Snapdragon

Though Halloween is really an English possession, it is kept more and more by those who prefer old frolics to new; and in many Southern families there is a great bowl, used for snapdragon or the christening punch, but never on any less solemn occasion. The dragon is found in half a pint of brandy or alcohol; the"snap,"in candied fruit, figs, raisins, sugared almonds, which are thrown in after the spirit has been lighted. Though there is a big bowl full of blaze, a bit of fruit can be caught out without scorching the fingers, provided the snap is sudden enough; and the one who secures the most desirable piece will meet her true love within the year.

Nut Burning

Chestnuts are generally chosen, and named, either in pairs, which are put side by side before the fire, or in threes, with the names of possible lovers. If, in the last case, the nuts fly about wildly, there is no dependence to be placed on their truth or faithfulness. If the pair burn steadily and quietly, the courtship will be happy, and the marriage prosperous. Burns tells the story in his"All-halloween."

"The auld guidwife's weel-hoarded nits Are round an' round divided, An' monie lads' an' lasses' fates Are there that night decided:

Melting Lead,

Some kindle couthie, side by side,

An' burn thegither trimly; Some start awa' wi' saucy pride,

An' jump out owre the chimlie, Fu' high that night."

Diving For Apples

This is a rather rough part of the evening's games, but boys find it very much to their minds. Apples are thrown into a tub partly filled with water, and whoever can bring one up in the mouth secures good luck for the year to come. Another method is to hang the apple by a string just on a level with the mouth, tie the hands behind one, and then try to bite the swinging fruit. There is small doubt about the good luck of whoever succeeds, for it requires perseverance enough to insure success in any thing.

The Wedding-Ring Test

Each wedding-ring is held by a hair in the centre of a glass tumbler. Soon it will begin to swing, till finally it rings against the side of the glass; the loudest chime being the signal of the best fortune for the holder.

The Needle Test

A dozen or more needles are thrown into a bowl of water, and names are given them. They float about, sometimes point to point, sometimes closely side by side, and now and then one sinks suddenly. The pair which float longest side by side are true lovers, and will not be divided.

Melting Lead

In this case the lead is melted, and poured into cold water; the shapes it takes indicating what the profession of the lover will be. In"We Girls"it was all prophetic, -"spears and masts and stars ; and some all went to money; and one was a queer little bottle and pills; and one was pencils and artist's tubes, and - really - a little palette with a hole in it."

The Looking-Glass Test

Two ways of trying this form have been followed, and either is equally uncomfortable. In the first, the seeker carries a small looking-glass, and walks backward from the house to the middle of a cornfield, saying a rhyme in which the word"moon"or"stars"may be used, according as there is moonlight or starlight.

"Round and round, O stars so fair! Ye travel and search out everywhere. I pray you, sweet stars, now show to me This night who my future husband shall be."

In the second case, the maiden must take a candle and go alone to a looking-glass in an empty room. There she eats an apple, standing before it; and at the end, the face of the future husband will look over the shoulder. It is needless to say that no better opportunity could be given to an enterprising and daring lover than this affords ; and it is also needless to add, that all these games, while interesting as curious old customs followed ever since the days of the Druids (and some of them practised hundreds of years before that era), are most of them of a rather rude type. There are many not given here, many of which are described in Burns's"All-halloween."Such games usually end with a supper, and sometimes a dance, and have their real place in an old-fashioned country-house.

Literary Enigmas

These enigmas are to be given out one by one, either in a small company or a home game ; the answer to each being the name of some well-known English or American author.

What a rough man says to his son when he wishes him to eat his food properly.

Chaucer.

A lion's house dug in the side of a hill where there is no water.

Dryden.

A good many pilgrims and flatterers have knelt low to kiss him.

Pope.

Makes and mends for first-class customers.

Taylor.

Represents the dwellings of civilized countries.

Holmes.

Is a kind of linen.

Holland.

Can be worn on the head.

Hood.

One name that means such fiery things I can't describe their pains and stings.

Burns.

Belongs to a monastery.

Prior.

Not one of the four points of the compass, but inclining towards one of them.

Southey.

Is what an oyster-heap is apt to be.

Shelley.

Is any chain of hills containing a certain dark treasure.

Coleridge.

Always youthful, you see ;

But between you and me

He never was much of a chicken.

Young.

An American manufacturing town.

Lowell.

Humpbacked, but not deformed.

Campbell.

Is an internal pain.

Akenside.

The value of a word.

Wordsworth.

A ten-footer whose name begins with fifty.

Longfellow.

Brighter and smarter than the other one.

Whittier.

Halloween And Other Amusements

A worker in the precious metals.

Goldsmith.

A very vital part of the body.

Hart.

A lady's garment.

Spenser.

Small talk, and heavy weight.

Chatterton.

A prefix, and a disease.

De Quincey.

Comes from an unlearned pig.

Bacon.

A disagreeable fellow to have on one's foot.

Bunyan.

A sick place of worship.

Churchill.

A mean dog 'tis.

Curtis.

An official dreaded by the students of English

  

universities.

Proctor.

His middle name is suggestive of an

Indian or a Hottentot. Walter Savage Landor.

A manufactured metal.

Steele.

A game, and a male of the human species.

Tennyson.

An answer to, Which is the greater poet,—William Shakspeare, or Martin F. Tupper?

Willis.

Meat, what are you doing ?

Browning.

Is very fast indeed.

Swift.

A barrier built of an edible.

Cornwall.

To agitate a weapon.

Shakspeare.

Red as an apple, black as the night, A heavenly sign, or a perfect fright.

Crabbe.

A domestic worker.

Butler.

A slang exclamation.

Dickens.

Pack away closely, never scatter, And doing so you'll soon get at her.

Stowe.

A young domestic animal.

Lamb.

One who is more than a sandy shore.

Beecher

Literary Enigmas

A fraction in American currency, and the prevailing

  

fashion.

Milton.

Mamma is in perfect health, my child,

  

And thus he named a poet mild.

Motherwell.

A girl's name, and a male relation.

Emerson.

Take a heavy field-gun, nothing loath,

  

And in a trice you'll find them both.

Howitts, SIR.

Put an edible grain 'twixt an ant and a bee,

  

And a much beloved poet you'll speedily see.

Bryant

A common domestic animal, and what she cannot do.

COWPER

Each human head, in time, 'tis said,

  

Will turn to him, though he is dead.

Gray.

Found in the kitchen.

Cooke.

The witches' salutation to Macbeth.

Hale.

Grows upon a marshy bank.

Reade.

Leads a religious order.

Abbott.

The reigning monarch of the South.

Cotton.

An obstinate animal, and a protection against burglars.

Muloch.

The delight of an Englishman's heart.

Hunt.

Never melancholy.

Gay.

Oliver Twist's importunate demand,

More.

or Reminds one of Othello.

Moore.

What a good man did in his trouble.

Praed.

A silvery stream in a sylvan dell,

  

Where golden treasures often dwell.

Brooke.

I do it for information,

  

I do it for recreation,

  

It can music awaken,

  

But is easily shaken.

Reade

Thousands by me have met their death; All Nature withers at my breath.

Frost

The knights of old my protection sought When in battle or tourney they gallantly fought

Shields.