RE: Official Hallowe'en Thread
October 14, 2021 at 5:31 pm
(This post was last modified: October 14, 2021 at 5:36 pm by Oldandeasilyconfused.)
Halloween isn't really a thing in Australia although commercial interest have tried to make it so.
Some kids dress up and go around asking for candy(with an adult) The relatively few houses which participate have some kind of sign/symbol outside, such as cobwebs.
Australia simply doesn't have the tradition. 'All hallows Eve' has of course been known in the UK and Europe for centuries, but the trick or treat thing hasn't been a thing as fart as I know.. I'll look it up.
Here one reason might be that most first settlers here were convicts*** and wouldn't have been able to get time off.
***My state of South Australia was the only state in Australia founded by free settlers. 1836, mainly Brits and Irish with a sprinkling of Germans. The Germans founded South Australia's word class wine industry. My family arrived in 1870 from County Clare. This was due to an aversion to starving to death in Ireland.
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OOPS, I wrong. Halloween has in fact been traditionally celebrated in the UK :
"Throughout Britain, Halloween has traditionally been celebrated by children’s games such as bobbing for apples in containers full of water, telling ghost stories and the carving of faces into hollowed-out vegetables such as swedes and turnips. These faces would usually be illuminated from within by a candle, the lanterns displayed on window sills to ward off any evil spirits. The current use of pumpkins is a relatively modern innovation imported from the United States, and we can also extend the same debt of gratitude to our friends in America for that ‘quaint’ “trick-or-treat” tradition! "
https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/Halloween/
(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((9))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
OFF TOPIC but peripheral in that this is also a folk tradition.:
GUY FAWKES night is celebrated in England on November 5 1605, when [catholic] Guy Fawkes and others tried to blow up the house of parliament, with king James 1. They did not succeed. The king was livid and made sure the conspirators met especially grisly ends. .
Folk Poem ca 1870:
English Folk Verse (c.1870)
The Fifth of November
Remember, remember!
The fifth of November,
The Gunpowder treason and plot;
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot!
Guy Fawkes and his companions
Did the scheme contrive,
To blow the King and Parliament
All up alive.
Threescore barrels, laid below,
To prove old England's overthrow.
But, by God's providence, him they catch,
With a dark lantern, lighting a match!
A stick and a stake
For King James's sake!
If you won't give me one,
I'll take two,
The better for me,
And the worse for you.
A rope, a rope, to hang the Pope,
A penn'orth of cheese to choke him,
A pint of beer to wash it down,
And a jolly good fire to burn him.
Holloa, boys! holloa, boys! make the bells ring!
Holloa, boys! holloa boys! God save the King!
Hip, hip, hooor-r-r-ray!
In England and here the night is/was celebrated by making an enormous bonfire onto which Guy Fawkes would be burned in effigy. Lots of fireworks were also set off. Traditionally in Oz, the fireworks would often be lit by an inebriated adult. This led to some nasty burns. The result was the banning of the sale of fireworks to the general public here in South Australia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes_Night.
Some kids dress up and go around asking for candy(with an adult) The relatively few houses which participate have some kind of sign/symbol outside, such as cobwebs.
Australia simply doesn't have the tradition. 'All hallows Eve' has of course been known in the UK and Europe for centuries, but the trick or treat thing hasn't been a thing as fart as I know.. I'll look it up.
Here one reason might be that most first settlers here were convicts*** and wouldn't have been able to get time off.
***My state of South Australia was the only state in Australia founded by free settlers. 1836, mainly Brits and Irish with a sprinkling of Germans. The Germans founded South Australia's word class wine industry. My family arrived in 1870 from County Clare. This was due to an aversion to starving to death in Ireland.
(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((9))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
OOPS, I wrong. Halloween has in fact been traditionally celebrated in the UK :
"Throughout Britain, Halloween has traditionally been celebrated by children’s games such as bobbing for apples in containers full of water, telling ghost stories and the carving of faces into hollowed-out vegetables such as swedes and turnips. These faces would usually be illuminated from within by a candle, the lanterns displayed on window sills to ward off any evil spirits. The current use of pumpkins is a relatively modern innovation imported from the United States, and we can also extend the same debt of gratitude to our friends in America for that ‘quaint’ “trick-or-treat” tradition! "
https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/Halloween/
(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((9))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
OFF TOPIC but peripheral in that this is also a folk tradition.:
GUY FAWKES night is celebrated in England on November 5 1605, when [catholic] Guy Fawkes and others tried to blow up the house of parliament, with king James 1. They did not succeed. The king was livid and made sure the conspirators met especially grisly ends. .
Folk Poem ca 1870:
English Folk Verse (c.1870)
The Fifth of November
Remember, remember!
The fifth of November,
The Gunpowder treason and plot;
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot!
Guy Fawkes and his companions
Did the scheme contrive,
To blow the King and Parliament
All up alive.
Threescore barrels, laid below,
To prove old England's overthrow.
But, by God's providence, him they catch,
With a dark lantern, lighting a match!
A stick and a stake
For King James's sake!
If you won't give me one,
I'll take two,
The better for me,
And the worse for you.
A rope, a rope, to hang the Pope,
A penn'orth of cheese to choke him,
A pint of beer to wash it down,
And a jolly good fire to burn him.
Holloa, boys! holloa, boys! make the bells ring!
Holloa, boys! holloa boys! God save the King!
Hip, hip, hooor-r-r-ray!
In England and here the night is/was celebrated by making an enormous bonfire onto which Guy Fawkes would be burned in effigy. Lots of fireworks were also set off. Traditionally in Oz, the fireworks would often be lit by an inebriated adult. This led to some nasty burns. The result was the banning of the sale of fireworks to the general public here in South Australia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes_Night.
