42 KiRKBEAN Folklore. 



celebration of the feast of the Kim, or simply " The Kim " or 

 " Harvest Home," was very g-eneral, and occasioned much enjoy- 

 ment among the young folks. There seems to have been nothing 

 unusual in the feasting and enjoyment in the parish, and readers 

 of Scottish literature are familiar with the references to the Kirn 

 in song and story, so that it is unnecessary to detail here the feast- 

 ing and dancing with which the ingathering of the harvest was 

 welcomed. The Kirn is now almost obsolete in the parish. 



" Hallowe'en," celebrated on 31st October, was a red-letter 

 day in the calendar. During the day the children amused them- 

 selves by singing : 



Hallowe'en ; the nicht at e'en 



The fairies will be ridin'. 

 A variation of this, which was in use in Kirkbean a number of years 

 ago, was, it seems, as follows : 



Hallowe'en ; the nicht at e'en 



The fairies will be scraighin'. 



Din Doup had a wife, 



Her name was Peggy Aiken. 



It was at night, however, that the celebration was in full swing. 

 The young folks gathered together and burned nuts in the fire. 

 As now, the two nuts were put in together. If both burned 

 brightly the young man and woman whom the nuts were supposed 

 to represent are or will be true lovers, and have happiness in their 

 married life. If one jumps away that one was unfriendly or 

 unfaithful. The pulling of the kail stock was a part of the celebra- 

 tion now quite obsolete in the parish. The young folks were 

 blindfolded, and made their way to the garden of a bachelor or old 

 maid, where they pulled the first " kail stock " they touched. On 

 re-entering the house the " stocks" were eagerly examined to set' 

 what fortune was in store for those who had pulled them. If the 

 stalk was tall and straight the future husband or wife would be 

 comely and straight. On the other hand, if short and crooked, the 

 partner would be unattractive. If the pith was bitter the husband 

 or wife would be bad tempered ; if sweet, of an agreeable disposi- 

 tion. If only a little earth adhered to the root the spouse would 

 be endowed with but little of this world's gear, but if a consider- 

 able quantity of the soil was lifted, there would be a fortune. 

 The stocks were then placed over the door, and the first person 

 Avho entered the house afterwaixls was supposed to be of the same 



