Samhain were also a big part of the festival and often involved nuts and apples. In the late 19th century, Sir John Rhys and Sir James Frazer suggested that it was the "Celtic New Year", and this view has been repeated by some other scholars. In the 9th century AD, the Western Christian church shifted the date of All Saints' Day to 1 November, while 2 November later became All Souls' Day. Over time, Samhain and All Saints'/All Souls' merged to create the modern Halloween. Historians have used the name 'Samhain' to refer to Gaelic 'Halloween' customs up until the 19th
Samhain when the 'doorways' to the Otherworld opened, allowing supernatural beings and the souls of the dead to come into our world; but while Bealtaine was a summer festival for the living, Samhain "was essentially a festival for the dead". "The Boyhood Deeds of Fionn" says that the "sídhe" (fairy mounds or portals to the Otherworld) "were always open at Samhain". It tells us that the High King of Ireland hosted a great gathering at Tara each Samhain. Each year the fire-breather Aillen emerges from the Otherworld and burns down the palace of Tara after lulling everyone to sleep with his