As with most immigrants also had a role in traditional jack-o-lanterns. The waves of immigrants created by the Great Potato Famine of the 1840’s. Occasionally these would be carved with faces, a tradition that continues to this day in Britain and Ireland. As it was naturally dark in pre-industrial revolution Ireland, many would carve turnips, potatoes or other root vegetables and add coals or candles to create makeshift lanterns to help guide those celebrating. Many people in those areas also continued the Gaelic celebration of Samhain, with its rituals of going from house to house in search of food and drink (these are the origins Trick or Treating). These two legends began to intertwine-when many people in the moors of the British Isles saw the naturally occurring marsh gas, they attributed to Stingy Jack. False fire is an actual occurrence- scientifically, ignis fatuss, is known as marsh gas and occurs during the spontaneous ignition of methane created by decaying plant matter in marshes or swampy areas. There is also other folklore from this time surrounding what’s known as ignis fatuus, or false fire. Stingy Jack was sentenced to roam the Earth for all eternity with nothing but an ember given to him by the Devil to light his way. Some longer versions of the story have the Devil being tricked 3 or 4 different times.Įventually though, time caught up with Jack and he was unable to trick the Devil again. Jack then offered the Devil out of the deal in exchange for not taking his soul for a long time. The most popular version of the tale involves Jack first tricking the Devil into changing his form, then trapping him in his transfigured state. In the early 1600’s, the legend of a shadowy figure began to arise known as Stingy Jack (Jack the Smith, Drunk Jack, Flakey Jack, and other names are also in the folklore and can be used interchangeably). To know the origins of jack-o-lanterns, we have to go all the way back across the Atlantic to the fens, or marshes, of rural Ireland. You may be wonder how jack-o-lanterns became so popular, or why we carve them out of pumpkins. Suddenly you find yourself hyper aware of every sound around you, and you start as you realize you see a pair of eyes glowing at you…until you realize it’s a jack-o-lantern. The wind blows through the branches, bringing a chill that isn’t necessarily due to the temperature.
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