Hallowe’en in Gawler.
In 1894, the Gawler Branch of the South
Australian Caledonian Society held its Hallowe’en function in Gawler’s Town
Hall. Over 100 people were present, with proceedings opened by a bagpipe
recital by honorary Gawler pipers, D. Garland and J Harris.
The Gawler Chief of the society,
Professor Lowrie, made an opening speech before the dance floor was opened to
the crowd. Several Scottish country dances were engaged in, before pianoforte
recitals by Misses McDonald and Barnet were performed. Scottish pies and short
breads were served to the crowd, who danced late into the following morning.
Before the gathered guests departed, they broke into a raucous version of Auld
Lang Syne.[1]
In 1954, the Gawler
Caledonian Society celebrated Hallowe’en at the Gawler South Hall. In
attendance were Norman and Mrs Campbell, Chief of the Royal Caledonian Society,
Gawler Mayor Mr E.C. Goodger and acting Mayoress, Mrs E.H. Lawrence, the
Chairman of the Mudla Wirra District Council, Mr and Mrs R.L. Haydon and Mr C
Martin.
The hall was decorated with black cats,
witches, ghosts and other traditional Hallowe’en decorations. The Royal
Caledonian Pipe Band played for the gathered guests, and Miss Heather
McIntosh gave a demonstration of dance. Songs were then presented by Mr Sandy
McDougal, Mrs P Beveridge, Miss Shirley Davidson, Walter Ried, Ron Tuckwell and
Steve Cho.
Games were played, with ‘dookin’ for apples’ causing great amusement among the
crowd. ‘Bun on a string’ was also a crowd favourite.[2]
Mr Hedley Thomas filmed the
event, and it is for this reason I am writing this post – if anyone knows where
that footage might be, please let me know, as it would be a worthy contribution
to the Gawler Heritage Centre's collection!
Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2025
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