"If you haven't got a pear, then God bless you," that might be meant in a sympathetic way. That is, if you honestly don't have any food to give the poor, you might just be that poor yourself.
Maybe it was meant as both, if you had anything and didnt' give your share, you would get your due, but if you didn't have enough to give, then you were to be pitied.
I love how you portray history in a very conversational way. There's no pretense or declarative speech. If you don't know, you say so. It's very refreshing. It's like a conversation one might have just working on the farm, wandering the trails or at a dinner table. Nice.
I love the gentle mysticism you bring to history in this episode. Well done, Sir. Another little slice to chew on: After the night turns to day on 1 November, any above ground crop unharvested was left in the field. There was a mystical explanation for this but the practical reason was simple. The grains often start to develop a deadly mold due to the weather change, especially on rye and barley. Fruits/berries start to ferment or rot from the inside. If these items are added to your root cellar or storage barrels, you could lose ruin those food items over the winter. You might not have enough to make it to spring harvest. The same would apply to the carcass burning; it prevents cross contamination, keeping the stored food safe, in addition to providing nutrients for the fields. Thank you again for such wonderful insight.
The Welsh name for Halloween is *Nos Calan Gaeaf* ,it translates literally as Night of Winter's eve.The ancient Britons (the direct ancestors of the Welsh) divided the year into four seasons - each had a starting and finishing point : Winter began on November the 1st ,and ended on January the 31st,the peak of those three months of winter being December the 21st - the shortest ( and therefore darkest) day. The season of Spring then started on February the 1st ,and ended on the last day of April. May the 1st then saw the beginning of the three months of the Summer season ,it peaked on June the 21st ( the longest day) and ended on July the 31st. The season of Autumn then started on August the 1st , taking us to October the 31st - winter's eve.
At 1:20 the "moon" slowly pans into view with the flames licking directly towards it. Fantastic. The hard contrast between lights and dark with excellent use of a single light source from the side to create depth and shadow in his character's figure ... a very Caravaggio art style (though not enough blood lol). The style looks so natural, visceral, and spooky. Perfect.
It was not always bad things, in Baltic, we didn't have halloween but "Veļi" spirits of the dead, not really bad thing. While there were important days it usually was time period from about 29 of September till about 10 of November. It was time to remember old relatives and to tell stories. It was forbidden to do mayor jobs, to sing and to be loud. As a tradition it was still alive in 19th century, especially setting tables with food for spirits, often also getting sauna ready, putting clean towels for them, like you would do for important but loved guests. Unfortunately church wasn't so happy, about holding all kinds of dead spirits in such hight honor. I would like to see it as a tradition to be reborn.
I think people had a better understanding of the practical side of nature than folks now, we might know now where everything comes from but more and more practical, u could almost say day to day knowledge about nature is lost. Like for examples most ppl don't know that birds are pretty good predictors of air pressure and thus weather: in Dutch we say: "Vogels vliegen hoog, morgen blijft het droog." _Birds flying high, tommorow it's dry._
I interpret that poem that ends in "if not a pear, then God bless you" as a if you dont even have so much as a pear, then bless your soul as you are lacking in food and winter is upon us. Almost luck a good luck, wouldn't want to be you Maybe I also am misinterpreting it but that was my take away.
You might all be right! I guess it might be genuine, and probably was, but knowing some people, and looking at possible origins of trick or treat, I wondered if there was a different interpretation.
@@jasonkingsley2762 Well the trick part has to come from somewhere, could be both. Maybe it started out well intended but some took it further or it became so later?
@@jasonkingsley2762 maybe it really meant "give us a trick, or a treat", the trick being an actual trick of some sort the person would perform if they could not afford to give something.
I always knew it as a nursery rhyme: Christmas is coming The geese are getting fat Please put a penny in the old man's hat If you've not a penny A ha'penny will do If you've not a ha' penny then God bless you! And took it as kind-if you don't even have that much, may you be blessed.
@@thedativecase9733 Funnily enough I've just returned from shopping at Tesco and they're the first thing on display in the entrance. A half dozen "bins" full of pumpkins.
