The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1869-10-30

ALL.HALLow E'EN.-We will have il
the course of the year reached, to.mor'
row night, one of those pleasant domes'
tic anniversaries consecrated by tender
associations to the old folks. All.Hsl.
low Fen is festival in which nuts and
apples compose the entertainment;
when nuts are thrown into the fire, OF
cracked, to propitiate omens touching
matrimony; if the nuts lie still and
burn together, they prsgnosticate a
happy marriage or hopeful love; if, on
the contrary, they bounce and fly asun-
der, the sign 10 unpropitious. l
Burns, in note to his poetical de-
scription Of Halloween, says: "Burn.
ing the nuts is a favorite charm; they
name the lad and lass to each particular
nut as they lay them in the fire; and,
accordingly as they burn quietly to-
gether, or start from beside one another,
the course and issue of the courtship
will be-" Asimilar custom, according
to Mr.. Ellis, prevails in ireland. The
superstisous notions in cracking nuts
generally are we'll Known. Bonfires,
ringing of bells and feasting are also
customary on All-Hallow.e'en.
In old time it was customary to
SOW hemp on ALL Hollow -e'en. This
was because it was believed that by
looking over the left shoulder, the
sower might see her or his true love
The ceremony is thus described by
Burns: "Steal out unperceived, and SOW
handful of hemp seed, narrowing it
with anything you can conveniently
draw after you. Repeat, now and then,
Hemp seed, i saw thee, hemp seed, l
saw thee, and him Cor her) that is to
be my true love, come after me and pou
thee Look over your left shoulder,
and you will see the appearance of the
person invoked, in the attitude of pull
ing hemp" The impression that for
merly prevailed of the existence of
supernatural agencies on this day more
than on any other has become almost
entirely obsolete in this age Of pro-
gress.
Among the customs observed in Scot
land, and sometimes practised in this
country as an iniatory Halloween cere-
mony, is that of pulling kailstocks or
stalks of colewert. The young people
90 out hand-in- hand, blindfolded, into
a kailyard or garden, and each pulls the
first stalk which he meets with. They
then return to the fireside to inspect
their prizes. According as the stalk is,
big or little, straight or crooked, so
shall the future wife or husband be of
the party by when it was pulled. The
amount of earth sticking to the roots
denotes the amount of fortune or dow
~, and the taste of the pish indicates
the temper. Finally, the stalks are
placed, one after another, over the door
and the christian name of the persons
who chance thereafter to enter the
house are held in the same succession
to indicate those of the individuals
whom the parties marry.
The ceremony above described is of a
light, sportive description; but there are
others of a more weird-lik and fearful
character, which, in this enlightened
age, have fallen very much into disure.
One of these is the celebrated spell of
eating an apple before looking. glass,
with the view of discovering the inquir-
er's future husband, who, it is believed,
will be seen peeping over her shoulder.
Another of these ceremonies is to wet a
.hirt-sleeve, hang it up to the fire to
dry, and lie in bed watching it until
midnight, when the apparition Of the
individuals future partner for life will
come in and turn the sleeve. We are
not prepared to say whether any of our
young people will adopt any of these
novel modes to ascertain who would be
their future partner.