Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1900-10-30
= 1.9rt ,s,V,.J 10 ,,IEII 3DombI
Halloween Customs and Practices. .7s3, sso
IN THE DAYS oEr a1o vsdT .a~oda
....7 Ye OIden Time.

what a fine old town Marietta
would be in which to celebrate Hal
lowe'en, exclaimed one of the young
er ladies, or the Federation Convention
last week, when the approaciing'' Of
Halloween happened TO be mentioned
by one of the chGt.sring little groups.
1t was probably celebrated and, en-
joyed by the people of Marietta in the
earlier days, much Il z Hl,cz- ?anner
as it vas blythe people Of lhe eql6pies.
There is perhaps no night in the
year which the popular imagination
has stamped with a more peculiar
character than the evening of October
81, known as iAllnanow Eve, or Hal
Iowe'en. r-.N ".lss s -E
1t is' clearly relic of pagan times,
and dates hack thousands of years, ago,
when, according to the belief of our
Saxon ancestors the Eleys held high
carnival on the closing night Of Octo-
Der, when the sun god was withdraw
ing his warmth from the earth. There
is nothirgln the church observance. Of
the ensuing day of, All Saints to have
given rise to any such extraordinary
notions aszare connected with this cell
ebrated festival, or such remarkable
aIrswices gas those by. which it isydis-
.tingli shed.i }is5 .4 ~ i{j IL
SfAtlhtghi our fmtfathers bfopght
over from Europe many of the Gus
toms and beliefs of Halloween. it is
not as widely celebrated in America
as in parts OF Great Britain. ..z.
Hs 5Vy ".*~s r5s.s-
The leading idea respecting Hallow-
cen is nat It is the time, of all others,
when supernatural influences prevail,
II IS the night, set apart for a univer-
sal walking abroad of spirits, both of
the visible and invisible world, and
either good or evil. aI.
The witches ara especially free to
work their witchcraft on this night
and it used to be the custom for the
master Of the. household, on Hallow
cen, to carry bunch of straw, fired
about his corn crib, singing
Fire and red low
Light on my teen now" N'
This fire-straw was meant to ward
off witchcraft, and so preserve the
corn from being spoiled. In Scotland,
on Halloween, the red end of fiery
stick is waved about in mystic figures
in the air to accomplish the same spell
Red appears to be a color peculiarly
obnoxious to witches. One Hallow-
cen rhyme enjoins the employment OF
Rowan tree and red thread
To gar the witches dance their
- dead --..-.-. .s. e.
that is, dance till they fall down and
expire The berries of the rowan tree
(mountain ash) are of a brilliant red
The point of the fiery stick waved rap
idly takes the appearance of red
thread
In Lancashire it was formerly be-
lieved that on this night witches as
sembed to do their deeds without g
name" at their general rendezvous in
the forest of Pepdle. where there was
a ruined farmhouse, known as tht
Malkn Tower from the awful puns
poses which it was deyoted.ss crsI
This superstition led to eeremony
called 'latlng," or, perhaps. Hlee.ing,'
the W'tci,es, 1t was believed that IL I
lighted candle were carried about th'
fells or hills from eleven till twelv,
o'clock at night. and burned all M =
time steadily, It had so far triumpnet
over The evil power of.the witches
who, as they passed to the Maikli
Tower, would employ their utmost ef
forts to extingfsh the light, and th'
person whom 1T represented nigh
safely defy their malice during thi
season. gli aNh4 aa-'
II by any accident the light Wen
ont, It was an omAu OF evil TO the luck
less person for whom the expegimen
was made, it was also deemed inaus
.picious 70 cross the tfteshopld Of tina
unfortunate persons house. iyaa-ol sit''
ore q the speelal fAatadNnstics Q