In Germany, there is still a tradition where on St. Martin's day 11.11.) children go from house to house with very similar rhymes and songs as the one you cited and which vary regionally to ask for sweets, or originally, of course, apples, pears and nuts. Sadly this tradition is in decline ever since celebrating Halloween became more popular here as well around A.D. 2000. So this reminded me strongly of my childhood when hearing this. It is also around this time children walk around with colourful and often self-crafted lanterns. Another similarity. Though this obviously has other roots it is still fascinating how similar traditions often are. This one is clearly based on St. Martin who according to legend cut his cloak in half to give part of it to a beggar he saw freezing in the street, but still it is very similar and around the same time. On a sideline: The 11.11. at 11:11h is also the time the carnival period starts eventually leading up to the 40 days of lent before Easter. And this marks the time when ordinary people were allowed to criticize and make fun of their lords and masters (and still do so) without consequence. Also a tradition that goes back to medieval times. Thank you for taking your time doing all these fantastic mini-documentaries, they are fantastic! And interestingly enough, as costume for carnival my son has chosen to dress up as a knight. He is also doing horse riding as one of the few boys who do so these days and doing archery, so I guess I have to look out for somewhere he can train how to handle a sword 😂 Unfortunately he doesn't speak English well enough yet, or I am sure he would love this channel. Thanks again.
@Michelle, I have a good friend from Germany who essentially taught himself English this way. He really doesn’t have any German accent (in English) to speak of, and only when using unusual words will you trip him up.
Same goes for my son. In some countries, like the Netherlands, riding a horse seems to be a girlie thing. While it was defenitely a thing men did because of war, work, etc... I want to learn it too☺
@@jgappy5643 it’s all in the type of horseback riding, I’m not Dutch but if people were to mock you can just point to cavalry, cowboys, and the like. Riding is fun and badass, the first few times can be an experience though lol but I highly recommend it
Great episode. Loved the visuals. Nowadays on All Saints Day, we (American Catholics) ask for the intercession of all the saints on our behalf including the formula “St Boniface (for example), pray for us”. Then the next day we pray for all of our departed family and friends. I don’t know how far back in time this goes. Thanks for your channel. Wonderful.
@@faithcastillo9597 It's pretty funny that a guy who puts out "Evil Genius," "Elite Sniper," "Judge Dredd," and "Zombie Army 4" is also making quiet youtube videos about being a knight.
you always bring history to the people celebrating or living the real days, not a history lesson. thanks so much. love it. :) n.b. the song is the same as “Christmas is coming” which has the lines: “Please to put a penny in the old man’s hat. If you haven’t got a penny a hay’penny will do. If you haven’t got a hay’penny, then god bless you.” :) 🎄
Even here in the Netherlands Halloween is becoming more and more populair. Children participate in Trick-o'-treat walks around town being dressed up to the occassion.
Great job as always! Your series are very well done Jason. It is a great service we hope you continue providing. One can imagine the effort put into it, so we appreciate it!
@@ModernKnight oh now that is an interesting offer thankyou Jason...there are so many things Id like to know!! I will give it some thought. I do Regency dancing and make Regency clothes for myself. We meet every month, to practice. I am interested in how clothes are put together, and the patterns, how they sowed and how they made the cloth...thats a huge subject isnt it. I love the photography, and also the horses, and the connection to this beautiful land, and how it is cared for. I am also into all kinds of healing and medicinal teciniques...So lots of subjects you are into. I love Japanese culture, the bow is so different to the English Longbow. Women now are 50 percent of the archery students...Women also used a long pole as a defence weapon....Another area is the architecture of the middleman/women?..So many things like the area of land that the poorer people had in which they could feed themselves and maybe sell some of their produce...That again is a huge subject..The war of the Roses must have affected people so much...and also the little ice age must have been AWEFUL...(sorry to go on)..xx
This channel is quickly becoming one of my favorites. Awesome job. It’s Crazy understanding and connecting back with what all our ancestors did not that many generations ago. The sense of community and the living and dead intersecting again. Most fun holiday by far! but the second best.
Beautiful - and I recognised warlord even through the fog ... I'm glad you mentioned the spiderwebs covering the grass at this time of year. This can even be seen in the parks and on the playing fields if one gets out early enough. The sun just striking those webs: a magical picture! As for rowan berries: heh, I dunno - those berries on the rowan in my tiny back garden have usually been eaten by garden birds well before Halloween.
