Every fact

107 facts, every one sourced

Every fact on this site in one list, each linked to its source. Our build stores the source text and checks that the key words and figures in each fact really appear in it; see the sources page.

1 Halloween falls every year on 31 October. It has pagan origins, Christian roots and plenty of non-religious traditions. Britannica
2 The name comes from All Hallows’ Eve: the evening before All Hallows’, or All Saints’, Day. Britannica
3 Halloween starts Allhallowtide, three Christian days for remembering the dead: All Hallows’ Eve (31 October), All Saints’ Day (1 November) and All Souls’ Day (2 November). Britannica
4 In most of Europe and North America today, Halloween is mostly non-religious: parties, costumes, jack-o’-lanterns and trick or treat. Britannica
5 Samhain was a festival in ancient Celtic religion that marked the end of summer and the start of winter. Britannica, Samhain
6 Samhain has been celebrated on 31 October or on 1 November. Britannica, Samhain
7 In ancient Ireland, Samhain was a time of gathering in for the winter, the opposite bookend to Beltane on 1 May, which began the summer. Britannica, Samhain
8 People believed that at Samhain spirits came into the world of the living, and they were wary of them. Britannica, Samhain
9 Very little can be said for certain about ancient Samhain, because the evidence is sparse. Britannica, Samhain
10 The ancient Irish left few records of it. Short mentions appear in Irish tales of the 10th and 12th centuries; fuller descriptions only date from the 18th century, from Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Isle of Man. Britannica, Samhain
11 Fairies were believed to come out of mounds at Samhain and play tricks on the living. Britannica, Samhain
12 The Samhain day, roughly 1 November on our calendar, was believed to begin the new year: winter, when livestock came in from pasture. Britannica
13 An Irish tale, the Tochmarc Emire, treats Samhain as a New Year festival, but it isn’t clear whether that was true everywhere in Ireland. Britannica, Samhain
14 It was commonly believed that on the eve of Samhain the boundary between the living and the dead blurred, and spirits could roam the earth. Britannica
15 In the 7th century Pope Boniface IV set up All Saints’ Day, at first on 13 May. Britannica
16 In the 8th century Pope Gregory III moved it to 1 November, Britannica says perhaps partly to replace pagan holidays. Britannica
17 Historic Environment Scotland says Samhainn was possibly deliberately absorbed when All Saints’ Day moved from 13 May to 1 November in the 8th century. Historic Environment Scotland
18 Britannica’s Samhain article says these Christian holidays were set on these dates by the Roman Catholic Church in the 9th century, entirely independently of Samhain. Britannica, Samhain
19 The Library of Congress says Christian missionaries put All Saints on 1 November and All Souls on 2 November to replace Samhain; instead, Christian and older beliefs mingled into Halloween. Library of Congress
20 Britannica concludes that modern Halloween came from neither Samhain alone nor Allhallowtide alone, but from a mix of the two. Britannica, Samhain
21 After the Reformation, Protestants stopped keeping the religious holiday, but in Britain especially Halloween carried on as a non-religious one. Britannica
22 Halloween was largely forbidden among early American colonists. Immigrants, including many from Ireland, brought their customs from the mid-19th century, and in the 20th century it became a major American holiday. Britannica
23 In some places people lit candles or lanterns on graves or in windows on All Hallows’ Eve to guide souls. Britannica
24 Mexico’s Day of the Dead, from 31 October to 2 November, is a separate festival, with altars of flowers, candles, food and photos. Britannica
25 Samhain is also an important holiday in modern Paganism, especially Wicca, where it is mainly a time for honouring the dead. Britannica, Samhain
26 Halloween is the eve of Samhain, one of four Quarter Days in the traditional Irish calendar. As with most Irish festivals, the main celebrations were on the night before. National Museum of Ireland
27 The festival is Samhainn in Scottish Gaelic, Samhain in Irish and Sauin in Manx. Samhainn is said ‘Sa-wayne’. Historic Environment Scotland
28 In Scottish Gaelic, Halloween is Oidhche Shamhna. Historic Environment Scotland
29 Hop tu Naa is the oldest continuously existing tradition in the Isle of Man. Culture Vannin, toolkit
30 It is celebrated on 31 October. In the old calendar it fell on 11 November, Old Hollantide Eve. Culture Vannin
31 Culture Vannin calls Hop tu Naa the Manx equivalent of Halloween, with some very important differences. Culture Vannin, toolkit
