A Mess of Miscellany

Oidhche Shamhna – a South Uist Halloween

Ethnomusicologist, photographer, folklorist, and scholar Margaret Fay Shaw (1903–2004) recorded a traditional Hebridean Halloween on South Uist in the 1930s, in photographs and on film —via the National Trust for Scotland www.nts.org.uk/stories/o…

#Scottish #Scotland #culture #Halloween #Gaidhlig #Gaelic #Hebrides #20thcentury #SouthUist #ethnology (via @scotlit@mastodon.scot)

Black-and-white photograph of two people in costumed disguises standing in an open, grassy field with dry tufts of grass. Rolling hills rise in the background under a pale, overcast sky, and a low building or mound appears at the far right edge. The figure on the left wears a carved wooden mask with a large, pointed nose and a sprig of leaves tucked on top, plus a long, shaggy beard of straw or fiber. Its body is covered by a long, dark, loose coat, and it wears a patterned wrap or skirt with a repeating diamond motif above dark shoes. The figure on the right has a head covered by a bushy, tufted mass of fur or hair with a rough face visible beneath, and a white cloth ruffled around the neck. It wears a long dark coat with wide sleeves, a patterned cloth draped over the chest, and a white sash tied at the waist with ends hanging down, along with dark trousers and heavy boots. Both figures stand side by side, facing slightly away from the camera.