Old Halloween customs: games, food and fortunes
Apples, nuts, kale and cake: the night was for telling the future.
How this site works. Every fact is in our own words and linked to its source, beside it. The pictures are our own drawings. Where good sources disagree, we say so.
Games
Bobbing for apples means trying to catch apples floating in water with your teeth, without using your hands. Britannica says it may come from Roman traditions linked to Pomona, goddess of fruit trees. Britannica
Common Irish Halloween games included bobbing for apples and ‘apples on a string’. National Museum of Ireland
Food
The báirín breac was the traditional Irish Halloween cake. A ring baked inside meant whoever found it would be next to marry. National Museum of Ireland
Other things went in the cake too: a thimble, a button, a stick, a rag, a coin and a crucifix, each foretelling a different future. National Museum of Ireland
Other traditional Irish Halloween foods include colcannon, which is mashed potato with cabbage and onions, and boxty potato cakes. National Museum of Ireland
In Scotland, Fuarag na Samhna, toasted oats and whipped cream, was made with tokens folded in: a coin for money, a ring for an engagement. Historic Environment Scotland
The traditional Hollantide Eve supper was potatoes, parsnips and fish mashed together with butter. Culture Vannin
Today children get sweets, chocolate and sometimes money for singing. Long ago they got butter taffy, apples, bonnag and Hollantide fairings, which are ginger biscuits. Culture Vannin, toolkit
Fortunes
Couples put nuts on the Samhainn bonfire. If they hissed, the relationship would be stormy; if they burned quietly and evenly, it was a good match. Historic Environment Scotland
In a custom mentioned in Robert Burns’ poem ‘Hallowe’en’, people pulled up a kale stalk in the dark with their eyes shut; its shape and size foretold their future partner. Historic Environment Scotland
In Ireland, putting apples, cabbages or other things under your pillow on Halloween was believed to bring a dream about your future spouse. National Museum of Ireland
Britannica describes ‘dumb suppers’ or ‘dumb cakes’, food eaten in silence that was thought to bring visions of a future husband. Britannica, Samhain
Young women baked a soddag valloo, or dumb cake, of flour, salt, eggshells and soot, ate it in silence and walked backwards to bed to dream of a future husband. Culture Vannin, toolkit
Protection
In Ireland, holy water was sprinkled on people, animals and the farm, and small wooden or straw crosses were hung for protection and luck in the coming winter. National Museum of Ireland
People avoided travelling alone on Halloween night for fear of being taken by evil spirits, and avoided fairy mounds and forts. Those who had to go out carried a black-handled knife or a steel needle. National Museum of Ireland
Irish children were told that the púca went about on Halloween night spitting on the wild fruit, so they wouldn’t eat damaged berries and apples after that date. National Museum of Ireland
Bonfires
In Scotland, Samhainn bonfires, ‘samhnagan’ in Gaelic, were lit for protection from evil spirits. On the islands, neighbours competed to build the biggest fire. Historic Environment Scotland
In Ireland, 31 October is a night for community bonfires, especially in towns and cities. National Museum of Ireland
Gorse bonfires were lit to keep bad fairies away. Culture Vannin
In 1589 “hollowmass” fires were banned in Stirling, Scotland. Britannica, Samhain
The evidence for Samhain fires in Ireland is thin; it is stronger for fires at Beltane. Britannica, Samhain
Black cats and bats
The idea that a black cat crossing your path is unlucky goes back to medieval Europe, when folklore said witches, or even the Devil, could take the form of black cats. Britannica
Not everywhere fears black cats: in Scotland and Japan a black cat can stand for good fortune, and in ancient Egypt cats were sacred to the goddess Bastet. Britannica
In European folklore, bats were messengers between witches and the Devil, and a bat on Halloween was a bad omen. Britannica
Then and now
The National Museum of Ireland’s folklife keeper notes that before electricity the countryside was very dark, adding to the scariness. National Museum of Ireland
She also says Halloween is one of the few festivals still kept in much the same way as for generations; now the supermarket supplies the barmbrack, costumes and treats. National Museum of Ireland
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