Souling was written in relation to the feast of All Saints and All Souls Day.

 

The three days from 31 October to 2 November – All Hallow’s Eve, All Saints Day and All Souls Day – all relate to the dead: communication with them, commemoration of them, or offerings to them. They were taken up by the Catholic Church during the 9th century but have their roots in much older practices.

 

During this period of the year, it has often been thought the boundary between the living and the dead becomes thinner. In various cultures, cakes and treats were offered to the dead, and to children praying for them. These practices lead in the 20th century and modern day to trick-or-treating at Hallowe’en, and the Mexican Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead.

 

Souling uses two sources for its text – both with their roots in pre-Christian and pagan England. The first is part of the Lyke-Wake Dirge – a ballad about watching over the dead before their funeral, and of the soul's difficult journey towards the afterlife from purgatory. The second is a rhyme about 'souling' – children going door-to-door, when the spirits are afoot, to ask for offerings (‘soul-cakes’).

 

T.C.