Guising

Guising, souling and trick or treat

Going door to door is old. Asking for sweets is newer.

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.

Disguises

At Samhain people may have worn animal skins or disguises to confuse or hide from the spirits of the dead. Britannica

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

Guising

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

Guisers went from house to house telling jokes to earn their treats. Historic Environment Scotland

King James V is said to have liked dressing up and visiting his subjects in the villages near Stirling Castle. Historic Environment Scotland

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

Mumming was an early Irish form of trick or treat: people dressed as spirits did silly acts in exchange for food and drink. Britannica

In England, masked mumming plays became a widespread part of Halloween only by the 20th century. Britannica, Samhain

The National Museum of Ireland – Country Life has scary old Halloween masks on display in its Samhain section. National Museum of Ireland

Souling and soul cakes

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

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

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

Groups of poor people, usually children, were still going souling in the 20th century. English Heritage

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

Trick or treat

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

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

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

In the Isle of Man

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

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

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