Traditional pursuits in October – part 3
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St George's church, Hinton St George
In villages across Somerset the tradition of Punkie Night is upheld. One of the best-known, if not the best-known is at Hinton St George, a small village surrounded by farmland, woods and orchards. It has a population of about 450 but retains all the amenities a community requires – church, pub, primary school, shop, post office and village hall. On the last Thursday of October the village celebrates the Somerset tradition of Punkie Night.
Punkie is an old English name for a lantern which has been carved from a root vegetable like a swede or turnip or mangelwurzel. The Jack-o’-lantern has a lighted candle in it. Nowadays, a pumpkin is often used (and is easier to carve, I can attest!)
This year, 2023, Punkie Night falls on 26th October. Starting at the village hall at 6:00 pm children form a procession that sets off to travel through the streets of the village. They are led by the Punkie King and Queen and travel from house to house, swinging their punkies and maybe hoping for a treat or two.
As they go
they sing traditional songs like the following:
It’s
Punkie Night, tonight,
It’s
Punkie Night, tonight,
Give
us a candle, give us a light.
If
you don’t you’ll get a fright.
It’s
Punkie Night, tonight,
It’s
Punkie Night, tonight,
Adam
and Eve wouldn’t believe
It’s Punkie Night tonight.
Legend holds that in the Middle Ages, all the men of Hinton St George went to a fair. When it came to evening and they had not returned, the village women went to look for them, lighting their way with punkies. The punkies gave protection from evil as well as light. Farmers of old would put punkies on their gates to fend off evil spirits.
Punkie Night has echoes of Hallowe’en. The children often dress up, sometimes in something like mediaeval dress, but more likely these days in ‘spooky’ costumes. The procession stops along the way for Morris dancing and the singing of Punkie songs and finishes later at the Village Hall where the Punkies are hung up to be judged. There are first, second and third prizes for the best punkies in different age groups.
That sounds like a really wonderful tradition and far better than trick-or-treating where the kids are only after as much candy as they can carry.
ReplyDeleteI do love these old traditional customs, there
ReplyDeleteare many over here, and reminds me of home,
back in Sicily of course, a saints name is celebrated
every day...very festive and very enjoyable...! :O).
Oh! And lets not forget a Punkie is also a minute
two-winged insect that sucks the blood of mammals
and birds and other insects...HeHe! So there...! :(.
🍅 🍅 🍅 🍅 🍅 🍅 🍅 🍅 🍅 🍅 🍅 🍅
We don't have enough festivals - it comes of being a largely Protestant country, I suppose.
DeleteHeHe! No worries...At least you've one
Deletelapsed Catholic as a follower...! O).
Some of the people I've liked most have been/are Catholics:-)
DeleteSadly growing up in rural Somerset, it was not followed in our village. At this time of year the local town, Bridgwater is full of winter carnivals, a spectacular show which happens the 1st Saturday in November ( it was always a Thursday night when I was a child), they have carnival concerts through out the month in the town, and the carnival procession goes through many towns around the area, but it always starts at Bridgwater. Check it out, they raise loads of monies for local charities, https://www.bridgwatercarnival.org.uk/
ReplyDeleteThat looks like a lot of fun. I can imagine the amount of organisation that goes into such a big event.
DeleteWhat a fun event. Do you think punkie is an extraction from pumpkin? When I was very young I had a small stuffed monkey that would bounce up and down on elastic bands. I couldn't say monkey and called him Punkie.
ReplyDeleteCarving up such vegetables and a costumed procession on a date very close to Halloween makes me think there may be a connection.
Some sources say that punkie is a corruption of pumpkin. The whole event sounds similar to Hallowe'en in many ways.
DeletePunk here was what our parents told us to keep away from - loud, untalented rock music, dirty hair and ugly clothes.
ReplyDeleteHa ha!
ReplyDeleteAlthough I've been to Somerset many a time, and possibly even to Hinton St George, I wasn't aware of Punkie Night. Perhaps not surprisingly, as we were there in July :-) xxx
ReplyDeleteThat would explain it, Ann:-) x x x
DeleteI enjoyed learning about this holiday!
ReplyDeleteI think it's important that old traditions are upheld otherwise life would become very anodyne
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