Halloween
Halloween has always played an important part in Scottish traditions. John Donald in his fasinating work “Old Greenock Characters” gives a glimpse of some of the more interesting folk traditions once practiced in Inverclyde at Halloween.
“In the early part of the evening the streets were thronged with children, bands of them, mostly girld, singing in chorus;
Hallowe’en, a nicht at e’en
Three witches on the green
One black, one white
One jumping ower a dyke
“After the dooking for apples came the burning of nuts. Two nuts are placed in the fire side by side, one for a lad and one for a lass. Should they burst into flame and glow quietly together, the omen is favourable; but should they spring apart trouble is portended, and the course of true love will not run smoothly.”
“A three footed pot filled with champit tatties was placed in the middle of the kitchen floor. Mixed with tatties were a ring, a doll, a thimble, a button, and a threepenny ‘bit’ betokening respectively that the finder would be soonest married or a parent, remain an old maid of bachelor, or acquire riches. The guests were then seated on stools around the pot , each armed with a spoon , and at the word ‘go’ an onslaught was made on the tatties.”
Also of interest is the origin of a word long associated with local Halloween celebrations; Galoshans. Inverclyde is one of the few areas in the country where this word is still in use. In the nineteenth century, “The Galoshans Book” was a chapbook printing of a short play based on the legend of “Saint George and the Dragon”. Children would dress up and travel from house to house performing their interpretation of this play, it is from this that we derive the term “going galoshans”
“Little companies of Goloshans, too, were to be seen rushing from one tenement to another, seeking admission, sometimes indeed insisting on their assumed privilege to perform ‘The Wonderful Tragedy of St. George and The Dragon’.
Their faces wear fearfully camouflaged, and their ordinary garb was embellished with various coloured trimmings, and a wooden sword where required. The kitchen floor was the bloodless scene of many an encounter with such swords, but all ended happily; for when ‘Dr Brown, the best old doctor in the town’ administered to the slain hero his marvellous life-restoring potion saying ‘Rise, Jock, and fight again!’ everyone was highly gratified , including the actors – if the collection was satisfactory.”
It is likely that the word “galoshans” is strongly connected with the ancient Roman province “Galatia”, and possibly has its roots in the archaic mystery religions prevalent in this region.Inparticular, the St George character present in the Galoshans play is a link to the cult of Mithras, once spread throughout the Roman Empire.
The ritual of Galoshans is mainly confined to the West Coast, but not merely south of the River. Parts of Cowal, Ayrshire and Gryyfe all seem to have mentions of the term Galoshans There is certainly a strong link between the Galatian plays and the mystery and mumming plays of medieval England. Traditionally a Mumming ‘troupe’ was all male, and comprised of local men who would blacken their faces with soot, rehearsing in secret passing on quite often the story lines from father-to-son following the oral tradition. If we trace back Mumming’s family tree it can be traced with reasonable confidence back to the male groups called the ‘Abbeys of Misrule’ which were a known but not a generally accepted part of the Christian church in and post-medieval times providing illustration through action of the scriptures. It is strange to think that such a simple word is one of the last links to a long heritage of folk tradtions now since long forgotten.
The Kempock Stone
One of the most noteworthy objects in Gourock, though one of the least noticeable, is the "Kempoch Stane". You reach it by a narrow pathway which passes back between the houses nearly opposite the Star Hotel, and runs up the side of the little steep, bringing you to a small green angle of ground between the high dead wall of Gourock Castle and the edge of the cliff.
On this grassy patch you behold, standing erect, a remarkable looking block of grey mica schist. It stands about six feet high, with a diametre of tow, and has a faint resemblance to a mantled figure, with a shrouded head. This is the famous "lang stane" of Gourock, more familiarly spoken of as "Granny Kempoch" - little known and less respected in these days, but far otherwise in days gone by.
It is supposed that the Kempoch Stane marks the site of in Druid times of an altar to Baal; and that it was wont to gleam, more than two thousand years ago, in the light of the Baal-fire. However that may be, the Kempoch Stane was for many centuries an object of superstitious awe and reverence. The very ballast for ships from Gourock Bay was judged sacred in old times from its connection with the "Kempoch Stane." Marriages in the district were not regarded as lucky unless the wedded pair passed round the "lang stane", and obtained in this way, Granny Kempoch's blessing.
It was chiefly in connection with the winds and the sea that the Kempoch Stane was regarded with superstitious dread. Standing forth on the top of the rock, when there were no trees or houses or Castle walls to intercept the view, Granny Kempoch must have been a marked object to ships sailing up or passing down the Firth: and would look like some one placed there to rule the winds and the waves, and watch the ships as they came and went.
At one time, according to tradition, a monk made money by giving his blessing to sea-going ships on this spot. Another tradition tells of a withered hag, reputed to be a witch, who for years dwelt beside the mystic stone, dispensing favourable winds to seafaring men, who secured her favour by suitabel gifts before sailing from Gourock Bay. But long before, and long after the witch's day, the sailiors and fishermen were wont to take a basketful of sand from the shore and walk seven times rund Granny Kempoch, chanting a weird song, to insure for themselves a safe and prosperous voyage.
From Rev. D Macrae's Notes About Gourock, 1880
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