Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1903-10-30
HALLOWEEN CUSTOMS.

HALLOWEEN CUSTOMS.
Curious Traditions That Have Grown
Around November I.
The 1st Of November Is, by universal
consent, a time Of merrymaking. For
tune-telling is the great feature Of the
evening. Some of the means by which
the future may be ascertained on that
date are Of very great antiquity. The
readers Of "Woman's Way" Will, no
doubt, take advantage Of November 1
this year to pry into the mysteries OF
their fate. and it may interest them to
have from authentic sources some OF
the most reliable methods. In THE
Every Day Book" of William Hone
this author says:
On the night (Halloween) young
people in the north Of England dive
for apples, or catch at them, when
stuck upon one end of kind OF
hanging beam, at the other extremity
of which Is fixed a lighted candle.
This they do with their mouths only,
their hands being tied behind their
backs.
Pennant says that "the young wo-
men in Scotland determined the size
and figure Of their husbands by draw
ing cabbages blindfold in Allhallow-
Gen." It is mentioned by Burns that
the first ceremony Of Halloween Is
pulling each stack Of or plant Of kali.
They must go out, hand in hand, and
eyes shut, and pull the first they meet
with. It's being big or little, straight
or crooked, is prophetic Of the size ana
shape Of the grand object of their
spells-the husband or wife. II any
yird, or earth, stick to the root, that IS
tocher or fortune; and the taste Of the
custoc that Is the heart of the stem,
Is indicative of the natural temper or
disposition. Lastly. the stems, or the
runts, are placed somewhere above the
head of the door and the Christian
names of the people whom chance
brings to the house. are. according to
the priority of placing the runts, the
names In question" 1t appears that
the Welsh have "a play in which the
youth of both sexes seek for an even
leaved sprig of the ash; and the first
Of either sex that finds one. calls out
Cynivir, and is answered by the first
of the other that succeeds; and these
two, II the omen fails not, are to be
Joined in wedlock. Welsh
Dictionary. p
Burns says that burning the nuts
Is a favorite charm. They name the
lad and lass to each particular nut, as
they lay them in the fire, and accord
ingly as they burn quietly together, or
start from beside one another, the
course and issue Of the courtship will
be-" 1t is noted that in Ireland, when
young women would know If their
lovers are faithful, they put three
nuts upon the bars Of the crate, NAM
ing the nuts after the lovers. If
nut cracks or jumps, the lover Will
prove unfaithful; If 1t begins to blaze
or burn he has a regard for the per-
son making the trial. If the nuts
named after the girl and her lover,
burn together, they will be married.
This sort Of divination Is also in some
parts of England at this time. Gay
mentions it in his Spell"
1.-Two hazel nuts I threw into the flame,
And to each nut I gave a sweethearts
name;
This was the loudest bounce me sore
amazed,
That in a flame of brightest color
blazed;
AS blaz'd the nut, so may thy passion
For twas thy nut that did so brightly
glow"
In an appendix to the late Mr.. Pen
nant's tour, the following divination Is
mentioned:
Take three dishes, put clean water
in one: foul water in another and leave
the third empty; blindfold a person
and lead him or her to the dishes, he
(or she) dips the left hand. If by
chance in the clean water, the future
husband or wife will come to the bar Of
matrimony a maid; If in the foul,
widow; If In the empty dish, 1t fore
tells with certainty no marriage at all.
1t Is repeated three times. the plates
being altered in position each time
Pennant also records that in North
Wales there is custom upon All
Saints eve Of making great fire.
called coel coeth, when every family,
about an hour in the night, makes
great bonfire in the most conspicuous
place near the house, and when the fire
Is almost extinguished, every one
throws a white stone into the ashes,
having first marked it; then having
said their prayers, turning round the
fire, they go to bed. In the morning,
as soon as they are up, they come to
search out the stones: and II any one
Of them Is found wanting they have a
notion that the person who threw 1t In
will die before he sees another All
Saints day"-New Orleans Picayune.
IA Joseph Wooten, thirty-four years
old a laborer with no home, was re-