Bullies at school and in later life may sense that ill-treatment of the red-haired will not be treated as seriously by the authorities as persecution of other groups.

“Bullies think that person is outside the norm, they will be able to attack them. The bullies find something to pick on. The bully has a problem and needs a victim,” Ms Eliot says.

Racism row

While there has been at least one report of a serious anti-red hair hate crime in the UK - a 20-year-old stabbed in the back in 2003 - it’s unclear whose responsibility it is to monitor .

RED HAIR ROOTS Caused by mutated MC1R gene Most prevalent in far northern and western Europe May have survived due to increased vitamin D production in pale-skinned ‘Sexual selection’ also possible Disagreement over redheads’ reputed higher pain tolerance

“It is certainly not us,” says the Commission for Racial Equality.

Conservative backbencher Patrick Mercer, when recently sacked for alleged racism, sought to get himself out of a hole by comparing treatment of black soldiers to those with red hair.

“That’s the way it is in the Army. If someone is slow on the assault course, you’d get people shouting: ‘Come on you fat bastard, come on you ginger bastard, come on you black bastard.’”

One of these three epithets would now be regarded as totally unacceptable, and possibly against the law. Even the first, mocking someone’s weight, is under a sustained assault from feminists and those concerned about what society’s treatment of weight issues does to vulnerable teenagers.

But the abuse can be far from innocuous.

“We talk about kicking racism out of sport but this is just as bad in its way,” said Reading striker Dave Kitson in 2005. He can’t have been delighted when the Daily Star reported his remarks under the headline “Kitson’s a right ginger whinger”. Or when players’ association chief Gordon Taylor said: “It belittles racism to compare the two issues.”

RED HAIR MYTHOLOGY Redheads sacrificed in ancient Egypt Associated with witches and vampires in Europe Reputed to bleed more Mary Magdalene, Adam, Judas and even Jesus depicted as redheads

Journalist Sharon Jaffa - also a red-head - says society must stop its ginger-baiting.

“Growing up as a redhead I was lucky enough to escape with just the occasional name-calling - having the surname Jaffa was no doubt a double-whammy. But attacking someone on the basis of their hair colour can be every bit as damaging as persecuting someone for their race or religion, and therefore, in some cases, needs to be taken just as seriously.”

Red hair has great cultural resonance. Red is the colour of heat, danger and warnings. When applied to women, it is the colour of sensuousness, fiery temperament and emotional instability.

“Lilith [Adam’s lover] was a redhead. It indicates red hair was bad. Shakespeare made all his most menacing characters wear red wigs. That seeps into culture,” Ms Rushton says.

Stress release

So when does this date from? Some claim it could be a throwback to anti-Irish sentiment from the 19th Century and before when the Irish, with a greater prevalence of red hair, were regarded as ethnically inferior.

Anecdotally at least, males get more abuse than females

Patrick O’Sullivan, head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit, says he has never come across a link. “People could feel forbidden to attack their usual victims and are searching around for ones that have not yet achieved the protection of the law.”

Professor Larry Ray, a sociologist at the University of Kent and an expert on racial discrimination, says the perpetrators could be habitual bullies. “If they are engaging in one kind of harassment they are engaging in others. They are looking for targets.”

For those who claim their workplace taunts are just harmless banter, it could be stress rather than an anthropological aversion to red hair.

Workplace psychologist Professor Cary Cooper, of Lancaster University, says abuse can be “an unhealthy release valve for stress” and redheads, as a visible minority not protected by law, have become a target.

While other forms of the discrimination are the subject of marches, lobbying and education campaigns, redheads cannot expect the arrival of the politically correct cavalry anytime soon.

Redheads are feared because they are believed in folklore to be the devil’s children and have red hair because they were conceived during their mother’s menstruation.A welsh proverb says “os bydd goch, fe fydd gythreulig” or “if he’s redhaired then he is of the devil”. Yesterday’s superstition has become today’s teasing.
L, Wales

Well clearly it’s wrong to be prejudiced againt a person because of their hair colour. Just as it’s wrong to persecute someone for any other reason - because they’re fat, or wear glasses, or support Man United, or work in McDonalds, or have bad skin, or listen to Daniel Bedingfield, or play in a ‘drum circle’… But it’s also ‘funny’, just as mocking Welsh people is funny. Racism is something completely different, historically and socially. The whole argument is complete twaddle.
Katy, Yorkshire

I oppose “bluey” being included as some of a red-head’s taunts. In Australia, this isn’t a prejudiced comment, it is a term of endearment. As an Australian living in London, I do not comprehend the prejudice surrounding red-head’s. A red-head woman is considered beautiful down under!
Laurel, London

I think red haired men are gorgeous and sexy! If we only had more where we live… export them to the south of Europe, we would welcome them all!
Vina, Lisbon

I did not (could not) understand the joke in the article so it was neither funny nor sad, but to all you redheads the world over, I think you are blessed. I am a black woman and you cannot even begin to understand the silly ‘jokes’ I have to put up with based on my race and my accent. And I think I am blessed. All others are just ‘ordinary’.
Katherine, London

Being one of red-haired identical twins, my sister and I were forever being teased at school. There were howls of laughter when we said we did not have red hair but were were “strawberry blonde”. For a time it may have affected us but now in our 50s we realise how lucky we are, hardly any grey hairs and very healthy manes of hair to the envy of much younger females.
Jennifer Nasser, Heathfield, East Sussex

