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===Bonfires===

===Bonfires===

Bonfires are one of the oldest and most persistent Halloween observances. This practice could have transferred from All Souls Day.

Bonfires are one of the oldest and most persistent Halloween observances. They were not only a holiday observance, but also a way to dispose of brush in the autumn. The practice could have transferred from All Souls Day to Halloween at the time of the Reformation.

Worried that a Halloween bonfire might get out of hand, the Cupar Presbytery in Fife issued this order in 1649:{{cquote|It is recommended to severall brethren to be carefull to intimat in their several kirkis, wpon the Sabaths immediatly before Midsommer and hallowewen, that no fyres  be set on, wpon these nightis.<ref>''[https://special-collections.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/2019/10/31/alhallow-evin-in-scotland/ Cupar Presbytery Minutes]'', 8 March 1649, CH2/82/1.</ref>}}Englishman Thomas Pennant gave an account of the Halloween bonfires that he witnessed on a visit to Scotland in 1772. Such bonfires were used to remove refuse after the harvest:{{cquote|Hallow eve is also kept sacred: as soon as it is dark, a person sets fire to a bush of broom fastened round a pole; and, attended with a crowd, runs round the village. He then flings it down, keeps great quantity of combustible matters in it, and makes a great bonfire. A whole tract is thus illuminated at the same time, and makes a fine appearance.<ref>Pennant, Thomas, ''[https://archive.org/details/tourinscotlandvo01penn/page/46/mode/2up A Tour in Scotland],'' Part II (London, 1772), p. 47.</ref>}}

Worried that a Halloween bonfire might get out of hand, the Cupar Presbytery in Fife issued this order in 1649:{{cquote|It is recommended to severall brethren to be carefull to intimat in their several kirkis, wpon the Sabaths immediatly before Midsommer and hallowewen, that no fyres  be set on, wpon these nightis.<ref>''[https://special-collections.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/2019/10/31/alhallow-evin-in-scotland/ Cupar Presbytery Minutes]'', 8 March 1649, CH2/82/1.</ref>}}Englishman Thomas Pennant gave an account of the Halloween bonfires that he witnessed on a visit to Scotland in 1772. Such bonfires were used to remove refuse after the harvest:{{cquote|Hallow eve is also kept sacred: as soon as it is dark, a person sets fire to a bush of broom fastened round a pole; and, attended with a crowd, runs round the village. He then flings it down, keeps great quantity of combustible matters in it, and makes a great bonfire. A whole tract is thus illuminated at the same time, and makes a fine appearance.<ref>Pennant, Thomas, ''[https://archive.org/details/tourinscotlandvo01penn/page/46/mode/2up A Tour in Scotland],'' Part II (London, 1772), p. 47.</ref>}}