Home » Holidays & Celebrations » Halloween » Haunted Houses

The History & Origin of Halloween in Scotland

Ranked #6,966 in Holidays & Celebrations, #117,631 overall

The origin of Halloween

A fun and interesting look at the History and origin of Halloween in Scotland. Although now celebrated throughout the world, Halloween originated from Scotland and Ireland, and dates back more than two thousand of years to the Celtic (K-eltic) Samhainn festival.


Samhainn Festival which means "the feast of all souls", was celebrated on the 1st of November The Celtics believed in Gods and worshiped them and nature, the sun being their favourite.
The Celts would clebrate, to mark the end of the season of collecting in their harvest, and of the end of the sun and the beginning of the season of darkness and cold.


Pictures @

Origin of Halloween All Hallows Eve

Celts and Roman influence

basket of apples, halloween, During Roman invasion they brought many of their customs. One of the festivals was the Pomona Day, named for their goddess of fruit and gardens. And as you may know the French word for Apple is Pomme.
And after many Roman years of ruling, the customs of the Celtic's Samhain festival and the Roman Pomona Day mixed, becoming one major Autumn holiday.

The transition between the old and the new year was, when the Celts(K-elts) believed the souls of the dead and evil spirits could visit the living world and move amongst them. So the day before the 31st October became known as All hallows Eve, Halloween, the eve before All Hallows day or All Saints Day ( 1st day in November), and was the day Christians celebrated alI their Saints. The Roman's had their festival Pomona Day.

During this time the Church made the 2nd of November All Souls day. It was a day to honour the dead where people dressed as Ghosts, Angels and Devils, lighting big fires.

Halloween Traditions

Customs and Beliefs

I personally like the story of how all of their dead on the Eve of the Celts new year were called together, the dead taking on different forms, with bad spirits taking the form of animals and the most evil taking the form of Cats (sorry cat lovers).
There is also a Scottish medieval tradition of "souling" where poor people and children would go round the doors singing and saying prayers for the dead in return for cakes or food

Halloween as we know it today is a mix of religion, customs and beliefs, and is where we get Pomona Day's apples, lanterns, nuts and the harvest. The Festival of Sanhain's, black cats, magic, evil spirits and death and all Saints Day (All Souls Day) is where we get the ghosts, skeletons and skulls from.

Trick or Treat......The Meaning of....

Guisers (the Scots word for Trick or Treaters)

Halloween skeletonThe children who dress up for Halloween in Scotland are known as "guisers" (guy-z-irs) the term given to children, who go door to door in disguise, The words "Guisers" (performers in disguise) can be traced back at least to the Middle Ages.
This tradition comes from the time when people would wear masks, dress up and put up decorations to scare away evil spirits, carrying out the tradition of giving presents or sacrifices to keep the spirits happy, so they would go away and leave the living alone.

photo credit

Trick or Treating the Scottish way

In Scotland

"Trick- or- Treat" arrived over here in the 80's and is said to have been picked up by us with the screening of the blockbuster film E.T.

Here is Scotland you will hear children, in the lead up to Halloween asking each other excitedly
"What are you going out" guising" as?" (pronounced guy-zin', in Glasgow anyway)
Meaning what are you going out dressed as, for halloween.

Guisers, will knock at a door, and once opened will shout "trick- or- treat" and will usually preform a trick, such as recite a poem or tell a joke, in order to receive their treat, usually consists of some monkey nuts, sweets, a penny and an apple.

In past days if a treat was not given then guisers would play a trick on the house hold, or a joke.

The most memorable game we used to look forward to was "dooking fir aiples" and originates from when witches were "ducked or flogged in the water." and if they didn't drown they were a witch and were burned at the stake. Other fun games were treacle covered scones hanging from a piece of string.

And as we passed other "guisers" we would tell them what house was letting you "dook" for your apple, and there was always a queue at that house.

photo credit

Why Pumpkins for halloween?...

....actually it was turnips!

home made - pumkins - lanternsThe use of lanterns and candles, were used to keep the dead away from the living, now we use pumpkins, which is actually the more commercial aspect of Halloween.

This is one of our Favourite parts of Halloween, even involving dad (he likes to buy the pumpkin. And here we thought it just for kids)
Making the Pumpkin. This is a picture of one of last years creations to go outside along our wall in the front garden.

  • 1 large pumkin required

  • 1 small cutting knife (use carefully near children)

  • 1 marker pen (to draw your desired design onto the pumkin)

  • 1 large spoon (to scoop out the inside of the pumpkin)

  • 1 small tealight (to put inside to light up your pumpkin)


    • We put these outside our door to greet our visitors.


    Don't throw away your pumpkin seeds, you can dry these out, paint them, and make a necklace by threading the seeds with a needle and thread.
    Find more ideas at Activity Village

    Ducking for Apples

    "Dookin fir Aiples"

    Warning - You WILL get wet



    Please Remember and be extra vigilant regarding saftey with younger children near water.

