The Sam Hill is one of the entrances to Fairyland.

Samhain (pronounced approximately Saa-win in modern Irish) is the old Irish word for the cross-quarter day which begins the winter, now identified with November 1st or Hallowmas. Some scholars suggest that it was an especially spooky or numinous time, being on the line between summer and winter. Whatever may have been the case in antiquity, it was certainly considered a spooky time in parts of 19th century Ireland: the preceeding night, All-hallows eve or oiche shamhna (pronounced, I think, very approximately, "eeshya howna"), was called "Pooka night" in some places.

Some people call Samhain the "celtic new year" but this goes beyond the evidence. Assuming the ancient Irish reckoned time by years at all (rather than, say, by half-years) it may have been "a" new year day. The ancient tale that lists the four cross-quarter days lists samhain first. But that doesn't mean it was "the" new year, even if it was "a" new year, which the story doesn't explicitly say in any case. It only says "samhain, when the summer goes to rest." And even if it was "a" or "the" new year for Ireland, there is no evidence that it was such for Britain outside the areas where the Irish settled, or Gaul. So calling it a "celtic" new year would go beyond the evidence even if the point were conceded for Ireland.

T. (Okiemockbird)