Halloween

Facts from the original

• 'Halloween' is a poem written by the Scottish poet Robert Burns in 1785.
• The poem was first published in 1786 and is included in the Kilmarnock volume.
• It is one of Burns' longer poems.
• The poem employs a mixture of Scots and English.
• The poet John Mayne from Dumfries, South West Scotland — a comparatively obscure follower of the Scottish Muses — had attempted a poem on the subject of Halloween in 1780.
• Mayne's poem has twelve stanzas.
• Mayne's poem makes note of pranks at Halloween: 'What fearfu' pranks ensue!'
• Mayne's poem also notes the supernatural associated with the night, referring to 'Bogies' (ghosts).
• Mayne's Halloween poem appeared in Ruddimans Weekly Magazine, November 1780, published by Walter Ruddiman in Edinburgh.
• Burns apparently saw and was influenced by Mayne's composition, as he appears to communicate with Mayne's work and echoes some of his imagery.
• According to Burns, Halloween is 'thought to be a night when witches, devils, and other mischief-making beings are all abroad on their baneful midnight errands'.
• Burns' poetry revolves around country and town life, the life he knew.
• By using Scots alongside English, and through the power of his expression in both, Burns gives an account of the charms of the West of Scotland.
• A poem recited by Scots at Halloween.
• The poem has 28 stanzas.
• The full text of Halloween is available at Wikisource.
• The poem also appears in Poems And Songs Of Robert Burns by Robert Burns via Project Gutenberg.