HALLOWEEN in Scotland by Rachel HAMMOUD 3eme 1

Halloween in Scotland

Halloween takes its name from All Hallows or All Saints Day. Halloween is often celebrated by children dressing up in frightening masks and costumes. It is thought to be associated with the Celtic festival Samhain, when ghosts and spirits were believed to be abroad.

However, Halloween is celebrated differently in many countries with different traditions. Some people celebrate it in the streets with huge parades, others celebrate it at home with their family or friends...And there are even people who don't celebrate it.

Well, in many parts of Scotland it was customary to leave an empty chair and a plate of food for invisible guests. People believed that it wasthe night when the souls of the dead were set free to roam. They might come into their houses and eat at their tables. Silence was marked as the chimes of midnight rang out.

It's not hard to understand why in Scotland of all places, Halloween continued to be important. Much of the nations history involves the supernatural. From the witches of Macbeth as imagined by William Shakespeare to the real burning of women, accused of working with the devil, in a rash of satanic trials during the seventeenth century. There is a special atmosphere in many parts of Scotland even to this day where, as daylight fades, the flames of Halloween bonfires show up ancient ramparts of castles and buildings where devilish deeds once may have been done.  

 Children parties are still an important element of Halloween. One of the most popular games in Scotland is dookin' for apples, where bairns (children) have their hands tied behind their backs and try and grab apples from a basin full of water.Apple dookin usually follows on from the game of treacle scones. Here again the hands of the children are tied, and sometimes they are also blindfolded. Participants are invited to bite a scone, covered in treacle, hanging from a rope. Messy faces are usually then washed in the apple basin!
As part of the Tweed Valley Forest Festival in November 2008, the town of Pebbles set the world record for the most amount of people to dook for apples at one time. Among st the 70-strong participants was a local MP and a councilor.
The modern world has had an effect on some of these customs. Pumpkins are now as common as turnips for lanterns. Children turn up shouting trick or treat and expect gifts without having to perform, and traditional songs and games are dying out in some areas. But there is still sufficient spookiness in old Scotland to ensure that the Halloween rituals will be as everlasting as the spirits that are said to return to earth when dusk arrives on October 31st.