2:37 there is one more point about the harvest and the Halloween that a lot of people ignore. I think that Halloween is a statement to the death it self that the people are prepared and they are not afraid of it. The harvest is done, the warehouses are full, so full, that people actually make lanterns out of the food (pumpkins), they celebrate and laugh from the death as if ignoring the harsh period that is about to hit them for more than half of the year. So I think Halloween is a boastful celebration and a challenging statement to the death itself, the claim of readiness and a show of courage.
Loved your video! The proliferation of spider webs was a great bit of information I had not heard before. Also, your mentioning of how foggy England gets during the fall sparked a thought about the 13th century poem, Gylfaginning, and a few other epic poems that describe Niflhel as a land of mist and fog in which dead men dwell. It is long believed that older traditions looked at most things that are transitional in time and space as particularly conducive to allowing spirits to cross between worlds. Old Breton, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, and Viking culture each most likely contributed some surviving traditions to Halloween in Medieval England.
In the poem when it says "if you haven't got a pear then God bless you", I never saw that as a threat. I saw it as pity. You're so poor that you don't even have a pear to share with others. That's just always been my take on it.
Jason, why don't you instigate an All Foals Day? People would love their own horses, pray for blessings on horses across the world, learn about the highway code for sharing the road with both horse riders and drivers, remotely sponsor and adopt horses in sanctuaries, promote good treatment of horses everywhere, as well as responsible breeding :)
According to Lucy Worsley, Medieval people had a different sleep routine, waking up for some period of time in the middle of the night, every night, to kind of check on things & ward off ill spirits.
In Assyrian tradition, we have what's called 'Somikka' or 'Holy Halloween'. It's where people dress up in scary costumes and masks, going from house to house to frighten children into fasting for Lent. Parents would give the people in costumes food or money to bribe them away or as a promise that the children would fast. I'm not sure of the origins of Somikka, but my guess is that it was adopted from Europeans at some point in time, perhaps during the Crusades or WWI. Who knows? Also, I've never see webs on the grass like that before; it's really quite pretty.
In my recent ancient Celts course we learned about ritual and religion and they mention Samhain or Halloween as the Celtic New Year and a time when important gatherings, rituals and sacrifices would be made. That might have played into how the medieval people saw the holiday and that tone of year.
All those cobwebs.. Ive never seen webs in the grass like that, but Australia certainly has a different egosystem to England and Europe. And we're the ones famous for spiders O_O
Maybe Halloween has so many different origins to its traditions for the same reason why Christmas has so many sources for its traditions. In the case of Christmas, mid-winter festivities are very necessary for human morale. It's no wonder that every place with a significant winter has midwinter celebrations. Maybe it's similar for Halloween? The harvest is done, the weather is quickly changing to get colder, it's daggone spooky!
@@jasonkingsley2762 I'm a massive fan of history and anything Medieval. How have I never found this channel before now? I first found you by the Knight series. I was researching for a young adult fantasy novel I am writing. Your hard work is appreciated.
I always knew there was a lot of history with regards to Halloween, but I never took the time to delve very deeply into it. After my childhood, I largely just ignored it. It was cool to watch this video and discover that Halloween is possibly one of the most intricate Holidays in western society. Thanks for the look back! Cheers
Salty cakes make a lot of sense in the Medieval days at Halloween as salt repels evil spirits, which is why it is customary even in modern times to throw salt over your shoulder. Another great episode as always.
Here in the north of England around the time of Halloween we have "Mischievious Night", when kids used to tie their neighbours door handles together with string & play "knock-a-door-run", then watch the fun as folk tried to open their front doors, whilst the kids threw eggs at the windows. (Because we're civilized like that 😄) I think this could've played a part in the Trick or Treat aspect of Halloween, I'm led to believe they may have had a similar thing in Ireland. I certainly remember carving a face out of a swede or turnip when I was a kid to make a Jack o' Lantern.
What I find really nice is that it seems the poor were often thought about and cared for by all people it seems. From this festival giving soul cakes, to the duke giving bread and so on.
There is something relaxing and soothing listening to a horse eat grass. It makes me forget, for a little while, all the craziness we're all dealing with. Thanks for that. But. It brings to mind death. How did medieval people deal with death? And wound care after battle? All the sharp, pointy things they bashed each other about with that you so masterfully demonstrate, I expect lots of fatalities and injury that led to infection. Were there physicians or barber surgeons at that time? Thank you.
