Image by ariadne-a-mazed from Pixabay Samhain (pronounced sow-in, as in rhymes with “cow in”) is an ancient Celtic festival marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter. It takes place on October 31 and is the source of many of our Halloween traditions. Why are ghosts a typical symbol of Halloween? That's because the ancient Celts believed that the division between the realms of the living and the dead was thinnest at Samhain, which would allow the souls of the dead to pass through. Our ancestors built bonfires and offered food to honor their dead loved ones during this festival. They also dressed up in animal skins to chase harmful spirits away. Maybe this is why ghosts found their way into many Irish, Scottish, and English folk songs, which then crossed the Atlantic and inspired American versions. She Moved Through the Fair lyrics by Padraic Collum My young love said to me, "My mother won't mind And my father won't slight you for your lack of kind" And she stepped away from me and this she did say: It will not be long, love, till our wedding day" As she stepped away from me and she moved through the fair And fondly I watched her move here and move there And then she turned homeward with one star awake Like the swan in the evening moves over the lake The people were saying, no two e'er were wed But one had a sorrow that never was said And I smiled as she passed with her goods and her gear, And that was the last that I saw of my dear. Last night she came to me, my dead love came in So softly she came that her feet made no din As she laid her hand on me and this she did say "It will not be long, love, 'til our wedding day" The Unquiet Grave (sometimes called Cold Blows the Wind) Cold blows the wind to my true love and gently drops the rain I only had but one true love and in greenwood she lies slain I'll do as much for my true love as any young man may I'll sit and mourn along her grave for a twelve-month and a day When the twelve months and one day was past the ghost began to speak: "Why sit thou'st here along my grave and will not let me sleep?" "There's one thing that I want sweetheart, there's one thing that I crave And that is a kiss from your lily white lips then I'll go from your grave" "My lips they are as cold as clay my breath smells earthy strong And if you kiss my cold clay lips your days they won't be long Go fetch me water from the desert and blood from out of stone Go fetch me milk from a fair maid's breast that a young man never had known" 'Twas down in Cupid's Garden where you and I would walk The finest flower that ever I saw is withered to a stalk The stalk is withered and dry sweetheart the flower will ne'er return And since I lost my one true love what can I do but mourn? "When shall we meet again sweetheart? When shall we meet again?" "Ere the oaken leaves that fall from the trees are green and spring up again"
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AuthorThe Craobh Dugan-O'Looney blog is written by Sue Smith Romero. Questions? Corrections? Send them on to her at [email protected] Categories
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