7. From Soul Cakes to Trick or Treat
Purgatory was a central concept of All Souls Day. It was the hinterland of the afterlife where most Christian souls could expect to go after death. Neither heaven nor hell, purgatory was the place where the not wholly righteous served their time before they were finally deemed worthy of heaven. However, certain things could be done on earth to shorten the sentences of loved ones in purgatory. Masses could knock whole decades off a soul’s time there. But Masses were costly. So it became customary for families to dedicate as many prayers as possible to aid the souls of their ancestors.
Those who could not afford a full mass or who merely wished to buy extra prayers could recruit the poor to say prayers for them. And so the tradition of Souling was established. Now, instead of giving food to appease the spirits of Samhain, those who could spare it gave it to the poor in return for their prayers. This food often took the form of the soul cake: an oatcake sweetened with honey and marked with a cross. Each cake meant a prayer for a soul in purgatory.
But with the Reformation of the church in the sixteenth century, belief in prayers and masses for the dead were frowned upon. The reformers believed a soul could only earn salvation in its lifetime and so purgatory did not exist. But the custom of Souling did not abate- probably because for many poor people it was a useful way of gathering alms over the colder months. Now instead of offering prayers when they went door to door, the poor would sing for their supper, asking for ‘a pear, a plumb, a cherry’ with the added hint that if the householder gave the alms, the Soulers would stop making a nuisance of themselves.
And make a nuisance of themselves they often did, as many Soulers added pranks to their repertoire of door-to-door entertainment. Knock and run became a favorite prank, or else doors were pelted with cabbages. Livestock or goods could also be ‘misplaced.’ In Scotland, these pranks led to Halloween becoming known as ‘Mischief Night’ and laid the foundations for the later traditions of ‘Trick or Treat’ which developed in America.