1 An owl in a dead oak tree
2 Two Trick-or-Treaters
3 Three Black Cats
4 Four skeletons
5 Five scarey spooks
6 Six goblins gobbling
7 Seven pumpkins glowing
8 Eight monsters shrieking
9 Nine ghosts a-booing
10 Ten ghouls a-groaning
11 Eleven masks a-leering
12 Twelve bats a-flying
DECK THE PATCH
Deck the patch with orange & black fa la etc
Take along a goody sack, Fa la etc
Don we now our gay apparel, Fa la etc
Toll the ancient Pumpkin carol, Fa la etc
See the Great One rise before us, Fa la etc
As we sing the Pumpkin chorus, Fa la etc
Follow him as he ascends, Fa la etc
Join with True Great Pumpkin friends. Fa La etc
GREAT PUMPKIN IS COMIN TO TOWN
O you better not shriek,
you better not groan,
you better not howl,
you better not moan.
Great Pumpkin is comin' to town.
He's going to find out,
from folks that he meets,
who deserves tricks and who deserves treats.
Great Pumpkin is comin' to town.
This pumpkin day is happy,
This pumpkin day is gay,
Great pumpkin is a comin' soon and we'll watch for him each day.
O you better not shriek,
you better not groan,
you better not howl,
you better not moan,
Great Pumpkin is comin' to town.
I HEAR THE BELLS ON HALLOWEEN
I heard the bells on Halloween
Their old, familiar carols scream
And wild and sweet the words repeat
The Pumpkin Season's here again.
Then pealed the bells more loud & strong,
Great Pumpkin comes before too long, the good will get, the bad will
fret,
The Pumpkin Season's here again.
O'PUMPKIN CARD
O Pumpkin cards;
O pumpkin cards
Carry greetings to my friends,
Let them know the day is here
When Great Pumpkin will appear,
O Pumpkin cards,
O pumpkin cards,
Carry greetings to my friends.
PUMPKIN BELLS
Dashing thru the streets
In our costumes bright and gay
To each house we go
Laughing all the way
Halloween is here
Making spirits bright
What fun it is to trick-or-treat and sing pumpkin carols tonight,
O pumpkins bells, pumpkin bells,
Ringing loud and clear
O what fun Great Pumpkin brings
When Halloween is here.
PUMPKIN WONDERLAND
Screech owls hoot, are you listnin?
Beneath the moon, all is glistnin,
A real scarey site, we're happy tonight,
Waiting in a Pumpkin wonderland.
In the patch, all is bright,
We await without a light,
A real scary sight, we're happy tonight,
Waiting in a Pumpkin wonderland.
In the patch we're watching for Great Pumpkin,
We've been waiting for this night all year.
For we've tried to be nice to everybody,
and to grow a pumpkin patch that is sincere!
Later on, while we're eating,
What we got Trick-or-treating,
We'll show all our sacks of Halloween snacks,
Waiting in a Pumpkin Wonderland.
I'M DREAMING OF THE GREAT PUMPKIN
I'm dreaming of the Great Pumpkin
Just like I do this time each year
When he bring nice toys
To good girls and boys
Who wait for him to appear,
I'm dreaming of the Great Pumpkin,
With every pumpkin card I write,
May your jack-o-lanterns burn bright.... When the Great Pumpkin
visits you tonight.
SOURCE: unknown
The Troll-Tear
A Children's Story for Samhain
(Author Unknown ).
It was a very dark night in October, with a full Moon hanging in a cloud
filled sky. The air was crisp with the feel of late autumn, and the doorway
between the worlds was wide open. Carved pumpkins and Jack-O-Lanterns lit
the porches of houses in the little town, and laughter of children dressed
in costumes could be heard up and down the street.
But this was a sad night for little Beth Drummond as she climbed a small
hill behind her house. In her arms she carried her pet cat Smokey, carefully
wrapped in his favourite blanket. Her father had already dug a small grave
on the top of the hill, for Smokey had died earlier that day.
"Do you want me to go with you?" asked father Drummond. "I've dug the grave
beside MacDougal's at the top of the hill," he said gently. Beth clearly
remembered when their pet dog MacDougal had died after being hit by a car,
she had cried for ages afterwards. "No, I want to go by myself," she
answered.
Beth stopped at the top of the hill and knelt beside the little grave. She
carefully laid Smokey's blanket-wrapped form in the earth and covered it
with soil, laying several large rocks on the top. Then she began to cry, she
had been holding it back till then wanting to appear adult in front of her
parents. "Oh, Smokey, I miss you so much!" Beth looked up at the Moon as
tears streaming down her cheeks. "Why did he die?" she asked.
"It was his time to rejoin the Mother," said a deep, gentle voice in the
darkness.
"Who said that?" cried Beth. She looked around a little frightened, but
could see no-body.
"Dying is part of the cycle of life, you know," said the voice. Then one of
the boulders on the hill stirred into life.
