Found this on the IRELAND-L(a)rootsweb.com mailing list. Thought it was
interesting!
Subject:
RE: Jack-O-Lantern
Resent-Date:
Wed, 22 Oct 1997 15:38:24 -0700 (PDT)
Resent-From:
IRELAND-L(a)rootsweb.com
Date:
Wed, 22 Oct 97 21:58:02 UT
From:
"Monica Dwyer Abress" <MDABRESSS(a)classic.msn.com>
To:
IRELAND-L(a)rootsweb.com
Patty Treacy wrote and asked about the Irish originating the
jack-o-lantern.
The Irish brought the custom celebrating Halloween to the United
States
during the potato famine of the 1840s, according to Hallmark's Holiday
Handbook. The Irish customs stemmed from the Druids who inhabited the
British
Isles and parts of Europe from about 500 BC.
The Druids believed that on the eve of their New Year, Nov. 1,
the souls of
the dead returned to mingle with the living. After a huge feast on this
night, masked and costumed villagers paraded to the outskirts of town.
The
ghosts followed them, tricked into leaving town.
Many other Halloween customs also come from Ireland and
Britain. Bobbing for
apples is a game adapted from a British and Irish custom of biting an
apple
that was twirled on the end of a stick or string.
Orange and black, the most popular colors of the holiday, are
not just the
colors of pumpkins and witches. Because Halloween is also a harvest
celebration, the colors correspond to the colors of many ripened fruits,
vegetables and grains.
Orange is the color of flames that once rose on Oct. 31 to ward
off evil
spirits. Black is the color of death and night.
The forerunners of today's jack-o-lanterns were carved
rutabagas, turnips and
potatoes. Irish children did the carving and then placed candles in
them.
Early Irish settlers probably turned to the plentiful native pumpkins
when
they came to America.
My children have asked many times about this subject and I have
kept the
info. Hope I've helped.
MDABRESSS(a)classic.msn.com