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Far from being another American import, the tradition of 'trick or treating' at Halloween has roots much closer to home, according to a new feature published in ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ History Magazine.

The feature reveals that trick or treating actually stems from a little known Northern custom called 'Mischief Night', which has existed almost unchanged for centuries in towns like Leeds and Bradford.

While the ultimate origins of the custom remain obscure, 'Mischief Night' was the one day of the year that young men were given leave to settle grudges with pranks such as uprooting fences, trampling gardens and setting livestock loose. Their defence was simply "Oh, it's nobbut th'mischief neet."

The night could have remained a regional oddity, however when Yorkshire people began to emigrate to the United States during the Industrial Revolution, it seems that the Mischief Night custom crossed the Atlantic with them.

The mischief tradition spread throughout Canada and the US, although over the years it appears that respectability crept in and ‘mischief’ began to be replaced by a mere threat of a ‘trick’ with a greater emphasis placed on receiving a ‘treat’ in its place.

Dave Musgrove, Editor of ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ History Magazine, commented: "It's fascinating to think of a Yorkshire custom crossing the Atlantic and then coming back to haunt us like this. Mischief Night is a great example of cultural traditions developing and spreading in really unexpected ways."

The earliest record of Mischief Night dates from the 1790s in Middleton, Lancashire and took place, not on 31st October but on 30th April – May Eve. Later records show that the date was moved elsewhere in the calendar to November 4th.

Mischief Night is still celebrated on that day in the UK in parts of the north and the Midlands, running side-by-side with the modern Halloween. Pranks include treacle smearing and egg throwing, and some police forces put on extra patrols to deal with the additional workload caused by the mischief-makers.

'Tricks, treats and cobbled streets' by Chris and Karen Allen, is published in the November issue of ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ History Magazine, on sale now, £3.80.

NOTES TO EDITORS
³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ History Magazine
³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ History Magazine is the biggest selling and most authoritative history magazine in the UK. It has a monthly circulation of 69,234 (ABC Jan-June 2010) and is published by ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Magazines Bristol, a trading name of Bristol Magazines Ltd., which is a subsidiary of ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Worldwide Ltd., the main commercial consumer arm of the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳.

Carolyn Wray