The Night of the Dead - the most unpredictable night of the year - when festivals from many cultures collide.
On Hallowe'en the old ghosts come
About us- and they speak to some
(Anon)
The traditional beliefs of Halloween are connected with rituals
performed for Samhain, the Celtic festival celebrated in Ireland and
Scotland. Samhain was one of the four Celtic festivals known as quarter
days. The meaning of the word in old Irish is 'summers end'. Celts
considered sundown as the start of a day, which is why although Samhain
is November 1st, it would have been celebrated at sundown on the 31st.
It was their new year and fires would have been lit on the hilltops to
drive out the evil of the last year and welcome in the new. Later
festivities would have been influenced by the Christian feasts of All
Saints on the 1st and All Souls on November 2nd, when the dead are
remembered in prayers.
For on Hallowmas Eve the Nighthag shall ride,
And all her nine-fold sweeping by her side
(Waverley by Sir Walter Scott published in 1814)
In the past it was a night for staying by the fire, out of harms way, and telling fortunes.
Fortune telling was done by throwing a hazelnut into the fire and seeing
how it burned, or by peeling an apple and looking for the shape of the
peel. These were ways of foretelling a birth or death in the family, the
success of a marriage or the initials of a future husband.
In some parts of the country the 31st of October was known as Mischief
Night when mummers would blacken their faces and knock on doors asking
for cash. So although we think the trick or treat idea for Halloween
came here from the USA, along with pumpkins, during the last 25 years,
it's not completely new............... before pumpkins, faces would
have been carved from swedes, turnips or mangle wurzels.
Years ago at the smallholding pumpkins were always one of the ways we made a bit of money through the month of October when most other crops had finished. I searched the old blog and found the picture from 2014 - the year when we were given some seeds for giant pumpkins. We sold all these and also £75 worth of normal sized pumpkins. It was always hard work planting the small pumpkin plants out on the field in the late spring but a very useful income in late Autumn, as it is for many bigger farmers.
Back Tomorrow
Sue
Sue
Did you sell all of those enormous pumpkins? I’m wondering how people managed to lift them when they got them home. They would make a “few” bowls of soup! X
ReplyDeleteYes we sold them all for £20 each I think. People had to back right up to the trailer and roll them into the boot of their cars!
DeleteOh my! At first glance I didn't realise just how large those pumpkins were. They would have taken some carving. X
ReplyDeleteThe biggest was lifted onto the trailer on the pallet by the front loading forks of our tractor!
DeleteThey're HUGE!!!!! Beautiful pumpkins!
ReplyDeletexx
They were big - the only year we ever grew giant ones. It was the year before Colin was diagnosed and we moved into Ipswich
DeleteI always have a pumpkin as it is my birthday - but sadly no farmer to carve it for me this year so i have to have a go myself.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday Pat. Enjoy that Pumpkin carving
DeleteWeaver - I am sure you will have great fun carving your pumpkin!
ReplyDeleteSue - those are enormous. There were some similar in size to these in Narberth recently, but inflation has put their price up to nearer £30. You would have enough pumpkin soup to feed an army from one of those!
I loved all the folklore about Halloween. I liked . . . "and they speak to some."
Hope no ghost speaks to me!
DeleteMy daughter has given me so lovely harvest/Halloween decorations from America over the years and I love putting them out. She and my grand daughter did the pumpkin yesterday and the children in the village love to see her display. I loved your display Sue.
ReplyDeleteHazel c uk
I have a ceramic pumpkin in the cupboard and have forgotten all about it despite writing about Halloween!
DeleteWow, giant pumpkins incredible size. Love pumpkin, soup, roasted delicious xcx
ReplyDeleteThey were huge. The biggest had to be lifted with the tractor.
DeleteThose pumpkins are amazing!!
ReplyDeleteI love all the information you're giving us on various dates and customs, it's fascinating ... but not something I would think to go and look up myself ... so thank you.
For some reason this year I forgot to plant any 'orange' pumpkins ... all mine are a strange shade of green and have what look like warts on them ... very spooky for Halloween though :-)
The green ones probably taste the same. There are so many different sorts now
DeleteThose are some prize winning pumpkins! We have a festival every year in early October in a town about 35 minutes from here called Pumpkinfest where growers of giant pumpkins (and some other members of the squash family) enter a contest where they are weighed and measured. A winner is declared and often the runner-ups are displayed at local businesses for the month of October after that. You would have given them a run for their money! -Jenn
ReplyDeleteThey were huge - the only year we ever grew giant ones
DeleteI grew these one year when my children were small. I carved their names in when the pumpkins were small and they grew as the pumpkins grew,
ReplyDeleteWow, they are enormous although they must take some carving. Loved learning a little more about the folklore.
ReplyDeleteBooOOOoooOOOoooOOOoooOOOooo
ReplyDelete*H*A*P*P*Y* *H*A*L*L*O*W*E*E*N*!*
BooOOOoooOOOoooOOOoooOOOooo
Happy Samhain! Lovely post. I have to admit that until I moved to America I didn't realise how a pumpkin grew. They are so beautiful and really do look vine-y as they do on Cinderella's coach in the Disney film. We've grown them a few times.
ReplyDeleteWe al one with our children are having a largest pumpkin growing competition next year...may be looking for some tips! x
ReplyDelete