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A
Year of Orcadian Tradition
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"In my house," says October, "there are witches.
There are apples and nuts."
Then October again, offering a child an apple in the door.
And if you go in, she'll tell you a story of witchcraft at
her fire.
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| October |
The start of the long northern winter
is now completely upon us.
The long summer twilights are replaced by cold, empty nights
of total darkness. It is therefore not surprising that, in
days past, preparation for the rapidly approaching winter
were well under way by October. |
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The third Sunday of the month was once referred to as
"Winter Sunday Fastening".
This was the day that
the cattle, who had roamed free all summer, were brought
in from the fields and confined to the byre for the winter.
Even today, seeing the "kye" move to byre is a
solemn occassion - a realisation that the darkness of winter awaits. |
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In Orkney, October is most renowned for the ancient festival
of the dead - Hallowe'en.
Like the rest of Britain, Orkney celebrates the festival
in practically the same way. Lanterns are carved from turnips
and great care taken to avoid the influences of the dead.
The lanterns, referred to as "Neepy Lanterns",
are carried from house to house where each householder gives
the bearer "a penny for the lantern".
In Stromness, the carved turnip takes a different slant. There, the children carve heads from turnips and
after impaling them on sticks go from door to door asking
for a "Penny for me Pop".
This is all that remains of an older anti-Catholic tradition
where the townsfolk asked for a "penny to burn the
Pope". |
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Until recently, Halloween was more commonly referred to
as "Devilment Night" in recognition of the pranks
carried out by the youngsters on this night. Generally a
blind eye was turned on the youngsters exploits - pranks
had been carried out for generations.
The "devilment" - dialect term for "mischief"
- continues strong to this day with unwary travellers often
finding themselves falling victim to showers of egg, flour,
treacle and foam. |
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At one time, Halloween was regarded as the best night
in which to attempt to divine
the future, particularly relating to matters of the
heart. |
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