THE FOLKLORE OF PLANTS: Mangelwurzel

Lisa Karen Miller

          Yes, you read that right. Once I ran across the fantastical name of this plant, I knew I had to find out more about it.

          In Somerset, England, on the last Thursday of October, the tradition of Punkie Night is still celebrated. Punkies are the ghosts of All Hallows. Every year, the stalwart folks of Somerset carve creepy faces on mangelwurzels, or mangolds. 

          These root vegetables are much, much harder to disembowel than pumpkins.  It takes a sharp knife and a steady hand. One manual on swordsmanship recommended practicing the broadsword on mangelwurzels.

          The rules of Punkie Night state that you cannot cut right through the skin; the design must be etched lightly onto the surface.

          This tradition got its start more than 100 years ago.  The story goes that the men of the village of Hinton St. George had gone to the fair in a neighboring town to sell their goods.  They had prospered beyond expectations and decided to celebrate their good fortune in the usual manner. Instead of bringing the money home to their families, they drank most of it at the pub.

          Now, the women of Somerset are no shrinking violets.  Instead of sitting home fuming, waiting for them with frying pans at the ready, they took their children out to fetch them. They first carved out some mangelwurzels to put candles in, which lit their way on the windy night. The fact that they were able to cut into these hard-hearted veggies is a testament to their strength.

          The men, finally making their way homeward, were still a bit drunk and thought the eerily lit faces coming towards them were witches sent to punish them for their wayward behavior. Some of them took off into the woods screaming.

          All of them behaved better after that.

          Hard, knobby mangolds were once used as animal fodder in that part of the world; they grew very large, kept for months in root cellars, and were perfect for feeding livestock through the winter. They are now so sought after in October that the one farmer who still grows them in Hinton St. George refuses to reveal the location of his crop.

          Punkie Night even has its own song.  During the night as revelers travel through the village, they sing:

“It’s Punkie Night tonight,

It’s Punkie Night tonight,

Give us a candle, give us a light,

It’s Punkie Night tonight,

Adam and Eve won’t believe

It’s Punkie Night tonight.”

          Mangelwurzel: the hard root veggie with the even harder name.

© Copyright 2023 Lisa Karen Miller