Lanterns

Turnip lanterns, before pumpkins

The jack-o’-lantern began as a turnip.

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.

The jack-o’-lantern began in the British Isles, where people carved large turnips or other vegetables, not pumpkins. Britannica

In Ireland, candles were put inside carved turnips, which were used to frighten people on the night of 31 October. NMI, ghost turnip

In Scotland the carved turnips were ‘tumshies’, given evil faces to scare off fairies and ghosts. Historic Environment Scotland

Stingy Jack

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

His wandering spirit became known as Jack of the Lantern, or Jack O’Lantern. Britannica

How to carve a Manx moot

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

Some people carve only the skin and leave a thin wall of turnip, which stops the wind blowing the candle out. Culture Vannin

Hollow out the stalk of the lid to make a chimney, and put in a tea light (or, these days, a torch). Culture Vannin

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

Safety. Our advice, not a sourced fact: turnips are hard, so an adult should do the cutting, and a battery tea light is safer than a flame.

Designs

Traditional Manx turnip designs include Peel Castle, witches and Manx cats, not just scary faces. Culture Vannin

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

Children sometimes put marbles in the eyes to stop the wind blowing out the candle, and used old matchsticks for teeth. Culture Vannin, toolkit

Before turnips, children put cabbages on sticks and banged them on people’s doors. Culture Vannin, toolkit

In the museum

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

The museum’s ‘ghost turnip’ is a painted plaster cast made by the museum artist Eileen Barnes. NMI, ghost turnip

From turnip to pumpkin

The National Museum of Ireland says today’s pumpkin is an American development of the Irish turnip tradition. NMI, ghost turnip

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

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