I grew up in London. I had red hair - auburn really (before it went grey)- my mother was always trying to emulate it from a bottle of dye, but no success. Sometimes I was called ‘ginger’ - but it was not said aggressively or unkindly, it was just a title. Then in 1969, I went to work in Italy and some of my colleaugues called me ‘rosso’ - they all had black or dark brown hair. They used it as a term of affection, not as an insult. I find it strange that anyone should be abused for the colour of their hair. Perhaps the best defence is simply to shrug and respond, ‘So what!’.
Donald Morrison, Lochgilphead, Scotland

Ahem… would I be the only bloke to confess to having a fancy for long, red, curly hair. Gorgeous.
Brian, Ipswich

I grew up in Malta where ginger hair is put in the same bracket as blonde, both considered rare and desirable as being different from the more prevalent dark. I didn’t understand the British attitude towards red-heads when I first moved here and I still don’t….and now I’ve married a red-head rugby-player type, I defy anyone to insult him to his face!
Fiona Scerri-Headley, London, UK

The redhead thing does not happen in the US. I have red hair and never got teased. I spent years getting tormented for a physical disability. The monsters at Oley Valley School District would definitely have mentioned my hair too if that was a normal thing in the US.
Barb, Philadelphia, USA

In primary school I would tell boys my red hair was actually gold, and if they married me they would be rich forever! Boys (although 5 years old!) fell for it! As soon as I got a little bit older, the bullying started. I have been spat at, as well as physically and verbally abused in the street because of the colour of my hair. Abuse is abuse, whether sexist, racist, because of the colour of someones skin or because of the colour of someones hair, and abuse should never be tolerated.
Hannah Smith, High Wycombe

I’m a blonde woman and believe it or not a day doesn’t go by when I have to contend with “dumb blonde” jokes either by the media or at work. It is seen as very amusing to call blonde people, particularly women I hasten to add, unintelligent, bimbos and clumsy. Where did that image come from? I’ll tell you where, the media again! Another negative fictional image they have decided to use over and over again. I don’t exactly feel that it has often been a personal vendetta against me but it doesn’t half annoy me when I feel I’m fairly intelligent and most of the time!

Grow up Great Britain.
Adele, Birmingham

Last year I took my eleven year-old daughter Georgia to the naval base in Portsmouth where we took a guided tour of a submarine. Unfortunately the guide was a bit of an old sea dog and kept on referring to my daughter as ginger. I could see that she was embarrassed and I was embarrassed for her. However, we both felt even sorrier for the German visitors who were rudely dismissed by the same man.

Being “folicularly challenged”, I would laugh at being called “baldy”, but times have chnaged to such a ridiculous level due to political correctness, that kids just can’t do anything without being challenged or corrected!
Peter Moore, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England

Tristan from Chatham - I don’t know what the origin of the ‘South Park’ episode was, but as an American, I can assert that what the article stated about the lack of prejudice against people with red hair in the US is correct. ‘Ginger’ is not a term used there to describe redheads, so perhaps Trey Parker (the writer) is familiar with the bias here. No doubt American kids are teased for having red hair, but no more so than any other kids are teased for anything else (name, size, glasses, etc). I was very surprised when I moved to England to find that having red hair would make anyone subject to taunts and discrimination. It is equally as absurd as all other forms of prejudice, which expose the insecurity, meanness and stupidity of those who are guilty of harboring them.
CP, London, UK

I am honestly shocked that such idiocy prevails in a country normally so reasonable. There is a line between teasing and harassment, and the British evidently cross it. In the States we often tell blond jokes, but I’ve never heard of a blond actually being offended, much less changing their address.
Peter, Seattle, USA

As the proud bearer of a mighty crop of red hair, I should like to remind the mousey coloured masses that on the two occasions during the last 500 years that this country was most in peril, redheads, namely Elizabeth I and Winston Churchill stepped up and met the challenge, of the Spanish Armada and the Nazis respectively. So enjoy your japes and easy insults if you will, but remember that fact the next time a redhead saves the nations’s collective skin!
Gavin Happe , Ilford, Essex

I’m a 25 year old ginger female and I am amazed that grown men still feel compelled to shout Ginger at me, usually from the safety of a passing white van. But its not all bad, sometimes they can even be flattering. Ive had my fair share of teasing - the references to different bodily parts are unacceptable but you deal with it.

Claire, Manchester

I cannot begin to describe, as a redhead, just how offensive I find the term “ginger”. Yet I’ve heard colleagues and friends use it freely in conversation in reference to a redheaded individual or even direct to my face without batting an eyelid. Maybe they don’t realise that years of verbal, and occasionally physical, abuse can be recalled in an instant with the utterance of that one word. I have long felt that such a term should be treated with the same seriousness as those used negatively to describe someone’s ethnicity, race, etc.

I also have to add that I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve had the same comment as Charlotte Rushton had on the tube. What’s even worse is when the people around actually smile as though the stupid oaf in question had made some intellectually witty comment. If I say anything in response, to this or any other redheaded insult, I clearly can’t take “a joke.”

However, I wouldn’t change my colouring for anything. It is a part of me and my identity and I love its natural uniqueness.
Jo Hobbs, Leicester, UK

I speak as the proud fiancee of a gorgeous red-haired man. My “type” has always been those of a red haired persuasion and I have never encountered any blatent rudeness about any of my boyfriends, although I have been questioned by friends about what I find so attractive. Sadly as we begin to discuss starting a family the same friends are counselling against our procreation lest we produce “ginger babies”.

Claire Knowles, Truro, Cornwall

I was surprised and angry when I heard seemingly intelligent people objecting to Patrick Mercer’s comments on the radio and TV implying that there was no comparison with calling someone a black bastard and a ginger bastard - that somehow a racial slur was a sacking offence whereas the other was not worthy of consideration.

