Costume drama and a pagan parade before the sky lights up

IT’S all fireworks and ghosts this week. I refer to the advent of Allhallowtide and Gunpowder Treason Day, better known as Hallowe’en and Bonfire Night. In chronological order, it’s Hallowe’en tonight, when we remember the dead saints and martyrs or, failing that, gyrate down the streets of our capital city in lurid costumery.

The latter is a reference to the to its alleged pagan roots and celebrates the Celtic new year with lively displays of fire-dancing, drumming and acrobatics.

The celebration also returns this year to its traditional route, processing down Edinburgh’s Royal Mile to West Parliament Square (it says here; used to be Calton Hill for a while; and, since West Parliament Square is barely a tenth of the way down the Mile at least there won’t be far to gyrate).

At home, meanwhile, regular folks will switch off their televisions and computers to gather instead round basins of water into which they loosen forks from their mouths in the hope that these will spear a bobbing apple. Sorry, just went all sepia there.

There may, however, at least be the displaying of tumshie lanterns made from neeps, unless these have been replaced by American-style pumpkins, a development that has led to spirited complaint in our Letters Pages and rioting in several rural areas.

Saturday is Bonfire Night, which celebrates the foiling of a plot by religious fanatic and Scotland-hater Guy Fawkes to blow up the Hoose o’ Commons in yonder London. Not blessed with a sense of irony, places like Lewes in Sussexshire occasionally burn effigies of leading Scottish political figures in celebration.

In more normal places, events will take place up and arguably down the country, not least at Glasgow Green (foregather from 5pm for fireworks at 7.30pm). For more details about Samhuinn bung beltane.org into your computer and stand well back.