Whilst across the waters they are celebrating Halloween on 31st October here on the Isle of Man we have our very own celebration – Hop tu naa which is very distinct in it’s origins but as time passes the two seem to intermix more and more.
Hop-tu-naa is a celebration of "Oie Houney", the original Celt New Year's Eve. A proper Hop-tu-Naa lantern is made from a hollowed out turnip – not a pumpkin as favoured by more modern day Americanised celebrations of Halloween.
There are various versions of the song and here are the modern day words song around the Douglas area of the Isle of Man:-
Hop-tu-Naa
My mother's gone away
And she won't be back until the morning
Jinnie the Witch flew over the house
To fetch the stick to lather the mouse
Hop-tu-Naa
My mother's gone away
And she won't be back until the morning
Check out other versions of the Hop tu Naa song here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hop-tu-Naa
There are lots of Hop tu naa and Halloween celebrations going on around the Isle of Man check them out on our events page here
Check out this great video of the Hop tu Naa ghost train:-
