Plant of the Week 10/31/2005: Jack-of-the-Lantern

Plant of the Week 10/31/2005

Jack-of-the-Lantern, old and new

Photographed by: Chelsie Vandaveer
Credits: A cautionary tale from Ireland.
Other Information: Olympus C-8080wz

A very long time ago, a man named Jack lived in a small village. The townsfolk were hard-working people, mostly farmers and field hands. Jack was not. He had been a clever boy, but ever so lazy. He could create a thousand excuses not to work and could always be found in one of two places. He passed his days sitting in the town square under an old tree whittling away at sticks. His nights were spent in the local pub drinking and gambling. He prided himself in never, ever helping anyone with any work.

And so Jack's life passed by. He never made any enemies, but he never made any friends, either. Late in autumn one year, Jack was in want of a drink and bit of gambling. The farmers and field hands had money from their summer's work and Jack headed to the pub to beg a drink and perhaps, gain a little money by gambling with the farmers.

That very night was to be Jack's last. The devil appeared in the pub to take Jack to his eternal reward, but Jack didn't want to go. He thought over his life and needed time to repent for his years of selfishness. Jack lured the devil outside and bet, "I can climb the old tree faster than you!" The devil laughed and scrambled up the tree before Jack could grab the lowest branch.

The devil was trapped. Jack remembered that in his youth, he had climbed the tree to hide from his mother. Seen from above, the many branches formed crosses and the devil could not pass by the sign of the cross.

The devil screamed and the devil cursed and finally the devil begged Jack to free him. Jack bargained with the devil to get one more year, then he got an axe, cut a branch and the devil was free.

Winter, spring and summer came and went. Jack forgot about repentance and whittled the days away. Autumn came and again the devil appeared in the pub to take Jack. Jack stared at his hands and told the devil that if he was really the devil, he should do a trick. The devil laughed and asked what kind of trick would Jack like to see. "Turn yourself into a coin." In a flash and a bang, the devil became a silver coin on the bar. Jack snatched up the coin and held it tightly.

The devil was trapped. Jack had stared at his hands and noticed that on one palm, the knife scars from whittling formed a cross and the devil could not pass the sign of the cross.

The devil screamed and the devil cursed and finally the devil begged Jack to free him. Jack made the devil promise to give him one more year. Then he opened his hand and the devil was free.

Late every autumn, the devil appeared in the pub and Jack always trapped him with the sign of the cross. So when Jack was very old and very tired of living, he was surprised that death appeared in the pub. Taken to the gates of heaven, he was denied entry for his years of selfishness and, of course, misusing the sign of the cross. The devil, remembering all the tricks, did not want him, so Jack was condemned to spend eternity walking the earth with no place to call home.

The world grew cold for Jack; his bones ached and he longed for warmth. Jack called upon the devil. "Take me to hell so I can get warm." The devil laughed and brought from hell a single glowing coal. Jack found a turnip and his old whittling knife appeared nearby. He hollowed-out the turnip and placed the devil's ember inside. The coal offered no warmth on earth, only eerie light.

If the night should catch you in a very dark place and far from home, look for cold light flitting between cattails or bobbing through the mists. And whatever you do, never try to follow Jack-of-the-lantern.

Before the invention of matches, a fire could be built from friction or flint and steel, but the easiest way was to carry a coal from one fire to start the next. If a fire burned too low to rekindle, children were sent to a neighbor's to borrow a coal. A coal would be carried on a trip to light campfire, each night's fire built from a coal of the previous night's fire.

The coal could be safely transported in a hollowed-out turnip or beet; the root insulated the heat from the hands. The turnip or beet could also hold a stub of a tallow candle and keep the flame from blowing out. It was the average person's lantern and often carried by children sent on errands or out frolicking on All Hallow's Eve.

Pumpkins and squashes (Cucurbita maxima, C. mixta, and C. pepo) are cultigens, that is, these plants were created (accidentally or intentionally hybridized, but have the status of a species) and domesticated by the Native Americans. The seeds were taken back to Europe and grown first as curiosities or decorations and as food. These were much easier to hollow out, larger, and could be carved with scary faces perfect for Halloween and to remind children of the follies of Jack.

(Compiled from: A Halloween tale told in "Frank Moskus In Exile" bar in South St. Louis circa 1972, and Hortus Third, Staff L.H. Bailey Hortorium, NY State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, Macmillan, NY, 1976)