Reading through a nice wee book on Scottish nursery rhymes, I found some seasonal ones for Hallowe'en I thought would be nice to share, especially if you've got kids or have the opportunity to go guising. Looking in my copy of McNeill's Hallowe'en, she gives them as well, and the music to go with them.
Here's one called Tell A Story, a reminder of what you should do when you go guising:
Tell a story,
Sing a sang;
Dae a dance,
Or oot ye gang.
And here's one about witches (although unsurprisingly, some versions have it as faeries):
Hey-how for Hallowe'en!
A' the witches tae be seen,
Some black, an some green.
Hey-how for Hallowe'en!
And finally, this one was for running around and making mischief, rattling neighbour's windows:
The nicht's Hallowe'en,
The morn's Hallowday;
Gin ye want a true love,
Ye hae nae time to stay.
Tally on the window-brod,
Tally on the green,
Tally on the window-brod,
The morn's Hallowe'en.
Oot ye gang = Out you go
Gin = if
Tally = Tally-wack, hit, strike
Window-brod = window shutters
From Chambers' Traditional Scottish Nursery Rhymes, and McNeill's Hallowe'en.
