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| Antique Halloween Card |
In Ireland, Scotland,
Wales and other areas of Europe there was an uneasy truce between the customs
and beliefs associated with Christianity and those associated with the “old” religions which existed before
Christianity.
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| Halloween Illustration |
It is now more
generally believed that Halloween is dervived from the Celtic festival of Samhain or “summer’s end.” Samhain is prononounced as SAH-win or SOW-win. This
festival was held on the 31st
of October – 1st of November.
It was the most important of the four quarter days of the medieval
Gaelic calendar.
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Samhain Illustration
Basically Samhain marked the end of the harvest
season and began winter or the darker half of the year. Like Beltane, it was viewed as a liminal time
when the spirits or possibly fairies known as “the Aos Si” could become more active in the human world simply because
it was easier for them to enter the human world at this particular time of year.
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| Offering of Harvested Grain |
Many scholars view the
Aos Si as a downgraded form of the ancient
gods whose powers remain in the people’s mind long after they were replaced by
new religious beliefs. For instance, it was believed that the Aos Si needed to be appeased to ensure
that human people and their livestock survived the harsh winters. Offerings of
food, drink, or portions of the newly harvested crops were left for the Aos Si in most Celtic areas.
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| Samhain Ancestors Illustration |
In Scotland, youths
went from house to house with their faces masked or blackened, threatening to
do mischief if they were not welcomed by all those they encountered.
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| Jack O'Lanterns |
[Note: These beautiful illustrations have been collected from various sources over many years. They have been used to illustrate both Gaelic beliefs and the Halloween holiday in both Genealogy and Folklore classes.]
The Shenandoah Valley and the bordering Blue Ridge Mountains have a strong Gaelic heritage. This is due to the fact that many of the first settlers of “Old Augusta County,” were primarily from the Colonies of Pennsylvania and Maryland or from Eastern Virginia. They arrived when Augusta County extended to the Great Lakes on the north, down through what is now Kentucky and Tennessee to the south and, of course, to the Pacific Ocean on the west. This latter point was purely political and was due to the fact that our ancestors refused to recognize any other nation’s claim to the land west of the Mississippi…it just took Thomas Jefferson a little bit of time to formalize this concept with the Louisiana Purchase.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, some of these folk were German born or the Pennsylvania born children of German speaking Protestant immigrants from Bavaria, the Palatinate and other areas bordering the Rhine River. Religiously these settlers were Lutheran, German Reform, or Brethren; however, the greatest number of settlers in early Augusta County, Virginia were from the Province of Ulster in the north of Ireland, or they were the Pennsylvania and Maryland born children of these same Ulster Scots who were also known as Scotch-Irish Presbyterians. Many of these early folk settled upon the one hundred twelve thousand [112,000] acre tract that Virginia’s colonial government had granted to William Beverly which became known as Beverly Manor. Adjacent to Beverly Manor was another such tract of land which had been granted to Benjamin Borden that became known as the Borden Tract.
Benjamin Borden [b.1675 in New Jersey – d.1743 in Virginia] was the son of Quaker parents, Benjamin and Abigail Grover Borden. In April of 1743, Borden received a patent for three thousand one hundred forty-three [3,143] acres known as Borden’s Great Spring Tract in what is now Clarke County, Virginia. He and his wife, Zeruiah Winter, took up residence in the northern or lower part of the Shenandoah Valley in the early part of 1743 where they lived the rest of their lives. In addition to this tract of land, Borden received other tracts in the lower Shenandoah Valley at Apple Pie Ridge near Winchester, Bullskin Run near Charles Town, West Virginia, and along Smith’s Creek in Shenandoah and Rockingham Counties.
In May 1735, Borden received an additional grant of one hundred thousand [100,000] acres along the branches of the James River in the upper part of the Shenandoah Valley upon which he was required to settle one family on every thousand acres. On the 6th of November 1739, Benjamin Borden solidified his claim to this land and thus received a patent for ninety-two thousand one hundred [92,100] acres which became known as the Borden Tract. It was on this tract of land that he settled immigrants who had previously relocated from Scotland to the north of Ireland. The Borden Tract began at the southern boundary of Beverley Manor and eventually became what is now Rockbridge County, Virginia.
In honor of the Gaelic heritage of these early Shenandoah Valley settlers, we will revisit in today’s blog, an important part of their rich cultural heritage that they brought with them to Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley: Halloween.
“Blessed be the ancestors,
The ones whose life has fled.
Tonight we merry meet again,
Our own beloved dead.
The wheel of the year turns on,
A new year is in one’s sights.
The maiden has become the crone,
We celebrate this night.”
Author unknown.
As you visit today’s blog at www.BillieJoMonger.com remember that in our Valley’s early settlement days, it was believed that by honoring the dead at Halloween, you were assured not to be counted among them.
I so enjoyed this blog! The cards, the insights and knowledge shared are appreciated. Love it.
ReplyDeletePS I figured out how to comment here! It took me forever!