Halloween (poem)

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Edward Scriven's engraving of John Masey Wright's illustration to Robert Burns' Halloween J. M. Wright - Edward Scriven - Robert Burns - Halloween.JPG
Edward Scriven's engraving of John Masey Wright's illustration to Robert Burns' Halloween
Halloween [lower-alpha 1]

Upon that night, when fairies light
On Cassilis Downans [lower-alpha 2] dance,
Or owre the lays, in splendid blaze,
On sprightly coursers prance;
Or for Colean the rout is ta'en,
Beneath the moon's pale beams;
There, up the Cove, [lower-alpha 3] to stray an' rove,
Amang the rocks and streams
To sport that night;

Contents

[...]

—Robert Burns [1]

"Halloween" is a poem written by the Scottish poet Robert Burns in 1785. [1] First published in 1786, the poem is included in the Kilmarnock Edition . It is one of Burns' longer poems, with twenty-eight stanzas, and employs a mixture of Scots and English. [2] [3]

Background

The poet John Mayne from Dumfries, a comparatively obscure follower of the Scottish Muses, had attempted a poem on the subject of Halloween in 1780. [4] Having twelve stanzas, the poem makes note of pranks at Halloween; "What fearfu' pranks ensue!", as well as the supernatural associated with the night, "Bogies" (ghosts). [4] [5] The poem appeared in Ruddimans Weekly Magazine, November 1780, published by Walter Ruddiman in Edinburgh. [4] That the Ayrshire poet Burns actually saw and was influenced by Mayne's composition is apparent, as he appears to communicate with Mayne's work, and also echoes some of his imagery. [4] [6] According to Burns, Halloween is "thought to be a night when witches, devils, and other mischief-making beings are all abroad on their baneful midnight errands". [7]

Notes

  1. Is thought to be a night when witches, devils, and other mischief-making beings are abroad on their baneful midnight errands; particularly those aerial people, the fairies, are said on that night to hold a grand anniversary,.—R.B.
  2. Certain little, romantic, rocky, green hills, in the neighbourhood of the ancient seat of the Earls of Cassilis.—R.B.
  3. A noted cavern near Colean house, called the Cove of Colean; which, as well as Cassilis Downans, is famed, in country story, for being a favorite haunt of fairies.—R.B.

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References

  1. 1 2 Alexander Smith (1868). Poems, Songs and Letters, being the complete works of Robert Burns. Edited from the best printed and manuscript authorities, with glossarial index and a biographical memoir by Alexander Smith. (The Globe edition.). Macmillan & Company. pp. 44–7.
  2. Robert Burns, Alexander Smith Poems, songs, and letters: being the complete works of Robert Burns, edited from the best printed and manuscript authorities with glossarial index and a biographical memoir Macmillan and co., 1868
  3. BBC - Robert Burns - Halloween BBC
  4. 1 2 3 4 Robert Chambers The life and works of Robert Burns, Volume 1 Lippincott, Grambo & co., 1854
  5. Ulster Scots - Words and Phrases:"Bogie" BBC Retrieved December 16, 2010
  6. Thomas Crawford Burns: a study of the poems and songs Stanford University Press, 1960
  7. Charles Knight (1833) The Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, Volume 1 p.342. Retrieved January 14, 2011