guising?

[Dadie]

not sure on what time etc is acceptable to go out...
As i have 1 at schoool one at nursery and one below...and know we have been caught by guisers at tea time...
And know not to go to "darkenened out houses" but need to know the unwrittened rules ......... as really new to the whole halloween thing .....just remember from my youth we went out after teatime 6ish and home for 7 pm....just an hour or so of doors but we were in a really rural setting so whats the done thing in a village?

[embow]

Hearty Congratulations on your choice of the word "guising".There is nothing more irritating at Hallowe'en ( a fine old Scottish tradition) than the use of the Americanised version of Trick or Treat. Similarly the sooner we get rid of all this pumpkin nonsense and get back to the original neep for a lantern the better. Rant over! Have a nice day! Oops!;) :confused

[rich62_uk]

I never knew about using neeps (English) however I believe when in Rome do as the Romans do so will give it a go this year with the kids. Just one thing, they are hard things to attack so whats the best thing to attack them with ?

[maggie]

Yes, lovely to hear "guising" again. With money getting tight, maybe we'll go back to home made costumes too. Then there's your wee turn with toffee apples and nuts as the reward. In some houses you had to work even harder by "dookin" for the apples...

The turnip lantern was a work of art and had to be started days before the 31st as they took so long to perfect. First parents had to choose nice round even neeps preferably with a good stalk for easy opening and and take care of cutting the lid off. It was too skilled for us as it had to be nice and neat. Then we were let loose to painstakenly scoop out the turnip. Knives were too risky so we used old fashioned tattie peelers and apple corers. Be prepared to finish this off yourselves as I remember it getting a bit tedious and we got fed up. Don't make the turnip walls too thin as they get softer the older they are and may collapse when carried about. When you have it well scooped out and an appropriate face cut, make holes at each side, not too near the top under the lid and tie a long bit of string across to make a handle. It's tempting to cut a hole in the lid to make a chimney but dont as the heat can make it quite hot to carry.

Tips:
Make it a rule not to light the candle until its time to go out and if a group of guisers arrive at the door, with turnip lanterns, keep them on the doorstep to do their turn Then when your own guisers return home leave the lanterns out on the doorstep till the candle burns out. The horrendous smell of burning turnip can last for ages and permeate the whole house!!!
Also be prepared for "gippy tums" due to the overindulgence of raw neep and toffee apples.

Hope the weather holds out and you all have a fantastic time:)

[Dadie]

I will be using pumkins.....neeps are just too hard to attack....unless you go for powertools (not good if you want the insides for soup though) even then the neep is still a tricky customer!
And I do not want to visit A&E as the turnip usually wins the battle of not wanting to be a lantern and ends up as soup.
Plus I like the tattie peeler I have and dont need anymore spoons that look like Uri Geller has been let loose in the cutlery drawer!
I also cheat and use a wee torch in the lanterns that way the lanterns dont go out in the wind and they dont stink the place out!
Will do doughnuts on a string (eat no handed) for the party at nursery...and make up baggies for the guisers at home..and fill the baby bath with water and apples for dooking(I place it on a plastic mat with a towel over it to contain the floods)...but if its me on the door I expect a wee turn from them ...a joke, poem or a song etc.