Happy Halloween!
I can’t say I’m going all out today: I’m not the decorating type, so I have one pumpkin for the front porch.
But I do have lots of candy to give to the neighborhood kids when they come trick or treating.
Now, if I was in Scotland instead of here in Wisconsin, Halloween night would be fairly different.
Because there, you can’t go door to door for candy without giving a bit of a show.
What we call trick or treating in the US is known there as guising, as in you’re putting on the guise of a costume or character.
(It’s sometimes also called “galoshin’”… if you know, you know.)
In the old tradition, you protected yourself from spirits that might want to do harm to a person by dressing up as a spirit yourself.
And you’d go door to door with your little carved turnip lantern to get little gifts or offerings from the neighbors, which also helped to ward off the not-so-dearly departed.
But in Scotland, those neighbors generally expect a little more from their visitors than just showing up with a candy bag.
Kids give what’s known as a turn: a song, a dance, maybe a joke or two, then they receive their well-earned treat.
And guising is just one of Scotland’s Halloween traditions.
Once you’ve gotten your fill of candy (or you’ve run out of jokes to tell), – you can go dooking (or bobbing) for apples, or throw nuts on the fire, or try to eat treacle-covered scones attached to strings that are hanging from the ceiling.
No surprise that people can get really into this holiday there.
Next time you’re in Lexington, Kentucky and you’re feeling morbid, you can drop by the Monroe Moosnick Medical and Science Museum.
It’s got a large collection of old medical tools, the kind that you see in a lot of classic monster movies.
Plus, there’s the world’s largest hairball, and for all you zombies out there, brains.
Among other parts.
And did I mention this museum is on the campus of Transylvania University?
Halloween in Scotland (Historic UK)
The Creepiest Museum In The Country Can Be Found Right Here In Kentucky (Only In Your State)
