Gay records another test with peas which is like the final trial made with kale-stalks.
"As peascods once I plucked I chanced to see
One that was closely tilled with three times three;
Which when I crop'd, I safely home convey'd,
And o'er the door the spell in secret laid;—
The latch moved up, when who should first come in,
Candles, relics of the sacred fire, play an important part everywhere on Hallowe'en. In England too the lighted candle and the apple were fastened to the stick, and as it whirled, each person in turn sprang up and tried to bite the apple.
"Or catch th' elusive apple with a bound,
As with the taper it flew whizzing round."
This was a rough game, more suited to boys' frolic than the ghostly divinations that preceded it. Those with energy to spare found material to exercise it on. In an old book there is a picture of a youth sitting on a stick
