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Show HMLLO WE1 EN Ve"Z. Two hazel nuts I threw into the flame. And to each nut 1 gave a sweetheart's name; This with the loudest bounce me sore amazed; That in the brightest flame of color blazed. As blazed the nut, so may thy passion glow. For 'twas thy nut that did so brightly glow. These are the rhymes that the maiden who wishes to DUt to rest all uncertainty uncer-tainty as to the faithfulness of her lover, must learn before hallowe'en, so that she will know how to follow out one of the true -and tried recipes of olden days to settle the question of her future. She must place two nuts side by side before the fire and repeat the verse if she would put the dainty and romantic touches to this custom of her grandmother. Having' given each a name, she must watch closely, and the one which burns brightly has a deep and lasting affection for her. The one which snaps and jumps shows that he is unfaithful. In case they both burn brightly considerably complicates com-plicates matters for the fair maiden, and the only way to solve the problem is to make several tests. Each year the pretty old customs of Hallowe'en are less and less observed, and the night-has been turned into a boisterous celebration by the small boy. delights to take off all the gates and hide them; bring down signs that offend of-fend him by being too conspicuous, and other equally joyous proceedings to the heart of youth. A custom of putting flour in a very thin bag and from the shadow of some convenient gate post or corner toss them at the passer-by, showering him with soft white clinging cling-ing powder and putting him to( much trouble without hurting him, is one of the popular forms of Hallowe'en of the twentieth century. Hallowe'en, or All Hallow Even, is a time when the supernatural is supposed sup-posed to have a very potent influence in the affairs of men and women. The dead are said to wander about and witches, devils and all the uncanny spirits which belong to darkness have sway and must be respected with incantations in-cantations and special observances of respect if the wayfarer would not come to grief. Even the spirits from living bodies are given power to wander and carouse with ghostly comrades, and divination to those who possess it, is particularly keen on this night of vigil of All Saints. LEGENDARY LORE. Mythology, Druidic beliefs and Christian Chris-tian superstitions have all contributed to the -many strange and often grue- I some observances surrounding Hallowe'en. Hal-lowe'en. It is the ancient feast of the Romans to Pomona that is said to have originated the nuts and apple feature of this occasion. This feast came on Nov. 1, and the fruits were stored through the summer for the celebration. celebra-tion. The festival of Saman, observed ob-served by the Druids, brought in much that was supernatural. This occurred at the same period. The Druids believed be-lieved In the transmigration of souls and all the souls of the wicked who had been doomed to live in the bodies of animals during the year were gathered together, and by gifts and incantations of the priests, Saman, the Lord of Death, was asked to mitigate the jsen-tence. jsen-tence. From the Druids the people of Ireland Ire-land and Vales1adapted and construed as pleased them other customs. Some of these were gruesome in the extreme and doubtless gave the opportunity to those wishing to do harm to at least frighten their victims very seriously. One of the Welsh customs still observed ob-served in-remote districts is to build a fire on this night and each member of the family , throw a white stone marked In a way to be identified afterward after-ward into the midst of the flame, murmuring mur-muring a prayer. In the morning any -stone thati is missing means that that person 1st doomed to die ' before the year is out.:; In 'Scotland almost the same custom prevails. The ashes of the fire are raked in a circle and the stones placed in the center. If anyone is malicious enough to make one, or more, or all out, and the morning morn-ing finds them. gone, the superstitious may become so. terrified that any small illness can be so magnified by fear that , I little power of resistance is left and often courts death. In Ireland nutshells are burned and from the ashes many things are foretold. fore-told. Cabbages are torn up by the roots and futures told by the straight-ness straight-ness or crookedness of the root. Young couples go out hand in hand into the cabbage patches, walking -backward and, stooping down, pull up the first plant that is touched. These are carried car-ried to the old dame of the village who dispenses futures at so much a cabbage, and the happiness of the young people is made or destroyed. In Scotland, the little children pile cabbage stocks against the door at night and pray before going to bed that the old woman who brings the bairns will leave one in the hollow of the root during the night, which will come to the home before the year is out. ON RETIRING TO BED. After an evening spent in bobbing for apples and roasting nuts, the country coun-try maids in the old country have a very pretty custom which has all the charm and mystery of the oldest romances.. ro-mances.. Before going into the house she plucks two roses with long stems and goes straight to her room without speaKing. She kneels down and gazing gaz-ing intently at the rose named for her lover, repeats: Twine, twine and intertwine. Let my love be wholly mine; If his heart be kind and true Deeper grow his rose's hue. If 'he is true the rose takes a deeper shade, and it is easy to imagine after the strain of gazing at the rose for several seconds intently that its color will deepen in her imagination. Throwing apple peelings over the right shoulder after whirling round the head three times, is one of the commonest com-monest of these old methods. Another scheme is to cut apple seeds in half, and place one piece on each eyelid, naming each. The one which stays on the longest is the one who will prove faithful. The really clever ingenue in-genue can easily manage to wink the eyelid of the one she cares the least about and make the least desirable of the two young men prove the faithless one. OLD IRISH CUSTOMS. : Dipping for apples in a tub of water is one of the amusements that is indulged in-dulged . in very generally even to the present time though it is of very ancient an-cient origin. Another form is to suspend sus-pend a cord with cross sticks placing apples on two ends and candles on the others and as it revolves rapidly try to catch the apples in your mouth. This latter is more exciting for the one who is doing it if not so amusing to the onlooker. Another Irish custom for Hallowe'en is the throwing of a ball of yarn out of the window and reeling it off while saying the pater noster backwards. By keeping your eyes steadily on the ball of yarn outside you will see the apparition of your future husband, or wife, whichever the case may be. Much fun and amusement is gotten out of baking a cake with a ring and key in it. To the one who gets the ring there is a marriage within the year. The key will 'bring a journey. It would be impossible to write all the different schemes for extracting pleasure out of Hallowe'en that have been devised. To those who intend to celebrate it with all its witchery and its accompanyments can be made to have these little games work out with their full charm of mystery, and with the addition of a real bona fide fortune teller to interpret the signs adds an irresistible ir-resistible thrill to the dim walks with candles and the mirrors which have an uncanny way of catching and reflecting re-flecting weird effects. That the small boys of today are not alone In their mischievous ways of celebrating can be proved by. this command com-mand from the annals of the reformation reforma-tion in the early part of Queen Elizabeth's Eliza-beth's reign.' It reads: aThat the superfluous su-perfluous ringing of bells and the superstitious su-perstitious ringing of bells at Allhal-lowntide, Allhal-lowntide, and All Soul's day, be prohibited." pro-hibited." Then the old annals show bills for breakage of 'bell ropes and other repairs which the town had to pay for, showing that boys of the seventeenth sev-enteenth and -of the twentieth century have something in common. |