Soul cakes, soul cakes,
Give to us our soul cakes,
An apple, a pear,
A plum or a cherry,
Anything to make us merry.
Soul cakes, soul, cakes.....
Soul cakes are put out on the evening of Samhein to feed the spirits who come to visit that night.
Another version:
A soul, a soul, a soul cake.
Please good ma'm a soul cake.
An apple, a pear, a plum or a cherry,
Any good thing to make us merry.
Up with your kettles and down with your pans
Give us an answer and we'll be gone
Little Jack, Jack sat on his gate
Crying for butter to butter his cake
One for St. Peter, two for St. Paul,
Three for the man who made us all.
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In local French Canadian folklore around here it used to be important to get home before midnight on October 31. If you're still out making merry you'll run the risk of le feu follie burning you. There used to be stories about revelers who stayed out too late and were chased home to punish them for violating Tou' Sain' day. Some said they could show you where it burned their sabots just as they reached their door step.