Wednesday 4 November 2009

Sting And Soul Cake

On BBC TV this morning, Sting mentioned an old custom which sparked his latest 'Soul Cake' song. He said, way back, in the homes of wealthier peasants, so called 'Soul Cakes' were baked to honour the dead on the eve of All Saints' Day, and the poor of the neighbourhood would go round the village and volunteer to do the scary bit of passing these offerings over to the spirits - a perfect excuse to get a free feed while being 'good' - and so began the Halloween (All Hallows Eve) tradition of treats.

I'd never heard of these cakes before, so after lunch I did a bit of Googling and found this:-

Soul Cakes are an echo of the sacrificial foods of the Celtic festival of Samhain held in early autumn. These little cakes were traditionally set out with glasses of wine on All Hallows Eve (31st October) for the souls of the dead. On All Saints' Day (1st November) children would go "souling" calling out "Soul, Soul, for a Soul Cake: pray you good mistress, a soul cake".

It seems I was wrong in my supposition that Trick or Treat was a totally American idea. It now appears that all the Americans did, was to jazz up the proceedings somewhat. I suppose in a land as old as Britain, it's no surprise to discover there's nothing new under the sun, when it comes to ancient customs.

Shrinky had already told me as much in her comment, and in a behind-the-scenes-email, she gave me a link to explain more about the Hop-tu-naa poem she mentioned. I'm pretty sure this will send Weaver, RWP, Friko, Carolina, Suldog and goodness knows how many others of an inquisitive bent, rushing to expand their already considerable store of odd info. I wonder how many bloggers there are around, who can actually read the original Manx words?

I rather enjoyed discovering Mama Lisa's World She's from the Isle of Man, and wrote a post on her blog about The Day Of The Dead (1-2 November) in Mexico, which is just another variation of All Saints' Day here. One never knows where Blogging will lead, eh? Personally, I just follow my nose and hope for the best...

16 comments:

  1. Well Jinksy, I've also learned something new. Thanks for the elucidation.

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  2. That is fascinating, Jinksy. I had no idea. Now, thanks to you, I do!

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  3. Lucky girl me, we have many teachers in our lineage, and I had heard the story about Soul Cakes years ago...from my Welsh granny (Little Granny Merriman). I can't wait to get Sting's new album, either! Thanks so much for all the info on this...
    Sandi

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  4. Yes, you are quite right Jinksy - odd info and me are best pals. Another way of putting it is that I am a mine of useless information! Interesting though that soul cakes go back so far - I remember my mother speaking of them but not in relation to Hallowe'en - just in general. I wonder how they were made? Cold we still make them now?

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  5. Weaver - a recipe can be found on the following site, if you feel like baking! x

    http://www.greenchronicle.com/recipes/soul_cake_recipe.htm

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  6. Hi jinksy, I have never heard of soul cakes but it does make sense when I think about it. Love this interesting post.....:-) Hugs

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  7. I am one of those people that enjoys knowing odd facts about people and places. Thanks so much for this post.

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  8. so santa gets milk and the dead souls get wine??? shame...

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  9. I had been tempted to write a blog about old German All-Saints-All-Souls Customs but then I got sidetracked by all the Halloween hullaballoo.
    I find ancient lore fascinating, it explains so much of the stuff we think of as "of our age". I feel that traditions (the genuine ones), ritual and customs shouldn't be lost; there should be more anthropologists who study us lot.
    But then, I am an old bat and what do I know?

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  10. Hello Jinksy,

    I saw and heard Sting on Andrew Marr's Sunday morning programme (1 Nov). He had brought a plate of cakes along, which looked tasty. I wasn't so keen on the song he sang!

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  11. karmaleeanddavid@hotmail.com5 November 2009 at 13:41

    jinksy, i had a girl friend once ffrom the isle of mann..she reminded me of another quaint fact...that of all the irish who died in the great potatoe famine...i guess that was not really related to your post...bob brauge gets mad at me for not staying on topic....

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  12. barlow putz.blogspot.com5 November 2009 at 13:44

    oh p.s. the group peter paul and mary sang a song soul cakes, soul cakes

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  13. Aw Shucks! I was all prepared to assume the burden of US is cause of all that's wrong in the world. And in some areas we are. I have lived in Morocco and abhorred the actions of some of my compatriots. Respect for other cultures is high on my list, even in my own country in my books.

    In the southwestern US The day of the Dead is celebrated, probably influenced by the influx of persons from Mexico.

    Love some of the comments you have received, especially the humorous ones.

    you never know what will happen when you throw a subject out there, do you??

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  14. What a fascinating history, Jinksy!!! Thanks for sharing it with us!!! I LOVE this kind of stuff!!! So interesting!!! And by the way, I'll have a little soul cake with my tea, please... ;-) Love you~Janine XO

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  15. Oh Jinsky, I am so surprised and delighted to see your generous mention to hop tu naa up here - thank you for that, my friend. I am also intrigued to check out this Manx blogger you've mentioned, there are precious few of us around! (x)

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  16. Love it! My son was just asking about it. I love the reasons you give. I can imagine the tentativeness of those who at first offered the cakes, and then the slyness of those who later asked. Very cool, Jinksy.
    xo
    erin

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