Just before Halloween, usually on the last Thursday of October, an age-old ritual takes place in the village of Hinton St George in Somerset. The story behind the festival is recorded in local legend.
A local fair took place during the day at nearby Chiselborough, some 3 ½ miles to the east of Hinton. The men of the village would always attend the fair to do business but inevitably they failed to return home at the end of the day, having done a bit too much ‘business’ in the local hostelries. The wives of the village would then have to go looking for them (or, if some versions are to be believed, to scare them into coming home!) and would carry home-made lanterns carved out of roots and turnips known as ‘punkies’.
The annual ‘event’ became something of a local joke, soon to be preserved in folklore as Punky Night.
These days it is a (comparatively) sober affair, with the children of the village parading through the streets with lanterns and singing the celebratory song:
It’s Punky Night tonight;
It’s Punky Night tonight;
Give us a candle, give us a light;
It’s Punky Night tonight.
It’s Punky Night tonight;
It’s Punky Night tonight;
Adam and Eve wouldn’t believe;
It’s Punky Night tonight.
Try: Spice-roasted squash with couscous (p. 229)