Halloween Traditions in South Uist
South Uist has long been celebrated for its Halloween traditions, so splendidly captured by folklorist Margaret Fay Shaw in the 1930s. But what of those traditions today? And what do the shifting seasonal customs of children tell us about contemporary folk life?
I remember the first Halloween in South Uist when I was visited by children. The initial group were welcomed inside to each give a performance – this year’s Mòd Gaelic song, a joke or the like – before getting their sweeties (recte candy). A later group knocked at the door yelling “trick or treat”.
I was lucky, in retrospect, that no children came with masks on. Those who do, remain silent until their identity is guessed by the adults. Having only recently arrived in the island, I would have had little chance at identifying the children correctly. We would have been there all night, and no one would have got their sweeties.
The strategic diversity utilised by the children in attaining their sweeties presents a case study in changing traditions. As an American, I was well accustomed to the simplicity of “trick or treat”. It does what it says on the tin, although the “trick” was by my own youth in Rhode Island more-or-less a hollow threat, possibly a hangover of what was once “oidhche nan cleas”, which I’ll come to shortly.
Those who performed for their sweeties were likely to have derived it from a mainland (Scottish) parent. Those who might arrive hidden under a mask and boiler suit, echoing those earlier Uist traditions depicted in photography, were likelier to belong to Uist families. (Although I should say that my anecdotal delineations are by no means definite or academically rigorous.)
One Uibhisteach my age reminisced that when they were young, they’d visit a neighbour who stayed in a traditional thatched cottage. They’d have their masks and boiler suits on, ready for him to guess who they were. (It’s supposed to be a fun game for the children.) His own strategy was to get the stove really going, and not say anything, until they baked under their garments and took their masks off out of sheer desperation, revealing their identity.
I’m not certain whether the local children still participate in the “tricks” the previous generations once did, but I’m sure that being driven around by your parents – the common mode of Halloween transport today – doesn’t allow for too much adolescent mischief. Which is probably rich, given the stories of their parents’ and grandparents’ generations. Halloween was known in Uist as “oidhche nan cleas”, the night of tricks. A common offence was the stealing of gates, something not too popular in a crofting community where gates maintain order. The more creative tricks involved a billy goat locked in the harbourmaster’s office, or even a spinning wheel placed on top of the Church of Scotland roof in Dalabrog. To this day no one knows how they managed that feat.
There were food stuffs as well. Fuarag was the leading dish associated with the holiday, a mixture of cream and oats (and probably a humbler form of the modern cranachan). Trinkets were put in for divination – a sixpence for wealth, a ring for marriage, a thimble for a spinster. I quite like fuarag and make it every year. I gave it out one year on Halloween to those visiting, but for some reason it was less popular than the other sweeties.
Around Halloween time, we often see articles appearing in newspapers harking back to the Uist Halloween of yesteryear. There’s little comment on what’s going on nowadays. Uist as a community is in a state of flux, with the older traditions becoming enmeshed with the new ones, along with those imported from the mainland and further afield. We can see the introduction of new customs via TikTok and Hollywood. But the trend is perhaps not all as bad as some traditionalists might have you believe: that first group of guisers to visit were all fluent Gaelic speakers after all.
Oidhche Shamhna ann an Uibhist a Deas san latha an-diugh
’S fhada o bha Uibhist a Deas air aithneachadh airson a chuid chleachdannan Samhna, a bha cho tarraingeach air an clàradh ann an dealbhan Mairead Fay Sheathaich sna 1930an. Ach ciamar a tha a’ dol dha na cleachdannan an-diugh, agus dè tha an t-atharrachadh ann an cleachdannan na cloinne ag innse dhuinn mu bheatha Uibhist san latha an-diugh?
’S math as cuimhne leam a’ chiad Oidhche Shamhna nuair a thàinig samhnairean a’ tadhail. A’ chiad bhuidheann a thàinig dhan taigh a dh’aithris fealla-dhà no a ghabhail òran a rinn iad aig Mòd na bliadhna, mus d’fhuair iad na suiteis aca. An dàrna buidheann a thàinig le èigh “trick or treat”.
Bha mi fortanach, a’ coimhead air ais, nach do nochd buidheann is aodannan orra. Fanaidh iad-san sàmhach gus an tomhaisear cò a th’ annta. Leis nach robh mi ach ùr dhan eilean, abair dùbhlan a bhiodh an siud romham. Bhiomaid ann fad na h-oidhche is chan fhaigheadh duine an cuid suiteis.
