#chiselborogh fair

[maypoleman1]

30th October

Punkie Night

Source: Calendar Customs website

On the last Thursday in October, Punkie Night takes place at Hinton Saint George, near Ilminster in Somerset. The local children go begging for candles bearing lanterns made out of manglewurzles, or mangold. The lanterns are of the same design as the Halloween hollowed out turnips or pumpkins, lit up by candles inside, and it is bad luck to turn down the kids’ requests. Unlike their Halloween cousins however, the punkie lanterns are ornately carved and decorated and the proceedings are led by a Punkie King and Punkie Queen who have been judged to have come up with the most impressive lanterns. The origin of the punkie lanterns are alleged to have been as way-finding aids for the drunken men of Hinton returning home from the nearby Chiselborough Fair, put out by their worried wives and girlfriends. This is possible, but it is just as likely the lanterns have the same ancient symbolism as those of Halloween - representations of the heads of the dead, indicating the onset of the dark time of the year at the old Celtic festival of Samhain.