2006-10-27 05:50:49 · 4 answers · asked by MaryBeth 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Holidays ➔ Halloween
yes it is , The irish brought Halloween to north American. They dress on Halloween to scare of the bad spirites or ghosts.when irish settle in usa and canada they celebrate here in new world.
2006-10-27 05:58:18 · answer #1 · answered by Mr Single 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Hallowe'en was INVENTED here!!! By the Scots/Irish pagan Celts. Your pumpkin lantern comes from when all the families in an area held a large Autumnal bonfire and each family would take a burning ember from the fire home to light their own family hearth. They would carry this ember in a hollowed out turnip, hence the start of the Hallowe'en Lantern tradition. In Scotland we still often make turnip lanterns, pumpkins were hard to find here til about 15 yrs ago. When Scots and Irish emigrated to the US and Canada, they took their Hallowe'en traditions with them, and eventually the turnip lantern idea became a pumpkin (maybe because they are SO much easier to carve!). It's a tradition steeped in our history.
Children here always went out "guising" on Hallowe'en, dressed up in home made outfits. They still do, although teenagers here are too "cool" for it. There is NO tricking element - that appears to be a rather negative American addition to it, lol. The children come to your door and sing a song or tell a joke in return for sweets etc. We also do the traditional dooking for apples in basins of water, and another traditional game is where scones are hung up on lengths of string and dipped in treacle. Everyone has to try and eat one not using their hands, first finished is the winner, and everyone is covered in treacle and crumbs.
Happy Hallowe'en :)
2006-10-27 13:04:38 · answer #2 · answered by katy1pm 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm Welsh
In Wales and England we don't do much for Halloween really. There is a Welsh name for Halloween and a "supposed" traditional ceremony but I don't know the name of it or know anyone who celebrates it.
As a kid we used to dress up and hollow out Swedes (not pumpkins) and go "Guising" (same as trick or treat) or have Halloween parties with bobbing apples, food, telling ghost stories and stuff.
Because of the American influence it has got more popular in recent years, there are plenty of Halloween parties in pubs, clubs etc, people use pumpkins not swedes and the shops sell loads of Halloween costumes and stuff. but thats due to American inflluence really and the fact that the shops have seen that they can make money out of it.
The traditional Welsh and English celebrations of Halloween have been somewhat forgotten over the years - it varies from place to place though, some parts of the country still have their traditional ceremonies (especially rural areas) but I don't know anything about the traditional Welsh ceremony for Halloween or whatever it is in Welsh. Its mostly just an American inspired thing these days.
Some Americans think that in the UK we have Bonfire night "instead" of Halloween but its a separate thing actually:
Guy Fawkes Night or Bonfire night is November 5th and not linked to Halloween - its supposed to celebrate the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot in the 17th century where a group of disaffected Catholics tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament in London. they were caught and executed. It is celebrated in Wales and England, although I don't think they do it in Scotland. People build bonfires and burn effigies of Guy Fawkes (Known as "The Guy") and let off fireworks.
Actually, rather than the effigies being of Guy Fawkes, many people today dress their "Guys" up as Tony Blair, Osama Bin Laden, George Bush or whatever present day "bogeyman" they want to burn! LOL!
In the week or so before Bonfire night we would sit outside shops and on the street with our "Guy" and beg "penny for the Guy" from people passing - a great old tradition and a good way to get money to buy fireworks and sweets, although lots of snobby stupid parents banned their kids from doing it because they said it was "begging" (its just an old custom actually).
Bonfire Night is not a political thing anymore though as it once may have been 100s of years ago and its not about being "anti Catholic" or any such crap (my local Catholic church does the best bonfire and firework display!). Its just a chance to get out into the cold autumn air with your family and mates, eat toffee apples and baked potatoes and enjoy the fireworks! Magical!! The streets are full of smoke on 5th November, along with the crisp coldness in the air. The kids love it. And so do the adults. I'm probably banned from going to a firework display this year though as I'll be 36 weeks spregnant and my BF is scared it'll send me into labour!
And after that there comes Christmas (no "Thanksgiving" in the UK, thats American only.)
2006-10-27 12:59:07 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
i don't care, it is evil,pagan and is created for money making,foolish people spend a lot on costumes etc....
2006-10-27 12:57:48 · answer #4 · answered by firewall 5 · 0⤊ 6⤋