OLD HALLOWE’EN.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21265, 20 February 1931, Page 16

OLD HALLOWE’EN.

I talk ot dreams. Which are the children of an Idle brain, Begot of nothing but vain fantasy. Which is as thin of substance as the air, And more inconstant than the wind. So would most of the more practical folk of to-day term the old Scots festival of Hallowe’en. Far, far distant now are the days when elves and fairies played their merry gambols, and the land of glamour and non-understandable things lay nigh at hand; and many there are of an earlier generation than ours who will regret its passing. Into the limbo of half-forgotten things, we, priding ourselves upon our clearer and more worldly vision, have flung it, dismissing with a scornful smile even the very memory of that thrice mystic time, v hen the “ wee, wise folk ” tripped their lightsome numbers on greener sward than we have ever known, when witches weird, on broomstick so grimalkin mounted, scoured the midnight sky, and when strange and unaccountable influences were abroad, only to be understood and looked upon by those who had eyes to see. By means of his inimitable ■word-paint-ing, Burns has conjured up for us many a picture of the old-world festival; but surely never one quite so vivid as that in which he tells how, on that mystical night, The auld gude-wife’s reel neardlt nuts Are round and round divided. And mony lads’ and lasses’ fates Are there that night decided. Some kindle, couthie, side by side, And burn thegither trimly; Some start awa’ wi’ saucy pride. And jump out ower the chimley, Fu’ high that night. Although degenerated nowadays into a merely apple-ducking and nut-burning occasion, for the children, it has a far and distant enough beginning, this old Hallowe’en of ours. For, once'upon a day it held place among the four great Fire Festivals of Britain, during which all blazes save the Druidical ones must be extinguished, and only relighted from the sacred flame. “ Faralia ” was then the name given by the ancient Romans to All Hallows’ Eve, when prayers for the departed were offered up, and their wandering souls were supposed to be abroad. Of the “ Hallowe’en Blceze ” which, later, flamed from every eminence and hill, stories are still told; while, on “All Hallowness E’en,” Round the holy green, The fairies are seen, Tripping light. Solitude was necessary to the sue cessful undertaking of such rites as belonged to Hallowe’en. For on that magic night all things seemed possible, and if eating an apple before a mirror did not produce the wraith-like features of a lover peering over the fair one’s shoulder, there was still much that might yield the same desired result. “Winnowing Corn,” that ancient observance, also possessed an eeriness all its own. On the stroke of 12 the doors of a barn were. opened wide, and the work of winnowing corn within thrice undertaken, after which the figure of the wished-for sweetheart, entering at one door, would as silently cross the barn, and make his exit at the other. Sometimes a coffin was to be seen, attended by mourners, foretelling an early death to the interested inquirer, who must surely have returned home sadder if not very much the wiser after this ghostly midnight episode. “Dipping the shirt sleeve” was another custom also much in vogue, this to be done at a stream where “three lairds’ lands meet.” Later, the garment, carried home, was put to dry before the fire, when the shadowy figure of the ever obliging lover would be seen entering and turning the sleeve, after which, still silently, he would withdraw. And who is there, among the elder folks, who does not recall, with a thrill, that “ Pulling the Kail,” when a bachelor’s or spinster’s garden was laid waste in the search, by a merry, blindfold band, for that stalk of “ kail ” which was to forecast their individual futures. A firm and well-proportioned stalk, with soil adhering to its roots, thus signifying riches and all other desirable qualities, was held to be the greatest prize of all. But love is proverbially blind, .and possibly even those who had possessed themselves only of that stunted “ stalk,” indicative neither of good looks nor wealth, were contented enough. Even then the fun was only beginning. Each kail-stalk was later hung above the owner’s doorway, and he (or she) who should first pass under it was accounted the fortunate selector’s “ fate,” or, at least, to correspond in Christian name to the desired lover. An old Scots story is still told of a pretty maiden, who, with two strings to her bow, thus permitted Hallowe’en to have the final say in her destiny. “ It wasna’ me wha made the choice. I mysel’ was a’ for Robert; but Fate had it that I was to get the ithcr, and wha can gang against Fate?” “ Throwing the clue ” was another old observance, and, stealing out at midnight the credulous maiden, casting a ball of yarn, preferably “ lucky ” blue, proceeded to unwind it, asking as she did so, “ Who holds ? ” Whether by accident or lover’s intent, the “ clue ” would presently be grasped from the other end, and the future husband’s name spoken in a voice rendered temporarily mysterious. For daring, and valour, and, above all, almost childlike credulity were the attributes evidently required to bring such undertakings to a successful conclusion. The night ia Hallowe’en, Janet, The morn is Hallowes' Day, And gin ye dare your true love win. Ye hae nae time to stay.