All Topics  
Hop-tu-Naa

 
Hop Tu Naa

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Hop-tu-Naa
 
 
  Topics Hop-tu-Naa Topic Home

Hop-tu-Naa is a Celt
Celt

Celts , is a modern term used to describe any of the European peoples who spoke, or speak, a Celtic languages. The term is also used in a wider sense to describe the Modern Celts of those peoples, notably those who participate in a Celtic culture....
ic festival celebrated in the Isle of Man
Isle of Man

The Isle of Man , or Mann , is a self-governing Crown dependency, located in the Irish Sea at the geographical centre of the British Isles....
 on 31 October. Predating Halloween
Halloween

Halloween is a holiday celebrated on October 31. It has roots in the Celtic mythology of Samhain and the Christian holy day of All Saints. It is largely a Secularity celebration, but some Christians and Paganism have expressed strong feelings about its religious overtones....
, it is the celebration of the original New Year's Eve . The term is Manx Gaelic
Manx language

Manx , also known as Manx Gaelic, is a Goidelic languages spoken on the Isle of Man. The last native speaker, Ned Maddrell, died in 1974, but in recent years it has been the subject of language revival efforts, and it is now the medium of education at the , a primary school for four- to eleven-year-olds in St....
 in origin, deriving from , meaning "this is the night". Hogmanay
Hogmanay

File:Hogmanay Party.jpgHogmanay is the Scots Language word for the last day of the year and is synonymous with the celebration of the New Year in the Scottish manner....
, which is the Scottish New Year, comes from the same root.

For Hop-tu-Naa children dress up as scary beings and go from house to house with the hope of being given sweets or money, as elsewhere.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Hop-tu-Naa'
Start a new discussion about 'Hop-tu-Naa'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Hop-tu-Naa is a Celt
Celt

Celts , is a modern term used to describe any of the European peoples who spoke, or speak, a Celtic languages. The term is also used in a wider sense to describe the Modern Celts of those peoples, notably those who participate in a Celtic culture....
ic festival celebrated in the Isle of Man
Isle of Man

The Isle of Man , or Mann , is a self-governing Crown dependency, located in the Irish Sea at the geographical centre of the British Isles....
 on 31 October. Predating Halloween
Halloween

Halloween is a holiday celebrated on October 31. It has roots in the Celtic mythology of Samhain and the Christian holy day of All Saints. It is largely a Secularity celebration, but some Christians and Paganism have expressed strong feelings about its religious overtones....
, it is the celebration of the original New Year's Eve . The term is Manx Gaelic
Manx language

Manx , also known as Manx Gaelic, is a Goidelic languages spoken on the Isle of Man. The last native speaker, Ned Maddrell, died in 1974, but in recent years it has been the subject of language revival efforts, and it is now the medium of education at the , a primary school for four- to eleven-year-olds in St....
 in origin, deriving from , meaning "this is the night". Hogmanay
Hogmanay

File:Hogmanay Party.jpgHogmanay is the Scots Language word for the last day of the year and is synonymous with the celebration of the New Year in the Scottish manner....
, which is the Scottish New Year, comes from the same root.

For Hop-tu-Naa children dress up as scary beings and go from house to house with the hope of being given sweets or money, as elsewhere. However the children carry turnip
Turnip

The turnip is a root vegetable commonly grown in temperate climates worldwide for its white, bulbous taproot. Small, tender, varieties are grown for human consumption, while larger varieties are grown as fodder for livestock....
s rather than pumpkin
Pumpkin

Pumpkin is a gourd-like Squash of the genus Cucurbita and the family Cucurbitaceae . It is a common name of or can refer to cultivars of any one of the following species: Cucurbita pepo, Cucurbita mixta, Cucurbita maxima, and Cucurbita moschata....
s and sing an Anglicized version of Jinnie the Witch. The changeover from turnips to pumpkins has also happened in Scotland, where the similar practice is called "guising".

In older times children would have also brought the stumps of turnips with them and batter the doors of those who refused to give them any money! (An ancient form of trick or treat
Trick or Treat

Trick or Treat is a Walt Disney Pictures cartoon released in October 1952, starring Donald Duck. In this cartoon, a trick-or-treating Huey, Dewey, and Louie try to shame Donald into giving them candy with the help of Witch Hazel in her first appearance....
, however this practice appears to have died out.)

























