Denseman on the Rattis

Formerly known as the Widmann Blog

culturedascotland

Hallowe’en er skotsk, ikke amerikansk!



Evil turnip lantern
Originally uploaded by PhylB

En dansk netavis, som skal forblive unævnt, skrev forleden noget ævl om den “amerikanske højtid halloween”.

Hallowe’en stammer fra Skotland (og måske Irland), og selvom den nok er kommet til Danmark via USA, kunne man da godt være sig oprindelsen bevidst.

For det første staves ordet traditionelt med apostrof på denne side af Atlanten: Hallowe’en, ikke Halloween.

For det andet bruger man traditionelt roer og ikke græskar. Som Wikipedia skriver: “The turnip has traditionally been used in Ireland and Scotland at Halloween, but immigrants to North America used the native pumpkin.”

For det tredie kalder man det, børnene gør, guising, og ikke trick-or-treating. Wikipedia: “In Scotland and Ireland, Guising — children disguised in costume going from door to door for food or coins — is a traditional Halloween custom, and is recorded in Scotland at Halloween in 1895 where masqueraders in disguise carrying lanterns made out of scooped out turnips, visit homes to be rewarded with cakes, fruit and money. The practise of Guising at Halloween in North America is first recorded in 1911.”

Og er det gået op for danskerne, at der hører karamelæbler til Hallowe’en?

Til slut er her en oplæsning af Rabbie Burns’ Hallowe’en-digt (sproget er, naturligvis, scots):

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *