Guising, Neeps & Bin-Bag Witches: A Very Scottish Halloween 🎃

Here at Gillian Kyle, we love a good tradition and Halloween in Scotland is packed full of weird and wonderful ones! While the American-style ‘trick or treating’ and plastic pumpkins have crept in over the years, we Scots have always done things a wee bit differently…

🎭 It's Guising NOT trick-or-treating ok?

Long before American Halloween traditions blew in on the autumn wind, Scottish bairns were already out knocking on doors. But instead of just asking for sweets, wee Scottish guisers had to earn their treats, usually by singing a song, telling a joke or doing a wee dance. No performance? No sweeties!

So if you’re planning to go guising this year, better warm up those vocal cords or practise your best knock-knock joke. (You’ve been warned.)

🎃 Forget pumpkins, it’s all about the neeps

Before pumpkins were even a thing here, we were carving turnips - into creepy, lopsided lanterns. It’s hard graft (seriously, those things are solid), but the spooky glow of a neep lantern is pure nostalgic magic.

We’re not saying pumpkins are banned, but there’s something uniquely Scottish about an aching bicep and the smell of a singed neep on Halloween night.

👻 Frights from the past

Halloween in Scotland is steeped in ancient Celtic traditions. It all goes back to Samhain, a festival marking the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter. It was believed that the veil between worlds was thinnest on this night, letting spirits (both friendly and not-so-friendly) slip through…

So if you’re feeling a chill down your spine or hear a creak on the stairs, it might just be more than your imagination!

🍬 A night for fun (and tablet)

Whether you’re dashing to Tesco for apples and a Haribo haul, handing out homemade tablet, sending the kids out in homemade costumes, or just reminiscing about the days of black bin-bag witches (simpler times!), Halloween in Scotland is all about fun, creativity and a wee bit of mischief.

At Gillian Kyle, we’re proud to celebrate the quirky, nostalgic bits of Scottish life and Halloween is no exception.

Slàinte to the spooky season!