Albuquerque evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1911-1914, 1912-11-02
Interesting Source of Tradi-
tional Amusements of EvC
of All Saints Day; How AL
buquerque Society Celebrat-
ed Ancient Festival.

Gu ahCAOnt LSbblNdls
when iitilc Tommy smith Guilds
his uulluwv cen bonfire uu the Village
lot or city asphalt n most unduubt-
eddy does not stop to- consider that
he Is pcrpctuattng the old DRUID cua.
tom OF prupitiuting S1mJu Who over
It thousand years aga wua a god Ol
some sort among ia, Cclt, aud who's"
wardcnshlp over the Wi,kvd dead Was
supposed To- be chiefly cNurciHrd oil
tho first ct SuNcmhur when ht.
grown VI sister vul,rlalus q llHlluN.
cen gathering WIth tentative roasting
uf rhestnuta uu lit,h"ucur ga stuN"
or with grutr.pur durkiug Tor apples
ufluut In hauua ut water. !hu ~
equally unaware lhnt, ia cold modern
fashion, thu Is offering service to
tho Roman goddess, Pomona, who's
harvest festival Waa celebrated IN tho
Rumunisrd cities ui England when
tho Roman empire NuB stJll u pulitl
cal fact.
when IT," church established
FCusts OF at saints on November first
the popular mtud. unwilling to lurugu
tho HupuIaiIiiOuS customs, both Drui-
die aud lturEau, which they aud their
ancestors had prJrtlDcd time out of
mind at that season ct the year, com
promised by RELOCATING th,u to the
Cvu OF the festival An llulluw Even,
or simply Halloween.
Rites connected with the building
of fires are essentially Celtic or Drui-
die; those With nuts. apples or other
harvest fruits are of Itumun origin.
As time went CA they lost more aud
! more al their religious aud supCrHli-
tluuH tigniIlrdn,r untIl they became
tho bUislrruuB luulcIy ul today,
Tho building or the bonfire on the
eve al tho autunniu festival was or
iglnully a complies ceremonial, led by
white rohrd Druida aud priests, and
terminating In the procession through
the village ln which each participant
carried a torch. lighted at tho com
| mon fire, To ms own hearth and
! herewith kindled his own domrHtiC
| fire. AZ long as this flru stayed alive
good luck would attend tho huuuv-
hold. Al latO as the dutu at the
American revolution II wuB still tho
oustO uf tho rusfica IN parts Of
North England To parade tho bnun-
dariUs al their fields with lighted
torch spluttcrinR IN hand uud sing
Ing hymns. most Justify to insure
protection of their nest yrHrH crops
from cyll spirits,
a curious diviuaiiun custom con.
! nvCtcd with the bonfire Sun persists
la tho mountains at Wales. Az the
fire ~ dying down cnch member al
the family which lndlcd IT. PUSHES
through the !Iuukc ana drops white
| stone, pruviuuHly marked Tor idcnii-
| fiCatiOu, into the UIubura. on tho
| morrow All mombcrH of the family
seek their stones In the ashes, aud
anyone not Finding hts COR herr stone
h doomed to die within the year. II
| h. painful tu think what ihIils of
BupcrsiIiiulB fear an irrovcTcni small
boy uuuld cause In such u Cuininun
| ity,
Long brlurv the RputtcTng ana
| CruckilE, ur. Niru versa. the steady
flaming Of a pair Of hazel nuts IN
the liru va. supposed To forctcll the
rosy Ur IA" uaphnllcd course of true
| love. Tho Roman priests uf Punonn
| tOrCtuld the conduct at tho coming
winter und ul nest years harvOul
from similar sources Indeed, II some
venerable Anglo Saxon chronicles are
to BE- believed, the puriuga ol the Hp-
| pies were used hy lhrar same gentle.
| men 10 decide questions ul var and
| peace two thousand years hrfuru the
aforementioned Smith casts thcm On
| the pnrlor pardurt 10 gr" how near
| them may como Ia the iuiIlhlR OF u
certain person. Merely cracking nuta
| tor eating PURPOSES WaH such - tea
| turr oi the occasion that among tho
| farming population Of tho Scotch
! burdrr II ~ Htlll referred a. az "hut.
CIhuk' night Ducklng for upplca In
| tubs ul water WIS an old halloween
| uruusUnuu Ia the period when Co
luubuu WIS stumbling cRgs on end aud
| discovering America, There IN pre-
Fcrvrd ~ the British Museum u most
amusing manuscript showing one me
| dlHuvHl gentleman pulling another
medieval grull"ulu 10y the heels out
| at n tab into which h" ia" fallen
while over r"arhiuE ntlunrll after the
floating apple,
Some at the best aud most pic
turcBquo Of the Ilnllovcou rust0uI'
as they were prHciir"d auy when
|
died out, Such IN ~" old Irish
kali" or cabbage pulling, a girl
ana "a boy with cluspod hands ana
eyes bllndfOlded, wulk into the near
est cnbbago patch and each pulls the
| first plunt touched. Tho size aud
length, the straIghtness or the crook
ednGss Of the root, Indicate tho form
Of The prospective lover. Tho guam
| tlty Of earth Glinging to II In In pro-
portion To his fortune, and tho taste
~ the heart iB like his temper. Then
" the plants arc suspended over the
doorway, the first names of the pe0-
pie who next enter will correspond IA
tho first names Of the lovers 10 be
expected. An unaCCOuntable aver
sion on the part Of the Irish farmors
10 this annual raldlng Of tho cabbage
patches and thoir growing tendency
to stand guard on Halloween with
shotgun or hull dog. has % large
extent been responsible for tho dis
appearance Of the custom.
Another old custom IN connected
with lime kilns and balls Of yarn IN
"A very old book OF folklore called
"Yo True AFte 20 Rede 70 Future,
there 10 this account;