Hop-tu-Naa in Manx
Manx language

Manx , also known as Manx Gaelic, is a Goidelic languages spoken on the Isle of Man. The last native speaker, Ned Maddrell, died in 1974, but in recent years it has been the subject of language revival efforts, and it is now the medium of education at the , a primary school for four- to eleven-year-olds in St....
Hop-tu-Naa in English
English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
This is old Hollantide night; Hop-tu-naa
The moon shines bright; Trol-la-laa.
Cock of the hens; Hop-tu-naa
Supper of the heifer; Trol-la-laa.
Which heifer shall we kill? Hop-tu-naa
The little speckled heifer. Trol-la-laa.
The fore-quarter, Hop-tu-naa
We'll put in the pot for you. Trol-la-laa.
The little hind quarter, Hop-tu-naa
Give to us, give to us. Trol-la-laa.
I tasted the broth, Hop-tu-naa
I scalded my tongue, Trol-la-laa.
I ran to the well, Hop-tu-naa
And drank my fill; Trol-la-laa.
On my way back, Hop-tu-naa
I met a witch cat; Trol-la-laa.
The cat began to grin, Hop-tu-naa
And I am a slag away. Trol-la-laa.
Where did you run to? Hop-tu-naa
I ran to Scotland. Trol-la-laa.
What were they doing there? Hop-til-naa
Baking bannocks and roasting collops. Trol-la-laa.
Hop-tu-naa, Trol-la-laa


(Spoken)
If you are going to give us anything, give it us soon,
Or we'll be away by the light of the moon.


Hop-tu-naa, Trol-la-laa.


Jinnie the Witch


(Also spelt Ginnie the Witch)

Jinnie the Witch is a modern Manx English
Manx English

File:British Isles Isle of Man.svgManx English, or Anglo-Manx, is the dialect of English language which was formerly spoken by the people of the Isle of Man....
 version of the above ballad
Ballad

A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative story and set to music. Ballads were characteristic of particularly British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the nineteenth century and used extensively across Europe and later north America, Australia and north Africa....
:

Hop-tu-Naa
My mother's gone away
And she won't be back until the morning


Jinnie the Witch flew over the house
To fetch the stick to lather the mouse


Hop-tu-Naa
My mother's gone away
And she won't be back until the morning


Hop-tu-Naa, Traa-la-laa


Please note that this is only one version of many; it is probably the most popular, however the song changes from village to village and from family to family. It is still widely used and many people will refuse to give sweets or money to children who do not sing the song. is also the Manx Gaelic for stinging nettle
Stinging nettle

Urtica dioica, commonly called stinging nettle, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant, native to Europe, Asia, northern Africa, and North America, and is the best known member of the nettle genus Urtica....
.

In the West of the Island a longer version is sung:

Hop-tu-naa put in a pot
Hop-tu-naa I scolded me throat
Hop-tu-naa I met an old woman
Hop-tu-naa She was baking bonnags
Hop-tu-naa I asked for a bit
Hop-tu-naa she gave me a bit
as big as me big toe
Hop-tu-naa she dipped it in milk
Hop-tu-naa she wrapped it in silk
Hop-tu-naa, Traa la lay


Jinnie the witch is in you house
Give me a penny and I'll chase her out
Hop-tu-naa, Traa la lay


Media References

  • Hector Plasm
    Hector Plasm

    Hector Plasm is the name of a comic book character, created by Benito Cereno and Nate Bellegarde . The duo had started out writing back-up stories in Invincible for ....
     is a comic book character published mainly through Image Comics
    Image Comics

    Image Comics is an United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by seven high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator ownership properties....
    . There is a Hector Plasm story based on Hop-tu-Naa that also incorporates several other Manx legends and myths.


See also

  • Guising
  • Allantide
    Allantide

    Allantide is a Cornwall festival that was traditionally celebrated on 31 October elsewhere known as Hallowe'en. The festival itself seems to have pre-Christian origins similar to most celebrations on this date, however in Cornwall it was popularly linked to St Allen or Arlan a little known Cornish Saint....
  • Calan Gaeaf
    Calan Gaeaf

    Calan Gaeaf is the name of the first day of winter in Wales, observed on 1 November. The night before is Nos Calan Gaeaf, an Ysbrydnos when spirits are abroad....
  • Halloween
    Halloween

    Halloween is a holiday celebrated on October 31. It has roots in the Celtic mythology of Samhain and the Christian holy day of All Saints. It is largely a Secularity celebration, but some Christians and Paganism have expressed strong feelings about its religious overtones....
  • Samhain
    Samhain

    Samhain is a festival on the end of the harvest season in Gaels and Britons cultures, with aspects of a festival of the dead. Many scholars believe that it was the beginning of the Celtic year....