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For centuries, People have been making jack O'lanterns for Halloween, but what they probably don't know is how it all began. Hundreds of years ago in an Irish village lived a man folks called "Stingy Jack". He was an old man who played tricks on everyone he came across, including the devil himself. One legend tells us that "Stingy Jack" tricked the devil into climbing an apple tree, but because "Stingy Jack" carved a cross on the truck of the tree, the devil couldn't climb down. The trickster that "Stingy Jack" was made a pack with the devil. If the devil promised not to take his soul when he died he would remove the cross from the tree. And so, his soul was free and the devil was able to roam the earth searching for souls he could claim.

Others tell the story of a similar Irish myth about the same man nicknamed "Stingy Jack". They claim that "Stingy Jack" invited the devil to a pub to have a drink with him. Of course, "Stingy Jack" wasn't about to pay for the drinks, but he was so good at being a trickster that he convinced the devil to turn himself into a coin and "Stingy Jack" told him he would pay for the drinks with it. The devil then turned himself into a silver coin, but "Stingy Jack" was more like the devil then one could imagine, and he refused to pay for their drinks. He put the coin in his pocket, along side a silver cross he had stolen from a poor soul earlier in the evening, and sneaky like the devil, this prevented the devil from changing back to his true form. Stingy Jack made a pack with the devil and manipulated the devil into promising him not to bother him for a year, and if he (Jack) should die, than the devil wouldn't claim his soul. The devil promised not to take his soul when he died and "Stingy Jack" removed the cross. And so, the devil's soul was free to roam the town looking for other souls to claim.

Years later, Jack died. As the legend is told, God would not allow such a trickster into heaven. The devil was equally upset and held a grudge with "Stingy Jack" and would not allow him into hell. The devil did toss "Stingy Jack" a hot coal from the fires of hell and sent him on his way. "Stingy Jack" put the coal in a carved-out turnip and he's been roaming the Earth ever since. I once asked an Irish friend of mine if he had ever seen "Stingy Jack" and he replied "he is the ghostly figure of the Jack of the Lantern." And there came the name "Jack O' Lantern." As time went on, the Irish people made their own versions of Jack's Lanterns and they carved frightening faces into turnips and potatoes. They would place them in their windows to scare away the wandering spirit of "Stingy Jack."

When immigrants from Ireland and Scotland came to the United States they found that the pumpkin made the perfect Jack O'Lantern, and today, many families share in the festivities surrounding the myths and legends passed down from the Irish.

Learn more about this author, Toby Horton.
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