"Who are you?" asked Beth a little startled, but strangely no longer
frightened. The moonlight shone down on the little woman, and Beth could see
she was not human.
"I'm a troll-wife," said the creature as she came to sit across from Beth.
"This is a sad night for both of us, child. I too came to this hill to bury
a friend. "The troll-wife wiped a crystal tear from her cheek. "My squirrel
was very old. Still it makes me sad".
Beth stared at the troll-wife. The little woman was the colour of rock in
the moonlight, making her face was hard to see shrouded with hair like long
strands of moss, but her eyes shone bright like shining crystals. She wore a
dress woven of oak leaves and tree bark.
"My squirrel and I lived together for a long time," the troll-wife said. "We
often talked to your cat when he was hunting here on the hill. Smokey and I
were friends. I shall miss him, too". The little woman patted Smokey's grave
gently. "Sleep well little friend. When you are rested, we shall talk
together again".
"But he's dead," Beth said, her voice choked with tears.
"Yes child, but this is Samhain. Don't you know the ancient secrets of this
sacred time of the year?" The troll-wife motioned for Beth to come and sit
beside her. "It is true that our friends have gone into a world where we can
no longer physically touch them, but the Mother has given us other ways of
communicating with them. We can do this at any time, but the time of Samhain
is the easiest".
"I don't understand how this can be done," Beth said, "or why Samhain makes
it easier".
"At this time of year," the troll-wife answered, "the walls between this
world and the world of souls and spirits are very thin. If we are quiet and
listen, we can hear our loved ones and they can hear us. We talk, not with
spoken words, but with the heart and mind".
"But isn't that just imagination," said Beth, looking down at Smokey's
grave, tears once more clouding her eyes. "Like my thinking I can sometimes
feel MacDougal get up on my bed at night like he used to do?"
"Sometimes it is, but mostly it is not imagination, only our friends who
have come to see us in their spirit bodies". The troll-wife reached up her
hand and patted something Beth couldn't see on her shoulder. "Like my friend
the raven. He's here now".
Beth looked hard and saw a thin form of hazy moonlight on the troll-wife's
shoulder. "I've seen something like that at the foot of my bed where
MacDougal used to sleep," she whispered. "I thought I was dreaming." She
jumped then as something cold and wet nudged her arm. When she looked down,
there was nothing there.
The troll-wife smiled. "Close your eyes and think of MacDougal," she said.
"He has been waiting a long time for you to see him".
Beth closed her eyes and at once, the form of her little dog came into her
mind. His tail wagged with happiness. She felt a wave of love come from him
and she sent her love back. Then she felt the dog lie down against her leg.
"Can I do this with Smokey?" Beth asked.
"Not yet," the troll-wife answered. "He needs tine to sleep and rest for
awhile. Then he will come to you. He needs this time to adjust to his new
world, and you need the time to grieve for him. It is not wrong to grieve
you know, but we must not grieve forever. Life must go on".
"I never thought of it that way," Beth said. "It's kind of like they moved
away, and we can only talk to them on the phone".
"It's the same way with all creatures, not just animals," said the
troll-wife. She stood up then and held out her hand to Beth. "Will you join
me, human girl? Although I buried my friend the squirrel this night, I must
still dance and sing to all my other friends and relatives who have gone on
their journey into the other world. For this is a time to honour our
ancestors".
Beth joined the troll-wife, and in the moonlight they danced an ancient slow
troll dance around the top of the little hill. Then Beth watched quietly
while the troll-wife called out troll-words to the four directions, words
she couldn't understand. Deep in her heart the girl felt the power of the
strange words, and knew they were given in honour and love by the little
troll-wife.
When the troll-wife was finished with her ritual, she hugged Beth. "Go in
peace, human girl" she said, "and remember what I have told you about the
ancient secret of Samhain".
"I will," Beth answered. "But will I ever see you again?"
"Whenever the Moon is Full, I will be here," said the little troll-wife,
"and especially at Samhain".
"I wish I had something to give you," Beth hugged the little woman, "you
have taught me so much". She felt tears come to her eyes again.
"Then let us exchange tears for our lost friends," she said. The troll-wife
reached up a rough finger, catching a tear as it fell from Beth's eye. It
glistened on her finger and when she gently touched the finger to her cloak,
the tear shone there like a diamond in the moonlight. Beth reached up
carefully and caught one of the troll-wife's tears as it slid down her rough
cheek. In her hand, it turned into a real crystal.
"Remember the secret of Samhain and remember me," said the troll-wife softly
as she disappeared into the darkness. Beth walked back down the hill, the
crystal clutched in her hand. Her father was waiting on the porch.
"Are you all right?" her father asked, giving Beth a hug.
"I will be," she answered. She opened her hand under the porch light and saw
a perfect tear-shaped crystal lying there.
"Did you find something?" asked her father.
"A troll-tear," Beth answered. Her father smiled, for he too knew the little
troll-wife and the secrets of Samhain.
Samhain"
