The ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced Sow-wan) has been celebrated in Scotland and Ireland for hundreds of years.   Marking the end of harvest and the beginning of Winter, Samhain is known to be the time of the year when the boundary between this world and the otherworld can be crossed.  Folks celebrated by lighting fires to ward off the dark and dress in costumes to protect themselves from evil.

Below is a picture of people in the Hebrides dressing-up for Samhain in the mid-twentieth century (from the National Trust for Scotland)

Samhain traditions alive today

When I moved up to Scotland from England, I had no clue what my kids were talking about when they asked about going 'guising.'  From the word disguise, it means to dress-up and go door to door performing a song or a joke in exchange for sweeties.  It's been a tradition in Scotland for hundreds of years, long before the phrase 'trick or treat' was invented.

Another American import is the pumpkin, not very long ago folks would carve turnips into lanterns to ward off the spirits.

This terrifying picture is a plaster cast of an Irish turnip lantern held in the Smithsonian museum.  Pretty spooky if you ask me!

At Halloween parties in Scotland today you might also be encouraged to, yes, 'Dook' for apples. A game where you plunge your head into a bucket of water and try to grab an apple with your teeth!