Daily Yellowstone journal., 1891-11-03

1900" EH 80 I1AAA RkaRA1NAAA
shone as brightly as the faces Of all who
came. The housewife seemed swelling and
bursting with CHEEKY furry and heat over
pots and kettles at the great Fireplace OF
the room, and sundry savory odOrs prom
ised much for a later hour. The kitchen
had been given over TO the youngsters, who
were already deep in their Halloween
charms and games; and becoming one Of
them, like the old man who cared not for
the fall" in Willis Saturday Afternoon"
/ soon won place and honor.
Over every door to house, room or barn
an apple pairing was hanging, and some
maiden's eager eye was watching for him
who first passed beneath, for that one the
fairies had charmed as her beloved. Groups
of lads on all fours ducked their heads in
buckets of water and brought out small
coin with their teeth. Lasses were cutting
out a~lphabets with which the fairies were
to spell, in water basins, secretly cherished
names. Stolen herrings-which must be
salt, must be broiled without turning,
eaten with hot tongs and dreamed on
without drink"-now made their appear
ance. Then the "bannock baking aud its
wild merriment. Whoever turned the
hammock on the huge griddle that hung
from the crane was to wed her who's
nimble fingers kneaded its oaten meal.
salt, o and water together.
Nut burning and "snap apple'' were
going on merrily at the hob. The hazel
nut ashes in dainty packets beneath the
pillows were to yield charmed dreams: the
burning snap apples" told whether low
ing pairs would sputter or mellowly 2
during welded life. Then there was the
dumb cake" making for ~fairy-aidsI
dreams; the 'charm pies with their but
en-. HAa Ia H-a.H-n- nH-H
maids and rings for the lucky ones who
should we'd; the candle and sweets
suspended and whirling between griuuing
faces where teeth snapped Cor bites. and
luckless fr0wsy hair was singed. and an
hundred other innocent delights. LEADING
TO the more serious affairs of "postmau's
knock and "torfaits,' where ueuu-
inc old fashioned kissing was there for
the fighting; and the struggle for your
rights with q bouncing Irish las. from
the mountains insured her hatred IL y1u
did not overcome Der, and "a sore body OF
broken bones If you did-and then. amid
deafcniug olaJter and chatter. the supper
iu the great room, piled upon tables like
Fat stalls in a piethoric market. various.
smoking, awful, but with the jol.irst, hun
griest crew you ever broke bread with in
all your life. And oh, for room in which
TO tell the tales here told, GO give the song,
here sung. 70 reproduce with all their de-
HcIou d0riture the quips and jokes here
perpetrared, while oceans of tea flowed
gurslingly, and the poteen, As clear qs
rock water and as guileless Of excise, went
on its winding way.
Shortly after, "a wild h~ullabaloo arrested
our attention. The 'byes' had planned "a
great surprise. SallyinZ forth when the
tales and SONGS were at their height. they
had descended upon another Halloween
party a few miles distant, and by main
force had captured a fiddler and brought
him bodily away, the whole crowd Of de-
feated friendly rivals following after in
prideful reclamation. And here they came
with wild whOop and hurrO0, carrying
their prize on their shoulders into the
great room, where the procession was re-
ceived with ringing cheers. Il was old
Billy Drain, the blind fiddler, hero now
above all hosts. countryside guests or
strangers; batless, cOatless, breathless
from the odd melee, but with pursed and
smiling mouth and positive radiance shin
ing from his white locks aud beaming from
his blinking, appraised and sightless old
Wa there a dance this Halloween night
at that farmhouse on the ancient Kilma-
crenan road; Ask the rafters Of oak thai
shivered a century's ~splinters and mold
the vaulting heads and heels Of this
big hearted Irish %peasantry. And ask the
stars that looked softly down until their
shining eyes went out ina the brighter All
HallOws' dawn which lifted flaming cones
upon the peaks Of fair G~lendowan.
Everybody is familiar with Burns IA
nous poem, Halloween" in which occur
the lines:
The aud guidwife's w~eel-hoordet nits
Are round an round divided.
And monte lads and lasses' fates
Are there that night decided
were a thousand papers written OF
Halloween in Scotland they could not all
comprise the panoramic sweep and genial
insight into the ways and witcheries OF
auld S%cOtia's night Of mirth, charm and
lovemaking. In tracing the afinities be-
tween Irish and Scottish customs, how
ever, | have come upon some curious ex-
Of Scottish Halloween custom and
belief.
One Of these is the extraordinary and
varied use 10 which cabbage, or kali, is
put in the traditions and merrymakings
Of the occasion. Kali brose or cabbage
broth is inseparable from the Scotch Hal
.oween feast. Mischievous boys push the
pith from the stalk, I'll il with tow, which
sut1 SCI on uEes anu Lucut through the
keyholes Of houses Of folk who have given
them %ofTense, blow darts Of fame a yard in
If on a Halloween a farmers or
kali yard still contains ungathered
.,abbages, the boys and girls Of the neigh
DorhoOd descend upon it en- masse, M the
crop is harvested ia five minutes
line and thumped against their owners
ioOrs, which rattle as though pounded by
/ Humorous empest
In some shires at the pulling Of the
lail" the youths Of both sexes 90 into the
Iail yard blindfolded and in pairs, holding
.ach others hands. They each pull the
"runt" or stalk that they find, not
,eing permitted TO make selection. All thus
are carried back TO the house for
Inspection. The -straightness or crooked
less, l~eanness or fairness, and other pecul-
arities of the stalks are indicative of the
appearance of their future hus
or wives; while the taste of the pith,
sweet, bitter or vapid, also fore
asts their disposition and character.
But the most singular Of all beliefs in
regarding the cabbage stalk is