According to legend, the first Jack O’Lantern originated in Ireland and was named after its creator, Stingy Jack. Stingy Jack was everything his name implied and more. He was a drunk and a thief, and often liked to enjoy a joke at someone else’s expense. In fact most of Jack’s life was lived at someone else’s expense.

Never staying in one place for too long and drifting from town to town, Jack stole whatever he needed: bacon here, eggs there, a whole chicken somewhere else if he could get away with it. Jack’s favourite food, though, was turnip, and turnips were easily acquired; he just uprooted them from people’s gardens or fields.

Jack ate well, he drank well too, and, with no hard work to spoil his fun, it was an easy life.

Eventually, so the story goes, Jack’s exploits became so well known that the Devil, after hearing so much about the lad, decided to claim his soul.

When the Devil came looking for Jack, he found him in a bar. Although he was a heavy drinker, Jack still had his wits about him, and begged a last drink from his sulphurous companion. Jack himself, of course, had no money, and even less intention of spending it if he did.

Eager to be away and also having no money, the Devil decided to change himself into a sixpence piece to pay for Jacks drink. Once Jack had had his drink, the Devil intended to change himself back again and escort Jack to a long and well earned holiday in hotter climates. The quick thinking Jack, though, was also a quick moving Jack; he grabbed the Devilish coin and put it in his purse. Inside the purse, the poor old Devil found he was resting next to a silver cross and was robbed of all his power.

Unable to change back, the Devil was powerless to do anything else but plead with Jack for his release.

Jack agreed to release him straight away, but only if the Devil gave him a year of two’s reprieve before returning to claim his soul. With little choice, and probably feeling more cross than he would have liked, the Devil had no choice but to agree.

The next time the evil pair met, Jack was walking along a country lane, and once again he begged a favour from the Devil, and asked him if he would get him an apple to give him the energy needed for the journey. As always, eager to be away, the Devil climbed a nearby tree and began to pick the desired fruit. Once again, Jack was nimble, Jack was quick, and he placed crosses around the base of the tree, trapping his infernal majesty. The Devil, with no where to go, and having been tricked for a second time, had to bargain again, and agreed never to take Jack’s soul to Hell.

Jack might have escaped the Devil, but no man can escape death, and when death came to him, some years later, Jack found himself standing before the pearly gates which, needless to say, remained firmly closed. Jack shouted, he begged and he shouted some more, but because of the way he had lived his life, it was all no use.

Left with no choice, Jack then decided to pay a visit his old friend the Devil, to ask if he would take him after all. The Devil, keeping his word, would not, and Jack was turned away and told that he would have to return to where he had come from.

The path back from Hell was dark one, and Jack said that he would never be able to find his way, so the Devil tossed him an ember from the fires of hell, telling him he could use it to light his way. Things were going from bad to worse, the ember was much too hot for Jack to hold onto, and he dropped it. Fortunately Jack still had his wits about him, even in the darkness, he remembered the turnip he was carrying with him, hollowed it out to make a lantern, and cut two holes in it to let out the light.

The Lantern served its purpose well and jack found his way back to the land of the living, where he was still every bit as dead, and had no body to inhabit. So, with nowhere to go, Jack wanders the earth still, carrying his turnip lantern with him for company.

steve-calvert.co.uk