Good video, beautiful horse too . Autumn and winter are when I'm at my happiest always have been and I guess allways will, only problem is we dont seem to get proper winters now in the Thames Thames valley at least ..
Another great video. So much folklore lost and the video can only scratch the surface of modern memory. For a few scenes I thought it was a U2 video from the 1980s! I really enjoy these medieval society videos. Perhaps more than than the knightly orientated videos.
I’ve always interpreted that last part of the soaling rhymes as “if you don’t even have a pear, you must be as poor as me, god bless you as well!” I love the Peter Paul and Mary recording of a soaling song, whose lyrics include a similar line: “The streets are very dirty, my shoes are very thin. I have a little pocket to put a penny in. If you haven’t got a penny, a hay-penny will do! If you haven’t got a hay-penny, then god bless you.” To me the lyric wishes good will for a fellow impoverished person, as much of the other rhymes wish well for anyone regardless of class (I.e. “Bless the master of this house, and the mistress also, and all the little children that ‘round your table go; the cattle in the stable, the dog by your front door, and all that dwells within your house, we wish you ten times more!”).
A rhyme from my childhood, translated into English: This is the night, the night of nights, When the bodyless go about. And we keep open house tonight For any who may be out..
I hear the "God bless you" in the chanted poem as saying if you haven't a pear or two you're worse off than me or your neighbors so we'll leave you alone with this good wish, as you need it.
I recall that 'All Saints Day', being 'hallowed' or a 'holy day' was the sole reason for calling the night before, 'All Hallows Een', hence 'Halloween' in modern parlance. Like so many pagan festivals it was co-opted by the church out of desperation due to the inability of stopping these 'pagan' practices. So many Christians think their 'Holy Days' are unique to their religion, but are really just re-cycled Pagan celebrations. I'm not disrespecting Christians, I'm a Minister myself, but it's amusing to watch the outrage of the uneducated when you describe the origin of many of their most cherished traditions as based on 'Evil Pagan Idolatry'...
I’ve never been a real student of medieval times; my historical passion encompassed the mid-19th century (I was a re-enactor of the American War For Southern Independence for 10 years) and the mid-20th century. However, you have kindled within me a growing interest in the medieval period through your most excellent series of viddies and for that, I sincerely thank you, Sir. Your passion for the period is readily visible, and you make it live again because you make it all so very human. And, too, um, I confess: I love Warlord, he reminds me of my youth working on big cattle ranches in Nevada and Colorado. Give him a sweet from me, would you? 😊 Be well and carry on! 🌹
I'm an "older" English woman and I remember celebrating Halloween the children would be dressing up to go out to visit the neighbours for a Trick or Treat.We did Apple bobbing and made a haunted house with peeled grapes for eyeballs, a cabbage for a severed head and cold spaghetti for the intestines.
I feel cheated, here in DK there is only one night "all hallows eve"/alle helgens aften/Halloween. At daytime, the children&parents+young in soul have fun carving the Jacks, baking& eating shaped decorated food, trick or treating early night. Other people may be throwing a party or joining one. Some of our lanterns standing around a bit longer... But that´s it ;-/.
No toilet papering of the yards & trees or egging of houses there? When I was young, we would go through as many as 100 rolls of toilet tissue in a night, making sure we left a nice soggy surprise for friends and neighbors to try to get out of their very tall trees the next day. Often we would also soap their windows with bar soap, as well. Only the more 'devious would egg or throw overripe tomatoes at their homes/cars/mailboxes.
@@dibutler9151 Lol sounds like lots of fun! No, we don´t do that much, but we have a somewhat similar thing in the spring, it´s called Fastelavn, it´s our original "Halloween type Holliday" so to speak, we didn´t get Halloween until lately. At Fastelavn we trick or treat, dress children up as princesses, pirates, etc. and walk from door to door. We don´t use the "trick"-part much, mostly the children sing, we give them "Danish"(sweet bread) and candy, and they go on their merry way. Now I think about it, we kinda have 2 ...
This was actually the first MHTV video I ever saw. It is just as magical now as then. The Halloween imagery is so compelling. The first Christmas video is fun too. Instantly hooked me on MHTV.