Tha na diofar innleachdan a chleachdas a’ chlann nan samhla air an dualchas ag atharrachadh. Mar Aimeireaganach mi fhìn, bha mi eòlach gu leòr air sìmplidheachd “trick or treat”. Tha e soilleir gu leòr dhe na th’ agad ri dhèanamh mar fhear an taighe, ged nach robh an leth eile dhen abairt – an “cleas” – cho bagarrach sin rim latha fhèin.
An fheadhainn a rinn taisbeanadh air choireigin, mar bu trice thog a’ chlann an cleas sin bho phàrant à tìr-mòr. Agus an fheadhainn a thig le aodannan is boiler suit orra, mar mhac-talla nan seann dhealbhan, mar bu trice b’ ann do theaghlach Gàidhealach Uibhisteach a bha iad. (Feumaidh mi ràdha ge-tà nach eil cus earbsachd nam chuid sheòrsachaidh an seo; tha an gnothach cus nas measgaichte na sin gu fìrinneach.)
Dh’innis aon charaid dhomh, a tha co-aoiseach rium fhèin, mar a rachadh iad a thadhail air Dòmhnall Aonghais Bhàin air Oidhche Shamhna nan trusganan agus aodannan orra. Bha iad a’ feitheamh gus an tomhaiseadh cò iad. Ach bha innleachd fhèin aig Dòmhnall còir, a bha a’ fuireach ann an seann taigh-tughaidh, gu faighinn a-mach cò a bh’ aige ma choinneamh. Mus tigeadh a’ chlann bha e air tòrr mòr connaidh a shadail dhan stòbha agus abair gum biodh grìosach a’ dol nuair a nochdadh a’ chlann. Cha sheasadh iad fada tostach agus iad a’ sìor-dhol nam fallas nan èideadh blàth.
Chan eil mi cinnteach a bheil a’ chlann fhathast ri “cleasan” mar a dhèanadh am pàrantan. Tha mi cinnteach nach faigheadh iad air falbh le cus mì-mhodh nuair a tha am pàrantan gan draibheadh timcheall bho thaigh gu taigh, mar a nithear san latha an-diugh.
Abair dà latha, a rèir nan stòiridhean a bh’ aig am pàrantan agus an seana-phàrantan. B’ e “oidhche nan cleas” a bhiodh aca air Oidhche Shamhna. B’ e an rud a bu chumanta a bhith a’ goid nan geataichean, gan sadail ann an cùil air choireigin. Dh’fhaodadh sin damaiste (agus plòigh, mura tusa an cruitear bochd) adhbharachadh ann am bailtean cruitearachd mar a tha Uibhist. Ach bha cuid na bu chruthachaile, mar ghlasadh gobhar greannach ann an oifis maighstir a’ chidhe ann an Loch Baghasdail, no cuibhle-snìomh a chur air mullach Eaglais Dhalabroig. Chan eil fios aig duine fhathast ciamar a rinn iad sin.
Bha biadh cuideachd a’ tighinn an cois an latha – fuarag as aithnichte dhiubh sin. ’S e measgachadh de bhainne ghoirt, uachdar agus coirce a th’ ann, agus chuireadh innte a leithid bonn airson beartas, fàinne airson pòsadh, agus meuran airson neo-phòsadh. ’S toil leam fhìn fuarag agus ’s àbhaist dhomh a dhèanamh a h-uile bliadhna. Bha mi ga riarachadh a-mach do shamhnairean aon bhliadhna, ach cha robh a’ chlann a leth cho miadhail air an fhuarag agus a bha air na suiteis airson adhbhar air choreigin.
Mun àm seo dhen bhliadhna, tha artaigilean dualtach nochdadh anns na pàipearan naidheachd a’ toirt cunntas air làithean geala nan Samhnaichean a dh’aom. ’S beag a nochdas de dh’aithris air na tha a’ dol san latha an-diugh. Tha Uibhist, mar choimhearsnachd, air udalan saoghail ann an dòigh. Tha na seann chleachdannan a’ dol an altan na feadhna ùir, cuide riutha-san a thig o thìr-mòr agus thall-thairis. Chithear cleachdannan ùra a’ tighinn air muin TikTok agus Hollywood. Ach chan eil an gnothach cho dubhach agus a chumadh cuid a-mach: a’ chiad bhuidheann de shamhnairean a thàinig an oidhche ud? Bha làn an claiginn den Ghàidhlig ghlan Uibhisteach aca.
Liam Alastair Crouse
Oileanach PhD
Sabhal Mòr Ostaig UHI & Tobar an Dualchais
Air a mhaoineachadh le SGSAH
Post-d: 18031273@uhi.ac.uk
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