British Folklore: The Forgotten Death of Mischief Night

In the post-war years from the 1950s to the late 1980s (when Halloween began to usurp Mischief Night), Mischief Night was the "big" night before Bonfire Night, and Halloween on the 31st Largely a non-event night.

Even on the night of November 4th, we carved a kind of lantern called a small lantern ("Give me a candle, give me a light , if you don't, you'll be shocked"), except that they are carved from turnips or swedes, instead of pumpkins, a traditional turnip jack-o'-lantern from the early 20th century.

(CC BY-SA 3.

0), but where did it come from? Although Bonfire Night dates back to the early 17th century (in fact, it was one of the few public holidays not banned by the Puritans in Cromwell's day), it wasn't until the 1850s that the November mischief night event It was only widely mentioned.

Victorian folklorists believe its popularity came from Yorkshire because Guy Fawkes, who was born in York, was preparing to cause trouble when gunpowder was being prepared beneath the House of Lords on the night of 4 November. , and the House of Lords was where he was captured, this painting shows the Royalist soldier Sir Thomas Keneway arresting Guy Fawkes.

Guy Fawkes (1570-1606) had been trying to blow up the Houses of Parliament in an attack in 1605.

In public circles, Guy Fawkes Night (or Bonfire Night) is celebrated annually on November 5 A celebration in England to commemorate the capture of Guy Fawkes in the early hours of November 5, 1605, as he was preparing a large bomb to blow up the House of Lords, where King James I was due later that day A meeting of Parliament was called.

Fox was part of a conspiracy known as the Gunpowder Plot, in which a small group of dissident Roman Catholics wished to destroy the Protestant monarchy.

(This was an era of religious wars in Europe) is traditionally celebrated with bonfires and fireworks - the American equivalent of Independence Day or July 4th celebrations.

Some believe that Guy Fawkes Night is a puritanical replacement of the old, Mid-Autumn Festival Sahain Fire Celebration, with spectators gathering around a bonfire in Staffordshire, England, November 2010. (CCC 2.0) However, it is at this point that folklore , customs and traditions take an interesting twist, the earliest reference to Mischief Night is in 1791, in a school play. It seems that children were always encouraged to play tricks on Mischief Night, but there was a catch. : The Mischief Night mentioned here is part of the traditional May Day celebrations, six months before this year! (In Germany, Mischief Night still happens on May 1st.) So what happened? Folklore historians believe that May Day is an important children's day. On the eve of May Day, they will walk around villages and towns with garlands, looking at houses and singing songs while walking, hoping to raise funds for consumption during May Day.

Add to this the tradition of goslings teasing people in May (much like the April Fool's Day joke a month earlier) plus related rural traditions, such as the "Bringing Out" that someone wrote (and complained about) as early as 1240 AD. Come May, it's easy to see how this was an early manifestation of trick-or-treating.

(A date in the mid-13th century also puts the tradition closer to the Viking Age.

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(George Alexander Ishida Newman/CC BY 2.

0) Charles Christian, Charles Charles Christian is a barrister, Reuters reporter, former blogger, podcaster, radio DJ, award-winning technology journalist, and sometimes werewolf hunter who now writes about pop culture, folklore, and history.

And Weird.

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