The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1875-11-01


honored festivals which our Scottish fore
fathers delighted TO honor. and which the
old and young ones of the present genera
ton still cherish as the special night
throughout the year, i
When fairies light
On cassilis downans dance. II
Or owre the lays, in splendid blaze, 81
On sprghty coursers prance-
the night devoted to fortune-telling, nut
burning, love tests. and 'tauz' ling" Hal |
lowe'en or All Hallow's eve, is regarded |
in Scotland as the night when witches,
devils and other misunderstanding beings
are all abroad on their baneful midnight |
errands, particularly those aerial people, |
the fairies. Taking its origin from the |
religious festival of All Saints day, among
the Presbyterians of Scotland Halloween |
came to be recognized as night to be de- |
voted to fun and jollity. 1t is the last |
night of October, the closing of the sum
mer and the autumn; and standing upon |
the threshold of winter, warm hearted lads |
and lassies were wont to gather round the |
| ingle nook
To burn their nits an pom their stocks,
/ And hand their Halloween.
The first ceremony of Hallowe en-, accord
| ing to ancient custom, was the pulling of
obOCh, VI pldub vi Mill. uC ldoSlCS NcUl
cut hand in hand, with eyes shut, and
pulled the first they met with it being
big or little. straight or crooked, being
prophetic of the size and shape of their
future husband, Should any earth stick
to the root, that was fortune, and the
taste of the custoc-the heart of the stem
indicative of natural disposition. The
stems or runts were placed above the heal
oFf Ea laoc onA rh ,.t
| the people whom chance brought into the
house supposed to be the names in ques
ton. The lassies then went to the barn
yard and pulled each, at three several
tunes, stalk of oats. If the third stock
wanted top pickle, the chances were that
the young lady might become a matron ere
the marriage ring had touched her finger,
Burning nuts is another famous charm
As the nuts which are named for some
particular pair of sweethearts burn
lquietly together or start up the ''lum, SO
will the fortunes of the lovers be- Anoth-
er method of knowing ones fate is TO take
a candle and go alone to a looking glass,
cut an apple before it, and comb the hair;
the face of the coming man wilIshow itself
in the glass. Sowing hemp seed is still an
other old-fashioned mode of looking back
into futurity." 1t was also the custom in
Burns's tune to go to a south running
Istream where three lairds' lands met, and
dip the lett shirt-sleeve. The lad was
then required to go to bed in sight of a
, fire, and hung his wet sleeve up to dry.
Sometime near midnight an apparition of
the desired object would come and turn
the sleeve, as if to dry the other side
Then there was the dish test. clean water
in one. foul in another and the third emp
= ty. The person being bIlndioided was led
$ to the dishes; If he or she touched the clean
water, n maid or batchel0r would tie Il e
favored fate; if the foul, widow or wid-
over; while if the empty dish was touch
/ ed there would be no marriage at all.
t Such are few of the old customs which
r gave its humor to Burns's famous poem.
:; While people haye become too sensible in
these practical days to believe in omens
and ''ghaists. there was just as much
secse in the old love tests of Hallowe en- as
in the modern devotion of Spirtualism, fol
q while the former caused the la>sjes
g hearts to thump, the latter turns th2il
$ heads The night is observed this year
d upon Monday, owing to the last day of DC.
tober falling upon Sunday. While in the
cities the old folks are not perhaps sc
much inclined to encourage such foolish
Z ness" away in many a comfortable farm
IL steading the lads and lassies will gather, "a:
did their forebears across the sea, around
the kindly freside, and while the rafter.
. re-echo with their loud, infectious laughter
: the minds of the auld anes will wande
back to the days of langsyne, when they
u u too, burned their nuts and pulled thei
u stocks, and held their Hollowe- en,-Inter
u Ocean. 30th.