Personaly although I agree with Patrick Mercer that the army and real life isn’t perfect I think that bullying is wrong whatever colour, race or orientation you are. Certainly I have thoughtlessly used deprecating words to describe red haired people in the past - I shall on reflection try to do better in the future in case I cause them any personal angst.

Jamie Taylor, Soho, London

People get teased for all sorts of reasons (too skinny, bald, fat, accent, etc.). Racism is particularly requgnant because of it’s historical resonance. This kind of teasing is a different matter entirely. Attacking people verbally is out of order on whatever grounds, but let’s not make more and more special cases.
Jonny, Glasgow

My ex-husband’s hair is pure ginger. He has the notorious freckles, the lot! No one else in his family (alive) has ginger hair. His dad used to tease him when he was a kid, to build up his resistance to the teasing that is dad knew he was going to get once he started school. My ex husband said that when he started school, he had heard all the names that were called him and even dared them to try and come up with some new ones! He took it in his stride and as an adult, he still gets the odd comment, but all in the fun of the moment.
Steph, Coventry, England

I’de like to know where and when the term ‘ginger’ became associated with people with red hair. The root ginger is beige, at the most yellow. How does this resemble red hair in any way?
rufus flack, england

I’m a redhead, of the auburn persuasion, and believe me, if someone taunts me about my colouring, they’ll soon find out why redheads are reputed to have fiery tempers. I realised when I was still at school that that was the only way to deal with bullies - and it worked. And continues to work. It’s time more redheads did the same - stop cringing and start standing up for yourselves! Red and Proud!
Annia, UK

Surely racism is evil because it’s a form of prejudice. It isolates an individual or group from the rest of society whether they are Asian, black, Jewish. But to do the same because that person is overweight, has red hair, has large nose etc is no less cruel. The emphasis should not be on racism, Islamophobia or whatever. All prejudice should be outlawed.
Mark, Liverpool

As a child growing up I would often get into fights at school. My brothers who didn’t have red hair, never did. I was constantly mocked infront of teachers and they did nothing. Bullying is bullying whether it is due to race, weight, height, wearing glasses, sex, sexually orientation or hair colour. Its just okay to do it because of hair colour.
Ian Watt, London

As a white redhead, I would agree that racism is different from “gingerism” - redheads have not suffered centuries of systematic abuse ranging from slavery to institutional racism. Abuse of redheads is usually personal and does not, for example, affect our life or job prospects.

However, I would say that I have experienced abuse (although not so much as an adult) and I was mightily relieved that none of my children have turned out to have red hair and so they will not have to suffer similar abuse.

Rachel Pearce, Matlock, England

I have long red hair and the guys at work constantly pickup on this fact, but mention someone from a different race with black or brown skin colour and they clam up and get hideously embarressed that someone would dare even mention something along those lines. Its complete double standards and although it doesn’t get to me personally it must be classed as being just as bad as “racism” if not another form of it.
Paul May, Southampton England

Gingerism is not the same as racism!! To prejudice against someone on the basis of their skin colour/race depicts a far more dangerous hatred. Somehow i don’t think ‘ginger nut’ is exactly in the same league as some of the more ‘colourful’ lingo directed at most non-whites, in their daily lives.
Dr Ami, Manchester

Growing up in an Irish Catholic community in London in the 70s, my ginger hair didn’t get me singled out for attention. However, I feel spiteful hostility to gingers is definitely on the rise. The lack of challenge allows people who enjoy being horrible about other people, but can’t any more to other groups, to get away with it, from individuals to businesses and advertisers. The criticism of Steve McClaren shows this: a caller to a BBC phone-in described him as “a typical useless ginger bloke”, and this ridiculous comment went unremarked by the host. Because of this unchecked cruelty, I’m relieved none of my children are ginger.
Stephen Martin, London

I’m not sure that the statement “There is nothing like this in the US where having red hair is not a precursor to having someone abuse you. Red hair is considered glamorous.” is entirely accurate. I recently watched the South Park (season 9) episode entitled “Ginger Kids” which tactfully deals with the subject, but indicates the same prejudice occurs in the US.

Tristan, Chatham

It is not a coincidence that the English regularly stereotype the Irish and Scottish as ginger haired. Russ Abbot made his name with this type of “humour”. Of course it’s as bad as racism - and it often is racism.
Dougie, London, UK

I’m 20 now and since school I have only been subjected to red-hair-based abuse from misbehaving children and unintelligent idiots who can’t think of any wittier or relevant insults. It strikes a nerve because of the hard time I had as a ginger child but isn’t even in the same league as racism. Children will always find something to be cruel to each other over and only a few unfortunate adults don’t grow out of it.
Mike Assenti, Bristol, England

That joke at the top of the article is surely too rubbish to be offensive.
Gareth, Frome

Having survived the occasional hair colour related taunting of the school play ground and mandatory nicknaming while in the army, I now celebrate the colour of my hair. We, The Ginger, should rebuke any torments from those unfortunate to suffer the insecurities of the mousey masses, and explain to them that it is only their inability to articulate a more inteligent banter that leads them to choose pick on the one feature of us that makes us superior to them. We should pity those who think it is right to try to bully us, because they will more than likely be bald before us.
David Cunningham, Bognor Regis

My gorgeous husband has ginger hair and I tell him ‘Once you’ve done ginger you never go back’. I have loads of affectionate names for him such as ‘my little ginger freak of nature’, ‘ginge’ and ‘ginog’. Unfortunately, my three year old daughter picked up on the first one and now regularly shouts ‘ginger freak’ at my husband! It is all done in our house with love and affection and my husband has long since accepted his hair colour and is proud of it. He reckons that ginger people are the superior race and he’d be absolutely right. Up those gingas!
Julie, Gateshead

I’ve got red curly hair, and grew up at the time “Annie” was out at the pictures - thanks to all the teasing at school, I still hate that film! Recently a beggar who I refused to give money to called me an “F****** ginger b****. In my experience red hair makes you an easy target for insults, bullies and hurtful remarks.
Joanne Bentley, Manchester

Originaly from: page

Like most 16-year-olds I had just finished my GCSEs and had already had the most exciting start to the summer with a trip to the Glastonbury Festival with 10 of my mates.

