On 31-Oct-11, at 10:54 AM, MichaelHughes7A@xxxxxxx wrote:
Trick or Treat does seem to have been imported from the USA but in
England we did have Mischief Night when children might indulge in
swapping over the gates of houses or tying a strong black thread so
as to connect the knockers on the doors of houses which were
opposite each other, then knocking on the door of one of the pair.
Michael in Norwich
Michael,
That brought back some fond memories of my childhood in Glasgow (but
I haven't quite lost the spirit).
I remember one the joy one of our favourite 'pranks'. We would sneak
into someone's back yard,
lightly insert a thumbtack a black thread to the top of the window,
to which we attached a small
black button, then a black thread from the button which 'ran' to the
furthest end of the garden.
A gentle tugging of the hand-held tread from that distance would
allow for the button to 'chap' against
the glass. After a few minutes, the curious resident would then pull
the curtains aside and peer out the
window to have a 'look-see', at which time we would 'stop'. A few
minutes later we would resume the
'tapping'. We would have 'bets' to see how many times the resident
would come and have another look
before the disturbed and/or angry decided to come out and seek the
cause.
On hearing (or seeing) the door opening we would give the thread and
button a good 'yank' to remove it
before the resident could find it. After smothering our mirth we
would run... and then seek another curtained
rear window to continue the process.
Ken
Quando omni flunkus moritati (R. Green)