Also the Ancient Romans had a similar festivity: the Angeronalia, that was celebrated the 21 of Decembre in honor of Angerona (the Goddess of anguish) to exorcise the fears and the dangers of the winter. In fact Angerona has the same etimological root of the word anguish (angoscia in Italian): the world angustus (narrow) and the 21 December is the "narrowest" day of the year; like George Dumezil explains in his book: "Archaic Roman religion".
It's Samhain. A pagan ritual and had a number of functions. The killing, eating and preserving of meat if you had superfluous stock. ( Involving feasting). The reminiscence and worship of ancestors. ( The connection with death). Whatever follows are merely modernised interpretations of the original. Ending with the comedy of modern Halloween.
When I was a kid on Tyneside England in the 1960’s it was turnips not pumpkins. The smell of roasting turnip roasted by the candles always reminded me of Halloween.
Make a torch in a video please... Most on RU-vid are either modern day makings or they are quick easy but quick burning Bushcraft torches for emergency signals
Halloween started with the Celtic Pagans as Samhain (New Year). It became Halloween after the Romans brought Christianity to Celtic/Gaelic lands. The Celtic calendar starts at the beginning of Winter, October 31st Northern Hemisphere, or 30 April for the Southern.
Maybe “God bless you” in that context was just a polite goodbye, idk if it’s ever used this way in the UK but in the US some people say “God bless” as a farewell?
The cycle of the year tells us how in nature, life is followed by death but then in turn followed by rebirth. A circle rather than a line. The dead became 'evil' in Christian ideas, but this was in no small part the demonising (literally) of ancestor worship and the cyclical view, because Christianity has a linear view of time (creation leading to final judgement). In fact in the origins of the English we had Alfablot at the beginning of November, which was a festival dedicated to the Elves (ancestors). We could gain much by regaining what we have lost.
"If you haven't got a pear, god bless you." I don't think that's a threat or "trick or treat" at all. It sounds like they're saying if you're so poor that you haven't even a pear to share, may god bless you (help you).
Interestingly, during Fastalavn in Denmark we have a children rhyme that goes: boller op, boller ned, boller i min mave/ hvis jeg ingen boller får så laver jeg ballade/. Which roughly translates into "give me buns, or I'll make trouble". Very similar to the pear rhyme I think.
11:24 those realistic shrunken nuts reminded me of Arthur, may he RIP and not haunt us this halloween... October, 2019.... It was a moonless night where raven clouds shrouded the stars. In the corner of the bedchamber, a faint candlelight flickered in my trembling hands as I leant against the wall. My shadows quivered beneath my feet... Then I heard the haunting voice... *LENNNY?* I shuddered in fear as wax dripped onto the floor... *LENNNNNYYYY!!!!????* the harrowing voice questioned again, *LENNNY!!!??? WHERE ARE YOU?????* ............. A foul smelling fluid seeped through my trousers...
One brief note: all saints day is mirrored in several other ancient world cultures. One example is Chinese ghost night and Qing ming jie. So, it might be earlier than Christianity.
I was told that Samhain, the Celtic predecessor of Halloween, marked the end of the Druidic year. Thing is, the old year ended at sundown. The new year didn't begin until dawn. The "gap" between the years was an opening through which the spirits of the underworld could emerge. Could have been total nonsense but an intriguing idea nonetheless
Anybody interested in this might like "The Worship of the Dead" by John Garnier. Speculative regarding the prehistoric origins of Halloween, but interesting.
This is point in the year were death may stalk the land after harvest if you have not grown enough food to take you and your family through a harsh winter
Reviewing this great video in 2021 lockdown, the rhyme sounds familiar very similar to the Penny for the Guy rhyme we used to say as kids 1950s-60s, "Penny for the Guy, penny for the Guy. If you haven't got a penny a ha@penny will do, if you haven't got a ha'penny God bless you." So it obviously comes from the same thing but modernised after the 17th century.
The Celts were Christian long before the Anglo Saxons the old religions lasted longer in what became England and Wales than they did in in what became Ireland and Scotland.
Winter represented hardship for the very poor, but only for others if the harvest was bad. Otherwise, it was a period of down time with less work, shorter days, and lots of story telling