When I got home I had nothing planned, just looking out for my next summer adventure. Then my dad asked whether I would like to do something to help him out.

My dad John works with NCH, a child welfare organisation, and he offers advice on various issues to do with the internet.

If there are seven sites that can detect that I’m under age, there’s no reason why they all can’t Ruby Carr Child gambling allowed on net

Ever since we’ve had a home computer, he has always given us lots of useful advice on online safety. He’s definitely more clued-up than most parents.

He told me about the concerns NCH had about children being able to access and use gambling websites without any checks on their age and that he wanted me to go with him to the Gamcare offices in south London and try to register on a number of websites.

I was pleased he chose me and intrigued at what the outcome would be.

Gamcare offers support and to people with gambling addictions.

SEVEN SITES WHICH BLOCKED RUBY’S REGISTRATION Cyberslotz Hardrockcasino Ladbrokes Luckyme National Lottery Skybetvegas

I was given a list of 37 websites to log on to. I was told to be dead honest about everything, except my age. For that, I suddenly had to play the part of a 21-year-old. That’s a lot easier to do from an anonymous computer keyboard than it would be in real life.

Every single website did ask my age. For some of them, I had to give my date of birth but there were plenty of others where I just had to tick a box to verify that I was over 18.

That was a bit shocking. Just think, if you only had to tick a box to buy alcohol, get into nightclubs, see adult movies or marry without your parents’ consent, then teenage Britain would be a very different place.

By the end of the experiment, I had been able to register on 30 out of the 37 websites, everything from sites for high street bookmakers, to casino sites, to other sites where I couldn’t even begin to understand the games - but knew it would cost me to find out.

Pop-up adverts

I didn’t know much about gambling before the experiment and I was quite shocked at how many ways gamblers can lose their money.

It was very noticeable that the sites were quite appealing with lots of flashing lights. They’re obviously very well-designed to make lots of money. I could see how some people would find it quite intriguing.

When you use the internet, even as a teenager, you get bombarded with pop-up adverts for gambling websites, so it would be very easy to be attracted towards them - although I’m happy to say that I just see gambling as a huge waste of money and have never been tempted.

In all, there were seven sites which wouldn’t let me register.

One was because it didn’t accept my Solo card. Others sent e-mails saying that they hadn’t been able to find me on the electoral roll. And one site said I would only be able to register if I could produce a driving licence as proof of age.

Some people might say that the sites would get round this problem if they only allowed people to register using credit cards, rather than debit cards which you can have from the age of 11.

But I disagree - some adults can’t afford to use credit cards and it would be wrong if websites started what they can and cannot do.

Make a difference

I also feel strongly that under-18s should not be banned from having debit cards. I’ve had my Solo card account with the NatWest since I was 11.

It is very convenient having a card to withdraw money when you want because it encourages you to put your spare money in the bank until you need it. I like being able to go shopping without having to take lots of cash with me.

Those are not the right solutions to this problem. If there are seven sites that can detect that I’m under age, there’s no reason why they all can’t.

I’m really pleased that I got the chance to get involved in the . It’s a lot more productive than anything else I would have been doing straight after my GCSEs and I’m hoping it can make a difference.

Like most of my friends, I use my computer unsupervised in my bedroom and I think I’ve shown how easy it is for children to start gambling online and lose all their money without their parents even being aware of it. I think that’s quite wrong.

Ruby Carr was talking to BBC News Online’s John Hand

Read more on site

You can read it on the BBC News website every Thursday.

This week Mark looks back to the Hampton Court summit and describes a mishap for the Mardell family on a Brussels tram.

Tony Blair succeeded in keeping the budget off the agenda at Hampton Court and it seemed that the other leaders couldn’t be bothered to argue over their real points of difference. The hard negotiations will start in earnest when the foreign ministers next meet. Britain has brightly circulated a paper outlining the need for “new priorities” and “a path to a modern budget”. For which, read that Blair is pleading for a decent-sized fig leaf on agricultural reform before he talks about giving up the British rebate. But it’s pretty clear he’ll get nothing more than vague promises of future action.

I notice an over-eager sub-editor has corrected my online article on Hampton Court, so that my original sentence about “President Blair taking Prime Minister Blair to one side” becomes “President Chirac… etc”.

The point I was trying to make is that, as the President of the Council trying to reach a deal on the budget, Blair’s toughest opponent is himself: it may well be that if he is going to go through the pain of giving up some of the British rebate he might as well do it during the British presidency and get some credit - at least among other EU states - rather than look as though he’s knuckled under to the Austrians or Finns next year.

I’ve been off for a couple of days for half term and am beginning to rethink my upbeat appraisal of the Brussels public transport system.

The tram: Being foreign is not an excuse for not having a ticket

It’s not that the repeated playing of “Waterloo Sunset” and the orange plastic seats on the metro are getting to me: it’s the tram police. Ever since we’ve arrived my has been begging to go on a tram: he’s almost as excited by them as he is by diggers and police cars. But our first trip on one turned into an expensive disaster.

