ALL HALLOWS NIGHT OF THE FAY
Whilst we are all enjoying our Hallowe’en celebrations, sipping our spiced punch and mulled wines, and telling ghost stories by the fire, what will be happening in the forests and hills outside our cosy homes on All Hallows Eve.
Well, according to the folklore gathered over hundreds of years on these islands of Albion it is a night when the Fay will be up to mischief, dancing and feasting, and maybe causing havoc to those who may have displeased them.
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Even folks who were sure that they had not displeased them made sure certain precautions were taken. Children we told to wear costumes of different sorts to disguise themselves, when they went outside in case the Fay should snatch them.
And as Samhain was a harvest feast the people made sure that some of the best food and drinks were left out for The Gentry to placate them. And when the bonfire was dying down the children were made to come before the embers completely died for fear that the lack of warmth and the darkness may bring the Good Neighbours to the house and they might snatch one of the bonniest children for their own.
One of the greatest fears was the Fairy Witches/Vampyres. These particularly like to roam about on All Hallows, looking for young men who were carousing together alone, and perhaps as the night wore on, as the drinks went down, they hankered after a little female company and wished for some. Wishes on All Hallows can be dangerous, as the following folk tale shows us:
‘It was a great harvest that year, and the people of the village decided on a great All Hallows celebration in Farmer Brodugan’s Great Barn.
‘It was a great harvest that year, and the people of the village decided on a great All Hallows celebration in Farmer Brodugan’s Great Barn. Turnips and swedes were hollowed out with tallow candles inside. Great long tables were put up and the best feast that anyone could remember laid out. Farmer Brodugan was generous with his cider and beer, and big rounds of cheese from the dairy with home-baked bread still warm from the farmhouse oven baked by his rosy wife, and buttercup yellow butter too from the Jersey cows.
Every person in the village was invited and some brought jars of whisky and the potato spirit. Ned Sloper had his fiddle and young Rob Howard his drum, joined by Jud Parsons with his penny whistle, and pretty Violet Mason with the voice of an angel soon had everyone up and dancing after the meal.
The party went on until around 11pm and most were exhausted and pretty tipsy, and went home replete, a few gathered in Bert Butler’s house for more drinks. Four young men neither wanted to go home nor to Bert’s house as they didn’t want to be with the older people. They all decided to take their jars out into the fields, it was a full moon and the nights as yet not too cold being only on the edge of Winter. Besides, they had whiskey to warm them didn’t they?
A merry gang they were, those boys, teetering on the threshold of manhood, young and strong and full of life. Jud Parson’s grandson David, Violet Manson’s brother Joseph, Ned Sloper’s nephew John, and Rob Howard the blacksmith’s son.
Out into the stubble fields, they went under the full pale moon. They talked and laughed and sang, and passed the jar, and sang some more. Then they went into that quieter state that strong drinks can bring where hearts open and talk flows.
‘Wish there were a girl or two here.’ said David, staring at the moon.
‘Wish there were a girl or two here.’ said David, staring at the moon.
‘Oh yes!’ said John. ‘I know what I’d do if a girl was here.’
‘I don’t know what I’d do.’ said Joseph. ‘ I don’t know what to say to girls.’
‘You don’t have to SAY nothin’’ answered David and John laughed and drank from the jar again.
‘The only girl I want is Violet.’ said Rob. ‘I will ask her to marry me in a year or two when I have more money. That I will.’
‘Ha! Marriage.’ said John lying down now on his back, watching the moon rise high now. ‘You don’t need marriage to enjoy a girl. I wish one was here now and all ready for a roll in the grass.’
A silence fell, and wisps of mist curled over the ground, silvered by the moonlight. A strange peace came over the young men, almost as if they would drop to sleep, yet they were wide awake.
And seemingly out of those mists came four young women. All dressed in green silk that rustled as they moved, they laughed, and it was as if the sweetest bells rang. Their pale beautiful faces and white bosoms glowed in the moonlight. They moved as if walking on air, and white teeth gleamed as they parted cherry lips and said in unison:
‘You called us?’ in voices as sweet as a melody.
‘You called us?’ in voices as sweet as a melody.
John sat up. ‘Oh yes!’ he said, dreamlike. And David affirmed it too. Both never taking their eyes from the young women.
Joseph sat as mesmerised, and Rob felt the hairs go up on his arms, he felt glued to the spot despite his fear.
The young women came closer and their beauty was astounding, slender white Lillies in shining green, two raven-haired and two pale blondes like the moon. Eyes that glittered with the promise of seduction.
Suddenly, grabbing hold of Joseph, Rob got up and pulled his companion along with him in a run. He called to the other young men but they would not come.
Joseph was like a piece of lead as they ran. But Rob held onto him tight. Rob looked back and saw one of the young women following them, was as if she floated off the ground, speedy as the wind.
Rob held tight to something in his pocket and kept running, half dragging Joseph with him all the way back to the village. He ran into his father’s house still clutching onto Joseph. He slammed the door and hung an iron horseshoe over it.
Back in his father’s cottage he made a pot of tea and sat Joseph down. ‘It was Them.’ he said, his hands still shaking. ‘The handmaidens of the Buobhan Sith. The Fairy Witches. They drink your blood. Thank the Lord I had iron in my pocket. My father makes me carry it in case I ever should meet the Gentry.’
The next morning both John and David were found dead, throats slit but what looked like some animal talons, and not a drop of blood left in their bodies.
So gentlemen watch out this All Hallows Eve, and ladies too, for there are Fairy men Vampyres too. Best stay indoors this night and eat your pumpkin pie.
Samhain Blessings,
Sonia.
Sonia Smith is a Traditional Witch and Magician. You can find Sonia’s books here and here.