Halloween, the name popularly given to the eve or vigil of All Hallows, or festival of All Saints, which being the 1st of November, Halloween is the evening of the 31st of October. In England and Scotland it was long consecrated to harmless fireside revelries, with many ceremonies for divining a future sweetheart. See Burne's 'Halloween' and Chambers's Book of Days. The similar Irish customs are illustrated in MacLise's 'Drop-apple Night.'
Halloween
Chambers's Encyclopaedia, Volume 5: Friday to Humanitarians, p. 523
Source scan(s): p. 0538