The whole family trooped on, looked at the driver, who said nothing, and sat down wondering how to buy tickets. Then four inspectors arrived, chucked us off the tram and fined us 72 euros (49, $87), despite our protestations that we were bewildered and very stupid foreigners. I shouldn’t complain, I should have found out how to buy a ticket, but it seemed to me that the pasty, weasel-faced, mustachioed inspectors took delight in frightening a three-year-old child and an 80-year-old woman.

At least I am now an infamous international criminal.

Half term coincides with Toussaint, All Saints Day, which is of course overshadowed by Halloween the day before. In Belgium they seem even keener on it than in Britain: pumpkins stand in front of every other house, large models of ugly witches are on sale and the shops do a roaring trade in broomsticks and plastic bats. But Belgian friends of my age say that it wasn’t celebrated in their youth. It’s the same story in Britain, and Germans and French I know don’t remember it either. I know Halloween dates back to Celtic times but when did all the recent stuff start? It’s an American import, I guess, but where did they get it from? I’ve read somewhere it was Irish immigrants who took it to the States - but was it really a big deal in 19th Century Ireland?

Please use the form below to send in your comments on issues raised in the diary:

I live in Brussels with my family. Your experience on the tram was typical. You were lucky the driver didn’t close the doors on you as you were disembarking, that is a trick that seems to give them endless pleasure.
On Saturday my family came close to tragedy when a speeding vehicle shot a red light as we were crossing the road. It missed my nine-year-old daughter by a whisker. The roads of Brussels are a menace, and I would urge all travellers and tourists not to let their guard down for an instant.
Gary, Brussels

My girlfriend and I had a similar experience - we expressly asked the bus driver for tickets but he refused to serve us and the ticket cops got us at the next stop. I wondered at the time if the driver and cops might have been in cahoots. The the only consolation was the fantastic Belgian beer we drank to console ourselves!
Rob, Guildford, Surrey

Hallowe’en was a low key affair in the states in the 40s-50s. Its growing popularity here is now attributed to the of our society: religious feasts are down-played or ignored. Hallowe’en has been stripped of its original meaning, and has become an excuse for big parties (for adults). Many people (my brother-in-law included) marry on Hallowe’en and guests are encouraged to wear costumes.
Mary Farmer, Haddonfield, NJ USA

My wife and I were in Brussels last year, and danged if I could figure out the trams either. It turns out, you buy a ticket outside, then step on and swipe it on a reader located inside the tram and which is not visible from the outside. But you won’t know that until you step inside, at which point, you’d better already have bought a ticket. Making matters more confusing, the subway shares stations with the tram system but operates on a pay-to-enter-the station basis. I don’t speak French or Flemish, so it took me several days of observation, trial, and error to figure this system out. And to top it off, by observations were that enforcement of this whole system is basically on the honor code–if I wanted to enter a subway station without paying, there wasn’t much to stop me. So I sympathize, I really do.
Marcus C. Stubbles, White Bear Lake, Minnesota, USA

Before emigrating as a child to the US (1970) at age 6 I remember Halloween in Leeds - so it must have been celebrated to some extent. About all I can remember though was making scary masks out of colored paper in school. My first Hallowen in the States was quite a shock - going door to door and saying trick or treat. Over here we’re taught that it originated in the British Isles. It’s a bit like Christmas - celebrated in many countries but a bit different in each w/ local customs. Modern media has introduced both American-style Christmas and now Halloween to the rest of the world. As for trick or treat - the worst anyone got was soap on their windows.
Nick Maddalena, Springfield, Ohio US

Sorry you have been fined on the Brussels public transport. For your information there was recently a program on Flemish TV whereby the CEOs of companies are to do for one day the job of several their staff. So the CEO of one of the (many) public transport systems in Belgium had to play the job of the inspector. When the CEO catched a young lady offender and probably because of the cameras around she suggested to give the CEO a kiss if he would let her go, the CEO went for the kiss.
Dirk Deschuttere, Leuven

In the 1980s, I used to think how civilized, if slightly naive, it was that certain European countries (e.g. Belgium, Switzerland) trusted their urban populations not to vandalize complicated, cash-filled ticket machines at tram and bus stops…And where do we find such on-street ticket machines today? Dublin’s LUAS and London’s buses. Like the growth of pavement cafs, that’s evidence of Europe’s creeping civilizing mission in the “anglo” world, in my book. [Probably evidence of better tamper-alarm technology too!]
Nick, London, formerly of Antwerp

Clearly, the BBC must pay ‘fat cat’ salaries to its senior reporters if Mr. Mardell et famille have been in Brussels several months and not yet had occasion to familiarise themselves with public transport. He was also very unlucky, I’ve been in Brussels over 2 years, use public transport every day, and had my ticket checked precisely twice. Given his somewhat hapless experience, One tip he should bear in mind is that, whatever he does, he should keep his passport on him - the real police do regular sweeps of the metro stations looking for illegal immigrants. Men who can’t produce ID are ordered to drop their trousers on the spot - to stop them running off, before being carted off to the police station when the platform has been fully checked.
John, Brussels, Belgium

I live in the Netherlands rather than Belgium. Here you can buy bus/tram tickets either from various shops beforehand or from the bus driver: but if you buy them on the bus they cost nearly double what you pay if you buy them beforehand.
Dave, Netherlands

