Apple bobbing, also known as bobbing for apples, is a game often played on Halloween and Bonfire Night. The game is played by filling a tub or a large basin with water and putting apples in the water. Because apples are less dense than water, they will float at the surface. Players (usually children) then try to catch one with their teeth. Use of arms is not allowed, and the hands are often tied behind the back to prevent cheating.
In Scotland, this may be called "dooking"[1][2] (i.e., ducking). In northern England, the game is often called apple ducking or duck-apple. In Ireland and Newfoundland and Labrador, "Snap Apple Night" is a synonym for Halloween.[3][4] Another variation involves using the mouth to drop a fork from above to 'catch' the apple.[5]
While bobbing for apples is the most common, other times the apples are substituted for nuts (most commonly hazel or chestnut).[6]
- ^ Apple dookers make record attempt Archived 2012-05-28 at the Wayback Machine, BBC News, 2 October 2008
- ^ "Dictionaries of the Scots Language:: SND :: dook v1 n1". Archived from the original on 2023-03-24. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
- ^ "Snap Apple Night, or All-Hallow Eve. January 1, 1845". Metmuseum.org. Archived from the original on 25 October 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
In October 1832 Daniel Maclise attended a Halloween party in Blarney, Ireland and, the next summer, exhibited a painting at London's Royal Academy of Arts, titled "Snap Apple Night, or All Hallow Eve."
- ^ Dictionary of Newfoundland English Archived 2023-10-26 at the Wayback Machine, George Morley Story, W. J. Kirwin, John David Allison, p500, ISBN 0-8020-6819-7
- ^ "Halloween in Scotland". Historic UK. Archived from the original on 17 October 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
- ^ Opie, Iona Archibald; Opie, Peter (1987). The lore and language of schoolchildren. Internet Archive. Oxford [Oxfordshire] ; New York : Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-282059-4.