TWAS BRILLIG AND THE SLITHY TOVES…


You may think trick or treating on Halloween night is a relatively new addition to this celebration of All Hallows Eve. But in Scotland, they were dressing up and going door to door with turnip lanterns in the late 1800's. In England and Ireland, a similar tradition saw groups of people visit neighbours to sing hymns and say prayers for departed family members.  Trick or Treating in today's form, where children dress up in scary clothes to visit houses for sweets and goodies, really came from America. This year, make sure your kids have a 'treat' to perform in return for their sweets! A song, a poem or a joke is a good 'treat'.  There are plenty of little Halloween verses and rhymes on the internet.  But if you really want to set the tone for your Halloween party on October 31st, dim the lights, and appoint someone with a deep voice to recite Jabberwocky,  by Lewis Carroll.  It's perhaps one of the scariest' poems a child could ever hear – this writer well remembers it from childhood and it has remained a favourite. Jabberwocky is one of Lewis Carroll's famous Nonsense poems, written in 1871.  Right from the first two lines:  'Twas brillig and the slithy toves/Did gyre and gymble in the wabe',  Jabberwocky is the most perfect poem to get everyone in Halloween mood! A definite Treat, we think!