Halloween
'all hallows (saints) evening'. in scottish it is 'even', so it becomes halloween in short. on this evening children dress up as malignant spirits, to show that they're mocking them, and that god's writ runs supreme. it is also believed that evil spirits rise for that one night for one ghastly carnival, and will try to take vengeance on their enemies. by disguising, or guisin', one can deflect these maleficents. the day also marks the journey of souls in purgatory to either heaven or hell. soul cakes are distributed to pray for all the departed faithfuls. little children , called soulers, will trick or treat, meaning, will play pranks on you if you don't treat them with soul cakes - simply fruit cakes, with charms or gifts packed inside them. yes, it has pagan roots, though modern christians wink at it, as long as kids have fun. the church tried to convert it to a day of remembrance of hallows , or saints.
the original halloween soul song sung by soulers , of 1891 vintage, taken from a school girl's diary :

Chorus
A soul! A soul! A soul-cake!
Please good Missus, a soul-cake!
An apple, a pear, a plum, or a cherry,
any good thing to make us all merry.
One for Peter, two for Paul,
Three for Him who made us all.

Verse 1
God bless the master of this house,
the mistress also,
And all the little children
that round your table grow.
Likewise young men and maidens,
your cattle and your store,
and all that dwells within your gates,
we wish you ten times more.

Verse 2
Down into the cellar,
and see what you can find,
If the barrels are not empty,
we hope you will prove kind.
We hope you will prove kind,
with your apples and strong beer,
and we'll come no more a-souling
till this time next year.

Verse 3
The lanes are very dirty;
my shoes are very thin,
I've got a little pocket
to put a penny in.
If you haven't got a penny,
a ha'penny will do;

if you haven't got a ha'penny,
its God bless you!