Back in the 70's, when I was a kid growing up in the north of England, we carved turnip lanterns to celebrate Halloween. Not because we northerners were hard and didn't mind blistered fingers, more because pumpkins were fancy foreign veg that we hadn't yet encountered.
Well, that's what I thought until an idle web search, while trying to avoid the news, revealed that turnips were the original lantern based on the old Irish folk tale of Stingy Jack, or Jack-o-lantern.
The ne'er-do-well and smooth-talking drunkard, Jack, traps the Devil up a tree by asking for an apple as a last request in exchange for his life. Jack carved a cross on the trunk and wouldn't let the Devil down until he promised never to take Jack's soul.
When Jack finally passed away, presumably from some alcohol-related disease, he was turned away from the gates of heaven. At the gates of hell he was met by the Devil who reminded him of their bargain and that he should clear off before he set the hounds on him.
Jack pleaded that it was dark and that he couldn't see where else to go. The Devil took pity, after all Jack had been doing the Devil's work unpaid for years. He threw Jack a hot coal from the furnaces before slamming the gate in his face.
Handily enough, Jack had a stolen turnip in his pocket which he hastily carved into a lantern. He coaxed the hot ember into it and set off to wander the world for all eternity, searching in vain for a stiff drink and a place to rest.
Pumpkins are much easier to carve (huge respect to my folks for all those years of turnips for my sister and me) but I think Halloween lacks something nowadays, namely the comforting smell of slowly-cooking turnip wafting through the Autumn streets.
Happy Halloween!
