by Tom Carty, Galway

A Halloween Game

Eleven pieces cut, a sixpence as forfeit
The ten others under pillow kept
Those who on it to silence sworn
Until the morning after which they had slept

Should they speak before the mornings dawn
And they to the floor their blanket they had tossed
They broke the Yarrow pledge…
Their challenge and their sixpence was lost.

Oh, so many cared for their comfort that night
And other such tricks to get them to speak
So simple pleasures in a time now past
When folk their fun did seek!!!

Should the sleeper their whisht manage to hold
Who they dreamed of that night would be their spouse it was said
How many men dreamed of a comely cailin on such night
Who dreamed herself of another dashing blade, not them, instead!

Tom’s poem ties in with the North Longford Lore of a game played on Halloween. It involved cutting the yarrow and reciting this verse, that night you would dream of your future spouse!

In Cáit’s collection, there are several references to the Yarrow including the verse “Good morrow, good morrow, my pretty fair yarrow! I pray before this time to-morrow You will tell who my true love shall be. The clothes that he wears, and the name that he bears, And the day that he’ll come to wed me”

Tom publishes poetry, some based on folklore on writingsinrhyme.com