I’d love to see Mark travel on a bus in Kenya where you a) have to fight for a ticket (buses only take as many passengers as there are seats and tickets are sold on the bus) and b) have to shout (in Kiswahili of course) across the whole bus for the driver to put in a toilet stop on long haul journeys because there are no scheduled stops. The phrase is “tafadhali usimame ili mimi niweze kwenda chooni”… just in case you (Mark) ever take the kids to Kenya!
Michael Bauer, Glasgow

London, too, can boast customer (un)friendly bus inspectors viz the man who threw me and my 2 small children off a bus on a dark winter’s evening and confiscated my gold card saying it had been tampered with ( it hadn’t) . Result : 2 very upset children,1 angry mum ; 1 inspector disciplined for his behaviour and not even offering me the means of carrying on our homeward journey ( required) and TfL having to pay me 80 in excess fares accrued during the 2 months it took them to agree my ticket was valid!
Denise Latner, London, England

Almost all transport systems I know use the “buy in advance, cancel on travel” system. If you want real deviants, go to Budapest - unlike other European capitals, the ticket is not valid in the whole subway system, but a new ticket needs to be punched at all changes. Of course there are no signs to this effect.
Tivadar, UK / Hungary

Instead of looking at the driver, sitting and wondering how, why couldnt they actually ASK for tickets? Stupid but typically British attitude.
Yiorgos, Paris, France, (UK for 3years)

I use the Brussels Metro everyday to get to work, stamp my ticket through the machine everyday, and in over 2 years have never had my ticket checked.

That said, the one ticket for all public transport is cheap and works well, and can be reused as one moves from a metro to a tram to a bus. A 10-ride ticket, monthly, and even annual passes are all available, with companies encouraged to subsidise their staff.
A Evans, Brussels, Belgium

The history of “Trick’O'Treating” can be traced back to the early celebrations of All Soul’s Day in Britain. The poor would go begging and the housewives would give them special treats called “soulcakes”. This was called “going a-souling”, and the “soulers” would promise to say a prayer for the dead.

Over time the custom changed and the town’s children became the beggars. As they went from house to house they would be given apples, buns, and money.

During the Pioneer days of the American West, the housewives would give the children candy to keep from being tricked. The children would shout “Trick or Treat!”. “
Sean, Tennessee, USA

Firstly I’m from Kent and can tell you that Halloween was celebrated there back in the 70s and 80s too. We used turnips for lanterns, or if one couldn’t be found even a large potato would do. Apple bobbing and dressing up was also common. I remember trick or treating too, but how far back that goes I’m not sure, but I agree that came from the USA.

As a regular visitor to Brussels tram tickets are easy to get hold of and I’m very surprised Mark was so naive in this. You get them from shops, machines or from the driver. Just ask next time Mark!!!

Floyd Gleaves, England

With regard to your experience on the Brussels metro, you simply expose yourself as the arrogant Brit abroad, who does not even have the initiative to ask how to pay a simple fare. You should not hide behind a 3 year old and an 80 year old in order to seek sympathy in the hope of camouflaging your own obvious inadequacies.
Hugh McLean, Newton Mearns, Scotland

I seem to remember that in the 60s, we went ‘guising’, and the cry was ‘a penny for the guy’. The money we collected was to buy our fireworks for November 5th.
Jim, Banff, Scotland

And now for what Halloween actually was in America itself in the first place… According to my dad, who was born in 1914, the accent definitely used to be on the ‘trick’ aspect rather than the ‘treat.’ Adults ponied up the candy or they regretted it.

In fact, they might not be given the choice. One of the favorites was to wrap dog shit in newspaper, put the assembled weapon on porch, set the newspaper on fire, ring the bell, and run off. Householder opens door, stamps on burning newspaper…

Anyway, the point is that the holiday hasn’t always existed in its present form here either. I suppose the current format is less exciting, but being 47 myself now, it’s probably just as well I don’t have to spend the whole evening fending off vandal hordes of eight year olds.

Colin Wright, Richmond, California, USA

Fines for non-payument are an occupational hazard on the over-crowded Brussels tram system - think of it as a form of transport-tax and a even a rite of passage - to make up for the lack of manned ticket desks, working ticket machines etc. All to do with Belgium being in the grip of an ultra-liberal cost cutting agenda by its Thatcher inspired prime-minister. The sort of person that Prseident Blair probably liked at Hampton Court, but Blair might have a problem with his politics.

Mark Turner, Brussels

I lived in Belgium for 4 years and have never had any problems with finding out information on where to go how to pay and what not! I think it’s a question of will. If you hop on to a means of public transport with the attitude of a clueless, naive tourist, you will never find your way around anything let alone buying tickets! As for friendly personnel, you can’t beat the Belgian public service. It’s good and it works. Not two things I can say about the UK!
Rishad , Aberdeen, Scotland

It is possible to buy your tram ticket directly from the driver as you board the tram, or from most newsagents found near tram stops. But the drivers are not always very helpful especially when the tram is very busy. Fare dodgers are a real problem in Brussels, but all too often its very difficult, nigh on impossible to buy a ticket on a crowded tram and you are at the mercy of the Ticket Inspectors if you are unlucky enough to get caught. I had a similar experience when I first arrived in Brussels. Buy your tickets in advance Mark, and avoid the hassle.
Dan Russell, Brussels (UK ex pat)

Mark Mardell’s experience with Brussels tram ticket control looks weird to me: I have been using the public transport here for ten years and have not been asked for my ticket more than twice. The trick is to use the system at peak times: No self-respecting Belgian controller would work his way through a crowded bus, metro or tram.

