"As peascods once I plucked I chanced to see One that was closely filled with three times three; Which when I crop'd, I safely home convey'd, And o'er the door the spell in secret laid;-- The latch moved up, when who should first come in, But in his proper person--Lubberkin." GAY: _Pastorals._ Candles, relics of the sacred fire, play an important part everywhere on Hallowe'en. In England too the lighted candle and the apple were fastened to the stick, and as it whirled, each person in turn sprang up and tried to bite the apple. "Or catch th' elusive apple with a bound, As with the taper it flew whizzing round." This was a rough game, more suited to boys' frolic than the ghostly divinations that preceded it. Those with energy to spare found material to exercise it on. In an old book there is a picture of a youth sitting on a stick placed across two stools. On one end of the stick is a lighted candle from which he is trying to light another in his hand. Beneath is a tub of water to receive him if he over-balances sideways. These games grew later into practical jokes. The use of a goblet may perhaps come from the story of "The Luck of Edenhall," a glass stolen from the fairies, and holding ruin for the House by whom it was stolen, if it should ever be broken. With ring and goblet this charm was tried: the ring, symbol of marriage, was suspended by a hair within a glass, and a name spelled out by beginning the alphabet over each time the ring struck the glass. When tired of activity and noise, the party gathered about a story-teller, or passed a bundle of fagots from hand to hand, each selecting one and reciting an installment of the tale till his stick burned to ashes. "I tell ye the story this chill Hallowe'en, For it suiteth the spirit-eve." COXE: _Hallowe'en._ To induce prophetic dreams the wood-and-water test was tried in England also. "Last Hallow Eve I looked my love to see, And tried a spell to call her up to me. With wood and water standing by my side I dreamed a dream, and saw my own sweet bride." GAY: _Pastorals._ Though Hallowe'en is decidedly a country festival, in the seventeenth century young gentlemen in London chose a Master of the Revels, and held masques and dances with their friends on this night. In central and southern England the ecclesiastical side of Hallowtide is stressed. Bread or cake has till recently (1898) been as much a part of Hallowe'en preparations as plum pudding at Christmas. Probably this originated from an autumn baking of bread from the new grain. In Yorkshire each person gets a triangular seed-cake, and the evening is called "cake night."