, 36, 39

 Meg, 68

 "Men of Peace, " 63

 Mercury, 8, 15

 Midir, 39-41

 Middle Ages, 129

 Midsummer, 3, 11, 20, 28, 33, 53, 125, 146

 Milk, 45, 51, 112

 Minerva, 8

 Mirror, 85, 129, 146-147, 149, 161-162

 _Miserere_, 142

 Mistletoe, 7, 40, 120

 Modred, 84

 Mona, 27

 _Monastery_, 62

 Moon, 40, 74, 76, 77, 146, 155, 162

 Moray, 59

 Moytura, 20, 22, 35

 Music, 36, 39-40, 43-47, 56, 64, 67, 87, 111

 Myths, origin of, 2

 Naples, 142

 Needles, 117, 133, 151, 158, 166

 Negroes, 153

 Nera, 37, 107

 Net, 83

 Neverland, 64

 New Brunswick, 167

 New Hampshire, 165

 New Year, 82, 102, 154. See also Year's end

 New Year's Day, 17

 Niflheim, 122

 Nikko, 146

 Norse, 80, 82, 119, 134

 Norway, 1, 126, 130

 "Nos Galan Gaeof, " 102

 November, Eve, 33, 35, 37, 44, 50, 59, 79, 101-102, 107, 112, 137; first, 4, 11, 16, 25-26, 137, 144; in Rome, 30; second, 30, 118, 144

 Nuts, 26, 33, 50-52, 73, 90-92, 103-104, 109, 115, 144, 155, 159-160, 169

 Oak, 6-7, 27, 40, 122

 Oats, 55, 77

 Oatmeal cakes, 79

 Obsession, 44

 October 31st, 4, 10, 17, 50, 82, 85, 118

 Odin, 120, 124, 129, 131

 "Oidhche Shamhna, " 50

 Olaf, 126

 Omens, 14, 22, 26, 50-52, 104, 117, 137; from sacrifices, 9, 17, 33, 123, 166; evil, 28

 Oonah, 45

 Ops, 23

 Ordeal, 9, 123-124

 Osiris, 1, 18

 Ossian, 47-48, 150

 Ostia, 25

 Otherworld, 19, 39, 42, 47, 84, 103, 107, 111, 115, 121, 146, 150

 Ovid, 24, 114

 Owls, 134, 152, 155

 Paddy Beg, 46-47

 Paddy More, 46-47

 Paganism, 30, 35, 59, 109, 141

 Pageant, 170

 Pantheon, 29

 Paradise, 31

 Partholon, 13

 Parties, Hallowe'en, 155

 Peace, 171

 Peas, 92, 94

 Pelagius, 83

 Pennsylvania, 165

 Perthshire, 59

 Peru, 1

 Peter Pan, 63-64

 Ph[oe]nicians, 5

 Picts, 108

 Piper, fairy, 43-44, 64, 87

 Pixies, 103, 110

 Pomona, 4, 23-26, 50, 85, 155

 Pontypridd, 101

 _Preparedness for Peace_, 170

 Procopius, 111

 Prophets, Druids as, 9, 43; witches as, 89, 134, 151

 Pumpkins, 155, 160

 Purgatory, 31, 99, 106, 145

 Puy de Dome, 131

 "Puzzling-jug, " 103-104

 Races, 15, 26

 Rapunzel, 125

 Red Mike, 54, 62

 Rick, 55

 Ring, 51-52, 55, 72, 96, 156, 165, 168

 Rip Van Winkle, 150

 Rome, 8, 23-30, 114, 119-120; relations to Druids, 27; All Saints' in, 32

 Roses, 105

 Rowan. See Ash-tree

 Sacrifices, 20, 109, 137; to Baal, 8-9, 11-13, 17, 101; omens from, 33; to Tyr, 123

