Daily union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1865-1866, 1866-10-31

the predominance Of these articles in max
ing up the entertainments of the evening
They are not only cracked and eaten, but
are made the means Of vaiicination in love
affairs. And here we quote from BURNS
poem Of Halioueen:
'The auld guidwife's well-hoordst nits
! Are round and round divided.
| And mOny lads and lasses' fates
| Are there that night decided:
Some kindle, cOuthie, side by side,
! And burn thegither trinity:
/ Some start ava wi sauey pride.
And jump Out-OWre the chimly
Flu high that night.
JEAN slips in twa wi tentie e'e;
Wha twas she wadna tell;
But this is JOCK, and this Is me,
She says in to hersel';
lie bleezed owre her, and she owre him,
| As they Wad never mOir part
! Till, fluff he started up the lum,
| And JEAN had cen n sair heat
| To see Z that night"
BRAND, in his Popular Antiquities, is more
explicit at is a custom in ireland, when
the young woman would know if their
lovers are faithful, to put three nuts upon
the bars Of the CRATE, naming the nuts after
the lovers. If nut cracks or jumps, the
lover will prove unfaithful, if it begins to
blaze or burn, he has regard for the person
making the trial. If the nuts named after
the girl and her lover burn together, they
will be married.
There are several modes of creating sport
with apples on Hallowene. The most popu-
lar is to set them afoat in a tub of water
into which the Juveniles, by turns, duck their
heads with the view Of catching an apple.
Great fun goes on in watching the attempts
Of the youngsters in pursuit of the swimming
fruit which wriggles from side to side of the
tub, and evades all attempts to capture it;
whilst the disappointed aspirant is obliged
to abandon the chase in favor of another,
whose turn has now arrived. The apples
provided with stalks are generally caught
first, and then comes the tug of war, to win
those which possess no such appendages.
Some Of the competitors will plunge man
fully overhead in pursuit of the apple, and
ha@ing forced it to the bottom of the tub,
seize it firmly with their teeth, and emerge
dripping and triumphant with their prize.
Another ceremony much practiced on Hal
loween, is thatofthe Three Dishes, or L,,ggies.
Two of these are respectively filled with
clean and foul water, and one is empty.
They are ranged on the hearth, when the
parties, blindfolded, advance in succession,
and dip their fingers into one If they dip
into the clean water, they are &c marry a
maiden; if into the foul one, widow; if
into the empty dish, the party 50 dipping is
destined to be either bachelor or an old
maid. As each person takes his turn, the
position of the dishes is changed
The ceremonies above described are all OF
a light and sportive description, but there
are others of a more weird-like and fearful
character, which in this enlightened and in
credulous age have been altogether aban-
doned. Among these was the celebrated
| spell Of eating an apple before looking
glass, with a view of discovering the inquir-
er's future husband, who it is believed will
be seen peeping over her shoulder. Another,
that may perhaps be termed anAalIoiocd, is
to wet a shirt sleeve, hang it up to the fire to
dry, and lie in bed watching it till midnight,
when the apparition ofthe individuals future
partner for life will come in and turn the
sleeve.
Other rites for the invocation Of spirits
might be referred to, in all of which the
effect sought to be produced is the same
the appearance of the future husband OF
wife of the experimental. A full descrip-
ton of them will be found in BURNS Hal
/ i0rcea.
1t may here be remarked, that popular
belief ascribes 70 children born on Hal
loween, the possession Of certain mysterious
faculties such as that Of perceiying and
holding converse with supernatural beings.