Mark’s problem with understanding how to buy a ticket calls in my view for some European harmonisation. It’s these practical issues where Europeans could be made to feel at home in other parts of the EU.
Ronald Vopel, Brussels, Belgium

I did exactly the same thing when I first used a tram in Brussels - but didn’t get stopped.

In fact, you can buy tickets from the tram driver (since there are no ticket machines at above ground stations, only the underground ones, as far as I can tell) but there is no sign on the tram to tell you this.

I guess Mark could have asked the driver or any of the other passengers, though. In any case, since the tickets are transferrable from metro to bus to tram in Brussels, Mark could easily have bought one from a machine and used it on the tram.

But basically I think he was just unlucky to have been stopped - perhaps the Belgian police recognised him and picked on him for writing naughty things about the EU for the BBC?

I came up to Glasgow 40 years ago from rural England and was suprised by how much more Halloween was celebrated than down there.
The long tradition of kids going Guising in wierd costumes - doing a turn (song, joke, poem ̷ to earn a treat (sweets, fruit or cake) still goes strongly here.
We had 20 in last Monday and the office was flooded next morning with my colleagues bringing in their left overs to be shared out.
Here American trick or treating is strongly discouraged.
John Hansen, glasgow

Chris Jones, Brussels, Belgium

I grew up in Clitheroe, NE Lancs, England in the shadow of Pendle Hill famous for its 17th century witches. During the 60’s and 70’s I remember similar things to the other with swede lanterns (was apple bobbing part of this as well or was that bonfire night?) and everyone dressing up as witches many of whom proceeded up Pendle Hill in their thousands, which apparently they still do.

The alien version of Halloween that we see today I put down to crass commercial interests exploiting children and young adults’ exposure to the American version in Hollywood films such as ET and, presumably, the Halloween series itself; ever ready to part the public from their money on tat.

At the risk of getting ahead of myself there is something else I remember. Although not directly connected but around the same time I vividly recall Mischief Night which, if memory serves correctly, is the night before bonfire night, i.e. the 4th of November. This involved such jolly japes as taking peoples gates off their hinges or ringing doorbells and then running away. This was enormous fun for little boys but on reflection something not probably shared by the weary householder. Ah happy days …
Alistair, Monnickedam, Netherlands

Halloween was celebrated in central Scotland in the 1960s, and probably before. The pattern was somewhat different to the American model, but clearly of the same origin. Lanterns were carved from swedes, and children dressed up and went from door to door begging treats. I don’t remember the threat element of “Trick or Treat”. It seems likely that it originated in Scotland or Ireland and was taken to the USA by the many emigrants.
Jim Boyle, Birmingham, West Midlands

I am in my fifties and remember going Guising at halloween it involved dressing up in disguise and knocking on neighbours doors and asking if they wanted any guisers…we usually perfomed a song or a dance for which we were given treets or coppers…my brothers also went guising in the forties - so no american influence there..

Bill Connor, Tayport, Fife, Scotland

Halloween was celebrated in the North of Scotland when I was young, (over 50 years ago!). Lanterns were made from Swede turnips. You went “guising”, dressing up to go round the houses. A poem or song had to be performed before getting a reward, usually nuts or coppers. Trick or treat is purely American in origin, as is the pumpkin lantern. I still enjoy it though it’s I who does the paying out now.
Peter Bradshaw, UK

Yes, Halloween was very big in Scotland in the 20th Century, to my memory. It was for children who disguised themselves in fancy dress, thus being called ‘guisers’ and traipsed around the town, knocking on every door, performing a song, poem or dance, or telling (probably terrible) jokes in return for nuts, oranges and a little money. I always dressed up as a witch, with authentic hat, cloak, broomstick and make-up. There was no suggestion of our intimidating householders (the words ‘Trick or Treat’ were unknown), and there was no suggestion that there could be any danger to us children if we did this. We also sometimes had Halloween parties with turnip lanterns (although I admit pumpkins are easier to hollow out), ducking for apples (hilarious) and eating scones on a string with your hands tied behind your back (more than hilarious, but don’t wear your Versace). It was just great fun with a hint of mystery - after all it was Samhain, the end of the Celtic year.
M Parker, London, UK

I remember “trick-or-treaters” in my childhood in the West Midlands, in the ’60’s. The treats were always apples or oranges or a few small coins. There wasn’t the American hysteria over Halloween though, it was a small affair, and not indulged in by many. As far as I’m aware, you can blame Steven Spielberg; it was his film ‘E.T.’ that really popularised the American style Halloween over here and in Europe.
Rob, London, UK

Halloween was big in Northern Ireland when I was a child (the 1970’s & 80’s). We had turnip lanterns (pumpkins are not native to Ireland), firework displays and scary masks and costumes. In the late 80’s and early 90’s it started to becomne Americanised - “trick or treat” is definitely not part of the original. So I guess the answer to the question is Yes - Halloween was and is big in Ireland. We can only apologise for letting the Americans inflict it on the rest of the world…
Andrew Miller, ex-Belfast, Ireland

Relax about the “Americans” inflicting Halloween on the rest of the world. You do NOT have to buy into American culture if you do not want to. Blame yourselves.
Tara, Philadelphia, USA

Free riders are a plague on the Brussels public transport system, so if they get caught, they should be made to pay up seriously. I can’t imagine a BBC correspondent suddenly being nave in these matters, and the inspectors looking pasty, weasel-faced and mustachioed is beside the question (if they ever did, I’ve never met that kind of inspector in Brussels).
Luc Beerten, Brussels, Belgium

Its not only the trams in Brussels that make it (almost) impossible to buy a ticket, visit Prague, board a tram somewhere well away from the center and you’ll find buying a ticket impossible. No machines, no helpful (or remotely friendly) drivers selling tickets, just guerrilla like ticket inspector ready to pounce. The only solution is to have some emergency tickets on you, or hope that it’s the inspectors’ tea break.
David, Prague, Czech Rep.