  • 1 tub 1/2 filled (allow extra room for adding apples, we usually use the washing basin)

  • 8- 10 apples in your tub at one time (all cleaned with their stickers, and stalks removed)

  • 1 water absorbant mat/waterproof mat


    • For Older Children
    The player must sit with hands behind the back and try to catch an apple with their mouths, the one to catch it the quickest is the winner and supposed to be the next to marry?
    For younger children
    When my daughter was younger, we played a variation of this, and instead of kneeling on the floor, we had them kneel on a chair that was back to front and hold a fork in their mouths dropping it trying to spear an apple.
    powered by Youtube

    Toffee Apples

    How to make

    www.cookids.comThis is the easiest recipie EVER and so easy to remember

    • 6 tablespoon golden syrup

    • 1 3/4 cup of brown sugar

    • 2 tablespoons butter

    • 1 teaspoon vinegar

    • 10 eating apples

    • 10 child friendly lollipop sticks or similar


    Wash all your apples and insert a lollipop stick into the core of the apple (so as it is easier to hold when eating)
    Dissolve all the ingredients in a suace pan, and boil until it is all dissolved, and when a drop cracks in cold water.
    Remove from heat and roll the apples, covering them in the toffee sauce, placing on greasproof paper until set.
    you can also add red food colouring, or roll in chocolate, the variations are endless.

    Treacle Scones

    Hangin' from a Polie...

    Keep dry catching applesWarning - MESSY but FUN
    This is a variation using the apples instead of scones, and best done outside. It can also be a drier version of dooking for apples.

  • A packet of Scones (or you can make your own)

  • Length of String

  • Long pole like a broom handle, branches outside

  • Tub of treacle


    • Tie the length of string round the Scone, attatch to the pole, and when ready to play dip the scone into the treacle, hold the pole above the childs head so that the scone is just slightly above the childs face, the child holds its hands behind the back and tries to eat the scone.

    Home made Halloween Outfits

    Halloween Outfits...


    As my daughter grows up, her ideas of halloween costumes keeps me on my toes.
    I remember her first was Little Red Riding Hood, a simple red cape, and a basket with a toy wolf, (she was still in her pram!)Then it was a fairy,(still my favourite, nothing fancy but so cute, thinking she was a fairy), a witch, a devil, a spanish lady, and last year was Lady Gaga, probably the hardest I have made, And I had to sacrafice one of my favourite hand bags, as it was silver and made the most amazing shoulder pads EVER, the good thing is, that it has been borrowed more times that I can remember and being used this year too, these have all been home made, and although the shops are adorned with custom made costumes, my daughter and I spend time deciding and making, probably for a week before.

    Homemade Lady gaga outfit for kids

    Do you have an article about making your own costumes, if so place it here.

    1

    Vote Up
    Vote Down

    Homemade Katy Perry Halloween Costumes for Kids

    On this page ,Katy Perry Costumes. Make your own h more...2 points

    2

    Vote Up
    Vote Down

    lady Gaga halloween costume

    ideas for kids and adults1 point

    3

    Vote Up
    Vote Down

    Butterfly Halloween Costumes

    Butterflies are lovely to look at, but it is even more...0 points

    4

    Vote Up
    Vote Down

    13 Ways to Cloak Your True Identity for Halloween

    One easy way to create a simple, fun and effective more...0 points

    5

    Vote Up
    Vote Down

    Easy Superhero Costume Idea For Little Boys

    'I Man.' I am sure you have all heard of him. By d more...0 points

    6

    Vote Up
    Vote Down

    Make Your Own Costumes, Masks and Face Paint

    It's easy and inexpensive to make your own costume more...0 points

    popular Halloween Articles

    ....by Lisaauch

    Loading

    Online Resources

    Free PDF ideas for Halloween
    Download instantly this PDF full of ideas and fun for Halloween
    The History of Halloween Costumes, Masks and Traditions.
    No matter what your age, the last night of October is always one to look forward to celebrating. Halloween means kids running around in costumes, family and friends getting together and a chance talk with neighbors. What other holiday do you have an excuse to eat all the sugar you want and wear wha

    Did you know much a bout the istory of Halloween

    Has halloween become too comercialised

    Tell us what you think

    • katiecolette Oct 31, 2011 @ 8:21 am | delete
      Love the idea of making necklaces out of pumpkin seeds! Another great lens, Lisa :)
    • aesta1 Oct 27, 2011 @ 5:11 am | delete
      One Halloween lens I really enjoyed. Blessed!
    • debnet Oct 17, 2011 @ 5:44 am | delete
      Featured at Halloween Forgotten and blessed by a Squid Angel ;)
    • NanLT Oct 4, 2011 @ 3:23 pm | delete
      An excellent presentation of the history of Samhain. And delicious recipes and celebration ideas. Blessed by an angel
    • fanfreluche Oct 1, 2011 @ 12:20 pm | delete
      Creepy Halloween blessing for your interesting page on Halloween in Scotland!
    • Load More
    Show All

    More about LisaAuch

    Loading

    by

    LisaAuch

    Hello and Welcome: I am a successful work at home mom.
    I love Squidoo where I am not only an active member of the wonderful community, also a Squid Angel,...     more »

    Feeling creative? Create a Lens!

    Explore related pages

    History of Halloween 

    The Haunted History of Halloween (History Channel) (A&E DVD Archives)

    The Haunted History of Halloween (History Channel) (A&E DVD Archives)

    Amazon Price: $7.88 (as of 06/01/2012)Buy Now

    Best Halloween books 

    Find the Fun in Halloween

    Halloween Tricks and Treats (Better Homes & Gardens Crafts)

    Halloween Tricks and Treats (Better Homes & Gardens Crafts)

    by: Better Homes & Gardens

    Amazon Price: $0.01 (as of 06/01/2012)Buy Now

    From recipies, to fun games, and even how to make your own costumes, bring back the fun to your house with this great book.

    A halloween Bulletin Board Kit 

    Halloween Dsiplay for your classroom in a box

    Halloween Bulletin Board Set

    Halloween Bulletin Board Set

    Amazon Price: $6.99 (as of 06/01/2012)Buy Now

    Related Tags