32 The name Hop tu Naa is thought to come from the Celtic New Year, like Hollantide and Hogmanay. It marks the end of summer and the start of winter. Culture Vannin, toolkit
33 In Manx, “Hop! T’an Oie” means “It is the Night!” Culture Vannin
34 It is also Celtic New Year’s Eve, Sauin in Manx Gaelic. Culture Vannin
35 Hop tu Naa traditions include songs, dancing, carving turnip lanterns, divination, stories of Jinny the Witch and special food. Culture Vannin
36 In the Isle of Man the turnip lantern is a ‘moot’. To make one, cut off the top, level the bottom so it sits, hollow it out with a spoon, then draw and cut your design. Culture Vannin
37 Traditional Manx turnip designs include Peel Castle, witches and Manx cats, not just scary faces. Culture Vannin
38 Some children carved pictures instead of faces: a moon, stars, a cat, a witch, a castle, a boat or a cottage with smoke coming from the chimney. Culture Vannin, toolkit
39 Some people carve only the skin and leave a thin wall of turnip, which stops the wind blowing the candle out. Culture Vannin
40 Hollow out the stalk of the lid to make a chimney, and put in a tea light (or, these days, a torch). Culture Vannin
41 You can also use the stalk as a handle and carve the turnip the other way up. That was often done in Peel. Culture Vannin
42 Children sometimes put marbles in the eyes to stop the wind blowing out the candle, and used old matchsticks for teeth. Culture Vannin, toolkit
43 Before turnips, children put cabbages on sticks and banged them on people’s doors. Culture Vannin, toolkit
44 Some Manx children now use pumpkins, an American tradition; long ago there were no pumpkins on the Island, so turnips were used, as they still are here and in Ireland. Culture Vannin, toolkit
45 Children sang Hop tu Naa songs from door to door, and still do. The songs vary from place to place on the Island. Culture Vannin
46 The best-known song, from Douglas, goes: “Hop tu Naa! Your mother’s gone away and she won’t be back until the morning. Jinny the witch flew over the house to fetch the stick to lather the mouse.” Culture Vannin, toolkit
47 There is a Manx Gaelic chorus too: “Hop-tu-Naa as Trol-la-laa”, said roughly ‘hop-chu-nay as trol-la-lay’. Culture Vannin
48 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
49 Long ago, children had no elaborate costumes: they disguised themselves by wearing clothes inside out or back to front and covering their faces. Culture Vannin, toolkit
50 Many of the songs mention Jinny the Witch. Some people think she was a real woman, Joney Lowney, who lived about 300 years ago. Culture Vannin, toolkit
51 In the story, Joney was found guilty of witchcraft, locked up in Peel Castle for 14 days, fined £3 and made to stand at the market cross in Castletown, Peel, Ramsey and Douglas. Culture Vannin
52 Culture Vannin points out that she got off lightly: in England or Scotland she could have been hanged or burnt. Culture Vannin
53 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
54 The traditional Hollantide Eve supper was potatoes, parsnips and fish mashed together with butter. Culture Vannin
55 Gorse bonfires were lit to keep bad fairies away. Culture Vannin
56 It was a tradition to steal the first salted herring from a neighbour’s house. Culture Vannin
57 There is a traditional Manx Hop tu Naa dance, still danced today, with a song in Manx Gaelic. Culture Vannin, toolkit
58 Some Manx Gaelic words for the night: moot (turnip), buitch (witch), scaanjoon (ghost), kayt doo (black cat) and craitnag (bat). Culture Vannin
59 Culture Vannin’s leaflet says the veil between this world and the next is at its thinnest at Hop tu Naa. Culture Vannin
60 The jack-o’-lantern began in the British Isles, where people carved large turnips or other vegetables, not pumpkins. Britannica
61 In Irish folklore, Stingy Jack tricks the Devil twice. When Jack dies, neither heaven nor hell will take him, and he wanders the dark with a glowing coal inside a hollowed-out turnip. Britannica
62 His wandering spirit became known as Jack of the Lantern, or Jack O’Lantern. Britannica
63 In 1943 the National Museum of Ireland was given a turnip lantern by a schoolteacher near Fintown, County Donegal. She said that type was always made there around 1900. NMI, ghost turnip
64 The museum’s ‘ghost turnip’ is a painted plaster cast made by the museum artist Eileen Barnes. NMI, ghost turnip
65 In Ireland, candles were put inside carved turnips, which were used to frighten people on the night of 31 October. NMI, ghost turnip
66 The National Museum of Ireland says today’s pumpkin is an American development of the Irish turnip tradition. NMI, ghost turnip
67 In Scotland the carved turnips were ‘tumshies’, given evil faces to scare off fairies and ghosts. Historic Environment Scotland