So now we know. Mark Mardell (and other BBC correspondents in European capitals?) doesn’t use public transport. If he did, he would have known what to do. Or he could have used his journalistic skills and asked around his colleagues - especially the locals. I’ve been going to European capitals for over 30 years, and all that time the integrated transport systems use the “buy your travel payment first and cancel it (or part of it if it is a carnet) as you begin your journey”. It’s even been the same sort of system in London for a number of years.
Peter, Herts. UK

Perhaps if Mark Mardell had been from any other country except the UK he would have managed to ask the driver for a ticket in French (or alternatively used a ticket machine like everybody else in Brussels).
P Nuttall, Brussels, Belgium

P. Nuttall from Brussels: Would someone from Ireland or Holland or Germany or Austria or Spain or Portugal or Greece or Itlay, etc have been able to ask in French? How do you arrive at your bizarre conclusion??
Glenn , Bury, UK

Yes, Halloween still is the best night of the year in Ireland.
Samhain, Munich, Germany

Halloween has long been celebrated in the North (if not all) of England (as well as the rest of the British Isles) - But many English people have forgotten their cultural origins. As a youngster, I used to dress up and visit my neighbours with my Jack ‘o Lantern made out of a turnip. Halloween precedes All Saints Day (The day of the dead), but the origins are the same. It was the end of the Celtic new year (November, being known as Samhain in Gaelic), and the nights drew in. This was seen as a magical time when the dead came back to the world, and spirits could pass between the underworld and ours. Jack (a spirit in the form of the flame) would be trapped in a lantern, given a fierce face, to scare sprits away from your house. The introduction of the pumpkin from the US certainly makes a more impressive lantern than the British/Irish turnip. The act of begging “trick or treat” surely came from the US, but I believe it has its origins in Ireland where there was a collection for end of year (samhain) celebrations.
Steve Parkin, Mulhouse, France (ex. Sheffield, UK)

I too remember Halloween celebrations in the early 60’s in my North Yorkshire home including swede (though we called them turnips) lanterns, apple bobbing and ‘haunting’ door to door. I was having this discussion a few days ago with a colleague who grew up in Essex and he didn’t remember celebrating Halloween before ET. Is it something to do with the North remaining more closely in touch with pagan roots?
Mike Gibson, London,England

Two things: Firstly, Halloween was celebrated while I was growing up in Ireland in the 70’s and 80’s. It was a simple affair with homemade masks, crabapples, barm brac, hollowed out turnips and visiting houses to collect pennies, nuts, apples and sometimes sweets. In later years it seemed to become more violant with teenagers roaming the streets throwing water balloons and flour bombs or just beating people up.

Secondly, in Amsterdam where I now live, it is always clear that you need to buy a ticket on the tram but there is not much control. Tourists used to get away with not paying but not anymore (although the chance of being caught is small). A few years ago I was inter-railing with some friends and we were caught in Prague without a ticket on the metro. The language is Slavic and there were no English instructions so it was genuinely impossible to know how to buy a ticket. The inspectors only targeted us because we were foreigners and therefore easy victims with relatively more cash than the locals. They didn’t bother checking anybody else in the carraige and I wouldn’t be surprised if they pocketed the fine.
Patrick Hayden, Amsterdam, Netherlands

The tram system sounds much like Florentine buses - except that in Florence, there are no ticket machines so you have to figure out which shops sell the tickets and leave time to find and buy before the bus arrives. Once you know the system, it’s easy, but you’d be hard pressed to figure it out without help from a local.
bella, stratton, UK

I must contend that the Moscow metro system is the worst I have (attempted) to use. One a university-organized trip us students were given a poorly photocopied map and some free time to explore the city. Two friends and I were ambitious and decided to take the metro to a museum, which was fine until we had to transfer trains at one station. After hunting through the underground, we decided to ride up the escelator to check the signs at the street entrance. There were no signs and we never found the other train line, but the elevator ride cost us 10 rubles - we had to buy another ticket to get back down to the metro line!
Kristen, studying in Copenhagen, Denmark

I am just gob-smacked to read that Mark Mardell does not know how to use the Brussels public transport system. It is cheap (compared to London), integrated with the metro, bus, train and trams and you can buy a ticket on the tram/bus but you have to ask. As for the comment about not speaking French, it is one of the Belgian national languages with Dutch and German so you should not expect to be able to speak English and automatically be understood (although this is often the case) - try speaking French in the UK and see how far you get!
Richard, Brussels

Bats n Broomsticks etc, re door knocking and scarpering. I come from Essex and our variation was called knock down ginger(origen someone?). We saved old rope, string, cord and come halloween, where tricks were in order, and in terraced houses where two front doors were close, we tied the door knocker of one house to the door knocker of the next. We knocked on both doors, stood back a little and watched the results. Hilarious!
Tony, Gandia, Spain

I grew up in South Yorkshire in the 70s and we too had a ‘mischevious night’ on the 4th November - as Alastair did in Clitheroe. Maybe that was a northern thing. We would also do Haloween (sheets over heads to make us ghosts) and then go round the next few nights with a Guy in a wheelbarrow doing “penny for the guy.” As I remember mischevious night was sometimes used to revenge oneself on those who’d been measly during the Haloween begging or penny for the guy routine that followed it - though no “trick” was ever threatened at the time.
nick, Manchester, UK

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