Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1877-11-08
ALL.HALLOH s. EVE.

- l II is an interesting study to note he
perpetuity Of manysof the wOlld 'sstra :.
ditions and their survival, even when
sw 1.-The manners and customs which were
-.Is,,s cotemporaOeous. with :. their origin
have changed and there has been a
complete upheaval of social 7observan-
,ees-, Andrew Fletcher, of. Saltoun, in
in his letter to the Marquis of Mont
CroSe, says:rs.I knew a very wise man
.Ntbat believed that If man. were per-
az naitted TO make ell the ballads he need
not care who should make the laws OF
a nation" And it may be argued
with equal force that the legends and
traditions of country have great in
fiuence 10 shaping and regulating the
modes of thought of its people. 1t is
astonishing % find. .Fwben we come to
consider the matter carefully, how
mnchzfherornantic, he legendary and
superstitions are woven into our daily
practical life. We have, of course made
great advancement and progress jn in
teilectuai belief Astrofogy hasgiven
place to astronomy; medicine has be
come thoroughly formulated sci
ence; there are no.ghosts now, for, as
: Z YFFom Hood says, they were all, laid
long ago with the wooden pavements;
wtchcraft and diabolism are no longer
>belieyed in. and the scarecroWs that
,Juied to frighten our fathers have been
tId0SiOEul6u INTO
men, tilling the soil. And yet the
most Intellectual amongst US have our
superstitions, our dreams and our fore
. E b9diBgs. The very man Vhos Will
prove thoroughly aud logically that
nothing comes by chance; that every
event-s brought about by the opera
ton of fixed and natural laws, will at
tach an importance TO the spilliDg of
Fsdlt, or the medium through Which he1
& cppc ff,a q iInrt
who would brave Il e saverest storm
~. hesitates about going to sea on Friday;
the greatest of literary men have had
their superstitions as to beginning
work on certain days, and in almost |
every mind there fingers some relic of
supefstitious faith which all the mate /
rislism OF the age fails TO eradicate.
And if this be true of individuals. |
equally SO is il of communities. One
mysterious feature in this respect is
that no matter how far apart they may
. befroIn each SOther, however varied
their blood or lineage, however impos-
sible apparently that they could ever
have had Communication, many of J!
- their legendary tales and traditions /
seem to have had a. common origin,
and although perhaps differing in de-
tail, are built up on the same frame
Work. ScandinavlanS and SaXOns, |,
Persians and Bavarians have each d
8 Multitude in their traditions, and the
~sphiiosopher finds it interesting TO an
= Aalyze-them and search for the cause OF
this uniformity. Tonight is ALL
HailOws' Eve, or Haliow Fen, time
the observance of which in many pla
ce' has become almost obsolete, altho'
in Others it Is still faithfully kept. The
pastoral people of Scotland, with whom
it is still such an institution, did moi
stop to consider its eorigin, else their
stern sense of ruritanisIn ihight per-
hsps have rebelled against il. They
only looked upon it as a night when
witches and fairies were abroad, when
the future, with its veal or its woe,
was open to all W ho were bold enough
to peer into it.. Many a blooming !
maiden crept quietly ard fearfully tu =
her room, unIolled the tresses OF her !
~. rich brown hair and coiDbed them :
carefully before some tiny looking {,
.Sgiass, half expecting and yet half afraid
that the face of him who was to be her
-7-y lover would smile upon her. AnG
HaRye simple swain rwent out like 4
Isaac into the fields at eventde and
pratticed some simple divination in !
the hope thst a sbadowy Rebekah
womb rise before him in the misty ;
light Cf 6n Or'tb' moon. ROberi 1
s=- Burns, in his pos m of .Haltw E'ep,'tt
gives picture Uf Ills old festival, c
atinged with Tudtiy glow add alinosi 4
! Gsuggesting hsIpy Arcsdia. Init Ella
says: II
'Among the bonny winding banks
Where Doom runs whipping clear, !.
Where Bruce once ruled Tie martial ranks j
Ind shook the Corfck spear /:
Some merry, friendly country folks IA
Together did convene 10
To burn their nuts aud pull their stocks, =
And Land their Hallow Een
Fu' blythe that night" 4
- In al 1t <, 10
saAsSaihts' Day. n bieh fakes it's origin 4,
from the conversion in the seventh 81
century Of the Pantheon at Rome into Il
8 Christian temple, and its dedication ;,
to the Virgin and, all the martyrs. II Al
was originally celebrated on the 1st Of b.