The historic Hop-tu-Naa Halloween celebration on the Isle of Man has many senior Celtic traditions. They also sing about the witch Jinny, a woman tried centuries ago for witchcraft.
There are many versions of Day of the Dead celebrations around the world, and in the British Isles you can find many versions derived from the Celtic celebration of Samhain, which evolved into current Halloween. One of the remote Isles of Man, one of them is Hop-tu-Naa.
Hop-tu-Naa is a customary Celtic festival celebrated on the Isle of Man every year on October 31, marking the beginning of winter and considered to be the oldest continuing tradition on the island. Hop-tu-Naa, rooted in the historic Gaelic festival of Samhain, was originally a time when people believed that the veil between the living and the dead was at its thinnest, allowing spirits to roam.
Celtic heritage on the Isle of Man
The Manx call this a holiday Honey Goose. The Manx people are a Gaelic ethnic group from the Isle of Man who once ruled the Norse Gaelic Kingdom of the Isles and the Gaelic Dál Riata on the west coast of Scotland and northeastern Ireland, and the Isle of Man is considered one of the six Celtic kingdoms.
The term Hop-tu-naa comes from one of the songs they sing during the festival. This term is pure nonsense and is only intended to rhyme.
Hop-tu-naa traditions
As already mentioned, this holiday has a central character and comes from the tradition when tali or mummers went from house to house to ask for gifts, much like the current Trick or Treat. There is also the customary Manx Hop-tu-Naa dance, a type of elementary processional dance.
One of the customary songs sung by the children refers to the witch Jinny, a local figure from Manx folklore, adding a unique touch of spooky folklore to the festival. According to Hampton Creer, Jinny's real name was Joney Lowney of Braddan. She was a penniless woman who begged her neighbors for food. According to the locals, bad luck befell those who refused her due to her proficiency in black magic.
She was tried before the bishop's court for witchcraft in 1715 and 1716, where her “crime” was stopping a corn mill in Ballaughton because she was furious about the penniless quality of the grain and told the miller about it. It is said that after she shouted at him, his machines mysteriously stopped working.
The locals thought she had cursed the mill and was put on trial for witchcraft. She was sentenced to 14 days in prison, fined £3 and forced to stand under four market crosses dressed in sackcloth.
In Scotland she might as well have been burned at the stake, but here she survived for years. One of the many variations of her song goes like this:
Velcro Lanterns
You also had jack-o'-lanterns, or discusses, which is the tradition of placing delicate in carved turnips for performers and to ward off evil spirits. Although much of the tradition dates back centuries, it appears that this tradition dates back to the early 20th century.
In the current version of Hop-tu-Naa, children dress up, carry lanterns and go from house to house for sweets. Now we focus on how to carve turnips, but in the past children brought stumps and knocked down doors of those who did not want to give them money or sweets.
There is also a mighty emphasis on seasonal dishes, including dishes such as “mrastyr” – a mixture of potatoes, parsnips and fish, traditionally prepared at night. Any leftovers were left outside for the fairies as offerings. They also set fire to gorse to ward off evil fairies
Divination power on Hollantide
As with many of the first days of winter festivals in the British Isles, another central part of the celebrations is fortune-telling and fortune-telling for the coming year. This was because on this night the veil between the worlds was at its thinnest. One tradition involved smoothing the ashes from the fireplace before going to bed to see a footprint in the morning – if the footprint was facing outwards, it meant death, but if the footprint was facing inwards, it meant birth.
Another ritual involved the preparation of “Silly Cake” (Soddag Valloo) in silence with the participation of adolescent women. They baked cake on the fire, ate it silently, and went to sleep, walking backwards, hoping that they would dream of their future husband, who would offer them water in a vision.
Other forms of fortune telling included stealing and baking a salted herring in silence, or holding water and salt while listening to a neighbor's conversation to guess the name of a future spouse. Some people also believed that stealing from the neighbors would predict the future.
Today, Hop-tu-Naa is still celebrated on the Isle of Man, combining historic customs, turnip carving and an incredible mix of folklore, still combining current Manx culture with its deep Celtic roots. The mysterious and supernatural elements of the festival combined with its long-standing traditions make it a unique way to celebrate the arrival of winter.
Reference:
Hop-tu-Naa (dance) – Wikipedia
Hop-Tu-Naa: a Celtic festival celebrated every Halloween on the Isle of Man | Sky HISTORY TV channel
Image Source: Pixabay.com
