Page:Book Of Halloween(1919).djvu/92

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
72
THE BOOK OF HALLOWE'EN
 

was set afire and blown through keyholes on Hallowe'en.

"Their runts clean through and through were bored,
And stuffed with raivelins fou,
And like a chimley when on fire
Each could the reek outspue.

"Jock through the key-hole sent a cloud
That reached across the house,
While in below the door reek rushed

Like water through a sluice."

Dick : Splores of a Hallowe'en.

Cabbage-broth was a regular dish at the Hallowe'en feast. Mashed potatoes, as in Ireland, or a dish of meal and milk holds symbolic objects—a ring, a thimble, and a coin. In the cake are baked a ring and a key. The ring signifies to the possessor marriage, and the key a journey.

Apple-ducking is still a universal custom in Scotland. A sixpence is sometimes dropped into the tub or stuck into an apple to make the reward greater. The contestants must keep their hands behind their backs.