by Tomm Swords

Created on: November 21, 2009

As I write this Halloween has been and gone for another year.

Here in the South of England it is celebrated in much the same way as it has been in North America. The pumpkin takes pride of place in a prominent spot in the living room, and the kids go trick-or-treating.

Halloween has really only been celebrated in Southern England for the past ten or twenty years, and is largely thought of as an American import.

It seems to be either ignored or forgotten that it is as British as bagpipes, literally. Halloween has been celebrated for centuries in Scotland, Northern England, Wales and Ireland.

Some would say the Halloween celebrations originated in Ireland and others would say Scotland. This confusion probably lies with the fact that there has been much migration between the two countries over the centuries, but the consensus seems to be that it was Ireland who began this. The idea that it is an American thing, revolves around the humble pumpkin and the phrase 'Trick or Treat.

Halloween was in fact EXPORTED from Scotland and Ireland to North America by those moving there from those countries.

Scottish and Irish children would go 'guising' at Halloween; that is they would be in disguise and would go from door to door performing for their neighbours - they would perform a 'party-piece', that is a song, a dance or some sort of routine, or perhaps tell a joke, and be rewarded with fruit or nuts. However, there would be the occasion when some miserable old so-and-so would not treat the children, so a revenge would be carried out. THIS is where the notion of the Americanism TRICK or TREAT originated.

Now the pumpkin? Pumpkins grow well in the South of England, but not in the rest of the UK. We are familiar with the Jack-O-Lantern fashioned from a pumpkin, and we know this is an American thing. Scottish and Irish children had their lanterns, but these were made from turnips (or swedes as they are known in Southern England - likewise, what the Scots call swedes, Southerners call turnips).

So to clear up the confusion, whether you call it a turnip or a swede, it was the BIGGER of the two that Scottish children used to make their lanterns. In my opinion they are more suited; they are more robust. last longer, are unusual and odd shapes, sometimes 'hairy' and a darker colour AND when you scoop out the inside, even though it is much, much harder, it doesn't stink, isn't slimy and messy and the cooked insides from the hollowed out turnip, taste far superior to pumpkin. No really! Mashed turnip (English Swede) with salt and pepper and a little sugar is delicious. So the original lantern was a Scottish Turnip, over the years the Scots and Irish tradition as practised in America, adopted the pumpkin as it is a more well used and known vegetable over there, and indeed, there is no arguing that its shape lends itself well to the idea of a lantern. Thanks to the media, which dictates our lives, and American films (which Brits seem to soak up as gospel) such as the Halloween series, here in the South of England, where Halloween, hasn't been a prolific thing on the calender, it is seen as American.

Please, please next time you hear someone complain about Halloween as yet another American influence, just let them know what you know now.

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