English: The
Christian practice of
souling on
All Hallows' Eve, also known as Halloween, in an
English town. The photograph is taken from "
St. Nicholas: An Illustrated Magazine for Young Folks", December 1882, p. 93 The magazine states that the rich gave
soul cakes to the poor on Halloween; in return the recipients
prayed for the
souls of the givers and their friends. It further says that 'this custom became so favored in popular esteem that, for a long time, it was a regular observance in the country towns of England for small companies to go about from parish to parish at Halloween, begging soul-cakes by singing under the windows some such verse as this: "Soul, soul, for a soul-cake: Pray you, good mistress, a soul-cake!"' This verse is inscribed on the bottom of this photograph. As the text notes, this practice was also performed on
Christmas.
Date
December 1882
date QS:P571,+1882-12-00T00:00:00Z/10
Source/Photographer
Original publication: "St. Nicholas: An Illustrated Magazine for Young Folks", Scribner & Company, December 1882, p. 93
Immediate source: "St. Nicholas: An Illustrated Magazine for Young Folks", Scribner & Company, December 1882, p. 93
Licensing
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse
This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the
copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer.