Hallowe’en

Mt Benger Mail, 27 November 1935, Page 1

Hallowe’en

AN CIEN T TRADITION

An old Druidic festival, Hallowe’en or All Hallows Eve, leu last i nday week. Aithougn present observance connotes lithe belief in Die superstition tnat llano we euis tile lllglit ol tue year Wlieli gliosis and wiiciies are most ukeiy to wander auroad, some ui me oia iraudioiis cling. The name All hallows Eve is given to October of as Die vigil ui liaiiowmas or -ill banns' Hay. hue festival lung ante-dates Christianity, History showing mat me original ceiebi alioits Were purer,) rorUidrud. Uu aboiu Novcmmr i cacii year, me Druids used lo nurd turn;* great autumn iesuvai ana lighted munires in honour ui me sun-god and tu m.iUKsgivnig i.ui lue narv-<-.■5.. in later nines lue practice o. lighting outlines was letanieil as an essential pari ui tue übservat.ee. in i toman iiiius oincr ceremonies were iiilrudUcea niio the onsetvalice. file custom ui iigiiln.g nonures survived in the higulands ui beoiland and in Wales until recent \eais, and tue occasion was one lor unrestrained merry making. in ancient Ireland, on All Hallows Eve, hres used to be iigiitei out gradually candles were subs lilt led for them. Tile Welsh, however, were more raiiuiui to tradition, although the signdivunce of ine illuminations was lost, in North Wales the lighting of the lues was attended b\ many ceremonies such as running through tue lire and smoke, each person casting a stone into the lire, and all running olf at the conclusion U escape a legendary "black, snort-tailed sow, precursor ol evil.

A feast of parsnips, nuts, and apples suspended from a string ana eaten without being touched b) the hands, followed the lire ceremony. Each person threw a nut iii.o the lire and the way in which it burned disclosed the future. If it burned brightly it betokened prosperity through Hu coming year, but if it turned black --alas for the thrower. Misfortune would surely follow. Unthc following day the stones were searched for in the lire and if any were missing, evil would be the lot of those who threw them in. Among Celtic people the old t. adit ions die hard, in Brittany, among >ca-luring folk, there still survive many out-of-the-way beliefs. One ol the most touching—and one natural among people who know not what me angry sea has n, store for liiem —U slid carried out. On tile eve of -nl buuls Day, as they call it, the doors and windows of lheir homes arc left open, and the tabic set with food, st that the returning spirits of the dcatl might feel they arc still remembered.

in ine churchyard, where lie so many ui Hie hshermeii wuu*c lives were taken by the wrath ot me sea, the graves are strewn with iluwers and piayers are said for the repose oi their souls. There are many of the lishiug folk who say that during the hours of the night they hear the whispering of ghostly voices and the sounds of wailing and deep grief.