Punkie Night

Punkie Night
   A punkie is a hollowed out mangold-wurzel, with shapes cut through the sides, and a lighted candle inside. The children of Hinton St George, Somerset, parade the village streets on the last Thursday in October, with their lighted punkies, calling at different houses in the hope of receiving money or sweets, singing:
   It's punkie night tonight It's punkie night tonight Give us a candle, give us a light It's punkie night tonight
   There is nowadays a competition for the best punkie designs. A local legend purports to explain the custom's origin. The village menfolk went to Chiselborough Fair, and got too drunk to find their way home. Their wives fashioned lanterns out of mangold-wurzels and went to fetch them. The problem with this explanation is that it implies that the men only got drunk at Chiselbor-ough once. The neighbouring village of Lopen claims the custom (and legend) as their own, and other villages have started punkie nights.
   ■ K. Palmer, Folklore 83 (1972), 240-4; Kightly, 1986: 191; Hole, 1975: 96-7.

A Dictionary of English folklore. . 2014.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Punkie Night — is an English custom practiced on the last Thursday of October, in Somerset in England. Children will march around with a jack o lantern, singing a song which goes :It s Punkie Night tonight It s Punkie Night tonight Adam and Eve would not… …   Wikipedia

  • Halloween — (31 October)    The eve of a major Catholic festival, *All Saints (1 November), assigned to this date in the 8th century; next comes *All Souls (2 November), instituted c.1000 ad as a day to pray for the dead. In England since the 19th century,… …   A Dictionary of English folklore

  • Ηνωμένο Βασίλειο — Επίσημη ονομασία: Ηνωμένο Βασίλειο της Μεγάλης Βρετανίας και της Βορείου Ιρλανδίας Συντομευμένη ονομασία: Μεγάλη Βρετανία Έκταση: 244.820 τ. χλμ. Πληθυσμός: 59.647.790 (2001) Πρωτεύουσα: Λονδίνο (6.962.319 κάτ. το 2001)Κράτος της βορειοδυτικής… …   Dictionary of Greek

  • Long Sutton, Somerset — infobox UK place country = England latitude= 51.025841 longitude= 2.760555 official name= Long Sutton population = 862Somerset County Council, 2002. [http://www.somerset.gov.uk/somerset/statistics/contents/population/estimates/2002mye/ Population …   Wikipedia

  • English folklore — Poor little birdie teased, by the 19th century English illustrator Richard Doyle depicts an elf as imagined in English folktales. English folklore is the folk tradition which has developed in England over a number of centuries. Some stories can… …   Wikipedia

  • Mangelwurzel — Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris var. alba …   Wikipedia

  • Culture of Somerset — Somerset is a county in the south west of England. It has a varied cultural tradition ranging from the Arthurian legends to The Wurzels, a band specialising in Scrumpy and Western music. The west front of Wells Cathedral …   Wikipedia

  • The Murder of Roger Ackroyd —   …   Wikipedia

  • The Soviettes — Datos generales Origen Minneapolis, Minnesota, Estados Unidos Estado activo Información artística …   Wikipedia Español

  • Judas (chanson) — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Judas. Judas Single par Lady Gaga extrait de l’album Born This Way …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”