For tomorrow at the Real Man Pizza Company it is not Halloween but Hop-tu-naa, the Celtic New Year which on October 31st is celebrated all over the Isle of Man but also at the Manx restaurant outpost in Clerkenwell, the Real Man Pizza Company.
Back in the Isle of Man the kids will be going round houses asking for sweets but this is not the American import of trick or treat this is a very Manx Tradition. The kids, some of whom might still carry lanterns made of what the Manx call turnips but what you might call a Swede, knock on your door and sing:
Hop-tu-Naa
My mother’s gone away
And she won’t be back until the morning
Jinnie the Witch flew over the house
To fetch the stick to lather the mouse
Hop-tu-Naa
My mother’s gone away
And she won’t be back until the morning
Hop-tu-Naa, Traa-la-laa
Jinnie, actually a lady called Joney Lowney lived in Braddan and was tried for witchcraft twice in 1715 and 1716. She was sentenced to 14 days in prison, fined £3 and made to stand at four market crosses dressed in sackcloth.
Our very own Jinnie the Witch – aka manager Maribelle is on duty all day to serve up a special Hop-tu-Naa menu including a pizza special and a Manx crab and swede soup which is awesome.