Excepts taken from "Just Thoughts of a Plain Country Woman" by Lucile Ellingwood Morrow, pulished on November 4, 1954 in The Collinsville News.
". . . . Accordingly, many peasants of Scotland and Ireland followed a Hallowe'en custom of waving pitchforks full of burning straw in the air, hoping to chase away evil spirits and set on fire the brooms
of any witches flying past.
It was common for European races to believe in witches, hence the peasants of Ireland, Scotland and England taught their children how witches mounted on brooms with black cats behind them, would sometimes fly through the night on their way to a "Witches' Sabbath" or revel.
These witches, fairies, good and evil spirits, were supposed to be able to foretell the future, so it was natural that on this night of spirits, games of fortune telling should become a part of Hallowe'en.
Nuts and apples were used ih these games, hence our bobbing for apples in a tub of water. On the apple, if you succeed in getting one, will be name of your future husband or wife!
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