rough the
doorway under it was named Alan, her husband's first name would be
Alan. This is practised only a little now among farmers. It has
special virtue if the cabbage has been stolen from the garden of an
unmarried person.

Sometimes the pith of a cabbage-stalk was pushed out, the hole
filled with tow, which was set afire and blown through keyholes on
Hallowe'en.

"Their runts clean through and through were bored,
And stuffed with raivelins fou,
And like a chimley when on fire
Each could the reek outspue.

"Jock through the key-hole sent a cloud
That reached across the house,
While in below the door reek rushed
Like water through a sluice."

DICK: _Splores of a Hallowe'en._

Cabbage-broth was a regular dish at the Hallowe'en feast. Mashed
potatoes, as in Ireland, or a dish of meal and milk holds symbolic
objects--a ring, a thimble, and a coin. In the cake are baked a
ring and a key. The ring signifies to the possessor marriage, and
the key a journey.

Apple-ducking is still a universal custom in Scotland. A sixpence
is sometimes dropped into the tub or stuck into an apple to make
the reward greater. The contestants must keep their hands behind
their backs.

Nuts are put before the fire in pairs, instead of by threes as in
Ireland, and named for a lover and his lass. If they burn to ashes
together, long happy married life is destined for the lovers. If
they crackle or start away from each other, dissension and
separation are ahead.

"Jean slips in twa, wi' tentie[1] e'e;
Wha 't was, she wadna tell;
But this is _Jock_, an' this is _me_,
She says in to hersel;
He bleez'd owre her, an' she owre him,
As they wad never mair part;
Till fuff! he started up the lum,[2]
And Jean had e'en a sair heart
To see't that night."

BURNS: _Hallowe'en._

[1] Careful.

[2] Chimney.

Three "luggies," bowls with handles like the Druid lamps, were
filled, one with clean, one with dirty water, and one left empty.
The person wishing to know his fate in marriage was blindfolded,
turned about thrice, and put down his left hand. If he dipped it
into the clean water, he would marry a maiden; if into the dirty, a
widow; if into the empty dish, not at all. He tried until he got
the same result twice. The dishes were changed about each time.

This spell still remains, as does that