Editing Samhain (section)

===Mumming and guising===
[[File:Mari Lwyd (wiki).jpg|thumb|A [[Mari Lwyd]], the Welsh equivalent of the Láir Bhán]]
In some areas, [[Mummers' play|mumming]] and [[guising]] were part of Samhain. It was first recorded in 16th century Scotland<ref>[[F. Marian McNeill|McNeill, F. Marian]]. ''Hallowe'en: its origin, rites and ceremonies in the Scottish tradition''. Albyn Press, 1970. pp. 29–31</ref> and later in parts of Ireland, Mann, and Wales.<ref name="hutton380-382">Hutton, pp. 380–82</ref> People went from house to house in costume or disguise, usually reciting songs or verses in exchange for food.<ref name=hutton380-382/> It may have evolved from a tradition whereby people impersonated the ''aos sí'', or the souls of the dead, and received offerings on their behalf.<ref name=hutton380-382/> Impersonating these spirits or souls was also believed to protect oneself from them.<ref>Hole, Christina. ''British Folk Customs''. Hutchinson, 1976. p. 91</ref> S. V. Peddle suggests the guisers "personify the old spirits of the winter, who demanded reward in exchange for good fortune".<ref>Peddle, S.V. (2007). ''Pagan Channel Islands: Europe's Hidden Heritage''. p. 54</ref> McNeill suggests that the ancient festival included people in masks or costumes representing these spirits and that the modern custom came from this.<ref name="mcneill2">McNeill, F. Marian. ''Hallowe'en: its origin, rites and ceremonies in the Scottish tradition''. Albyn Press, 1970. pp. 29–31</ref> In Ireland, costumes were sometimes worn by those who went about before nightfall collecting for a Samhain feast.<ref name=hutton380-382/>

In Scotland, young men went house-to-house with masked, veiled, painted, or blackened faces,<ref name="Campbell"/><ref name=arnoldb/> often threatening to do mischief if they were not welcomed.<ref name=hutton380-382/> This was common in the 16th century in the Scottish countryside and persisted into the 20th.<ref name="bannatyne">Bannatyne, Lesley Pratt (1998) [https://books.google.com/books?id=rNAXt9jLXWwC&dq=guising+SAMHAIN&pg=PA44 Forerunners to Halloween] Pelican Publishing Company. {{ISBN|1-56554-346-7}} p. 44</ref> It is suggested that the blackened faces come from using the bonfire's ashes for protection.<ref name=mcneill2/> In Ireland in the late 18th century, peasants carrying sticks went house-to-house on Samhain collecting food for the feast. [[Charles Vallancey]] wrote that they demanded this in the name of St [[Colm Cille]], asking people to "lay aside the [[fatted calf]], and to bring forth the [[black sheep]]".<ref>[[James George Frazer|Frazer, Sir James George]] (1913). ''[[The Golden Bough]]: Third Edition''. Cambridge University Press, 2012. p.241</ref> In parts of southern Ireland during the 19th century, the guisers included a [[hobby horse]] known as the ''[[Láir Bhán]]'' (white [[mare]]). A man covered in a white sheet and carrying a decorated horse skull would lead a group of youths, blowing on cow horns, from farm to farm. At each, they recited verses, some of which "savoured strongly of paganism", and the farmer was expected to donate food. By doing so, he could expect good fortune from the 'Muck Olla'; not doing so would bring misfortune.<ref>''Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Volume 2''. 1855. pp. 308–09</ref> This is akin to the ''[[Mari Lwyd]]'' (grey mare) procession in Wales, which takes place at [[Midwinter]]. In Wales, the [[white horses in mythology|white horse]] is often seen as an omen of death.<ref>Montserrat Prat, 'Metamorphosis of a Folk Tradition' in Simon Callow, Andrew Green, Rex Harley, Clive Hicks-Jenkins, Kathe Koja, Anita Mills, Montserrat Prat, Jacqueline Thalmann, Damian Walford Davies, and Marly Youmans, ''Clive Hicks-Jenkins'' (Lund Humphries, 2011), pp. 63–79</ref> Elsewhere in Europe, costumes, mumming, and hobby horses were part of other yearly festivals. However, in the Celtic-speaking regions, they were "particularly appropriate to a night upon which supernatural beings were said to be abroad and could be imitated or warded off by human wanderers".<ref name=hutton380-382/>

[[File:Traditional Irish halloween Jack-o'-lantern.jpg|thumb|upright|A plaster cast of an Irish ''Seán na Gealaí'' [[Jack-o'-lantern|turnip lantern]] from the early 20th century at the [[Museum of Country Life]]]]
Hutton writes: "When imitating malignant spirits, it was a very short step from guising to playing pranks". Playing pranks at Samhain is recorded in the Scottish Highlands as far back as 1736 and was also common in Ireland, which led to Samhain being nicknamed "Mischief Night" in some parts.<ref name=hutton380-382/> Wearing costumes at Halloween spread to England in the 20th century, as did the custom of playing pranks, though there had been mumming at other festivals.<ref name=hutton380-382/> At the time of mass transatlantic Irish and Scottish immigration, which popularised Halloween in North America, Halloween in Ireland and Scotland had a strong tradition of guising and pranks.<ref>Rogers, Nicholas. (2002) "Festive Rights: Halloween in the British Isles". Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night. pp. 43, 48. Oxford University Press.</ref> [[Trick-or-treating]] may have come from the custom of going door-to-door collecting food for Samhain feasts, fuel for Samhain bonfires or offerings for the ''aos sí''. Alternatively, it may have come from the Allhallowtide custom of collecting [[soul cake]]s.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

The "traditional illumination for guisers or pranksters abroad on the night in some places was provided by [[turnip]]s or [[mangelwurzel|mangel wurzels]], hollowed out to act as lanterns and often carved with grotesque faces".<ref name=hutton380-382/> They were also set on windowsills. By those who made them, the lanterns were variously said to represent the spirits or supernatural beings,<ref name="hutton382-383">[[Ronald Hutton|Hutton, Ronald]]. ''The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain''. Oxford University Press, 1996. pp. 382–83</ref> or were [[Apotropaic magic|used to ward off]] evil spirits.<ref name="arnoldb">{{cite web |title=Bettina Arnold&nbsp;– Halloween Lecture: Halloween Customs in the Celtic World |last=Arnold |first=Bettina |publisher=Center for Celtic Studies |location=[[University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee]] |date=31 October 2001 |website=Halloween [[Inaugural]] Celebration |url=http://www.uwm.edu/~barnold/lectures/holloween.html |access-date=16 October 2007}}</ref><ref name="palmer87">Palmer, Kingsley. ''Oral folk-tales of Wessex''. David & Charles, 1973. pp. 87–88</ref><ref>Wilson, David Scofield. ''Rooted in America: Foodlore of Popular Fruits and Vegetables''. Univ. of Tennessee Press, 1999. p. 154</ref> These were common in parts of Ireland and the Scottish Highlands in the 19th century.<ref name=hutton380-382/> They were also found in [[Somerset]] (see [[Punkie Night]]). In the 20th century, they spread to other parts of Britain and became generally known as [[jack-o'-lantern]]s.<ref name=hutton380-382/>