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Hallowe’en or Samhain ?
I used to love Hallowe’en, decorating the outside of the house with cobwebs, lanterns etc and getting the sweets and treats ready for the children who rang the bell shouting: trick or treat. That custom fell out of favour during Covid as I didn’t open the door to any unexpected guests. Yesterday, I was searching through a carved pine settle in the hall and discovered a tin of ‘filling puller’ sweets I’d stowed away in 2019 – the last time I handed out sweets to the neighbourhood kids. In those days we embraced the tradition wholeheartedly until, usually around about seven o’clock, the children of primary school age (accompanied by their parents or older siblings) stopped calling. At that point, deciding enough was enough, we drew the curtains and stopped answering the doorbell. Let’s face it, no one wants a group of teenagers standing on your doorstep on a dark autumn night demanding sweets with menaces, Right?
Hallowe’en was not invented in America, the tradition goes back much further. Many believe that emigrating Scots and Irish took the tradition to America with them. There it was adapted and changed into ‘trick or treat’, shipped back to the UK and merged with local traditions to create the Hallowe’en festival we know today. What I’d like to do is tell you about some of the Hallowe’en traditions I remember growing up in Scotland . . . who knows, you might recognise some of them.
Traditionally, Scottish children would go “guising” around their local neighbourhood wearing scary or outrageous costumes. Pretending to be evil spirits, they would disguise themselves and remain undetected by other wandering spirits they believed would cause them harm. Guisers would perform tricks or songs, and so were given gifts to help ward off evil. The origin of trick or treating, perhaps?
In Scotland, turnip heads would be carved into scary faces to make lanterns and lit to keep ghosts at bay. That tradition faded away, replaced by pumpkins which are more readily available these days and much easier to carve. There are many PYO pumpkin farms around where I live and it provides a popular weekend activity for families.
The ancient Celts were a blood thirsty lot and liked nothing more than decapitating their enemies and displaying their heads as trophies. The tradition of ‘apple dooking’ where children grab an apple out of a basin of water using their teeth is thought to hark back to this bloodthirsty tradition. Nowadays you are more likely to be given a toffee apple as a trophy.
Just to prove that you’re never too old to have fun, here are some photos from a Hallowe’en party hosted by friend and fellow author Adrienne Vaughan a few years ago. Some very dodgy characters turned out that night including Dracula. Although I don’t look too worried about being bitten on the neck. The other ‘weird sister’ in the fourth photo is June Kearns who writes fabulous books.
I know that Hallowe’en is all about fun and trying to pronouce Samain correctly – however, I’d like to share my own spooky story which happened many years ago when I was a teenager. Recently I reminded my sister Phyllis about it and she remembers it exactly as I do – here’s the link the post.
And . . . finally. My novel Girl in the Castle which features a haunted castle on a Scottish loch, family tragedy and a lost Jacobite treasure will be available to download over the weekend for 99p – so catch it while you can.
You can read the first few chapters FREE by following this link
I would love to hear your Hallowe’en experiences, spooky or otherwise so please leave a comment below. I always respond 🙂
Happy Samhain (Halloween) – novel extract, book news & a new price
As a writer of Scottish romances, I thought I’d blog about a halloween party featured in my Girl in the Castle –
I hope you enjoy the extract. I’ve also added some photos taken at a recent Halloween party I attended to celebrate Halloween. Make a note – Girl in the Castle is 99p from today for a VERY limited time. You can download and read FREE if you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited. 
Extract – When Henri entered the Great Hall, it had been completely transformed by the purple gloaming outside the windows, strategically placed candles and the roaring twin fires. A harpist was playing a selection of melodies on a clarsach, and in another corner, children were dookin’ for apples in a barrel of water, supervised by nannies or older siblings. The young guisers, dressed as ghouls, spirits or favourite superheroes, took great delight in frightening the grown-ups with turnip lanterns hanging from sticks and fake Dracula fangs.
Henri had dressed so as not to draw attention to herself, however, the other guests showed no such restraint. They were celebrating Samhain in style; the men in kilts, ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’ jackets over matching waistcoats, dress shirts, black tie, and brogues. The women in long plaid skirts/kilts, silk blouses with lace jabots or, like herself, in simple black dresses worn with clan tartan in the form of a shawl or a sash. Clearly, this was an evening for showing off, because heirloom tiaras, necklaces and bracelets had been taken out of the bank vault. The jewels caught the candlelight and added extra glamour to the evening. One man stood apart from the rest, and it took several seconds before Henri realised that it was Keir. She’d never seen the Master of Mountgarrie other than in his work clothes. But this Keir, wearing full Highland dress with unconscious grace and style was every inch the laird she’d dreamed about in the library. In her dreams. Grasping her silver caman for good luck, she stepped out of the shadows and into the hall.
If you’d like to read the opening chapters of Girl in the Castle on your kindle, click on this link. You can also buy a paperback for your bookshelf.
Here are the hallowe’en photos – (thank you, hostess with the mostess, Adrienne Vaughan)- lots of spooks and demons, but not a kilt in sight. Unfortunately. You might also catch a glimpse of fellow New Romantics Press’s June Kearns hiding behind one of the masks (!)
If you like spooky stories then check out the best selling anthology Adrienne and I contributed to.
Alternatively, check out my blog post about a real life spooky event which happened to me and my siblings in the sixties.
Just to bring you up to date, Adrienne and I have published a new novel apiece since this blog post was written. Check out TAKE ME, I’M YOURS and That Summer at the Seahorse Hotel . As for June, she’s finally come out from behind that mask and hopes to publish her new novel summer 2020.
Lizzie Lamb - author 