The Jack-O-Lantern

Pumpkin carving as become a kind of modern art. People take it seriously. This year people are even carving images of presidential candidates in their pumpkins to make political statements. A girl I went to high school with carved Barak Obama into her pumpkin. Others stick to the traditional scary faces with triangular eyes and leering toothy grins.

Some places like Keene, NH for instance even have pumpkin festivals. Carving Jack O'Lanterns has become an integral part of American Culture.

The annual festival in Keene draws tourists from all over the world. The locals take their festival seriously, carving hundreds of pumpkins up to create a glowing spectacle not seen elsewhere.

Aren't those Jack O'Lanterns fabulous?

But where did this tradition come from? Why do we carve pumpkins into leering monsters on Halloween? Do other people do it?

Turns out the tradition of carving gourds into sneering leering monstrous faces comes from medieval Scotland and Ireland. The Irish have a folk tale called "Stingy Jack" and most historians believe this particular tradition arose in response to this little story.

Stingy Jack, as it turns out, was a very stingy man. He didn't like to spend his money. One night he invited the devil to have a drink with him at a local tavern. So they drink their ale and wracked up a hefty tab, and Stingy Jack being stingy as he was did not want to pay the barkeep. So he tricked the devil into turning himself into a coin to pay for their ale. And the devil did. And Stingy Jack stole the coin back and placed it in his pocket next to silver cross so that the devil couldn't change himself back. Jack eventually decided to free the devil, but only under the condition that the devil would not bother Jack again for at least one whole year and that if Jack died the devil would not claim his soul. The devil agreed and left good old Stingy Jack alone. A year later the two came into contact once more. This time Stingy Jack tricked the devil into climbing up a tree to pick some fruit. While the devil was high up in the tree Jack decided it would be funny to carve a cross into the trunk, neatly trapping the devil up in that fruit tree. Again Jack bargained with the devil and the devil agreed to the same terms as before: to leave Jack alone for a year and not to claim his soul if he died. So Jack helped the devil get down from the tree. Then one day Jack died. God didn't want such a conniving and dishonest soul in heaven so he refused to take him. The devil, bound by his original pledge, refused to claim Jack too. And so the devil sent Jack off into the inky blackness of the night with naught but a burning coal to light his way. Jack, being the smart man he was, put the coal into a carved out turnip. And so Jack roams the earth with his glowing turnip because neither God nor the Devil wants him.

The Irish began calling Jack "Jack of the Lantern" or "Jack O'Lantern". The Irish and Scottish started to carve frightening faces into turnips and potatoes, which they stuck a candle in, to ward off Jack and other wandering souls like him. These "Jack O'Lanterns" were placed near doors and windows to keep evil spirits out of Scotch-Irish homes. When the Scottish and Irish migrated to the other places, like the United States where native pumpkins replaced turnips, they brought their folk tale and the tradition of carving Jack O'Lanterns with them. The story of "Stingy Jack" has since faded, but leering faces of Jack O'Lanterns glow brightly on doorsteps across the United States every October.

The Sea Queen

Grainne Ni Mhaille was born in Connaught, Ireland sometime between 1520 and 1530. Over time Grainne Ni Mhaille's actions grew to legend and her name became the anglicized Grace O'Malley.

Grace was the daughter of a clan chief and her family controlled much of modern Murrisk near Clew Bay. Her father taxed anyone who wanted to fish off their coast. Grace's father taught her about international trade and often took her aboard his many vessels. At an early age Grace became an adept seafarer and it is likely this familiarity with sailing had much to do with her later career as one of the most notorious pirates England ever saw.

As custom dictated, Grace was married to Donal O'Flaherty, heir to the O'Flaherty Chieftain title. She was 16. She bore him three children: Owen, Murrough, and Maeve. When Donal was killed in battle Grace was expected to give up the O'Flaherty castles and return home. Grace rarely did what anyone expected. When the Joyce clan (part of the O'Flaherty line) came to reclaim "Cock's Castle", Grace's favorite, Grace successfully defended it against them. The Joyce's were so impressed with Grace that they renamed the castle "Hen's Castle", which it is called to this day. When she finally left she returned to her family lands and having earned the loyalty of many O'Flaherty's many of her husband's kin went with her.

Shortly after her father's death Grace set up headquarters at Clare Island in Clew Bay.
She continued to tax ships that wanted to sail in O'Malley waters, but there was a catch: Grace expanded O'Malley nautical territory. For the most part the crown turned a blind eye to Grace's activity. Well they did until she started attacking English vessels. She was known for boarding ships in and around Clew Bay, sometimes as far away as Waterford, and "taxing" the ship's captain by taking most of his cargo. Sometimes she even acquired his ship in return for his life, a fair bargain she thought.

Grace O'Malley's exploits were so legendary that she caught the notice of Queen Elizabeth. When Grace's son was taken captive by Richard Bingham, English governor of Connaught, O'Malley sailed to England to petition good Queen Elizabeth herself. During the meeting the two women spoke Latin, as Grace did not speak English and the Queen did not speak Gaelic. Grace did not recognize Elizabeth as the Queen of Ireland and as a result she refused to bow to the Queen as custom dictated. Elizabeth took it all in stride. The meeting was successful, her son was released and Bingham was temporarily removed from his post in Connaught.

Grace's courage, her lack of regard for convention, her odd choice of career have all made Grace O'Malley an Irish legend.

If you are interested in learning more about Grace O'Malley try reading The Pirate Queen: In Search of Grace O'Malley and Other Legendary Women of the Sea by Barbara Sjoholm printed by Seal Press.