[jessyhalm]

Here in Wales it only seems to have been around in the last 10 years or so.

It's new to me too.

Here's a little bit more on the subject of the origin of Halloween/Samhain that might be of interest to some.

"Samhain marks the change from summer into winter and was a time when beasts were slaughtered, if they could not be kept alive during the hard winter months. This festival is now associated with Hallowe'en or All Saints' Day, since it was also concerned with the rites of the dead. It was a feast of peace and friendship, when warriors sheathed their swords."

"In the ancient Celtic calendar, the year began at Samhain. This winter's Eve, called in Welsh, Nos Galan gaeaf and Oidche Shamhain or Là Shamhna in Irish and Scottish gaelic, now known as Samhain. This day marks the beginning of the cold part of the year, when the declining light is very noticeable. Samhain was the Celtic festival of the dead, celebrated with ceremonial bonfires. By burning effigy of the sorrows and terrors of the past year, the people got rid of the old and brought in the new.

To the ancient Celts this day was also a time of amnesty and free passage. At Tara, the royal center of Ireland, Samhain was celebrated by a festival that lasted for seven days.The actual feast day was in the middle of the week.

Because it is the change of the year, Samhain is an 'eerie' time when the worlds of the living and the dead come together for a brief moment. Here, the division between the worlds of the living and the dead is thin, and the Christianized festival of Samhain, Hallowe'en, is a time when demons, evil spirits, witches and ghosts are believed to be abroad. As the Christian festival of All Saints' and All Souls' Days, it is a time when the souls of the departed are honoured. In Scotland and Wales in former times, it was a traditional to light a samhnag bonfire on Winter's Eve, though the custom has now been assimilated with Bonfire Night (Guy Fawkes' Night, November 5th).

Because Winter's Eve is a time when the normal rules do not apply, it is traditional to appear in weird disguise to fool the world of the dead. This includes the wearing of masks, straw and rush hats, going out with faces blackened or cross-dressing.

A cryptic old Welsh song for Nos Galan gaeaf expresses the eerie nature of this night:

'Winter's Eve, Bait the apples.
Who is coming out to play?
A white lady atop a tree,
Carving an umbrella stick.
One O'Clock, Two O'Clock,
It's time for the pigs to eat.' from The Sacred World of the Celts, Nigel Pennick.