68 Britannica says carved turnip lanterns are sometimes said to be a leftover from Samhain, but they may instead come from All Saints’ Day or Guy Fawkes Day. Britannica, Samhain
69 Historic Environment Scotland calls guising the original form of trick or treating. Children were disguised so the roaming fairies and spirits wouldn’t steal them. Historic Environment Scotland
70 Guisers went from house to house telling jokes to earn their treats. Historic Environment Scotland
71 King James V is said to have liked dressing up and visiting his subjects in the villages near Stirling Castle. Historic Environment Scotland
72 In Ireland, guisers, men or children in disguise, went from house to house to frighten the neighbours, and entertained them to earn a treat. National Museum of Ireland
73 It was a night for pranks and dares, often called ‘mischief night’ or ‘trick or treat’; knocking loudly on doors, or throwing cabbages at them, and running away was a favourite. National Museum of Ireland
74 Trick or treat means threatening a usually harmless prank if no treat is given. It is thought to come from the British custom of letting the poor beg for food called ‘soul cakes’. Britannica
75 Going ‘souling’ took place around Halloween and All Souls’ Day, especially in the Middle Ages. People went door to door singing and praying for the dead in return for a soul cake. English Heritage
76 A soul cake, or soulmass-cake, was a small round cake, more like a biscuit, usually made with oats and perhaps spiced with nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger, with raisins or currants. English Heritage
77 English Heritage quotes a source of 1511: “we read in old time good people would on All Halloween Day bake bread and deal it for all Christian souls.” English Heritage
78 Groups of poor people, usually children, were still going souling in the 20th century. English Heritage
79 Scottish accounts say children and poor adults collected food and money from homes on All Saints’ Day in return for prayers for the dead; later, the prayers were replaced by tricks, songs and jokes. Britannica
80 Mumming was an early Irish form of trick or treat: people dressed as spirits did silly acts in exchange for food and drink. Britannica
81 In England, masked mumming plays became a widespread part of Halloween only by the 20th century. Britannica, Samhain
82 At Samhain people may have worn animal skins or disguises to confuse or hide from the spirits of the dead. Britannica
83 Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF began in 1947, when a teacher and her husband in Philadelphia asked children to collect spare change for UNICEF instead of sweets. Britannica
84 The National Museum of Ireland – Country Life has scary old Halloween masks on display in its Samhain section. National Museum of Ireland
85 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
86 Common Irish Halloween games included bobbing for apples and ‘apples on a string’. National Museum of Ireland
87 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
88 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
89 Other traditional Irish Halloween foods include colcannon, which is mashed potato with cabbage and onions, and boxty potato cakes. National Museum of Ireland
90 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
91 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
92 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
93 Britannica describes ‘dumb suppers’ or ‘dumb cakes’, food eaten in silence that was thought to bring visions of a future husband. Britannica, Samhain
94 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
95 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
96 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
97 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
98 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
99 In Ireland, 31 October is a night for community bonfires, especially in towns and cities. National Museum of Ireland
100 In 1589 “hollowmass” fires were banned in Stirling, Scotland. Britannica, Samhain
101 The evidence for Samhain fires in Ireland is thin; it is stronger for fires at Beltane. Britannica, Samhain
102 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
103 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
104 In European folklore, bats were messengers between witches and the Devil, and a bat on Halloween was a bad omen. Britannica
105 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
106 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
107 Halloween was also called ‘ghost night’ or ‘spirit night’ in Ireland: the souls of the dead were expected to come back to the family home. National Museum of Ireland