Guising and Hallowe'en

Guising takes place on 31st October but I heard it described this year (when I was down in Berkshire) as "trick or treating"...another Americanisation? All the costumes I saw were shop bought with pumpkins being very popular for the tinies, and I saw a few when I attended my daughter's toddlers' group party. At night our pumpkin and Frankenstein went with mum and dad to visit a few friends nearby. I was in the house in charge of the sweet bowl to supply our visitors. They didn't come in (a sign of the times?) but merely stood there, took some of the proffered sweets and went. Years ago all the children would come inside and perform something or other, be it a song, dance or joke and all wore homemade costumes, witches being favourites. I remember once when my children were small I made a pantomime horse costume from a roll of white cotton cloth that my father had bought in a sale (he bought lots of weird stuff at auctions) . The head was fashioned from a shoebox which had green foam rubber ears (only colour I had) and brown looped knitting wool for the forelock and mane. We daubed it with paint from the kids' paintbox to make a pinto pony and were soon ready for the fitting. Billy had trouble pushing his legs down the forelegs. I had stitched them up without measuring anything and although he hardly had the legs of Chris Hoy he had more than I had given him credit for. The rear part fitted Julie not too badly and, somehow or other , both parts were joined together. They returned from the party rather disgruntled as they had fallen into the tub of water ready for the "dookin' for apples".I hadn't managed to get the eye holes in the correct position for Billy to see! I do a lot by guesswork!
Another year he went off to the village dressed as a turnip (no pumpkins then). I think he wore the "horse legs" stuck through a big old sheet gathered above his head , adorned with more green foam rubber (shaws!) and stuffed with cushions which seemingly kept slipping down through the rather generous legholes (over reaction to the previous legs affair?) as he walked.
When I was a child we always had a Hallowe'en party in the house with dookin' for apples, treacle scones, mashed neeps and tatties and always lots of soot in evidence. The place was lit with turnip lanterns which eventually gave off an appalling smell. All my aunts and cousins came and we had a great night and mother never complained about the mess in the kitchen, to be cleared the following morning.