Happy Hallowe'en

[essayel]

Happy Hallowe'en to all those who bother with it and I hope you have many treats (not too sure about tricks since I seem to remember that there's a double entendre there). Don't eat too much candy - I always find I write rubbish when I'm on a sugar high! In the UK it is a rather low key celebration - if we bother with it at all - but tonight we are off next door so the kids can run around the garden in the dark and we can supervise and share a glass of wine or two.
British children don't seem to have got the idea of Trick or Treating. I've already had four hulking great lads in ski masks coming to the door demanding money - I gave them a biscuit each! Mike and his friend Robbie are off out shortly but have promised not to knock on doors - they are properly costumed in dark and rather impressive medieval gear, though Mike tends to dress like a Goth elf most days. Jenny's the star though. She has borrowed a black dress of mine - rather scary that it fits her, fewer sweets from now on - and is wearing a purple lace up basque over the top, a witches hat covered in kittens and several pounds of black makeup - she looks like a podgy Alice Cooper in drag!
Anyway, while I'm sitting sipping my soft red I'll be thinking of all of you having fun!

Comments

[casfic.livejournal.com]

British children don't seem to have got the idea of Trick or Treating.

Damn right!

We never had trick or treating in Scotland until recently. What always have had is guising from disguise, and 'penny for the guisers' would be a common refrain. My mother (who's English) hated it, as she always felt it was akin to begging. A group of us would dress up, and go round the neighbourhood together, proudly carrying our neep lantern. No pumpkins in Scotland - we hollowed out turnips (Swedes). At each house we would knock on the door and the people would usually invite us in, or else we would do our piece on the doorstep. Each of us had a 'party piece' prepared - a song, a poem, something like that. If we were lucky the people would have dooking for apples (basin of water with apples floating in it, you have to pick one up with your teeth. You tend to get rather wet) or grabbing treacle scones (you have to grab a scone smeared in treacle (molasses) hanging from a line. Once again with your teeth. You tend to get rather sticky). When we were finished we would get sweets, fruit, nuts, or sometimes money. I must have been about ten the last time I did it. My brother was most insistent that his daughters go 'guising' where you have to do something, and not 'trick or treating' which is just begging.

[innerslytherin]

Wow! Guising sound like more fun than just trick-or-treating! I'll have to demand songs from every lad and lass that comes to my door tonight! (Though since we live miles away from the nearest child, that's highly unlikely anyway.) We Americans are just too lazy anymore. *sighs*

[essayel.livejournal.com]

in Wales we used to have a similar thing done at Christmas and the New year by adults. It was called the Mari Llwyd (grey mare) and involved putting s horse's skull on a pole, decorating it with ribbons and tying on a sheet so someone could hide beneath it. Then the Mari and its attendants would go from house to house challenging the householders to an extempore poetry contest where insults were exchangd in verse. If the householder won they got a cheer and respect (the Mari was carefully selected for his wit) but if the Mari won they were given cakes and ale. I should imagine that the householder towards the end of the route had a better chance of winning than those at the beginning. A couple of years ago I made one to use at the museum - getting the horse's skull was the yickiest part!

[innerslytherin]

Ooh, I've read of the Mari Llwyd! Susan Cooper was the one who started my interest in all things Welsh. I've always been curious about it, though - and you've given me more bits of information. Thanks!