 St. Augustine, 83

 St. Bridget, 45

 St. Colomba, 50

 St. Gertrude, 126

 St. John's Day and Eve, 3, 28, 109, 110, 137, 141

 St. Kilda, 79

 St. Michael, 85

 St. Ninian, 83

 St. Odilo, 30

 St. Patrick, 5, 43, 83

 Saga, 124

 Salerno, 142

 Salt, 57, 67, 79, 82, 83, 134, 169

 Saman, 10, 31, 50, 80

 Samhain (Sáveen), 16, 18, 20-22, 26, 31, 35-36, 38, 40-41, 43, 48, 59, 65, 82

 Samhnagan, 60

 Samhanach, 64

 Sark. See Shirt

 Satan, 120, 133

 Sauin. See Samhain

 Scandinavia, 119, 126, 134

 Scotland, 59, 78, 79, 81, 82, 99, 104, 127, 156; belief in fairies in, 6, 62-64

 Scots, 108

 Seasons, 1

 Seaweed, 80

 Secrecy, 45, 77-78, 124, 155; in Druid rites, 9-10, 124

 Seed-cake, 97

 Seeds, 14, 92, 121

 Serpent's-egg. See Adder-stone

 Seville, 131

 Shee, 39

 Shirt-sleeve, wetting the, 56, 78-79, 126-129, 165

 Shoe, 77, 170

 Shony, 80

 Shropshire, 98

 "Sid, " 37, 49. See also Forts

 Sigurd, 124

 Sîtou, 18

 Sleep, 39, 47, 87, 124-125

 Sloe, 52, 85

 Snakes. See Adder-stone

 Snap-apple. See Apples

 Sol, 1

 Soul-cakes. See Cake

 South, 165

 South Uist, 81

 Sowens, 79

 Spain, 131, 144

 Spectre Huntsman, 90

 Spirits, 6, 20, 103; abroad, 14, 22, 31, 35, 44, 48; evil, 4, 18, 20, 56, 63, 87, 99, 129

 Staffordshire, 98

 Stones, 60, 101-102, 106, 109

 Stories, 81, 96, 149, 169

 Straw, 77, 99

 Strunt, 79

 "Summer's end, " 3-4, 11-12, 16, 25, 44

 Sun-god, 1-3, 8, 15, 44, 84-85, 87, 120-121, 124, 126, 136; -worship, 21; -wise, 3, 17, 60, 67

 Superstitions, 33, 62, 83, 135, 153-154

 Swans, 38-39, 41

 Swastika, 8

 Sweden, 126, 133

 Symbols, 7-8, 28

 Tam o' Shanter, 68-69, 89

 Tannhäuser, 131-133

 Tara, 17, 21, 43, 48, 59

 _Tempest_, 87

 Teuton, 108, 124, 142

 Teutonic, 4, 125

 Thanksgiving, 3-4; for harvest, 59

 Thimble, 51, 72, 83, 156

 Thor, 134

 Thorn, 45

 Thread, 138, 167

 Thuringia, 131

 Tiberius, 27

 Tigernmas, 20-21

 "Tin Islands, " 5

 Tlactga, 17

 Toads, 152

 Toasts, 126

 Todmorden, 90

 Torches, 14, 60-61, 68, 99

 Tree-worship, 7-8, 92, 123

 Trefoil, 8, 29

 Trinity, 29

 Tripod, 65, 134, 155

 Trolls, 121, 130, 150

 Tuatha De Danann, 20, 29, 38-39, 43, 48-50, 107-108

 Tub, 53, 93, 96, 160; apples in. See Apples

 Tyr, 123

 United States, 153

 Valhalla, 121-122

 Vali, 121

 Valkyries, 122, 136

 Vandals, 119

 Venus, 131-132

 Vertumnus, 24-25

 Vortumnalia, 25

 Vulcan, 120

 Vurdh, 123

 Wales, 27, 101, 105, 106, 108, 144, 168; belief in fairies in, 6

 Walnut-tree, 92

 Walpurga, 136

 Ward, Hill of. See Tara

 Water, 57, 68, 97, 165

 Wedding of sun and earth, 126, 136

 "Weird Sisters, " 123

 Wendy, 64

 Wheel, sun-symbol, 8, 13, 17; of fortune, 163

 White Lady, 62

 Wild Huntsman, 90, 131

 Will-o'-the-wisps, 121

 Windsor Forest, 90

 Winnowing, 75-76

 Winter, first day of, 18, 44, 87, 102, 112

 Witches, 4, 60-61, 65-69, 89, 99, 101, 129-131, 133-135, 146, 155

 Witchcraft, 4, 81, 89, 134

 Wood, 52, 57, 97

 Wotan. See Odin

 Yarn, 55, 75, 104, 140, 165

 Year's end, 10, 17-18, 84

 Yellow, 156

 Yggdrasil, 122

 Yorkshire, 97

 Yule, 3, 126

 Zschokke, 140

 TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES

 Represented the "oe" ligature as [oe]. 

 Adjusted placement of footnotes. 

 Page 88: Retained alternate spelling of "Candelmas" in quoted material versus standard spelling in index. 

 Page 182: Standardized punctuation. 

 Pages 191 & 194: Standardized index cross-reference words. 

 Page 204: Standardized spelling of "sick-bed. "

 Page 207: Standardized spelling of _Völuspa_.